All posts by John Kenny

Salgado Sounds Off



Mayoral candidate Erick Salgado held a rally on the steps of City Hall today together with  Adolfo Carrion, a Democrat now running for mayor on the Independence Party line in November’s general election.  Together, Salgado and Carrion called for latino Democratic voters to vote for Salgado in tomorrow’s primary.  Salgado addressed what he views as racist exclusionary tactics deployed against him during the race.  He also weighed in on Michael Bloomberg’s recent characterization of Bill de Blasio’s campaign as “racist.”

Republican Mayoral Debate One on One: JoLho v. JCats (Updated)



Republican mayoral candidates Joe Lhota and John Catsimatidis participated in a televised debate today, hosted by WNBC-TV and co-sponsored by NBC 4 New York, The Wall Street Journal and Telemundo Nueva York.  It was a friction-filled face-off, with the candidates down to the last 48 hours of the campaign.

We have video from the candidates’ post-debate media availabilities.

John Catsimatidis:

Joe Lhota:

Joe Lhota & Rudy Giuliani:

Democrats React to Bloomberg Comments (Updated)



We spoke with Democratic candidates concerning Mayor Bloomberg’s comments on Bill de Blasio published in New York Magazine on September 7, 2013.

Bill Thompson:

John Liu:

Update – Anthony Weiner:

(We spoke with Anthony Weiner as he campaigned with his 20 month old son.  That accounts for a bit of distraction for Weiner as we spoke, including a goofy facial expression toward the end.)

de Blasio, and Father, Campaigning



Bill de Blasio campaigned on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Thursday evening, talking with voters and the press outside the 72nd & Broadway Subway station.  He had star power with him; actors Steve Buscemi, Kathleen Turner and Peter Jacobson accompanied him.  He also had his son, and media campaign star, Dante with him.

Hair Shadow:

Bill de Blasio acknowledges that he’s been living in, yes, a hair shadow.

Star Meet Star:

A Golden Globe winning/Academy Award nominated actor meets a star.

Catsimatidis Ads & September 11th



John Catsimatidis has aggressively used the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in his campaign advertising.  His ad, Got It, features a former Port Authority Police Inspector attacking Joe Lhota for recently referring to the Port Authority police as “Mall Cops”, while invoking the memory of the 37 Port Authority police officers who died on September 11th.  Catsimatidis uses a similar attack in his ad Not Even Close.

Catsimatidis’ use of September 11th is the most aggressive of any New York political ad and is a marked departure from the practice of most candidates over the past 12 years.  I asked Catsimatidis whether he thinks it’s troubling or problematic for candidates to use September 11th in political advertising.

Catsimatidis’ ads have some additional layers of irony.  First, Joe Lhota was Rudy Giuliani’s deputy mayor during the attack and it’s aftermath, going to the World Trade Center before the second plane hit and accompanying Giuliani that morning.  Giuliani, of course, was lionized for his response.  Catsimatidis professes to be “friends with Rudy”, but attacks his rival on a topic that his rival’s former boss is widely acclaimed for.  Second, Giuliani and his administration had a long history of tangling with the Port Authority.  The PA is an agency that mayors love to hate as it operates major parts of New York City’s infrastructure with no mayoral control and a shared gubernatorial control (with the New Jersey governor) that provides only partial power to the New York governor.  Should Catsimatidis become mayor, he may find himself in an adversarial relationship with the Port Authority.  Finally, although Catsimatidis professes to “love all people”, the former Port Authority Police Inspector featured in his ad has been reported as making hateful statements on Facebook and elsewhere.

Cats Clatch (Updated)



John Catsimatidis was endorsed today by the New York Veteran Police Association.  Catsimatidis discussed many campaign topics at a press conference announcing the endorsement.

At the press conference, Courtney Gross of NY1 asked Catsimatidis about the news that David Koch  and his wife Julia have contributed $290,000 to a PAC supporting Joe Lhota.  (David Koch (pronounced “Coke”), and his brother Charles, are major funders of right-wing political groups.)  Here’s how Catsimatidis responded.

Continue reading Cats Clatch (Updated)

Democrats Debate (Updated)



Five Democratic mayoral candidates met for their final televised debate Tuesday evening.  The candidates grappled with each other in a verbal free for all, pushing toward a primary now only six days away.  (The full debate is available here.)

Anthony Weiner’s post-debate comments to the press were a masterpiece, highlighting what made him a viable and, briefly, frontrunning candidate.  He was funny and engaging, humorously eviscerating his opponents while remaining on message that he is a “candidate of ideas.”  His full comments, which run just under 3 minutes, are worth a watch.

Video of all other candidates follows, in order of appearance: Continue reading Democrats Debate (Updated)

Lhota on the Street (Updated)



The most recent John Catsimatidis TV ad is premised on the notion that Rudy Giuliani was a nice, easy going guy, and essentially faults Lhota for not being a good guy like his former boss.  In the ad, Not Even Close, an actor says “Rudy would never do that” in response to a statement that Lhota “taunted a senior” (an MTA board member and attorney).  Rudy Giuliani was many things, including a successful and important mayor, but one of the things that Giuliani was is captured by the title of Ed Koch’s book, Giuliani, Nasty Man.  Lhota certainly has his imperfections, but faulting him for not measuring up to a fictionalized version of his former boss is silly, even inane.

We asked Lhota about the ad, as Lhota campaigned on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Update – Direct Mail:

We also asked Lhota for his reaction to Catsimatidis’s extensive direct mail effort.  Spoiler alert:  he doesn’t like it, but …

Note:  We subsequently asked Catsimatidis about his ad and direct mail.