“If we were to replace 15 out of 40, you know, that’s not an unreasonable amount of turnover after eight years.” “The reason that people always say you can’t have a good third term is they try to do the same thing with the same people, and it’s very difficult to walk in, look a commissioner in the eye and say, ‘You know you have done great things, you’ve worked hard, you’ve done everything we’ve asked you, but it’s time to… [More]

At the beginning of December, City Hall published “All In The Family,” a five-part investigative series on www.cityhallnews. com about the Working Families Party. The Party was shown to actually have at least four different arms, enabling it to employ a web of for-profits and non-profits that take in and spend money beyond the rules generally governing political activity. A pay-for-influence arrangement in endorsements was revealed, along with the details of the Party’s lobbying operation, as was its method of… [More]

There is a power vacuum in Albany. Who better to fill it than Michael Bloomberg? Not to suggest that Bloomberg run for governor next year—that trial balloon has thankfully drifted far, far away since its first implausible appearance in the aftermath of his failed presidential bid last year.… [More]

This year’s dismal, abysmal voter turnout has prompted a new round of facile pleas to get rid of the run-offs that have been part of our city life for 32 years. In that time, there have been a total of seven run-offs—two for mayor, two for comptroller, two for public advocate and one for City Council president, before that position was eliminated.… [More]

Somebody buy the White House a deck of cards. Apparently, with all the massive emergencies nationally and internationally, from health care stalling to Afghanistan crumbling, the people in the West Wing do not have enough to do.

To date, the administration has formally or informally intervened directly in New...… [More]

The end of summer is one of the secret pleasures of living in New York. Those with the motives or the means decamp for the hills or the Hamptons. The city for once assumes the languid pace of a metropolis at rest.

Sidewalks are empty. Subway seats are available. There is no shortage of restaurant reservations or parking spots.

A perfect time to hold an election.

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No one who has ever been involved with any New York City campaign has nice things to say about the Campaign Finance Board. It is a pain in every conceivable body part, its staff is maniacal and prone to unreasonable demands, it fills the lives of campaign staffers with endless paperwork and never-ending stress. It is awful, it is burdensome, it is frustrating.

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At a press conference last month, a reporter asked Mayor Michael Bloomberg if he intended to seek a fourth term. The mayor seemed taken aback. After all, his second term is not yet over, and polls have begun to show at least a glimmer of doubt for the prospect of a third term.He stammered through a response.“The law does...… [More]

Add to the list of things Miguel Martinez should be ashamed of: his duplicitous gathering of signatures to petition his way onto the ballot for re-election at the same time as he was negotiating with law enforcement officials about resigning his seat as part of a deal to avoid jail time. Whatever else positive or negative can be said about Guillermo Linares, what is certain is that none of the people—or most—who signed Martinez’s petitions did so with the expectation… [More]

Perhaps to lighten the mood in announcing the somber final budget deal, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a few subtle digs at the legislators in Albany and the mess they have created in state government.

At each, Council members behind him shared a hearty guffaw.

But the Council has its own history of...… [More]