Might as well start calling him Teflon Kelly—as far as public opinion polls go, scandals just don't seem to stick to our police commissioner. A new poll out of Quinnipiac University finds that 62 percent of New Yorkers approve of Kelly's job performance, down just four points since December despite the recent anti-Islam video brouhaha Kelly has been stuck in (to name just one of his headaches). In fact, when it comes to the treatment of muslims by the men in blue, New Yorkers don't seem too upset about how police handle the religion. more ›

When it comes to elections most people are focused on the biggie this November. But not New York City pols! They're already focused on next November when Gracie Mansion, long left vacant by Mike Bloomberg, is once again up for grabs. And the early front runner is... still City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. more ›

City Comptroller John Liu is weathering a campaign finance scandal that has resulted in a federal investigation and the arrest of a fund-raiser, plus near-daily articles about the scandal and how his mayoral aspirations are dunzo. So yesterday, Chinese-American leaders held a "hastily convened news conference" to, as the NY Times reports, to "[compare] the federal inquiry into his campaign fund-raising to what has been called a hazing campaign before the death of Pvt. Danny Chen." Yes, they went there. more ›

NYC Comptroller John Liu's hopes of running for mayor in 2013 are being thrown into question as the federal authorities' investigation into his campaign fundraising has resulted in the arrest of one of his fund raisers on fraud charges. Liu said, "I am saddened by what I read today. If it is true, then the conduct was clearly wrong and my campaign was not told the truth." more ›

After a Hurricane Irene-assisted bump, it seems things are back to normal for the sinking ship that is Bloomberg's disastrous third term. According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, a majority of New Yorkers believe that Bloomberg has "lost focus"—and those same NYers would vote NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly in as mayor were elections held today. more ›

There's been a whole lot of hoo-ha over Alec Baldwin's potential mayoral run, and he's not doing much to dispel the rumors. Baldwin stopped to chitchat with Letterman last night and explained that he'd like to "be" the mayor, not necessarily "run" for mayor. And why would that be? Mostly because of his smoking hot 27-year-old-yoga-instructor girlfriend Hilaria Thomas, who's introduced on-camera. more ›

There's been a whole lot of brouhaha about a possible Alec Baldwin mayoral bid for the 2013 race: will he do it? Will he square off against his flaxen-haired, freakishly tan baby brother Stephen? What will become of Jack Donaghy?! We're not sure, and Baldwin apparently isn't either, because he needs to back to school to learn how to be a mayor first. more ›

Since the ongoing revelations of Rep. Anthony "Stop Staring At My Weapon!" Weiner's private life can't stop/won't stop, his chances at running for mayor in 2013 are looking dimmer and dimmer. This week, a friend of 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin alleged that The Shadow was interested in a mayoral run. And Mayor Bloomberg said he thinks that's great...as long as he doesn't bother him whatsoever: "I only want him to stay out of my business for the next 935 days. For the record, I do not plan to go into his business." more ›

As more details of his sextracurricular activities keep coming, randy Representative Anthony Weiner is maybe depressed and definitly being hounded by the press as his political prospects with the public are being polled left and right. more ›

If there's been one silver lining to emerge from this whole Anthony Weiner mess, it's the tantalizing prospect of The Shadow as our next mayor. According to a friend, 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin is mulling throwing his hat into the 2013 NYC mayoral race: “Alec said, ‘Hey, maybe this changes the race. The dynamics have shifted.’ The Democrats need a high-profile candidate, and Alec can fill that bill,” the unnamed "pal" told The Daily. more ›

Dick Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and Monty Burns lookalike, really hates former governor Eliot Spitzer. See, back when Spitzer was the Sheriff of Wall Street, he sued Grasso over his ridiculous $187 million pay package. So Grasso, ever bent on getting back at Client No. 9, told a crowd at Wagner College that he'll run for mayor in 2013 if Spitzer does and if Police Commissioner Ray Kelly doesn't. more ›

Things Eliot Spitzer, ex-Governor and current CNN-er, doesn't want to talk about with journalists? What he fantasizes about and his political ambitions. We know this because client number nine sat down for a chat with the Times Magazine this week and right off the bat made his feelings clear. more ›

After ripping into Republican House members for failing to vote for the 9/11 health and compensation bill, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) have been getting lots of press, thanks to his Youtube-captured speech (video below). But now many think his loud, passionate display was less about the bill and more about his 2013 mayoral chances. In other words, Weiner could have been acting like...a politician! 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 ›

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 ›

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." more ›

Can we get Mayor Bloomberg to say that he will not run for a fourth term in writing? A couple of weeks after the mayor left the door open about the possibility of extending term limits a second time and attempting to stay in office for a total of sixteen years, he once again alluded to the notion of four more (more) years. This time the slip came during his weekly radio broadcast while the mayor was discussing a campaign initiative which would have 120,000 New Yorkers graduating community colleges by 2020. He said, "Community colleges are really a step for a lot of people. We did it as part of something where I was trying to lay out in the campaign [what] you would do in a fourth term, which I think you have a responsibility to do." Just as with the last instance of the mayor expanding his horizons, a spokesman was quick to insist afterward that Bloomberg intended to say his third term. The city college graduation plan would actually come at the end of a fifth Bloomberg term, which the mayor has not yet commented on. more ›

Former NYC Police Chief William Bratton announced yesterday that he will step down from his current post running the LAPD and return to New York to work in the private sector. Bratton has been chief of police in Los Angeles since 2002 and spoke of his tenure with a sense of "mission accomplished" yesterday, telling reporters, "We succeeded in making this city one of the safest in America." more ›