Photo Gallery: Collins Pleads Guilty

Disgraced former U.S. House member Chris Collins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and making false statements to law enforcement officials Tuesday, bringing his federal insider trading case to conclusion.  Collins, a Republican who resigned from the House of Representatives on Monday, had represented the 27th Congressional District since 2013.  Collins’ sentencing is scheduled for January 17, 2020.

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Our full photo gallery is available here.

Photo Gallery: Climate March

Tens of thousands of marchers filled lower Broadway Friday, demanding action to fight climate change.  The marchers were predominantly young, with students taking advantage of the City’s grant of permission to skip school for the march.

No elected officials were at the head of the march.  Mayor Bill de Blasio, fresh off his morning announcement that he’s ended his presidential campaign, marched with his wife Chirlane McCray about 5 minutes behind the lead marchers.  It appeared to be a welcome transition for the mayor, making a local appearance after months of criticism for his campaign related absences, but like his campaign focused on a national issue.  At the end of the route de Blasio and McCray headed off to the subway, joined by a group of staffers for part of the ride.  After passing City Hall it was just the mayor, his wife, one staffer and one press photographer for a relaxed mid-afternoon ride to the Upper East Side.

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Our full photo gallery is available here.

Photo Gallery: Cuomo Sept. 11th Motorcycle Ride

Governor Andrew Cuomo continued his tradition of commemorating the September 11th attacks with a motorcycle ride to Ground Zero.  Cuomo hosted several hundred riders who traveled from Albany and Nassau County at a Javits Center luncheon, then joined them for the last ride segment to the World Trade Center.  That final segment retraces the route of the FDNY’s Rescue Company 1 that dark day from their West 43rd Street quarters to the World Trade Center, where 11 of their members perished.

Past years have featured celebrity guests including then-Vice President Joe Biden, Robert De Niro, Billy Joel and reality TV star Paul Teutul Jr.  (Joel and Teutul Jr. joined the ride to the World Trade Center.)  This year’s celebrity guest and fellow rider was Paul Teutul Sr., while Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and NYS Attorney General Tish James joined Cuomo at the lunch.  Several state legislators and NYC council members attended the lunch but none were spotted on the ride.  None of the three citywide electeds or Council Speaker Corey Johnson attended.

Following the ride Governor Cuomo spent about 15 minutes greeting fellow riders, receiving a warm reception as he walked through crowd shaking hands and admiring the parked motorcycles.  He did not take questions or speak with reporters.

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Photo Gallery: de Blasio 1st Day of School Visit

Mayor Bill de Blasio marked the first day of school with a five stop round of school visits Thursday, with his final stop at East Harlem’s PS 146.  He was joined for part of his 45 minute visit by Chancellor Richard Carranza.  Student reactions ranged from complete excitement to indifference but parents and faculty/staff/administrators reactions appeared quite positive, with many wanting photos with the mayor.  There were not any discernible negative reactions from the assemble parents or faculty/staff/administrators.

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Photo Gallery: Women’s World Cup Celebration

New York City celebrated the U.S. Women’s National Team World Cup victory with a ticker tape parade up Broadway and a ceremony in front of City Hall.  Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray hosted the ceremony, with TV personality Robin Roberts joining them as the MC.  Several thousand adoring fans welcomed the team for the hour long ceremony, varying between roaring their approval and chanting “equal pay.”

Many city and state legislators were in the audience, but Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Corey Johnson and NYS Senate Temporary President/Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins were the only elected officials on stage.  Governor Andrew Cuomo rode on a float in the preceding ticker tape parade but did not attend the City Hall ceremony.

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Our full photo gallery from the City Hall ceremony is available here.

(Our coverage of the 2015 ticker tape parade and City Hall ceremony is available here.)

Photo Gallery: Caban Primary Night

Tiffany Caban appeared to prevail in the Democratic primary for Queens District Attorney Tuesday night, with an election night preliminary lead of just over 1,000 votes out a total of approximately 85,000 reported. Those election night results will be finalized and paper ballots (absentee and affidavit ballots) counted with a final result expected next week, but it appears likely that Caban’s lead over Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will hold.

Caban’s insurgent candidacy and apparent victory over a candidate supported by much of New York’s and Queens’ Democratic establishment drew support from a small but active group of elected officials.  Those electeds include NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, NYS Senators Jessica Ramos, Mike Gianaris, James Sanders, Luis Sepulveda and Julia Salazar, NYS Assembly Members Yuh-line Niou and Ron Kim and NYC Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Brad Lander, all of whom joined Caban on primary night.  Other New York supporters included Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cynthia Nixon.  Caban was also endorsed by U.S. Senators and current presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

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Photo Gallery: Caban GOTV Rally

Queens district attorney candidate Tiffany Caban held a GOTV rally Sunday, two days ahead of the hotly contested Democratic primary.  Caban is one of seven candidates on the ballot (although one of the seven has stopped campaigning and endorsed rival Melinda Katz).  The rally, held in Travers Park in Jackson Heights, was organized by NYS Senator Jessica Ramos.  Caban was also joined by a large group of endorsers and supporters, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NYS Senators Mike Gianaris and Luis Sepulveda, Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and activist/former candidate Cynthia Nixon.

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Our full photo gallery is available here.

Photo Gallery: Borelli Calls For de Blasio Resignation

Council Member Joe Borelli held a City Hall press conference Tuesday calling for Mayor Bill de Blasio to resign.  Borelli, a Staten Island Republican, was joined by Nick Langworthy, the incoming chairman of the NYS Republican Party.  They framed their resignation demand as primarily driven by de Blasio’s presidential campaign distracting him from fully discharging his mayoral duties, but also referenced a variety of what they view as policy failures during de Blasio’s term.

Continue reading Photo Gallery: Borelli Calls For de Blasio Resignation

Photo Gallery: Cuomo Touts Penn Station Entrance Design

Governor Andrew Cuomo, joined by NYS Senator Brad Hoylman and NYS Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, gave a speech touting design renderings for a new entrance to Penn Station.  Penn Station and Madison Square Garden are in Assm. Gottfried’s district while Sen. Holyman’s district surrounds, but doesn’t include, Penn Station and MSG.  Cuomo’s speech was, perhaps coincidentally, at the same time as Mayor de Blasio separately spoke about his nascent campaign for president.

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Photo Gallery: 100th Anniversary of the 1st Transatlantic Flight

Council Member Eric Ulrich hosted a ceremony Wednesday commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first transatlantic airplane flight.  That first flight was not Charles Lindbergh’s Roosevelt Field to Paris flight in 1927, but an effort by U.S. Navy and Coast Guard pilots that hopscotched from Rockaway to Lisbon eight years earlier.  The ceremony was held at Riis Landing on Jamaica Bay, just west of the departure point for the three seaplanes that were part of that first transatlantic flight.

Just one of the three seaplanes succeeded in reaching Lisbon after planned stops in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Azores and an unplanned stop in Massachusetts.

The commemoration featured flyovers by the Coast Guard and the NYPD and an appearance by an FDNY fireboat.  The program included speakers from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, historians and descendants of the primary planner of the 1919 flight.  It was mc’d by CM Ulrich’s Deputy Chief of Staff Robby Schwach, who organized the commemoration.  Marching bands from the Channel View School for Research and the Scholars Academy performed.   The commemoration concluded with the unveiling of a street sign marking renaming a section of Beach 169th Street in honor of U.S. Navy Seaplane Division One.

Council Member Ulrich was the only elected official to attend.

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Our full photo gallery is available here.

Photo Gallery: de Blasio Early Voting Advocacy

Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference to draw attention to the Board of Elections’ preparations for early voting.  de Blasio is highly critical of the initial steps taken by the Board of Elections as it moves to implement early voting under recently enacted changes in state law and he is mounting a public campaign to push the Board to expand its early voting arrangements.

Continue reading Photo Gallery: de Blasio Early Voting Advocacy

Photo Gallery: Sharpton Hosts Buttigieg

The Rev. Al Sharpton hosted presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg for lunch Monday at Harlem’s Sylvia’s Restaurant.  The menu was more talk than food, however, as they walked through a press gauntlet on arrival, sat with a pack of photographers snapping their table time and held a packed sidewalk press conference.

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Our full photo gallery is available here.

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