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Hikind On Paladino: ‘Is He Out Of His Freakin’ Mind?’
Sep 20th - 3:51 pm
Here’s Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn Democrat and Orthodox Jew, speaking at an event outside City Hall in Lower Manhattan earlier today at which Jewish leaders accused Republican Carl Paladino of being anti-Semitic, racist and generally “unacceptable” as a gubernatorial candidate.
Hikind suggested that Paladino’s “baseball bat” rhetoric could be taken literally and incite violence – particularly against Jews, given some of the Buffalo businessman’s strong statements against another Orthodox assemblyman, Speaker Sheldon Silver.
(To be clear, it was Erie County Executive Chris Collins who likened Silver to Hilter and an anti-Christ. Paladino said he didn’t think Collins had anything to apologize for).
“Racism is unacceptable period; and this man indulges in racism,” Hikind said. “This man is dividing the people of New York. Upstate. Downstate. The good, the bad, the ugly. What the hell is wrong with him? Is he out of his freakin’ mind? What is this going to accomplish at the end of the day? Is this how he wants to be successful – by getting the anger of people through hate?”
Schneiderman: ‘Of Course’ I’ll Go After Vito Lopez (If Warranted)
Sep 17th - 2:50 pm
Democratic AG nominee Eric Schneiderman today said he would pursue any case of potential legislative corruption “wherever it goes” – even if it points to wrongdoing by the powerful Brooklyn Democratic boss (and Schneiderman’s legislative colleague), Assemblyman Vito Lopez.
The campaign Schneiderman’s Republican opponent, Staten Island DA Dan Donovan, accused the senator of “turning a blind eye” to corruption by Lopez, who, according to reports in the Post, has been steering taxpayer-funded member items to a non-profit, the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, that is essentially an extension of the chairman “vast political empire” and paid his long-time girlfriend a salary of close to $1 million.
Asked about the Donovan campaign’s charge at an Albany press conference earlier today, Schneiderman first quipped: “If he’s calling on me to do the investigation, I guess he’s conceding that I’m going to be the attorney general, so I appreciate that thought.”
He then cited (yes again) his heading of the committee that successfully pushed for the expulsion of ex-Sen. Hiram Monserrate as proof he would be able to investigate members of his own party. (It should be noted that Lopez was a supporter of Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice in the AG primary, so this isn’t any real skin off Schneiderman’s back).
Adams All In For Parker
Sep 9th - 2:25 pm
Sen. Kevin Parker is getting a last-minute cash infusion from his fellow Brooklynite and Senate Democratic colleague, Sen. Eric Adams, who sent $9,500 to Parker in just one day.
There were three separate contributions worth $2,500, $2,500 and $4,500 all sent yesterday (Sept. 8), according to the 24-hour notice list on the state Board of Elections Website.
Parker is facing a primary challenge from perennial candidate Wellington Sharpe, who got a boost recently in the form of the DN’s endorsement (which was really more of an un-endorsement of Parker).
In an odd twist, Sharpe may have done Parker a favor by running against him this fall, as his candidacy has caused two special prosecutors to be appointed in the senator’s assault case, pushing the whole mess still further off into the future. The next court action is scheduled for Oct. 18 – well after the Sept. 14 primary.
Adams is a close ally of Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, and is also speculated to be future leader material himself, although he has made no secret of the fact that he also harbors a desire to run for mayor of NYC in 2013 – although not if former NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson follows through on his pledge to run again.
Holtzman For Rice
Sep 8th - 11:42 am
Former Congresswoman/NYC Comptroller Liz Holtzman, who flirted with a statewide campaign for AG earlier this uear and then declined to endorse the lone woman in the race, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice, when she decided against running herself, has decided to support Rice after all.
“District Attorney Rice has the real, practical legal experience it will take to do this job,” said Holtzman in a statement released by Rice’s campaign.
“Kathleen Rice challenged the status quo to become Nassau County’s first woman district attorney and she’s proven that she has the toughness to do that job well. Kathleen Rice has the determination, the grit and the experience to be a fine attorney general.”
“I know she will fight corruption, and for women’s rights and civil rights. I am very pleased to endorse her.”
Rice now has the support of two erstwhile AG candidates who were poised to challenge her status as the only woman in the five-person field of Democrats vying to replace Andrew Cuomo as the state’s top attorney.
Giuliani Stumps For Weiner Opponent
Sep 7th - 1:27 pm
Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in Queens today to stump for Bob Turner, the Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner.
Turner’s campaign sent out the following media advisory about two scheduled stops on the Turner-Giuliani tour:
09/07/2010 – Bob Turner and Mayor Rudy Giuliani greet local residents and speak to small business owners about the economy and taxes.
When: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 4:00pm
What: Bob Turner and Mayor Rudy Giuliani greet local residents
Where: Walbaums Super Market located at 156-01 Cross Bay Blvd, Howard BeachWhen: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 4:30pm
What: Bob Turner and Mayor Rudy Giuliani speak with small business owners about the economy and taxes
Where: Cross Bay Diner located at 160-31 Cross Bay Blvd, Howard Beach
This is interesting, since Weiner isn’t on the endangered Democrat list – or he wasn’t the last time I checked.
Turner is turning up the heat on the congressman by bringing in a big gun like the former mayor just in time for the Sept. 11 anniversary and also hosting an anti-mosque rally.
That rally is scheduled to take place tonight. There’s no mention of Giuliani attending the event. The former mayor has weighed in – albeit a bit later than some would have liked – on the Park51 project, suggesting it would be insensitive for the backers to build it so close to Ground Zero.
Speaking Of Religious Diversity…
Aug 19th - 2:01 pm
A propos of nothing in particular, other than the fact that religion has been a very hot topic in New York politics today – and this photo just tickles me.
Here’s Sen. Kevin Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat, blowing the shofar at an at a ice-cream meet-and-greet in Borough Park, Brooklyn. As per Alexander Rapaport, the director of Masbia Soup Kitchen:
“Senator Parker met with over 50 Boro Park Chasidic residents. After a two-hour conversation on a range of issues, he was offered to perform the blasting of the Shofar – a ritual performed by Orthodox Jews during the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah.”
“Although it was the first time the senator was introduced to this tradition, the senator took the hollowed horn of the ram and with no rehearsal was able to blow consecutive blasts as a pro. Those gathered were surprised and amazed at the senator’s talent.”
Barron: Cuomo Dividing The House Of Labor
Aug 17th - 3:47 pm
NYC Councilman Charles Barron, who filed more than 43,000 signatures yesterday to establish the “Freedom Party” line on which he plans to run for governor, joined me this afternoon to explain why he believes the Democratic frontrunner, AG Andrew Cuomo, is “bad news” for black and Latino voters.
Barron, whose Brooklyn district includes one of the HELP USA housing developments Cuomo built for the homeless in his pre-HUD days, said a lot of the usual things we’ve come to expect from the rabble-rousing former Black Panther (“I’m still one in my heart, Liz”). All more or less discountable.
And then he said this:
“Andrew Cuomo is the divide of the labor movement. He’s dividing the house of labor. Most black and Latino people, people of color, are in the public sector labor. He’s anti that.
“He’s more pro-private sector labor, where we are – at best – in training programs. So, we see Andrew Cuomo as a liability in this state. He doesn’t come out on anything in our community. Not police brutality. Not employment issues in our community.”
“We see Andrew Cuomo nowhere in our neighborhoods, and he’s shifting to the right, which is why he chose (Rochester Mayor) Robert Duffy as his lieutenant governor, who is a former Republican, who’s a right-wing and conservative in his approach to education and policing our people. Andrew Cuomo is bad news.”
That “labor divided” theme is one I’ve been writing quite a lot about. Me and Charles Barron on the same page…whoa.
Sampson Uses 2010 Dollars To Pay 2005 Debt
Aug 16th - 12:33 pm
While trolling through the 32-day pre-primary filings appearing on the state Board of Elections Website, I noticed a strange transfer of close to $23,000 by Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson to another committee whose name did not sound familiar.
On July 19, Sampson sent $22,927 from his Senate campaign committee to something called “John Sampson – Justice For All”, which doesn’t show up anywhere on the board’s site.
Aides to Sampson said the committee in question dates back to the Brooklyn Democrat’s failed 2005 bid for DA. (He was one of three challengers who attempted – without success – to oust incumbent Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes).
The money Sampson transferred was used to cover outstanding debts for mailers and office equipment, according to the aides. (The filing for the local committee isn’t on-line because the race pre-dated a chane in state law that now requires all local candidates to file at the state level).
Barron: Don’t Challenge Me!
Aug 16th - 11:47 am
NYC Councilman Charles Barron is heading up the Thruway (OK, actually, he’s taking the train) to file more than 43,500 signatures at the state Board of Elections to create an independent “Freedom Party” line on which he plans to run as a protest candidate for governor this fall.
That’s close to three times the 15,000-signature threshold, which the Brooklyn Democrat says is proof that he has widespread support – and not just downstate where he is best known.
According to Barron, his supporters collected names in every one of the state’s 29 congressional districts and passed the 100-name limit in 23 of those (the requirement is at least 100 in 15 districts, so candidates can’t just stand on a single busy street corner in NYC and get onto the ballot).
Barron, who hopes to receive at least 50,000 votes on the Freedom Party line, establishing a new third party that will have automatic ballot status in the 2014 elections, told me the vast number of signatures he has amassed should serve as the equivilent of a political “no trespassing” sign to any of his detractors.
NYT: Parker Gets Special Prosecutors
Aug 12th - 2:43 pm
Some mixed news for Sen. Kevin Parker, who is about to go on trial on the 15-month-old assault charges he faces for his alleged attack on a New York Post photographer.
“The criminal assault trial of Kevin S. Parker, a state senator from central Brooklyn, was thrown into turmoil on Thursday, as a judge granted the Brooklyn district attorney’s office’s request to have two special prosecutors appointed – one who would take over the case, and another who would investigate possible improprieties by an assistant district attorney.
The judge’s decision came after prosecutors said in court that the assistant district attorney, Wynton Sharpe, had failed to disclose that his father was running against Mr. Parker in the upcoming Democratic primary.”
This whole mess is due back in court on Oct. 18th.
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