Of course: Mayor Bloomberg calls a reporter a disgrace one day, then on the following days, other reporters want to ask him about it on other days! In the days since Observer and PolitickerNY reporter Azi Paybarah's question about the Bloomberg's decision to overturn term limits was rebuffed by the mayor—who called Paybarah "a disgrace"—Bloomberg has been called third worst person in the world by Keith Olbermann, was described as reaching "new heights of peevishness" by the NY Times and, today, was asked by a Thomson-Reuters reporter, "Do you think it’s disgraceful for reporters in an open society to ask questions of people in power about their actions and motives?” more ›

Some follow-up to Mayor Bloomberg's exchange with Observer (and PolitickerNY) reporter Azi Paybarah. The NY Times described that the mayor "seemed to reach new heights of peevishness, calling a reporter who posed a question he did not like 'a disgrace.'" (The question was whether the mayor, who spoke of an economic turnaround, oversold his pitch for overturning term limits.) CBS 2 reported, "Many would say the reporter's question was relevant, especially since the city's failing economy is one of the reasons Bloomberg sought an exemption from term limits." Paybarah's editor Josh Benson told the Daily News, "It was a reasonable question. We're comfortable leaving it to everyone else to judge the quality of the response." A spokewoman for City Comptroller and mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson said, "What’s disgraceful is the Mayor’s refusal to answer the tough questions. Calling people names, having staff block cameras and bullying the press aren’t going to stop people from asking the mayor to explain his term limits bait and switch." The Mayor apologized, though indirectly; according to Paybarah, Bloomberg's press secretary Stu Loeser "called to relay an apology from the mayor." more ›

Is the unofficial first rule of Mayor Bloomberg-Press Fight Club "Don't ask Mayor Bloomberg about term limits"? That's what it seems like when you watch this video from PolitickerNY's Azi Paybarah. Bloomberg, at a press conference touting how the city received $32 million in federal stimulus money for job training, said of the economy, "I’m reasonably optimistic that we’ve turned the corner" on the recession. So Paybarah asked if, since the economy was turning around, that meant Bloomberg oversold his pitch for overturning term limits—which the mayor didn't think was a "serious" question. more ›

Guess what makes Mayor Bloomberg super-annoyed these days? Any mention of Representative Anthony Weiner! more ›

After successful (if not decisive enough overall for the nomination) Super Tuesday primary results, Hillary Clinton is thinking about the immediate future of her campaign, by considering loaning $5 million to the effort. And this comes as her campaign spokesman Howard Wolgson revealed she already loaned the campaign $5 million last month! From the Post, here's Wolfson's quote:

Late last month Sen. Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million. The loan illustrates Sen. Clinton's commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation. We have had one of our best fundraising efforts ever on the web stoday and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy.

Today is a citywide "Day Out Against Hate." City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the Reverend Al Sharpton have spearheaded the event, which was prompted by a number of disturbing hate crime incidents, from swastikas in Brooklyn Heights to a noose found at the Columbia University campus. The Politicker was at one of the events this morning, where Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz "suggested, rather strongly, that city public school students be required to make... more ›

Just when we thought Roger Stone, the GOP operative accused of leaving a menacing voicemail for Governor Spitzer's father, couldn't be more amusing, he outdoes himself. Stone's assistant sent The Politicker's Azi Paybarah some photographs of Stone, supposedly "taken at The Ink Monkey tattoo shop in Venice Beach, California" where he was "getting a tattoo on his back of Richard Nixon’s face." Really. more ›

Just after the victory of Mathieu Eugene’s 10-candidate run for Brooklyn’s 40th Council District on Tuesday, questions regarding his residency in the Flatbush district have now put his official claim to the seat on hold. Elected candidates must reside in the electing district during the time of the election, but not necessarily during the time of filing for nomination. There’s the rub. So today at City Hall, the expectations and celebrations of a political newcomer were met with a big halt as Dr. Eugene announced that he will not be sworn in until he has established residency. more ›

- And New York magazine looks at why viewers OD'd on The O.C., but let's face it, we all wanted Marissa to die. more ›

The FBI raided the offices of State Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin, suspecting him of helping electrical contractors to win city streetlight and traffic-signal bids. McLaughlin represents a part of Queens in the State Assembly and is also the president of the NYC Central Labor Council (that West 15th Street was also raided), and has been a supporter of Mayor Bloomberg. Right now, two electric companies have about $162 million of city contracts for street lights with the Department of Transportation. There is suspicion that McLaughlin received an American Express card from a contractor, as well as a home security system, so the feds took anything that could be a paper trail. more ›

The NY Press's editorial staff quit over the paper's decision not to publish the controversial Mohammed cartoon from the conservative Danish paper/tinderbox. The Politicker broke the news and printed editor-in-chief Harry Siegel's memo; here's part of it:

New York Press, like so many other publications, has suborned its own professed principles. For all the talk of freedom of speech, only the New York Sun locally and two other papers nationally have mustered the minimal courage needed to print simple and not especially offensive editorial cartoons that have been used as a pretext for great and greatly menacing violence directed against journalists, cartoonists, humanitarian aid workers, diplomats and others who represent the basic values and obligations of Western civilization. Having been ordered at the 11th hour to pull the now-infamous Danish cartoons from an issue dedicated to them, the editorial group—consisting of myself, managing editor Tim Marchman, arts editorJonathan Leaf and one-man city hall bureau Azi Paybarah, chose instead to resign our positions... more ›