Herman Denny Farrell

During a scrum with reporters in Albany earlier today, David Paterson referred to some Albany lawmakers as “bloodsuckers."

He is now trying to clarify that remark.

When I asked his office for comment, they emailed audio the full conversation with the press, which includes the governor's attempt to soften the language.

At about the 7:30 mark, Paterson says, “I didn’t say that my colleagues were bloodsuckers. I said that there were certain people who listened to advocates, and as soon as they left, and it got dark, were acting in that way, like Count Dracula, because they really didn’t care or were not about to do anything about what the advocates were in Albany to try to persuade.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s office declined to comment.

Assemblyman Denny Farrell told me, sportingly, “As a member of the Dracula club, I have no comment.”

In a July 28 letter to New York County Democratic Leader Herman "Denny" Farrell, Surrogate's Court candidate Milton Tingling said, if elected, he won’t let people who hold positions in the Democratic party to get work through the court.

The letter, which was forwarded to me by the campaign, says:

“Public confidence in the integrity of the Surrogate Courts in Brooklyn and the Bronx have been undermined by allegations and reports of political favoritism in the assignment of fiduciary responsibility for cases that come before the Court.  Those concerns convince me that it is imperative to do all I can to ensure the residents of Manhattan that, if I am elected, politics will stop at the Courthouse door.  read more »

Democratic Assemblyman Herman Denny Farrell is set to announce his reelection on May 31 at the Tioga Carver Democratic Club, and he sent a letter to his friends and supporters asking them to attend the event.  read more »

Assemblyman Michael Gianiaris, who is running for reelection to the Assembly in 2008, says in this week's City Hall News that he is "going to seriously consider" running for City Council in 2009 and seeking the speakership.

The same article also quotes an unnamed aide to Assemblyman Herman “Denny” Farrell, the former chairman of the state Democratic Party, saying he won't run for speaker of the City Council if h  read more »

State Democratic Party co-chair Dave Pollak is leaving his position, the party announced a few minutes ago (right when most people are heading out the door for the weekend).

Pollak had previously run the group Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century, which brought political leaders in front of young professionals and provided a place for those leaders to recruit campaign operatives and legislative employees.

Pollak, along with chair June O’Neill, was hand-picked by Eliot Spitzer to run the party after the departure of former chair Herman Denny Farrell. Pollak was charged (naturally) with bringing the party into the 21st century.

The departure comes amid a number of personnel changes David Paterson has made to replace Eliot Spitzer's hires with his own.

Here is the official statement:  read more »

The Brooklyn Courier ran an article earlier this week on the race to succeed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who will be term-limited in 2009. I didn’t see the article online, but a reader faxed me a copy of it, which gives (of course) special prominence to the Brooklyn candidates for the job, including Sara Gonzalez, Vincent Gentile and Leticia James.

But there are other candidates worth acknowledging, like Dan Garodnick and likely incoming member Denny Farrell, both of Manhattan.  read more »

The confetti is flying, and some Rolling Stones song is blaring and on stage right now are Eliot Siptzer, Hillary Clinton, David Paterson, Andrew Cuomo and their family members.

None of the institutional players like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, state party Chairman Herman Denny Farrell, are on stage. That's a bit different from the scene 12 years ago when George Pataki won, surrounded by people like Charles Gargano, Al D'Amato and state Senator Roy Goodman of Manhattan.

And the room is emptying out , with everyone heading to the real after parties that I presume is where all the shirt ties get undone, and the fun really starts. But some are sticking to bask in the glory of the night's victory to the Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" pumping from the speakers.

-- Azi Paybarah