To be the next mayor, the old medium is still the message

  

The Jewish Voice

The city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, is kicking off his first television ad campaign this week, marking the beginning of a new, intense, and expensive phase of the race eight weeks out from the June 22 primary that is likely to determine the next mayor of New York.

 The first phase of the most important mayoral campaign in our lifetime did nothing to help the public find a new mayor who can reverse the economic destruction caused by COVERT to the city.   Phase one of the campaign consisted mostly of candidates taking selfies with supporters around the city for twitter and Facebook and zoom calls. The zoom calls often had several candidates speaking to special interest insider groups, were not debates, but talking point discussion written to gain the support of the group hosting the call, written by the candidate’s public relations consultants

 So far, we know the candidates want more money for bike lanes, animal rights and everything else, but they do not explain where the city which is suffering the worse fiscal crisis since the depression, will get the funding.  The voters have no idea which of the candidates will better manage or fix the city’s long-term problems like homelessness or the new ones like 40% of the city’s businesses closed permanently, because they are not discussed beyond the candidate promising to fix all the city’s problems.

   There has been no vetting by debates or by journalists of any of these candidates’ promises or plans.As the TV phase of the campaign now begins more New Yorkers will be exposed to the better funded mayoral candidates as their TVs, Phones and Computers will be bombarded with campaign ads, but those commercials will still be talking points written by campaign consultants.  However if the past is prolog those TV ads, if done right. could be enough to elect the next mayor.

In 1977 the Brilliant TV commercials created by media genius the late David Garth were enough to elect Ed Koch as mayor.   Mario M. Cuomo was running for mayor against Mr. Garth’s come-from-behind creation, Edward I. Koch, Mr. Cuomo sardonically demanded: “What hath Garth wrought?”   

Koch often said he would never have been elected mayor without Garth’s commercials.  He was 10 points behind before Garth started his commercials.

 The late Roger Ailes, former Fox News president and political consultant himself, said “Garth was a political guy who learned how to use television rather than a television guy who learned politics,” Mr. Ailes said. “Nobody knew New York better.   Years after his lost to Koch, Mario Cuomo would recruit Mr. Garth for one of his own campaigns for governor, which he won.   So did Rudolph W. Giuliani and Michael R. Bloomberg who both became mayors of NYC.

Shout out to @UnitedNYBlogs, who wrote this post for the Jewish Voice and ran the essential True News blog, for still tagging me in his tweets even though I'm still unreasonably and unjustifiably deplatformed.

  #FreeJQLLC

Yang's version of Planning Together...

 

 NY Daily News

 Mayoral contender Andrew Yang unveiled an ambitious $32 billion plan to build affordable housing Wednesday, vowing to create and preserve 250,000 units within eight years if elected.

Yang reiterated his intention to make the Big Apple the “anti-poverty” city, but stressed it would be impossible to do that without creating more housing for poor and middle-class New Yorkers “across every neighborhood in all five boroughs.”

Yang plans to spend $4 billion annually on the plan — some of which would come from the approximately $15 billion in federal stimulus money the city expects to receive. The total projected bill, $32 billion, would pay for the creation and preservation of 250,000 new affordable apartments, at a clip of about 30,000 units a year.

“This will be the most since Ed Koch,” said Yang, name-checking the former mayor who cemented his reputation by building up the city’s affordable housing stock. “In many ways, the task ahead for us is tougher than what Mayor Koch faced. He was the first mayor after the fiscal crisis of the mid-’70s, and Ed Koch benefited from lower land prices and a giant store of city-owned properties.”

The current state of play, noted Yang, is much more complicated and challenging.

To simplify the process, Yang is proposing to do away with allowing City Council members informal veto power over new developments in the districts they represent; getting rid of minimum parking requirements often attached to new projects; speeding up the city’s land-use approval process, and bringing back now-illegal single-room-occupancy hotels.

Part of the cash outlay he envisions would go toward converting underutilized hotels and office buildings into affordable apartments and supportive housing for people with extraordinary needs. He also said he’d use vacant city-owned land to build.

Yang made the pitch that he’s the right guy for the job, in part because of his lack of government experience.

“It’s going to take a mayor who is not grown from our bureaucratic machine, who has no ties to special interests to help achieve this,” he said. “It’s going to take a mayor with the courage to challenge our status quo to actually see this through to fruition.”

 Yang is clueless about bodegas, wonder what he thinks would be an affordable amount to rent a studio or room for a month.

 

 

 

DeBlasio pick is experienced tweeder

From Capital New York:

Thanks to his lack of executive experience, de Blasio was widely expected to name a capable administrator to handle city operations, and [Anthony] Shorris would seem to fit the bill.

Shorris served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget under Ed Koch, and de Blasio called him “one of the central architects of the Koch administration’s affordable housing program,” which is thought of as one of the most successful affordable housing programs in city history.

Shorris went on to become Koch’s finance commissioner, and then served as deputy chancellor for operations at the Department of Education in the Giuliani and Bloomberg administration.

In the summer of 2003, Shorris, whom the Daily News described as a “moonlighting school deputy,” resigned his position following reports that he had a second job consulting for Local 1199.

The 1199 gig had the approval of both schools chancellor Joel Klein and the Conflicts of Interest Board. But, as the News noted, “Public reaction…was less forgiving.”

“‘Who needs this shit?’ Shorris said to a colleague when he told him of his pending departure,” reported the News.

Will the Queensboro Bridge get its original name back?

From CBS New York:

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-22nd) has introduced legislation to remove late Mayor Ed Koch’s name from the Queensboro Bridge.

Vallone has objected to the placement of Koch’s name on the bridge at 59th Street since the iconic mayor’s name was added in 2011.

Speaking to WCBS 880’s Jim Smith in July, Vallone said it was nothing personal.

“From day one, I’ve said this is not about Ed Koch,” he said. “He’s always been a good friend to my family; a good friend to my father. He’s always supported me in the past.”

The issue, Vallone said, is borough pride for Queens.

“Can you imagine the people of Brooklyn being OK with the Brooklyn Bridge being renamed, or the Manhattan Bridge being renamed?” Vallone said in July. “Only in Queens were they allowed to get away with this.”

Vallone’s bill would move Koch’s name to a different city landmark. The Manhattan Municipal Building would be renamed the Ed Koch Manhattan Municipal Building.

Vallone introduces bill to remove Koch name from Queensboro

From NY Post:

Just five months after Ed Koch’s death, a Queens lawmaker is seeking to erase Hizzoner’s name from the Queensboro Bridge.

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. says he’s drafting legislation to restore the crossing’s official moniker and to name Manhattan’s Municipal Building after Koch instead.

“Never in a million years would they think to rename the Brooklyn or Manhattan bridges,” Vallone told The Post. “But for some reason, it was OK to slap Queens around.

“I’m not going to rest until it’s rectified, until we get our bridge back.”

The span, built in 1909 to connect Midtown to Long Island City, was renamed the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in 2011 to celebrate his 86th birthday.

Back then, Vallone helped Queens residents circulate a petition against Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal. A year later, Vallone unsuccessfully pushed a bill prohibiting the city from naming its landmarks after living people.

Koch once called the renaming one of “the high points in my professional life.” In 2012, he was featured near the bridge in a video for Bloomberg’s State of the City address yelling, “Hey! Welcome to my bridge!”

“My problem is not with Ed Koch,” Vallone said. “My problem is with taking a bridge from the people of Queens.”

Too bad this is all a publicity stunt to boost his BP candidacy.

Katz as Katz can

The first thing you notice when you go to melindakatz.com is that her "news" hasn't been updated in more than a month and apparently her children haven't grown either. The older one is 5 and the younger one is 2, but you wouldn't know it from that photo.

You'd think the County candidate would have the resources to hire someone that knows that the Senator's name is spelled Toby Ann Stavisky, not Stavinsky. Pretty impressive that she got Ed Koch to endorse her, but he's now deceased. Bragging about the endorsement of a dead man? Really, this woman has NO shame whatsoever.

I like the fact that her campaign is also too cheap to pay for photo hosting.

My favorite line from her bio: "In 2009, Melinda was the only woman running in the Democratic primary for New York City Comptroller." Now there's a qualification.

These are the things you have to highlight when you spent your political career harming the borough instead of helping. Not one constituent or civic endorsement appears on the page.

Actually, this unprofessional woman is the absolute perfect choice to represent modern-day Queens.

Rest in peace, Mayor Koch

From the NY Times:

Edward I. Koch, the master showman of City Hall, who parlayed shrewd political instincts and plenty of chutzpah into three tumultuous terms as mayor of New York with all the tenacity, zest and combativeness that personified his city of golden dreams, died Friday morning at age 88.

Mr. Koch’s spokesman, George Arzt, said the former mayor died at 2 a.m. from congestive heart failure. He was being treated at New York-Presbyterian Columbia Hospital.

Mr. Koch had experienced coronary and other medical problems since leaving office in 1989. But he had been in relatively good health despite — or perhaps because of — his whirlwind life as a television judge, radio talk-show host, author, law partner, newspaper columnist, movie reviewer, professor, commercial pitchman and political gadfly.

Ebullient, flitting from broadcast studios to luncheon meetings and speaking engagements, popping up at show openings and news conferences, wherever the microphones were live and the cameras rolling, Mr. Koch, in his life after politics, seemed for all the world like the old campaigner, running flat out.

Only his bouts of illness slowed Mr. Koch down, most recently forcing him to miss the premiere of “Koch,” a documentary biographical film that opens on Friday in theaters nationwide.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg praised Mr. Koch as “an irrepressible icon, our most charismatic cheerleader and champion,” calling him “a great mayor, a great man, and a great friend.”

Mr. Koch’s 12-year mayoralty encompassed the fiscal austerity of the late 1970s and the racial conflicts and municipal corruption scandals of the 1980s, an era of almost continuous discord that found Mr. Koch at the vortex of a maelstrom day after day.

But out among the people or facing a news media circus in the Blue Room at City Hall, he was a feisty, slippery egoist who could not be pinned down by questioners and who could outtalk anybody in the authentic voice of New York: as opinionated as a Flatbush cabby, as loud as the scrums on 42nd Street, as pugnacious as a West Side reform Democrat mother.

For an interesting interview/history lesson, view the NY Times video, "Last Word"

Melinda's impressive résumé

From DNA Info:

In the Assembly, she served as chairwoman of the subcommittee on urban health and fought against the privatization of public hospitals, she said. She was also responsible for a bill increasing penalties for domestic abuse.

Later, she went to work for Shulman, the borough president at the time, as a director of community boards, attending meetings around the borough and keeping the president informed about communities’ concerns.

In 2002, she was elected to the New York City Council.

As chairwoman of the land-use committee, she negotiated various down zonings in Queens and supported new developments, including Willets Point and Hunters Point.

Her tenure on the City Council won her a recent endorsement from former Mayor Ed Koch.
Katz “is the one candidate in the race that raises the level of conversation about balancing economic development with the community in Queens,” Koch said in a statement.

After she lost the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller in 2009, Katz went to work for a law firm, Greenberg Traurig, specializing in land-use issues and government relations.

Deputy Borough President under Shulman, promoted overdevelopment and eminent domain for private interests while chair of land use for the City Council, endorsement from Koch, and most recently worked for a lobbying firm. I can't think of anyone more qualified to be borough president. Can you?

Koch endorses Katz

From the Daily News:

Former Mayor Ed Koch, fresh out of the hospital and gearing up for his birthday party at Gracie Mansion this week, is backing Melinda Katz for Queens BP.

"She is the one candidate in the race that raises the level of conversation about balancing economic development with the community in Queens," Koch said in a brief statement.

"As Chair of the City Council's Land Use Committee she achieved that balance citywide," Koch said in a brief statement. It is why I supported her for city comptroller in 2009, and why I am supporting her now for Queens Borough President in 2013."

In addition to her time on the Council, Katz has been a state Assemblywoman and corporate lawyer, as well as a lobbyist.


Here's a jingle inspired by this development:

1-877-KOCH-4-KATZ
K-O-C-H KOCH 4 KATZ
1-877 KOCH-4-KATZ
Donate your cash today!

An end to politically-motivated renamings?

From Eyewitness News:

A proposed law could prevent New York City landmarks from being named after people who are still alive.

City Councilman Peter Vallone is fighting for a ban on the practice of renaming city-owned property for living politicians.

This comes after the Queensboro Bridge was renamed for former Mayor Ed Koch and City Councilman Fernando Cabrera announced his campaign to name the Willis Avenue Bridge for former Mayor David Dinkins.

Vallone feels the new tradition could be used to get endorsements or campaign help from people who are still involved in the city's politics.

The Daily News points out that Vallone's name is plastered on public garbage cans in his district. D'Oh!

Get ready for some really bad acting

It may take you all weekend to recover from this...

Koch returns the favor

From the NY Observer:

Former Mayor Ed Koch thinks Chris Quinn is the best person to take his old job in 2013 now that he’s given up his dream of seeing NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly in City Hall.

“I believe that she is the best one for New York because I think she’ll be in the tradition of being in the center–a center candidate like I was center left,” Mayor Koch said. “I think she’ll follow in the tradition of Mike Bloomberg, and of all the candidates, I think she has the most experience and the best philosophy to lead New York in these difficult times.”

How not to publish a newspaper: No comment!

Koch endorses Turner for Congress

From Forest Hills Patch:

It’s an old trope that politics makes for strange bedfellows, and right now there are none stranger than former mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, and Republican candidate for Congress Bob Turner.

Koch endorsed Turner in a press conference that could only be described as somewhat surreal Monday morning.

With both men standing behind a podium and smiling, Koch proceeded to tell a room full of reporters that his endorsement of Turner was designed to send a message to the Obama Administration with regard to its stance on Israel.

“I am here this morning to suggest that the contested race in the Ninth Congressional District be turned into a referendum allowing the voters of this district, the largest Jewish district in the country, to register a protest against the positions of President Obama and the Republican leadership,” Koch said in a written statement.

Koch then listed a litany of reasons why he disagreed with Republicans in Washington.

Quinn cuts Vallone funding over bridge flap

From the NY Post:

Don't mess with Ed Koch's legacy.

City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens) got that message when Council Speaker Christine Quinn slashed his annual discretionary funding -- a move widely seen as punishment for his vehement opposition to renaming the Queensboro Bridge in honor of the former mayor.

Vallone saw a 42 percent drop in district earmarks -- from more than $1.4 million last year to $838,321 in the budget that took effect last week.

By comparison, the overall discretionary budget dipped by only 2.3 percent --from $395 million to $386 million.

"I would hope that children were not punished because I represented the will of the people of Queens, and I don't believe that happened," Vallone said.

Several sources said Quinn was furious at Vallone for stealing her State of the City speech thunder in February by holding a nearly simultaneous impromptu press conference opposing the bridge renaming.

Ed Koch backed up!

MYFOXNY.COM - A truck that tried to cross the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge got stuck Tuesday afternoon and created a traffic backup.

The truck was driving on the Queens-bound outer roadway, which has limited clearance. An overhead structure sheared off the truck's roof.

Authorities have closed that roadway to traffic as well as one Queens-bound inner lane for emergency vehicles. That leaves only one lane open on the lower roadway heading to Queens.

Where were they 4 months ago?

From Sunnyside Post:

Several members of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce are calling on the New York City Council to repeal the law that recently renamed the Queensboro Bridge the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.

Rebecca Barker, the new president of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce, asked Van Bramer at the United 40s Civic Association recently, whether he would act on the community’s behalf to change it.

“If there is a way to reverse it I will look into it,” Van Bramer said. Van Bramer said the renaming of the bridge was “one of the dumbest things we [the council] have ever done,” adding that “Koch never lived in Queens and spent most of his life in the Village.”

Barker said the chamber will soon be selling buttons on its website that will read: “Save the Queensboro Bridge.”

As predicted...

From the Daily News:

Queens residents may not love the idea, but the City Council is undeterred: A 6-1 committee vote this afternoon cleared the way for the full council to rename the only free route out of their borough as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.

Just last Friday, a Quinnipiac University poll found 70% of Queens residents -- and 64% of New Yorkers overall -- opposed to the renaming.

Still, Queens council members Elizabeth Crowley, Daniel Dromm and Julissa Ferreras voted for it today, as did James Vacca of the Bronx, Melissa Mark Viverito of Manhattan and Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn.

The only objection came from Queens Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who said that while he likes the former mayor, his constituents are unanimously opposed to changing the name.

Letter from Queens Civic Congress

Dear Councilmember--

This week you will vote on re-naming the Queensboro Bridge for former Mayor Ed Koch.

This is not about Ed Koch.

This is all about Queens.

And about how you feel about Queens and the people who live in Queens.

The bridge is Queens's bridge, not a plaything that will respond to any name it is called.

The Queensboro Bridge sums up Queens: hardworking, tough, practical and a little rough around the edges.

The Queens Civic Congress is an umbrella of more than 110 neighborhood based organizations representing residents of every part of Queens. QCC is the only borough wide civic group of its kind in New York City.

QCC urges you to vote for Queens. Vote to retain the current name of the Queensboro Bridge.

Go Queens!

Patricia Dolan
President
Queens Civc Congress
PO Box 670706
Flushing, NY 11367

Photo from Daily News

Confirmed: City doesn't want Koch Bridge!

New York City voters oppose 64 - 24 percent renaming the Queensborough Bridge to honor former Mayor Ed Koch. Opposition ranges from 53 - 32 percent on Staten Island to 70 - 20 percent in Queens.

"How's he doin'?" When it comes to naming a bridge after Mayor Ed Koch, not so good, said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Send this to your council member.