Monday’s West Indian American Day Parade included appearances by many elected officials and candidates. Here are some brief moments with a few of those attending.
Weiner’s Parade Performance
Anthony Weiner loves a parade. Every parade. Especially those with loud dance music. (Here’s a past parade worth watching.)
And for those of you who just want to see Anthony Weiner dance, well, you’re welcome.
Will Schumer Endorse?
We asked Senator Chuck Schumer whether he plans to endorse any candidate in next week’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Spitzer on Polls
We asked comptroller candidate Eliot Spitzer what he thinks about the recent wide swings in public polls on the race.
Today Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis issued a statement describing competitor Joe Lhota’s most recent round of fundraising as “dismal” and saying that Lhota “should end this charade and drop out of the race now.” In his statement, Catsimatidis did not mention the fact that Lhota has led in every public opinion poll released on the Republican primary.
We spoke with Catsimatidis today about his statement, at the Richmond County (as in, Staten Island Richmond County for you city folk) Fair. I began by asking Catsimatidis about his statement referring to Lhota’s campaign as a charade.
Catsimatidis backed away from his characterization of Lhota’s campaign as a “charade”, saying “I didn’t write the press release … I think it was my political people.” In a less harsh, but similarly ending, approach Catsimatidis suggested that Lhota’s lack of money means an inability to win in November and that Lhota should therefor step aside in favor of Catsimatidis. Catsimatidis described himself as having done something similar in 2009, saying “I had the nomination uncontested and what did I do? I backed off and gave the nomination to Michael Bloomberg.”
At tonight’s Republican mayoral candidate debate, hosted by WCBS-TV, 1010 WINS and El Diario La Prensa (available in full here), the three candidates displayed a fair amount of friction.
John Catsimatidis thinks that the New York Post doesn’t like him.
Joe Lhota supports marriage equality, but apparently has no interest in attending your wedding.
Update – George and John are not friends:
Frictions between George McDonald and John Catsimatidis have previously emerged during the campaign. In this debate, McDonald strongly rejected the notion that they’re friends, and expanded on that point in his post-debate comments. While it’s clear that there really is some interpersonal friction, McDonald eventually gets to what appears to be the deeper cause of his frustration. McDonald regards Catsimatidis as unqualified to be mayor, yet Catsimatidis’s wealth and resulting ability to fund substantial TV advertising nonetheless make him a “serious candidate” while McDonald’s campaign suffocates from lack of money.
Bill Thompson received the endorsement of Satmar, and other orthodox, leaders in Williamsburg on Tuesday.
In this report, we look at a protest which occurred during the endorsement press conference.
Update – Extended Video:
This video has extended excerpts from the endorsement press conference.
Update #2 – Thompson re: Metzitzah b’peh:
In this excerpt, Thompson discusses metzitzah b’peh, the circumcision ritual practice that the Bloomberg administration sought to restrict and ultimately imposed parental notification requirements on. It’s an emotional issue in parts of the orthodox community and candidates are regularly asked about when seeking votes in that community.
Thompson addressed metzitzah b’peh but, while speaking sympathetically, did not say whether he supported continuing, expanding or removing the city’s rules around it. He only said that he “would be happy to sit down and revisit this issue again.”
Current New York City Comptroller John Liu has recently stepped up his attacks on his immediate predecessor, two term Comptroller Bill Thompson. Until recently, the two had largely avoided discussing the other’s performance in the office. As Liu’s already low poll numbers have weakened, however, he has been attacking Thompson over Thompson’s failure to uncover the CityTime scandal. (CityTime is a payroll software project that grew in cost by hundreds of millions of dollars due to combination of mismanagement and fraud, and which Liu has actively pursued.)
We spoke with Joe Lhota this morning at a campaign appearance in Howard Beach. We discussed John Catsimatidis’ negative attack ad, the past rivalry of Lhota’s and Catsimatidis’s best known supporters, Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki, and more.
Update – Precise Polling:
What happens when a pollster calls into a campaign event headlined by a mayoral candidate? Watch.
Last night the Democratic mayoral candidates had their first “official” debate. After more than 100 forums and debates hosted by different groups around the city, and televised debates on NY1 and WABC-TV Channel 7, the Democratic mayoral candidates participated in their first “official” debate organized by the New York City Campaign Finance Board under the city’s election laws.
For our initial report, we look at a question asked by moderator Errol Louis: “Should you be free to drink a beer on your own stoop?” In some neighborhoods, residents have been ticketed for doing so. Their anger at being ticketed has been further stoked by pictures of Mayor Bloomberg violating the same prohibition, unticketed, drinking wine at concerts in Central Park. We spoke with Anthony Weiner on this topic, who offered a broader assessment.
Tonight, the Presidents Co-op & Condo Council of Queens and the Queens County Bar Association co-sponsored a mayoral candidate forum. Eight candidates attended, appearing before a crowd of 400-500 and answering questions posed by moderator Azi Paybarah. Attendees included, in order of appearance: Sal Albanese, Joe Lhota, George McDonald, Anthony Weiner, Erick Salgado, Adolfo Carrion, Christine Quinn and John Catsimatidis.
Update #3 – Salgado re: Anthony Weiner & His Ideas:
Erick Salgado discusses Anthony Weiner’s adoption of Salgado’s idea, at least according to Salgado.
As Anthony Weiner went to the podium at last night’s forum, a small wave of groans and discontent rumbled through the audience. Here is Weiner’s reaction when asked about the audience response.
Update – Something Positive About My Rivals? Ummm …:
Moderator Azi Paybarah asked all eight candidates a simple, but revealing question: Can you say something positive, or something interesting that you’ve learned, about any one of your rivals? The answers range from very warm and friendly to “all about me.” Watch.
Weiner v. McDonald:
To start our coverage, we have a brief clip of Anthony Weiner and George McDonald crossing paths. You may recall that Weiner and McDonald had a confrontation at an earlier forum. McDonald has been highly, and vocally, critical of Weiner and his sexting.
John Catsimatidis held a press conference this afternoon to urge New York City Council members to not override Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of the Community Safety Act. Catsimatidis was joined by several Republican former elected officials, including former governor George Pataki and former congressman Vito Fossella.
I asked Pataki how he feels about the return of his successor, Eliot Spitzer, to electoral politics.
I asked former congressman Vito Fossella, who resigned in his own sex scandal, for his reaction to the candidacy of Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner.
1199SEIU held a rally this week to push for the continuing operation of St. John’s Hospital in Far Rockaway. St. John’s is the sole hospital on the Rockaway peninsula, Peninsula Hospital having closed last year.
We’ll start our coverage with a brief clip of Dante de Blasio speaking at the rally. (We’re unclear on why the MC referred to him as Jonathan … but we think it’s Dante.)
Last night WABC-TV broadcast a Democratic mayoral candidate debate.
After the debate, we spoke with John Liu about his consistently low showing in public polling. Liu described why he believes the public polls do not accurately portray his support.
Here’s a glimpse of the scene as the press pack was let into the studio at WABC-TV for post-debate interviews. With the candidates inside awaiting our arrival, it was quite different from the chase scene that sometimes occurs.
Mayoral candidates flocked to today’s Dominican Day Parade.
To start our coverage, here’s a short clip from Anthony Weiner’s parade visit. It’s important to note that Anthony Weiner wore his special red pants to the parade. To set the scene, during a momentary break in the parade I put my camera down on a very short tripod, with this clip as the result.
Update #1 – Eliot Spitzer:
We spoke briefly with comptroller candidate Eliot Spitzer. (We also looked for Scott Stringer. A group of his supporters marched past, but he was not with them.)
Update #2 – Erick Salgado:
We spoke with mayoral candidate Erick Salgado about his exclusion from an upcoming mayoral candidate debate to be televised on WABC-TV.
Update #3 – Anthony Weiner:
Here’s a montage of Anthony Weiner marching running through the parade.
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