Results tagged “primaryday”

Today is Primary Day, with polls open between 6 a.m and 9 p.m. There are (mostly Democratic) races all over the city, whether for City Council seats or borough-wide office like Manhattan DA, but the big ones are the Mayoral, Public Advocate and City Comptroller competitions. Comptroller Bill Thompson and City Councilman are facing off in the Democratic mayoral primary; Councilmen Bill De Blasio and Eric Gioia, former Public Advocate Mark Green and civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel are fighting for the PA spot; and Council members Melinda Katz, John Liu, David Weprin and David Yassky are vying to be Comptroller. The winner must get 40% of the vote, or there will be a run-off. Only registered voters can vote in the primary; for more information, the Board of Elections and check out Gotham Gazette's Guide for the Last Minute (Primary) Voter. And experts think turnout will be low—15-18%, 450,000-500,000 people (1.1 million voted when it was Koch vs. Dinkins in 1989)—since there's no big mayoral matchup.

Today, the polls are open for this year's primary elections. Polls in NYC will close at 9 p.m., and you can find your polling location here (more info at NYC Board of Elections). There are a number of big races, and Gotham Gazette has its Guide for the Last Minute Voter: The 2008 Primary to help explain the issues in certain districts. Though millions "completely ignore the state primary elections," the NY Times reports, "this year’s primary offers a wealth of intrigue and action." One to watch: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is being challenged by two upstarts, Paul Newell and Luke Henry--the Post thinks the race might be close and the Daily News' Michael Daly writes those "who benefit most from...Silver's long tenure in office are not those who live in his lower Manhattan district, but the suburbanites who drive through it."

If you're a registered Democrat or Republican, you can head to your voting location to cast your vote in primary elections in your district. There are a number of hotly contested seats (here's a list of candidates PDF): Real World alum Kevin Powell is hoping to usurp longtime Representative Edolphus Towns in Brooklyn, City Council members Simcha Felder and Kendall Stewart are hoping for Kevin Parker's State Senate seat in Brooklyn, Daniel Squadron challenging State Senator Martin Connor in Manhattan and Paul Newell to looking to defeat Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, also in Manhattan.

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!

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:

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Get ready to rumble: Tonight is the first of two public meetings to discuss the Atlantic Yards project - but this is the only public hearing, where comments will be recorded into the record (a public forum will be held on September 12 - Primary Day - and it's unclear whether testimony with be recorded). While the Empire State Development Corporation seems to support this project no matter what, it's important for residents to speak up. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn is asking that anyone attending read up on the project by checking out sites like Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, Brooklyn Papers and Atlantic Yards Report. And here is the link for the ESDC-issued hundreds and hundreds of pages about the project.

This must a be a new one: A drug dealer kidnapped beacuse her clients "wanted to teach her a lesson" was rescued by the police tracing her cell phone. Apparently Erica Rodriguez's drugs weren't good enough for three men who ended up kidnapping her from her Hamilton Heights home to East Flatbush. Two of the men got away, but the one that was arrested allegedly has a criminal justice degree (his landlord, who works for the Department of Correction, calls it "ironic"). No word on whether Rodriguez will be charged for selling drugs.

- More complaints about rats and infestation - a 40% jump since last year, even though the city has increased exterminations [Newsday]What's more, besides this year's MMR being released seemingly early, perhaps to light into today's primaries, the NY Post points out that there's an addendum in the report that compares how the city has done in 2001, before Mayor Mike, with these end-of-(first?)-term stats. But Mayor Bloomberg denied trying to steal some Primary Day spotlight, saying only, "Will it impact the election on Nov. 8? The public's supposed to judge this administration on whether or not they've done a good job, so of course they're going to look at this." Newsday adds that the Mayor's Primary Day Celebration will be at the Brooklyn Marriott.

The NY Times has a detailed article about the dilemma of some of the city's Democrats who are Bloomberg Democrats (because, if you will remember, the Mayor was originally a Democrat before he switched parties so he could actually run and win - he's a Democrat in Republican's clothing some say): What do they do on September 13, Primary Day? Do they vote for a candidate to sandbag Fernando Ferrer into a run-off? Do they vote to someone they (gasp!) might actually like? Or do they stay at home? The city's Democratic party is definitely at the nadir, if it's pretty much a game of rock, paper, scissors to figure out what to do at the polls. What's funny in that funny-sad way is many Bloomberg Democrats may make Anthony Weiner a beneficiary of their eh-ness about their own partiy's candidates, probably because Weiner hasn't had as many head-to-head clashes with the mayor as the other candidates who are city fixtures.