President Mike?
In this week’s cover story, and on the heels of the weekend’s news that Hillary Clinton is moving yet another step closer to maybe, eventually admitting she’s running for president, New York’s John Heilemann considers the possibility of a Bloomberg White House bid in 2008, reporting that the mayor is seriously considering a run and that political pros thinks he’d be a serious contender. Inspired, Daily Intel took to the streets — well, took to Madison Avenue immediately in front of the office — for our first-ever 20-Person Poll. How would Mayor Mike fare in some hypothetical matchups? According to some random pedestrians, not so badly — as long as Hillary doesn’t run.
Matchup No. 1: Michael Bloomberg vs. Hillary Clinton
Clinton: 15; Bloomberg: 5
Matchup No. 2: Michael Bloomberg vs. Barack Obama
Bloomberg: 12; Obama: 8
Matchup No. 3: Michael Bloomberg vs. John McCain
Bloomberg: 13; McCain: 6; No answer: 1
Matchup No. 4: A three-way race between Bloomberg, Clinton, and McCain
Clinton: 14, Bloomberg: 4, McCain: 2
His American Dream [NYM]
in other news
City Hall: Feeling A Bit Congested?
The idea of congestion pricing — putting a bit of a squeeze on all drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street on weekdays —- has been around for a while. In recent weeks, however, it’s suddenly begun to get traction, and, as the Sun reports today, it now seems that City Hall will apply for federal funds next year to study the idea. Who’s so excited about the issue? Well, first, the Partnership for New York City, a group of 200 big-business CEOs, is about to release a report that will claim a better-than-expected response to the idea. Second, a major consulting firm is phone-polling the hell out of the citizens about the issue. (For an added dash of mystery, the firm’s client is not being disclosed.) And third, the Manhattan Institute will host a panel on the issue this Thursday. Congestion pricing, as Aaron Naparstek reports in this week’s magazine, was invented up at Columbia at 1951. And the best argument for reducing Manhattan traffic is that it’s somehow taken 55 years for the concept to travel about 140 blocks down Broadway to City Hall.
Fees to Ease Midtown Traffic Jams May Get a New Look From City Hall [NYS]
Unlocking the Gridlock [NYM]
intel
Grannies Don’t Like Bush, Either, and Sing About It
Ah, the sight of little old ladies doing things you don’t expect little old ladies to do. It’s jarring, sure, and can maybe even have a political impact, which is why the so-called Granny Peace Brigade gathered for a rally — and chorus line, of course — in a West Village church yesterday afternoon. Retired 75-year-old jingle writer Joan Wile belted out an antiwar song she’d written, calling on grannies of the world to “get off your duffs, we gotta get Bush!” Carol Husten, also 75 and dressed in a white wig with fake pearls bigger than golf balls, impersonated Barbara Bush, whom she dubbed “the power behind the Bush dynasty.” And a chorus line of the so-called Granny Jailbirds, about half a dozen from the eighteen arrested October 2005 for sitting in at a Times Square military recruitment center and acquitted this year, joined voices in a satiric anthem, lustily singing, “There’s no business like war business,” and pointing their canes like semi-automatic weapons at an enthusiastic crowd of about 100 mostly elderly peaceniks.
the morning line
That’s Al, Folks
• Eliot Spitzer, in his waning days as attorney general, is set to release a “devastating indictment” of Alan Hevesi that will almost surely lead to the comptroller’s fast resignation, says the Post. Sources tell the tabloid that the AG report will also serve as the cue for a criminal case. [NYP]
• Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, before departing for Washington, got together with Spitzer for a “two-hour strategy session” to discuss, we don’t know, the Giants or something. Pundits tie the bustle to Barack Obama’s early presidential “maybe.” [NYDN, NYT]
• In a real-estate listing to end all listings, the penthouse triplex of the Pierre Hotel can be yours, ballroom and all. For $70 million. [NYT]
• There’s an E. coli outbreak in New Jersey, with about nineteen cases reported. Eleven of the victims had eaten at a Taco Bell in South Plainfield, which has since “voluntarily” closed. That’s strange; we didn’t know they served spinach. [amNY]
• And, in more before-breakfast news, Health Department inspectors are cracking down on illegal meats. Confiscated recently from various New York stores: armadillo fillets, iguana, cow lungs, “smoked rodent,” and — our favorite — “unidentified red meat.” [AP via Taipei Times]
in other news
Dick Parsons Continues to Maybe Plan to Run for MayorYou might have seen yesterday’s news that Time Warner chairman and CEO Dick Parsons, speaking at the Reuters Media Summit, did not explicitly reject the possibility that he might run for mayor in 2009. (“[W]hile saying he was not running for the job, he suddenly sounded a lot more like a man who wants to keep the option open,” is how the Times put it.) You might also have seen Cindy Adams told-you-so-ing that “I told you this months back, at which time Mr. Parsons said no-no-a-thousand-times no.” We’ll just quickly point out that Ms. Adams’s item, from April 19, merely said “Time Warner big mouths … [were] salivating over boyohboyohboy what a shot this African-American multimillionaire businessman would have.” And we’ll further point out, while these told-you-sos are being told, that Geoffrey Gray reported in August 21 issue of New York, that “[i]nsiders say that it’s all but official: Richard Parsons, Time Warner’s chairman and CEO, will run for mayor.”
That’s all.
Business Chief Hedges, a Bit, on Running for Mayor [NYT]
A Movie Star Goes for Moore on B’Way [NYP]
Is Parsons the New Bloomberg? [NYM]
in other news
Jeanine Pirro’s Future Is Bright, Somehow
Lest you thought we were all done with her, now there’s a suggestion we may very well still have Jeanine Pirro to kick around. At least, that’s what the state Republicans tell today’s Times. One pol “can’t see why she wouldn’t be a wonderful candidate,” and another says “[s]he definitely has a future in state politics.” Oh? Could there be some untapped reserve of Pirromaniacs out there waiting to be engaged? Really? Well, maybe not.
“I can’t imagine that Pirro has a statewide future,” says Steve Fishman, New York’s resident Pirro expert since he chronicled her attorney-general campaign and Dynasty-size marital troubles in October. “I mean, her scandal so hobbled her every step of the way, and so publicly. There’s a playbook out there on how to destroy her. That said, she’s proved herself to be a vote-getter in Westchester, where she’s been reelected three times — the last time right after Al went to jail. So if there’s an appropriate congressional seat …”
But, still, Fishman can’t see why she’d bother with all that again. “We’re much more likely to see her hosting her own show on Court TV,” he says. “She could easily have a Nancy Grace–like future ahead of her.” Great. Just what we need: Another Nancy Grace.
Don’t Dismiss Pirro, Republicans Say [NYT]
Can This Marriage Be Saved? [NYM]
in other news
Albany Reveals Pork, and Silver Makes It Kosher
Such an exciting day in Albany today! The State Assembly is actually giving the public a peek at its pork. Each year, the Assembly gets $85 million to play with (with not an iota of oversight, the Times reports), and, under a judge’s order, the chamber has grudgingly disclosed the full list of lawmakers’ constituent-pleasing local initiatives. So what do we learn? That this year’s most spectacular spending record belongs to Speaker Sheldon Silver, Bloomberg’s Olympic nemesis and the voice of the Lower East Side, who is conveniently in charge of the chamber’s purse strings. Of the $50 million dollars earmarked so far, the report shows Silver funneling almost $7 million — that’s 14 percent of the total allocation for the whole state — to his beloved LES. Some highlights:
• $500,000 or so in three separate donations to the United Jewish Council of the East Side
• $386,000 to the Chinese-American Planning Council
• $200,000 to the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty
• $100,000 to the Museum of Jewish Heritage
• $75,000 to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
• $40,000 to the Eldridge Street Project, to preserve a synagogue
If it’s all sounding a bit rich to you — and, well, a bit Hebraic — not to worry. You’ll be happy to know Assemblyman Tom Kirwan, an upstate Republican, got $2,500 to fix a church boiler in Newburgh.
Assembly Lists Recipients of Funds for Pet Projects [NYT]
in other news
In a Change of Roles, Hevesi Picks on Pataki. But Why?George Pataki wants to make the most of his remaining tenure in Albany. And now the state comptroller — that would be our old pal Alan Hevesi — is accusing him of trying to push through, as the gate closes on his governorship, a number of stalled initiatives that will result in billions added to the state’s debt.
Financially speaking, New York State is a pretty deep shade of red as it is — there’s $3,515 of Empire State debt for every adult resident, compared to $707 in Texas. So maybe this comptroller dude has a point about adding even more. But the problem, of course, is who knows? Is Hevesi the Comptroller ringing the bell on Pataki the Governor’s fiscal irresponsibility (you know, like a comptroller is there for)? Or is Hevesi the Dude Who’s the Target of Like Three Investigations just lashing out at Pataki the Guy Who Ordered One of Them?
Which makes us realize: Yeah, this guy’s toast.
Hevesi Says Pataki Pushing Billions of New Debt in Final Months [amNY]
numbers game
Hillary Clinton Runs Most Expensive Non-Campaign Possible
You think it’s cheap to run a sure-to-win cakewalk of a campaign? Hardly. Hillary Clinton managed to spend $36 million on her 30-point victory two weeks ago — about $1.2 million per percentage point. Hillary’s never-in-question victory cost her more than twice what New Jersey’s Bob Menendez spent to squeak out a win over Tom Kean Jr. and almost twice what Chuck Schumer spent to win an even bigger victory in 2004.
How was all that money spent? Some line items:
• $17 million for advertising, including at least $1.58 million to a Denver-based firm that helped hone her strategy.
• $2.5 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
• $1.1 million to pollster Mark Penn.
• $930,000 to media strategist Mandy Grunwald.
• $746,450 on catering, including $2,500 at a hot-dog shop.
• $200,000 to a subsidiary of the Grover Park Group, a political-consulting firm employing two Clinton advisers.
• $51,000 on professional photographers to document the fund-raiser grip-and-grins.
• $37,500 to Maggie Williams, a close friend (a payment Clinton’s staffers now call an error).
• $27,000 on valet parking.
• $13,000 on flowers.
And, let’s be honest, isn’t it the fresh bouquets that make all the difference?
Clinton Won Easily, but Bankroll Shows the Toll [NYT]
The Woman in the Bubble [NYM]
in other news
The Enemy of My Hevesi Is My Friend
We’re almost beginning to feel bad for Alan Hevesi, who’s clearly about to get dragged over some serious coals in the wake of a misdemeanor so bland it didn’t even cost him a reelection. First the governor-to-be Eliot Spitzer withdraws his support and (in his current capacity as the attorney general) launches a probe into Hevesi’s wife-chauffeuring ways. Now, governor-not-much-longer-to-be George Pataki is matching Spitzer in the pile-on, unilaterally granting his own investigator subpoena power. The move, which allows the special counsel to collar witnesses and drag them to court if there’s ever a trial, is a setup for a State Senate removal proceeding — a rare procedure that will likely end up arranging Hevesi’s eviction from Albany. It’s also a clear signal to all state authorities to cooperate with the investigation. That said, the trial is unlikely to start this year, because then it would only affect Hevesi’s current term. But that’s okay: Don’t forget that Spitzer’s AG investigation is still ongoing, too. Isn’t it nice when the incoming and outgoing administrations can agree on something?
Hevesi Inquiry Expected to Get Added Power [NYT]
the morning line
Small Victories
• Holy crap, could this be …? It is! There is actual construction afoot at ground zero — and on the Freedom Tower, no less. The steel cage defines the areas where elevators and stairwells will go; the pouring of concrete starts tomorrow. And if we’d seen this, oh, let’s see, four and a half years ago, we’d probably burst with pride. [NYT]
• In case you want to relive the glory of last Tuesday: A Democratic congressional candidate in Connecticut WON! WON! WON! the recount against his GOP opponent, a three-term incumbent. “Landslide Joe” (hey, he nicknamed himself) Courtney’s sweeping mandate is now officially based on a 91-vote advantage. [NYT]
• NYC’s Board of Health might take things slower with the trans-fat ban. It may also give it a form other than a piece of City Council legislation, lest the city be hit with a ton of lawsuits. McDonald’s, by the way, says it will totally comply (even as it’s hiring new high-profile lawyers). [Crain’s]
• A fired media executive is in deep trouble for being a good Samaritan, of sorts. Stevan Hoffacker was allegedly monitoring the company’s e-mail traffic from his home PC in Queens and sending colleagues heads-up messages if they were about to get canned as well. The bosses at SourceMedia must have been puzzled by all the prescient “You can’t fire me, I quit” storm-offs. [NYDN]
• And alleged phone-thrower Naomi Campbell is looking for a plea deal but won’t take anything that will require her to do cleanup duty (the court-mandated humiliation du jour for errant celebrities). “It’s not that she’s squeamish,” her lawyer is quoted saying — and trailing off directly afterward. [NYP]
numbers game
It’s Giuliani Time!America’s Mayor — or New York’s former mayor, at least — has set up an exploratory committee for a presidential run, and, boy, are the tabs excited. We’ll happily grant that Rudy Giuliani’s 9/11 bona fides aren’t nothing, but we also wonder if his quest to become the standard-bearer of the family-values party might in fact be an uphill battle. Some numbers to consider …
Number of Republican presidential nominees since 1980: 4
Number who performed admirably on September 11 and 12, 2001, including the 2000 and 2004 nominee: 0
Number who were from the Northeast (remembering the George H.W. Bush was considered a Texas resident when he became president): 0
Number who were Roman Catholics: 0
Number who were pro-choice: 0
Number who were pro–gay rights: 0
Number who were divorced: 2
Number who were twice divorced: 0
Number who informed his wife of their impending divorce via press conference: 0
Number who moved in with his gay close friend and his gay close friend’s partner after being thrown out of his mayoral residence by wife, whom he had informed via press conference he would be divorcing her: 0
CORRECTION, Nov. 17: We are bad at counting, and this item originally claimed five GOP presidential nominees since 1980. And we have forgotten most of what we knew about Bob Dole, including that he was divorced; this item originally cited only one divorced nominee.
the morning line
Hizzoner for Prez!
• Rudy Giuliani is absolutely positively running in ‘08, the papers say, unless he’s not. The ex-mayor formed an exploratory committee, registering it, intriguingly, with New York State instead of the Federal Elections Commission (this limits public access to the findings). So how long before Bernie Kerik somehow screws this one up? [NYP, NYDN]
• From the police blotter, a murky drama in Brooklyn: A mother leaped onto subway tracks in front of the F train shortly after the police found her son dead in the family’s apartment. She survived; the authorities are investigating how the boy died. [WNBC]
• For those keeping track: The Intrepid is still stuck in Hudson River mud; the first attempt at budging it failed; now a new round of dredging begins. The ship’s keel and propellers are reportedly encased in an “almost concrete-like” sediment. And the next highest tide is not until December. [amNY]
• Looks like the upcoming Spanish exhibit at the Guggenheim is going to be a Goya short. The painting Children With a Cart was stolen somewhere near Scranton, Pennsylvania, while making its way to New York from Toledo (the one in Ohio). The FBI is on the case, which is to say they’re soliciting tips. [NYT]
• And in other painting-mishap news, it will only cost Steve Wynn $85,000 to repair the damage caused when he put his elbow through Picasso’s Le Reve. The gaffe’s witnesses, by the way, included Barbara Walters and Nora Ephron. So we’d expect Tom Hanks to soon be stumbling through a Pollack or something at a theater near you, on his way to meeting Meg Ryan. [AP via Yahoo]
in other news
Obama Is Gaining on Hillary!
It’s good to be Senator Barack Obama right now. The cover of Time is fresh in everyone’s memory; his will-he-run-or-won’t-he status means the personal attacks haven’t started yet; and come next Sunday, Obama’s book — The Audacity of Hope — will top the Times Best Sellers List. (Hey, we still believe in an audacity called hope.) The book, published by Crown and released October 17, has already moved 182,000 copies in hardcover and is now in seventh printing. That places it on the list ahead of Bob Woodward, Bill O’Reilly (who’ll probably have something to say about that), and John Grisham, in his foray into nonfiction. Even the Times itself cautiously calls it “something of a publishing stunner.”
It’s even more stunning for a book by a politician. Trent Lott’s book, Herding Cats, sold fewer copies than an actual cat-herding manual might (11,000), and Jesse Helms’s defiantly titled Here’s Where I Stand sold 3,000 (leaving the precise location he’s standing a mystery to the wide public). Of course, Senator Obama still has yet to face his most formidable opponent: New York’s own Hillary Clinton. And by this we mean, of course, that her Living History has sold 1.2 million copies. What else would we mean?
Obama’s New Book Is a Surprise Best Seller [NYT]
early and often
N.Y. GOPers to Winning Dems: Don’t Stop Worrying About Tomorrow
Democrats looking forward to their takeover of Congress might consider looking backward as well — to November 1994. Representative Sue Kelly, of New York’s Nineteenth District, which includes all of Putnam County and part of Westchester, was one of the 73 new GOP representatives swept into the House that year. She was narrowly defeated on Tuesday by John Hall, former lead singer of the band Orleans. “This was a blue tsunami, and I learned, because I’m in that class of 1994 that was a red tsunami, that there are people who get elected and don’t last,” she says perhaps a bit defensively, after not lasting. “What you have here is a huge overcorrection. The Democrats now own Capitol Hill. The public won’t let that stand for very long.” Ed Rollins, former White House political director and Republican strategist, says an antiwar fervor gave “good Republican districts to the Democrats” in 2006. “There are around ten to twelve seats that could very easily swing back.” Long Island representative Peter King, a Republican who was reelected with 57 percent of the vote, says, “People voted against what was happening in Iraq. It was an anti-vote. But you can’t get reelected in 2008 just on an anti-vote. They’ve got to show something.”
— Wren Abbott and Amos Barshad
the morning line
Body Parts
• Somebody cut off and stole George Washington’s head. A statue of the first president now stands nogginless at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, with a dollar bill proffered as a mocking replacement. Suspects include leftover British royalists, Republicans driven mad by post-election grief, and, of course, adorable scamps from the nearby Columbia campus. [NYP]
• A city doctor is gearing up to do a uterus transplant, the country’s first (Saudi doctors did it once in 2000). Prospective recipients are being vetted right now. The transplant is meant to be temporary and last only through a pregnancy — still an ambitious goal. [NYDN]
• The Democratic majority has its first scandal! Harlem’s own Charlie Rangel is apologizing to Mississippi for a little zinger he unleashed on it yesterday. The exact phrasing, to refresh your memory, was “Who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?” Apparently some people do, and some of those, like Representative Chip Pickering (R-Miss., natch), are issuing angry press releases. [amNY]
• If you see something, say something: A black duffel casually dropped on Bensonhurst’s busy Shore Parkway has revealed an intact human body. The Times story is priceless for the colorful locals’ la-di-da reaction, which includes the phrase “This has always been a popular area for dumping bodies.” [NYT]
• And, let’s just get this over with: The taxi fare hike is kicking in a full month sooner than expected, on November 30. Under new rules, the riders will pay the same rate for slow or stopped traffic as they do when the cab actually, you know, is taking them somewhere. [WNBC]
in other news
Dem Congress Is New York’s Gain — and Mississippi’s Loss?
If we accept that essentially everyone in New York City is a Democrat, then Tuesday was unquestionably a good day for New York. And if we accept that the Democratic party — based on the coasts, with liberalish sensibilities and an urban base — likes New York more than the Republicans do, having the Democrats in control of Congress is also unquestionably good for New York. But as metro political ace Pat Healy points out in today’s Times, in even the most practical and concrete of terms, the Democratic ascension on Capitol Hill is a very, very good thing for New York. How so?
the morning line
Alan Hevesi, and Other Car Wrecks
• So after all that outraged wife-chauffeuring tabloid ink, Alan Hevesi handily won reelection, 57 percent to 39 percent. Anyone want to bring up the scandal now? Didn’t think so. “You can make the case that the public has spoken,” says Mayor Bloomberg. [NYDN]
• A 5-year-old Brooklyn boy is dead after a ruthless hit-and-run. An SUV lurched onto the Flatbush sidewalk, struck a family of four and continued on — until shocked drivers in other cars nearby gave chase and blocked its way. And another errant Brooklyn SUV collided with, of all things, an ambulance this morning, injuring at least five people. The ambulance’s driver had to be cut out of the wreckage. [NYP, WNBC]
• The City Council met to discuss an urgent topic: raising its own members’ salaries 25 percent. Surprisingly, almost everyone’s in favor. The current base salary for the part-time job is $90,000. [amNY]
• Remember the long, hysterically pitched discussion of whether cell-phone service in NYC subways would be a good or a bad thing? MTA doesn’t. Four companies submitted competitive bids to retrofit the city’s trains with cell-phone transmitters back in January; ten months later, the Authority still hasn’t made a decision. [NYT]
• And Christie’s cleared $491 million in one night, almost doubling the record for an art auction. It could have been even more, but the house ended up withdrawing the Picasso, on whose convoluted origins (Mendelssohn, Nazis, Andrew Lloyd Webber) we reported, at the last moment. Still, some vigorous paddle work there. [NYT]
early and often
You Go to War With the Defense Secretary You Have
And so, finally, Rumsfeld is sent packing. At a White House press conference earlier this afternoon, George Bush acknowledged that maybe the country isn’t so much liking him these days — and the country was absolutely detesting his defense secretary. It’s a day late and a dollar short — years late and untold lives short? — but Donald Rumsfeld has tendered his resignation and will be replaced by former CIA chief Robert Gates. Jon Dolan’s got his take on the announcement at Early and Often.
‘Fog of War II’ Starring Donald Rumsfeld [Early and Often]
early and often
It’s Her Party, and She’ll Cry If She Wants To. (She Doesn’t Want To.)
Senator Hillary, as we all know by now, won an overwhelming victory last night, shellacking John Spencer by a nearly Spitzerian 31 percentage points. And yet, as Jon Dolan notes on Early and Often, some observers still found her overshadowed by Big Bill, who stood off to the side through her acceptance speech and said nothing at all. But those commentators — TV pundits, political professionals — missed the point, Dolan argues, while the voters understood it: Bill is Prince Philip now, and Hillary’s the top Clinton. “Whatever Clinton problems lie ahead are ones she can own herself,” he writes, “and not let the world blame on her husband.” Get his full take on Hillary’s ascension — plus a nice dig at Bob Shrum — at E&O.
It’s Hillary’s Show Now [Early and Often]
The Woman in the Bubble [NYM]
early and often
For N.Y. Dems Last Night, the Skies Above Were Clear Again
However festively you commemorated last night — our version involved a TV, some charts, several Sharpies, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, and at least four laptops — nowhere in New York, we’d imagine, was more festive than the state Democrats’ victory party, held at the Sheraton Towers in midtown. The Dems swept the state — even Alan Hevesi stayed in the driver’s seat — while also winning the House of Representatives, the majority of governorships, and, if not yet the full Senate, at least the hotly contested Senate races in New Jersey. Happy days, as they say, were undoubtedly here again. So what was it like at the Sheraton? Early and Often’s Jon Dolan was there, and he fills us in on boring Spitzer, incessant Franz Ferdinand, and the angriest living Democrat in New York.
Live From the Democratic Party [Early and Often]
the morning line
Everything Is Beautiful; It’s Morning in America
• While bleary-eyed Democrats are gloating like Posties on circ day, let’s go over the entirely unsurprising results of local races. Hillary made quick work of John Spencer (Blues Explosion! Get it?), Spitzer is your new and already boring governor, Cuomo crushed Pirro, and Alan Hevesi is back, uh, behind the wheel. [NYT, NYDN, NYP]
• The suspect is talking, and more lurid and ultimately depressing details of the Adrienne Shelly murder are emerging. Nineteen-year-old illegal immigrant Diego Pillco says he strangled the actress with a sheet after she called him a “son of a bitch,” because he took the insult literally. [NYP]
• The Transit Authority is installing digital cameras on 450 city buses — and up to seven cameras per bus. We’re not sure how to feel about this one, and the manufacturers are not helping much by saying things like “The bus is always recording, everywhere, all of the time.” [NYDN]
• The city is mulling the Lower East Side rezoning proposal that would put the kibosh on the future skyscrapers in the neighborhood. The Department of Planning says it wants new buildings capped at 80 feet (about eight stories); activists want the bar lowered to 60. No word on color restrictions. [amNY]
• And finally, we’ll just slavishly repeat the headline here: “Woman Hurt In ‘Shake-It-Like-Shakira’ Contest Sues NYC Bar.” Because, really, what can be added to that? Only a lame joke about how hips make good witnesses (they don’t lie). But we’re above that. [WNBC]
neighborhood watch
Carroll Gardeners Fight the Good FightCarroll Gardens: Volunteers MoveOn into vacant Carroll Gardens apartment, using it to call voters round the country. [Brooklyn Papers]
Kensington: City drags its feet in building playground, kids sad. [NYDN]
Lower East Side: Cronkite Pizzeria and Wine Bar helps hipsters indulge their inner child and their repressed adult by serving up cotton candy and affordable wine. [Gothamist]
Park Slope: Sharing is caring, and drivers and bikers will soon be splitting Fifth Avenue. [Streets Blog]
Prospect Heights: From ghetto to glorious: New bodega management patches hole in wall and actually stocks what its customers want, which is beer and cigarettes. [Daily Heights]
West Village: Ye Waverly Inn reopens, with better lighting and a new mural but sadly, when these photos were taken, no Graydon. [Eater]
Williamsburg: Breast-feeding has come to the ‘Burg, and the nabe’s okay with it. But not quite as okay as lactating moms would like. [Brooklyn Record]
early and often
In the Air There’s a Feeling of Voting
Silver bells, silver bells — it’s election time in the city! And what’s this fine November day looking like in the five boroughs? Well, a bit overcast, to be honest. But it’s also looking like democracy in action, people, and New York staffers around the city are filing to Early and Often, telling tales of voting in their corner of the Apple. So far we’ve heard from film critic David Edelstein in Park Slope, kids editor Susan Avery on the Lower East Side, politics guru Chris Smith in Fort Greene, and that lovable scamp Jesse Oxfeld in the West Village. Read their Stump Stories on E&O, and check back during the afternoon for more.
Stump Stories [Early and Often]
early and often
And the Winner Is…It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for, kids. No, not Democratic subpoena power on Capitol Hill — something even better. It’s the first annual Early and Often Awards. It’s an effort, writes E&O’s Jon Dolan, to thank “those who made this election interesting.” And what’s the trophy? “Our talisman is the Mark Foley doll, the symbol of all that was horrifying, fun, and deliciously democratic this year.” Want to know who ran the best campaign, who was the best liar, who had the best gaffe, and who wore the best accessories? It’s all there on E&O, plus much, much more.
It’s the Early and Often Awards [Early and Often]
early and often
Not Sure You Can Bring Yourself to Vote for Alan Hevesi?
You’re a Democrat, like virtually everyone else in the city, and so you assumed you’d be voting for Alan Hevesi. But now you’re not sure you can, now that you know the state’s top accountant was spending public money to chauffeur his wife. But, at the same time, can you bring yourself to vote for this other guy, Chris Callaghan? Who is he? Is he competent, or just the candidate who didn’t break the law? And what if you do hold your nose and pull the Hevesi lever today, will that ensure, even if he’s later removed from office, that at least some other Democrat gets the gig?
the morning line
Don’t Stop Thinking About, Oh, Roughly Nine O’Clock Tonight
• Let’s see in what spirit the three papers sent us off to the voting booth. Daily News: “Dems Expected to Sweep State.” Post: “Dems Dimming Celebration; A Bitty Less Giddy As Polls Tighten Up.” And Times: “For Democrats, Even a Gain May Feel Like a Failure.” Jeez, Adam Nagourney, every silver lining’s got a touch of gray, eh? [NYDN; NYP; NYT]
• The opening date for the World Trade Center [Memorial Museum] is getting quietly pushed back from 2009 to [mid-2010]. The brackets are for our own use, as we’re probably just going to be copying and pasting this one in the future. A lot. [NYDN]
• The teacher’s union reached a deal with the City Hall on a new contract a year before the old one expires, circumventing the tedious ritual wherein one side threatens a strike, the other acts scared, and both incrementally slouch toward compromise. Oh, well, next time. The teachers’ salaries may rise over 7 percent under the deal. [NYS]
• But maybe not for this one: Another teacher-student affair, and this time, just to make matters that much more sordid, the school’s principal is getting fired for a full-blown cover-up. The assistant principal may get the boot for not cooperating with the investigation. [NYT]
• And the AP reports that more and more New Yorkers are getting their marijuana delivered to the door by courteous, well-organized, corporate-style couriers, “even on Christmas.” Now that’s quality of life. [AP via Boston Herald]
early and often
So, What’ll Happen in New York’s Congressional Races Tomorrow?The signs point to a Democratic House of Representatives after tomorrow’s votes are counted, according to nearly all the people who handicap such things. How will the great state of New York play into the impending blue wave? Over at Early & Often, Jon Dolan takes a look at the six Empire State congressional races that could still go either way, and he predicts E&O’s “totally guaranteed results.” Will he be right? Will the Dems take the House? We’ll know soon enough.
The Future of New York’s Congressional Delegation [Early and Often]
21 questions
Ed Koch Is Still Dem Enough to Think Hillary Should Be Next PresidentName: Ed Koch
Age: 81
Job: Partner, Bryan Cave LLP; former mayor of New York
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Jack Rudin.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Anything at Il Mulino.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I practice law and write commentaries, movie reviews, and books.
in other news
Standing Athwart the Williamsburg Bridge, Yelling Stop
The opposition to our city’s vertical growth spurt is getting louder and more concerted. Today brings news from two fronts: Williamsburg and the Lower East Side.
The Times takes a look at recently rezoned Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where almost every vacant lot is coming up steel and glass, and the North Brooklyn Development Corporation, a social-services group, is worried that the construction frenzy is sprinting far ahead of government oversight. The bait-and-switch they allege is so familiar and basic it hurts us to retype it.
it happened this week
Regrets
In a pre-election week punctuated by acts of contrition, none was sorrier than John Kerry’s mea culpa for seeming to instruct a group of college students to do their homework lest they “end up in Iraq.” Having single-handedly halted Democratic momentum, Kerry said, “I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted.” President Bush, who has lately donned a hair shirt over piddling aspects of his handling of the war, nevertheless vowed never to fire Rumsfeld or Cheney. Congressman Charles Rangel said he was sorry for calling the veep a “son of a bitch,” but showed no pangs of conscience for observing that Cheney hadn’t “shot anyone in the face lately.” Remorseless campaigner Andrew Cuomo showed he had no hard feelings toward ex-rival Mark Green by accepting a $50,000 donation from Green’s developer brother, Stephen, before scolding current opponent Jeanine Pirro’s “shameful” paying of her driver $148,000 in county-funded overtime.
early and often
Betsy Gotbaum Drove Mrs. Hevesi, Too!Well, okay, the city’s public advocate didn’t actually drive Al’s ailing wife anywhere. But if we accept the phrase as a handy euphemism for using government resources for private ends — e.g., “John Sununu totally drove Mrs. Hevesi to that round of golf” — then Betsy’s chauffeuring the old lady, too. True, it’s only for $1,900 — a far cry from the $80,000 and change Alan reimbursed — but it shows that pols everywhere are getting nervous. Jon Dolan had more at Early & Often.
Is Betsy the New Al? [Early and Often]
intel
America’s Mayor and South Africa’s Police Chief?
You can’t take Rudy Giuliani anywhere these days. He merely visited Johannesburg in June to speak at a conference, and he commented that crime there could be reduced by 60 percent if the city were run like a business. Since then, the South African city has been abuzz with rumors that the mayor who transformed urban policing in the United States is set to oversee security when Johannesburg hosts the 2010 World Cup — or maybe even to take over policing the city. (According to one local commentator, Bill Bratton, the former NYPD commissioner now running L.A.’s force, turned down the job — and a seven-figure salary — in the late nineties.) But it’s all just wishful thinking, says Giuliani spokesman Sunny Mindel. “Mr. Giuliani spoke in general terms about how to turn around an urban center,” she says, noting that Joburg mayor Amos Masondo has never formally offered Giuliani any job. And the soccer people say his intervention isn’t necessary, anyway. “We are certain that South Africa’s authorities have the necessary resources to face the task of providing security and safety for World Cup 2010,” says their top flack. Mayor Masondo, remaining coy, declined to comment.
— Nadine Rubin
early and often
They’re All Out of Comptroll!Alan Hevesi’s 35-year career in New York politics is, as we all know, melting down (hitting a pothole? getting pulled over? stalling out? various other automotive metaphors?) over revelations he used a state employee to ferry his sick wife around the state. But here’s the thing: Maybe what he did ain’t actually so bad. According to the new Village Voice such droits de politician are more or less par for the course across in Albany. Astonished? Us either. Early and Often’s Jon Dolan lays out all the dirty details.
Everyone’s a Passenger in New York Politics [Early and Often]
in other news
Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, a New Yorker?Let’s say you’re a Republican congressional incumbent in mostly rural Wyoming. Your president isn’t exactly Mr. Popularity, there’s a war on, your colleagues are discovering instant messenger — long story short, you find yourself in dead heat with a Democrat in Dick Cheney’s old district, which hasn’t swung the Dems’ way in 27 years. What do you do?
If you’re Barbara Cubin, as the Daily News reports this morning, you film an ad calling your opponent, Gary Trauner, a — wink, wink — “New Yorker.” You also distribute push polls calling him “New York liberal.” (What, “bagel-eating New York liberal” didn’t test well? Oy.) We wanted to see the ad, but, sadly, only Trauner’s side is represented on YouTube. (Liberal New Yorkers, always controlling the media.) So we’ll have to make do with the News’ details description of the ad. Hold on, dear reader, because we’re not making this up.
early and often
John Faso Still Believes in a Place Called HopeWhat do you do when you’re running for governor and trailing in the polls by something like 50 — yes, that’s five-oh — points? You go to Brooklyn to see the Brownstone Republicans, who do not meet in a brownstone. Early and Often’s Jon Dolan was there when John Faso paid a visit last night, trying to convince himself he still had a chance to win. And it gets even more implausible than that. Check out Jon’s take, over at E&O.
Faso Lifts Up Their Hearts [Early and Often]
early and often
Weekend at Alan’sIt just keeps getting harder to be Alan Hevesi. There’s the sick wife, there’s the overzealous chauffeuring, there’s the Albany D.A.’s investigation, there’s the potential impeachment proceeding, and there’s Eliot Spitzer’s withdrawn endorsement. And that’s all only what we knew about last week. Over the weekend, it got so much worse: Turns out he had an oddly enormous — and expensive — security detail. Turns out his aide used government cars to try to impress a chick. Turns out he was uninvited from the Dems’ Election Night party next week. And turns out maybe he was having an affair. Too much to make sense of? At Early and Often, Jon Dolan explains it all.
How Was Your Weekend, Al? [Early and Often]
early and often
Political Endorsements Get Out of Comptroll!Yes, we all know Alan Hevesi screwed up big-time by using a state employee to chauffer his perennially “ailing” wife. But the problem is that his GOP challenger is woefully unqualified. What to do? Today’s Times says go with the unimpressive other guy; today’s Daily News says stick with Hevesi. And, on Early and Often, Jon Dolan suggests we all stick with the News. Why? Dolan explains, both early and often.
Early and Often Endorses the ‘Daily News’ [Early and Often]
the know-it-all
What’s Up With Pirro’s Pigs?
The Jeanine Pirro–keeps–on–truckin’ piece on the front of today’s Times “Metro” section reports that the GOP candidate for attorney general “rides around in a silver Ford Explorer, teasing her staff, chatting about her pets.” What it doesn’t mention is what those pets are — two potbellied pigs, which the paper of record previously described as “pampered.” It reminded us of something that has long intrigued us: Why would you want pigs as pets? And how do you pamper them?
early and often
A Slow Train From N.J. to AlbanyYesterday, miraculously, Christopher Street lost its title as the gay-friendliest stop on the PATH train. And with some sort of gay unions suddenly soon-to-be legal on the far side of the river, one can’t help but remember that those trans-Hudson tubes, like so much else, keep the two states tightly linked. What are the chances of this era of good gay feeling making its way across the George Washington Bridge? At first glance, says Jon Dolan at Early and Often, things look good. Eliot Spitzer has said he’s in favor of gay marriage, and polls show the majority of New Yorkers agree. But it may not be that easy: There is, after all, the Republican-controlled State Senate to consider. It’s all explained at E&O.
Spitzer’s Support for Gays Will Not Be Tested [Early and Often]
in other news
Taxi Fares Rise, and Only the Oil Companies Win
Going nowhere is about to get more expensive. The Taxi and Limousine Commission is set to approve a long-discussed stealthy increase in cab fares. The basic rates stay the same — $2.50 to start, 40 cents per quarter-mile, that infuriating little rush-hour surcharge you never remember as you plop into the seat — but now the cabs will charge more for “wait time,” the minutes spent idling or stuck in slow traffic. Together with the city’s current rash of massive construction and repair projects, this creates a perfect circle: One hand creates gridlock, the other charges you for it. We smell a conspiracy!
the morning line
Alan Alone
• In an all-too-logical development, gubernatorial shoo-in Eliot Spitzer is set to withdraw his support of Alan Hevesi, the subject of yesterday’s scathing 26-page Ethics Commission report. The question at this point is not Hevesi’s survival — he’s done — but whether he can nick Spitzer on the way down. [Newsday]
• You didn’t expect an election involving Roger Toussaint to ease down a civil, sportsmanlike high road, did you? If you did, however, you’ll be shocked to hear that both sides in the race for the transit-union presidency are now accusing each other of outright fraud — quadruplicate petition signatures and such. [amNY]
• The FBI is searching a Greenwich church for child pornography. The alleged culprit is one Robert Tate, the church’s musical director, but what lends the story an extra frisson — and, these days, you need one to stand out from all the other church-pedophilia scandals — is Christ Church’s boldface-name-heavy flock. Not only does it include the Bushes, but George W. was reportedly baptized there. [WNBC]
• Michel Gondry is filming in Passaic, New Jersey, and the Times pulls out some jaw-droppingly patronizing prose for the occasion (“Real movie stars … Nothing like this had probably ever happened in Passaic … nothing like this might ever happen again.”) You promise? [NYT]
• And Apple is cementing its hold on New York by announcing it will launch its third Manhattan store, on one of the city’s dullest retail stretches: West 34th between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Here’s hoping for a giant glass pyramid, or an army of holographic Steve Jobses, or something. [Reuters]
early and often
Comptroller Candidate Callaghan Is in the Money
Christopher Callaghan — the guy you’d never heard of who’s running against Alan Hevesi, whom you’d barely heard of — is having a good week. Not only is Hevesi’s campaign suddenly imploding, but, even better, his own party is finally getting around to supporting him. What does that mean? Some money. Enough, even, to buy a TV ad! (Well, on cable. In a small market.) Geoffrey Gray has the complete story in Early and Often.
Callaghan Cashes In [Early and Often]
in other news
Hillary in ‘65 or Spencer in ‘69: Do You Think They’re Sexy?
Yesterday’s Daily News brought word that Republican Senate candidate John Spencer thinks Hillary Clinton was ugly as a kid. “You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew,” Spencer said to the reporter Ben Smith as the two flew to Rochester. “I don’t know why Bill married her.” In today’s News, Hillary shot back. “I thought my high-school picture was cute,” she said. Meantime, in Friday’s Times, Spencer pointed out the drastically different lives they led back then. “She had flowers in her hair, and I had a rifle in my hand,” he said, highlighting his time in Vietnam versus her time at Wellesley. All of which raises an obvious question: Who was better-looking in the sixties, Hillary in 1965 or Spencer in 1969? (Do your best to ignore Spencer’s adorable puppy.)
early and often
Alan Hevesi Is Out of ComptrolYou know about the State Ethics Commission’s finding yesterday against comptroller Alan Hevesi in the matter of Driving Mrs. Hevesi, its first decision ever against a high-ranking state official. What you don’t know is that the seemingly mild-mannered and quasi-anonymous public servant might in fact be “the perfect crook with a conscience black as midnight.” Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of Alan? Jon Dolan knows. Read his full brief at Early & Often.
Hevesi Fails Ethics Audit [Early and Often]
the morning line
Comptroller, Comptrol Thyself
• The State Ethics Commission is taking Alan Hevesi behind the shed with a harshly worded, 26-page report on all that Albany wife-chaffeurin’. It says Hevesi “knowingly and intentionally” broke the law and tried to cover it up. Good enough for GovernorAttorney General Eliot Spitzer, who’s starting his own investigation of his ticket-mate. [NYP]
• Get ready to learn as much about sarcoidosis and granulomas as you once did about hanging chads. That’s because government agencies still can’t settle on an official relationship between toxic 9/11 dust and lung disease, and things are about to get very ugly and very arcane. [NYT]
• Move along, folks, nothing to see here: The Port Authority bus terminal is back to normal after a brief shutdown yesterday. A man boarded a Greyhound with one of those enduring fashion staples, a Suspicious Bag; he then refused to get off, forcing cops and bomb squads to flood the area all the way to Madam Tussauds. [WNBC]
• As a perp, Raffin Vellon doesn’t seem to lack for motive: According to the police, he bludgeoned his ex and her son to death, then murdered a super’s assistant, who happened to be Dominican, out of “ethnic hatred.” amNew York goes strikingly Post-ish in its coverage, coining the phrase “Bronx Barbell Murders.” [amNY]
• And transgendered New Yorkers can now use any restroom they want, says the MTA after settling a lawsuit with a snubbed Chelsea woman. Only in New York, kids. [Newsday]
early and often
John Spencer’s Candidacy Finally Explained: It’s LoveAfter witnessing two debates and Spencer’s inexplicable Hillary-had-lots-of-plastic-surgery comments over the weekend, Early and Often’s Jon Dolan has finally figured out why the GOP Senate candidate — barely registering in the polls, virtually unfunded, and entirely unsupported by even his own party — has remained in the race. The dude’s got a crush on Hillary. Dolan marshals all the evidence over at E&O.
Spencer’s Mating Rituals Stuck in Seventh Grade [Early and Often]
the morning line
Remains Remain at Ground Zero
• Searchers found at least 18 more human bones in manholes around ground zero on Sunday, bringing the total of human remains found in the past week to 114. The families of victims are, needless to say, not thrilled. [Newsday]
• Alan Hevesi’s challenger for state comptroller — you know, the guy who pointed out Hevesi was using a state employee to chauffeur his wife — lied on a mortgage application in 1993. Dems push the story, voters yawn. [NYDN]
• At a public hearing tomorrow, the debate over whether to allow a 30-story Norman Foster glass tower on the Upper East Side will likely turn even nastier. Nothing like a little out-of-context architecture to get the neighbors all riled up. [NYP]
• Anna Wintour was named editor of the year by Advertising Age, as Vogue is actually growing while rivals are sputtering. [NYP]
• Episcopalians in Connecticut are now okay with gay marriages. Worldwide Anglicans soon not to be okay with Connecticut, one presumes. [NYT]
• The law firm Milberg Weiss, which has been under indictment for allegedly paying off plaintiffs in more than 150 lawsuits over the years, has managed to attract a new senior partner. Someone will have to run the place if the old partners go to jail. [NYT]
in other news
Ask a Newsstand Guy: Even More Cig Taxes?
New York’s pricey smokes might be getting even pricier, with word in today’s Post that the city wants to raise its cigarette tax — currently $1.50 per pack — by another 50 cents. We stopped by Mushtaf Ahmed’s newsstand, at Third Avenue and 49th Street, where — as a stream of customers stopped by for sodas, candy, and cigarettes — we asked him what this will mean for the city’s smokers.
Do you think you’ll be selling fewer cigarettes?
I think definitely the people who generally smoke less, occasional smokers, it affects them, because anybody who smokes occasionally, they will stop. But anyone who is habitual or addicted, he will smoke. The chain smoker won’t stop, but the people who smoke a little will stop.