General Election Picks

mayor: michael bloomberg as we mentioned back in september, the key to governing the city at this critical juncture is nursing a more diverse economy back to health while maintaining and building on the gains of recent years in education, business, public safety and the vibrant culture that defines new york city. we think mayor michael bloomberg, who is running as a republican and independent, is best qualified for this job.

throughout the past eight years, bloomberg has advanced ambitious plans to overhaul the largest public school system in the country, mitigate traffic and congestion, increase and improve green space, foster arts and culture and rezone the city to fit the residential and business needs of tomorrow-all while driving crime to record lows and keeping a vigilant eye on a terrorist threat that still lingers. his goal has been to enhance new york city's best attributes to make it a place where people want to live, do business and visit. a keen businessman, the mayor understands that these three goals are inextricably linked, and he has the foresight and drive to make them all priorities. we strongly endorse him for re-election. comptroller: john liu during the primary, we found democrat john liu to be an estimable candidate who had both bold ideas for the office and the financial know-how to tackle its fiscal responsibilities. his republican opponent, joe mendola, certainly has the right background for the job, but he is so focused on painting liu as a political insider that he hasn't articulated a clear vision for the office. liu will surely bring the same tenacity to the comptroller's duties as he does to city council committee hearings, and we endorse him for the general election. public advocate: bill de blasio we found democrat bill de blasio to have the most far-reaching vision for this office, and the most detailed plans for executing that vision on a shoestring budget. we hope he can leverage the public advocate's meager resources by working with organizations like transportation alternatives and the brennan center for justice, at new york university law school. his republican opponent, alex zablocki, simply doesn't have the same innovative ideas for making the most of this citywide ombudsman office. we endorse de blasio for public advocate. manhattan district attorney: cy vance we were highly impressed with all three candidates running for the democratic nomination for manhattan district attorney this september. cy vance, who won the primary and is running unopposed in the general election, plans to develop a community-based justice model to better attack problems such as domestic violence and discrimination against immigrants. he has also promised to tackle the criminal court backlog and form special units for mental health issues and hate crimes. the manhattan district attorney's office is the most important prosecutorial body in the country, and we have no doubt that vance will build upon the impressive work of longtime d.a. robert morgenthau. we enthusiastically endorse vance for manhattan d.a. manhattan borough president: scott stringer if anyone has put to rest calls to abolish the office of borough president, it's democrat scott stringer. while the city charter does sketch out rather limited powers for this position-issuing advisory opinions on large developments, appointing community board members and making assignments to various boards-stringer has squeezed every ounce of productivity out of this role. he's brought an unwavering spotlight to classroom crowding problems, come up with concrete ways to help preserve small businesses and made greening the city and healthy eating top priorities. his republican opponent, david casavis, is running to abolish the office altogether; we suspect he just lacks imagination. stringer gets our wholehearted support. city council district 4: dan garodnick during his four years in office, democrat dan garodnick has shown that he's a rising star in city government. he's given stuyvesant town and peter cooper village tenants a strong voice during turbulent times, and he won key concessions for the east river realty project. we endorse him for re-election. city council district 5: jessica lappin jessica lappin, a democrat, learned this district inside and out while serving as chief of staff to her predecessor, council speaker gifford miller. she's led the fight for safer crane operation and has worked tirelessly to get funding for three new waterfront parks. we endorse her for re-election.