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Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg’s Divide And Conquer Albany Strategy
May 7th - 10:04 am
After going nuclear on the Patrerson administration yesterday, effectively blaming the governor for the city’s budget cuts, Mayor Bloomberg this morning was full of praise for a state leader with whom he has often been at odds: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
While drawing up his own budget, Bloomberg said he had opted to go with the “worst-case scenario” and assume Paterson’s budget will be adopted as-is, even though anyone who has lived through just one budget fight knows how unlikely that is.
“Shelly Silver is a guy who really understands…he is a real adult, the mayor told WOR’s John Gambling this morning on the duo’s weekly radio show, while allowing he and the speaker “don’t agree on everything.”
“….His budget for state is more rational than senate and governor’s,” Bloomberg continued. “And minority leaders – they have been helpful. In fact our charter bill passed Senate with all GOP voting in favor and a number of Democrats, but without the minority, that wouldn’t have been done.”
“Hopefully Shelly will look at that. There is enormous demand for charters. How do you say no to parents?”
Bloomberg vs. Paterson, Budget War
May 6th - 1:22 pm
The Bloomberg and Paterson administrations are locked in a public war over their respective budgets, with Mayor Bloomberg blaming the state’s late budget for the major cuts to city services – including the reduction of some 6,400 teachers – he has proposed today in his FY2011 spending plan.
Due to the more than one-month late state budget, the Bloomberg administration is assuming the city will take the full $1.3 billion hit included in Gov. David Paterson’s executive spending plan – a reduction that “cannot be absorbed without significant consequences in nearly all areas of City services, particularly at the Department of Education,” according to the mayor’s press release.
Bloomberg accused the governor of trying to balance the state’s books by “starving New York City.”
“We’ve kept our own fiscal house in order, preparing responsibly for the downturn with eight different belt tightenings over the last three years, while spending in Albany has continued to spiral out of control. Now we are paying the price for Albany’s irresponsibility,” Bloomberg said.
State Budget Director Robert Megna responded by accusing the city of trying to use the state as a “scapegoat to shirk responsibility for their own budget choices ”
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Bloomberg In DC: Close The ‘Terror Gap’
May 5th - 10:35 am
In his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee this morning following the arrest of the Times Square bomb plot suspect, Mayor Bloomberg is urging lawmakers to close the so-called “terror gap” to give the FBI the power to block the sale of guns and explosives to people on watch lists.
“A key element of any smart counter-terrorism strategy is to make it harder for terrorists to strike,” reads the mayor’s testimony (as prepared for delivery), which appears in full after the jump.
“That’s why air passengers walk through metal detectors. That’s why our police officers randomly check bags in the subway. That’s why our police officers patrol sensitive locations. And that’s why it’s just common sense to give the FBI the authority to keep terror suspects from buying guns and explosives.”
“Let me close by saying: this is not about the Second Amendment. Our founding fathers did not write the Second Amendment to empower people who wanted to terrorize a free state; they wrote it to protect people who could defend ‘the security of a free state.’ Today, the security of our free state is being tested by terrorists.”
Senate Dems Under Fire Over Charter Bill
May 3rd - 10:45 am
NYSUT and its labor allies are going nuclear over the Senate Democrats’ push to pass a charter school bill today, accusing the majority of abandoning its principles to inoculate members against the millions of dollars pro-charter advocates have threatened to spend in the fall elections.
NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi told me this morning his union is “angrier than we’ve ever been” with the Senate Dems. When I asked if he believes this is being pushed for political, rather than ideological, reasons, Iannuzzi replied:
“I don’t think there’s any question that’s what they’re doing; there isn’t any educational reason to do it, so I’m left with only that reason.”
There’s been speculation that the charter advocates, who are already beating the bushes for a primary foe for outspoken charter opponent, Sen. Bill Perkins, could spend some $10 million during this election cycle.
One anti-charter source said: “There’s only two places that kind of money could come from: Hedge fund people, or Mayor Bloomberg.”
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McMahon Touts Global Poll, Bloomberg Fundraiser
May 3rd - 9:00 am
In an e-mail to supporters, Rep. Mike McMahon’s campaign touted a poll conducted by his consulting firm, Global Strategy Group, that found the Staten Island Democrat leads both his GOP challengers by more than 30 percentage points.
According to the poll, which was not released in full, McMahon is ahead of Michael Grimm, 56-23 with 21 percent undecided; and beats Michael Allegretti 56-24 with 20 percent undecided.
McMahon’s strong showing comes in spite of the fact that the Republicans have a one-point generic advantage in the district (NY-13) and is largely due to his bipartisan support. The congressman is popular among Democrats (55-18 favorable/unfavorable), Republicans (57-15) and independents (47-15).
The poll concluded that McMahon is “well positioned to win his first re-election campaign” despite the fact that NY-13 is a swing district where Sen. John McCain defeated President Obama by two points in 2008 and President Bush beat Sen. John Kerry by 10 points in 2004.
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Thompson’s Ex-Wife Mulls Challenge To Parker
May 3rd - 8:36 am
Former city Comptroller’ Bill Thompson’s ex-wife, Sylvia Kinard, confirmed yesterday that she is mulling a primary challenge to controversial Brooklyn Sen. Kevin Parker. (This is an extended version of the second item in my DN column).
Kinard, a lawyer and minister who split from Thompson in 2005, told me in an e-mail she’s considering the race. She did not, however, respond to an inquiry about her residency. Voter registration records show Kinard last voted in the 2006 general election and does not live in Parker’s district. (She lives in the 18th).
Parker is under fire for yelling at Sen. John DeFrancisco during a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week, accusing the Syracuse Republican of racism. Parker then upped the ante by going on the radio and calling his GOP colleagues “white supremacists.”
During a telephone interview yesterday, Parker accused Mayor Bloomberg of pushing Kinard, noting the mayor backed his 2008 primary challenger, former City Councilman Simcha Felder.
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Obama On Times Square Car Bomb
May 2nd - 6:50 pm
As per the president’s remarks while he was in Venice, La. to witness efforts to mitigate the coastal damage from the BP oil spil…unlike Gov. David Paterson, Obama made no mention of terrorism:
“Good afternoon, everybody. First let me say a few words about the incident in New York City. I want to commend the work of the NYPD, the New York Fire Department, and the FBI, which responded swiftly and aggressively to a dangerous situation.”
“And I also want to commend the vigilant citizens who noticed this suspicious activity and reported it to the authorities.”
“I just got off the phone on the way down here with Mayor Bloomberg to make sure that state and federal officials are coordinating effectively. Since last night my national security team has been taking every step necessary to ensure that our state and local partners have the full support and cooperation of the federal government.”
“We’re going to do what’s necessary to protect the American people, to determine who is behind this potentially deadly act, and to see that justice is done. And I’m going to continue to monitor the situation closely and do what it takes at home and abroad to safeguard the security of the American people.”
Paterson Decries ‘Act Of Terrorism’
May 2nd - 8:43 am
Gov. David Paterson’s early-morning statement on the car bomb found and diffused in Times Square last night refers to the incident as an “act of terrorism.”
Mayor Bloomberg, who was in black tie for a hastily-called 2:15 a.m. press conference because he missed his own post-White House Correspondents Dinner after-party in Washington, D.C. (along with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly), to return home upon hearing the news of he smoking SUV discovered in Midtown, said the city was “very lucky” to avoid what could have been “a very deadly event.”
The mayor also said authorities have “no idea who did this or why.”
Here’s Paterson’s statement:
Tonight, we owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the heroic actions of the New York City Police Department and to a single vigilant New Yorker who identified a suspicious vehicle near Times Square in New York City.”
“Luckily, no one is hurt, and now the full attention of city, State and federal law enforcement will be turned to bringing the guilty party to justice in this act of terrorism.”
Bloomberg’s Innovator
Apr 30th - 10:04 am
Here’s the latest addition to Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership team, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, who is coming in to take over the deputy mayor for Operations post Ed Skyler will vacated at the end of the day.
If there was ever a hire designed to send a message that the mayor’s third term is not, as has been widely speculated, going to be just about marking time, this is it.
In fact, the word “innovation” – or some variation thereof – appears no fewer than five times in the press release announcing Goldsmith’s hire. (Subtext: This guy is going to shake things up).
Goldsmith’s most recent job as as director of the Innovations in American Government Program and as the Daniel Paul Professor of Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
In his prepared statement, Goldsmith called the Bloomberg administration ” the gold standard for innovative governance – always willing to try bold solutions to complex, entrenched challenges.”
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Koch Hires Ex-Bloomberg Aides
Apr 23rd - 1:31 pm
Former Mayor Ed Koch has hired two former Bloomberg aides – Adam Riff and Mark Botnick – to run his new anti-Albany PAC, New York Uprising.
Riff worked on LGBT outreach for Bloomberg’s successful campaign for a third term last fall. He also worked for the state Democratic Party as deputy director and (very briefly) acting executive director during the Eliot Spitzer days.
Riff was also a staffer in the city and state offices of Sen. Tom Duane, who was a NYC Councilman prior to his election to the Senate.
Botnick worked for Bloomberg’s Community Affairs Unit before departing to work on the campaign.
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