John Catsimatidis Sells His Ethnic Appeal As Winning Formula on Bloomberg TV Profile

John Catsimatidis's different colors are gleeful. He is a Clinton fan, distincts himself from the President and believes in Free market. Although he adores Mitt Romney and supported him in the last presidential election, Catsimatidis believes that what contributed to Mitt Romney's loss, will help him get elected in NYC as a Republican candidate.

Bill de Blasio's Donor Linked with Funder of Iran's Nuclear Plants

Public advocate Bill de Blasio, who has long rallied against people who do business with Iran, accepted a check last month from wealthy Democratic donor Jack Rosen, 66, who has a lucrative real-estate deal with a Russian oligarch suspected of funding the construction of one of Iran’s nuclear-power plants, the NY Post reports. 

Lhota Calls For City Hall Inspector General; Denounces Halloran, Savino's 'Despicable' Acts

Although he's opposed to the Democratic party candidates' proposal to appoint an Inspector General to overlook the Stop and Frisk policy, Republican mayoral hopeful Joseph Lhota called on the City Council to appoint an inspector general to monitor corruption among City lawmakers.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Lhota described the allegations against Council Member Dan Halloran and two leaders of county-level Republican organizations in the city as a “stain” on the party — and something he would seek to address in the coming months of campaigning for mayor. 

Bill de Blasio Calls for Banning 'Member Items'; Albanese Pounces Back On Primary Rival

Seizing on the crippling Republican Party's nominating process, in wake of Tuesday's arrests, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is now calling for the “outright ban of the controversial spending system” beginning with the Fiscal Year 2014 budget cycle. 

“Time after time, the discretionary funding system has led to bribery, political blackmail and a boatload of big legal bills paid for by taxpayers,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio on the steps of City Hall. “New York doesn’t need an appropriations process that aids and abets corruption and political gamesmanship in order to invest in our city’s priorities and worthwhile projects. We can do better.” 

Mixed Observations Over Impact of Hurricane Smith on Light Field of Candidates In GOP Primary

In a slightly narrow field of GOP candidates in the Republican primary for mayor, the views of many are split to whether the Smith bribery scheme would have any direct repercussions on one of the mayoral contenders or not.

While an enraged Republican City Council member, Eric Ulrich, seized the opportunity to suggest that Catsimatidis should end his campaign for mayor, citing the candidate’s ties to the Queens GOP and the fact that he didn’t suspend Tabone earlier when he first became aware of the investigation,Mr. Catsimatidis piled the dirt back onto Joe Lhota's wagon. 

Catsimatidis Hires Dem PR Firm To Early-Court Dem Voters

Touting his electability argument to Republicans, Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis is already looking beyond the Republican primary in courting Democratic voters for the general. According to Politicker, John Catsimatidis has hired a PR firm called Millennial Strategies LLC, which specializes in Democratic candidates. Mr. Catsimatidis is the only Republican client they've hired.

Brad Gerstman, a partner at the firm, told Colin Campbell that given New York City’s Democratic tilt, the move makes plenty of sense for the GOP Gracie Mansion hopeful. “We expect to get through as a winner of the primary,” Mr. Gerstman said. “He needs to endear himself to Democratic voters and I think it’s natural for John.” 

Eric Ulrich Calls On Catsimatidis To Drop Out of Mayoral Race

An enraged Eric Ulrich, an outspoken critic of the Queens County GOP leadership, seized on the allegations to step up his attacks on Tabone, the borough’s party committee vice chair, as well as Queens GOP chair Phil Ragusa and John Catsimatidis, according to City and State NY. 

“As far as Tabone and the county is concerned, this confirms what I’ve known all along: These are some of the most corrupt political hacks in all of New York City,” Ulrich said. “They have no place in politics, and as an elected official I have an obligation, a sworn duty, to root out corruption anywhere it rears its ugly head, in government, in a city agency and even in a political party, especially when it happens to be my own party.” 

City GOP Chairmen Come Clean on Disturbing Nomination Process

In conversations with the Daily News, three of the Republican City Party Chairs - Phil Ragusa of Queens, Craig Eaton of Brooklyn and former Staten Island chief Robert Scamardella - said they knew nothing of the investigation and were never contacted by the feds, but they had nothing to comment about Halloran role in the process.

Ragusa told Celeste Katz he first heard about the arrests on the radio this morning and "almost jumped out of bed." "Every time I spoke to Malcolm, anybody, even Carrion, I always made it clear to them that I was in John Catsimatidis' corner (and) I wouldn't be backing anybody else. I was the first one to back John -- Queens County was -- and that's where I stood," Ragusa said.

Catsimatidis Believes Smith/GOP Bribery Scheme "Helps' His Mayoral Campaign.

Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis immediately removed his campaign aide Vince Tabone, a top political operative in the Queens County Republican Committee who was arrested this morning, from his campaign payroll.

"The arrests this morning point to a culture of corruption that permeates the politics of our city and state. Corruption that is fueled by career politicians who put personal advancement before public service," said a statement from the billionaire candidate's campaign. 

Democratic Senator and GOP Power Brokers Caught In Mayoral Bribe Twist

As Bizarre as the NYc 2013 race for mayor would get, the 'Wilson Pakula Gate' that involved Democratic senator Malcolm Smith, Queen Republican council member Dan Halloran and other GOP officials are the hype of the political process doomed to failure.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Councilman Dan Halloran were both arrested by federal officials Tuesday morning after they were indicted on corruption and conspiracy charges to pave the way for Smith to run in the Republican primary, or as a sole candidate, for mayor. Four other officials, including the Republican Party chairman in the Bronx Jay Savino, were also charged with bribery.