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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Lhota and Catsimatidis Spar Over MTA Toll Hikes

Also a debate Tuesday, hosted by the Brooklyn Chambers of Commerce and centered on small-business issues, Republican mayoral rivals, Joe Lhota and John Catsimatidis, sparred over Mr. Lhota's decision to raise fares and tolls as MTA chairman. 

"You should have put your foot down and said, 'No increase,'" said Mr. Catsimatidis, according to report by Chris Bragg. "That's what you call leadership."

"You can say that, but the requirement is that you have to balance the budget," replied Mr. Lhota, who was coping with cuts in government aid to his agency.

Bloomberg and Republicans Warn Against Changing NYPD Policing Policies

In a speech  at One Police Plaza,, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took aim at all the democratic candidates and public officials who have criticized the NYPD's  stop-and-frisk policy, accusing those who support legislation for an Independent Inspector General of playing politics, and pandering to votes while  turning a blind eye to violence and murders in minority communities.

"Make no mistake, this is a dangerous piece of legislation and anyone who supports it is courting disaster," Bloomberg said. "If you end street stops looking for guns, there will be more guns on the streets, and more people will be killed. It’s that simple."

Monday, April 29, 2013

In Staten Island, Giuliani Pitches Lhota As The Only Candidate Ready To Serve As Mayor of NYC

Republican mayoral hopeful couldn't of chosen a better advocate, making the case for his candidacy, than former mayor Rudy Giuliani in his home turf - Staten Island. In a 30 minute speech to supporters, who gathered at a minimum of $175 per person at the Excelsior Grand in Staten Island, Mayor Giuliani pitched the case for Joe Lhota, whom he said is the most qualified person to serve as New York City's next mayor.

"Joe understands the budget of the city in detail, from his work in my administration and from his work as a financial analyst, working on municipal finance for many years before he came to city government," said Mayor Giuliani. "Joe brings with him a great deal of knowledge of the financial market and business. That's what we need. Not these career politicians who have never really held a job. Like our president who really never held a job."

"The Democratic candidates are going to be owned by the unions," Mayor Giuliani said, as he turned to deny the Democratic candidates from obtaining the job at City Hall. "When I ran for mayor the slogan was: 'With all the crime, all the deficits and all the unemployment, vote for me, you can't do any worse.' You know something? That slogan applies today. You can't do any worse. And in fact you will do worse, a lot worse, if you don't elect Joe Lhota."

At another point of the speech, Mayor Giuliani referred to the Democratic candidates as being sold out to the unions or lack the conviction of dealing with the economic crisis. "We need an strong man with strong convictions as mayor of New York city. Not someone who's going to change his mind just because one union yells very loud. Just because his opponents are saying: 'oh, you didn't the support the bill to give people all the money they want. Now you're supporting the bill to give people all the money they want because you're running for office.' That alone should disqualify you for office," said the mayor.

Mayor Giuliani also addressed Mr. Lhota's ties to Staten Island, a stronghold for Republicans, especially in the primaries. "There are other Republican candidates. They have pluses. They have minuses. But as far of understanding Staten Island, none of them.. none of them.. comes close to Joe Lhota. He knows more about Staten Island than all of those Republicans combined X2."

"But he can't do it alone," said Mr Giuliani."Here is your job. You got to raise money for him... The rules are so difficult that we need a lot of people making small contribution in order to get the money that's necessary to make Joe a viable candidate.  Money is very very important. Because the message that I just gave to you here, is the message that people all over New York City have to hear. And if they do, he will be elected as mayor of New York City."

Mr Giuliani also addressed the Boston Terror attack, the 9/11 attacks, public safety and the war on terror as a reason to put Mr. Lhota at the helm, in order to keep New York City a safe place to live in and avoid future terror attacks. 

"New York City still is as we know, and as we have been reminded in the last couple of weeks, New York City still is the number one target of terrorism in this country," Mr Giuliani said before turning the focus at Islamic terrorism in general. "There were some people in Washington, who when we captured Bin Laden thought that the war on terror was over. They even announced it. I believe that some of these attacks that have recently taken place, have taken place because there is in Washington a process of denial. A Process of not really understanding what is against us. It is almost silly to say that there is no war on terror, because the Terrorists are at war with us."

"So we need a mayor who's going to be very strong about this. We need a mayor who is not going to be confused by so many of these liberal ideas that say: 'Oh, I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't classify this person as an Islamic extremist terrorist. Maybe it will offend somebody if we do it'. We need a mayor who understands that from having been at my side virtually every moment for 40 days, from the moment the bombs hit until the moment we left office."

 Mr. Giuliani also slammed critics who want to do away the police department’s controversial with stop-and-frisk policy, and pointed to Chicago as an example of what might happen if policing policies change.

“What we do that Chicago doesn’t do… [is] we aggressively enforce our laws to take guns out of the hands of criminals,” he said. “They, instead, are very, very careful. They’re very frightened. They’re very worried, very worried about rights: this right, that right, some other right. The only right they’re not thinking about is the right to be safe in your city,” he said,

In conclusion, Mayor Giuliani wrapped up his speech in summary. "He [Lhota] is the only one who has the background, the experience, the wisdom, the common sense, and most importantly the courage to make the tough decisions this city is going to need, if its going to continue the direction it has been going over the last 20 years."

"We cannot give this city back to a bunch of Democratic machine politicians, who will not run it for the benefit of the Democrats. They will run it for the benefit of the few Democrats  who happen to be part of the special interests," he added.

Joe Lhota Wins 'NY Meeting' GOP Mayoral Straw Poll with 56%


Missing From Joe Lhota's Strategy Memo: The 1989 Dinkins/Giuliani Race

Much has been written today about the Joe Lhota campaign's strategic memo that sought to pave his path to victory. 

"The Lhota analysis ignores the run-off.. If she wins run-off she will by definition of gotten the support, ultimately, of more than half the Democrats voting in it. The analysis also doesn't account for the possibility of Quinn not winning the nomination. de Blasio has said he will support the Democratic nominee, if it's not him. And it's not clear how much of an impact Carrion will have on the Independence Party line in November. The Lhota analysis also compares him to Bloomberg without mentioning Bloomberg's wealth," writes Azi Paybarah.

Ross Barkan also weighed in with his thoughts in questioning the merits of the memo.

But here is what the Lhota Campaign forgot to mention or compare with, and it may be a little too complex, but notable.

First Web Ad By Adolfo Carrion: "Waking the Sleeping Giant"

Lhota Campaign Draws Blueprint That Sets The Path For Victory In November

Republican hopeful Joe Lhota, sent out a strategic memo alongside a fundraising plea, in order to defy the skeptics of many who Like Mr. Lhota, but refuse to believe he could raise the money needed to be competitive and win an election in New York City. The memo was obtained by NYC Elects, as by Celeste Katz of the Daily Politics blog.

In the memo written by Jake Menges, a senior adviser to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a partner in a GOP consulting corp, the Lhota campaign seems to suggest that the decline of Christine Quinn  in the latest polls, and the possibility of candidates running on various party lines, clears the path for Joe Lhota, if elected as the Republican nominee, to win the mayoral race. 

Lhota Hits Catsimatidis's Irrational Exchange; Catsimatidis Campaign: Rude Crowd

Catsimatidis's ballistic exchange Sunday with a few Brooklyn Republican voters, didn't seem to bother the Republican Mayoral Hopeful. “These people are used to dealing with people who don’t have courage. I am used to confrontation. I don’t blink," he told Celeste Katz of The Daily News.

In Harlem where he grew up, he argued, buls***t is considered “a very mild-mannered expression.”

"It was not meant as a curse word. It was meant as ‘a lot of manure,’” he said.

Shelly Silver Set To Endorse Bill Thompson For Mayor

"While Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has yet to endorse a candidate for mayor, insiders predict he will follow Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and back former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, who lost narrowly to Mayor Bloomberg four years ago.

"Silver and Tisch are longtime friends and political allies and many on the inside say Tisch wouldn’t have endorsed Thompson last week without Silver’s approval.

“Shelly backing Billy, the only black in the race, would win him a lot of points with the African-Americans in the Assembly, who help keep him as speaker,’’ said a longtime Thompson backer.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Korean Architect Joins Ever Growing Mayoral Field

http://nyopoliticker.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/img_2432_selected.jpg Flanked by supporters, friends and a couple of Hasidim at the steps of City Hall, South Korean architect He Gin Lee joined the ever growing mayoral field last Friday. Followed by Ceceilia's odd campaign kick off, Mr. Lee also read his remarks from a paper in a heavy Korean  accent.

The South Korean native from Flushing is the owner of He Gin Lee Architects, a firm that has built hundreds of buildings across the five boroughs.
 
In 2009, Lee ran for mayor but didn't make it onto the ballot, writes The Village Voice.  Mr. Lee's bio and issues are lined up at his campaign website.


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