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.

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.” 

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.

Some Snippets of the Mayoral Election NY1/Marist POll

Christine Quinn's support among Liberal Democrats is the highest with 43%, with de Blasio in second place with only 13%. 

Quinn's lead is bigger among Conservative Democrats with 38%, compared to only 33% among moderates. John Liu is in 2nd place with 16% of Conservative Democrats. Hence, 47% are still uncertain and might change their vote before election day. 

Bill Thompson has the support of less than a quarter of his strongest base:  African American voters, trailing Quinn's 29% of support. Only 32% have indicated they might change their preference before election day.

Brooklyn Tea Party Leader Backs Conservative Democrat Candidate Over Republican Favorite

Brooklyn Tea Party President, and former Assembly candidate, Joseph Hayon announced his resignation as president, joining the campaign of Conservative Democratic candidate Rev, Erick Salgado for Mayor, the Brooklyn Independent GOP Fountainhead blog reports. 

"While I completely value the Tea Party's general position against wasted spending, to lower our taxes, and to root out government corruption, sometimes some of the Tea Party values contradict with the family values I hold dear -- religious freedom and traditional marriage," Hayon told the the fifteen Tea Party members who gathered at the monthly meeting. "When a candidate such as Erick Salgado comes along, who is completely against the Tea Party on the issue of immigration because of his family values, I will support him over Joe Lhota," he added.

New Marist Poll: Quinn and Lhota Vaguely Lead In Mayoral Primaries

Chris Quinn and Joe Lhota, respectively lead in their party's mayoral primaries  a new NY1/Marist poll shows. In the Democratic primary  Quinn garners 37% of registered Democratic voters followed by former Comptroller Bill Thompson at 13%, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio at 12%, Comptroller John Liu at 9% and former Councilman Sal Albanese at 2%, with 26% of registered Democrats undecided. 

Erick Salgado Protests Bayonne Bridge Project

Via SI Advance: Westerleigh resident, and Democratic mayoral candidate Rev. Erick Salgado, and a dozen members of the North Shore community met at the Bayonne Bridge on Sunday morning, Feb. 3, to protest the proposed three-year Bayonne Bridge construction project. Salgado expressed his concerns about the impact of the project on the lives of local residents and businesses. 

Independence Party Teaser Ad: Carrion As 3rd Party Candidate May Spoil Ya'll

The pretty bizarre mayoral election season may become even more exciting with a possible third party Independence Party challenger. Former Bronx Borough President Alfoldo Carrion Jr., who's awaiting the decision of the Republican county chairmen, is touted as a likely Independence Party candidate, following full-page ad spotted in free metro daily Wednesday, the Daily News reports. 

The newspaper ad by the Independence party touted its role in electing Mayor Bloomberg and declaring that it was “now working with” Carrion “to become an independent candidate for mayor.” Sources inside the party and the Carrion campaign said the party will make the endorsement official within two weeks.

Poll Shows Thompson Lacking Minority Base Support

While conventional wisdom and political punditry would suggest that Bill Thompson is the favorite and destined to at least make it to the Democratic primary run-off, based on his appeal to black and minority voters, a poll analysis, shared with Chris Bragg for The Insider, indicates a drop so far in Mr. Thompson’s support among black and Latino voters compared to the same time in 2009. 

And a comparison between Thompson's current numbers and those of Fernando Ferrer at a similar point during his 2005 mayoral campaign shows Mr. Thompson a  50 points behind where Mr. Ferrer (who is Latino) was among Hispanics, and 13 points back among African-Americans.

Experts: Quinn's 40K Housing Units in Decade Plan 'A Drop in the Bucket'

Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s ambitious proposal to build 40,000 new units of middle-class housing over 10 years will likely have to be scaled back, one budget expert told Andrew Hawkins for The Insider. “All of these plans start out very ambitious and then they don’t reach the number of units that they aspire to,” said Carol Kellermann, president of the Citizens Budget Commission. 

Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, called Ms. Quinn’s housing plan “a drop in the bucket”. 

“There are 3.4 million housing units in the city,” she said. “Forty thousand units is basically nothing.” 

“She’s obviously running a housing-centered campaign,” Ms. Gelinas said, noting that the speaker’s rivals, such as Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, will likely unveil housing agendas of their own. “De Blasio will try to out-house her.”

Number Cruncher: Could A Minority Candidate Come Close Winning Democratic Primary?

Can a long shot candidate, who's not even looked at, emerge as a top tier candidate, or even enter the run-off? The possibility and the chance of anyone hoping for this outcome are very low, yet given the demographics of the NYC population, we might wake up one day rubbing our eyes out of surprise.

SI Powerbroker Drops Support of Lhota for Ignoring Phonecalls

An important lesson to political candidates: Don't ignore telephone calls and don't stop calling. It could boost or bust your campaign either way. Some times nudging for support can pay off.

In this case, either Carrion has Mazel (good luck), or Lhota really screwed up big time. Staten Island power broker Guy Molinari and GOP mayoral candidate Joe Lhota are no more buds, according to the Staten Island newspaper. Molinari has switched his support to the wannabe Republican Adolfo Carrion, paving the path for a majority among the city's county chairmen to grant him a Wilson Pekula to enter the GOP mayoral primary.

Design Experts: Mayoral Candidates' Logos 'Abysmal' - Not Connecting With Voters

Design experts are not too convinced by the majority of the 2013 mayoral candidates' logos. Both, the Democrats and Republicans, logos rely on clichéd symbols, tired fonts and a sloppy appeal to voters, according to a panel of design and branding experts consulted by DNAinfo.com. 

Catsimatidis Directs Job Creation at Dropouts: Simplify Education System

It is not only the government's fiscal policies that have failed in creating jobs and reducing the unemployment, or even the under-employment rate, among college graduates, it's the education system, argues mayoral candidates John Castsdimatidis. 

 Speaking to reporters inside the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesman in Manhattan, Catsimatidis announced an education initiative to prevent students from dropping out of school and help the economy at the same time, Azi Paybarah reports.