Anthony Weiner

DENVER—It's ultimately about Barack Obama (and Hillary too!), but for New Yorkers here for the convention, it’s hard not to think about next year’s mayor’s race. too. All three major candidates for mayor—Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson and Anthony Weiner, are in town, and were at this morning’s New York delegation breakfast at the Sheraton.

“All we’ve done is move New York City to Denver,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who is also entertaining the idea of running for a citywide office next year. (His 2009 plans have become a source of considerable speculation). “It’s not like we’re shocked to see them in our midst.  read more »

City Comptroller candidate David Weprin is having a fund-raiser this Thursday at the Sheraton Hotel downtown.

The invitation doesn't show a dollar amount, but Weprin told me the ticket price is $250 and up.

Looking ahead to other 2009 citywide races, all three mayoral candidates are expected to be in Denver for the convention. Bill Thompson arrived yesterday, Anthony Weiner is arriving today, and Christine Quinn's office said she will be here.

Bill Clinton will speak at a fund-raiser tonight for Representative Ed Towns, whose challenger, Kevin Powell, is trying to frame Towns' support of Hillary Clinton in the presidential primary as a political liability.

The event is taking place at the home of attorney Sanford Rubenstein, on East 64th Street. Clinton is expected to speak around 7:30 p.m. Others expected to attend include Representatives Anthony Weiner and Yvette Clarke, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

The invitation, which was forwarded to me by a reader, also lists notable figures like Governor David Paterson, City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Representative Charlie Rangel, although it doesn't say whether they will attend.

The New York Times has been hard on Anthony Weiner recently, and he thinks that's a reflection of how the paper has changed.

This morning, The Times ran a story about the departure of yet another staff member from the congressman's office, and that was a follow-up to a July 23 front-page story about his high staff turnover.

(Also, last week, one of his likely mayoral rivals, Christine Quinn, got a more favorable profile.)

I saw Weiner this morning near Brooklyn Borough Hall, where he was handing out campaign literature with State Senate candidate Dan Squadron, and asked him about this theme.

The Times is making its "own theme,” Weiner said.  read more »

Anthony Weiner has started conducting sit-down chats with reporters around the city (Christine Quinn, another likely mayoral candidate, is already doing this), but attendees are asked to leave their recording devices at home.

From the AP Daybook:

Rep. Anthony Weiner hosts forum with reporters ("pen and pad only") to discuss his legislative priorities and other issues; Palace Diner, private room, 6015 Main St., between 60th Avenue and Horace Harding Expressway North, Flushing.

I haven’t seen the “pen and pad only” note about his media events before, but last week, after Weiner held a sit-down with Chinese reporters, I asked an aide if they could provide video or audio from the event.

The answer was no.

UPDATE: A Weiner spokesman said, "The intention was not to exclude recording devices, it was to indicate that it was for print reporters and that the diner didn't want TV cameras"

Here's video Azi shot of Representative Anthony Weiner, a likely mayoral candidate, speaking at a rally for 1199, one of the most powerful unions in the state.

"I want to be as comfortable as I can," Weiner said, taking the stage, pulling a union t-shirt from his back pocket, and putting it on.

"You can either be on the 1199 bandwagon, or under the 1199 bandwagon," he told the crowd.

Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn, Weiner's main rivals in the mayoral race, also spoke at the Madison Square Garden event.

UPDATE: More from Azi:

In addition to the three likely mayoral candidates, the event drew Senator Chuck Schumer, Al Sharpton and Governor David Paterson, whose unannounced visit surprised organizers.  read more »

Pollster Joel Benenson, who is currently working for Barack Obama, confirmed he’s set to work on at least two citywide races next year.

In a brief interview this morning, Benenson said he’ll be crunching numbers for Anthony Weiner--who has all but announced formally he’s running for mayor--and David Yassky, who is running for comptroller.

Benenson was Weiner’s pollster for his 2005 mayoral race and worked for Yassky during his 2006 congressional race. Interestingly, one of Yassky’s main opponents in the comptroller’s race, Melinda Katz, has hired Hillary Clinton pollster Geoff Garin.

Also worth noting about Benenson: back in 2003, he, along with Howard Wolfson, conducted a poll that helped brand Michael Bloomberg as an out-of-touch billionaire.

Anthony Weiner, who has been a loyal supporter of Hillary Clinton, just hired one of her former staffers. Starting last week, press releases from Weiner’s office listed a new contact person: deputy press secretary Angie Hu.

Hu worked most recently on Clinton’s presidential campaign as a research associate. Before that, she was at This Week with George Stephanopoulos (another Clinton alum!).  read more »

Other Clinton staffers have been picking up new gigs: former spokesman Howard Wolfson is a commentator on Fox News, and it made some waves in the political world when former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle was hired to be the assistant to Barack Obama's running mate, whoever that

Here's an image that must be a welcome boost for Representative Ed Towns, who faces a primary challenge from former Real World guy Kevin Powell. The picture is from an event happening now about the importance of keeping the Brooklyn housing complex Starrett City affordable.

"Starrett City will be safe as long as I'm around," Towns said.

In attendance are Hillary Clinton, Representative Anthony Weiner, Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic chair Vito Lopez and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

A few people in the crowd chanted "Hillary, Hillary!"

"I think Ed Towns deserves a big round of applause and our gratitude," Clinton said.

(Along with other members of New York's Congressional delegation, Towns endorsed Barack Obama on June 5, shortly before Clinton dropped out of the presidential primary.  read more »

Here’s Representative Anthony Weiner responding to a question about his management skills--and his reputation for high staff turnover--yesterday at the Crain’s business breakfast, which was before the New York Times story reported that he has run through more staff than any other member of the New York House delegation.

“I think I’m tough but I’m fair,” he said, adding, “And I'm cheap.”

In the story, Weiner chalks up his attitude to growing up in Brooklyn as a middle-class kid (always on message!).

City Councilman Lew Fidler, who also grew up middle-class in Brooklyn (and supported Freddy Ferrer over Weiner in the 2005 mayor’s race) told me, “I push my employees too and I haven’t had any turnover in six years.  read more »

A keen-eyed reader pointed out the similarities between City Council member Melinda Katz's comptroller campaign logo, and the logo of Representative Anthony Weiner's campaign-like web site, Keys to the City. (Weiner is expected to run for mayor).

Neither has held citywide office before.

Representative Anthony Weiner, a mayoral hopeful, gave his support for a string of large development projects in the city today, saying they're important in a time of economic uncertainty.

"New York needs to continue to grow–I'm a pro-development guy," he said, speaking at a Crain's breakfast. "If you look at downtown, you look at West Side, you look at Penn Station, you look at Ratner, you look at these things–I think that you're going to see that I'm going to be advocating. I want them to be successful, particularly in this time of slow economic growth."  read more »

Then, hitting on his

Here’s Michael Bloomberg reacting happily to a question about Anthony Weiner’s friendly remarks about him this morning.

“That’s one of the nicer things he’s said,” Bloomberg said of Weiner, whose 2005 campaign for mayor was notably anti-Bloomberg.

Later, Bloomberg swatted down a question about overturning term limits, saying, “I don’t think that’s in the plans.”

At the Crain's business breakfast breakfast this morning Representative Anthony Weiner spoke about "saving" New York's middle class, a theme that is likely to be at the center of his mayoral campaign.

The crux of Weiner’s speech, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, focused on job development. He did not rule out raising taxes, but did say that high taxes stymie job development. He defended the policy that prevents Wal-Mart (but not other big box stores), from coming into the city because it does not pay adequate wages. And he said that the city has to do a better job of offering incentives to keep business in New York City, since New Jersey has lower business taxes and can still access the city's workforce.  read more »

Anthony Weiner’s 2009 campaign sent a press release with a new contact person: Basil Smikle.

“Basically, right now, I’m sort of one of the few people involved in helping him with his overall strategy and with the folks on the ground,” Smikle told me.

Smikle is a motorcycle-riding, African-American political consultant who nearly joined Weiner in 2005. “In the last campaign, I was neutral for a while, and he and I talked around the primary time and I said I would certainly like to work with him if he got that 40 percent. And he came just short of that.”

He said he has spoken to Weiner “quite a bit since then.  read more »

Anthony Weiner's campaign filing is up. Some observations:

Among Weiner's contributors is Manhattan real estate developer Albert Laboz (who is not a popular landlord in Brooklyn).

Weiner spent $213,901 this period (January 12-July 11), including $2,000 he paid his former chief of staff, Marc Dunkelman, for campaign consulting in May. Dunkelman now works at the D.L.C.

Weiner also paid $36,000 to his D.C.-based consultants at Freedman Consulting L.L.C. (The same people he worked with in 2005).

And according to this filing, he didn't pay for any polling, unlike some other folks eyeing citywide office.

Thirty-eight percent of New Yorkers polled by Quinnipiac want to see Michael Bloomberg elected mayor again in 2009.

Which will help fuel rumors that he may somehow work to overturn the term limits that currently prevent him from seeking the position a third time.

Since it's fairly unlikely Bloomberg could do that, here's how the other 2009 mayoral candidates did.

Overall:
12% Ray Kelly
11% Marty Markowitz
10 % Anthony Weiner
7% Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn
4% Betsy Gotbaum

Among Democrats only:

12% Markowitz
11% Weiner
10% Quinn
8% Thompson

Among independent voters, Markowitz, Kelly and Weiner each took 12 percent.

Anthony Weiner said in a recent interview that the public hasn't noticed Michael Bloomberg's failure to push the city's agenda in Albany because the mayor has "had a lapdog press corps."

The Congressman, of course, may have to deal with that press corps if he runs for mayor next year.

When I asked Weiner spokesman John Collins about the "lapdog" comment, he emailed:

"We won't be a press critic. The mayor's operation does a good job on all fronts and I think Anthony will stay out of the press evaluation business."

 

There was no dancing at the Seneca Club's 109th Dinner Dance--a veritable sea of elected officials--but there were about 55 honorees, who received diamond-shaped trophies and dined on a buffet that included a kosher option.

“It’s sort of like a political bazaar that’s as much like Baghdad as it is anything else," said Roger Adler, a judicial candidate for the 1st Civil Court District in Brooklyn. "There’s a chuckle quality to it, like, give me a break, this is like polyester. And then there’s the more substantive one--people are brought together.”

Outside the buffet, I caught Representative Ed Towns, who was on his way out after receiving an award.

“This is one of the oldest clubs in the borough,” he told me. “In order to be around for over 100 years you have to have a level of consistency, and also the ability to evolve with the community -- Greenpoint is not the same as it was a hundred years ago,” he said, gesturing outside as a man rolled by in a motorized wheelchair.  read more »

Outside, in line, BOILING. 11:22 a.m.

"Lanny, what now?" reporters ask Lanny Davis one by one. "We're going to take the White House" is his talking point today.

And here's a reporter who's been covering Hillary for the whole shebang. What's next for him? "Gonna take a week off."

Inside. There are 10 American flags in the room, six of them on the stage around the podium where she will speak. It's Mark Penn's strategy come at last to full flower, too late.

One-quarter of the floor space is unused, cordoned off.  read more »

Here’s video of Hillary Clinton's "superstar surrogate" Representative Anthony Weiner speaking at the Maine Democratic Convention this weekend, making the case against John McCain.

“John McCain, at the end of the day, is none of the things he claims he is,” Weiner says [at the 2:46 mark].  read more »

Councilman Eric Gioia grilled the city’s budget director about the slush fund scandal during a heated Council hearing in City Hall just now.

Gioia asked, pointedly, whose job is to make sure there are no phony organizations in the city budget and what guarantees exist to ensure there are no fake groups in this year’s budget.

The budget director, Mark Page, said at one point that he felt like he was “being grilled by a local prosecutor.” He added, “I’m not sure this is the forum for you to be asking me these questions.”

When pressed about whose job it was to catch the phony groups, Page said that his agency got a list from the City Council, implicitly laying the blame with the head of the City Council, Christine Quinn. (One of her top aides, Chuck Meara, was sitting in the front row in the City Council chambers during the hearing, taking note of the exchange.)

Page told Gioia, “Your question about assurance from me that there’s nothing fraudulent in the line items [of the budget], logistically, is -- looking backwards -- is a problem for me as to how to do it.”  read more »

From time to time, politicians attending parades come in for derision. It's less often that you see scorn directed publicly at the dutiful staffers who accompany them.  read more »

David Brock's group Progressive Media has scaled back its planned $40 million effort because the Obama campaign disapproves of 527s. [The Fix]

Obama said George W. Bush's comments about appeasement were a false attack. [AP]

Kirsten Gillibrand had a boy. [Capitol Confidential]  read more »

Representative Anthony Weiner’s call to get rid of earmarks may work out well for him in next year's mayoral race, but it isn’t gaining much traction with his colleagues in Congress.  read more »

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist likes what he hears from Representative Anthony Weiner about eliminating earmarks in Congress.

“[Having earmarks] changes the nature of who a congressman is. All of a sudden, he is a favor factory,” Norquist told me.  read more »

Here's a debate to watch for as the 2009 mayor's race gets going.

The New York Post editorial board today praised Anthony Weiner's position on the reform of City Council member items, which Weiner recently said he opposes, along with congressional earmarks.  read more »

Representative Anthony Weiner, a devout Hillary Clinton supporter, recalls for News Forum host Jay DeDapper what it was like meeting Barack Obama on the floor of Congress the other day:

From a transcript sent over by the studio:  read more »

Despite the recent acquittal of the three police officers on trial for the death of Sean Bell, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly still leads the pack of potential mayoral contenders, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

That seems in part due to his name recognition and in part because most voters probably aren't thinking about a race that's still a year and a half away. Considering also that most candidates haven't even declared, the significance of the results are limited.  read more »

Here’s a clip from a breakfast in Lower Manhattan this morning hosted by the Hispanics in Real Estate and Construction, where likely mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner conceded nothing on what one organizer said was “one of the most important items on our agenda.”
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Just when I thought Betsy Gotbaum had the best YouTubes, here's Eric Gioia out with a minimalist video featuring documentarian Morgan Spurlock (he's the Super Size Me guy, but he also has a new movie about looking for Osama Bin Laden.)

In a bit of interesting timing, Christine Quinn is having a fund-raiser on April 24 in Manhattan at the home of David Durst, a Hillary Clinton contributor.

Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate who shaped her public image as a reformer, has spent the last couple of weeks responding to a budgeting scandal at the City Council.

One of her likely mayoral rivals, Bill Thompson, has been critical of the Council, and by extension, Quinn. The other likely participant in the race, Anthony Weiner, has stayed notably quiet on the matter.

Here's the invitation, which was forwarded to me by a reader who received it yesterday afternoon:  read more »

Likely mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner released a summary of his tax returns just now. From his spokesman:

Weiner earned $152,996 of income in the year 2007. He made payments of $13,900 in New York City/State taxes and $24,300 in Federal taxes.

Longshot (but announced!) mayoral candidate Tony Avella already released his, while Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn have not.  read more »

Christine Quinn will announce shortly that she has reached a deal with the Bloomberg administration on a plan to restructure the Department for the Aging.

Michael Bloomberg's plan to overhaul the system of city senior centers, partly by closing many of them, and discontinuing a hot meals-on-wheels program has drawn criticism from advocates for the elderly.  read more »

Anthony Weiner, who opposed congestion pricing before Michael Bloomberg officially unveiled it, is (again!) taking the high road today.

Weiner, a likely mayoral candidate, released a statement saying, "Today may close a chapter on congestion pricing, but hopefully not the book on improving New York City's environment, reducing congestion, and raising additional revenue for mass transit. While the sides were clearly drawn, it's now time to come together to find solutions to these important challenges.”

Marty Markowitz, who might also run for mayor, was a less emphatic opponent. In the wake of its near-certain failure, the characteristically outspoken Brooklyn borough president links himself to Bloomberg and notes that he had several proposals that, he says, would have made the plan better:  read more »

Here's a shot from a congestion pricing forum in Brooklyn last night, where Anthony Weiner made an unannounced appearance, alongside likely mayoral rival, and fellow critic, Tony Avella (far right). In the middle, that's Steve Harrison, another critic of the plan and current candidate for congress.  read more »

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Here’s video of Christine Quinn explaining how the $4.7 million her aides diverted to fake organizations was spent on “mid-year budget needs.”

She goes on to say that the practice of “holding” money "in reserve" is done by “numerous city agencies.”

Citizens Against Government Waste published its annual list of congressional earmarks (they actually call it the Congressional Pig Book list).

Of course, what one person calls wasteful spending, another person calls bringing home the bacon, and now that Democrats are in the majority, New York was supposed to be getting more federal money.

The state made out with a good portion, particularly in the Catskills, where Maurice Hinchey brought in $43.7 million.

Here is a list of what some members from New York, and a few from elsewhere, brought their districts, according to the list. (It's in numbers of millions):  read more »

Council member Tony Avella, a congestion pricing opponent and, as of Sunday, longshot mayoral candidate, was on WNYC this morning discussing his theory of how the measure passed the City Council.

With characteristic outspokenness, Avella told Brian Lehrer, “We did have the votes [to block it], until the mayor and the speaker started leaning on people, or shall we saying influencing? Or bribing people, depending on how you want to look at it.” When Lehrer asked how he saw it, Avella replied, “I look at it as bribing people.”

Avella has identified the three main issues of his mayoral campaign as taxes, overdevelopment and education, but his real niche, such as it is, will be as a foil for the better-financed -- and more typically disciplined -- competitors like Christine Quinn, who’s expected to announce eventually.

During the radio interview this morning, Avella insisted on answering questions about congestion pricing from his office phone and then switching to his cell phone to talk about his campaign, to avoid using government property while stumping. It's the sort of off-beat behavior that might not get him elected, but should, at least, serve to distinguish him from his competitors.  read more »

Here’s a shot from the breakfast hosted Sunday morning by the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations on the West Side, which, as Grace Rauh noted, attracted nearly every 2009 candidate for citywide office.  read more »

Anthony Weiner, who has been taking a pass on ribbing the mayor, has a new target: Albany.  read more »

Has anyone else noticed that Anthony seems a lot more, well, serious lately?

Perhaps fittingly for a maybe-front-runner for mayor, he seems to have toned down the old act, purposefully passing up opportunities to crack wise at the expense of his opponents.

For example: I asked Weiner to comment on Michael Bloomberg’s $500,000 donation to Republicans in Albany—a solid opening for the old Anthony Weiner, especially given the fact that his two likely mayoral opponents, Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson, were so recessive in their on-the-record reactions.  read more »

This Sunday, likely mayoral candidates Bill Thompson and Anthony Weiner are among those expected to deliver remarks at a breakfast organized by the West Side Community of Orthodox Jewish Organizations.

Notably absent from the invitation is Christine Quinn, another likely mayoral candidate who does, after all, represent parts of the West Side.

The March 30 event is taking place at the New York Historical Society, and will also include remarks from Representative Jerry Nadler and a tribute to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.  read more »

Here's Tony Avella's first (probably not last) mayoral video.  read more »

It’s a pretty crowded room upstairs in the City Council chambers, where testimony about congestion pricing is being given by city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and the Director of Long-term Planning and Sustainability, Rohit Aggarwala.

In one exchange, Aggarwala told City Councilman Robert Jackson, “[Y]ou don’t have to get 20 percent of the people off the road to have 20 percent reduction in traffic.” She continued, “Sometimes, if you take one or two cars off, it takes a crowded, congested condition and it turns it into traffic that can flow.”