Governor Eliot Spitzer's "ChopperGate" has more of a stink today: It turns out that two of his senior aides refused to speak with the Attorney General's office during the investigation. While the investigation ultimately found that Spitzer aides didn't technically break the law when they were trying to use State Police records to discredit State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, it makes it hard to believe Spitzer's assertion that his aides had cooperated fully with the AG's office. more ›

Fighting words from Fernando Ferrer. He tells the Daily News Editorial Board that he would scale down the Brooklyn Nets arena plan "dramatically," noting that there were "apparent abuses of eminent domain." Mayor Bloomberg's campaign says that the Brooklyn Yards plan will bring more jobs and housing to the community, but even Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says the plan should be scaled back, because that's what the community wants. Interesting! And in a speech in Stuyvesant Town, Ferrer invoked his two New York theme: "The average price of an apartment in Manhattan is well over $1 million - that may be affordable in Mike Bloomberg's New York, but not in the New York where the rest of New York lives." Amen. But is Ferrer's plan to take control of rent control from the state going to work? The Times says Bloomberg once supported that strategy, but the administrative costs were too much for the city to bear. Which makes Gothamist wonder how big would those costs be - like, are they that staggering that the city would have to raise taxes for residents that much? Anyway, the Mayor had it both ways when he discussed the Iraq War and MTA discounting, vaguely seeing both sides of situation. We call that the "I can't take a stand unless it involves knocking out Larry Silverstein"-12- days- before- election dance. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg wasn't kidding about wanting a bigger role in the redevelopment of Ground Zero: He made sure the Daily News could tell World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein that Bloomberg wanted him to "Butt out, Larry". Gotta love the tabs and how they cut to the chase. Bloomberg told the Daily News Editorial Board, "It would be in the city's interest to get Silverstein out, [but] nobody can figure out how to do it yet. And can you imagine the stink if you gave him half a billion dollars or a billion dollars in profit to get him out?" Not if it's your own money, Bloomberg! more ›