Category Archives: 2017 Mayoral Race

Lhota Lhessons?



People didn’t know how bad Bill de Blasio would be.  That was the most notable observation I could draw out of current Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis when I asked about her electoral predecessor, 2013 candidate Joe Lhota, and lessons from his campaign.  Lhota, a deeply knowledgable and skilled veteran of City government was crushed by nearly 50 percentage points in 2013.   With some notable similarities between her candidacy and Lhota’s, including running against the same opponent, I asked Malliotakis what would lead her campaign to a different outcome and what lessons she’s gleaned from Lhota’s campaign.

Beyond her initial observation that in 2013 “people didn’t know how bad de Blasio would be” but do now, Malliotakis simply gave a brief recap of her criticisms of the mayor.  Presumably she and her campaign staff have scrutinized the Lhota campaign history for instructive lessons, but she didn’t offer any in this press conference response.

Video:

Here’s our exchange:

Malliotakis General Election Kickoff



Republican/Conservative mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis held a press conference today to kickoff her general election campaign.  Speaking outside St. Mary Gate of Heaven church in Ozone Park Malliotakis laid out her broad campaign themes and parried repeated questions focused on the many electoral challenges she faces.  Malliotakis became the undisputed Republican and Conservative nominee several weeks ago, without having to face any opponents in a primary, but with the Democratic primary yesterday formally establishing Mayor Bill de Blasio as the Democratic nominee the general election season informally began today.

Malliotakis sought to turn Mayor de Blasio’s own campaign rhetoric on him, saying de Blasio’s “tale of two cities” is alive but is now a tale of “one city for [de Blasio’s] donors and friends and another city for everybody else.”  Somewhat awkwardly saying that she’s running “to give voice to the everybody else” Malliotakis catalogued New Yorkers who she expects will support her, including those paying higher property taxes, victims of sex crimes, transit riders enduring increased delays, homeless not sufficiently helped by the City, families whose children are insufficiently educated in City schools and families whose children are on charter school waiting lists.

She paired the laundry list of concerns she sees as burdening New Yorkers with a promise to focus on them, saying she’s “not in this race to fight an ideological war” or to “raise a national profile to run for president.”

Video:

Here is the full press conference:

Dietl Votes, Reform Party Edition



Mayoral candidate Bo Dietl cast his first campaign vote this morning, writing in his name in the Reform Party mayoral primary.  Sal Albanese is the only candidate whose name appears on the Reform Party ballot, but Dietl and rival candidate Nicole Malliotakis are each mounting write-in campaigns aimed at wresting the Reform Party line from the Party leadership’s chosen candidate.  They’re able to do so because “opportunity to ballot” petitions were filed with the Board of Elections, creating the write-in spot on the ballot and opening the party primary to registered voters who are not in any party.  (A Gotham Gazette background report is available here.)  Continue reading Dietl Votes, Reform Party Edition

Photo Gallery: 2017 Labor Day Parade



Labor leaders and the politicians who court them marched up Fifth Avenue today, leading the Labor Day Parade.  Virtually all senior members of New York City’s organized labor movement attended, including Mario Cilento (president of the NYS AFL-CIO), Gary LaBarbera (president of the Buildings & Trades Council), Vinnie Alvarez (president of the NYC Central Labor Council), Mike Mulgrew (president of the United Federation of Teachers), Randi Weingarten (president of the American Federation of Teachers), George Miranda (president of Teamsters Joint Council 16), Stuart Appelbaum (president of RWDSU), George Gresham (president of 1199) and Grand Marshall Edgar Romney of Workers Unite.  Politicians marching included Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.  Republican/Conservative mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis also made a brief appearance.

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

Columbus & Capalino, Not Dietl



Republican/Conservative mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis held a press conference this afternoon in Columbus Circle, calling on Mayor de Blasio to make clear his personal position on whether the statue of Christopher Columbus should be removed and condemning what she termed pay-to-play by the mayor with lobbyist and supporter James Capalino.  Positing that she would only address “on-topic” questions, Malliotakis had little to say when asked about allegations by rival candidate Bo Dietl that her campaign submitted improper petitioning documents to the Board of Elections.

Declaring that “it is completely outrageous” that Mayor de Blasio will not say whether he supports removing the statue of Columbus, Malliotakis demanded that he state his position before the Democratic primary on Tuesday.  Malliotakis repeated her position that the statue should remain, adding later that she would not convene the commission the mayor has announced to review “symbols of hate” on City property.  She said that she could support adding a descriptive plaque near the Columbus statue and that she is open to a memorial honoring the “indigenous people” harmed and displaced by Columbus.

Malliotakis regularly offers harsh criticism of the mayor, but unlike some of the other mayoral candidates virtually always focuses on his job performance and policies.  In an unusually personal and harsh written statement issued in connection with her press conference, however, Malliotakis said “I really think Bill de Blasio should go back to using his birth name of Warren Wilhelm, because he obviously doesn’t have the heart and soul of an Italian.”  (She did not make that statement during the press conference.)

Malliotakis also criticized the mayor’s engagement with lobbyist James Capalino, focusing on his involvement in a project to build a 47 story tower on the grounds of the Upper East Side’s Stanley Isaacs Houses.  She also attacked as “pathetic” de Blasio’s recent op-ed defending himself against pay-to-play complaints.

Video:

Here is the full press conference:

On Topic Only (Updated)



Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis today adopted a move favored by Mayor de Blasio, seeking to limit press questions to “on topic” only.  At a truncated Columbus Circle press conference this afternoon Malliotakis sought to restrict questions to her chosen two topics; Mayor de Blasio’s unclear position on removal of the statue of Christopher Columbus and his, in her view, insufficient addressing of pay-to-play allegations.

Yesterday rival candidate Bo Dietl issued a statement referring to Malliotakis as a “criminal,” alleging that her campaign submitted petitions to the Board of Elections with a false certification on the number of signatures included on those petitions.  (The petitions are for an additional, self-created ballot line, “Fix Transit Now.”)  When I asked Malliotakis about that allegation today she responded with a mashup of replies, first saying that she would “stay on topic today,” then dismissing Dietl’s assertion as “outrageous” and “ridiculous” and ending by saying “there’s no comment on that … it’s frivolous” as her staffer moved to end the press conference.  She included a denial of the circumstances surrounding the filing of those petitions, however, saying “I don’t honestly, I don’t know those petitions were filed, and if we didn’t have a sufficient number then they were kicked off.”

The attempted “on-topic” restriction was unusual for Malliotakis.  She’s generally open to questions, holding fairly lengthy press conferences without topic limits.  She has also been quite accommodating to me throughout her campaign, regularly answering questions on-camera without restriction.  It’s unclear why she sought a topic restriction today, including whether it was specifically to avoid discussing the Dietl allegations.

Bo Greetings



Mayoral candidate Bo Dietl had mixed results as he sought out Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio ahead of the West Indian Day Parade this morning.  Cuomo and de Blasio lined up separately for the parade, with Cuomo doing a brief press Q&A before marching.

As Cuomo walked toward the waiting press Dietl called out “we love Governor Cuomo”, drawing a finger point and “ohhh, Bo.”  “Democrat Bo” replied Dietl.  As Cuomo and the Rev. Al Sharpton stood waiting to march Dietl moved in, drawing a “what’s up Bo” from Sharpton as they exchanged a handshake and kiss.  (“I know Al Sharpton 40 years … I regard him as a friend” Dietl said afterwards.)  A smiling Cuomo looked toward Dietl, shook his hand and kept smiling as he turned away.

Dietl moved on to de Blasio, waiting for a moment as the mayor posed for a picture.  “Mr. Mayor, no Columbus, come on, no Columbus” he called out, drawing a mayoral smile and quick handshake.  A silent Chirlane McCray, Mayor de Blasio’s wife, smiled wanly and gave a small flick of her flag as Dietl reached past her to take the mayor’s hand.

Dietl & Malliotakis On DACA



Rival mayoral candidates Bo Dietl and Nicole Malliotakis support continuation of DACA, and oppose President Trump’s expected termination of the program.  I spoke with Dietl, running on a self-created line in the general election, and Malliotakis, the Republican and Conservative Party nominee, just before today’s West Indian Day Parade.

Dietl:

Dietl said that he’s “totally against” the ending of DACA.  Voicing support for the DACA applicants, Dietl declared that “we gotta bring ’em into our system” and called for a path to citizenship.

 

Malliotakis:

Malliotakis condemned any presidential action removing the DACA protections.  Noting that there has not been any White House announcement yet, Malliotakis was nonetheless clear that she would oppose any significant reduction or elimination of DACA’s protections.   She urged Congress to act and “put[] forward some type of path for legalization and citizenship.”  She also urged Congress to act more broadly to improve the immigration system.

Cuomo Cold Shoulder



Governor Andrew Cuomo gave Mayor Bill de Blasio yet another political cold shoulder today, brushing off the possibility of endorsing de Blasio for reelection just a week ahead of the Democratic mayoral primary.  de Blasio was an energetic supporter of Cuomo in his 2014 reelection, publicly supporting him as early as May and energetically helping Cuomo win the support of the Working Families Party.  Speaking with reporters ahead of the West Indian Day Parade today, Cuomo avoided any mention of de Blasio in reply to questions from NY1’s Grace Rauh and the Daily News’ Erin Durkin,  declaring that as a Westchester resident “I’m not voting in this election so I don’t have any primary endorsements at this time.”

Dietl Calls On Malliotakis To Drop Out



Mayoral candidate Bo Dietl, running on a self-created ballot line, called on Republican/Conservative mayoral nominee Nicole Malliotakis to withdraw from the race.  Dietl issued a press release and spoke at a candidate forum last night urging his rival to end her candidacy.  We spoke at length with Dietl after the forum; video excerpts of our conversation are below.

Malliotakis’ withdrawal would significantly help Dietl, but it’s extremely unlikely to happen.  Dietl and Malliotakis each dramatically trail Mayor Bill de Blasio in public polls, with both of them barely into double digit support.  Either ending their candidacy would help the other, but there’s little incentive for Malliotakis to do so.

Dietl mostly offered that he’s better able to defeat de Blasio as his main argument for Malliotakis to withdraw.  He gave a brief policy-based argument, saying that Malliotakis opposed a minimum wage increase, opposed same-sex marriage and opposed MTA funding and is therefor out of synch with the majority of New York voters.  He also criticized her participation in the City’s campaign matching funds program.  Finally, Dietl had harsh criticism of New York State Republican Chairman Ed Cox.

Video:

Here’s an edited version of our exchange.  We spoke just after Dietl’s appearance at a Bay Terrace candidate forum.

Bo & Sal



“Hey Sal, boy he bitch-slapped you the other night” is rarely a good greeting for a a mayoral candidate, but that’s how mayoral candidate Sal Albanese was greeted by fellow mayoral candidate Bo Dietl last night outside a candidate forum hosted by the Bay Terrace Community Alliance. Diet had just finished a NYTrue.com interview when Albanese walked past, headed in to the forum.  Diet called out in a friendly voice but with a message undoubtedly displeasing to Albanese, focused on Albanese’s on-on-one debate Wednesday with Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Stop with that, we did pretty well”replied Albanese as they shook hands.  “We don’t do violence” thumped Albanese as he turned and continued in after Dietl lamented Albanese failing to give de Blasio a “right hook.”  “He needs a little violenceatation” countered a smiling Dietl.  (Dietl once dismissed rival candidate Paul Massey as not having “enough umpatation.”)

Here’s a look:

Malliotakis Press Conference: Rivington House



Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis and Republican public advocate candidate J.C. Polanco held a press conference today in front of Rivington House, the former nursing home entangled in a de Blasio administration scandal.  Malliotakis and Polanco sought to draw renewed attention to the tangled tale of Rivington House and to the relationship of Mayor de Blasio and lobbyist Jame Capalino.  Capalino was a key figure in the elimination of Rivington House deed restrictions that opened the possibility of a for-profit real estate project at Rivington House.

Question topics included Mayor de Blasio’s announcement that he’ll convene a commission to review removing public art honoring Confederate and other figures, the Democratic mayoral candidate debate to be held tonight and Malliotakis’ pledge to release her assembly emails.

Here is the full press conference:

Dietl For Faulkner



Mayoral candidate Bo Dietl offered a seemingly impromptu endorsement of Republican comptroller candidate Michel Faulkner last night.  Both candidates had just exited a candidate forum at St. John’s University, with Dietl headed off after speaking to a few reporters.  As Faulkner stepped forward to speak with the press Dietl returned and made his statement.

Faulkner did not reciprocate with an endorsement of Dietl’s independent candidacy.  After ending his mayoral campaign and switching to the comptroller’s race Faulkner initially endorsed Paul Massey.  He has not formally endorsed Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis, but he has expressed support for her.  At a joint August 4th press conference Faulkner said that “we all hope and pray [that Malliotakis] will be our next mayor.”