Results tagged “giffordmiller”

What was supposed to be a rainy day now seems more like a category 3 hurricane fund, as the story of the City Council's practice of distributing money to fake community groups unravels. It turns out that since 2001, $17.4 million has been allocated to the fake groups, with $4.7 million set aside in 2007 and 2008.

According to the NY Post, the City Council Speaker's office has, since 1988, had the tradition of granting money to "phantom" (as in fake) groups. A source explained it gave the speaker "a stash of cash with which to thank or pay off politically important allies or cooperative council members."

It was finally Mayor Bloomberg, however, that gave him the boot this April. Only recently was he allowed back inside the press room, but as an uncredentialed observer. Martinez Alequin's publication has slimmed down to an online-only format and operates from Blogspot.com as "Your Free Press." He has been questioning––some might say heckling––public officials for 20 years. This spurs a broader look by the Times at what it takes to be a credentialed press member.

They say New York is home to a million stories, and so far this year, we've published 7021 of them here on Gothamist. So in case you missed any of those, let's take a little stroll back in time, and review the most significant stories the past 12 months, shall we? Here's part one of a semi-chronological look at 2006; part two will go up tomorrow:

A business card may be a reminder for others about how to contact you, but when you're a City Council staffer, watch out! According to the Daily News, back in 2004, when he was deputy chief of staff to City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Michael Nieves gave his card with "his cell phone number and the name and city phone number of another Council employee" to a tenant that a landlord had a dispute with. And apparently Nieves had a "prior business relationship" with the landlord. The city's Conflict of Interest Board said that Nieves did violate "the City Charter for employees to use city resources for private reasons," yet that was the extent of the reprimand.

The NY Times notes the Bloomberg-Quinn honeymoon with the Mayor's words: "It is clear that we share a lot of the same priorities and that we both understand that balancing long- and short-term interest is absolutely essential to protecting our city's future. I didn't kiss the last speaker, I'll point out. I don't want you to take that the wrong way." We're so sure Giff is upset about not getting Bloomberg kisses! And it was apparently Quinn's idea for the photo op on the steps of City Hall.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continued to show how different she is from former Speaker Gifford Miller by backing part of the Mayor's garbage plan. The plan includes creating a recycling plant at pier 52 (near Gansevoort - and right in Hudson River Park, where the trucks are parked), converting the recycling plant at 59th Street and Hudson into a commercial waster station, and then putting a residential waste station at East 91st and the East River.

- A Gothamist tipper says that there are state troopers turning people away from the Comic-Con. Anybody know anything more?

The City Council is considering increasing the number of terms members serve from two to three, without voter input. Outgoing City Council speaker Gifford Miller says that the limits should stay (or that voters be consulted) but wait! Miller got the increasing-the-number-of-terms machine working himself. Blog PO Boss has been tracking the term limits issue, trying to remind New Yorkers why this is a big deal. Its sibling blog, Backroomie, has been following other City Council rumblings, like who will become the next City Council Speaker - you know, someone who will shoot down 85% of whatever the Mayor will say - and has some great City Council insider info, plus this fun glossary.

If there is one thing that your average group of politicians can agree on it would be a general dislike of term limits. So it should come as no surprise that if you put a bunch of politicians with voter-referendum-imposed term limits onto a governing body, say a City Council, they would do their darndest to nix those limits, or at least reduce them, without involving their constituents.

Perennial outsider political candidate Christopher X. Brodeur has been arrested (for the 20th time). Here at Gothamist we're treated to a few of Chris' amusing emails every week. We've always enjoyed reading them, because he hates politicians from both political parties (this picture is from last year's 9/11 Commission hearings, right before he was dragged and thrown out), as well as most journalists (especially those at the New York Press, where he seems to work), and he uses a lot of exclamation points and CAPITAL LETTERS. Sure, they often rant a little bit, but if you love New York politics, they are always a fun read. Jessica Delfino, CXB's campaign manager, sent this morning's missive, because CXB was already in handcuffs (we're not sure, but we think the charge is related to the harassment charges that the Bloomberg administration brought against Brodeur a few months back.) But let's let Christopher speak for himself:

Fernando Ferrer gleefully accepted the Local 1199 (the biggest health care union) endorsement and invoked the tale of David and Goliath. Meaning Mayor Bloomberg is Goliath, a Goliath built of money. Ferrer also asked Bloomberg to not spend so much and "Come on out and go mano a mano with me." Gothamist is unsure whether or not Bloomberg would know what mano a mano is; Bloomberg seems to be all about the minions. The Times reports that the Mayor working on his Democrats-for-Bloomberg theme by distancing himself from the President in order to fight the surprisingly united Democratic party. Well, remember that Bloomberg was trailing Ferrer in earlier polls; in 2003, two-thirds of New Yorkers wanted another Mayor, when his approval rating was at 32%.

Well, would you look at that: When the four Democratic mayoral candidates bands together and supports Fernando Ferrer, the Bloomberg campaign gets worried. Ferrer was joined by C. Virginia Fields, Gifford Miller, and the runner-up in the primary, Anthony Weiner, in what Newsday called a "unity ritual" at City Hall, to show that the city's Democratic party could hold hands and that only they could fight the billionaire Mayor. The Mayor's team scrambled to paint him as being in touch with the common man by having Mayor Bling hold a press conference with Reverend Calvin Butts, the influential preacher in the African American community, who praised the Mayor and said the city shouldn't change its path. Fun fact: They met at the Harlem IHOP.

- Fernando Ferrer holds hands with Anthony Weiner, Gifford Miller and C. Virginia Fields at City Hall and fail to do the Voltron formation

It's deja vu all over again! In the recent Democratic mayoral primaries, runoffs were threatened and this year's was no exception as campaigns squirmed in too-close-to-call limbo. While former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer has essentially 40% of the vote needed to avoid a runoff, he's about 0.04-0.05% short of a perfect, unequivocal 40%, which translates to a handful of votes. And Congressman Anthony Weiner, who has 29%, will be demanding that every vote be counted, including 8,422 valid absentee ballots. Which means that the results for the Democratic primary might not be known for days, even a week. Ferrer was in the odd position of being so close to victory, but not guaranteed of it, last night at his party, while Weiner's party got more interesting as Ferrer's numbers dropped.

Okay, here's a 11PM check on the votes: With 5999 precincts of 6033 precincts reporting, it seems like Fernando Ferrer has a 39.99% of the vote, with Anthony Weiner snatching up 28.9%. C. Virginia Fields has 15.89% and Gifford Miller has 10.19%. That is some ouchy for the Miller campaign. If these numbers hold, then there will be a runoff. Ferrer originally had a pretty substantial lead (with 500-some precincts reporting, his lead was 44% to Weiner's 28%), but Weiner gained enough. A WNBC reporter said that Weiner will probably ask for the votes be to recanvassed, to make sure they stay under 40%. So it's very exciting!

Okay, so it's crunch time for the Democratic mayoral candidates, with just hours until the polls open tomorrow and New Yorkers (hopefully) go and vote for a Democratic candidate. Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer received an endorsement from Reverend Al Sharpton yesterday, which helps his frontrunner status, but many polls show the Congressman Anthony Weiner is right at Ferrer's heels - and that Ferrer still might not be able to avoid a runoff. While a lot of polls and surveys seem to indicate that Mayor Bloomberg is uncommonly popular for a Republican mayor in our blue city, the NY Times finds some voters that do want him out but, as ever, it comes down to who will actually come out and vote. The big questions are the middle-class (Miller or Weiner) and African-American population (Fields, Ferrer, or maybe even Weiner?). What Gothamist has been finding interesting in this final stretch is that we've been noticing the NY Post has been talking up Congressman Anthony Weiner's chances a lot, perhaps trying to sway voters to force Ferrer into a run-off. The latest stories about Gifford Miller seem to be more about his finance troubles, and C. Virginia Fields seems to have faded completely. Gothamist thinks it's too close to call whether or not there will be a primary. What do you think will happen tomorrow?

-Finally, Tuesday's election is expected to have an anemic turnout. Prove them wrong and vote (y'know, if you're registered).

: Gothamist's imagining this conversation Mayor Bloomberg with some students at Queens Vocational High School in Long Island City. Seriously, how must it be to sit next to the Mayor at lunch? Probably difficult to eat, since all the media is watching your every move.

It was the Democratic mayoral hopefuls' second-to-last-debate-gasp to get in some good punches, but it was actually kind of boring because the answers were 25 seconds. Former Bronx Borough President and frontrunner Fernando Ferrer, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Congressman Anthony Weiner mainly tried to attack the Mayor whose popularity with Democrats is confounding their campaigns. And with Hurricane Katrina very much the top story of the news, they all said the Mayor's plans in the event of a disaster woudl be "muddled". The NY Times noted that the candidates "in many cases they either overstated their own accomplishments, exaggerated problems facing the city or did not have sufficient backup for their claims about the state of the city." Read the transcripts here and here's Gotham Gazette's handy primer on the Mayoral race.

- A woman was stole $40,000 from the PTA - "including money raised by children selling candy for a new computer room"; damn, some of those kids really are raising money from selling candy

On what was surely one of the most beautiful "last day of the summer" in recent memory, millions of people celebrated in Brooklyn at the 38th West Indian American Day Carnival and Parade. While people with roots in the Caribbean were the main participants, they weren't the only ones: The NY Times reported that "four rabbinical students donned do-rags with the colors of the Jamaican flag." And Gothamist's favorite quote comes from Newsday, where Jason Ridges said, "I'm not from any island but Coney Island. This is the one day of the year I can feel Caribbean."

As the disaster that is the wake of Hurricane Katrina understandably continues to dominate the media, the Times takes a look at what the sudden dearth of local news coverage will do for the September 13 Democratic Mayoral Primaries. Candidates have historically depended on a slow Labor day news cycle in order to attract attention for one last media blitz. This year was no different until Katrina hit. Suddenly Miller, Weiner and Fields, who are all hoping for a shot to go against front-runner Ferrer in a run-off, have to take a step back to allow news coverage to go where it is clearly needed. This effectively kills their last campaigning weekend as none of the candidates will be doing heavy campaigning next weekend in honor of 9/11. The consultants that the Times spoke to seem to think this will work out in Ferrer's favor, lowering the chances of a run-off. But does anyone else find it odd that the Times not only ran an article saying that Hurricane coverage is bad for the other candidates but also, in the same issue, ran an editorial endorsing Ferrer AND ran an article pointing out that it ran an editorial endorsing Ferrer? Is that normal?

A woman passed out not once but twice during the Mayor's press conference about Summer Success Academy. During the woman's second collapse, Mayor Bloomberg actually "rushed to her side," perhaps concerned how it would look if a constituent, though a government employee in the Department of Education, fainted twice during his speech. And luckily the woman woke up a few seconds later - no need for CPR or anything! No word on whether or not the paramedics checked on other audience members (they could have been doing the "sleep with eyes open" thing), but the woman will be fine. [Related: The NY Times on how it has been hard for the Mayor's rivals to challenge him on education issues.]

Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields is featured in the third mayoral hopeful profile from the NY Times (which means we'll be reading about Congressman Anthony Weiner next week). The article notes that she's nice, "immaculately turned out," and, so far, not very firm when it comes to taking sides in a issue. The article is filled with examples of Fields's good nature but not exactly distinctive political career:

When Percy E. Sutton, the Harlem business mogul and a fund-raiser for Ms. Fields, was asked to name her most memorable achievement, he paused, searching for an answer. "I just know I admire her because she stands up for causes," he said at last.

The Politicker points out that in Times reporter Randal Archibold's slideshow, Archibold says, "She’s good-natured. She just generally seems a very nice person...[hesitates, then adds with a gentle laugh]...which, in New York City, is not always an asset when you’re campaigning." Ouch - but she was trying to calm Weiner down during Sunday's debate by placing her hand on his. New Yorkers, whether they admit it or not, seem to like tough or extreme mayors (even though Ed Koch was all "How am I doing?" he was pretty extreme - he didn't want a second area code for the city because he thought it would divide the city!, Rudy Giuliani was thought of as a near-fascist before September 11, and Mayor Bloomberg, well, he's extremely rich), and a nice lady from Birmingham whose fierceness only appears occasionally probably won't make the cut come September 13.

With a day to think about Tuesday night's Democratic debate, people are wondering what will happen at the next debate. Will the candidates be able to emerge as distinct candidates? The NY Times has the optimistic outlook, with pundits thinking that things can only get more exciting. Well, we can always hope the candidates will wander off message - our bet's on C. Virginia Fields to do that first. But Fields did sound the first more critical salvo (this side of Anthony Weiner calling Fernando Ferrer's plans from the '70s), essentially calling Weiner and Gifford Miller weak for saying NYC is better now than it was four years ago ("Why are they running now?"), which is clever in that "make the two white, middle class guys seem the same" mode. Mayor Bloomberg is on the attack, even though his approval numbers are extremely high (for him), by holding up a picture of Gifford Miller and saying the City Council Speaker has yet to pass the noise code he said he would pass over a year ago. Miller says that the Mayor should just do his own job and answer the questions he and other Council members asked. Yeah, we're kind of glazing over this too.

The first official Democratic candidate mayoral debate took place last night with all four candidates, including Congressman Anthony Weiner who had been passed a kidney stone earlier in the day. After that, we can only imagine the debate was a walk in the park! The NY Times has a transcript of the debate, but there's nothing like seeing City Council Speaker Gifford Miller get all pissy when asked if he would send his kids to public school (they attend private pre-K now). Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer tried to redirect criticism from himself to the Mayor, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields was the only candidate to eagerly say she wanted the Reverend Al Sharpton's endorsement, and Weiner came away with the best one-liners. All in the all, the debate was kind of boring, like the candidates themselves; the Observer's Ben Smith and Lizzy Ratner explain the problems with all the candiates, including Mayor B, in an article today called the "Aristo-Democrats," with the most frightening cartoon EVER.

Gothamist learns something new everyday! In today's NY Times profile of City Council Speaker and mayoral hopeful Gifford Miller, not only did we find out his first name is Alan, it turns out that Miller is also the one who worked on the "investigation into vastly understated calorie counts in some of the city's best-selling frozen yogurt brands" a few years ago! Oh, to be living in those simple days again.