In the first Democratic mayoral debate between City Comptroller William Thompson and City Council Tony Avella, the pair mostly attacked each other. But last night, Avella went after Thompson, questioning city's pension fund performance and comptroller's acceptance of donations from money managers and his past as head of the school board. more ›

Last night, Democratic mayoral hopefuls City Comptroller Bill Thompson and City Councilman Tony Avella went head to head during a debate that aired on NY1. Only their main target was Mayor Bloomberg, the now-Independent (who is also on the Republican ticket); Thompson railed, "For the last eight years we have had a Republican mayor, Mike Bloomberg, who has focused on Wall Street, big developers and the wealthy. From jobs to housing to education, we need to go down a different path in this city," while Avella said, "The people of this city twice voted for term limits. The message could not have been clearer. And the arrogance, I'm sorry the arrogance of Billionaire Mike Bloomberg to think he's so important that he could overturn the term limits law, I think is disgraceful. I think he should be turned out for that reason alone." more ›

At 5:30 p.m., the Working Families Party is hosting a mayoral forum with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Comptroller William Thompson, and City Councilman Tony Avella. The WFP will stream video of the forum live on their website. The candidates were given questions in advance, because, the WFP explained to PolitickerNY's Azi Paybarah, it would give the candidates a chance to offer "serious answers." Paybarah got the questions through one of the candidates' staffers—read them here, but here's one, "Paid Sick Days: During the Swine Flu panic, public health officials urged New Yorkers to stay home if they felt sick. But thousands of working New Yorkers don’t have a single day of paid sick time. Should New York City pass an ordinance mandating paid sick days for everyone who works inside the city limits?" more ›

With Rep. Anthony Weiner officially deciding not to run for mayor this year, that leaves NYC Comptroller William Thompson as the leading candidate in the Democratic primary. City Council member Tony Avella (D-Queens) is still running; a NY1 poll shows Thompson would beat Avella by 30 points. Thompson said of challenging Mayor Bloomberg, "This race isn't over. If anything, this race is just beginning. I think the mayor, in spending $20 million this early, is trying to create a distorted sense of reality. He's trying to let you believe that he can't be beat. The truth is, talk to New Yorkers, they want somebody new. They want someone who will stand up and fight for them." Bloomberg, naturally, disagrees, telling reporters, "If you have a good message, people are going to be responsive. It’s not money. It’s whether or not you have something to say. It’s the substance." And a Daily News editorial says the city's Democrats don't seem to have a message against Bloomberg. more ›

Yesterday over 500 people came together at City Hall to discuss the banning of carriage horses in New York, during the first public hearing on Tony Avella's proposed bill. Unsurprisingly, the passionate debate lasted over four hours, pitting animal rights activists against the drivers who want to keep their jobs. The NY Post reports that one pleaded, "At this time of economic hardship, it's your time to give an industry a chance for survival. It will let me feed my family, my wife and my three children. Please, help me keep my job." He was up against Avella and his supporters, including actress Rue McClanahan, who was there to speak out in favor of the bill. WCBS notes that there are alternatives being offered to the drivers, including training them to be pedicab drivers. One man from the Teamsters Local 553 asked, "They're gonna teach these guys to ride tricycles through New York?" more ›

The carriage horse battle lines were drawn long ago in a war that seems to be never ending. Today the NY Post reports on the two sides: those in support of Tony Avella's bill to put an end to the industry, and those who are adamantly against it (including Liam Neeson). At a public hearing today Avella will pitch his plan, and Patrick Kwan, New York state director for The Humane Society, tells us why it's an important one. more ›

Is Speaker Christine Quinn guilty of cronyism when it comes to moving legislation through City Council? Since 2002, Quinn has seen 35 of her bills get passed, second only to her closest ally David Weprin (he's had 78 bills passed). Meanwhile, foes Charles Barron and Tony Avella have only seen four bills total passed over the same period of time. That sharp contrast led Councilman Avellla to tell the News, "The speaker is very vindictive, and when you oppose the speaker, she doesn't let bills go through." But other members defend the Quinn's methods as rewarding persistence, pointing out legislation most often comes from committee chairs, whom she's appointed. Weprin heads the Finance Committee, which leads to a number of procedural budgetary legislation, and Quinn herself headed the Health Committe before coming Speaker. Former Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. said to the paper, "Every speaker is accused of playing favorites when it comes to bills." more ›

The world has been waiting to find out where Liam Neeson falls on the whole carriage horse issue, and you can stop holding your breath now, world: the actor has spoken...and PETA isn't gonna like what he has to say. Last week a story ran in the Irish Echo regarding the New Yorker resident's public support of the Central Park carriage industry, which came out in a letter to the City Council. more ›

Second quarter campaign filings reveal who's leading and who's lagging among the contenders for the mayor's office. On top of the list is Representative Anthony Weiner (he ran a surprisingly strong second to Fernando Ferrer in the 2005 Democratic primary) who raised $1.4 million and believes he reached the maximum of $6.2 million (including matching funds). City Comptroller William Thompson raised $625,000 and has raised $4.8 million so far. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn raised $620,000 for the period, which consultants believe is a disappointment, given that she has $3 million so far. And City Councilman Tony Avella raised $32,000, for $212,000 total. more ›

Last week, City Councilman Tony Avella introduced a resolution to urge the state senate to outlaw the force-feeding of ducks and geese to produce foie gras. A bill has been on the back burners in Albany, and Avella hopes that his resolution will move things forward. Ariane Daugin, head of D'Artagnan, the nation's leading foie gras purveyor, had a some strong opinions to share on the matter. Read more about her opposition (and see the Humane Society's video of the duck and geese) here. more ›

City councilman and mayoral hopeful Tony Avella held a press conference today at City Hall to spotlight a pending council resolution urging the New York State Senate to outlaw force-feeding ducks and geese to produce foie gras. A bill to ban the practice is languishing in Albany, and Avella hopes his largely symbolic gesture will push it forward. more ›

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) will be formally announcing his bid to replace Mayor Bloomberg this Sunday. Theories about likely candidates abound (e.g. Councilman John Liu, Rep. Anthony Weiner, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly), but Avella is jumping to the head of the line by explicitly announcing his desire to be Mayor this Sunday at 1 p.m. on the steps of City Hall. more ›

City Council member and probable 2009 mayoral candidate, Tony Avella, is the latest politician to ask for America's withdrawl from the Beijing Olympics if China will not grant Tibet independence. Under China's rule for over 50 years, Tibet has made no headway, even with the support of human rights groups, activists...and Richard Gere. When we interviewed Robert Thurman, co-founder of the Tibet House, earlier this year he touched on the Olympics, saying:

The thinking is that if you give them a big P.R. thing to do like the Olympics, they won’t want people to see how they’re beating up the Falun Gong or whatever it is they’re doing lately. This is a fallacious concept but within that it’s true that the Chinese are trying to clean up their act so they won’t be embarrassed during the Olympics. Unfortunately, what the Chinese consider ‘cleaning up their act’ is to wipe out people who might do human rights protests; they don’t mean stopping the human rights violations.

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

The tragic death of a construction worker at the Trump Soho building has put the spotlight on the spotty history of a contractor on the project. On Monday afternoon, a worker, Yuriy Vanchytskyy (pictured below), fell 42 stories to his death when the molds he and other workers were pouring concrete into broke, causing a collapse into lower floors. more ›

As chains take over every nook and cranny of this city, some people in the East Village are forming a united front against them. The Villager reports on the corporate takeover, the resistance and the new spin on this story as old as time. more ›

Documentary filmmaker Donny Moss has produced a movie about the carriage-horse trade in New York City called Blinders. It looks to be a revealing take on an iconic feature of the city, and includes original footage as well as documentation of well-publicized accidents and interviews with carriage owners, veterinarians, witnesses to accidents, and anti-carriage activists. Moss is engaged in the film festival application process right now, but has placed a trailer for the movie on... more ›

Queens Councilman Tony Avella has introduced a bill that would ban the existence of carriage horses in NYC. Another Queens Councilman, James Gennaro, is looking to preserve the practice of equine cabbies that populate the streets of and around Central Park. Manhattan council members are perhaps showing some political horse sense from bowing out of this particular fight. While wanting to preserve the tradition of the horse-drawn carriage trade, Gennaro is also suggesting a... more ›

Oh, Catholic League - it isn't even Halloween and you're getting ready for Christmas already! The Sun reports that the Catholic League sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein questioning why nativity scenes cannot be displayed in schools. more ›

Gotham Gazette has a fantastic analysis of what happens to the hundreds of City Council bills that have been introducedsince Christine Quinn become the City Council Speaker. The article points out many interesting things. For instance, out of the 622 bills introduced, 68% of them are never heard of again. About 15% do get hearings, but are never voted on, and only 17% actually pass to become bills. more ›

An ugly tale from this weekend unfolded from the Queens District Attorney's office. Two white men were charged with beating two Chinese-Americans in Douglaston, and then tried to get away from police later on by crashing into the police cruiser and hurting the officers. From the DA's press release:

District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal charges, four Asian males – Reynold Liang, 19, John Lu, 19, David Wu, 19, and Wing Chung Poon – were in a white Lexus at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2006, when the defendants [19 year old Kevin] Brown and [20 year old Paul] Heavey pulled up alongside of them in a 1998 Toyota and began cursing and shouting racial slurs. At one point, the defendants allegedly drove behind Liang’s Lexus and intentionally rammed it. Fearful, Liang drove away in an attempt to escape from the two defendants. Believing he had eluded the defendants, he pulled over at the intersection of 44th Avenue and Douglaston Parkway, where victim Lu got out of the car to inspect the damage to the rear of the Lexus. As he did so, the defendants reappeared. Exiting their vehicle and approaching Lu, the defendants allegedly punched him about the head and body, causing him to suffer lacerations requiring multiple stitches and substantial pain, including several loose teeth. During the attack the defendants are alleged to have uttered more racial slurs. In coming to his friend’s aid, victim Liang was also allegedly punched and kicked about the head and body by the defendants. Crawling back to his car, Liang picked up “The Club” which was then allegedly grabbed from him by the defendants who used it to hit him numerous times about the head and body, causing him to sustain a possible fractured skull and substantial pain to his chest. more ›

Gotham Gazette has a great feature on salaries for elected officials, as compensation for various officials will be re-assessed. For instance, did you know that public advocate and borough presidents get paid $150,000, plus have a car and driver, but don't have "real power over city policy?" And did you realize that serving on the City Council is a part-time job, so many members make a bit from their "real jobs"? And then there are the "lulus" - stipends City Council members get for heading certain positions or heading certain committees. more ›

Given our stint in the suburbs where having the most beautiful, manicured lawn becomes the object of desire for homeowners, and now living in a place where dog pooped and gummy sidewalks is what greets us when we leave our front door, we were fascinated by the NY Times story about outer-borough homeowners paving their front yards. Mind you, these are not brownstone owners with a sliver of grass, these are people who fairly substantial (for NYC standards) front property, perfect for lawnmowing, fertilization, watering, you name it. The trouble with lawn maintenance is why many homeowners decide to pave, as well as that other precious city commodity: Parking space. Our first thought about paved yards was that they were ugly, but when we saw this photograph that accompanied the article, our thoughts changed to, "That's Queens?" (The other photograph, of a house in College Point, confirmed our initial thought.) more ›

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