Catsimatidis: "Don't Underestimate This Kid That Came From A Little Greek Island."

John Catsimatidis plans to deploy some of his massive personal fortune to improve his standing, setting up his campaign as the ultimate test of how much credibility money can buy, according to Hunter Walker, who wrote up a Politicker profile. “Right now, you know, we’re budgeting a million dollars a month,” said Mr. Catsimatidis. “We’ll see where we go.” 

Quinn Passes on Brooklyn's Populated Neighborhoods When Writing City Discretionary Checks

People call Bloomberg - The king, but the lady's acts when she has her hand on the cash, hardly gets noticed. While the City Council's discretionary funding ($50M), dispersed by Council Speaker Quinn, are supposedly distributed based on each area's need, Gothamist's interactive map suggests that some areas are surprisingly needier than others, yet receive far less.

Based on the data made public by the city, Quinn's constituents in Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen received the most funding out of any neighborhood in the city, Gothamist finds. While the majority of zip codes in the city received $10-100 per capita, Quinn's zip codes received $396-696 in the past four years—more than 10 times what most of the city got. 

FYI: Lhota Does Return Every Phone Call to His Cellphone

In a WNYC interview this morning, Joe Lhota  addressed the recent controversy where Staten Island powerbroker Guy Molinari very publicly withdrew his support from Mr. Lhota in response to unreturned phone calls. Mr. Lhota said he was “surprised” by the communications mishap, but Mr. Molinari should have called him personally to resolve it, according to the conversation and reported by Colin Campbell. 

The Forward Selects Viability of Candidates to Claim No Jew is Running for Mayor

NY and LA will both pick mayors this year, but while LA is likely to pick a Jewish mayor, NYC who has lost a great Jewish Mayor (Ed Koch) and has had a Jewish mayor over the past 12 years, will likely remain without a Jewish mayor, Josh Nathan-Kazis writes in the Jewish Forward. 

Nearly every mayoral race in recent memory has included a Jewish candidate. Yet in 2013, not a single one of the handful of front-runners vying to replace Bloomberg is Jewish. 

“That there is no Jewish candidate in this particular race is more a consequence of personal behavior on the part of the potential Jewish candidate than anything else,” quipped Flora Davidson, a professor of political science and urban studies at Barnard College, referring to Weiner, who resigned by disgrace..

Oh, remembers Nathan-Kazis, "there actually is one Jew in the New York City mayoral race. Tom Allon, a newspaper publisher, is running for mayor as a Republican, though his lack of name recognition makes him a long shot." 

Joe Lhota, who is actually the favorite on the Republican side is also Jewish by law, as earlier reported.

What the forward is doing , is basically selecting the viability of the candidates to justify their claim (after all you need something to write a story) that No Jew is running this year for mayor. Its up to the voters, Mr. Josh Nathan-Kazis.

Adolfo Carrion Counting on 'The Silent Majority'

Adolfo Carrion's path to victory as a non-affiliated party candidate (well, independence) seems to lay in the hands of the non-voters. "The Silent Majority," he calls the 71% who did not bother to go out to vote on election day in 2009.

“Part of this candidacy is to awaken that sleeping giant.” Mr. Carrión told David Chen for the New York Times.

Quinn Struggling To Promote Koch's Never Recorded Endorsement

Ed Koch always knew when to jump on the train, when to time his endorsement and how to expand it in favor of his candidate. Not this time. Days before he died, former Mayor, Ed Koch made an announcement in his hospital room: “I want to help Chris Quinn,” The NY Times reports. But Quinn's campaign failed to meet the deadline of setting up a formula of a new statement on her behalf since Mr. Koch died three days later.

Back in 2011, when Koch first endorsed Ms. Quinn, he had no intention of going anywhere soon. “I’m 87,” Mr. Koch said at the time. “I’m not looking to roll up i.o.u.’s.”

Follow Up: What You Didn't Know about Ceceilia Berkowitz

Interview with Ceceilia Berkowitz - who is soon going to register as a NYC Resident, very soon as a Democrat and getting closer hiring campaign managers and fundraisers.

In the mean time, she is making gathering some Oppo research on her potential candidates, and planning to reach out to President Obama and mitt Romney for fundraising appeals. She's not yet planning a visit to Israel. In fact, she is  the strongest pro-Israel in the race since she was educated on Israel at an early age, and, therefore, firmly believes Israel deserves a country on their own.

Bill de Blasio Scores Double Endorsement by 'Hispanic' District Leader in 'Harlem'

Mayoral candidates scored a double endorsement this week, that could help him make some inroads in the Black and Hispanic community respectfully  Marisol Alcantara, a Democratic district leader from West Harlem, is endorsing Mr. de Blasio for mayor, The Insider reported Saturday.

Ceceilia Rocks NYC Mayoral Race with Bathrobe Lookalike and Pink Laced Sneakers

I was asked maybe trillion times to interview her, but i have not yet managed to find the spare minute in my schedule, in this epic, rather exicitng for politicos, mayoral race.

So, Azi Paybarah "was curious about this person who managed, at least, to create a feedback loop about herself among those "serious" people."

"And, as a reporter who complains regularly about lack of direct access to candidates, I kind of hoped that, with her very direct self-introduction and willingness to field and answer questions with no filter or preconditions, she was maybe even in the process of proving a little something about how an aspiring citizen-candidate with ideas but no money could go about building a public profile," Azi writes about his preparations ahead of the scheduled interview. 

'Angry' Sal Albanese Wants To Redistribute Toll Prices Between V-Z and BK-MH Bridges

Here is what happens when a Mayoral hopeful is severely angry about toll hikes on Staten Island's V-Z bridge since he he is the one forced to pay it out from his own pocket on a daily basis. Democratic mayoral candidate Sal Albanese, in an attempt to appeal to Staten Island potential voters, tells SIlive he personally understands Staten Islanders' anger over the recent toll hike on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. 

Bill de Blasio 'A Little Sick' of Bloomberg’s ‘Royal’ Reign

“Ah!” Mr. de Blasio exclaimed when asked about Mr. Bloomberg’s ominous warnings concerning what will happen without his leadership in City Hall, yesterday, on Up Close with Diana Williams, “You know, he sounded a little royal when he was talking about [how] after him everything’s going to fall apart. I’m a little sick of this way of thinking about the world.”  

The city’s public advocate also blasted Mr. Bloomberg’s address for painting what Mr. de Blasio described as an overly rosy picture of the city’s economic and educational climate. “That speech acted like everything is fine in New York City,” Mr. de Blasio argued. “Didn’t acknowledge what a lot of middle-class and working-class people are going through in terms of struggling economically. Didn’t acknowledge that our schools are failing a lot of our kids. And I think people want a new direction.” (h/t Colin Campbell - Politicker).

Republican George McDonald Violates Law To Reform City Finance Rules

George McDonald, vying for the Republican slot and an advocate for the homeless, has taken 10 campaign contributions greater than the city’s $4,950 legal limit — including one for $40,000, The Daily News reports. McDonald's campaign has obtained a $120,000 loan in violation of city election law, too. McDonald campaign could be fined $57,050 by the city Campaign Finance Board, a board official said

Adolfo Carrion is In 'With or Without' GOP Line

Adolfo Carrion will be running for mayor whether or not he gets on the Republican Party Line. “Absolutely. We’re going all the way to November,” Mr. Carrion told Ross Barkan for Politicker at a national Independence Party conference in Manhattan on Saturday. “We’re hopeful we can continue a discussion with the Republicans and they continue to engage us. But this is about ensuring that there is an independent choice for mayor of New York City. I think that’s where the voters are.” 

Daily News Editorial: Democratic Candidates Have Shown Zero Willingness To Make Tough Choices

Bloomberg ain't leaving us paradise, nor would the Democratic candidates politically acknowledge that after 5 terms of a Republican Mayor, NYC is better off than 20 years ago.

Hence, other than Bill de Blasio,  his Democratic rivals Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson and John Liu dismiss the possibility that New York could go into decline. After all they are all part of what has happened to the city over the past 8 years or so, so why not take some credit for the achievements reached.

Who's In The Mayor-Pack: RINO's, Left Leaning Democrats And Joe Lhota

'Don't think for a moment, by the way, that just because NYC is a liberal town a Republican candidate can't win this — that's how Bloomberg and Giuliani both won their seats," writes Linette Lopez in the Business Insider. 

The question remains, in this epic race, who has the shine to stand up to the plate? And who are they?

In a brief profile of the top tier candidates, the Business Insider takes a close look at who might become the next mayor of NYC. 

Sal Albanese Discovers 'Out of Touch' Bloomberg

Long shot Democratic mayoral candidate, Sal Albanese, in response to Mayor Bloomberg's State of the City Speech, said the speech showed that Bloomberg is “still out of touch with average New Yorkers.” 

"Mayor Bloomberg's speech today was a mixed bag, just like his legacy will be,” said Albanese, a former Bay Ridge councilman who spoke out almost immediately after the speech ended, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. “He entirely ignored the city's middle class families, dismissed people who care about their neighborhoods as obstructionists, avoided the real issues facing our public schools, and glossed over our horrendous rate of income inequality,” Albanese said. 

“Political independence, the kind that I've made a core of my campaign, is the only way to ensure that the next mayor is free to focus on building a safer, smarter, and fairer New York," he said.

Kristine Davis to "Throw Brassiere In The Ring" for Mayor

Touting her economic experience and knowledge by read books written by "Von Mises, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek," Ex-Madam and former Gubernatorial candidate, Kristine Davis is ready to take on Quinn and the other candidates in the mayoral race..

de Blasio Returns $15K Contributions From Homeless Shelter Operator

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has quietly decided to return thousands of dollars of campaign contributions from one of the city’s largest operators of homeless shelters, The NY Post reports. 

“I just made the decision that it was smart to give it back and move on,” de Blasio said. “Again, I’ve just made the decision to return the money and that’s all I have to say,” de Blasio responded when asked whether he knew Lapes’ background before accepting the contributions. 

Catsimatidis Splashes Feb. Robo-Call To 400K City Republicans

Just to prove you money talks, Republican mayoral candidate, who's polling at 5% in the Republican primary, according to the latest NY1/Marist poll, launched a grandiose early robo-call to 400,00 Republican residents in the city, in a ibd to boost his credentials.

“Jobs, jobs, jobs. I’ve created thousands of jobs right here in New York City and as mayor I’ll create hundreds of thousands of new jobs,” Catsimatidis, who describes himself as an “independent Republican businessman”, vows in the recording.

Video: Erick Salgado Touts Pro-Israel Creds and Conservative Values in Russian Radio Interview

Democratic mayoral candidate, Rev. Erick Salgado, who is hoping to assemble a coalition of minority groups and multiracial communities together in support of his candidacy for Mayor, uploaded  a recording of an interview he conducted Feb. 7th with 'Russian media Mogul'  -as describes in a NY Times profile - Gregory Davidzon.

The interview, that was conducted in English and translated in Russian back and forth was about the issues concerning Russian voters, which like other issue concerning voters is: Israel. Given the fact that NYC serves as the home for a majority of Jews outside the Jewish Homeland. "As a Latin evangelical, we have been pro-Israel a hundred percent," he said. Adding that his church is very heavily supportive of Israel.