Election Day in 2012 was one of the bleakest in the history of the New York State Republican Party. Propelled by an Obama landslide in New York—the president’s best showing in any state except Vermont and Hawaii—the Democrats trounced their opposition all the way down the ballot. Kirsten Gillibrand, once considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the U.S. Senate, amassed a startling 72 percent of the vote, the highest percent total of any statewide candidate in New York… [More]

Michael Blake, a former senior staffer to President Barack Obama, has joined Reshma Saujani’s public advocate campaign in New York City as her campaign manager. Blake, a Bronx native, played a key role in both of Obama’s presidential campaigns, including running the ground game in the pivotal state of Iowa in 2008, which put the candidate on the path to the presidency. “At just 25 years old, Michael Blake may have more to do with Barack Obama’s chances of becoming president than… [More]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg should ban the use of food stamps to buy sugary drinks.… [More]

Public pollsters misjudged the last three New York City mayoral races. Will they do better this year?… [More]

  What does Mayor Michael Bloomberg do on his birthday, which also happens to be Valentine’s Day and the day he addressed the city in his 12th and final State of the City talk? Does he put on a tuxedo and throw himself a classy yet staid black tie party at the Waldorf Astoria like Jack Donaghy did once? Does he pop a copy of Annie Hall into his 90-inch television and curl up on his animal print sofa with… [More]

Dr. Deepak Chopra on Reshma Saujani, Barack Obama and whether politics can lead to happiness.… [More]

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Michael Benjamin on President Obama and African Americans.… [More]

Nine months out of the 2013 election—the first without an incumbent mayor since 2001—the field of candidates for citywide office has largely taken shape, and the media and pollsters have leapt ahead to handicap the races’ outcome. Consultants have already done their utmost to sow the narratives they hope will grow into victory in the primary and general elections, and insiders have already discarded a host of hopefuls as impossibilities, while elevating others to the status of frontrunners. But for… [More]

The Upper West Side is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, a reliable bastion of liberal politics, home to Jerry Seinfeld, Eric Schneiderman and Scott Stringer alike. It’s also home to the city’s best delis and diners. Take Artie’s, for example. The 15-year-old delicatessen is a West Side institution that attracts middle-aged condo and co-op residents eager for the tastes of home. “In most families, both spouses are normally working a profession where they work late, and it’s… [More]