Local Politics

LGBT Purists to Christine Quinn: We'd Love a Gay Mayor. Just Not You.

Bloomberg: Britain & Teen Smoking Rate Were Causes For Cigarette Age Proposal

As we reported yesterday morning, City Health Commissioner Tom Farley and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn joined forces Monday to announce a proposal to raise the age to buy cigarettes to 21. And then we went into the electoral blowback this could have for Quinn in the upcoming mayoral campaign ... More >>

Halloran/Smith Scandal Quickly Becomes Latest Mayoral Drama For Quinn

As you may have heard yesterday, City Councilman Dan "America's Top Heathen" Holleran is in a whole lot of trouble. Along with State Senator Malcolm Smith, the two were involved in a rigging scheme that planned to posit Smith as a Democrat switching over to the Republican side to run for Mayor of ... More >>

The Community Safety Act Puts Mayoral Candidates' NYPD Views on Display

We're almost close to labeling 'NYPD actions' as the hot button issue for this mayoral race. Two weeks ago, the Voice reported that the NYPD had committed its 5 millionth stop-and-frisk. Then, a few days later, hearings began downtown on Floyd v. New York, which challenges the practice all together ... More >>

Democrats Worried About Other Democrats With Bloomberg's $12M Ad Blitz

Yesterday, we reported on Mayor Bloomberg's announcement to spend $12 million on a campaign set forth by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns to counter the NRA in battleground states. The move is the largest yet from the Hizzoner to translate ideology into action on the topic of gun control and, in effe ... More >>

Bloomberg to Pass New Law to Keep NYC the Most "Immigrant-Friendly" City in the U.S.

Today Mayor Bloomberg will sign off on two hefty pieces of immigration legislation that will maintain New York's reputation as one of the most immigrant-friendly cities in the nation. The two laws, which passed 40-7 in City Council at the end of February, are a reaction to Secure Communities, the h ... More >>

It's Official: Christine Quinn Wants To Be Your Next Mayor

Yesterday, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn released this video to the Internet. And her campaign tweeted the below out, too. Both were an affirmative nod to New Yorkers that, yes, she is officially running for Mayor and, yes, she is fighting for the middle class. If elected, Ms. Quinn will be t ... More >>

Bloomberg Squares Off Against Quinn Over Street Vendor Fees

This is either a clear sign that City Council is starting to realize that New York is becoming a street food metropolis more and more every day or that a mayoral race is quickly approaching. You may have noticed over the past few months a particular sign plastered on street vendor carts across the ... More >>

The Mayoral Third Is Here: Adolfo Carrion Accepts Independence Party Nom

Enter the independent candidate for Mayor. And, for the first time in a while, it is not Mr. Bloomberg. Last night in SoHo, the Post reported that the Independence Party voted unanimously to elect Mr. Carrion as their nominee of the upcoming race for the keys to City Hall. He will go against whoeve ... More >>

Alan Dershowitz to Brooklyn College: Academic Freedom For Me But Not For Thee

It has become a safe assumption that otherwise liberal and open-minded New York politicians will make an exception for Israel. Case in point: 10 members of the New York City Council have declared that they support academic freedom, just not the freedom of public universities to host events that do n ... More >>

Who's Bros With Who? City Council Candidates Rep Their Friends Lists

As City Council contenders gear up for the race to City Hall, they want to make sure we know that they have lots and lots of friends. Because only popular kids are allowed to eat at the City Council table, right? Ari Kagan, currently the district leader of Brooklyn, recited names from his Facebook ... More >>

A Look Inside Mayor Bloomberg's Last Budget

Before he leaves, he'll have to go out with a bang. Yesterday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg released his final preliminary budget plan for 2014, worth $70.1 billion -- a proposal that will close a $1.1 billion deficit facing the City. In it, we see remnants of this past year's controversies as well a ... More >>

Union Insists Mayor Holds Ultimate Power to End School Bus Strike

Leaders of the Amalgamated Transit Union hosted a town hall teleconference last night to clarify facts surrounding the school bus strike--facts that they argue have been distorted by the Bloomberg administration and the media. Last night's telephone town hall was held for the constituents of City ... More >>

Joe Lhota & Christine Quinn Lead The Polls For Next Mayor

Could this be the race we're half-heartedly doomed to cover?According to a recent way-too-soon survey conducted by Quinnipiac University, the frontrunners (so far) are clear for this year's 'Who Will Run City Hall After Bloomberg?' On the Republican side, former MTA chairman Joe Lhota has captured 2 ... More >>

John Catsimatides, Supermarket Mogul, Latest Name in Swelling Mayoral Race

Day by day, the wide open upcoming race to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg is getting more entertaining, and morphing into a new year's gift for reporters, political junkies, and maybe the public. Last week, Mayor Giuliani's former deputy mayor, Joseph Lhota, a man not known for conversational sub ... More >>

UPDATE: City Council Committee Votes in Favor of Revised Minority Business Law

The amended Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise bill is headed to the Mayor's Office after the city council voted 45 to 2 yesterday in favor of the measure. Among several improvements, the amended Intro-911-A bill lifts the $1 million cap on M/WBE contracts and implements additional accoun ... More >>

Mayoral Hopefuls Denounce School Closings and Co-Locations at Education Forum in Harlem

A crowd of more than a thousand students, parents and teachers packed First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem last night to hear mayoral hopefuls pitch their plans to improve the city's fractured educational system. The candidates continued to distance themselves from many of Mayor Michael Bloom ... More >>

Christine Quinn, Best Bud

The City Council Speaker's conspicuous Sandy presence

Hispanic Commerce Group Continues to Pressure City Council and Speaker Quinn With Rally Outside City Hall

Representatives from the New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce voiced their outrage on the steps of City Hall yesterday over a proposed bill that would lower procurement goals for Hispanic-owned businesses bidding for city work. Earlier this month, the city announced revisions ... More >>

City Council Drills Mayor's Lawyer On NYPD Reform

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly didn't attend Wednesday's City Council hearing to discuss a raft of bills aimed at reining his department. In fact, no one from the NYPD showed up to the meeting. The only person the Bloomberg administration did send to testify on the bills was mayoral counsel Michael ... More >>

Hispanic Business Community Fuming Over Christine Quinn's Support of New Bill

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's support of a revised law aimed at helping women and minority-owned businesses secure contracts with city agencies could cost her Hispanic votes in the upcoming 2013 mayoral election. "[Christine] Quinn is going to lose the Hispanic vote because we're going to ... More >>

Debate Over Won't Back Down Shines Light on City's Brewing Education Battle

Considering that Won't Back Down is reportedly the lowest grossing opening film in Box Office history, it sure has garnered a lot of attention both nationally and here in New York.The attention the movie's received in New York sheds light on the city's educational landscape -- where there's an int ... More >>

With Budget Cuts in Mind, Bloomberg Hands Out Raises To A Smaller Staff

Yesterday, we reported on the $2 billion worth in cuts that would skewer the budget in the next two full fiscal years. The main targets included the Police, Sanitation, Corrections, Education and Fire Departments of New York City; overall, the Mayor told the departments that they would have cut thei ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg, Soda Cop: 60 Percent Of New Yorkers Hate Proposed Big-Gulp Ban

There's good news and bad news regarding Mayor Mike Bloomberg's proposed "Big-Gulp" ban. First the good news: a new poll shows that even fewer New Yorkers support Hizzonor's idiotic plan now than they did when it initially was proposed.The bad news: it's no skin off Bloomberg's ass -- he's not runni ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg: Fat Kids Eating Two Breakfasts Is Riskier Than Kids Not Eating At All

A few months ago, we told you about how Mayor Mike Bloomberg's office was enforcing a ban on donating food to homeless shelters because the city wouldn't be able to monitor the sodium content of the food -- hungry homeless people (who don't care how much sodium is in their food) be damned.At the tim ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg, Health Cop: New Yorkers Hate Big-Gulp Ban, Baby Formula Hide-And-Seek

Mayor Mike Bloomberg's nanny-state has taken a turn for the absurd with his plans to limit how much soda New Yorkers are allowed to drink and to hide baby formula from new mothers -- and voters seem to think it's just as ridiculous as we do.A new poll shows that the vast majority of New York voters ... More >>

Breaking News: New York Teenagers Like Smoking Weed

In what might come to a shock as precisely no one, teenagers in New York like to smoke weed. What is somewhat shocking is the number of teens willing to admit that they like smoking weed.A new survey conducted by the Centers For Disease Control shows that 17.7 percent of New York City teens smoke po ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg, Gun Hypocrite: City Sells 28,000 Pounds Of Shell Casings To Georgia Ammo Store For Re-filling

A report was released earlier this week by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives showing that of the 8,793 guns seized in New York in 2011, only 1,595 were actually purchased here.Numbers like that fuel Mayor Mike Bloomberg's incessant call for other states to implement tougher reg ... More >>

NYC Living Wage Bill Heads to Court

'Living' sounds much better than 'minimum.'When Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced the introduction of a 'living' wage bill, Mayor Bloomberg compared the gesture to Soviet statism in April, arguing that "the last time we really had a big managed economy was the USSR, and that didn't work ... More >>

City Council Approves NYU 2031 Expansion

In face of jeers from Greenwich Village residents, the City Council approved New York University's 2031 expansion plan by a 44-1 vote this afternoon. The nearly 20-year construction project, which will not begin until 2014, will expand the university's campus to include additional academic facilit ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg's Worthless Big-Gulp Ban: 60,000 Pissed Off New Yorkers Can't Be Wrong

As you know, Mayor Mike Bloomberg's idiotic plan to ban soda served in containers larger than 16 ounces makes precisely zero sense; relegating adults to children incapable of making their own decisions aside, the plan will do nothing but hurt New York businesses -- all while doing absolutely nothing ... More >>

City Council Gives Preliminary Greenlight to New York University Expansion Plan

After a tense five years between Greenwich Village residents and NYU, it seems the battle over the university's 2031 expansion plan might be coming to an end.Today, the City Council gave a preliminary thumbs up to the university's expansion plan, leading up to the decisive Council vote on the issue ... More >>

Mayor Anthony Weiner? Really? Really?

Remember that guy who got himself elected to Congress, landed a powerful/gorgeous wife, then sent pictures of his dick to several women, lied about it -- repeatedly -- and then had to resign from his House seat in disgrace? Well, now he apparently wants to be your mayor, New York.That's right -- sha ... More >>

Harlem Walking Tour Reveals Why Mike Bloomberg's An "Idiot" And His Big Gulp Ban Will Only Hurt Businesses (And Piss People Off In The Process)

As you know, Mayor Mike Bloomberg's proposed "Big Gulp Ban" is one of the stupidest ideas in the history of both stupidity and ideas. In addition to doing literally nothing to curb obesity, it also will hurt businesses, piss people off, and it relegates adults to children who are incapable of making ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg's Hot Dog Puns: So, Who Actually "Writes This Shit?"

Mayor Mike Bloomberg apparently found his pun-packed speech at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest weigh-in on Tuesday a bit too pun-y -- he interrupted his prepared statement to ask "who writes this shit?"

City Council Set To Override Bloomberg's Veto On Living Wage Bill

Nearly 100 New Yorkers from coalitions across the city stood on the steps of City Hall this afternoon to claim victory for the Living Wage Bill.The bill will require companies that receive $1 million in city subsidies to pay their employees a minimum wage of $10 -- $11.50 if the employee does not ... More >>

Melissa Mark-Viverito, Bill de Blasio Call on City To Retire Carriage Horses

Around fifty people gathered on the steps of City Hall this afternoon to demand the City Council test out a prototype electric car that they hope can replace horse-drawn carriages. That proposal, Intro. 86A, is sponsored in the City Council by Member Melissa Mark-Viverito. New Yorkers for Clean, Li ... More >>

City Opposes Cuomo's Move to End Fingerprinting for Food Stamps, But Can't Do Much About it

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that he is ending a controversial policy that requires food stamp applicants to be fingerprinted -- a move that has pitted him squarely against Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The news today is also one that puts Bloomberg in direct opposition with City Council Speaker an ... More >>

In Stop-and-Frisk Debate, Mayor Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio Bad-Mouth Each Other

The debate over the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy is in full swing this week with a proposal from the public advocate prompting a badmouthing match between the mayor and the elected official who hopes to replace him in 2013. Yesterday, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, an expected mayor ... More >>

Bloomberg Budget Slashes Homeless Youth Funding By $7 Million: Advocates

Mayor Michael Bloomberg released his budget yesterday, and it's not a pretty read for children. According to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, it could axe 42,000 slots for childcare. Also, according to a press release from the Ali Forney Center, it will wreak havoc on the number of beds available f ... More >>

After Mounting Pressure, Mayor's Office Gives Out Hard Copies of 'Final' 9-1-1 Report

Today, the mayor's office gave out hard copies of the city's controversial 9-1-1 report to reporters that asked for it. The Voice stopped by City Hall late this afternoon to grab a copy of the 133-page consultant's report that examined the city's emergency response system. It has been a topic of m ... More >>

Mayor Releases New Budget With Childcare Cuts, Gets Very Annoyed at Reporters

Mayor Mike Bloomberg released his $68.7 billion executive budget proposal today and patted himself on the back for leading the city in a speedy recovery that's better than the rest of the country. The new budget for 2013 has no tax increases and relies on $6.2 billion in savings generated through de ... More >>

Bill de Blasio: Release Your Staff Evaluations, Mr. Mayor

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is upping the ante on the debate over teacher evaluations by calling on the mayor to release evaluations of staffers from his office. De Blasio -- who is expected to run for mayor in 2013 and who frequently gets headlines for criticizing Bloomberg -- is rallying arou ... More >>

City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez Fires Spokesman, Left to Handle Controversy Without Him

In response to reports of his spokesperson's controversial past, City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez has fired staffer David Segal -- which seems to have only ignited further controversy. And now the Councilman, who represents parts of upper Manhattan, is left to handle the fallout from the news with ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg On Living Wage Disagreement With Christine Quinn: 'I'm Going to Her Wedding'

The ongoing disagreement between Mike Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on living wage legislation isn't damaging their relationship, the mayor said today. Or at least, he's still planning on attending her upcoming wedding -- and doesn't think the controversial bills are going to ... More >>

Veto! Bloomberg Rejects Wage Bills, Says City Council Proposal Would Kill Jobs

As expected, Mayor Mike Bloomberg today vetoed the City Council's wage legislation, but unlike his past public comments on the matter, he didn't go so far as to compare the bills to Communism. Still, if the legislation passes, Bloomberg will sue. The proposals in question were the prevailing an ... More >>

Scott Stringer Goes After Stop-and-Frisk, Does Not Criticize Ray Kelly In The Process

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who is expected to run for mayor, pushed forward his campaign against the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy with a press event this afternoon featuring Martin Luther King III. But as he continues his public appearances on the matter, Stringer see ... More >>

City Council Presses Dept. of Education Officials on Controversial Co-Location Policy

After fielding criticisms earlier this week about the city's policy of shutting down failing schools, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the Department of Education took heat yesterday for the city's frequent practice of co-locating multiple schools in the same building. At an Education Committee hearing yes ... More >>

More Mayoral Hopefuls Weigh in on the Ray Kelly Rumors: He Has a Great Record!

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said today that if the Ray Kelly running for mayor rumors turn out to be true, the dynamics of the mayoral race would certainly change. And some candidates gearing up for their campaigns are probably afraid of that, Stringer, an expected contender himself, ... More >>

Christine Quinn Would Not Limit Mayor's Power in Schools, Thinks City Should Take Parents More Seriously

Though most expected candidates haven't even officially announced their campaigns for mayor, a big part of the race to replace Mayor Mike Bloomberg is already taking form in the area of education policy. This week, mayoral hopefuls have been offering their views on the current Administration's educa ... More >>