Results tagged “comptrollerthompson”

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."

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."

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."

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."

Mayor Bloomberg's narrower-than-expected election win over Comptroller Bill Thompson has left people wondering not only what could have been if Thompson got more support but what might have happened if Rep. Anthony Weiner had run against Bloomberg instead. Politico reports that when Weiner said last night that maybe President Obama should have stumped for Thompson, “Maybe one of those Corzine trips could have been better spent in New York. Who knows?" a White House official fired back, "Maybe Anthony Weiner should have manned-up and run against Michael Bloomberg."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg won his controversial third term by beating Comptroller William Thompson by a much smaller than predicted margin. See the updates below for how the election night unfolded.

Yesterday, mayoral candidates Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller Bill Thompson campaigned with just days away until the election. And they made sure to encourage voters to get out the vote: NY1 reports that Bloomberg went to a "get out of the vote" rally in Queens while Thompson said, "This is all about turnout and really a question of who comes out and votes. So I think he's concerned, not just because his votes may stay home, I think he's concerned about the change that people in New York City are indicating all across the city. They'd like to see a new mayor, they'd like to see change in City Hall."

Last night, after an 11 minute takedown of Fox News, The Daily Show set its sights on our own mayoral race. Term limits turnaround? Check. President Obama's, uh, endorsement of Thompson? Check. And, yes, they did totally put Mayor Bloomberg next to a graphic of Richie Rich—and Jon Stewart did say they were the same height.

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:

Tonight will be the second and final debate between mayoral candidates Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson. The first debate saw both men in attack mode, with no clear winner. CityRoom says Thompson, "Far behind in the polls, and running out of time...must deliver the political equivalent of an Oscar-performance Tuesday night." The debate will air on WABC 7 at 7 p.m.

Earlier today, City Council Speaker Christine endorsed Comptroller Bill Thompson for mayor, saying, "I think one of my important points about term limits was that it was important for people to have choice and option. I believe Bill Thompson’s been a good comptroller. I think he would be a good mayor and I think it’s very important that the Democrats are united.” Quinn is, of course, close with Mayor Bloomberg and CityRoom reports that Quinn's endorsement was delayed " as payback for Ms. Quinn’s failure to support Mr. Thompson over the last year," even after he clinched the nomination.

A new Quinnipiac poll shows that Mayor Bloomberg is leading the mayoral race, with 53% of likely voters picking him, while challenger Comptroller Bill Thompson gets 35% of likely voters. PolitickerNY reports, "A two-term incumbent just barely over 50 percent would normally have lots to worry about, if he were being challenged by someone who had convinced the public there was an electable alternative. Thompson, unable to crack 40 percent in public opinion polls, does not seem to have made that case effectively." Now the word "blowout" is being mentioned.

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."

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."

In Borough Park yesterday, it was Giuliani Time! Former mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg and struck an ominous note at the Jewish Community Council breakfast, "I worry daily that the city might be turned back to the way it was, to the way it was before 1993. And you know exactly what I’m talking about."

Earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg and Comptroller Thompson met in the first mayoral debate. The NY Times notes that "moderators asked questions about manicures, pedicures, Roman Polanski and Big Macs. They did not, however, ask about the economy," despite unemployment, foreclosure and budget issues plaguing the city. Why was that? Apparently they ran out of time! NY1's political director explained, "Had we not asked about the ‘nanny state’ or N.Y.P.D. tactics or education or homelessness, someone would be asking us about that omission."

Yesterday, the city's largest Spanish newspaper, El Diario, endorsed City Comptroller Bill Thompson for Mayor. In its front page editorial, it says, "After a decade misspent lionizing the rich and their excesses, too many New Yorkers are paying the price for the decisions made in Washington, on Wall Street and in City Hall. What New York City needs is an executive with a balanced perspective towards development and growth, where families most in need are a high priority. This leader is Bill Thompson."

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:

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.

With just under 4 weeks to go before the mayoral election, Mayor Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson will march in the Fifth Avenue Columbus Day parade today. And tomorrow is their first debate—some veterans have suggestions (Mark Green to Thompson: ""Don't try for a knockout, because it can't happen"). Thompson skipped two parades yesterday (Bloomberg was at the Bronx Columbus Day Parade and the Hispanic Day Parade in Manhattan), apparently to prepare for the debate.

In the first Democratic mayoral debate between City Comptroller William Thompson and City Council Tony Avella, the pair mostly attacked each other. But last night, Avella went after Thompson, questioning city's pension fund performance and comptroller's acceptance of donations from money managers and his past as head of the school board.

Yesterday's West Indian American Day Carnival was the place for city-wide office candidates to be seen, and leading the way were Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson, who are expected to battle to be mayor come November. Mayor Bloomberg marched with one of the parade's Grand Marshals—General Colin Powell—who endorsed him heartily, while Thompson marched with Governor David Paterson.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was endorsed yesterday by the Bronx Miracle Gospel Tabernacle's pastor Reverend Elijah Thompson. In fact, NY1 reports that Rev. Thompson "sounded a shofar, a ram's horn, and did a dance to pray that the Jewish mayor wins a third term," telling his congregation, "I danced today. For a distinguished man like me, I make myself humble in front of God. And it's an honor to have Mayor Bloomberg with us." Bloomberg said, "I think in four more years we really can take what we've done and use it as a building block and make this city an awful lot better." However, Bloomberg's expected rival, City Comptroller William Thompson, said, "The policies that Mike Bloomberg has continued to push in his eight years have led to right now unemployment in the African-American community that is close to 15 percent." Yet the Bronx Miracle Gospel Tabernacle churchgoers told NY1, "He can relate to the fact that his family was immigrants and there's a large immigrant population in the city of New York," and "We know Mayor Bloomberg has a good record."

Mayor Bloomberg was on John Gambling's radio show this morning for their weekly chat, and the discussion turned to health care. Bloomberg said, "You know, last time I checked, pharmaceutical companies don't make a lot of money, their executives don't make a lot of money -- not that they couldn't be better." What you talking about, Willis? We suppose they don't make much next to Bloomberg, the richest man in NYC, but still. Which gave City Comptroller Thompson's campaign the opportunity to send a press release listing the salaries of the top-earning executives (#1 made $33 million, #17 made over $3 million) and to say, "Once again Mike proves that he just doesn’t get it." But then during a commercial break, Bloomberg revised his remarks, “I looked up the top pay of some of these executives in big pharma; some of them are making a lot of money... some of them are making a decent amount of—more than a decent amount of money.”

It's less than a month till the primary election, but frontrunner Democratic mayoral candidate City Comptroller Bill Thompson is gearing up his attack on Mayor Bloomberg. Thompson's campaign complained to the city’s Campaign Finance Board that Bloomberg didn't disclose $3.3 million in contributions. PolitickerNY explains, "The contributions at issue here are mainly to local Republican organizations and the Independence Party, both of which later endorsed Bloomberg"—however—"The contributions were not unreported: the campaign reported them to the state board of elections, not the city board."

District Council 37—the city's largest union which represents municipal workers—threw its support behind City Comptroller William Thompon's mayoral bid yesterday. On why Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who won the endorsement in 2005, lost out, DC 37 executive director Lillian Roberts noted, "He's changed! He's changed!"—the union was also unhappy the mayor directed $9 billion of city work to outside contractors (which the mayor said saved money). And Local 2627 president Robert Ajaye said of Bloomberg, "He's arrogant, too arrogant." Bloomberg's reaction was, "I will not make irresponsible promises to win an endorsement," (he did promise 4% raises in 2005, but times were so different then!). The NY Times, which says it's an "unexpected boost" to Thompson, has analysis: Regarding the DC37 and Working Families Party endorsements of Thompson, "the groups indicated that they had soured on the mayor because of what they felt were an imperfect feel for the city’s working class and his imperious move to rip up the city’s term-limits laws in order to run for another term."

Yesterday, Governor Paterson told reporters, "I haven't announced the person that I think should be mayor," raising some eyebrows. Last month, he told the Daily News editorial board that regarding "Thompson-Bloomberg, I'll probably make some kind of announcement later on. I won't, you know, say anything about that now" (though in March he said, "I am the leader of the Democratic Party in New York State. I would expect that I'll support the winner of [the] Democratic primary"). But at Rep. Charles Rangel's birthday party last night, City Hall News reports that Paterson introduced Thompson, "It says on my program that the first person that we want to introduce is the mayor. Apparently, a psychic must have written tonight’s program, because the first person I’m going to introduce is currently the comptroller of the City of New York, Bill Thompson!... Please greet the mayor, Bill Thompson." Thompson said, "I guess we’re taking that as an endorsement guys." Then again, yesterday, the NY Times had maybe the 10,000th article on how Paterson might be a liability.

A new Quinnipiac poll about the 2009 mayoral race finds, "Mayor Michael Bloomberg tops City Comptroller William Thompson, his chief Democratic challenger, 54 - 32 percent among New York City voters, who also say 62 - 28 percent that they'd rather chat with the Mayor at a July 4th picnic, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Even black voters would rather picnic with Bloomberg 52 - 37 percent." Some other interesting tidbits: Bloomberg has a 66% approval rating (up from 64% in March), but 56% of respondents think his campaign spending is "overkill" while 50% don't (vs. 42% who do) think Bloomberg is "out of touch" for saying Obama doesn't get paid much. Quinnipiac's Maurice Carroll said, "This latest survey shows the challenges Comptroller William Thompson faces as he tries to portray Mayor Michael Bloomberg as unlikable and out of touch, and as he tries to build a base of black voters. Black, white and Hispanic voters all would sooner share a July 4th hot dog and a beer with Mayor Mike than with Bill Thompson." Ah, the hot dog and beer mayoral test.

A NY1/NY Times/Cornell University poll found that while voters think Mayor Bloomberg is fine, they're happy to vote for someone this fall. NY1 reports, "The poll shows that while 60 percent of New Yorkers approve of Bloomberg's job performance, 55 percent say the want "someone else" in City Hall next year."

With Rep. Anthony Weiner officially deciding not to run for mayor this year, that leaves NYC Comptroller William Thompson as the leading candidate in the Democratic primary. City Council member Tony Avella (D-Queens) is still running; a NY1 poll shows Thompson would beat Avella by 30 points. Thompson said of challenging Mayor Bloomberg, "This race isn't over. If anything, this race is just beginning. I think the mayor, in spending $20 million this early, is trying to create a distorted sense of reality. He's trying to let you believe that he can't be beat. The truth is, talk to New Yorkers, they want somebody new. They want someone who will stand up and fight for them." Bloomberg, naturally, disagrees, telling reporters, "If you have a good message, people are going to be responsive. It’s not money. It’s whether or not you have something to say. It’s the substance." And a Daily News editorial says the city's Democrats don't seem to have a message against Bloomberg.