Results tagged “fernandoferrer”

Now that President Obama has officially opened himself up for criticism about the role he has taken in shaping New York's local politics, some Democrats are openly questioning where the presidential love for Bill Thompson is. One Democrat today is quoted as saying, "The first black President who tells the first black governor to get out, and he won't help the guy who wants to be the second black mayor? The irony is thick."

Yesterday was supposedly the luckiest day of the century and many people got married to better their marriage success odds. The Post has a feature on a couple who met while they were waiting for a 7 train - the wedding of Diana and Joseph Saporito included seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, 21 tables (21 being a multiple of seven) and Lucky 7 lotto tickets.

Yesterday, the Mayor unveiled the South Bronx Greenway Plan, which is part of the Hunts Point plan that " improve access to the waterfront, provide much-needed recreational opportunities, improve transportation safety and greatly enhance the network of bike and pedestrian paths on the South Bronx peninsula." The city will start four projects that will bring a waterfront park (with floating dock for boaters and kayakers) and paths for joggers and bicyclists. Construction will begin next summer, for completion in 2011.

Yesterday, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer spent the day at a rally in Harlem with Attorney General candidate Andrew Cuomo, Manhattan Beep Scott Stringer, Fernando Ferrer and other politicians. But the presumptive future Governor had to answer questions about his campaign manager's DWI incident from a few weeks ago in upstate. Apparently Spitzer's 31 year old campaign manager (and Manhattan resident) Ryan Toohey was speeding and rear-ended another car. His car "rolled over several times" and he was charged with DWI and other violations.

Mayor Bloomberg's campaign reported that it spent $77.8 million to get the man reelected. Given that the Mayor spent almost $70 million for 2001 election, is inflation over four years over 12%? Or did the Mayor just decide to use more wood pulp and roboto telephoners to bombard us with how awesome he was? The Mayor said, "It is what it is. I spent my own money. I had a big message to get out and we did get the message out." Yes, the message was "I'm rich, bitch!" Fernando Ferrer spent $19.5 million for his failed campaign, which amounts to $19 per vote (the Mayor paid $103!).

There's nothing like losing an election by 20 points to a billionaire incumbent mayor who outrageously overspent you to make you upset. Fernando Ferrer complained in El Diario that the news media and polling organizations helped bury him, making some people wonder if he's got a bad case of the sour grapes. Ferrer claims that reporters didn't take notes during his press conferences and polls were too concerned with huge margin Bloomberg had on him. Plus, the October 6 subway terror alert took attention away from the debate that Bloomberg never attended. The NY Times points out that Ferrer did "not place blame on himself at any point in the El Diario interview," but of course the Times would do that - the Times endorsed Bloomberg! We can't blame Ferrer for being incredibly bitter, but blaming the Post for running a pre-election cover that implied it was over for him is way too easy. Democratic strategist Joseph "Geraldine Who?" Mercurio thinks Ferrer should blame his own team, for not having a strong enough "anti-Bloomberg message."

Just days after trouncing Fernando Ferrer in the mayoral election, Mike Bloomberg's approval rating is at an all time high. A new Quinnipiac poll has Mayor Bloomberg's approval rating at 75%! 3 in 4 New Yorkers approve of Bloomberg, we wouldn't have known by reading reader comments on this site. The approval rating is close to the high of 79% set by Rudy Giuliani after 9/11. Clearly, a lot of the feelings can be attributed to a post-election bounce especially considering all the advertisements he ran before the election touting his record. This rating comes two and a half years after getting the lowest rating ever for a mayor, with only 31% of the city approving his performance. The poll also revealed that 4 out of 5 voters believe that Bloomberg and not Governor George Pataki should control Ground Zero.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent his post-election day basking in his resounding victory, traveling the city (hugging wellwishers, photo ops with kids, buying pastries), promising that he would turn to a career of philanthropy after his second term is over in 2009. And he did work some. The NY Times dives into the voting returns, and says that he "crossed ehtnic barriers" for his win: Estimates say that Bloomberg got about half of the black vote, and about 30% of the Latino vote, giving him a "winning multiethnic coalition," and disproving that minorities always vote as a bloc. (Here are some more numbers from the NY Post.) However, Fernando Ferrer-supporter, the Reverend Al Sharpton, pointed out that many low income neighborhoods voted heavily for Ferrer, showing that there "really are two New Yorks."

Given that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's victory had been predicted for a few weeks, Gothamist would have thought that the NY Post might have put a little more thought into its post-election cover. But, instead, it's a poorly Photoshopped (as is keeping with the Post's tradition) and terrible that it could be an instant classic - we'll need to sit with this one.

11:24PM: Mayor B is done with his speech - so far, winning by 19%.

While campaigning for Fernando Ferrer and effectively stealing the spotlight from him, the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, let New Yorkers know what he thinks of city housing:

I went to Columbia University - they didn't have enough affordable housing. So I lived in about eight different places during the time that I was here.

It's the last days of the Mayoral race campaigning, and the poor tree pulp is thankful, as there has never been so much paper devoted to telling voters how awesome Mayor Michael Bloomberg is. However, the local media outlets are not so happy, as the Mayor is close to spending $100 million for his reelection campaign. The translates into an approximate $100+ cost per vote, if he were to win 60% of the vote (based on the NY Post's projections for a low-to-moderate turnout). Hilarious! If only the bananaphone could be incorporated into the Al Sharpton salsaing commercial! The Mayor cashed in the perks of being the city's top guy, as he was afforded a lot of free media coverage with yesterday's marathon, besides campaign stops in Queens, whose middle class population is skeptical of him. Fernando Ferrer spent his time campaigning in Harlem with Senator Hillary Clinton, Congressman Charles Rangel, and Manhattan BEEP and one-time mayoral contender C. Virginia Fields. But, to break it down into the nuts and bolts, the Mayor shook the hand of a lion dancer (inside the costume!) and Ferrer pretended to make a call with a banana.

It's the last moments of campaigning for the Mayor and his rival with the Amateur Salsa Dance team (they must have seen and loved Mad Hot Ballroom!) behind him. Expect Mike Bloomberg or Fernando Ferrer to pop up unexpectedly in your neighborhood this weekend, bearing bromides and media phalanxes. Mayor Bloomberg did, however, get the endorsement from the Mayor of Puerto Rico, which must burn Ferrer a little bit. With the polls showing that he has a crazy 25+ point lead over Ferrer, the Mayor is still making sure to remind people to go out and vote for him. Eh, if anything, go out and vote for the Transportation Bond Act. And also vote for your mayor, City Council person, Borough President, etc.

Just five days until election, and it's like there's one of those grey, rainy clouds over Fernando Ferrer's head. Not that he or anyone from his campaign or his supporters will admit it, but even the trying-to-be-upbeat words are veiled with gloom. For instance, City Councilman Lewis Fidler tells the Times, "I'd be a moron to tell you I was confident. I'm a Met fan and I've been a Met fan since 1962, so I am not adverse to being the underdog, and I always believe in miracles because I've lived through them." Ouch. And Ferrer was struck with uncanny timing and attentiveness from city agencies when he tried to campaign at a subway station and park in Harlem to show how dirty they were, only to have cleanup crews try to stuff the crap into the closet and under the couch before TV crews came. Then the Campaign Finance Board has been warning his campaign that the NY State Democratic party's emails on his behalf may be illegal.

The plot thickens with revelations as to why mayoral wannbe and rabblerouser Christopher X. Brodeur was arrested yesterday: Brodeur had apparently been leaving threatening voicemails for Ben Smith, a political reporter for the Observer, because Brodeur was unhappy with a post Smith wrote on the Observer's political blog, The Politicker. Gothamist isn't sure which column Brodeur didn't like (was it this one, noting that Bronx primary votes meant for Fernando Ferrer went to Brodeur instead), but something was enough to make CXB leave this message for Smith: "I could shoot you in the f- - -ing face. I'd be a hero like Bernhard Goetz." And then Broduer would advocate for squirrels? No, thank you. The police are investiating Brodeur's threats to another reporter. And we'll expect another crazed missive from CXB in a few hours.

Last night, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fernando Ferrer had their second and final debate, which was a more contentious exchange, with the Mayor stepping up his attacks of Ferrer after Ferrer went after him in the first debate. But Ferrer stood his ground, trying to associate the mayor with the Republican party and President Bush. For his part, the Mayor called Ferrer whiny, saying, "You don't solve problems by complaining, you solve problems by coming up with solutions." And when WNBC political reporter Melissa Russo brought up Ferrer's new TV ad with a cartoony Bloomberg and Bush, Bloomberg dismissed the ad, saying "comicbooks" don't matter and claimed to not have seen the ad. Ha!

With just one week to go before New Yorkers head to the polls, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fernando Ferrer are turning up the heat with their ads, and we just say, "Finally!" While we're totally weary of the Corzine-Forrestor NJ gubernatorial negative advertising (okay, we get it: Forrester isn't for stem cell research and Corzine dated a union head), Gothamist has been totally numbed by the neverending waves of Bloomberg ads, with a touch of Ferrer thrown in there. But now the ads are getting crazy. Most dramatically, Ferrer's new photocollage TV ad that links Bloomberg to Bush has Bloomberg's campaign claiming it shows Bloomberg performing a sex act on Bush! Or so the Post would like you to believe:

Bloomberg wears a suit. Bush sports a cowboy hat, a plaid shirt and a holster with a gun. They are bobbing up and down. Then Bloomberg's right hand, which holds a wad of cash, moves up and down in a rhythmic motion below Bush's belt, as a grin crosses the president's face, and his arms and legs quiver momentarily. Bloomberg then gives the money to the president — and Bush's pistol goes off in celebration.

- Fernando Ferrer wants monitors at election sites next Tuesday

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.

Gothamist was reading our NYC Voter Guide for Manhattan when we noticed an unusual party in the profiles of the mayoral candidates: The Rent is Too Damn High party. Intriguing! We went to James McMillan's profile, and his answers (to the three questions posed to all candidates) were extremely on point. We're reprinting them here in the Voter Guide:

1. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN THE CITY YOU WOULD ADDRESS IF ELECTED? RENT Is Too Damn High there is nothing else to talk about. All poor people are being ran out of New York.

Continue reading "Rent is Too Damn High!"

Bad news for Fernando Ferrer: He's trailing Mayor Bloomberg by a whopping 31 points according to a Quinnipiac poll. And this poll, unlike earlier ones where Bloomberg enjoyed a 27 point lead, is after fears about the subway terror threat on October 7, which might mean that New Yorkers, despite their grousing, might really love Mayor Bloomberg! The Mayor introduced a new health plan to insure children, which Ferrer's campaign says is the second instance of the Mayor copying Freddy's promises. "Plagiarism," the Ferrer campaign slinged as he campaign with John Kerry on the Lower East Side. More shockingly, it seems that some of the diners at the Harlem International House of Pancakes (where the Mayor previously served diners) when Mayor B got an endorsement from Reverend Calvin Butts were actually Bloomberg volunteers. It's Flapjackgate!

Fernando Ferrer got the help of former President Bill Clinton with some campaigning in the Bronx, but the event did not go off without a hitch. Clinton's team "dismantled" sound equipment, seemingly to the dismay of some "low level" Ferrer supporters, and the NY Times takes the opportunity to see that the Clinton helping Ferrer in a limited capactiy, sort of going through the motions while not pulling out all the stops. Why? Because associating themselves with a losing candidate might be embarrassing for Hillary, and Bloomberg is actually liked by many Democrats. While Ferrer benefits from whatever the Clintons do for him (Hillary is hosting a fundraiser for him tonight), Gothamist wonders if the Ferrer campaign can handle full-on Clinton, as, per the NY Times article, the Clinton's starpower "overshadowed him at times, and their smoothness has left him looking like a B-list candidate." But the article does assert that the Clintons like Ferrer personally - maybe he'll get an appointment if Hillary gets elected to higher office!

Mayor Bloomberg announced an ambitious plan to build or renovate over 100,000 homes for low- and middle-income residents. The fact that this is very similar to his political rival Fernando Ferrer's proposed affordable housing plan was not lost on Ferrer. The Mayor's plan is a change from his original 68,000-unit, $3.5 billion plan (the new plan would cost $7.5 billion) and highlights the fact that affordable housing might be the biggest issue in this year's election. Some of the areas cited for new homes as well as inclusionary zoning (developers can build their big apartment buildings if lower-income homes are included) are Hunts Point in Queens (where the Olympic Village would have been), Greenpoint and Williamsburg, western Chelsea, and the Hudson railyards, according to the NY Times. Hilarious: It's only taken the mayor years to figure this one out.

about many local Democrats' support of Mayor Bloomberg, Gothamist started to think about the power of big name Democrats. Yes, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Senator Clinton are campaigning for Fernando Ferrer, and Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson stumped for him yesterday, but they still don't seem to add up to enough. Sharpton and Jackson are probably the most effective at trying to tip the balance of black voters, who, according to many polls, seem to support Bloomberg 2-to-1, but Spitzer and Clinton's power in the city is untested - voters tend to think about their quality of life first. We'll try to look at how certain neighborhoods voted, to see if an unusually high number of local Democratic endorsements can push a Republican mayoral candidate over the edge to win, but Ferrer is just so outmatched at this point, it might not be worth it. However, The Politicker says that Ferrer's latest ad, one that criticizes the Mayor's education policies, is pretty good, so the race could be closer (15 points?) as his ad spending kicks in more.

We're still reading the NY Times story about Mayor Bloomberg's businessman's approach to running the city, but it seems pretty positive. Sure, he's had politically polarising problems with the West Side Stadium and the NYC 2012 bid, but the article makes him out to be a pretty reasonable guy, if you call things like "appointing his commissioners based on expertise and giving them nearly free rein to determine policy regardless of political consequences" reasonable. While it's great that Mayor Bloomberg has made progress (with even more Democrats supporting him), we really long for something stupid to come out of him, so we'll wait for his new press op. In the mean time, we're amused someone thought they'd get dates by saying they are the "Mayor of New York City" in a NY Times personal ad.

If what Mayor Bloomberg is feeding his campaign workers is any indication of his health, he better get himself to a doctor stat. Newsday's got the dish on what Bloomberg's been spending thousands of his campaign money on.

The campaign's grocery list includes more than $35,000 worth of sodas, instant soup, nuts, candies, pretzels and java from Coffee Distributing Corp. The company also used to deliver goodies for the workers at Bloomberg's financial information company.

The latest WNBC/Marist Poll says that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a 27 point lead over challenger Fernando Ferrer, which is 12 whopping points more than he had in a poll two weeks ago. Interesting points from the polls: Democrats preferred Bloomberg to Ferrer, 50% to 42%; over 80% think Bloomberg will win; 64% weren't bothered by the Mayor's decision not to debate at the Apollo; and 84% thought the Mayor was right to tell everyone about the subway security threat. Now, if you're wondering whether the revelation that the threat was actually a hoax (the latest reports says the informant was trying to get money from the government) and that the city may have jumped the gun, so to speak, would have affected those polled, the survey was conducted this past Sunday through yesterday, which means rumbling and suspicions would already be in the sample.