Queens GOP Unity



The Queens Republican Party held a “unity breakfast” Saturday, drawing all three citywide Republican candidates, Nicole Malliotakis, J.C. Polanco and Michel Faulkner, Borough President candidate William Kregler and City Council candidates Joe Concannon, Bob Holden and Konstantinos Poulidis.  The breakfast drew a small audience primarily composed of Queens GOP district leaders.

Continue reading Queens GOP Unity

Photo Gallery: Malliotakis In Chinatown



Republican/Conservative mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis visited Chinatown Thursday afternoon, working the lunch crowd at a large restaurant, visiting a Buddhist temple, an American Legion post and the Lin Sing Association in a 90 minute visit.  Malliotakis also did two separate press Q&A sessions, briefly outside the Joy Luck Palace restaurant on Mott Street and a lengthier session at the Lin Sing Association.

Continue reading Photo Gallery: Malliotakis In Chinatown

Photo Gallery: Columbus Day Parade



The 2017 Columbus Day Parade had its usual large helping of politicians, including a full set of mayoral candidates.  Among those attending were Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Representatives Tom Suozzi and Carolyn Maloney.  2017 mayoral candidates attending, in addition to Mayor de Blasio, included Republican/Conservative candidate and Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis, independent candidate Bo Dietl and Reform Party candidate Sal Albanese.

Mayoral candidate friction was exacerbated by the contretemps over statues of Christopher Columbus.  Bo Dietl shouted and booed as Mayor de Blasio marched past a waiting Dietl without acknowledgment

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

Malliotakis Press Conference: Back to Throggs Neck (Updated)



Republican and Conservative mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis held a press in the Bronx this afternoon, returning to Throggs Neck for the second time in two weeks.  Malliotakis joined Republican city council candidate John Cerini to voice concerns that a commercial building may be converted by the City to a homeless shelter or drug treatment facility that the local community doesn’t want and without any notice to the local community.  Bronx Republican Chairman Mike Rendino joined the press conference, although he did not offer any remarks.

Continue reading Malliotakis Press Conference: Back to Throggs Neck (Updated)

Mayoral Candidate Debate – Pre & Post



Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio, Republican and Conservative candidate Nicole Malliotakis and independent candidate Bo Dietl jousted, interrupted, ignored and even debated each other last night, participating in the first of two candidate debates mandated by the Campaign Finance Board.

Continue reading Mayoral Candidate Debate – Pre & Post

Dietl Debate Drama?



Zymere Perkins, Warren Wilhelm, Big Bird, Sal Albanese and Joseph Ponte.  Those names are not at the forefront of New York City’s political awareness, but all figure into Bo Dietl’s preparations for tonight’s mayoral candidate debate.  Dietl, distantly trailing Mayor de Blasio and his two fellow de Blasio challengers in recent public polls and experiencing a significant drop off from early fundraising success, is looking to the mayoral debate to recharge his campaign.  In several discussions over the past week Dietl has outlined his debate plan, mentioning topics he regularly brings up while campaigning and, mostly, promising an aggressive approach. Continue reading Dietl Debate Drama?

Mayor Dietl



Regardless of whether Bo Dietl becomes mayor in real life he’ll always have an onscreen mayoralty.  Dietl was set to play the mayor of New York City in a movie scene being filmed Saturday afternoon, shortly after his appearance at Council Member Eric Ulrich’s Howard Beach campaign office opening.

By Dietl’s description he’s currently cast in small roles in two movies.  One, filmed Saturday, is Clinton Road in which he’ll play the mayor.  He also reports that he’s cast as union leader/mobster Joe Glimco in Martin Scorcese’s The Irishman, scheduled to film in mid-November.  Dietl has been in quite a number of movies, including GoodFellas, The Wolf of Wall Street,  Carlito’s Way and One Tough Cop.

Here’s what Dietl had to say Saturday as he headed to shoot Clinton Road:

Bo & A Beep



Mayoral candidate Bo Dietl asserted that an unspecified borough president has declined to endorse him due to fears that the de Blasio  administration would “cut off funding” were he or she to do so.  Dietl made that assertion today in Howard Beach.  At a forum in Bay Ridge last week Dietl offered slightly more detail, saying that a “borough president that’s from nearby here” said that “if I endorse you Mayor de Blasio will come after me, cut my funding.”  Dietl wouldn’t name the borough president he’s referring to and there’s not currently any independent verification of his claims.

Here’s what Dietl had to say today:

Here’s what Dietl had to say Wednesday in Bay Ridge:

Dietl’s Dough



Independent mayoral candidate Bo Dietl today professed to be unconcerned by his sagging fundraising and suggested, without actually committing, that he may put $1 million of his own money into his campaign.  Although Dietl has raised about $922,000 and put $100,000 of his own money into his campaign his fundraising has dropped dramatically in the past two months.  He reported raising just $13,000 in the most recent two week reporting period, with $163,000 on hand, and he’s raised about $97,000 since mid-July.

Dietl pointed to the upcoming mayoral debate Tuesday night, with Bill de Blasio, Nicole Malliotakis and Dietl, as a pivotal moment that will energize his fundraising and increase his support.  Dietl said that he plans to confront Mayor de Blasio on several issues and that he’ll harshly criticize de Blasio in person.

I spoke with Dietl outside Council Member Eric Ulrich’s campaign headquarters in Howard Beach.  Here are funding-related excerpts from our wide ranging exchange:

Ulrich Stays With Dietl



Republican Council Member Eric Ulrich today renewed his support for independent mayoral candidate Bo Dietl, while dismissing the Republican mayoral nominee as not “ready for prime time.”  We spoke at the opening of Ulrich’s campaign office in Howard Beach, which Dietl attended.

Ulrich is the only elected official to support Dietl, having endorsed him in April.  In June, as Dietl’s efforts at getting Republican Party approval to run in the GOP primary (necessary since he had attempted to switch his registration to Democratic) floundered, Ulrich was clear that he intended to support the Republican nominee in the general election.  Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis is the Republican nominee, but Ulrich has stuck with Dietl despite his June statement.

While Ulrich professed friendship and respect for Malliotakis he nonetheless said “I don’t think she was ready for prime time,” noting her limited fundraising and name recognition.  Here’s our exchange:

Bay Ridge Mayoral Forum



Two mayoral candidates came to Bay Ridge for a candidate forum Wednesday morning, pledging to support their fellow senior citizens and criticizing their youthful rivals.  Bo Diet and Sal Albanese participated in the forum hosted by the Bay Ridge Council on Aging at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center.  Both are themselves seniors, Dietl at 66 and Albanese at 68, and they sought to capitalize on that affinity with most of the audience.  Younger rivals Bill de Blasio, 56, and Nicole Malliotakis, 36, did not attend.

Dietl and Albanese have a very cordial relationship, several times expressing their affection for each other, but they both urged the audience to disregard their rival as unable to win and therefor a wasted vote.

Questions included how they would ensure continued funding for senior centers, whether they support a state constitutional convention, their views on charter schools, whether their candidacies help Bill de Blasio by simply drawing anti-de Blasio votes from Republican candidate Nicole Malliotakis and plans for dealing with the homeless, particularly in Bay Ridge.

Video:

Here is the full forum:

Photo Gallery:

Our photo gallery is available here.

Dietl Fundraising Restart



Independent mayoral candidate Bo Dietl sought to reenergize his fundraising Tuesday night, holding a fundraiser at the Cutting Room as he looks ahead to Tuesday’s mayoral debate. The event drew about 50-60 people for an evening of entertainment, featuring a Frank Sinatra tribute singer and a stand-up comic.  Dietl has raised about $900,000, and put in $100,000 of his own money, during his campaign,  but the pace of fundraising has fallen dramatically since the start of the summer with only $90,000 raised since mid-July.  (Dietl reported having $208,000 on hand as of September 18th.)

Dietl expressed confidence in his ability to raise significant amounts in the remaing five weeks of the campaign, but he also made clear that he sees next Tuesday’s mayoral candidate debate as a lynchpin of that ability.  He said that he expects his fundraising to significantly increase after what he anticipates will be a successful evening confronting Mayor de Blasio.  Dietl said that he’s been approached by  “Italian-Americans who have come to me and asked me to take a stance … on Columbus” and that he will schedule a “couple of big fundraisers” shortly.  He added that a “little birdie” told him that “somebody might be setting up a PAC.”  Continue reading Dietl Fundraising Restart

Malliotakis Press Conference: Smart Lights Edition



Republican/Conservative mayoral Nicole Malliotakis held a press conference in Ridgewood this morning to advocate for implementation of significant upgrades in traffic signals.  According to Malliotakis, installing such “smart lights” technology would markedly improve traffic flow and ease congestion.

Question topics included Malliotakis’ view of congestion pricing, Vision Zero and what Malliotakis would defund in order to redirect money to smart lights and her current view of the SAFE Act.

Here is her full press conference:

Update:

Our photo gallery is available here.