Red Smoked Filled Room At Lhota Fundraiser

NYT's Michael Grynbuam got to smoke cigars with Republican mayoral hopeful in an extraordinary fundraiser in Queens Monday night and reports. “I haven’t smoked a cigar in I can’t tell you how long,” Mr. Lhota said before admitting his last celebratory smoke was on New Year’s Eve. 

Elio Forcina, a lawyer who organized the event, introduced Mr. Lhota to an owner of the Habana Hut, adding that the proprietor, as a high school student, had once stuffed Andrew M. Cuomo, a classmate and the future governor, into a hallway locker. The owner vigorously shook his head. “It was my brother! Not me!”

“Your brother put Andrew Cuomo in a locker? Wow, wow. That’s great,” Mr. Lhota said, reaching for a cigar cutter.

Many of the attendees — almost all male — knew Mr. Lhota from his days as a deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration, where he was known to indulge in cigars and Scotch. It was a habit he picked up in college, at Georgetown, where his roommates preferred the Caribbean blend of Macanudo Hampton Courts. 

George Frangoulis, who served with Mr. Lhota at City Hall in the 1990s, recalled many smoky Christmas dinners with Chianti, cigars and a seafood feast, with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mr. Lhota holding court. (Mr. Giuliani, he said, kept his cigars in a Tupperware container.) 

Mr. Frangoulis said that Mr. Lhota often used cigars to put subordinates at ease, right before grilling them on a recent foul-up. “It was a communications device; he’d get everything out of you.”

Like Mr. Lhota, Mr. Frangoulis said he has had to cut back. “I’m 52,” he explained. “I love my teeth.”

Councilman Eric Ulrich, who's a staunch supporter of Mr. Lhota, despite of the Queens county's backing of John Catsimatidis. “We’re behind Joe 1,000 percent,” Mr. Ulrich told the crowd. He then predicted that Mr. Lhota would easily best a rival, John A. Catsimatidis, in the primary. “These are very hard-working, middle-class people,” he said. “These are the voters who will put Joe over the top.”

“If you’re together with a bunch of friends and you’re smoking cigars and you’re having a drink, the most important component is the discussion and the talk and the revelry,” Mr. Lhota told Mr. Grynbaum as the evening drew to a close.

Bill de Blasio Building His Jewish Base At Bonei Olam Dinner

We got word that Public Advocate and mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio attended last night the largest annual gathering in the Borough Park community, and briefly addressed the 5000+ crowd in attendance. Mr. de Blasio was the only mayoral candidate to attend the dinner, getting a unique chance to introduce himself to a bulk of Jewish voters. 

Here is the report of the massive crowd in todays Hamodia:

Erick Salgado Steals The Show At First Televised Mayoral Debate

This was the first televised debate and the first time Hispanic pastor, Erick Salgado got to square off with all of the Democratic candidates. And boy, did he enjoy every minute of that. From suggesting Rudy Giuliani as police commissioner, interrupting Mr. Thompson over time limits, to story telling his stop and frisk incident, Mr. Salgado definitely stole the show. 

VIDEO: GOP Mayoral Hopefuls Support The Use Of Surveillance Drones Over NYC

As the use of drones in the united States was brought up weeks ago by Republican Senator Rand Paul, and in wake of the Boston bombing and the day long search for the 2nd suspect, the use of drones came up again as a public safety matter. Rand Paul surprised many of his supporters Monday, as he came out in favor of using drones if there was “an imminent threat.”

“I never argued against any technology being used when you have an imminent threat, an active crime going on. If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and $50 in cash, I don’t care if a drone kills him or policeman kills him,” Paul said on Fox Business Network, in reference to the Boston Marathon bombings. “But it is different if they want to come fly over your hot tub or your yard just because they want to do surveillance on everyone, and they want to watch your activity.”

Anthony Weiner To Decide Mayoral Run "Within Days or Weeks."

GOP Mayoral Candidates Agree On Policy, Differ On Winning Formula

Speaking before a packed room of Young Republicans and Republican voters, the three GOP mayoral candidates seemed to agree  a lot with each other, especially on education, job creation and public safety while differing on the winning formula in November. "We all agree that a Republican needs to get elected as mayor this November. It's critical," said Joe Lhota in his opening statement.

Adolfo Carrion, who still has some hopes of receiving a Wilson Pakula to enter the Republican primary, also addressed the crowd, before leaving to another scheduled event.

Rivals Pile On Quinn Over Excessive Business Fines, Due To Term Limit Extension

The vulnerability of being in public office while running for another post. Struggling to gain traction, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s mayoral rivals are now blaming her for Mayor Bloomberg’s third term because she let it happen, it happened on her watch. 

“You broke it, you own it,” Public Advocate Bill de Blasio blamed Ms. Quinn, this morning, for the increase in small business fines by justifying the extension of term limits.

Ruben Diaz Hopes Sepulveda's Endorsement of de Blasio Backfires In Hispanic Community

As we reported Sunday, Bronx Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda's endorsement of Bill de Blasio for mayor served not only as a slap in the face for Bill Thompson, but rather a blow for Rev. Erick Salgado, who has the backing of Senator Ruben Diaz. Mr. Sepulveda served as Rev. Diaz's chief of staff prior to his elections. In response, Senator Diaz pinned this letter of clarification and defense of Mr. Salgado's candidacy. 

Republican Mayoral Candidates Secede From The National Republican Party

Two of the leading Republican mayoral candidates seceded tonight from the National Republican Party, a sign of how bad the Republican brand, in its current form, is among Independents and minority groups.

At a  Mayoral Forum on Sustainability -- hosted by NYLCVEF and the Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design -- and moderated by Brian Lehrer, Joe Lhota, who joined for the first time all the Democratic candidates on stage, sought to separate himself from the National Republican party, especially on environmental issues. "I disagree with the Republican party not only on social issues but also on environmental issues," he said. "I think the party itself has lost its way tremendously  It was President teddy Roosevelt who created the national park lands. It was, believe it or not, Richard Nixon who created EPA. The fact of the matter is, done properly, environmental issue and sustainability can also be about new jobs, new technologies and expanding the economy."

Anthony Weiner Pushes Out Mayoral Candidates From Twitter Driver's Seat