In a letter sent yesterday to Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said it's time to take action on a Living Wage bill. The bill, which is currently in limbo in the City Council, would require some companies receiving city tax breaks to pay employees $10 an hour plus benefits or $11.50 without. De Blasio is expected to face Quinn in the Democratic primary for mayor, and the debate over a living wage has put Quinn in a difficult position, because the business community and her mentor Mayor Bloomberg are firmly opposed to it. more ›

Here's video of yesterday's seemingly stupid arrest of City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) and Kirsten John Foy, Public Advocate de Blasio's Community Affairs Director, after the West Indian Day Parade. Williams, Foy, and others were attempting to take a shortcut to exit the parade so they could make an appearance at a gathering by the Brooklyn Museum. But the NYPD had different plans for them. Here's video: more ›

City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) and Kirsten Foy, Public Advocate de Blasio's Community Affairs Director, were arrested this afternoon after the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. NBC New York reports that based on witness accounts, "the confusion began when Williams and...Foy...attempted to exit the parade route to attend a luncheon at the Brooklyn Museum. After passing through an initial police checkpoint, Williams and his group were blocked by three police officers from exiting the route." more ›

The next election is way off, but pols hungry to replace our diminutive billionaire mayor from Boston are already lining up to raise funds. And, with Anthony Weiner out of the picture, one candidate is distinctly leading the pack. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn raised $1.32 million dollars in the past six months, bringing her campaign's total to $4 million. more ›

ExxonMobil, Bank of America, General Electric, Chevron and Boeing had combined profits of $77.16 billion in 2010 but paid $0 in federal income taxes, according to a new report from NYC Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, who is outraged that many massive corporations are getting incredible tax breaks while also pouring money into political campaigns. Contributions have soared since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision last year, which gave corporations more freedom to spend money on politics. De Blasio's analysis found that these top five recipients of corporate tax breaks avoided paying $5.4 billion$3.7 billion in potential taxes last year. At the same time, they spent a combined $7.86 million in campaign contributions, a 7% jump over their 2008 political spending. But you can't hold it against them, it is their First Amendment right. more ›

The Daily News took a look at some city politicians (and possible 2013 mayoral candidates), and the findings may shock you: Apparently, politicians network at parties. That's right, pols like Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn were all schmoozing during the holiday season in December, but only Liu could walk away with the title "partier-in-chief." more ›

When local elections come around, so do candidates' posters attached to anything and everything. However, since it's illegal to post fliers to city property (think light poles and traffic lights), the city has been cracking down—2009 mayoral candidate Bill Thompson was hit with a $619,000+ fine, Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio got a $300,000+ bill and City Comptroller managed to get out of nearly $550,000 in fines, thanks to a loophole. Well, ladies and gentleman, we have news for you: Mayor Bloomberg thinks that if you do the crime, you pay the fine. more ›

A new feature in Craigslist lets apartment hunters steer clear of bad landlords. The new link, found at the top of the apartment listings, leads to a website created by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's office. It currently lists more than 320 landlords and more than 400 buildings that have been cited for housing code violations. Currently number one on the list: one Lisa Dreshaj, who has racked up 2,047 infractions with her four buildings, including 656 class C violations, which are considered "immediately hazardous." You can also vote on ways to hold landlords more accountable on the site. Public dunking booths, anyone? more ›

As you may have heard, there have been some objections raised to a rumored Walmart location in East New York. The City Council is holding hearings at the beginning of next month, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio recently released a report suggesting that a Walmart in NYC would "eliminate more jobs than it creates, result in the loss of independently owned small businesses, and create an increased burden on taxpayers." But the big box company probably isn't sweating it, because its got NY Post columnist Andrea Peyser in its corner. In her column today, titled "Absurd Wal of Fear," Peyser targets one of the studies cited by de Blasio: more ›

After the Tucson, AZ shooting rampage that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically injured, six dead and 13 others injured, the Post suggested that not only the Glock corporation—which made the gun that suspected shooter Jared Lee Loughner used—stop selling to civilians, the newspaper said that NYPD should stop buying weapons from Glock until the company stops selling to civilians. Now, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has voiced his support having the NYPD ban Glock, but Mayor Bloomberg is less enthusiastic. more ›

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has a new enemy besides Arachne and Swiss Miss to add to his villains gallery: Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. In a January 5 letter to the commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs, de Blasio blasts the webslinger's musical for selling pricey preview tickets without letting unsuspecting patrons in on the fact that the show is still a work in progress. Those poor unsuspecting souls are being subjected to a theater-going experience of "confusion and frustration" and it must be stopped! more ›

As we've sorted through the wreckage of the last couple marshmallowy days, blame has been shuffled, Tony Soprano and Corey Booker emerged as heroes, and at least two teens got wasted. But seeing as how everything was supposed to be cleared by 7 a.m. this morning, maybe it's time to debate: which borough got hit the worst? more ›

Slumlord-hater and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has begun an official inquiry into the death of Marchella Pierce, the 4-year-old malnourished girl who was found dead last week, and whether the city could have prevented her death. more ›

Yesterday, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio launched a new online slumlord watchlist, in an attempt to hold landlords accountable in a way they never have been before. "When you or I get a parking ticket, we have to pay. When a landlord gets a violation for a health and safety problem, they ignore it in many cases and then they ignore it and then they ignore it again," he told the Daily News. more ›

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio launched a new slumlord watch list today, with 153 wastrel landlords included to begin with. "We want these landlords to feel like they're being watched," de Blasio said. "We need to shine a light on these folks to shame them into action." more ›

Because the 2013 mayoral election is over two years away, there's no time like the present to consider the contenders! The Wall Street Journal examined the campaign finance disclosure reports from a batch of Democratic hopefuls and found that Rep. Anthony Weiner, newlywed, has $3.9 million left in his coffers while City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has $2.7 million. more ›

Today's NY Post features a little hit job on the Working Families Party, a progressive political party that advocates for housing reform, living wages, paid sick days, health care, and a host of other issues. But Brooklyn resident Patrick Crooks, who worked with the WFP for three days—following a stint working for former City Councilman Eric Gioia (an outspoken critic of the WFP)—says he was encouraged by higher-ups to falsify signatures and addresses on petitions calling for rent regulation reform. more ›

With their contract expiring at midnight tomorrow night, members of the Local 32 BJ union are ready to strike. And while they've been accused of crying wolf, union leaders say they're serious this time. "The steps we're taking for a possible strike are definitely beyond what we've done in the past," said Matt Nerzig of 32 BJ told the Daily News. He said the plan includes shoring up $10 million to cover strike pay and other related costs. The strike would encompass 30,000 workers, and affect over 1 million residents in every borough except the Bronx. more ›

The 32 BJ building workers union and the Realty Advisory Board have been in accelerated contract negotiations since Thursday, but they are reportedly still "far apart" on ideas for the new contract. The current contract expires on April 21st, and if the two sides don't settle on things like wages, health care and sick days, more than 30,000 building workers across the city will strike. Howard Rothschild of the RAB told Businessweek they are "committed to negotiating continually—around the clock, if necessary—to reach an agreement before midnight Tuesday." more ›

The chief watchdog group for the MTA released their annual report today (read it yourself below) sternly criticizing the agency on its mismanagement of several different projects. The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee said in the report that it was "extremely disappointed" that a lawsuit between the MTA and Lockheed Security has ground plans to install anti-terror video cameras around the city to a halt. $833 million has already been invested in the plan, which is currently in limbo: "There is no definitive word on what the next step will be. The lapse in moving forward with this initiative is inexcusable," the report states. more ›

On the same day that Mayor Bloomberg celebrated his inaugural, his biggest adversaries began their terms with some harsh words for his administration. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu — who both are apparently already being considered as Democratic candidates for Mayor in 2013 — took Bloomberg to task during their inauguration speeches, setting a strongly adversarial tone for the Mayor's third term. more ›

For those of you not nursing a hangover—or needing a hangover cure—consider tuning into this year's inauguration at City Hall. Mayor Bloomberg will be sworn in for a third time, while City Councilman Bill de Blasio will become the new Public Advocate and City Councilman John Liu will be the new City Comptroller. All three men signed their oaths of office yesterday (and paid fees to the City Clerk), but they'll give speeches today. Speeches, people! more ›

Now that he's going to be mayor for another four years, Mayor Bloomberg has been reaching out to the Democrats. Yesterday, he had coffee with Public Advocate-elect Bill de Blasio (their klatsch is pictured at left) but City Comptroller-elect John Liu declined to meet with Bloomberg, saying he was too busy. But the NY Times points out Liu later said, "A long time ago, the people of New York decided there would be no king nor a monarch in New York City." more ›

The candidates for public advocate must be feeling 8-track tape useless by now. Earlier this year, Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council made the call to cut the public advocate's budget from $2.9 million to a meager $1.8 million, and now the mayor is visiting far off places (or, Staten Island) to talk trash about the little-known position. more ›

After losing big to Bill deBlasio in last week's public advocate runoff election, Mark Green is saying that he is out of politics for good...again. Green says his defeat came down to two factors: "Turnout; the array of forces. Period." Always the gracious loser, he added, "I was surprised and disappointed that the other side's operation overwhelmed my record and optimism." Green says he will go back to writing and his work at Air America. His daughter told him now he can go back to what he's good at—with there now being one thing we can all safely rule out that is not. more ›

With Bill de Blasio's and John Liu's runoff victories, the Post reports that City Councilman David Yassky (who lost the Comptroller race Liu) said, "I think if Mayor Bloomberg is re-elected he certainly will have very aggressive watchdogs in Bill de Blasio and John Liu that are going to be ready to challenge him when they feel it's appropriate... I think that it's likely to be a more contentious city government over the next four years." Bloomberg continues to lead Bill Thompson in the polls; a mayoral insider admitted, "It's going to get tougher with Liu and de Blasio." more ›

Last night, the Democratic candidates for Public Advocate and City Comptroller were decided in runoff elections: City Councilman Bill de Blasio won the Public Advocate race, with 63% of the vote while Councilman John Liu won the Comptroller matchup with 56% of the vote. While they will face Republican challengers in the November election (Alex Zablocki for PA, Joseph Mendola for Comptroller), de Blasio and Liu are expected to win, given NYC's overwhelming majority of Democratic voters. more ›

Today's runoff elections for Public Advocate and City Comptroller were greeted by lower voter turnout. According to NY1's results, Bill de Blasio has won the Public Advocate race with 62.50% of the vote to Mark Green's 37.50% while John Liu won the Comptroller race, with 55.68% of the vote while David Yassky earned 44.32%. This means the Working Families Party had a big night— both its candidates won. more ›

Today, the Democrat candidates for NYC Public Advocate and City Comptroller will be decided today in runoff elections, because no candidate received at least 40% of the vote during September 15's primary. In the PA race, it's City Councilman Bill de Blasio vs. former Advocate Mark Green (in the primary, de Blasio got 32% to Green's 31%), and in the Comptroller race, it's City Councilmen John Liu (who got 38%) vs. David Yassky (30%). If you're a registered Democrat, go vote—because it's costing the city millions anyway! more ›

Mark Green went on the attack in last night's public advocate debate, linking his rival Bill de Blasio to the recently scandalized group, ACORN. Up until now, Green has attempted to cruise back into the advocate office based on name recognition and the harshest criticism toward de Blasio has come from Charles Barron (who was not even in the race!). But during last night's debate, Green said, "The Working Families party and ACORN put $30,000 in his pocket, so when they come and visit him at City Council who is he working for? You or his employers?" more ›