Last week, Stuyvesant High School graduates revealed that both Stuyvesant High School and Battery Park City Authority officials had reneged on earlier promises to offer space to remember 9/11. Now, after press coverage (and pressure?) and the involvement of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, things have changed. 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 ›

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 ›

Poor Bill Thompson. The former City Comptroller lost the 2009 mayoral election by a smaller-than-expected margin, raising the suggestion that if there was more support for him, he could have toppled Mayor Bloomberg. And now he's been hit with a $619,125 for his illegal campaign posters. more ›

Apparently the liberals in this state aren't too appreciative of Carl Paladino's suggestion that poor people be voluntarily housed in state prisons to work state-sponsored jobs and learn "personal hygiene." And they should be, because according to Paladino, this plan is just like the New Deal! He explains to Buffalo News: more ›

According to a new study, if all the first-time voters that helped elect Obama had cast their ballots in the November mayoral election, Democrat Bill Thompson might be sitting in Bloomberg's seat. "Bill Thompson only lost by 50,000 votes," CUNY Prof. John Mollenkopf told the News. "If only 50% of new voters came out, Thompson would be mayor. ... Here was a chance to knock off an incumbent mayor, to elect the second black mayor in New York history. If they had mobilized, it would have been huge, huge, huge news." Unfortunately the newly political set was hung over after the excitement of Obama's win. Only about one in five of them even showed up for the mayoral election—71,335 out of 338,128 whose votes were counted in the presidential tally. Maybe next time? more ›

A new campaign finance report shows that Mayor Bloomberg spent a whopping $108 million to beat Bill Thompson in his third-term election. Bloomberg ran the most expensive personally-financed campaign in U.S. history, spending twelve times as much as his opponent. Of the campaign tab, large chunks of money went to rather unexpected places. And not just pizza! more ›

On his last day as city controller Bill Thompson finally gave in to to a project he's been fighting tooth and nail—the expansion of a jail in downtown Brooklyn. Thrice the former mayoral candidate has blocked the $34 million project, citing price concerns and finally Mayor Bloomberg slapped a lawsuit on Thompson, charging that his opposition to the jail was motivated by a personal grudge. Just yesterday following his announced that he'll run for mayor again, he capitulated to the mayor's demands regarding the infamous House of D. more ›

Well, that didn't take long at all. Just two months after he lost in a closer-than-expected race against Mayor Bloomberg, former city comptroller Bill Thompson says he will run for the city's highest office again. Despite rumors he would take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, or run for state comptroller, Thompson told the Times: "I am not running for office this year; it is my intention to run for mayor in 2013." more ›

For the first time ever, black, Hispanic and Asian residents of New York City outnumbered their white counterparts at the polls. In what the Times describes as "a seismic political shift," voters who identified themselves as minorities constituted 51 percent of the vote in November's citywide elections, compared to white voters who made up 46 percent of the total. more ›

Some new polls show that junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand may be vulnerable during her first election next year. According to the Observer, a Siena poll found that "I don't know" (35%) won out over Gillibrand (32%), who was followed by City Comptroller Bill Thompson (23%), while a Quinnipiac poll found that Thompson would beat Gillibrand 41-28 in a hypothetical primary. However, Quinnipiac's Maurice Carroll says, "Giuliani, who is pondering a Senate race, tops both of them" and Siena says Giuliani would beat Gillibrand 50-40. more ›

According to City Comptroller Bill Thompson's latest campaign fiance filings, the Observer reports that he spent "$9,003,711...on his campaign, which came within a few percentage points of beating Michael Bloomberg's $102 million re-election campaign...In his latest filing period, Thompson spent $1,040,000 on television ads, along with $309,887 on consultants. Among Thompson's notable expenditures is $400 for a makeup artist Sue Crystal. A campaign spokesman said it was for the debate in El Barrio, whose television sponsor, New York 1, did not offer the candidates makeup before appearing on air." Factoid: "Anthony Weiner's campaign also donated on $4,950 on October 29, the day Thompson's pollster released numbers saying the race was tightening." more ›

In his race for a third term, the richest man in New York City spent an astounding $102 million of his $17 billion fortune. New filings reveal that Mayor Bloomberg shelled out about $174.53 per vote in his narrower-than-expected victory over Democratic challenger Bill Thompson, far exceeding his expenditures of $85 million in 2005 and $74 million in 2001, according to the Times. more ›

After his surprisingly competitive mayoral bid against Mayor Bloomberg, there have been various rumors about what City Comptroller Bill Thompson might do next. First there were murmurs of a Senate run, and then ones that Andrew Cuomo was eyeing him as a running mate during for his gubernatorial campaign. Now the NY Times says the Senate run is just one of three options that Thompson is mulling. more ›

While Attorney General Andrew Cuomo won't publicly discuss a potential run for governor next year, the NY Times reports that he's been thinking about the gubernatorial ticket for next year: He "and his advisers have been discussing potential candidates to run alongside him, to present the most appealing Democratic ticket to the electorate, people with knowledge of those discussions said." And one of those potential candidates is...City Comptroller Bill Thompson. more ›

The Daily News' Elizabeth Benjamin reports that City Comptroller Bill Thompson's name is "being floated" for various positions, including Senator. Rep. Jose Serrano says, "Billy Thompson obviously is the kind of public servant who not only who serves the public well but has proven he doesn't need a lot of money to do well in an election. He would be a formidable candidate statewide anytime." And even though President Obama personally asked other pols not to run against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a "senior New York Democrat" tells the News, "The presumption is that a White House that didn't really show strong support for Bill Thompson for mayor in this environment couldn't do that to him twice." more ›

City Comptroller Bill Thompson has no regrets about his mayoral campaign or his narrow loss, telling the Daily News, "I just stopped [the what if thoughts]. That's not helpful. When I woke up Wednesday, I would have liked to have woken up having won. But I was proud of the campaign." (Still, others are what-if-ing.) He is meeting with Mayor Bloomberg next week and said of the election,"It wasn't just the term limit issue. You talk about the affordability issue in the city of New York and people not being able to afford to stay and live here. He should listen to what the voters said on Tuesday night." more ›

The oh-so-close mayoral race continues to be thorn in many Democrats' side—and many are bitter. State Senator Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan) tells the NY Times, “Bill Thompson was always closer than people thought, and on our side, if people had been behind him more, there would have been more checks, more endorsements, more attention, and that might have made the difference. It really is disgraceful that a lot of people in the Democratic Party stayed home or kept their checkbooks closed." more ›

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo endorsed Comptroller Bill Thompson for mayor today, citing his "years of dedicated public service, his vision for a better future for our City, and his commitment to improving the lives of working families." Of course, reporters were more interested in knowing about Cuomo's own election plans next year, to which the AG said, "Let’s do one race at a time if we can, if that’s possible. Let’s support Bill for the mayor’s race. That’s what we’re here to talk about. Next year we’ll talk about next year.” more ›

Last night, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson squared off for their second and final mayoral debate. And it was a feisty affair, with just a week till the election: The Post called it a "Yankees basebrawl", the Daily News noted how they "pulled out all the stops", and the NY Times noted how Bloomberg "pound[ed]" Thompson. Some highlighted soundbites: more ›

After campaign records showed that Mayor Bloomberg had spent $85 million (through Friday) on his third term mayoral bid, people were amazed—it was, according to the NY TImes, the most anyone had personally spent on any sort of U.S. public office—and disgusted. But the Mayor defended the amount, saying yesterday at an event in Queens, "It costs a lot of money to get a message out and I'm trying to show what we've done and tell people." more ›

By spending $85 million on his third mayoral campaign so far, Mayor Bloomberg entered the history books. The NY Times proclaims, "He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office," and say the billionaire "is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3." more ›

The NY Times' article on mayoral challenger Comptroller Bill Thompon's campaign suggests that it's not the shipshape operation that the Bloomberg campaign runs. (Of course, Bloomberg is throwing tens of millions into his effort.) Amid the different examples, it's noted Thompson's political director Tweeted, "Mommy, can I stay home from school today?" and the policy director Facebooked, "Why is it that I continue to do this work?" (the policy director later quit; he tells the Times, "to suggest that such a generic gripe speaks to some deeper issue is simply silly"). more ›

The latest Marist poll reveals that Mayor Bloomberg has opened up his lead against challenger City Comptroller Bill Thompson to 16 points amongst likely voters, with the incumbent receiving 52% to Thompson's 36%. Marist notes, "Last month, Bloomberg led Thompson among this group of voters by 9 percentage points — 52% to 43%, respectively. Although Bloomberg’s support is unchanged, Thompson has lost ground." more ›

President Barack Obama did in fact mention Democratic candidate for mayor, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, during last night's Democratic fundraiser: "Our great city comptroller, our candidate for mayor, my friend Billy Thompson is in the house." And that was it. Even Thompson himself, when asked if he thought it was an endorsement, said, "No. Do you consider that an endorsement?" (See for yourself—video is below.) more ›

Last night's first mayoral debate between incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson showed both men in attack mode: Bloomberg went after Thompson's record heading the Board of Education and accepting donations from pension funds that the city uses while Thompson reminded voters how Bloomberg maneuvered for the term limits and extension and how he's spent $65 million on his campaign so far. You can watch the debate at NY1, but here are some highlights: more ›

Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Democratic City Comptroller Bill Thompson will go head-to-head tonight in their first debate, which will be hosted and televised by NY1. more ›

Yesterday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that President Obama would "support the Democratic nominee" in the NYC mayoral race—which would be City Comptroller Bill Thompson. But Gibbs never mentioned Thompson by name and actually praised Mayor Bloomberg by name, adding that Obama "obviously has a tremendous amount of respect for what he's done as well." Which is why the media's take on Obama's "endorsement" ranges from "most lukewarm and indirect" (the Times) and "as muted as they come" (Daily News) to "odd little bit of political theater" (Post) and "lukewarm" (Reuters) again. more ›

The wondering can stop: President Obama has endorsed City Comptroller Bill Thompson in the NYC mayoral race. Although he didn't make the endorsement himself—press secretary Robert Gibbs announced it. According to the Daily Politics, Gibbs said, "The president is the leader of the Democratic Party and, as that, would support the Democratic nominee." more ›

PolitickerNY got an early look at a WABC 7 mayoral election poll conducted by Survey USA: "Bloomberg leads Thompson 51 to 43 percent according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 4.2 percent, and was conducted from October 3 to 5. The poll interviewed 1,000 'adults,' of which 888 were registered voters, and 561 were considered 'likely voters.'" more ›