Long Island

As 2008 home sales tumbled in Brooklyn and Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties' numbers increased, sometimes sharply.

The number of Nassau home sales jumped 60.1 percent from the first to the second quarter of 2008, according to the latest Miller Samuel-Douglas Elliman report. Annually, sales were up 5.3 percent.

In Suffolk (not including the North Fork and the Hamptons), sales increased 74.7 percent quarterly and 4.6 percent annually.

Not surprisingly, homes in the two Long Island counties seemed to be selling faster in the second quarter than in recent months. The average number of days it took to sell a Nassau home decreased 8 percent from the first quarter to the second to 115 days--the average at the same time in 2007. In Suffolk, the number of days decreased 10.6 percent quarterly and about 1 percent annually.

The full report, including Queens' numbers, can be found here (PDF).

Long Island home prices increased on average during the third quarter, according to new numbers from appraiser Jonathan Miller.

The average price of a Nassau County home increased 5.7 percent from the second quarter through the third to $628,839. The average in Suffolk--not including the Hamptons or the North Fork--increased quarterly 3.8 percent to $469,331.

Sales, too, in both Long Island counties increased from the second through the third quarter. In Nassau, sales were up 15.5 percent; in Suffolk, 10.5 percent. But sales were down in both counties from the third quarter of 2006.

We covered the Queens housing market in the third quarter earlier today.

Independent congressional candidate Bill Corrigan of Long Island wants to boost his name recognition in his bid against Republican Rep. Peter King.

Which will be kind of hard, since, according to Corrigan's blog, "We are not taking donations - as removing influence is of paramount importance to the voting system model."

So, without money, how do you run a campaign? Corrigan has the answer. Here are some pointers he posted today for people helping him out:

Remember the following:

1. Be polite, be courteous. Dress in the neat but casual "Captain Bill Flyer" style. Wear your button on your left side so when you shake hands people will see it.

2. If you're at a railroad or bus station remember that people are on their way somewhere important so don't get in their way. If they are standing and waiting then it's okay to approach them.

3. Remember the 'rule of threes' over the next few days. Do NOT tell the same person the same information more than three times over the next week.

4. Remember that each flyer has it's own unique identifying code and that you are connected to those codes. The campaigner who has the most people log into the voting system using their codes wins "the big shark".

5. The locations you are to be present at have been selected based on your specific demographic strengths. Your individual cultural backgrounds are of paramount importance when speaking with the constituency. Be proud and represent!

6. DO NOT speak of any other potential candidates or the incumbent in an ill manner. You may compare our system versus the framework of the one that a party member has to (remember the WHIP speech). But do not say ANYTHING about any other potential candidate even if you are baited to. Just say you wish not to comment.

-- Azi Paybarah

The state budget isn't finalized, but agreements on key fronts were announced last night:

$350 in health care spending was restored (coupled with federal matching funds will bring a few more million to the health care industry here).

Eliot Spitzer still gets to claim $1 billion in Medicaid spending cuts, namely from health insurance and pharmaceutical companies (not hospitals and nursing homes).

$500 million in additional education spending was added, which should make Long Island Republican senators happy.

To hit the April 1 deadline, and circumvent the rule requiring bills to age for 3 days, Spitzer may have to send a "message necessity," a technique Pataki used often which left rank and file legislator voting on stuff they hadn't read.

I'm done blabbering.

-- Azi Paybarah

Errol Cockfield has joined the Empire State Development Corporation as press secretary, the second Newsday staffer to defect to the state's economic development agency that is now run by a Long Islander.

How did this happen?

The ESDC's new senior vice president for communications, A.J. Carter, was the first hire. As Newsday's associate business editor and business columnist, he told The Real Estate that he knew Pat Foye, the downstate ESDC co-chairman, back when Mr. Foye was president of the United Way of Long Island. "He's somebody I wrote about off and on," Mr. Carter said. In fact, he even broke the story in November of Mr. Foye's leaving for an undefined job in the Spitzer administration. Mr. Carter, dispelling notions that his hire somehow represented a conflict of interest, said his discussions about a job came well after that.

Mr. Cockfield was one of several applicants for the job of press secretary. But since he had been stationed in Albany as bureau chief for the previous two years, and before that in Manhattan, he hardly knew Mr. Carter. Mr. Cockfield, it turned out, had the scoop in December on what job it was exactly that Mr. Foye was getting. Mr. Cockfield won't reveal his sources, but he told The Real Estate that he and Mr. Foye never met until his job interview for the ESDC post.

"Errol clearly was the best," Mr. Carter said. "The fact that we both came from the same place didn't matter."

Of course, it's no secret that the newspaper industry, and Newsday in particular, has had its own troubles recently. Mr. Carter said that, after 34 years at the paper, he was ready for a change. Mr. Cockfield, a 10-year veteran, was more frank.

"It's not the same journalism as it used to be," he said. "In government, I felt I could have much more influence."

- Matthew Schuerman

Location: The downside of a strong real-estate market is that people have been priced out of neighbo  read more »

Here are some numbers from the state senate race on Long Island that has become an important proxy battle for the senate Republicans, Eliot Spitzer and the most politically powerful union in the state.

Republican Maureen O'Connell raised a total of $800,585.99, of which her campaign spent $548,953.88. She has $268,514.06 left in the bank.

Democrat Craig Johnson has raised $352,351.03, spent $415,814.98 and has $148,381.60 left in the bank.

On the Republican side, a lot of the money is coming in from the Republican state Senate Campaign Committee, which gave $350,000 to O'Connell.

And who gave to the RSCC before it all went to O'Connell?

Republican Senate Campaign Committee recent donations include $100,000 from Joe Bruno, $84,400 from 1199 SEIU PAC and $84,400 from Empire Dental PAC.

Criag Johnson's list of donors contains a couple of noteworthy names, too:

He got $8,500 from George Soros and $8,500 from Bernard Spitzer.

Liz Benjamin has more on the money story here and here.

-- Azi Paybarah

SHALINI: I received an email informing me that I was a JUNEBUG WEDDINGS CONTEST WINNER ($500 gift certificate to Tulip, one of my favorite Seattle boutiques). This made up for my car getting towed last week and the $230 ticket/towing fee. It doesn't stop there. Junebug has another great contest on their website this month: Visit www.JunebugWeddings.com on or before Dec.15th and enter to win a luxurious spa package from Frenchy's Day Spa, including Frenchy's favorite manicure, pedicure, facial and one hour massage

It's a rainy day here in Seattle but I have a lot to do today:  read more »

There is some poetic justice in the ascension of Joseph Mondello, the Nassau County leader to the Republican Party's state chairman.

Like the state party, critics have written off the Nassau County organization, which Mondello has led for more than 20 years.

From the right: Former Long Island congressman and outspoken commentator John LeBoutillier wrote in 2005 that, "Mr. Mondello has presided over a recent series of political defeats that have reduced what was once the nation's most powerful county Republican machine to a pedestrian, run-of-the mill local organization that has trouble even re-electing its own incumbents."

From the left: Nassau Nell, a frequent commentator on this site who I suspect is a Democrat, wrote last week that, "Mondello would be a horrible choice. If he was a Democratic mole, sent 25 years ago to destroy the one powerful Nassau County Republican Committee, he could not have done more damage to the party, its committee people or its electeds. Someone should FOIL the Nassau GOP's books ( both sets) before giving Joe Mondello the State GOP credit card!"

Republican leaders have, needless to say, more kind words for the likely new chairman.  read more »

No matter how you slice it, it is pretty amazing that the county chairman who was there when County Executive Tom Gulotta ran the county into the ground, has held on for so long. I'm sure our more informed readers from Nassau County - its not a borough, is it? - will weigh in once Mondello's position is finalized.

-- Azi Paybarah

During a recent and rainy rush hour at Penn Station, dripping umbrellas and dirt tracked in from squ  read more »

Peter King is worried that his fellow Republicans are turning into wimps.  read more »

Peter King is worried that his fellow Republicans are turning into wimps.    read more »

I’m sick of New York. There—I said it.    read more »

Jeanine Pirro's campaign received an in-kind contribution from Bernie Kerik's lawyer days before their scandal broke.

Senate Republicans sent more money to defend John Flanagan's seat on Long Island than to defend the Westchester seat Nick Spano won by 18 votes two years ago.

John Faso misspelled the name of some guy headlining his fundraiser tomorrow.

Dick Cheney hung up on Bob Woodward, who thinks the White House doesn't like people disagreeing with them.

More good poll numbers for Democrats. President Bush's approval rating is down 5 points in a month.

Get ready for the second coming of John Kerry.

Mark Foley's pension is untouched and could be as high as $32,000 a year.

A Congressman on the House Ways and Means Committee, which Rep. Charlie Rangel may control soon, questions the tax exempt status of intercollegiate athletics.

And pictured above are Reps. Joe Crowley and Charlie Rangel talking about what they'll do when Democrats take over the House. I think.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

So Christopher Callaghan, the unknown, super-long-shot Republican candidate for State Comptroller, w  read more »

Jerry Neugebauer and Eunice Hong

Met: 1999  read more »

Engaged: Dec. 17, 2005

GABRIELLE: Earlier today I called my caterer to ask for sample menus and the following conversation ensued:

"We don't do sample menus," Tony says in his Long Island accent, "check out our website." *

"Your website, though great," (I fib here), "has a general menu. Can you at least email me a photo of how you serve your food?" I ask politely.

"No," he says, and an edge creeps into his voice that wasn't there when we signed his contract. At that point he was going to "make all of our dreams come true."

"I'm feeling attacked," Tony continues, "and I don't like it."

"I'm sorry?" I ask meekly.

"You're making it seem as though I don't know what I'm doing and I don't like that," he says, the edge getting sharper.

"It's just that the wedding is a few months away," I explain, "and I want to choose the menu."  read more »

"You know, I've heard from other people that you're stressed out about your wedding," Tony's taking the gloves off, "and that's really a pity. This should be a very happy time for you. Really." Then adds, "What a shame."

Pataki’s Legacy: Chaos and Disarray  read more »

Here's the latest Weld video, for those of you who have four minutes and fifteen seconds to burn.

The message amounts to, "I'm a Republican -- Really!"

The soft biographical piece has Weld talking about his upbringing on Long Island and upstate, making mention of the fact that his father was a local GOP official.

The background music switches to something more up-tempo for the section of Weld-as-prosecutor, a segment that prominently features the names Reagan and Giuliani,

And, in the context of Weld's self description as a "good candidate," there's a clip of him giving the business to John Kerry in a Senate debate.

The state Democrats are attacking "hypocritical" John Sweeney for campaigning with John McCain, a man he trashed on behalf of the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000.

It will be interesting to watch how often this theme resurfaces as other New York Republicans who supported Bush six years ago cozy up to McCain ahead of the 2008 election.

But I'm not sure the hypocrite charge amounts to more than an annoyance. The Bush versus McCain stuff has a time-capsule quality to it at this point - at least for those of us who remember the genuine intra-party rancor around here in 2000 leading up to and following the GOP presidential primary.

And there's been no shortage of Bush loyalists going over to McCain. Exhibit A has his base of operations right under our noses here in New York.  read more »

Anyway, here's the release.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, long a supporter of the Second Avenue Subway and resident of the Lower East Side, is now saying the J.F.K. Rail Link is more important, according to the new Downtown Express. This is a big deal, especially because Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Eliot Spitzer just made fairly clear this morning that he has the opposite priorities. A number of civic groups like the Regional Plan Association think the airport rail link is just too expensive, at $6 billion, to justify a the few thousand riders would take it each day to J.F.K. each day. But Silver's pitching the rail link as a means to get Long Island residents downtown, not downtowners off to the airport. -Matthew Schuerman

Tonight, Tuesday, NARAL will hold an event at Hofstra directed at the eight state senators in Long Island that voted against over the counter morning after pills.

Tomorrow, NYC DOT reviews designs for--to the relief of Starbucks chains citywide--public toilets!

Then, activists and community leaders from the tri-state area will gather at 32BJ headquarters to discuss the importance of renewing key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, just before the Department of Homeland Security answers questions at a poorly named NYU panel discussion (pdf).

And Stonewall Dems hold their monthly meeting at the LGBT Center featuring Richard Brodsky, George Arzt, Jonathan Tasini, and David Cohen, candidate for Civil Court.

—Nicole Brydson

Riverhead, Long Island is looking to expand—shopping centers, businesses and esplanades—and is considering three proposals from private investors for apparently public use. Currently however, the land belongs to someone. And the town is taking careful steps to avoid using eminent domain to claim it.

Yesterday, The Real Estate pointed at a New York Daily News editorial that discussed the modern uses of eminent domain for the construction of offices and factories, rather than roads and schools, stretching the justification of “public use.”

Now, Wisconsin is looking to reinforce the rights of property owners in light of the Supreme Court’s decision this past summer in the eminent domain case of Kelo vs. City of New London. The state bill on the table prohibits the condemnation of property that isn’t blighted if the land will just be handed off to another private party. The Kelo case determined that local governments could seize private homes and businesses for other private economic development projects—perhaps ones that would be more lucrative.

Wisconsin's governor is expected to sign the bill. Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama has already enacted a similar law and Tenessee is talking too.

While others tip-toe around the term, in New York, eminent domain is used to justify proposals like Atlantic Yards and Columbia University’s expansion into Manhattanville, according to the Daily News, vis-à-vis the Empire State Development Corporation—an unelected body that isn’t really accountable to the public as much as it is to its government employers. Steve Anderson, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, told the Times Union that New York is “one of the biggest abusers" of the claim.

The Daily News writer points to City Council for an answer, while others suggest a public referendum. Perhaps Riverhead’s developers can get away without calling on eminent domain because the majority of the land is held by a single owner, but as New York continues to grow, will anyone address the Kelo question?

Inman News New York Daily News The New York Times Times Union - Riva Froymovich

Some Orthodox Jewish bloggers are buzzing over an article in the Five Towns Jewish Times, (no link available), which recounts a meeting between Hillary and a group of constituents at Long Island's Temple Beth Sholom: Lester Henner, a Lawrence resident and former president of Congregation Beth Sholom, asked Clinton why she voted against the appointment of John Roberts to the Supreme Court of the U.S. Clinton responded that while Roberts is a very intelligent man, she was nevertheless uncomfortable with the "privileged life" that he has led, citing the fact that he had been in private schools his entire life, going from private school to Harvard and then on to his professional life. She said that she thought that Roberts lacked a certain sensitivity because he "never had to live with hard knocks."

Jeff Ballabon, one of the bloggers on Judge and Jewry, also reports that the paper's source isn't the only one to have left the meeting with this version of events.  read more »

"Well, at least we know Hillary's going to be a Yes vote on Miers," he concludes.

More grumbling, and debate in the comments section, over at Orthomom.

I had in mind the sort of casual place I used to frequent in the Village: doors folded back onto the  read more »

Despite all the bubble-talk, diving into real estate might not be the best move for would-be brokers,according to Slate. While New York Magazine warned a few weeks ago about broker glut, The Times reported this weekend about the phenomenon on Long Island where you can get certified in only a week (and without too strenuous requirements). "I don't understand what the teacher says," Ms. Franco said of the English-speaking real estate course instructor. "Nothing, nothing, nothing." Good news: she passed.

Today, The Times David Dunlap reports on the Ground Zero memorial that, like the forgotten middle child, has been neglected with heated debates over the Drawing Center and International Freedom Center.

Billionaire Ron Perelman might have a massive new neighbor, a 60-foot-wide mansion, combined from two buildings, according to Page Six. The price: $40 million.

With sleek Apple stores popping up all over, Microsoft wants to get in on the retail game. According to The Post, the are eyeing space on Times Square.  read more »

-Michael Calderone

While Tom Wolfe and his fellow 2 Columbus Circle advocates continue their fight with the landmarks commission, one of architect Edward Durell Stone's renowned buildings has been spared.

In 1938, Mr. Stone designed the Long Island home for A. Conger Goodyear, the Museum of Modern Art's first president. Mr. Goodyear was already well aware of the architect's work, considering that Mr. Stone, along with Philip Goodwin, designed the MoMA's legendary 53rd Street building a year earlier.  read more »

Heralded as a modernist masterpiece, the Goodyear House has been monitored closely by the World Monuments Fund--the same organization that recently included 2 Columbus Circle in their list of the 100 most endangered sites. In Fall 2001, the iconic building was only a fews days away from demolition before preservationists stepped in the way.

Troy Halterman, a designer and retailer of contemporary furniture, intends to the restore the home without altering Mr. Stone's original design. To be sure, the building was sold with a "preservation easement that will protect its architectural integrity in perpetuity," according to a statement by the World Monuments Fund. —Michael Calderone

The Post reports that a state panel has failed for the second time to approve a bond proposal for the MTA that would include $1.45 billion for transportation projects you probably thought were already well-funded and underway, including the Second Avenue subway and a LIRR tunnel to Grand Central Terminal. What's at issue is how that billion and a half will be split up: the Rail Link from downtown to JFK and Long Island is in the mix, too. The four people who make appointments to the state panel--the Governor and Mayor, Assembly Speaker Silver and Senate Majority Leader Bruno--each have a favorte. Five years ago, it took forever to put language together to put the bond issue on the ballot. That was when Voters narrowly rejected the $3.8 billion bond proposal put on the ballot to fund. Five years later the MTA is trying again, and not getting much traction. Unions, contractors and transit advocates are still complaining how they didn't have enough to promote the plan and worried they won't have any more luck this time around. --Matthew Schuerman  read more »

The always-popular Monday morning South Shore line of the Long Island Rail Road leisurely jets work-latecomers into Manhattan a bit shy of 10 a.m. It often reveals heady surprises. Recently, The Transom was aroused to be sitting across from gray-haired recent Survivor winner Tom Westman, the infamously manipulative Long Island-living NYC fireman. He spent most of the trip on his cellphone; apparently, he had a meeting later that day at NBC. When not chatting, he read from a semi-self-help book called The Power To Connect.

But The Transom was most impressed by the egalitarianism of it all. Millionaires on public transport! America!

The Transom itself was willing to rise so shortly after dawn to train into New York City this morning for some very exciting test results. (No, it hasn't finally gone for its GED.) The Transom may perhaps be premature, but it expects to find that it has a Very Hot Disease.

Though, one catch, which causes a bit of social trouble: it is still unclear exactly what the hot disease of 2005 is. What if this disease is, forfend, un-hot?

For many years, The Transom sought its medical care with a handsome young doctor with an office in SoHo. He had an unexcitable, soothing demeanor and exceptionally attractive and manly wrist hair. A year or so ago, this doctor announced that he was tired of spending his hours billing insurance companies, interrupting his patient care, and so he would be joining a larger family practice that didn't accept private insurance.

The Marxist in The Transom was excited!

But then, two weeks ago, an appointment was finally made at this "family practice." And it was discovered to be, in fact, nothing but a Medicaid clinic. It was infested by the poor! The Transom enjoys a chance, every great once in a while, to see how the other 98% live, but doesn't prefer to get its medical care amongst them.

There is, after all, a reason that poor people die earlier. It is because they're poor. And for anyone who has dated or summered among the poor, it is clear that poverty is incredibly contagious.

And so The Transom's medical records were sent to one Dr. Howard Grossman, who is the reigning A-gay doctor of Chelsea. Dr. Grossman's office looks like the coat room at a Ross Bleckner party. There's more gay-face in that waiting room than at Musical Mondays at Splash Bar. There's more...

Hmm. What was The Transom talking about?

Oh right.

Although Martha Stewart has had Lyme disease more than once, we understand, none of those episodes have taken place recently. Perhaps her ankle bracelet is a tick repellant. In fact, The Transom can't think of a high-profile case of Lyme yet this summer. And further on the down side: Daryl Hall had Lyme disease. But hotter yet: Jamie-Lynn Sigler!

(The Transom should perhaps mention at this point in its glib rounds that it does have a few friends with family members who have been gravely and permanently injured by the tick-borne menace.)

But more clear than the status of Lyme is what's definitely unhot: West Nile, for one, which conjures up the elderly and dead birds, neither of which are sexy. The verdict is out on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. A relatively famous gentleman of The Transom's acquaintance had the Spotted Fever a few years back, and it definitely makes up in severity what it lacks in popularity, making it potentially very hot. Indeed, it is a very exclusive club who enjoy the travails of the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  read more »

Still, Lyme has staying power. And it has the cachet of old Connecticut, and the scent of the racy, expensive woods of Long Island. Just as alabaster skin in Victorian times meant that one wasn't compelled to labor outside with the icky poor, Lyme speaks of the new leisure class; beds of elaborate gardens, weekends spent cutting one's homegrown zucchini to add to one's hand-cut egg noodles. (Thank you, Jamie Oliver!)

Or perhaps that's just The Transom's newly acquired neurological tics talking. And so The Transom waits with bated breath for its results. —Choire Sicha

Both the New York Post and the Daily News report today that Martin Heidgen, the wrong-way driver in Saturday's fatal head-on collision in Long Island, allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of 0.28, three-and-a-half times the legal limit.

But the papers disagree on how to get that drunk. The Daily News says "Heidegen, 24, a former college frat boy, must have had at least 11 beers or 11 shots of hard liquor to be that drunk, said Jay Godfrey, president of CG Labs, a blood-alcohol testing company in Suncook, N.H....'Conceivably, he could have had a lot more to drink.'"  read more »

The Post goes ahead and conceives it: Heidgen's 0.28 level represents "the equivalent of about 18 drinks in six hours for the 180-pound driver."

Even the Post's artwork depicts a more expansive binge. Where the Daily News lines up 11 pictures of beer bottles, the Paper of Steve Dunleavy presents nine beers, five glasses of wine, and four shots of liquor.

Every few weeks, a couple of well-connected New Yorkers-maybe Carl Weisbrod, a board member of the L  read more »

Wednesday 20thSunny D!  read more »

NYC got a property tax instead of a commuter tax because Mike didn't win (or even play) chicken with state lawmakers, according to the Mayor of Pittsburgh.

According to a Pittsburgh newspaper, "...Bloomberg recently lost a bruising battle with the New York State Legislature about imposing a commuter tax in the city. As a result, Bloomberg was forced to raise property taxes 18 percent. Pittsburgh was able to avoid a similar fate when, after much wrangling, the Legislature passed a new $52-per-year emergency and medical services tax on city and suburban residents who work in the city.  read more »

"Recalling his conversation with Bloomberg, [Pittsburgh Mayor Tom] Murphy said in an interview, We had this conversation and he said, 'How did you win?' I said, 'Because I was willing to take the city into bankruptcy.' If I were [New York] mayor, I would probably have shut down the bridges coming in from Long Island...We just didn't blink and the Legislature blinked."

Back in 1998, when Eliot Spitzer was a little-known longshot candidate for Attorney General, Virginia Fields was one of the very few elected officials to back him early.

But after we reported that Eliot was set to endorse Freddy Ferrer for mayor, and Eliot decided to make it official with a phone call to the Times, the Attorney General didn't bother giving Virginia a heads-up. And that slight seems to have crystallized a quiet disaffection with Eliot that's been building for months on the city's African-American political scene.

"Virginia was very insulted," a senior aide to Mrs. Fields told us. "He should have at least had the courtesy to pick up the phone and call her."

Spitzer's move has had black politicians grumbling for weeks, and it tops a litany of complaints. One is the number of African-Americans he has on staff at the Attorney-General's office, though Spitzer's spokesman, Darren Dopp, showed us numbers that had the percentage of black lawyers and staff up sharply in his tenure. Then there's the fact that his campaign staff is without a seasoned black operative. Another complaint is his decision -- Spitzer would say obligation -- to defend the State in its fight against the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. Another is his handling of the Black United Fund case; though not all his critics defend that non-profit's financial operations, there was a sense in Harlem that the black establishment wasn't even consulted, exacerbated when the Attorney General appointed a new board made up of people from Long Island.

The list goes on, and Spitzer's office offers a point-by-point rebuttal that's worth listening to. One advisor to Virginia, Joe Mercurio, also said she looks forward to Eliot's endorsement in the run-off or general election.

But the bottom line is that the anger at the golden-boy attorney general from this quarter is real. (Amazing how hard it is to hold together that Democratic coalition, no?) In a cold electoral calculation, it may not matter: Hispanics, not blacks, are traditionally the swing voters in New York State, and Eliot's been working harder on that front. (See Ferrer, Fernando.) We don't doubt, though, that Randy Daniels, the black Republican candidate, will make all he can of this rift, and that some of his old friends in Harlem will enjoy every minute of it.

And if/when Eliot's governor, this can't be a good thing. The chairman of the State Party, key figures in the state assembly, and the dean of the Congressional delegation, are all vital to his success. As some sage once said, he may not need them to win, but he'll need them to govern.

One elected official willing to talk on the record about this was, of course, Charles Barron.  read more »

"Eliot Spitzer has major problems in the black community," he told us. "I don't think he should get the black vote based up on what he as done so far. I don't think he deserves it."

Bistro du Vent was packed with food people the other night.  read more »

To the places that, over the course of time, have come to be associated with the work of certain Ame  read more »

If John Kerry and John Edwards thought their convention would givethem some much-needed momentum, th  read more »

Paintball Pinhead TriesTarget Practice at Mayor's Mansion  read more »

Up and West at 'Cesca,Four Rich Guys Convene  read more »

Early next year, Republican Congressman Pete King of Long Island will release his third novel, which  read more »

As we trundle off on this July Fourth weekend-either to escape from a certain kind of madness, or pl  read more »

When I read that one of the Bush daughters was going to be spending this summer in the city taking c  read more »

I don't know why this should make me so upset. I do not want to go to war.  read more »

The Army just rejected me.I don't know why this should make me so upset.  read more »

He got the shot.It only lasts a few seconds.  read more »