Results tagged “manhattanboroughpresidentc”

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.

The Campaign Finance Board's records show that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has not reimbursed her government drivers for driving her to campaign events. Newsday points out that Fields hasn't "paid for gas or parking used during those appearances" and that in the past week, only two of her many events were job-related. Fields' campaign manager, Chung Seto, claims that the drivers/city will be reimbursed, but she doesn't know why it's taking so long. Just like she didn't know why the flyer was Photoshopped, eh? Actually, the practice of using a city government car for campaign events is common, as long as the city is reimbursed is common (City Council Speaker had his police detail drive him around). Congressman Anthony Weiner's campaign took the opportunity to say that while he has a congressional car, Weiner uses his own hybrid car to get to campaign events.

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.

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.

- And in a style update, Newsday's political blog, Politarazzi, learns that Mayor Bloomberg has been wearing a worn, leather jacket for over a year. Politarazzi first thought the leather jacket was the brainchild of a stylist for the Mayor's campaign brochure, to have the Mayor fit in with blue collared types. Gothamist guarantees that leather jacket was artfully distressed by only the most expensive jacket distressers...there's no way Bloomberg's staff went to Sears to pick up a jacket for him.

Last night, Gothamist headed to the mayoral forum held by Parks 1, the non-profit that is working to make NYC's parks the number one in the nation by trying to get the city goverment to commit 1% of the city's budget to the parks. (You can sign the pledge here.) Four of the potential candidates appeared: Former Bronx Borough President Ferando Ferrer, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, and former Queens City Councilman Thomas Ognibene. Congressman Anthony Weiner had agreed to come, but he was stuck in D.C. (legislation!), and Mayor Bloomberg was invited but did not attend. The discussion covered topics like how the candidates would deal with poorly maintained parks, vehicles in parks, and community gardens. Also, the candidates had other ideas about revenue to support and maintain the parks besides the 1% idea, because 1% of the city's budget is a huge chunk of change (we think it's about $500 million, based on the 2006, but we're still trying to figure out how the parks line item works). While the candidates tried to emphasize their commitment to New York and the parks, Gothamist began to think about who might be left standing this fall.

Every so often, Gothamist gets passionate emails from Christopher X. Brodeur, who is running for mayor, about Mayor Bloomberg being corrupt. And yesterday, Brodeur sent us something about how a flier that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields put together had Asians Photoshopped into it. As Gothamist had trouble opening the attachment and needed to rest up for the bid anticlimax that was the 2012 Olympics announcement, we had to wait for today's Post story with Fields's chief consultant admitting the whole picture was doctored:

Fields' chief consultant Joseph Mercurio said that the photo in the handout — "Virginia Fields, Democrat, a Mayor for All New Yorkers" — is actually four separate pictures that were melded together into one. Mercurio said the fake photo was intended to represent Fields' "inclusiveness."

Continue reading "Photoshop Fun for Fields"

When Gothamist wants fluff pieces in the papers, we prefer them to involve food. So we greeted the Daily News' awesome political fluff piece with glee, as it detailed what kinds of ice creams the mayoral hopefuls like - if you can't be bothered to study the issues, then vote for the candidate whose cold dessert treat views align yours! Mayor Bloomberg like lemon ices from the Lemon Ice King of Corona, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller favors banana (B-A-N-A-N-A) ice cream from Emack and Bolio's, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields enjoys Haagen-Dazs rum raisin, former Bronx Beep Fernando Ferrer crosses boroughs for Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory's French Vanilla and Queens GOPster Thomas Ognibene loves butter pecan from his borough's Eddie's Sweet Shop. But the best explanation came from Representative Anthony Weiner:

Representative Anthony Weiner of Brooklyn frequents Uncle Louie G when he's in the mood for ice cream (the chain has multiple locations in the city), and he always gets mint chocolate chip. Weiner has warm childhood memories of eating the frosty stuff.

Continue reading "Ice Cream For Politicians"

The hits keep coming for former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer: City Councilman Charles Barrons says Ferrer should get out of the mayoral race and support Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia's Field mayoral bid. Barron says Ferrer is "free-falling and it's not going to stop." For his part, Ferrer says he has a right to run. And, Gothamist would imagine, a right to lose. But things aren't that cheery for Ferrer, not to mention the other Democratic challengers. There's a NY Times article about NYC Democrats hoping for a stronger candidate to emerge from somewhere else (Al Sharpton! Bill Clinton!), followed by an item on how mustaches aren't taken very seriously:

Indeed, in some political circles, Mr. Ferrer is being compared to Groucho Marx and some consultants are saying that the real lessons that he should absorb from the recent win of the clean-shaven Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles are his grooming habits.

Where's the Queer Eye gang? And Gothamist would like to point out that our readers have thought Ferrer looks like Floyd the Barber. Even Donny Deutsch thinks Ferrer should lose the 'stache althoghter, but he did not comment about whether or not Ferrer should wear tight, nipply T-shirts. And to wrap-up our Ferrer news, he likes Donald Trump's plans for the World Trade center, even though he previously wanted to decentralize office space so terrorists wouldn't have a target.

Even though the four main Democratic mayoral hopefuls debated yesterday, the election big news is how Mayor Bloomberg has spent $10 million so far in his re-election campaign. A 10-day ad blitz will begin midweek, and the NY Times reports that the ads will "stress 9/11 and leadership." However, the "mindboggling" thing is millions have been spent to get demographic and psychographic information from a polling firm to delve into the pysches of New Yorkers. The Mayor's opponents had various comments about the Mayor being able to spend like a maniac since he's not privy to campaign finance laws, such as how he's buying the election, he must not be confident if he has to spend so much, that he's totally out of touch with the constituency; the Democratic hopefuls have, at most, raised $500,000 in the past two months while the Mayor put over $6 million into his campaign in the same period. Giving his positive approval numbers these days, we expect the Mayor to attempt to say the course as the frontrunner, with his staff emphasizing though the Mayor is rich, he still rides the subway!

With the election two hundred days away (or just about that, depending on how you count), the mayoral race is starting to get into get kicked into high gear. Former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone of Queens endorsed City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. NY1 points out the scary thing about the Vallone-Miller connection, aside from both having Speaker experience: "Miller finds himself in a similar position as Vallone did four years ago. In 2001, Vallone constantly trailed in the polls and eventually lost the Democratic Primary." Yikes!

Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer's campaign suffered a blow as two top aides resigned yesterday, due to "strategic differences." That sounds like a death knell of a campaign to Gothamist! Earlier this week, a Marist poll revealed that Ferrer had slipped significantly, with Mayor Bloomberg now leading; plus, his lead over Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields was also much smaller. The two aides were the director of commucations and a senior media adviser, apparently frustrated that their "advice was being ignored," according to the NY Times. Political consultant Hank Sheinkopf also tells the Times Ferrer has to "change the discussion" from being just about his flip-flopping Amadou Diallo remarks. We can hear Fields', Miller's, and Weiner's own campaign operatives figuring out ways to stir up the discussion about that to neutralize Ferrer and make their own runs for the Democratic nod.

If you see a slight spring in Mayor Bloomberg's step, it might be due to the latest poll from Marist College which puts him, for the first time this year (we think), ahead of any Democratic candidates in a hypothetical Mayoral matchup. The Mayor had been trailing behind former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer earlier this year, but it seems like the tide has turned for now, with the Mayor leading Ferrer 51% to 38%, up from Bloomberg's 42% to Ferrer's 49% last month. It's unclear what exactly caused the Mayor's bump, but it could be the Mayor's seemingly endless supply of campaign money or Ferrer's Amadou Diallo remarks, which the press has helped keep front of mind. And Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields looks like she's gaining steam, with 30% of Democrats supporting her, 34% supporting Ferrer.

The big news rocking the world of Democratic mayoral hopefuls is that Reverend Al Sharpton won't endorse a candidate this year. In other words, the Reverend Al is just like Gothamist and many other voters: Wondering if there are any strong messages in the Democratic candidates. He noted that this will be the first time in 20 years he will not be involved in a Democratic primary, but, of course, Sharpton did leave himself an escape chute, he'd reconsider if a candidate seemed to shape up. Sharpton also noted that former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer's remarks about Amadou Diallo didn't help things. Gothamist is shocked that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields or even City Council Speaker Gifford Miller didn't try even harder to rise to the challenge of getting Sharpton's endorsement, because his support could have really helped solidify them in the race.

During yesterday's Crain's New York sponsored forum, mayoral candidates tried to stake out their positions in the crowded field people who just wanna beat Mayor Mike. To summarize: Representative Anthony Weiner attacked former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer's plan to tax stock transactions; Ferrer attacked the Mayor's rehaul of the school system; City Council Speaker Gifford Miller talked about transit issues; Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields spoke about education and community-police relations. And all candidates attacked Wal-Mart's intentions to move into NYC. Yeah, it's sadly still sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher. The NY Times' also notes that Fields and Ferrer's jabs show that their "non-aggression pact" has fallen to the wayside, which makes sense for Fields, since she probably wants to try to beat Ferrer. In the next month, Gothamist hopes someone will step up.

Yesterday, the seven mayoral candidates for Mayor converged in Queens to speak at the Northeast Queens Jewish Community Council. Mayor Bloomberg left after giving opening remarks, giving some of the other attendees (Democrats Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Representative Anthony Weiner; Republicans investment banker Scott Shaw and Thomas Ognibene of Queens) opportunity to slam him. Weiner ragged on how Bloomberg was there for such a short period (Bloomberg says he had other activities; this ">Post picture proves he needed to be in a Greek parade with some youngin's) while others sounded the usual things against him: The West Side Stadium, education reform that hasn't quite jelled, being a billionaire, bad housing policy, and being Manhattan-centric.

And the NY Times looks at the campaign of Fields, and the state of women in NYC politics. Gothamist would like to know where the heck is Fields' campaign website - all we can find is her website as Manhattan Borough President.

It must be nutty at the Mayor's posh campaign headquarters, because both a NY1/Newsday poll and a Marist/WNBC poll show Fernando Ferrer leading by considerable amounts. The NY1/Newsday poll shows by a Ferrer lead of 14 points (49% to Bloomberg's 35%), and the WNBC Marist poll has Ferrer with 49% and Bloomberg at 42%. Mayor Bloomberg would beat all other Democratic challengers after Ferrer; Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields leads the others. However, while Ferrer's numbers look great against Bloomberg, he still doesn't have the 40% of the Democratic vote that would eliminate the need for a Democratic runoff: According to NY1, he's got 35%, with Fields at 15%, Weiner 8%, and Miller 7%. Damn, Weiner and Miller are really low. Anyway, Fields' campaign says that Fields would probably win a runoff, and Ferrer may suffer some backlash from his remarks about Amadou Diallo's death.

Newsday has an interesting look at the parking-meters-during-church issue, aka "pay to pray," and how it's affecting Mayor Bloomberg. To remind everyone, Ferrer said that churchgoers should not be expected to pay parking meters on Sundays, because it's a day of worship, while the Mayor pointed out that Sunday revenue has been critical...needless to say, this has galvanized churchgoers. Mayor Bloomberg has conceded that they'll look into 2-hour meters in some areas, but, of course, opponents are pulling for more. Democratic political consultant Howard Wolfson says, "Look, it does not rise to the level of citywide importance as education or the stadium. That being said, it is clearly important to many churchgoing New Yorkers...It becomes just another proof point that he's an out-of-touch billionaire." Mayor Koch says the Mayor needs to drive home the issue more (it's true, the Mayor does seem to have danced around it, while Ferrer and church leaders are sounding off to the press), and even some other politicians agree that the parking meter revenue has helped.

Gothamist wonders if the televisions in the Mayor's office have access to all the tiny cameras that the Mayor's team must have installed over all the city.

Gothamist loves how "secret meetings" become unsecret. For example, the NY Times reveals that former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, both eyeing a run against Mayor Bloomberg this fall, secretly met last week and allegedly agreed not to attack each other. Part of the reasoning is probably because each candidate has support from attractive blocs of voters (Latinos for Ferrer; blacks and women for Fields), they want to make sure that they don't alienate anyone in the process. Ferrer is the leading Democratic candidate, and Fields apparently is second in many polls; however, Fields' campaign coffers are not as impressive as other candidates'. The NY Times also noted that Ferrer to trying to mobilize more national Democratic support by saying that the NYC Mayoralty should be a national goal, which is pretty foolproof thinking, because it is the biggest city in the country. And even though it's a blue city, NYC has still seen 12 years of Republican rule. Gothamist's money for the Democratic candidate is split between Ferrer and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. The debates should be very exciting; there might even be a runoff.

reports that at least one candidate has begun to rake in some contributions--and from fashionable donors, no less.