Category Archives: 2013 Mayoral Race

Republican Lovefest (Updated)



The three Republican mayoral candidates faced off in a debate hosted by WABC-TV, and co-sponsored by Noticias 41 Univision, the Daily News and the League of Women Voters.  John Catsimatidis, Joe Lhota and George McDonald agreed on many issues and had a civil, friction-free debate.  (Some prior debates and forums, including a debate broadcast on NY1 on July 10th, have featured more fraught interactions.)  The debate was held on Friday, August 10th and will be broadcast on Sunday August 12th.

We spoke with each of the candidates immediately after the debate.  (Full video after the jump.) Continue reading Republican Lovefest (Updated)

Mayoral Forum: Laurelton Edition



Following a candidate forum hosted by the Concerned Citizens of Laurelton Civic Organization on August 1st, Anthony Weiner took questions from the press for a few minutes.  At times testy, he criticized the media’s focus on his sexting scandal.  He accurately noted that when a rival attacked him during the forum, the audience cheered not the attacking rival, but the moderator who demanded that the attacks cease.

Watch the full press availability.

Mayoral Forum: Friends of Rockaway Beach Edition (Updated x 2)



Friends of Rockaway Beach hosted a candidate forum on July 31st, with five mayoral candidates attending.

Update #2 – Anthony Weiner:

Here is Anthony Weiner’s full opening presentation.

Update #1 – International Coverage:

We spoke with a BBC reporter covering the forum about international interest in Anthony Weiner’s campaign.

Press Chases Weiner:

We’ll start our coverage with a quick look at the scene as Anthony Weiner concluded his presentation and, road show in tow, headed for the exit.

Be sure to see our extensive coverage of Rockaway’s post-Sandy recovery, here.

Mayoral Forum: Education, Arts and Culture Edition (Updated)



Teachers College, Columbia University (that’s the way they write their name, apparently), Young Audiences New York and One Percent for Culture hosted a mayoral candidate forum on July 30th focused on The Future of Education, Arts and Culture in New York City.

Update – Joe Lhota & the Brooklyn Museum:

In this excerpt, Joe Lhota discusses one of the more heated episodes of his time in the Giuliani administration.  As a deputy mayor, he led the Giuliani administration’s effort to force the Brooklyn Museum to remove a particular artwork which Giuliani and Lhota found deeply offensive.  In his current comments he acknowledges the legal defeat that he and the City suffered and that he “made a mistake.”  He goes on, however, to downplay the harshness of his attack at the time and, despite having tried to use the City’s role as the Brooklyn Museum’s landlord as leverage, to say that the City’s ownership of the land on which the Museum is located “had no bearing” on his approach.

To get you started, we have a couple of special, brief items:

Lhota v. Rudy

We captured Joe Lhota revealing a deep divide between Lhota and his opera-loving former boss.  Sort of.

An Experience That Turned You On … ?

In this excerpt, a moderator asks a candidate whether the candidate had any experience as a child that “turned you on as you hadn’t been turned on.”

Race for Mayor: Candidate #12



Jack Hidary, a New York City tech entrepreneur, has announced that he is running for mayor.  Hidary joins 11 other “serious” candidates, including seven Democratic candidates, three Republican candidates and one Independence Party candidate, in the race.  Hidary is now petitioning to create his own party for the November general election ballot.

We spoke with Hidary about his business experience and how it shapes his outlook, why he is running and some of the challenges facing New York City.

Mayoral Candidate Forum: Bronx Community College (Updated x 2)



Bronx Community College hosted a mayoral candidate forum this evening.  Moderated by Errol Louis, in his 11th mayoral forum of the year, the forum featured separate panels with the Republican and Democratic candidates.

Update #2:  Weiner, The Audience & His Rivals

Anthony Weiner mostly succeeded with the audience, as shown in this report.  His rivals mounted several attacks on him, without success.

Update:  Weiner Media Availability

Here is Anthony Weiner’s full media availability following the forum, which runs about 4 minutes.  He repeats his continuing responses: what I did was wrong, it’s all behind me now, I’m not going to answer in detail and I want to talk about issues and don’t care what my competitors say.  (Note: The music you’ll hear was playing over the house sound system.)

Weiner Responds to Question of whether he uses “Facebook or Twitter”

The Democratic candidate segment featured a “Lightning Round” of yes/no and “pick A or B” questions intended to provide a peek into the candidates personalities.  The final question was not what Anthony Weiner was hoping for.

Retrospective – Weiner Comments



Here are a couple of notable Anthony Weiner comments from May and June.

The first is Anthony Weiner addressing his sexting and resignation from Congress in his first campaign forum appearance.  In his comments at the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club on May 23, 2013, he is apologetic and contrite, but does not offer any detail or description of what it is that he is sorry about.  His strategy of contrition without description served him well until the recent revelations, but those revelations now make that strategy appear deceptive.

The second is his response to a Queens Tech Policy Forum question, where all candidates were asked about their choice of personal phone.  It’s of no real consequence, but in retrospect it is a curious answer.

A Queens View of the Mayor’s Race (Updated)



We spoke with New York State Senator Joe Addabbo about the mayor’s race, and particularly on how his constituents view the race.  Are his constituents paying attention to the race?  Do they have a clear favorite in the race?  How do they view Anthony Weiner?

Addabbo’s district covers most of Rockaway and runs north through Broad Channel, Howard Beach and Ozone Park to Middle Village, Maspeth, Ridgewood and Forest Hills.  Anthony Weiner’s congressional district overlapped with Addabbo’s district.

Update:

We also spoke with New York State Assembly Member Phillip Goldfeder about the mayor’s race and how his constituents view the race.

Goldfeder’s district covers most of Rockaway, Broad Channel, Howard Beach and Ozone Park.  Like Addabbo, his district overlaps with Anthony Weiner’s former congressional district.