Results tagged “publicadvocate”

It's Election Day and polls in NYC have been open since 6 a.m. and will close at 9 p.m. You can find your polling site here.

The candidates for public advocate must be feeling 8-track tape useless by now. Earlier this year, Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council made the call to cut the public advocate's budget from $2.9 million to a meager $1.8 million, and now the mayor is visiting far off places (or, Staten Island) to talk trash about the little-known position.

After losing big to Bill deBlasio in last week's public advocate runoff election, Mark Green is saying that he is out of politics for good...again. Green says his defeat came down to two factors: "Turnout; the array of forces. Period." Always the gracious loser, he added, "I was surprised and disappointed that the other side's operation overwhelmed my record and optimism." Green says he will go back to writing and his work at Air America. His daughter told him now he can go back to what he's good at—with there now being one thing we can all safely rule out that is not.

Last night, the Democratic candidates for Public Advocate and City Comptroller were decided in runoff elections: City Councilman Bill de Blasio won the Public Advocate race, with 63% of the vote while Councilman John Liu won the Comptroller matchup with 56% of the vote. While they will face Republican challengers in the November election (Alex Zablocki for PA, Joseph Mendola for Comptroller), de Blasio and Liu are expected to win, given NYC's overwhelming majority of Democratic voters.

Today, the Democrat candidates for NYC Public Advocate and City Comptroller will be decided today in runoff elections, because no candidate received at least 40% of the vote during September 15's primary. In the PA race, it's City Councilman Bill de Blasio vs. former Advocate Mark Green (in the primary, de Blasio got 32% to Green's 31%), and in the Comptroller race, it's City Councilmen John Liu (who got 38%) vs. David Yassky (30%). If you're a registered Democrat, go vote—because it's costing the city millions anyway!

Now that there are two runoff elections tomorrow—one for Public Advocate and the other for City Comptroller—it's believed that the city will shell out over $14 million (including matching funds to candidates) to hold the elections. And only 10% of the city's 3.1 million Democrats are expected to head to the polls.

Mark Green went on the attack in last night's public advocate debate, linking his rival Bill de Blasio to the recently scandalized group, ACORN. Up until now, Green has attempted to cruise back into the advocate office based on name recognition and the harshest criticism toward de Blasio has come from Charles Barron (who was not even in the race!). But during last night's debate, Green said, "The Working Families party and ACORN put $30,000 in his pocket, so when they come and visit him at City Council who is he working for? You or his employers?"

With only a few days left before the public advocate runoff, the biggest question in the race seems to be: do you feel comfortable with Mark Green because he's already had the job or would you rather just see him go away like he promised three years ago? Green and Bill de Blasio are tied in the polls at 46 percent going into Tuesday's contest, expected to get miniscule turnout after only ten percent of Dems turned out for last week's primary.

Last night, primary returns showed that City Councilman Bill de Blasio earned 33% of the vote, with former Public Advocate Mark Green getting 31%. While both men will now be in a run-off (on September 29) since neither got 40%, the analysis is that de Blasio's results were surprising—the Daily News writes that he "pulled out a much better performance than the pre-primary polls suggested"—while there will be "hand-wringing" at Green's campaign headquarters. de Blasio told his campaign staffers, "You pulled off one miracle: You can do it again in two weeks," while Green said, "Because we've gone from a cluttered four-way race to a clarified head-to-head contest, I sure will contrast my story as a lifelong, independent consumer advocate, fighting for the middle class, and his proven record as a lifelong political insider." The other challengers in the race were Councilman Eric Gioia, who 18%, Norman Siegel, with 14%, and Imtiaz Syed with 3%.

According to the results going up at NY1, Bill Thompson scored a landslide victory over his opponents in the race for the Democratic mayoral nomination, leading Tony Avella by more than fifty percent. In other races, it looks like no one has reached the coveted 40% mark for Public Advocate or Comptroller— so you can look forward to a run-off election on September 29th. John Liu is currently in the lead for the Comptroller nod, with 38% to David Yassky's 30%. And in a surprising upset, Bill de Blasio has a 2% lead over Mark Green in the Public Advocate race, with 95% of the precincts reporting. In the battle for Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, D.A. Robert Morgenthau's preferred successor, easily beat Leslie Crocker Snyder 43% to 30%. In City Council race news, Alan Gerson appears to have lost District 1 to Margaret Chin, and Steve Levin seems to have scored a victory over a crowded field in District 33, which represents parts of Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. More tomorrow!

Last night was the second debate for what might be the sleeper race in the city-wide elections this fall, the four-way contest for public advocate. While the first debate wound up being a Mark Green pile on, this one saw mud being slung in every which direction after the recent momentum and attention gained by the biggest fund raiser and endorsement-getter, Bill de Blasio. The candidates showed they were hungry for the second highest elected position in the city, a job Councilman Simcha Fielder recently suggested should be done away with.

If you're a local news junkie, you've probably seen TV spots from Public Advocate candidate Bill de Blasio around his Park Slope home that prominently featuring his family, who in case you missed it, include his African-American wife and their two children. Well, now his fellow City Councilman Charles Barron accuses him of pandering to the black community with campaign ads.

Last night, the Democratic candidates for NYC Public Advocates squared off for a WABC 7-televised debate, and it got good fast: Within 10 minutes, City Councilman Bill de Blasio attacked frontrunner and former Public Advocate Mark Green, "I have to say, with all due respect to Mark Green, he has a little amnesia. He did not stand up to Rudy Giuliani when it mattered most, when Rudy Giuliani wanted to stay on for 90 days at the end of 2001. Mark caved in to him for political reasons.” Green retorted, "There was not any public official in the eight years of Rudy Giuliani who stood up to him more often and more successfully." Green also told moderator Diane Williams, "Diane, let Bill attack me one more time because he needs it emotionally."

Yesterday, it was revealed that City Councilman Bill De Blasio was kicked off the ballot for the Public Advocate primary. Why? The Daily Politics' Elizabeth Benjamin, which calls the city's petition rules "infamously archaic and exacting," explains, "One false move - a misplaced numeral or missing period - and you're dead, which is why campaigns spend so much money on election attorneys. In this case, the problem was that de Blasio's cover sheet claimed there were 131 volumes of petitions, when in reality there were 132. This may seem trivial, but it was sufficient grounds for the rejection of all the Brooklyn Democrat's 125,000+ signatures." De Blasio's campaign believes that the issue can be resolved with the Board of Elections, and all three of his Democratic opponents told PolitickerNY that he should be on the ballot: Norman Siegel said, "Technicalities should not prevent a candidate from being on the ballot," and Mark Green chimed in with, "This super-technical violation shouldn't keep him off the ballot - but should lead to reforming ballot access laws," and Gioia said, "If he met all the requirements he should be put back on the ballot. Regardless, our campaign will continue to move ahead at full speed no matter what the courts decide."

Over the weekend, we had an up close and personal sighting of original Public Advocate Mark Green getting signatures for his petition at the Fairway on the Upper West Side (people seemed more focused on groceries than government). The Times was there as well for what Green's political director called "a humbling experience" for the candidate who was mistaken for Scott Stringer at one point and got the reaction from one woman, "It’s very sad. It’s like he can’t get another job." And she was a supporter! The campaign is a strange one for the man fighting the public's "Green Fatigue" after campaigns during his public advocate reign in the '90s and unsuccessful bids against Bloomberg and Cuomo this decade. Despite an early lead in the polls, Green has raised a fraction of his opponents' war chests. And there's even a humble tone coming from the man who is usually quick to tell you he came up with the idea for 311, saying, “Why would I have a press conference and have no one come? Who wants to come listen to the Mark Green economic development plan?”

Last week, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum criticized the Public Advocate's budget being cut from $2.8 million to $1.7 million. She even claimed the reduction was "political payback" from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, because Gotbaum opposed extending term limits. Yesterday, the five candidates who wish to succeed Gotbaum—and one of whom will have to deal with a 40% smaller budget—appeared together to protest the cut which goes into effect on July 1. The NY Times reports, "The issue was not food stamps, or reproductive rights for women, or child abuse, or any of the other topics the public advocate’s office is generally involved in...The cut, [the candidates] concurred, was so draconian that it threatened the existence of the office, which functions, as mandated by the City Charter, as a government ombudsman and watchdog." Former Public Advocate Mark Green, who is running again, asked, “Why has only the watchdog over City Hall been cut 40 percent?"

Yesterday, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum claimed the 40% reduction in her office's budget—from $2.8 million to $1.7 million— was "political payback" from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Why? Because Gotbaum opposed extending term limits, which Quinn supported. PolitickerNY reports that Gotbaum, who is not running for re-election, "said she will not lay off any of her 40 employees, but may leave some positions vacant in order to save money for whomever succeeds her." She added, "I find it appalling that the speaker could not find the money to restore my budget but did have $17 million to hand out. The speaker can get the money from wherever she is parking those funds." Gotbaum's complaints led the Post create a Gotbaum-baby Photoshop (pictured, but larger version here); the Post also reports that Quinn retorted, "Why did the mayor cut the public advocate's office? Betsy, the public advocate, should take her question there...I can't speak to her anger level, today or in comparison to any other days." The mayor's office suggested Gotbaum...speak to the City Council.

Yesterday began Mark Green's quest to become Public Advocate once again. And he can already claim one victory, apparently pushing out Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell who said, "I don't think Mark Green can be beaten." That still leaves a crowded field of Democrats vying for the office including Councilmen Bill DiBlasio, Eric Giola and John Liu who all appear to be pushing forward in their bids.

Mark Green, who served at NYC Public Advocate between 1994 and 2001, will run for the position this fall, according to NY1. Green, who won the Democratic nod in the 2001 mayoral election but fell against Michael Bloomberg, currently serves as president of Air America (which is owned by his brother, real estate developer Stephen Green). He said, "Given the extraordinary economic crisis, it's especially urgent that the person who's the next public advocate, the number two citywide office holder, the investigator of city services, be a person who's shown that he or she can get results and have innovative ideas, has a track record, and understands how to make New York a cutting edge, 21st century city." The P.A. race is heating up: City Council member Bill De Blasio already announced his candidacy and other Democrats interested are Council members Eric Gioia and John Liu.

After Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum announced she would not run for a third term in 2009, the race for the seat was officially on. City Council member Bill de Blasio thinks he's right for the job--his 2009 election website, which once announced his campaign for Brooklyn Borough President, now highlights out his experience organizing people against the term limits extension. Speaking with City Room, de Blasio said of his possible, rumored opponents, including fellow Council members John Liu and Eric Gioia (who has raised $2 million), Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV and lawyer Norman Siegel, "It's a strong field of candidates, a group of quality people. In a way, you wish there were more elections in this city with this kind of a field of strong candidates."

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum says she will not seek re-election next year. Gotbaum, who is in her second term and opposes the term limits extension passed by the City Council last week, told the NY Times, "It would be very hard for me to benefit from something that I fundamentally disagree with." She also mentioned that her stepdaughter-in-law's death at the Phoenix airport influenced her decision to step down. This means there will be a heated race for the position (which reviews problems and complaints of residents, community boards, etc.) --a few names mentioned by the Times are City Council members Eric Gioia, John Liu, and Bill de Blasio as well as lawyer Norman Siegel.

An email from the office of New York City’s Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum asked, “What sort of stuff do you guys generally look for from elected officials?” You never know until you see it, but this is definitely it: the Public Advocate Community Van, which was donated to the office by Keyspan and pimped out by a local artist.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum announced findings of a new report that reveal public school students are getting much, much less physical education than they should be. Based on data from 100 randomly selected schools, only 4% of third graders and only 12% of fourth graders participated in daily mandated P.E. classes.

Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council may not agree on the appropriateness of cell phones in public schools, but the DoE is now handing out cell phones to a select group of students. The privately funded pilot program will give cell phones to students and reward positive behavior, such as showing up to class, behaving and doing well.

Sure, the 2008 election is exciting, but hundreds of candidates are expected to run for city office next year.

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.

Mayor Bloomberg's announcement that he would reduce the number of parking permits for civil servants by 20% has annoyed yet another group. Joining police officers, fire fighters, and other emergency workers are teachers.

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: multiple manhole fires on Marcy Ave. in Brooklyn, a shooting on Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx, and a stabbing on 7th Ave. in Manhattan. The NYTimes examines the ground beneath our feet and finds out where the city's asphalt comes from and how it's produced. The lives, loves, and world of Second Lifers, where people inhabit a virtual world of their and others' making. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who...

The Maricopa County medical examiner found that the death of a New Yorker in police custody at the Phoenix airport was an accident. Carol Gotbaum, who was flying from NYC to Tucson with a stopover in Phoenix, died of "asphyxia by hanging" on September 28. Gotbaum, stepdaughter-in-law of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, had been traveling alone to check into alcohol rehabilitation. When she missed her connection to Tucson, she became upset and disruptive, and...

Witnesses told police that Carol Gotbaum was "teary" during her flight from New York to Phoenix, according to new documents released by the Phoenix Police Department. Another witness says the mother of three, who was traveling to Tucson for alcohol rehabilitation, may have also ordered an alcoholic drink during the flight.