After Mayor Bloomberg made it clear he'd run for a third term if the City Council passes legislation to extend term limits to three terms, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn held a press conference. First, the legislation would permanently extend term limits to three. Second, she wouldn't run, "If term limits are extended to 12 years from 8 years, no, I would not run for mayor." As for other mentioned 2009 hopefuls, City Comptroller Bill......

Take a good, long look New York: You could be staring into the squinty eyes of your future mayor. (Yes, the white dude on the right.) Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who describes himself as “somewhat comical” [emphasis added] is on the verge of announcing his candidacy for mayor. Fuhgeddaboutit? The Crown Heights native, who earned a B.A. at Brooklyn College after nine years of night school, has loudly occupied the largely ceremonial position......

Two years after asking various companies to bid to bring cellphone service to the subways, the MTA has finally picked a vendor to wire all stations. Here are the details:Transit Wireless will pay the MTA at least $4.6 million each year over 10 years; Transit Wireless is made up of four communications and constructions companies. Subway stations will be wired for cellular and wireless service. Subway tunnels will not be wired, which means cellphone use......

Thought Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hilary Clinton appeared at a press conference to discuss health coverage of New York children, they had to answer questions about campaign donations they accepted from fugitive apparel executive Norman Hsu. Clinton received $23,000 from Hsu and announced that she would donate the money to charity after revelations that Hsu has been wanted in California for defrauding California investors since 1991. Hsu has fled to Hong Kong but......

Because September 8, 2009 is 776 days away, let's talk the 2009 mayoral race. The Post reports that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly met with a "political guru" about his chances in the 2009 mayoral race. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne explained that Kelly was at a meeting that was also attended by Republican strategist Scott Reed, but politics weren't discussed. Still, Kelly's seems to be the name mentioned most often these days when speaking of......

After reviewing a number of bids, the National Park Service ended Circle Line's contract to provide ferry service between lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The new ferry service provider will be Hornblower Yachts of California, which offers service between San Francisco and Alcatraz. Hornblower: Taking you to Liberty and lock-up. The 10-year contract, worth $350 million, must be approved by Congress and one requirement is that Hornblower buy Circle......

Representative Anthony Weiner, he of 2009 mayoral ambitions, wants to introduce legislation to ban helicopters flying over Manhattan. While the bill would allow "police, medical and other authorized helicopter traffic" (probably news choppers), Weiner said, "We are taking a common-sense step to make New York safer" by restricting all other helicopters to fly over water only. He also said, "I am concerned about helicopters flying over a densely populated city. I think it's dangerous, and......

New York City could be considered the Big Green Apple for the rest of the week. Bill Clinton and Mayor Bloomberg are hosting an international climate summit this week, beginning today and running through Thursday. And as part of other environmentally friendly festivities, Matt Dillon was on hand for the issuance of a challenge from Yahoo! to see which U.S. city was the most green. The winning city, that will be announced following the......

The Drum Major Institute released a study titled "Saving Our Middle Class," which suggests that NYC's middle class continues to be under more and more strain. DMI surveyed a number of city leaders and found: It's harder to enter the middle class: 92% "agree that it is harder to enter the middle class today than it was ten years ago." - They believe middle-class income is now between $75,000 and $135,000 for families of......

Representative Anthony Weiner released a report, along with City Councilman Michael McMahon of Staten Island, that shows the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost NYC taxpayers over $57 million. How? Weiner's press release explains what many people probably don't realize:Typically, when city employees are called up for active duty, they forfeit their regular paychecks, and take their new paychecks from the military. Under most circumstances, this amounts to taking a pay cut. To honor......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An unusual odor in the Bronx, two pedestrians struck (one in Manhattan, a fatal one in the Bronx), and three alarm fire at a tire yard in Brooklyn The Department of Education will reinstate 17 bus routes, finally realizing that giving 5-year-olds MetroCards is a very mean lesson We're so with East Village Idiot on this one: Dear Two Girls Who Work in My Building, Why did you feel......

It's not surprising news, but it's a reminder why people don't live in New York City. A report from the Independent Budget Office showed that New York City has the biggest tax burden than eight other big cities. In fact, NYC's tax burden is practically 50% higher than the average of cities like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix and San Diego. (We don't know where San Francisco, Boston, or Seattle......

Last month, Representative Anthony Weiner released a report showing that 85% of registered sex offenders live within 5 blocks of NYC schools (here's a PDF of the report). Included in the report was a map illustrating this point; the report says, "Cartographers at the Library of Congress have plotted the location of every school and every sex offender in New York City on a map. Every sex offender is represented by a red dot,......

A cop killer Ronell Wilson goes through his penalty phase, we're learning a lot about him like how he sucked his thumb at 15 and how a kid he robbed 10 years ago (he stole his calculator and bus pass) is doing fine these days. Elmhurst residents will not only get new green parkland from a lot where gas tanks are - that boulder from Fort Greene will be added there too! A funeral......

After a 13 year old Queens boy running across LIRR tracks was killed by a train, there had been much criticism about the poor state of the fences that surround the tracks. Yesterday, the MTA announced it would try to address track access issues. The MTA will survey tracks and try to "fix the most glaring deficiencies in a system requiring nearly 3,000 miles of fencing to secure," according to Newsday. MTA Executive Director Elliot......

The Intrepid Air & Space Museum will be moved from its Manhattan pier to Bayonne for repair work tomorrow. Well, it'll head to Jersey if it can even move. The Daily News reports that even though more than "16,000 cubic yards of mud have been dredged from the Hudson and 500 tons of water released from the ballast tanks to lift the ship just 2 feet off the Hudson floor," one part of the aircraft......

-- The NYPD's new weapon in the fight against crime is Sky Watch-- "a mobile platform for surveillance, assessment, and response". Laser beams are not really included. -- Idiotic: you are allowed to take pictures on the subway, but if you try to shoot a few frames at any Port Authority facilities, you're going downtown! -- The $20 weeknight tickets for the Met Opera have been selling out by around 7pm. -- The Dolans......

The race for 2009 mayoral is on: The Post reports that City Comptroller William Thompson is holding a big fundraiser on November 15. He apparently already has $2 million on hand, but the "New Yorkers for Thompson" fundraiser at the Waldorf-Astoria won't hurt. Thompson wisely sat out the 2005 election, because it was hard for any Democratic challenger to go up against the Mayor's pretty good record and money (he spent $77.8 million for last......

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......

Okay, Gothamist totally gets that Homeland Security's funding for urban areas was cut overall. And we know - and appreciate - that NYC got lots of money in the first few years of the program. But reading this explanation of why NYC's bid for funding led to a 40% decrease in money is rich:Homeland Assistant Secretary Tracy Henke, a former GOP Senate aide, told NEWSWEEK that, in the Feds' assessment, the Empire State Building......

- Representative Anthony Weiner is upset that the Department of Homeland Security sent $7000for Columbus, Ohio - specifically doggie kevlar vests - Man found dead in elevator at the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn - It's not exactly the TWU, but Macy's workers have agreed to strike if management doesn't give them a food offer - A woman was killed by a bus on East 86th Street - Police captain Eric Adams, also the founder......

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......

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......

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.......

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......

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......

Democratic mayoral hopefuls will be doing their a Q&A at Hunter College this Wednesday, except for front runner Fernando Ferrer. According to the NY Post, who spoke to the head of a Hunter students' government group, Ferrer seemed "very, very concerned and then extremely reluctant to participate." City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Representative Anthony Weiner, and Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields will all be attending. The head of the student group added, "There are......

It seems like Senator Schumer's decision to forego a gubernatorial run in 2006 is making local Democrats happy. And if there's anyone who needs some cheering up, it's Democrats in New York. Representative Anthony Weiner explains, "I think it helps those of us trying to get traction for the race against the most immediate Republican to not have the brutal run-up to a 2006 primary getting in the way." As in: Let's concentrate on beating......

Another controversy brews at Columbia University: Students are claiming that some teachers are anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist, and anti-American, with the release of a documentary short. Sponsored by The David Project, the documentary claims that professors in the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures Department (aka Mealac) created an unhospitable environment for Jewish students. Columbia President Lee Bollinger has tapped Provost Alan Brinkley to lead an inquiry into the film's claims, including one that Professor Joseph......

New York's politicians are generally displeased with President Bush's ideas for the new budget because, as Newsday says, it's a mixed bag of "a doubling of homeland security money and steady funding of transportation projects, but fewer funds for firefighters and police and cuts in public housing assistance." Senator Charles Schumer called the $2.4 trillion U.S. Budget for Fiscal Year 2005 "a bad news budget for New York that leaves New York behind." Representative Anthony......