Category Archives: John Liu

East Harlem Mayoral Forum (Updated x 2)



Last night, Union Settlement Association and several other groups hosted an East Harlem Mayoral Forum.  Seven candidates participated: Sal Albanese, Adolfo Carrion, Bill de Blasio, John Liu, George McDonald, Erick Salgado and Bill Thompson.

Update:  This excerpt covers a question concerning job training, with the complete candidate answers. (George McDonald arrived during this question/answer and was not invited to answer this question.)

 

For our initial report, here are the two “lightning rounds” conducted by moderator Errol Louis.  In the first lightning round, held mid-forum, all seven candidates participated.  The second lightning round was held at the end of the forum, with four candidates remaining.  All of the questions cover substantive policy issues, and the last may be the most surprising.

Be sure to watch our post-forum conversation with Errol Louis, available here.

Also, don’t miss our lighthearted look at this forum, available here.

Finally, courtesy of the forum hosts, here is a transcript.

Mayoral Forum: North of 96th Street Public Health Coalition (Updated)



The North of 96th Street Public Health Coalition recently held a “Mayoral Forum on Public Health Issues in the Communities of Harlem and Northern Manhattan”.  Five candidates, Sal Albanese, Adolfo Carrion, John Liu, Erick Salgado and Bill Thompson attended, while the remaining Democratic and all of the Republican candidates declined invitations.

Continue reading Mayoral Forum: North of 96th Street Public Health Coalition (Updated)

Democratic Candidates on Union Contract Retroactive Pay



At the mayoral candidate forum hosted by DC 37, four Democratic candidates responded to a question on whether they were opposed to retroactive pay under union contracts “in principle”.  The four responding candidates were Bill de Blasio, Sal Albanese, Erick Salgado and John Liu.  Christine Quinn did not attend the forum and Bill Thompson arrived after this discussion.

Be sure to watch our earlier coverage of the DC 37 Forum here.

Tour de Gracie: The Peloton Reels Quinn Back In



The mayoral race is like a long distance bicycle race, with the peloton reeling the current breakaway leader back in.   In long distance bike races, such as the Tour de France, often a single rider will break will away from the peloton, or main pack of riders, and move into a significant lead for a time.  Without the wind and friction breaking benefit of riding in the pack, the breakaway rider often tires and eventually fades back into the peloton.

In the Quinnipiac poll released this morning, the breakaway leader continues her slide back into the peloton.  Here are a few observations: Continue reading Tour de Gracie: The Peloton Reels Quinn Back In

Bob Hennelly & the 5 Amigos (Updated x 3)



Yesterday evening District Council 37 held a mayoral forum with five Democratic candidates.  We’ll be providing some extended reporting on the forum.

Update #3:  DC 37 endorsed John Liu for mayor on May 29th.  Extended excerpts of John Liu at the mayoral forum are here.

Update #2:  Excerpts showing the discussion on retroactive pay under union contracts are here.

Update:  Here are excerpts showing moderator Bob Hennelly in action.  In this forum, his campaign season premier, he joined the ranks of the 2013 campaign’s most effective moderators.  He skillfully used humor to facilitate the discussion, kept it moving while allowing time for substantive answers and interacted with a very engaged audience.  Unlike many moderators, he began with his own impassioned description of the state of the city as Mayor Bloomberg’s term comes to an end.

Our initial clip covers a question, and full answers, on a proposal to allow non-citizens to vote.  The exchange illustrates several features of last night’s forum:  host Bob Hennelly’s use of humor to effectively facilitate the discussion while keeping it moving, the candidate’s attempts, some humorous, to engage the audience, in this case with their widely varying spanish language skills, John Liu running to the left of the more measured Bills (Thompson and de Blasio) and a very engaged audience which at the start of this question objected to the questioner speaking in spanish rather than english.

Mayoral Forum Vintage Video



Well, sort of.  This two week old video is from a forum held on April 25, 2013 by the Good Government Regular Democratic Club.  The Rockaway-based club hosted four Democratic mayoral candidates, Christine Quinn, Sal Albanese, Bill Thompson and John Liu.  Each candidate appeared separately, giving a lengthy presentation and then engaging in Q&A with the audience

We’ve posted some extended video below for three of the four.  Sal Albanese video is still in process, and we’ll add it soon. Continue reading Mayoral Forum Vintage Video

Lunacy … or Democracy in Action?



This mayoral campaign’s most notable feature is the proliferation of candidate debates and forums.  Numbering well into the scores, perhaps even 100, so far, they occur daily and even multiple times a day.  It’s a worthwhile question whether this grueling schedule is sensible or an effective campaign structure.

In this report, we consider that question with two candidates and a former candidate.

Watch.

Be sure to watch our earlier report on this question, 9 Candidates, 7 Zillion Debates, with Brian Lehrer and Joe Lhota.

NYCLASS Animal Rights Mayoral Candidate Forum (Updated x 3)



Today NYCLASS hosted a mayoral candidate forum, with Tom Allon moderating, focused on animal rights.  It was a lively forum, with both the candidates and the audience engaged and energetic.

We’ll have lots of coverage, but we’ll start you with this brief snippet of Dean and Jerry Sal Albanese and John Catsimatidis.

Update #3 – Carriage Horses:

Here is the full discussion around carriage horses.  Only Bill de Blasio calls for a full immediate ban, while the others express concerns around the economic impact on the drivers.  All, however, were ready, willing and able to criticize Christine Quinn for her impeding council action on this issue.

Update #2 – The Cat Man in the Lion’s Den:

John Catsimatidis, the “Cat Man” as he has dubbed himself, was the sole Republican candidate to attend the NYCLASS forum.  Here are two clips of the Cat Man; his opening statement and his answer to a question on the fate of horse-drawn carriages in midtown Manhattan.  We’ve selected these for two reasons:  First, there are a number of funny moments, some intentional, some not.  (“My kids were raised in Central Park” (not allowed in the house?) and, without evident humor or irony stating that “there’s no free rides” for the horses, make me laugh aloud.)  Second, watching a first-time candidate make his way through unfamiliar policy issues and governmental processes while trying to connect with voters is worth watching, both in these brief moments and in the broader campaign.

Opening Statement:

Horse-drawn Carriages:


Update #1 – Quinn in absentia:

Christine Quinn, despite not attending the forum, received significant attention.  She has a fraught relationship with NYCLASS and the organized animal rights community, as shown in these excerpts.

Liu on Liu’s Fundraising



The trial of John Liu’s campaign treasurer and an outside fundraiser is concluding, with closing arguments expected to finish today.  As described by the New York Times, the government asserted in it’s closing argument that Liu must have been aware of the illegal “straw donor” arrangements that his campaign aides are accused of.  The government has not, however, offered direct evidence of any such knowledge by Liu nor has he been charged with any crime.  Liu has soldiered on since the first report of financing irregularities, his campaign surviving when many thought it would not.

As Liu marches on, he is infrequently asked about the charges in candidate forums and debates, but often brings it up on his own.  His general approach is to proclaim that he is “very proud” of his fundraising, lament the need for campaign fundraising, sometimes complain about the federal government’s actions and then move on.  He also, sometimes gingerly, complains about the New York Times’ role, once describing it as “in bed with the feds” and once asserting, presumably referring to the Times, that “newspapers which I think [Bloomberg] has a huge amount of influence over, they’ve come after me.”

Here are three recent examples of Liu addressing his fundraising, two of which have Liu raising the issue and in the third he responds to a question.

1)  April 25, 2013 – Good Government Regular Democratic Club Candidate Forum.

2)  April 15, 2013 – Staten Island Democratic Committee Candidate Forum.

(Here is our full report on Liu’s appearance at the Staten Island Democratic Committee forum.)

3)  April 9, 2013 – Asian American Federation Candidate Forum.

(Here is our full report on Liu’s appearance at the Asian American Federation forum.)