Category Archives: Sal Albanese

2017 Year In Photos



Baseball fan Timothy Cardinal Dolan sports a borrowed Yankees hat while the hat’s owner sports Cardinal Dolan’s zucchetto.

Mayoral candidates fighting and occasionally smiling, a governor working his fellow electeds and the cameras, a hometown president passing through.  Those are among the images in our 2017 photo retrospective.

Shot entirely in the five boroughs, our photo retrospective reflects our 2017 focus on the mayoral election and particularly on challengers looking to defeat Mayor de Blasio.  There’s more, however, with a mix of light moments, conflict and loss.

Our photographic look back at 2017 is available here.

Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis heads to her car following a Saturday morning appearance at a Queens GOP “Unity Breakfast” in Glendale.

Note:  Our more extensive photo retrospective on the 2017 mayoral race is available here.

2017 Mayoral Race Photo Retrospective



The 2017 mayoral election is over, but the photos live on.

Our photo retrospective covers the race from a 2016 endorsement of Bill de Blasio and a January 2017 appearance by Paul Massey through election night.  I’ve chosen this selection from the more than 100 campaign events I attended.

Four aspiring Republican mayoral candidates at a March forum hosted by the Columbia College Republicans. None of the four made it to the Republican primary or general election.

Continue reading 2017 Mayoral Race Photo Retrospective

Whitestone Forum



Mayoral candidates Bo Dietl, Sal Albanese and Nicole Malliotakis rolled into Whitestone last night, attending a candidate forum hosted by the We Love Whitestone Civic Association.  The forum drew a modestly-sized audience of 30-35 people.

The forum was structured to have each candidate speak on their own, with an opening statement and responding to written questions from the audience.  Dietl and Albanese ended answering questions together, with some discussion between the two candidates but without them falling into a debate.  Malliotakis arrived shortly after Dietl departed and she spoke solo as Albanese sat and listened.

Continue reading Whitestone Forum

Photo Gallery: Columbus Day Parade



The 2017 Columbus Day Parade had its usual large helping of politicians, including a full set of mayoral candidates.  Among those attending were Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Representatives Tom Suozzi and Carolyn Maloney.  2017 mayoral candidates attending, in addition to Mayor de Blasio, included Republican/Conservative candidate and Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis, independent candidate Bo Dietl and Reform Party candidate Sal Albanese.

Mayoral candidate friction was exacerbated by the contretemps over statues of Christopher Columbus.  Bo Dietl shouted and booed as Mayor de Blasio marched past a waiting Dietl without acknowledgment

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

Dietl Debate Drama?



Zymere Perkins, Warren Wilhelm, Big Bird, Sal Albanese and Joseph Ponte.  Those names are not at the forefront of New York City’s political awareness, but all figure into Bo Dietl’s preparations for tonight’s mayoral candidate debate.  Dietl, distantly trailing Mayor de Blasio and his two fellow de Blasio challengers in recent public polls and experiencing a significant drop off from early fundraising success, is looking to the mayoral debate to recharge his campaign.  In several discussions over the past week Dietl has outlined his debate plan, mentioning topics he regularly brings up while campaigning and, mostly, promising an aggressive approach. Continue reading Dietl Debate Drama?

Bay Ridge Mayoral Forum



Two mayoral candidates came to Bay Ridge for a candidate forum Wednesday morning, pledging to support their fellow senior citizens and criticizing their youthful rivals.  Bo Diet and Sal Albanese participated in the forum hosted by the Bay Ridge Council on Aging at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center.  Both are themselves seniors, Dietl at 66 and Albanese at 68, and they sought to capitalize on that affinity with most of the audience.  Younger rivals Bill de Blasio, 56, and Nicole Malliotakis, 36, did not attend.

Dietl and Albanese have a very cordial relationship, several times expressing their affection for each other, but they both urged the audience to disregard their rival as unable to win and therefor a wasted vote.

Questions included how they would ensure continued funding for senior centers, whether they support a state constitutional convention, their views on charter schools, whether their candidacies help Bill de Blasio by simply drawing anti-de Blasio votes from Republican candidate Nicole Malliotakis and plans for dealing with the homeless, particularly in Bay Ridge.

Video:

Here is the full forum:

Photo Gallery:

Our photo gallery is available here.

Dietl On Albanese



“I think it’s time for you to go to the pasture.”  Mayoral candidate Bo Dietl was dismissive of rival mayoral candidate Sal Albanese and Albanese’s victory in Tuesday’s Reform Party primary, suggesting he should end his candidacy.  Albanese was the only candidate listed on the Reform Party ballot, but Dietl and Republican/Conservative candidate Nicole Malliotakis mounted write-in campaigns seeking to take the Reform Party Nomination from the party’s designated candidate.  In preliminary election night results Albanese received 57% of the votes cast, with total write in votes of 43% insufficient to give Dietl or Malliotakis a chance of winning.

In addition to deriding Albanese’s 57% showing in a race in which he was the only candidate on the ballot, Dietl also accused Albanese of colluding with Bill de Blasio to help de Blasio receive primary election matching funds from the Campaign Finance Board.  (The CFB awarded matching funds to de Blasio on a finding that Albanese’s Democratic primary candidacy met the legal threshold of significant competition.)

Albanese’s Reform Party candidacy is an unwelcome complication for Dietl and Malliotakis, adding a third anti-de Blasio candidate who may draw press and voter attention away from their respective campaigns.  They’re already fighting for the same base, as evidenced by this Dietl visit to a senior center in Malliotakis’ assembly district.  That base is not nearly large enough to power a single candidate to victory, and split between Dietl and Malliotakis it leaves both with little ability to pose a real challenge to Mayor de Blasio.  Albanese’s presence further muddles their efforts at establishing themselves as the primary de Blasio opponent, and Dietl’s comments reflect an understanding of that challenge.

Flashback:

Dietl was harshly dismissive of Albanese’s debate performance against Mayor de Blasio, when Dietl and Albanese crossed paths at a Queens 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:

Queens Trib Forum Lightning Round



The Queens Tribune and St. John’s University hosted an unusual candidate forum Tuesday evening, putting Democratic and Republican mayoral, comptroller and public advocate candidates together on stage for two hours.  Participating candidates included mayoral candidates Nicole Malliotakis, Bo Dietl, Sal Albanese, David Bashner and Mike Tolkin, comptroller candidates Scott Stringer and Michel Faulkner and public advocate candidates David Eisenbach and J.C. Polanco.

We’ll begin near the end, with the Lightning Round questions:

Update – Full Forum:

Here is the full forum:

Reform Party Candidate Forum



The Reform Party hosted a mayoral candidate forum Tuesday, with six candidates appearing and seeking the 2017 Reform Party nomination for New York City mayor.  The participating candidates included Democrats  Sal Albanese, Michael Tolkin and Kevin Coenen, Republicans Michel Faulkner and Rocky De La Fuente and currently man-without-a-party-but-hoping-to-run-as-a-Republican Bo Dietl.  All expressed a desire to run on the Reform Party line in addition to that of their respective party.

The Reform Party was created in 2014 by Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino as the “Stop Common Core” ballot line.  Winning more than 50,000 votes in that election brought a four year ballot existence for the party, which changed its name to the Reform Party.  Astorino and his allies lost control of the party, however, with Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa taking control.  (There’s a separate and unaffiliated Reform Party that is part of the national Reform Party of the United States.)  According to Sliwa, the Reform Party’s 18 committee members will select the party’s mayoral nominee, likely in late April or May.

Video – Here are the six candidates giving short introductions:

Update – Photo Gallery:

Our forum photo gallery is available here.

Mayoral Forum: The Queens Co-ops, Condos & Counselors Edition (Updated x 2)



Tonight, the Presidents Co-op & Condo Council of Queens and the Queens County Bar Association co-sponsored a mayoral candidate forum.  Eight candidates attended, appearing before a crowd of 400-500 and answering questions posed by moderator Azi Paybarah.  Attendees included, in order of appearance: Sal Albanese, Joe Lhota, George McDonald, Anthony Weiner, Erick Salgado, Adolfo Carrion, Christine Quinn and John Catsimatidis.

Update #3 – Salgado re: Anthony Weiner & His Ideas:

Erick Salgado discusses Anthony Weiner’s adoption of Salgado’s idea, at least according to Salgado.

Update #2 – Weiner Addresses Audience “Audible Groans”:

As Anthony Weiner went to the podium at last night’s forum, a small wave of groans and discontent rumbled through the audience.  Here is Weiner’s reaction when asked about the audience response.

Update – Something Positive About My Rivals?  Ummm …:

Moderator Azi Paybarah asked all eight candidates a simple, but revealing question:  Can you say something positive, or something interesting that you’ve learned, about any one of your rivals?  The answers range from very warm and friendly to “all about me.”  Watch.

Weiner v. McDonald:
To start our coverage, we have a brief clip of Anthony Weiner and George McDonald crossing paths.  You may recall that Weiner and McDonald had a confrontation at an earlier forum.  McDonald has been highly, and vocally, critical of Weiner and his sexting.

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.