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Liz Benjamin
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Posts by Liz Benjamin
Extras
May 2nd - 7:02 pm
Tom Precious talks hockey with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. (Amazing. Totally worth a listen). The speaker’s beloved Rangers are facing off in the playoffs against the Capitals tonight.
Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, admitted that his public endorsement of same-sex marriage (he appeared in one of HRC’s videos) was “not without a price,” adding: “There was some adverse reaction by someone…They didn’t want to continue a relationship that they had with us in money management.”
What’s in it for Mayor Bloomberg if he endorses Mitt Romney?
Alex Pareene thinks Bloomberg is leading both the Romney and Obama campaigns on and won’t endorse either candidate in the end.
Manhattan BP Scott Stringer: “For every time the mayor has lunch with Mitt Romney, he should take five council members to lunch.” (Actually, yesterday’s Bloomberg-Romney meeting took place over breakfast, and they didn’t eat anything).
In a move of “protest” Sen. Kevin Parker voted against a bill he actually supports.
George Demos is hitting his GOP primary opponent, Randy Altschuler, for taking campaign cash from supporters of a Long Island casino.
Here’s a helpful map of fracking bans and moratoria.
Wendy Long on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: “She speaks in friendly bromides that seem designed to keep her in office, so that she can tell all the rest of us how to run our lives. It reminds me of a phrase that Tocqueville used: ‘velvet tyranny.’”
How to become a “Times-whisperer” – a consultant who has figured out how to sway Gray Lady editorial gatekeeper Eleanor Randolph & Co.
Cuomo wants you to love your state parks during a volunteer clean-up day this weekend. He will be participating, but did not reveal where.
This is a real story.
NYC elected officials called on their counterparts in Albany to pass the Reporductive Health Act.
Bloomberg will release his 2013 budget Thursday.
Newt Gingrich’s “truly wild ride” is truly over. He hasn’t endorsed Romney (yet). That comes later.
George Clooney’s house beat Reese Witherspoon’s house in the who-will-host-Obama’s-fundraiser sweepstakes.
Can you guess who said this? “Banking should be boring. When banking isn’t boring, bad things happen.” (Don’t cheat. Guess first. Then click).
No Senate Run For Rudy
May 2nd - 3:25 pm
Rudy S. Giuliani has decided to take a pass on challenging Democratic Sen. Tony Avella, telling me in a brief phone interview this afternoon that “it just didn’t feel like the right time.”
The 28-year-old second cousin of former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he was “flattered, humbled even” to be asked to run by the Senate GOP, and surprised by the encouragement he received.
After much consideration and discussion with his family, however, he decided that this isn’t his year – in part because he hasn’t had sufficient time to put together the kind of campaign he want to run some day. (And, having worked on several – including his uncle’s failed presidential bid in 2008 – he has a pretty good idea of what an unsuccessful campaign might look like).
“I was concerned about the timing,” the younger Giuliani said. “It didn’t feel right, and my heart wasn’t 100 percent there yet. If i’m going to go through this, I want to be 100 percent sure.”
“…People told me: This is the year. But I never prepared for a run, never had a team assembled, and when we sat down – it’s doable, don’t get me wrong – but, especially with the attention my name is going to generate, I want to be 100 percent ready to go.”
“Senator Skelos was extremely nice, and offered to help any way he could. But I want to have my own team, my own money.”
Apparently, the Senate Republicans have been trying to get Rudy S. Giuliani to run for something for a while now. Sen. Marty Golden, in particular, brings it up quite a lot.
But, it sounded to me like the younger Giuliani, who is currently working for NYC Council Minority Leader Jimmy Oddo, might be mulling a run closer to home sometime in the not-so-distant future. He told me he really enjoys working at City Hall, adding: “I like city government; it’s what I know best. I’m happy now doing what I’m doing. That all factored in there as well.”
Former Sen. Frank Padavan, who was reportedly mulling a re-match against Avella, is also taking a pass. So it looks like the GOP is back to the drawing board on this race.
‘Pricele$$’
May 2nd - 2:25 pm
Fair Elections for New York, one of the groups pushing for establishment of a public campaign finance system, is hosting a free screening tonight of “Pricele$$,” a documentary that looks at the pervasive nature of political cash and its power in shaping policy at the national level.
Emmy-nominated filmmaker Steve Cowan will be joined by Rep. Paul Tonko at The Spectrum 8 Theaters, 290 Delaware Ave., Albany at 7 p.m. After the premiere (it’s the first time this movie has been shown loally), the duo will be taking questions from the audience.
Cowan is scheduled to be my guest on CapTon this evening. While preparing for the interview, I came across this trailer, which features clips of interviews with two New York Democrats.
Former Gov. Mario Cuomo: “Who stops us from coming off oil for something else? The oil companies. Why? They’re getting rich.”
Former Rep. Dan Maffei: “It is a part of my life, every day. Every day I go make those calls.”
And God bless Cowan, because he posted the transcripts of his interviews – not just with Cuomo and Maffei, but with everyone who appears in his movie – on his website. The Cuomo interview, in particular, is quite illuminating. He speaks at length about the 2008 presidential race, which was underway at the time of his sit-down, and about the corrupting nature of big money in government.
That’s extra interesting, of course, because Mario Cuomo’s son, Andrew Cuomo, is now sitting where he once was: In the governor’s office, eyeing a potential future presidential run.
Gov. Cuomo included public campaign financing in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign reform platform, and also highlighted it as a priority in his 2012 State of the State address. But he also put a damper on advocates’ hopes that the issue would be taken up before this year’s legislative session ends, saying the rift between the Senate GOP and Assembly Democrats is too wide to be bridged in just a few weeks.
Maffei is currently locked in a re-match with the Republican who ousted him from office in 2010, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle. In his interview, he describes his “little prison cell of call making” – a basement room his campaign set up where he could make fundraising calls off-site from Capital Hill. Maffei speaks at length about the frustrations and time suck of fundraising, and then says this:
“Who are politicians beholden to? Well, they should be beholden to the voters, the taxpayers in their district. They are also, to a certain extent, talking to their donors. Why not make those two the same thing?”
“When people say, I don’t like public financing. I don’t want all that money wasted – it’s sort of – there’s a contradiction in that. They want politicians to be beholden to the taxpayer, and yet they don’t want the taxpayer to pay for the campaigns. ”
“It’s a far better deal for the American people for taxpayers to pay for the campaigns also – because it means the only people we’ll have to worry about in our day are the taxpayers and constituents in our district, and that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
I’m looking forward to this interview. It will air at 8 p.m. and re-air at 11:30 p.m. (for those who attend tonight’s screening).
NYC GOP Chairs Meet With 2013 Hopeful Allon, Express Support For Catsimatidis
May 2nd - 1:30 pm
Four of the Five NYC GOP county chairs met last night with self-decribed “social liberal/fiscal conservative” Tom Allon, a long-shot contender in the 2013 mayor’s race who has been flirting with the idea of following the Mike Bloomberg model and running as a Republican to improve his chances in a crowded field.
The chairs, released a statement saying that Allon, who (like Rudy Giuliani, back in the day), also has the Liberal Party’s support, is “without question the most moderate, pro-business candidate in the Democratic field,” but it sounds like they’re keeping their options open, which makes sense, considering the fact that the election is still well over a year away.
According to their statement, the chairs – Queens’ Phil Ragua, Brooklyn’s Craig Eaton, Manhattan’s Dan Isaacs and Jay Savino of the Bronx (Staten Island’s Robert Scamardella was unable to attend last night’s get-together) – have been meeting on an almost monthly basis to discuss prospects in the upcoming citywide races.
After 16 years of Republican rule (and then semi-Republican, after Bloomberg changed his enrollment and became an independent) at City Hall, the chairmen are very concerned that control might revert back to the Democrats.
In a city where enrolled members of the GOP are an endangered species, it has long been a point of pride for these party leaders that the mayor had to come to them every four years and receive their blessing to run.
“Any candidate wanting to run on the Republican line for a Mayor or other citywide posts will ultimately need the support of the five chairmen, whose organizations will be critical when it comes to getting on the ballot and other grassroots functions of the campaign,” the statement asserts
“The Chairmen have met routinely with leading New York businessman and philanthropist John Catsimatidis and have also indicated an interest in talking with Ray Kelly, who, like Allon, is not currently a registered Republican. They discussed a wide variety of issues to make certain there is a synergy between their hopeful candidate and the Party base, and to make sure there will be a strong working relationship between the candidate and the Party leadership.”
“Recent news accounts have reported on efforts by some in the Republican Party, including former state GOP Chairman William Powers, to recruit Kelly. Meeting with the five chairmen will be a critical step for Kelly or any prospective candidate if he or she is serious about the possibility of running.”
“Likewise, the Chairman have discussed the pros and cons of others who’s names have been bandied about in the press as potential candidates from time to time including Diana Taylor, Dick Grasso, State Sen. Marty Golden, Eva Moskowitz and Adolfo Carrion.”
The chairmen have been “encouraging” billionaire (read: self-funder) John Catsimatidis to run. Catsimatidis, another Democrat-turned-Republican, switched his enrollment in preparation for a 2009 run for mayor, but then dropped his bid after Bloomberg announced he would seek to extend term limits and run for re-election himself.
Catsimatidis, the owner and CEO of the Red Apple Group and Gristedes Foods, has strong ties to the Queens GOP (Executive Vice Chair Vince Tabone works for him). He’s also related to state GOP Chairman Ed Cox through the marriage of his daughter, Andrea, to Cox’s son, Chris.
For several years now, Catsimatidis, who is a frequent donor/bundler for both parties at the national level, has given quite generously to the state GOP and local organizations.
Catsimatidis has said he is urging Kelly to run, but also says he will run himself if the commissioner does not. Apparently, the chairs aren’t in any rush to choose a favorite. They’re kind of enjoying this in-between stage when candidates come to seek their support.
“The chairmen hope to settle on their candidate before the fall, giving whoever the candidate is plenty of time to prepare a campaign against the eventual Democrat nominee, who is certain to be to the left of the average city voter,” the chairment stated.
“Another topic of discussion centered on whether there would be a special election for NYC Comptroller in the near future and the importance of restoring integrity and competence to that office.”
(Note that little zinger at the end directed at NYC Comptroller John Liu. There would only be a special election if he were to step down between now and 2013 – something that might occur if he’s swept up in the fundraising scandal that has yet to touch him personally. Liu has insisted he’s clean, and also said this week he plans to go “all the way” in 2013 – whatever that means).
The Ghost Of Katz Lives Through Wagner
May 2nd - 8:37 am
Just when you thought the 40th Senatorial District race would be dull, thanks to the departure of Assemblyman Steve Katz, comes a new YouTube video from Democrat Justin Wagner that indicates the general election might well turn out to be as wacky as the now-fizzled primary.
Wagner channels Katz, who dropped his primary challenge to incumbent Republican Sen. Greg Ball last week, picking up where the assemblyman left off in criticizing Ball’s taxpayer-funded mailers.
“I couldn’t agree more with Assemblyman Katz and the Journal News Tax Watchdog with respect to the absurdity of Senator Ball’s practice of spending huge sums of taxpayer money to send campaign-style mail,” Wagner said in a press release.
“Senator Ball is using taxpayer funds to send glossy color pictures of himself and it’s nothing but typical Albany politics that puts politicians ahead of taxpayers.”
“I believe this practice to be an abuse of public funds and in the coming days I will outline a proposal to bring more transparency to the process and cut spending on these wasteful campaign-style mailers.”
In his “parody video,” Wagner deemed Ball “the postal bully” in his video, which includes a clip from The Marvelettes’ hit, “Please, Mr. Postman.”
Here And Now
May 2nd - 7:30 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Albany with no public schedule. Tonight, he’s headed to Buffalo for a $5,000-a-head fundraiser. (His official scheduler just says he’s in Albany and “Erie County”).
The Cuomo event was rescheduled (it was supposed to take place late last month, but there was a “scheduling conflict”) and is being held at the under-renovation Lafayette Hotel. (The project is being funded with a series of federal and state tax credits and other government assistance).
Medical students will be in Albany to lobby for The Anti-Torture Act, a bill that would prohibit health care practitioners from participating in torture or improper treatment of prisoners.
At 12:30 p.m., Health Commissioner Nirav Shah will enroll in an American Cancer Society research study. He’ll be joined by PEF and CSEA members who are doing the same.
At noon, the American Heart Association, American Stroke Association and “bereaved survivors” will all on state legislators to pass the CPR in Schools bill. There will also be CPR demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the LOB Well.
At 10 a.m. NYPRIG will unveil winning photos from its “Faces Against Fracking” photo contest. (LOB)
At 9:45 a.m., daredevil Nik Wallenda will be joined by Sen. George Maziarz and Assemblyman John Ceretto to formally announce his Niagara Falls walk (widely expected to take place June 15). “Good Morning America” was supposed to take the announcement live, but cancelled at the last minute.
Headlines…
Mitt Romney and Mayor Bloomberg had their “first date,” but President Obama is wooing the billionaire mayor, too. No far: No endorsement for anyone.
Romney has pledged to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial regulations if he’s elected, but is otherwise silent on how he would regulate big banks to prevent another Wall Street crisis.
The former Massachusetts governor brought $136 worth of pizza to his firehouse meeting with an old rival-turned-supporter, ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Romney was heckled by an Occupier who identified herself as Nastaran Mohit. She said she learned of the former governor’s location through the movement’s “database.”
At least 50 people were arrested in NYC during Occupy’s May Day protests. There was no general strike, however.
Without notice, the Republican-controlled Senate approved $9.95 million in aid to school districts, sending the cash only to areas its members represent. The Democrats howled in protest. “This is a vile act of one-sided unfairness,” said Sen. Adriano Espaillat.
“What we are seeing on the floor of the Senate is another outrageous Republican ploy,” said Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy. “…This is old Albany at its worst.”
Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. invoked Hitler as a pro-choice advocate in a rant against a bill to strengthen the state’s abortion laws. The Anti-Defamation League was not amused.
Extras
May 1st - 5:00 pm
President Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to sign an agreement cementing a U.S. commitment to the nation after the long and unpopular war comes to an end.
According to the White House, the president will mention the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death in a televised address at 7:30 p.m.
Mitt Romney and Mayor Bloomberg held a private breakfast meeting in NYC today, at which they discussed the economy, immigration, education and gun control over coffee and juice.
…that get-together came just days after Bloomberg spent the afternoon golfing in the D.C. area with two members of the Obama White House: Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta.
Ann Romney on the perception thather husband is stiff and can’t relate to regular folks: “There’s a wild and crazy man inside there.”
Romney and Rudy Giuliani ate pizza with at the firehouse where the former mayor set up the city’s first response center in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The duo was heckled by someone associated with the Occupy movement.
Romney’s openly gay spokesman resigned from the campaign.
Rep. Michael Grimm lost the Independence Party line, which will now be blank in the November election. The congressman had characterized his endorsement by the party as a “game changer.”
State Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay said Grimm “has been our candidate and will continue to be our candidate.” He urged all Indy voters to support Grimm in the general election (on some other ballot line).
Assemblywoman Grace Meng was also kicked off the Indy line, but, in a more positive development (from her point of view), she’s the only Asian candidate left on the ballot in NY-6.
John Koelmel, president and chief executive officer of First Niagara Financial Group, was nominated by Cuomo to the NYPA board and recommended as its new chairman.
Manhattan Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh’s chief of staff, Nily Rozic, is the latest to form a campaign committee to run for Assemblyman Rory Lancman’s Queens seat.
“My only condition is that there be Muppets involved, and that is non-negotiable.”
A smokers’ rights groups is challenging New York’s smoking ban in state parks, pools areas and beaches that begins this year.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli called for IDA reform.
Happy Birthday to Marist pollster Lee Miringoff, who is 61 years young – or old, depending on how you look at it. Watch his discuss the results of his annual birthday poll here:
Hein In The Middle Of Satmar Summer Camp War (Updatedx3)
May 1st - 2:59 pm
This story has been generating a lot of buzz on the Orthodox Jewish blogs, but has yet to break through to the mainstream press. It’s just a matter of time, though, and when it does, it’s going to be a pretty uncomfortable situation for Ulster County Executive Mike Hein.
Hein, a Democratic rising star who declined to challenge GOP freshman Rep. Chris Gibson in the newly-drawn NY-19, though he was the DCCC’s first choice to run, is smack in the middle of the latest battle between the infamous warring Satmar brothers: Aaron and Zalman.
The latest dispute has to do with four summer camps in Ulster County that were once collectively owned and run by the Satmar congregation. Even after the brothers went their separate ways in the late 1990s, the two sides somehow managed to avoid drawing the camps – and the kids they served from both communities – into their holy war that has put a number of lurcrative jointly-owned properties into limbo, thanks to a 2006 state Supreme Court decision.
Until now, that is.
These camps apparently require annual permits from the county Health Department in order to open. According to HasidicNews.com, both the Zalmanites and the Aaronites (or Aaronies, if you prefer) applied for, and recived, permits this year, which promptly touched off a massive dispute over whose permit was actually valid.
UPDATE1: A source in the Hein administration disputes this report, saying no permits were ever actually issued to either side. Both have requested them, this source insists, but neither – so far – has received one.
Frustrated, Hein revoked both permits and urged the two sides to work out a compromise. Instead, both enlisted their various political patrons to lobby Hein on their behalf.
According to multiple sources, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party and a longtime ally of the Zalman faction, has made at least two in-person trips to Hein’s office in Kingston. The Aaronites reportedly have Sen. Dan Squadron, a reform-minded Democrat, also from Brooklyn, on their side.
UPDATE2: A reader with insight into this situation writes:
“The most important ally of the Aronites, pressuring for them, is Rep. Nydia Velazquez. This may have a real effect on her upcoming primary. (She’s being challenged by NYC Councilman Erik Dilan, who is backed by Lopez, who has long been an enemy of Velazquez). Squadron (is keeping a) low-profile in this battle, since he’s trying to maintain good relations with the Zalmanites – dominant Brooklyn group – as well.”
UPDATE3: Another reader notes that apart from these four disputed camps in Ulster County, the Aronites have one camp, and the Zalmanites have four camps in Sullivan County. But that’s not sufficient in either case, and now both communities need additional space for their children. The Aronites, in particular, are in a bad way, as they currently have no camp at all for their girls.
Also, it should be noted that the Zalmanites have been running the four Ulster County camps up to this point, so the disagreement is very recent. See HasidicNews.com for more details.
I spoke to someone allied with the Aaronites over the weekend, who advocated in favor of a Solomonic split-the-baby decision that would leave both sides with something. But so far, no one appears willing to give much ground in this tug-of-war.
There’s a lot more than camps at stake here.
The Satmars like to claim that they can swing close elections by voting in a bloc (assuming they manage to actually turn out the vote, which is another story entirely). As a result, their support is highly sought after, and their interests often merit special attention in the halls of power – both in NYC and Albany – despite the fact that they are relatively small, numbers-wise, compared to other interest groups.
I did reach Hein yesterday, but he declined to comment on the record about this issue. He did say that there is no formal timeline for a decision, while also acknowledging that the inherent need to have this matter settled by the time school lets out, or several thousand Satmar kids will be stuck spending the summer in the sticky city.
Flanagan Predicts Med-Mar ‘Absolutely’ Will Be On Next Year’s Agenda
May 1st - 1:22 pm
ICYMI: Within hours of the Senate’s passage of his bill that would ban the sale and posession of synthetic marijuana, Sen. John Flanagan predicted during a CapTon interview that the issue of legalizing “natural” (for lack of a better word) pot for medical use will “absolutely” be on the Legislature’s agend next year.
There was a brief flurry of interest in the so-called med-mar bill this year after Sen. Diane Savino, an IDC member, announced she would be sponsoring the measure. The Aseembly has passed legislation several times now, but the Senate has never taken it up – not even during the brief period when the Democrats were in the majority.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo nipped that in the bud, however, saying there isn’t enough time remaining in this session to address an issue that, in his opinion, has “tremendous risks” and requires more study.
Flanagan told me he agrees with Cuomo that there is no way med-mar will be addressed before this session ends. Next year, however, is a different story entirely.
As I said, nothing’s going to happen this year in my opinion, the Long Island Republican told me. “Looking forward to next year, do I think it will be part of the debate as we go over legislative policy and public policy in the new session? Absolutely.”
Flanagan himself seemed open to at least considering a “yes” vote on med-mar, provided sufficient safeguards are put in place to avoid abuse and that law enforcement officials have input into the legislation.
“You know, I have grave concerns about something like that,” Flanagan said. “But, I remember the first time I saw legislation on this, basically it allowed people to become dealers and distributors, you know, growing pot plants in their backyard, and I’m not talking about a little ounce bag.”
“So a lot of it depends on what the details are. If I were listening to health professionals and law enforcement personnel at the same time and trying to figure out how that would work in an appropriate fashion, I believe it would be irresponsible of me not to listen in earnest and see if there is some appropriate balance, but right now I don’t see it.”
Krueger Pressures Cuomo On Empire Zones
May 1st - 12:24 pm
Sen. Liz Krueger sent Gov. Andrew Cuomo a letter yesterday expressing “serious concerns” regarding a Syracuse Post-Stanard report that the administration is planning to restore Empire Zone tax credits to a number of accounting, law and real estate firms that had their benefits stripped in 2009 by then-Gov. David Paterson.
The administration is being unusually secretive about this effort. Post-Standard reporter Michelle Breidenbach wrote the following in Sunday’s paper:
“In one week, the state revived a defunct Empire Zone board, appointed new members and held more than eight hours of meetings. It is expected to vote as early as this week on whether to restore the tax breaks.”
“The Cuomo administration is not answering any questions about it. Ken Adams, president and CEO of Empire State Development, would not be interviewed. The agency’s press officers refused to return phone calls. Staff insisted instead on written questions that no one answered.”
The morning, the Post-Standard’s editorial board deemed the plan to revive Empire Zone benefits for companies removed from the program because they skirted the spirit, if not the letter, of the law “an outrage,” adding:
“No one is talking. Not Cuomo. Not the head of Empire State Development, which manages the EZ program. Breidenbach couldn’t even get a complete list of board members.”
“As attorney general, Cuomo defended the state when this newspaper sued to get access to records of the Empire Zone program. If he still wants to defend the program, he should do so openly and honestly. Secrecy stinks like last week’s fish.”
Paterson and the Legislature allowed the troubled Empire Zones program to lapse in 2010 after years of failed attempts to reform it, replacing it with the Excelsior program. But many of the 8,000-plus companies that qualified for benefits while the program was a going concern – at a cost of some $600 million a year to New York taxpayers – will continue to receive them.
In her letter, Krueger notes many companies took advantage of the EZ program through an approach known as “shirt-changing,” in which a existing businesses reincorporated to give the appearance that they were creating new jobs. She also pointed out that she’s sponsoring a bill that would strengthen so-called “clawback” provisions for companies that fail to produce the jobs they promised in order to receive tax breaks.
The Senate Democrats have been pressuring Cuomo on a number of fronts since he let them down on redistricting, including fracking, minimum wage, campaign finance reform and now this. The approach isn’t likely to help the Democrats mend their relationship with the governor any time soon, but perhaps they think it’s too far gone at this point anyway.
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