Jr.

More from Glenna:

The start of the second day of the hearings on the City Council's term-limits legislation began more quietly than the first, with about 50 attendees filling a smaller hearing room.

The first group to give testimony today was pro-legislation, and among its notable members was Time Warner chairman Richard D. Parsons. Parsons called the circumstances of the economy "frightening, perilous or even dangerous" and argued it could soon make the 1970s crisis "look like a day at the beach."

Peter Vallone Sr., former speaker of the Council, cited times during his tenure that an experienced group of lawmakers could stand up to the mayor in a way that a bunch of freshman are less likely to.

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Democratic Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. of the Bronx says there us a budget that needs to be passed, and he doesn't think it is important if Eliot Spitzer is around to pass it or not.

“We’re still going to move forward,” Diaz, told me just now. “Either this governor or Governor David Paterson is going to sign the budget. There has to be a budget,” he said, reminding me that it is due on April 1.

I asked why he and more of his colleagues haven’t taken the position that Spitzer needs to stay in office in order to accomplish the Democrat’s legislative goals.  read more »

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Here’s part of the invitation a reader sent over for Queens Borough President candidate Peter Vallone, Jr.'s birthday party and fund-raiser for next month.

Many fund-raisers feature a cutesy way of referring to different levels of contributors. This one takes the cutesiness to a whole new level.

Ticket Prices:
$3,850 – BFF
$1,000 – Best Friend
$500 – Good Friend
$100 – Pal
$20 – Buddy

The co-chairs for Adolfo Carrion’s comptroller campaign will be former state comptroller H. Carl McCall and business executive Leo Hindrey Jr. of InterMedia Partners, the campaign announced this morning.

Hindrey, the former C.E.O. of the YES Network (which broadcasts Yankees games) also helped raise money for another Bronx politician seeking citywide office: Fernando Ferrer, who ran for mayor in 2005.  read more »

A reader safely tucked into her office at One Centre Street sent this picture from far above the festivities celebrating the Super Bowl victory of the New York Giants.

"This is madness," writes the reader. "I'm already panicked about how to get lunch."

It took me about 30 minutes to work my way through the crowd, and I ran into Peter Vallone, Jr., who was having the same problem.

Coucilman Peter Vallone. Jr.'s resolution to limit homework in New York City public schools has faced resistance since he started talking about it last November. Today's attack, Vallone says, is unfair.

In a column today, John Dipaolo, whose organization runs two charter schools, opposes Vallone’s resolution, and supports his case by referring to the film Two Million Minutes, which compares the time that high school students in various nations spend on schoolwork.  read more »

It's barely 2008 and likely Bronx Borough President candidate and City Councilman Joel Rivera has already spent $144,852 of the $201,996 he raised.

According to the city Campaign Finance Board's rules, Rivera has exceeded his out-year spending limit for a borough president candidate, which is $129,000. Any money spent beyond that limit will be counted towards the $1,386,000 spending limit for the 2009 primary.

More after the jump.   read more »

Welcome Republican operative Robert Hornak officially to the 2009 race for City Council.

Hornak, who has been raising money to run for the Astoria seat that Peter Vallone Jr. will be term-limited out of, is having a kick-off event on February 2 featuring: Niger Innis, Herb London, Queens G.O.P. leader Phil Ragusa, and the unmistakable Curtis Sliwa.  read more »

Here’s Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr., a Democrat from the Bronx, at the Nation Action Network headquarters in Harlem today:

“See, the Latinos try to front a little bit here. They say, ‘Well, Dr. King is not about us. He’s about the African American community.'" But, he said, "This Latino right here is serving up in Albany because of Dr. King.”

Eliot Spitzer’s style may be humbler, but his goals aren’t.

In his second State of the State speech to lawmakers in Albany, Spitzer stuck to his vow to cap property taxes while at the same time providing free S.U.N.Y. tuition for veterans, expanding S.U.N.Y.’s teaching ranks by 2,000 professors, building $400 million of housing for cops and teachers, and expanding health care coverage for children.

The speech won praise from people like Michael Bloomberg, who told reporters afterwards, “I thought that a lot of his proposals were big ideas that are the kind of thing that we need to try. That’s what leadership is all about.”

Some lawmakers, though, weren’t happy.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester said Spitzer’s plan to fund the S.U.N.Y. endowment by selling off future proceeds of the state lottery will create “hundreds of millions of dollars” in transaction fees that would be siphoned away from the state coffers. “Every time we sell off a state asset, the private sector makes out and we get burned.”

State Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. of the Bronx, a Democratic ally of the governor, said he was happy to hear about the investment in S.U.N.Y., but “telling more and more of our folks to buy lottery tickets in order to pay for it? I don’t’ know how well that is going to fly.”

Here’s what Democratic City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who already flirted with the idea of supporting a Bloomberg presidential bid, said during a taping of NBC's News Forum this morning:

"I think they are very seriously looking at this. Here's their problem. They can get on the ballot, money can do that for you, and he's a great candidate, so that can do that. The problem is, with three candidates in the race, it's very likely that nobody gets majority of the electoral vote. Then what happens? It gets very confusing. It's only happened once before in history. It goes to the Congress, and now the Congress picks the president. So as we all know, the Congress is Democrat-Republican. How do you get the Congress to go for an independent? That's their quandary right now. That's what they're trying to figure out."

The interview airs Sunday.

Although it's usually not a particularly popular event, Peter Vallone, Jr., told me that all the press was at this morning’s bill signing ceremony because the newspapers were full of Bloomberg '08 speculation.

“So, we’re doing my public lewdness bill," Vallone said. "It’s the third bill to go and I get up and I go, ‘I think getting tough on public lewdness is a great way to launch a presidential campaign.’ So, he’s [Bloomberg's] behind me and he goes, ‘Why, are you running?’"

Vallone said he responded, “Of course, I meant borough president.”

According to Vallone's retelling, Bloomberg then looked around at the room full of City Council members and noted, “Looks like I’m the only one up here not running for anything."

When I said that Vallone sounded like someone who is ready to endorse Bloomberg any day, he responded, “I was one of the first Democrats to endorse him for mayor. So nothing is outside the realm of possibility.”

City Councilwoman Helen Sears is another council member who will be term-limited out of office in 2009 and may be running for a higher office.

Sears is seeking donations up to $3,850, the Campaign Finance Board’s contribution limit for borough president candidates, at a December 19 fund-raiser. The event takes place at 5:30 at the restaurant 17 Murray and the invitation gives top billing to Christine Quinn.

A message left for the treasurer of Sears’ campaign committee was not immediately returned.

Running in that race already are Peter Vallone, Jr., Leroy Comrie, and, possibly, Audrey Pheffer.

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Over the weekend, the Rudy Giuliani billing scandal that has been dubbed both the "Shag Fund" and Judygate played on, with both national and local press seizing on angles to further the story.

The New York Post reported that, in addition to the mayor himself, one of Giuliani's top aides also spent at least one summer night in the Hamptons on the city's dime, while the Daily News added that, in addition to chauffeuring Judith Nathan around, the N.Y.P.D. apparently took her to visit her parents in Pennsylvania, and occasionally even walked her dog. According to CBS, her family got to ride around with the N.Y.P.D. as well.

ABC News reported that Ray Kelly doesn't think Giuliani's story adds up and Michael Bloomberg's girlfriend says she has never had her own security detail. David Seifman calculated that the breakup of Rudy's marriage to Donna Hanover also cost the city a whole bunch of money.

In commentary, Michael Goodwin wrote that Giuliani's personal life is his last hurdle to the presidency, Josh Marshall explained why, contrary to intuition, Giuliani isn't guilty like Alan Hevesi, and Gail Collins just thinks, "Rudy is one of those people who doesn’t handle power well."

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Two high-profile retirements today -- one in sports, one in politics -- have put wannabe successors in exceedingly tough spots.

At the University of Michigan, coach Lloyd Carr's retirement should open the door for LSU's Les Miles, who played and served as an assistant at Michigan. But Miles is in the thick of the national championship hunt at LSU, which won't be resolved until the second week of January, making this a very inconvenient time to conduct any kind of job negotiations with another school.

And in New Jersey, fourth-term Republican Congressman Mike Ferguson's surprise decision to leave the House leaves Tom Kean, last year's G.O.P. Senate candidate against Bob Menendez, as the logical Republican heir apparent.

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After the death the death of Eliot Spitzer's plan to give undocumented residents driver’s licenses, the new debate is about who's to blame for the way things turned out.

During a roundtable discussion with legislators on Inside City Hall, Democratic Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. of the Bronx said it was Spitzer’s fault for not holding out for some concession.
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After weeks of criticism, Eliot Spitzer is backing away from his controversial driver’s license policy, according to a spokeswoman for the governor and lawmakers who have received calls tonight from the governor’s aides.

“The governor deserves a lot of credit for attempting to address the issue,” said state Senator Jose Serrano, Jr. of the Bronx, who vociferously defended Spitzer’s plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.

The battle “exposed so many of the fear mongers and hate mongers in this state,” Serrano said.

When reached for comment, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson emailed to confirm the governor was withdrawing the plan.

In recent days, Mr. Spitzer had hinted that his support for the plan was conditional.

Since he introduced the plan on September 21, it has transformed Spitzer into a lightning of criticism for local Republicans and national commentators who said the licenses would allow would-be terrorists to move about the country undetected. Recently, Spitzer modified the plan to introduce two other forms of identification available only to citizens which could be used for crossing borders and boarding planes.

Democrats around the state in last week’s elections either backed away from the policy or actively campaigned against it. On the presidential trail, Hillary Clinton came under fire for repeatedly not saying whether she supported the measure.

“I will not blame the governor for trying to where many others would not even try,” Serrano said. “Fear is a very powerful tool to divide.”

Michael Bloomberg hosted a fund-raiser in his East Side townhouse for Peter Vallone, Jr. last night.

Attendees included noted real estate developer Jack Rudin, former MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow aspiring mayoral candidate, John Catsimatidis, and DC 37 union boss Lilian Roberts, and president Ed Malloy of Building and Construction Trades Council.

Vallone apparently took the opportunity to unofficially declare his candidacy for higher office.

According to an attendee, Vallone pointed out that the mayor was on the cover of Newsweek with a big article about how he’s not running for president, then declared jokingly that he was "raising money to not run for borough president."

According to a source close to Vallone, the event raised $200,000.

 

Here's Ruben Diaz, Jr., the Assemblyman from the Bronx who is running for Borough President in 2009, explaining why campaigning seems to start earlier and earlier.

On the morning of May 14th, a certain Dr. Henry Kissinger was remembering the time the late, great Patricia Taylor Buckley received a phone call at her house at about 8 a.m.

The hour, close friends like Dr. Kissinger knew, was far too early to be calling Mrs. Buckley from any place but a hospital.

When a voice on the other line explained that it was the President calling for her husband, William F. Buckley Jr., she shot back: “The president of what?”

Dr. Kissinger was with more than a hundred other mourners that morning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur who’d gathered for a service in honor of Bukley, who died last month at the age of 80.

The setting was fitting for a woman whom so many worshipped.

“We mortals need to be reminded of the finite nature of our scale,” Dr. Kissinger said. “The term ‘larger than life’ can be overused. In Pat’s case, it was an understatement.”

Reinaldo Herrera, husband of high-society fashion designer Carolina, briefly illustrated “the extraordinary fantasy world that Pat created” for her friends and family. She was, according to Mr. Herrera, as at home in the drawing room of a palace as she was in the kitchen, conversing with the “three Dominican ladies,” who cared for her affectionately for so many years.

Then, a few short remarks by the jeweler Kenneth Lane drew upon Mrs. Buckley’s incredible sense of style, which, Mr. Lane offered, was about a lot more than spending a fortune.

Caitlin Buckley, her granddaughter and the daughter of her surviving son Christopher, told a crowd that included Tom Wolfe and George Will about the woman she called “Nan,” who chided her for buttering rolls in mid-air and taught her the fine art of air-kissing.

Following a song by the Wiffenpoofs, Yale’s famed a capella troupe, Frederick Melhado, an investment banker and close friend to the Buckleys, recalled that in the final days of Mrs. Buckley’s life, he’d told his dying friend that he wished he had a magic wand.

At this, he said, Mrs. Buckley responded: “I know, but we all run out of magic wands, eventually.”  read more »