Bill Thompson

The city comptroller's office expects 165,000 private sector jobs in the city to be lost because of the Wall Street downturn, nearly twice as many as predicted by the city in July.

Here's the statement from City Comptroller Bill Thompson (who may or may not still be a mayoral candidate):

Our current forecast anticipates that as many as 165,000 private-sector jobs will be lost throughout the city’s economy over the next 24 months, which compares to a forecast of 85,000 jobs lost in the Comptroller’s most recent budget report, issued in July.  We now believe that as many as 35,000 of those job losses may come in the financial services industry; our previous forecast was that the industry would contract by 25,000 jobs. The differences reflect the spreading of the economic troubles to other industry sectors as the nation slips into a general recession.

Anthony Weiner is also criticizing the City Council for introducing legislation to change term limits because he says  changing the law legislatively "takes away the right of New Yorkers to vote."

Always on message, Weiner also notes that there is some geographic snobbery in the fact that hearing on the bill will be held in Manhattan.

Today's announcement that there will be a hearing – beginning at 3 pm
– for citizens to come to Manhattan and complain is not a substitute
for a vote by all our citizens. It's symbolic of the overall process,
which takes away the right of New Yorkers to vote, allows the Council
to rush the process and offers only one afternoon of hearings on such
a fundamental change.

"New Yorkers around the city deserve hearings in their boroughs, and a
normal process for considering this important legislation.

Bill Thompson is out with a statement criticizing the City Council for moving ahead with Michael Bloomberg's plan to change the term-limits law. This time he doesn't name names.

Thompson said:

Today, the New York City Council introduced two measures, one that would allow the Council and the Mayor to single-handedly grant themselves the ability to run for a third term. The other measure would allow New York City voters to make the decision.

The choice is clear: People must come before politics. It is inappropriate for the Mayor and City Council to pass legislation that ignores the will of the voters. A government should serve its people and not itself. New Yorkers deserve nothing less.

Here’s Bill Thompson at the annual conference for Al Sharpton’s National Action Network event last Saturday at the Sheraton in midtown, reading old quotes from when Michael Bloomberg and Christine Quinn opposed changing the term-limits law.

Thompson said the question facing those two now is whether to "listen" to what the "people of New York City have said on more than one occasion.”

Anthony Weiner was also there and spoke out against the proposed change.  read more »

A majority of Democrats, Republicans and independent voters support changing the term-limits law so Michael Bloomberg can run for reelection, according to a Quinnipiac poll out today.

But Bloomberg's plan isn't universally popular; there's a notable split of opinion along racial lines. According to the poll, “Whites back the idea 64-31, while black voters are opposed 54-42." Hispanic voters support changing the law, 51-47.  read more »

In a brief telephone interview just now, City Comptroller Bill Thompson said, “It’s my intention to run against Mike." Then he soften his language, and continued, "It’s my intention to run for mayor, let me put it that way. And by the way, and I heard from people who don’t think it’s going to survive a legal challenge. I’m moving forward right now.”

Although Thompson quickly rephrased his initial remark, this is the strongest statement he's made to indicate that he might take on the billionaire mayor in next year’s mayoral election.

Hank Sheinkopf, who has worked as a consultant to Thomspon in two previous citywide races and may do so again, told me, “I would advise Mr.. Thompson to do what his conscience dictates. It’s not clear what will happen,” he added, referring to the outcome of the expected legal challenges.  read more »

Marist is out with a poll saying what most people suspected: Michael Bloomberg is a clear front-runner in a hypothetical 2009 race against likely Democratic candidates Bill Thompson, Anthony Weiner and Christine Quinn.

Michael Bloomberg's press office just announced he'll have a media availability at noon inside City Hall, where the mayor is expected to announce his support for changing the term limits law (but not actually announce he's running, because, that's technically campaigning and not allowed to be done on government time).

Also, Bloomberg will be joining Governor David Paterson at 1:30 in midtown for an announcement about the World Trade Center.  read more »

Two top mayoral contenders, Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn, were not available to comment this morning on the interview Ron Lauder just did with the Post. A spokesman for Thompson declined to comment, and a spokesman for Quinn said she was unavailable for comment [clarified].

Lauder told the paper he would support a one-time extension of term limits so Michael Bloomberg can be mayor again. Lauder, who nearly single-handedly brought term limits around, was considered a potential obstacle if Bloomberg did decide to run again.

I’m still waiting to hear back from a spokesman to Anthony Weiner; his campaign has previously said  read more »

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has been talking to political consultants who have laid out a road map for a potential mayoral candidacy, according to a consultant who has met with him.

The consultant did an analysis of the mayor's race over the last three months and shared parts of it with me. The written analysis lays out perceived vulnerabilities of the leading Democratic candidates—City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Representative Anthony Weiner and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn—and concludes that Klein's entry could create a situation in which Thompson wins the initial vote, but with less than 40 percent of the vote he'd need to avoid a run-off.  read more »

When he hears reports that Michael Bloomberg is considering changing the city's term-limits law and running again, Bill Thompson is reminded of the end of Rudy Giuliani’s term, when the former mayor made a similar push.

The argument didn’t hold water then, and it doesn't now, Thompson says.

After speaking against John McCain’s economic policies with Tom DiNapoli at a press conference in the Financial District this afternoon, Thompson fielded a question about today's Daily News editorial that supported a change to the current law so Bloomberg could run again.

“I think I heard those same arguments at the end of 2001, when people talked about extending Rudy Giuliani’s term for at least another 90 days. I think we rebounded well after that,” Thompson said.

In a departure from the Spitzer-precedent, David Paterson said he’s not going to endorse in next year’s Democratic primary for mayor.

During an African-American Day parade in Harlem yesterday, Paterson made several references to City Comptroller Bill Thompson possibly being the next mayor of the city (as he does in the clip above).

After the parade, I asked Paterson what role he might play in the primary.

“I think everybody knows Bill’s a good friend of mine. Our fathers served in the State Senate together. But I think Bill Thompson is perfectly capable of winning on his own. He doesn’t need me, and the other candidates have been very supportive me.  read more »

Here’s Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson delivering his opening remarks to the Citizens Union breakfast at the Puck Building this morning.

“It will take months, if not years, to understand the full impact of the current impact on international and financial markets,” Thompson said.

He goes on, “It’s Wednesday. The question is, what’s going to happen tomorrow and the day after that?”

Later, he said that unlike other, more cyclical financial downturns, this one could result in “permanent job loss[es]” among the city’s highest income earners.

Addressing the collapse of Wall Street giants A.I.G. and Lehman Brothers in a press conference today, Michael Bloomberg said that the city is prepared to deal with lost revenue and repeatedly emphasized that the city will take steps to preserve its quality of life, which he said has buoyed New York in other times of financial hardship.

“New York continues to be a place where people want to live and that makes it a city where companies need to be. If we allow our quality of life to slip, we will do nothing but hurt our competitive advantage, and we’re not going to let that happen,” Bloomberg said.  read more »

The National Committee for the Furtherance for Jewish Education held their annual “empowerment breakfast” in a small hotel room on Ninth Avenue yesterday morning, where the talk of politics was unavoidable.

Breakfast chair Suri Kasirer called City Comptroller Bill Thompson to the front of the room to present an award. (She used to be a fund-raiser for him). Kasirer introduced him by listing a number of his accomplishments.

“No matter what Bill decides to do in the future," she said, "Hope he will be mayor.”

After a brief pause, the line got a round of applause from the audience. Then Kasirer added in good humor, “See, Chris is late, so it’s okay that I said it,” a reference to Christine Quinn, one of Thompson’s more formidable rivals in next year’s mayoral race.  read more »

Yesterday, speaking at a church rally for Representative Ed Towns, City Comptroller Bill Thompson took a moment to defend another guest at the event, Representative Charlie Rangel, who has recently been the subject of a number of critical news stories about his ethics.

Thompson said of Rangel, "He has been fighting the battle for years, and now he’s the chairman of the most powerful committee in the House of Representatives, and all of a sudden, people are taking shots at him.”

(Rangel has been chairman of the Ways and Means Committee since Democrats won a majority in the House in the midterm elections two years ago).  read more »

City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson is continuing his assault on Michael Bloomberg. At a press conference yesterday, Thompson presented a study on crowding in city schools and said the administration would get a failing grade on the issue.

As the former head of the Board of Education, it's an issue on which Thompson can speak with authority.

Here’s video of Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson answering questions from reporters at the Labor Day parade, where he expressed support for extending term limits so that members of the City Council could serve for three terms, instead of two--a hot topic of conversation among New York politicians these days. That change should be put before the voters, Thompson said.

He goes on to say Michael Bloomberg needs to “clarify” his position on the topic. (He's not the only one that feels that way, The New York Times reported today).

The video was posted on YouTube by the comptroller's office. 

“As an African-American, and I said it to somebody I saw earlier today, I didn’t think I would live to see this moment in my lifetime,” City Comptroller Bill Thompson told me last night. “I hoped that my daughter would. I didn’t think I would.”

Thompson was referring to Barack Obama getting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. We were standing inside the Sheraton Denver, with a roomful of New York political people floating in and out of two receptions there last night.

“Around the nation, in our history, there have only been, what, three African-American governors, maybe four?” he asked. “David [Paterson].  read more »

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 »

DENVER—Speaking to reporters just before a breakfast at the Sheraton Hotel, Representative Charlie Rangel commented on the reported effort of some city politicians to change the laws that govern term limits before the 2009 election.

Referring to the next mayoral election, in which Bloomberg would likely run if term limits were extended, Rangel said, "If I didn't have a candidate in the race, which I do, which is our comptroller [Bill Thomson], I would really say term limits suck."

Then he added,"But this is a hell of a time to do it." (To put the issue before voters a referendum would have to go on the ballot this November).  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.

DENVER—City Comptroller Bill Thompson said he's open to extending the city's term limits law so lawmakers could serve three four-year terms, instead of only two.

"I think term limits are a good idea, no matter whether it is two or three terms," Thompson told me in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel, where he just checked in.

Then, referring to members of the City Council, who are reportedly pressuring Speaker Christine Quinn to support an extension, Thompson said, "No matter what they do, it should go back before the voters. I firmly believe that."

Michael Bloomberg has recently softened his opposition to repealing term limits, and is reportedly considering trying to run for a third term as mayor.  read more »

DENVER—The New York delegation to the Democratic convention still doesn't know whom it is supposed to vote for.

Four days before Barack Obama's official acceptance of the party's nomination for president, New York delegates are checking into the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Denver and saying they have not received any guidance on whether to cast a symbolic vote for Hillary Clinton during roll call or whether to vote for Obama.

When I asked City Comptroller Bill Thompson, who supported Clinton in the primary, whether the Clintons expressed a preference, he said, "At least not that I've been made aware of.  read more »

Here’s a shot from last night's fund-raiser for Representative Ed Towns, which took place at the home of attorney Sanford Rubenstein and featured a slate of very prominent Democrats.

From left to right: City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Bill Clinton, the Rev. Calvin Butts, Governor David Paterson, Towns, and Assemblyman Darryl Towns (the congressman's son).

Towns is facing a primary challenge from community activist and former MTV Real World star Kevin Powell, who has critisized Towns for supporting Hillary Clinton during the primary.

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 »

Andrew Grossman, a top-tier Democratic operative who founded an anti-Wal-Mart group is on board with Bill Thompson’s 2009 campaign. (Thompson is widely expected to run for mayor).

Grossman was described as a “political strategist” in this story about the comptroller's campaign spending, and a Thompson campaign aide explained Grossman’s role as “a general consultant", adding, "He’s helping put together the infrastructure of the campaign.” Grossman was paid $39,500 between March and July of this year, according to records with the city Campaign Finance Board.

Grossman comes to the campaign with considerable skills as an organizer. According to the bio on his company’s web site, Grossman worked at the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee from 1999 to 2003.  read more »

Here’s a video Bill Thompson's office released today to accompany his latest audit, which found that the city Department of Education didn’t adhere to their own cost-control measures when it came to traveling expenses for teachers.

Among Thompson’s findings is an $11,970 expenditure for 30 teachers to attend a retreat in the Catskills, even though only 18 teachers attended.

Also: “[A]t a multiple day retreat, the per-person cost for breakfast was $32.344 (including a charge of $7.50 per person for coffee).” 

David Paterson was on his way into his Midtown office just now for a meeting of the financial control board when a hoard of reporters asked him how the economy is doing.

"Not good," he said, walking in.

Also expected to speak here are Michael Bloomberg--who has recently made increasingly loud calls for the state to tax cigarettes sold on Indian reservations--and Comptroller Bill Thompson.

Here’s Sheldon Silver playfully introducing Democratic County Leader Jose Rivera, also an assemblyman, at the Bronx Democratic County Dinner last night.

Silver told the crowd that Rivera was “in the Assembly for five years and he went to Albany Medical Center and the doctor told him to go on light duty. So, he went to the City Council for 13 years. And then he was all cured and he came back. Now he’s working again real hard.”

“I say that in jest,” said Silver to Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Guests also included Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, likely Republican mayoral candidate John Catisimatidis (who had brief chats with Silver and Cuomo); City Council members Eric Gioia, John Liu, and David Weprin; Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV; and former county leader Roberto Ramirez.

   read more »

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 »

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.

Comptroller Bill Thompson, also a likely mayoral candidate, announced the findings of yet another audit this morning--his office reports that the city sanitation department paid workers to remove garbage from vacant lots owned by the city, but that those lots were already clean.

‘In the end, I hope we’re not dealing with fraud here,” he said at a press conference. “Oversight [of this program] is practically nonexistent."

Thompson said he doesn’t accept the department’s explanation that, in some cases, there was garbage around the lots that his auditors missed.

It's starting to look like Martha Taylor, who is running for the Queens City Council seat currently held by Jim Gennaro, has some unusually early (if unofficial) support from a couple of big names in New York politics--Bill Thompson and Malcolm Smith.

As Liz noted, Taylor currently works for Bill Thompson, and her consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, has ties to Malcolm Smith. Later, Crain’s reported that Thompson and Smith “support Taylor.”

And today, a local paper in Queens quotes one of Taylor’s consultants, Austin Shafran, saying Thompson and Smith are “very supportive of her candidacy.”

When I e-mailed Shafran, he explained, "No specific endorsements have been made as of this time.  read more »

Yesterday, I reported that Suri Kasirer, who used to do Bill Thompson's fund-raising, no longer works for him in that capacity. According to people I spoke with, Kasirer is winding down her fund-raising operations and focusing more on the lobbying part of her business.

But that doesn't mean she's stopped helping people raise money.

She helped organize a fund-raiser for David Paterson last week, according to a reader who attended the event and two people I contacted who were familiar with it. (When I called Kasirer's office, a receptionist there said she is on vacation for the week and declined to comment.)

This gets at the interesting question of when a person who raises money for candidates is not, officially speaking, a fund-raiser.  read more »

Suri Kasier is out of Bill Thompson’s campaign.

“We no longer do Bill Thompson fund-raising,” woman who answered the phone at the offices of Kasirer Consulting confirmed. The woman, who did not give her name, then referred my inquiry to Thompson’s campaign office.

Kasirer has consistently ranked among the city’s top lobbyists and active money people since opening her office in 1999, when her husband, Bruce Teitelbaum, worked for then-mayor Rudy Giuliani.

It’s unclear what prompted the departure, or whether this was a move that was a long time coming.

If anyone knows more (or I'm missing something obvious), please let me know.

UPDATE: More than one person I've spoken with said Kasier had been winding down her fund-raising operation for some time, and Thompson was her last fund-raising client.

The campaign to preserve the wildness of Ridgewood Reservoir in Queens--to stop the city from building athletic fields and a public park--continued today at a hearing before the City Council's Committee on Parks and Recreation.

The committee heard testimony from Adrian Benepe, commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, and a written statement from Bill Thompson, who has led the charge against developing the area around the reservoir, which was abandoned in 1989.

The proposal to develop the area into a park has been met by opposition from local community groups, who fear that development would endanger the wildlife (including, apparently, eight rare species of migratory birds).  read more »

Earlier today, Christine Quinn gave a press conference on food stamps in the Bronx. I didn't make it, but a few hours later her office sent out to me a video of the event.  read more »

As a meta-news side-note, this is a further bit of evidence of YouTube becoming an important part of local politics. This has already happened at the level of presidential and and high-profile statewide races -- Macaca! -- while lawmakers in the city have generally been slow to adapt.

But it's changing. Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate, has quietly created her own Youtube channel, where her staff uploads videos of her press conferences.

Here’s Bill Thompson at yesterday’s rally against the city’s proposed cuts to education funding, coming up with an unsolicited math lesson for Joel Klein.

“The state just sent the city $600 million more for education, and the chancellor is talking about making cuts,” Thompson says. “Something doesn’t add up. One and one usually makes two. Not three. Not four. Not five. Not minus one.”

Here’s Bill Thompson at the rally outside City Hall this afternoon urging the state (i.e. David Paterson) to save the Off Track Betting parlors in New York City before they close in four days.  read more »