The Bayside Hills Civic Association held a candidates night covering three state legislative elections. The competitiveness of those three elections varied dramatically, with Assembly Member Nily Rozic running unopposed, Assembly Member Ed Braunstein heavily favored to win over Republican opponent David Bressler and Democrat John Liu, Independence Party candidateTony Avella, Republican Vickie Paladino and Conservative Party candidate Simon Minching in a heated state senate race. Liu defeated incumbent Senator Avella in the Democratic primary and Paladino defeated Minching in the Republican primary. Avella arrived late, just after the forum concluded. Liu and Avella studiously avoided each other in the post-forum mingling.
Many elected officials participated in todays Little Neck Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, among them Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate Tish James, Comptroller Scott Stringer and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
Update – Electeds on Parade:
We look at the Mayor’s, and other elected officials, reception:
de Blasio & Cuomo Remarks:
In what could be titled “a tale of two proclamations”, the Mayor and Governor each made brief remarks at the start of the parade and each presented their own proclamation to the parade organizers. Neither took questions. de Blasio invoked his father’s World War II service and injury, and subsequent struggles, in urging the audience to “never let their memories go” of service members injured or killed. Cuomo described himself as a “Queens boy” for whom it is a “pleasure to be back on [his] home turf.” H e declared it “a day to remember that freedom is not free”, noting that “we still have boys in harm’s way.” Their full remarks are here:
Steve & Teddy:
Congressman Steve Israel, chair of the DCCC, met a historic figure. Every parade needs a little goofiness after all.
We spoke with John Liu concerning Ray Kelly’s speech this morning in which the police commissioner was highly critical of all of the mayoral candidates.
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.)
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.
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.)
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.
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.
On June 19th, the University Transportation Research Center hosted a mayoral candidate forum focused on transportation policy. The forum, at Baruch College, featured separate panels of Democratic and Republican candidates answering questions posed by a committee of experts.
Update: In this report, we look at Anthony Weiner’s call for mayoral control of the MTA.
(In April, we spoke about this topic with John Liu, who offered a very different view. Watch it here.)
In our first report, John Liu answers a question on the city’s capital budgeting and whether the Bloomberg administration’s current budget is realistic.
Last night, El Diario, the Hispanic Federation and Hostos Community College hosted a mayoral forum with seven Democrats, two Republicans and one Independence Party candidate. It was quite an evening.
Update #3: Quinn v. de Blasio
In this excerpt, Christine Quinn and Bill de Blasio engage in a pointed discussion of their respective views of their accomplishments.
Update #2: Weiner on his House Immigration Subcommittee Work
In this excerpt, Anthony Weiner is asked what he accomplished as a member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration. He demonstrates his substantial speaking skills, giving a lengthy description of acting as “an advocate” and pledging to be “an advocate on immigration” just “as Mayor Bloomberg does on guns.” When pressed by the moderator on what he has to show from his time on that subcommittee, Weiner says that “every member of the Democratic caucus … didn’t get much done” during that time. He does, however, assert that he “tilled the fields” and “fought really hard.”
Update: O, Alma Mater, glorious …
In this brief excerpt, the candidates focus on their love for a particular high school. Really. Well worth watching.
In our initial report the candidates discuss the city’s solid waste disposal plan. It’s a unique exchange in several ways. First, more than any other forum or debate segment that I can recall, the candidates engage in a long and unusually involved discussion with each other. Second, there are some clear personal frictions that emerge. Finally, there are a few loopy moments. All in all, this segment displays more candidate personalities more effectively than any other moment that I’ve seen so far in the campaign.
Last night, Families for Excellent Schools held a mayoral candidate forum. Four Democratic candidates attended: Anthony Weiner, Christine Quinn, Sal Albanese and John Liu.
Here is our initial report, covering two charter school questions asked at the forum, and including the complete answers of each candidate. Despite being asked as “yes or no” questions, the responses are fairly lengthy and we thought it worthwhile to give you the complete answers.
Tonight the New York City Bar Association hosted a mayoral candidate forum. The forum, moderated by NY1’s Errol Louis*, featured separate panels of four Republican and Independence Party candidates and four Democratic Party candidates.
This excerpt has the “Lightning Rounds” in which Errol Louis posed a series of yes/no questions to each panel. He asked four questions of the Republican/Independence candidates and the same four, plus one additional question, to the Democratic candidates. (It’s possible that I’ve missed a fifth question due to a recording or editing glitch, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.) Among the notable answers, all eight candidates indicated that they are in favor of settling the Central Park Five case.
Update: In this excerpt George McDonald criticizes Anthony Weiner and Vito Lopez, and laments the lack of voter participation as enabling improper conduct by elected officials.
* This was the ninth mayoral forum of 2013 hosted by Errol Louis. Be sure to watch our interview with Errol Louis discussing the enormous number of candidate forums and whether they are a productive exercise.
At the conclusion of the forum, we spoke with Bill de Blasio about civil liberties and the NYPD. Watch it here.
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