Governor Spitzer may have identified himself as a steamroller in his attempts to accomplish certain executive tasks, but he's got nothing on the former federal prosecutor and Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The NY Times has a colorful profile of the the former Mayor as a man who used his offices as bludgeons, crushing anyone who crossed him. When a chauffeur called into the Mayor's weekly radio show in 1997, saying that the cops had established......

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and each of his parents kicked in about $16,000 a piece to pay off Mark Green's outstanding campaign debts, which he incurred while unsuccessfully running for Spitzer's old job as Attorney General in 2006. The $50,000 in payments exceed the Governor's self-imposed limit of contributions of $10,000, but he's making an exception because this is to pay off a past campaign debt, so is not really a campaign contribution. Plus, he and......

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's civilian life got a jolt: His company, Bloomberg L.P., was sued by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission for "a pattern or practice of demoting and reducing the pay of female employees after they announced their pregnancies and after they took maternity leave." Mayor Bloomberg had previously settled a lawsuit with a former Bloomberg L.P. employee, Sekiko Garrison. From a 2001 Village Voice story by Wayne Barrett:Garrison alleged that Bloomberg told her twice......

While there's no video of Mayor Bloomberg's Inner Circle Dinner performance online yet (though there's a YouTube clip of someone taping the CW 11's New at Ten - complete with giggling at Mayor Mike), the Daily News' Daily Politics did post this commercial for "Mayor Poppins." Elizabeth Benjamin writes, "My favorite part is Mark Green, playing himself and uttering a line so quintessentially Mark Green it's scary." NY1 said the annual skit spoofed "issues......

Though Rudy Giuliani may have been thrilled to have raised $15 million toward his presidential campaign during the first quarter, it turned out to be quite a bit less than the total haul by Republican rival Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor raised a whopping $23 million. However, Giuliani's team says that the former mayor raised $10 million in March alone, and Rudy himself said, "If I could do it all over again, I would......

The Politcker has been excerpting some parts of the new oral biography of Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani: Flawed or Flawless. The Reverend Al Sharpton had a lot to say about Rudy's chances for President and likens him to the Wizard of Oz, but we've decided to go for the cheap laugh and draw your attention to this "first impression" of the former mayor:Jay Goldberg, an attorney who represented several clients prosecuted by Giuliani in 1988: "It......

In a little more than two weeks, the ING NYC Marathon will take place. It's a little too late to sign up to run (unless you run for a charity - more here), but there are ways to get involved. One is to volunteer at the start of the race. Since the race starts early, volunteers are needed to help out at the start of the race in Staten Island - they will "help set......

With just 55 days left, the dance cards are set for the general election. As expected, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hillary Clinton won their respectives primaries for governor and Senate. The NY Times noted that Clinton's reosounding win showed that her support of the Iraq war did not affect voter sentiment:“Clinton’s work ethic, her lack of enemies, and her fund-raising help for other Democrats have insulated her from party criticism, including on......

Today is Primary Day in the city and state, with candidates for the Democratic and Republican tickets to be selected for Governor, Attorney General, Senate, Congress, and more. If you're registered to the Democratic or Republican party, you can vote! Some candidates are saying that the primary should be moved, because it falls so close to September 11 (remember how five years ago, September was Pimary Day?), which affects how much they can campaign.......

If you're a registered Democrat or Republican, get your primary shoes out. Here's a list of candidates (PDF), but the shortlist of primaries is: - Governor: For the Democrats, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer vs. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi - Attorney General: For the Democrats, Andrew Cuomo vs. Mark Green - Senate: For the Democrats, Senator Hillary Clinton vs. Jonathan Tasini; for the Repubilcans, John Spencer vs. Kathlen T. McFarland - Congress, 11th District in......

If there's a city parade, you bet it's an opportunity for politicians to get out to press the flesh. And yesterday's West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn was no different, with the primary showdown over the Congressional seat being vacated by Major Owens coming up next week. As it happens, the crowd in the Wyckoff Gardens Houses weren't too happy to hear Mayor Bloomberg and candidate-City Councilman David Yassky announce that $600,000 worth of......

Apparently the way to celebrate a NY Times endorsement in Mark Green's household is to get your email on. And by email, we mean "E-mail people that have endorsed Andrew Cuomo instead of Mark Green". The Daily Politics has an email that Green's daughter Jenya sent to one of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's aides, with Jenya criticizing Stringer for being "so totally controlled....and therefore unfit to hold office" and excerpting part of the Times......

The NY Times doled out two big endorsements for the upcoming Democratic primaries this weekend: One for Attorney General and the other for Governor. And Mark Green, the former city Public Advocate, gets the nod, even though the editoral starts out, "If there are excellent Democratic candidates for governor this year, the race to succeed Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is a lot more contentious and a lot less promising." Green's "prickly personality" is noted, as......

Today, there's an interesting NY Times feature on City Councilman John Liu which focuses on his zealous ability to have press conferences and issue press releases. Which is exactly what our readers noted when he got into the fight with DJ Star/Troi Torain over Torain's remarks on Hot 97 and when he held a press conference for three of the victims in the Queens hate crime incident last week. In fact, Liu's aggressive or pro-active......

With four weeks until the fifth anniversary of September 11, lots of magazines are rolling out their "September 11 think pieces." And New York devotes their cover feature to "What If 9/11 Never Happened?," with essays from a wide variety of people - Andrew Sullivan gives a faux blog, Slate's Supreme Court correspondent Dahlia Lithwick has a scary view of what the law would be like, writer Tom Wolfe (who suggests the same), deputy mayor......

- Cops caught a man on the terror watch list yesterday after writing him a fine for smoking on an elevated train platform. - Mark Green, clear! - A State Department worker "cruising down 34th Street with three scantily clad women" in a government car smashed into a taxi after ignoring a red light yesterday. - Silly NJTransit, running double-decker cars without making sure they'll fit. - Bartha Bartha might be dead and buried,......

- The "Trouble with Vito" series in the Daily News continues! Now it's a suspect photo of Congressman Vito Fossella with Sesame Street's Elmo and Rosito that has appeared in both re-election media and a "taxpayer-financed constituent mailing." Fossella's people say that muppet picture and other were "indvertently" used on a reelection website. Inadvertently or advertently so the Daily News could plaster it on the front page? - And Ben Smith at the Daily News......

Thousands of people (WNBC says 500,000!) lined Fifth Avenue and Greenwich Village streets to enjoy this year's Gay Pride Parade, in spite of a bit of rain. In fact, one performer on the "Carnival in Rio" float told the NY Times, "Today is our day. The rain won't stop us. Mother Nature is a drag queen." One of the stars of the parade was Kevin Aviance, the drag queen who was brutally beaten by......

Hundreds of thousands of revelers enjoyed the beautiful weather and celebrated during yesterday's Puerto Rican Day Parade. And this year's theme was, "Boricuas...We count, We Vote!" Though Marc Anthony was the Grand Marshal, the real attraction was his wife, Jennifer Lopez. Mayor Bloomberg, who marched with the couple, said, "In the pictures tomorrow, I will be lucky if I am noticed at all." Anthony and Lopez ultimately needed the help of Guardian Angels to......

To few people's surprise, NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was named the Democratic nominee this fall's Governor's race. And when you get the nomination, it's not just time to be kissy-poo - it's a time to get dirty. Some hilarious comments after Spitzer's nominations, via the NY Times:- Assemby Speaker Sheldon Silver called Governor Pataki's terms a "12-year-long plague." - Governor Pataki's office said, "After almost eight years as Shelly Silver's silent partner in......

- Yikes: The retired NYPD officer shot the retired Port Authority police officer to death yesterday because PA-cop was driving too slow - Mark Green is fined for attacking Andrew Cuomo while speaking at a more non-partisan event at Baruch - Two WCBS 2 employees were beaten while in St. Maarten - Good to know that even though NYU is super selective, they make sure things aren't too selective - A driver died when......

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......

Mayor Bloomberg has 52 points to Democratic challenger Fernando Ferrer's 38 points in the latest Quinnipiac Poll. While it's a "likely lead," one political consultant told the NY Post, "If that's [Ferrer's] bounce — uh-oh." Ferrer himself doesn't think these numbers "reflect the new Democratic party unity," as the numbers were mainly from before the primary, as The Politicker noted. Then why release them? Just to show movement next week? Hmm. And the Mayor gets......

- A man was shot dead near Bowery and Rivington early this morning; it may have been the result of some dispute at a club - iPod Subway Maps have been cease-and-desisted in NYC and San Fran! - Hell almost freezes over: Mark Green will campaign for Fernando Ferrer! - A downtown apartment co-op is reprimanding workers for speaking Spanish on the job; way to embrace the melting pot of New York - Will......

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......

Yesterday morning saw the second debate of the Democratic mayoral hopefuls and as it was hoped, this debate featured more zesty repartee. The debate was on a CBS 2 News set, with all the candidates sitting next to each other, which was a more intimate setting and perhaps made some of the candidates feel more comfortable to jostle with each other more. Congressman Anthony "Stickball" Weiner was in pitbull mode, with City Council Speaker......

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......

The Sundance Channel has a great triple bill tonight: Three documentaries that capture New York. At 8:00PM, Andrea Meller's 156 Rivington, about the neighborhood also known as "ABC No Rio," and the creative community that founded it, pre-gentrification (read an interview with Meller). Then, at 9PM, there is Robert Maass's Gotham Fish Tales, about those who fish along the city's waterfront (read an Dayton Jounral piece about the film - the word "Yankee" is used!).......

Former Public Advocate Mark Green has officially decided not to run again for mayor in 2005. NY1 reports Green is contemplating a run for attorney general, if current Attorney General Eliot Spitzer runs against Governor Pataki as expected. Green says, "I'd consider it, because the issue would be who could best continue Eliot Spitzer's record of advocacy for consumers, workers and shareholders, and that's what I've done my whole life." Before the 2001 Democratic Primary,......

Mayor Michael Bloomberg celebrated his improved ratings last night by helping christen the new Time Warner Center. Of course, for our mayor, improvement means essentially that as many like him as hate him (44% like to 45% hate). Still, it's a far way from his 31% approval rating last summer (as a Quinnipiac pollstersays, ""Mayor Bloomberg has climbed out of the cellar to just about even on the approval score"), even though, if an election......