Photo Courtesy of GVSHP

Full City Council voted today, 44-1, to approve NYU’s modified expansion plan, despite continued community resistance. Speaker Christine Quinn called the modified plan significantly smaller than the original proposal and was satisfied with the outcome, reported WNYC.

(by Alissa Fleck and Paul Bisceglio)

The decrease in size from approximately 2 million square feet down to 1.9 million, including reduction in density and increases in open space, did not mean much to the plan’s numerous staunch opponents, many of whom have opposed it in its entirety from the beginning. This included the 37 NYU departments which passed resolutions against the plan. Many of these groups have sought legal council, according to WNYC. Additionally, various writers have compiled a collection of protest pieces inspired by the expansion, titled While We Were Sleeping: NYU and the Destruction of New York. 

Councilman Charles Barron was again the only holdout, imploring other councilmembers to heed the voices of Greenwich Village residents over those who may avoid the plan’s direct impact by not living in the construction zone.

Enough Greenwich Village residents, NYU faculty and other community members attended the vote to fill the Council chambers to full capacity. Opponents chanted “Chin and Quinn did us in!” from the balcony just before the actual vote took place, the Village Voice reported, and persisted as Quinn repeatedly called for silence. The entire balcony was escorted out of City Hall prior to the vote.

“This is a sad day for democracy in New York City,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, in a statement. Berman has been a major face for the opposition since the plan’s inception. He added his group would seek every possible legal avenue in continuing to fight the plan.

“The NYU 2031 plan has little to do with education, and everything to do with real estate and expansion for expansion’s sake,” said Berman. His group and others have joined together in formation of a city-wide campaign in protest: StandUp4NYC.

Jim Walden, an attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher representing GVSHP, said: “We look forward to our day in court.”

Many residents in Greenwich Village at the time of the vote also expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal, citing construction noise, congestion and loss of a sense of community as major concerns.

“We don’t want another Midtown,” said one community member.

Two others were more willing to embrace the incentives that NYU included in its modified plan. “We’re getting a rent reduction,” said a resident of the University’s Silver Towers, an iconic residential complex on Bleecker Street in the middle of the proposed construction area. “So while we aren’t thrilled about [the expansion plans], that’s why a lot of us [in the Towers] are keeping our mouths shut.” (New York Press has contacted NYU housing and is waiting to confirm the details of this reduction.)

Construction on the plan is set to begin in 2014.

Adriano Espaillat is reportedly preparing to conceded to Charlie Rangel and will run instead for state Senate re-election.

Certification of Rangel’s win will likely come on Tuesday.

Brooklyn

Marty Golden was called a “sexist pig” on CNN for wanting to hold his now-cancelled feminine etiquette event.

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes has a primary opponent.

MoveOn.org really, really regrets going after Charles Barron during his congressional primary.

2013 Mayoral Race

The various candidates are using social media, but are wary of repeating Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter incident.

U.S. Senate

Kirsten Gillibrand told reporters that her values are fundamentally different from those of Wendy Long.

To read more from City & State click here.

He was not too happy about it.

But when we reached him on Friday, Barron was looking toward the future and throwing a few jabs at the city’s political establishment.

City & State: How are you doing and how did the election go?

Charles Barron: We’re riding high. We were up against an alignment of unprecedented forces in the annals of New York State politics. I don’t think a candidate has ever faced a presidential photo-op during a Democratic primary. [Jeffries] even reduced the governor to a robocall in a Democratic primary.

I’m talking about the President, the Governor, two state senators, the city council speaker assigning staff people to his campaign, two borough presidents, two county leaders – these are powerful people. A lineup of assembly people, a line up of state senators.

All for me. It turned into a “Stop Barron” campaign. The New York Times endorsed him, the Daily News, the Wall Street Journal endorsed him. Crains. The Observer. The only way the New York Post helped me is by endorsing my opponent.

CS: Was all this about Jeffries or was this about you?

CB: It wasn’t focused on him. They could have done this with Donald Duck and won. Have you ever been involve din a campaign with that kind of alignment. Why? They called me a monster, a racist, a bigot, a malignant clown. I joined a press conference about the congressional redistricting to speak out against the new lines. It wasn’t in my interest to have Jeffries’s own assembly district in there. And he even sent out a mailer with Daily News saying I was a malignant clown

CS: Any positives from the campaign?

CB: In spite of all of that, with just $100,000 and 200 dedicated souls volunteering, we got 10,000 votes. We’re going to continue to build this movement. We’re going to run other candidates. We’re going to continue to build the Freedom Party and we’re going to continue to use running in democratic parties to get access to power.

CS: Why did you vote no on yesterday’s City Council budget?

CB: When I first came into Council in 2001 there were 83,000 summer employment jobs. Now there are a mere 31,000 slots. And over 140,000 youth will apply for these slots. We’re in for a long hot summer. There’s a $65-billion budget. And there’s that money from the Citytime settlement. You’re telling me you couldn’t squeeze out a few million to keep our youths off the streets?

CS: What’s next for you? Are you thinking about Albany and who your replacement will be?

CB: My future is bright and I’m going to make voice louder than ever and continue the movement for justice, liberation, economic emancipation and peace abroad. I haven’t been looking at [William Boyland Jr.’s seat]. Yes I would be very strong for that, but that’s something I am not looking at right now.

As for East New York, I want to maintain the city council seat, and get someone in our ranks to take my place.

To read the full interview click here.

Other encouraging signs? The campaign paid for a spread, including a kosher food station, and there was an open bar.

At 9:15 pm, the place was already three-quarters full and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson was gently working the room alongside Yetta Kurland, who’s considering a bid for Christine Quinn’s council seat in Chelsea.

Jeffries’ tireless spokeswoman, Lupe Todd, made a brief announcement that the campaign crunched early numbers and found that Jeffries was ahead 70 percent to Charles Barron’s 30 percent (unofficial Associated Press numbers as of 12:30 a.m. showed Jeffries up 72-28).

“The bar is open!” said Todd.

The room began an ecstatic hum and Thompson gave interviews.

“The early numbers are just that— but this is a good sign,” Thompson said understatedly. “I think that Hakeem will win by a larger margin that people think and I think Nydia will win.”

Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny and Councilman Al Vann staked out positions near the buffet table.

“I’ve never seen such great numbers,” said Brook-Krasny, who shepherded Jeffries’s winning efforts in Coney Island and Seagate.

I asked Vann whether Rep. Ed Towns made a mistake by endorsing Barron.

“I don’t know what was in his head and why he did it, but I did not think it would make any difference in the race for Hakeem,” he said.

The numbers kept getting better and it seemed like everyone in Brooklyn turned out to celebrate Hakeem’s developing victory. Even former county leader Clarence Norman, fresh off his release from prison, showed up to “congratulate the future congressman.”

“I’m a businessman now,” he said, declining further comment, in the night’s oddest celebrity showing.

To read the full article at City & State click here.

Rudy Giuliani. Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

U.S. Senate

Wendy Long and Bob Turner got into a spat over a robocall Rudy Giuliani recorded for Turner.

Brooklyn

Fearing the potential election of Charles Barron, a flood of national campaign cash in flowing in for Hakeem Jeffries.

Nydia Velazquez and her challengers debated on NY1.

Manhattan

Tom Duane officially endorsed Brad Hoylman.

Queens

Grace Meng loaned her campaign $60,000.

Staten Island

Despite ample fodder, Mark Murphy is largely keeping things positive in his battle with Michael Grimm.

State Senate

Sen. Steve Saland lost the Conservative line over his gay marriage vote.

Elsewhere

Sunday was a frenzied day of campaigning in New York’s congressional primaries.

Ex-Gov. George Pataki recorded a robocall blasting Sean Patrick Maloney.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he isn’t weighing in on the NY-18 primary.

Cuomo did endorse Velazquez, Jeffries and Charlie Rangel.

To read more from City & State click here.

Despite being out-registered 2 to 1, Republicans retain a stronghold in New York’s state Senate and a hold onto a surprising number of congressional seats.

U.S. Senate

Honoring the memory of U.S. Sen. James Buckley has become a feud in the Republican primary.

Manhattan

More on Gov. Cuomo’s failure to attend a Charlie Rangel fundraiser.

Rangel did an interview with Sean Hannity.

Rangel said (falsely) that no Latino elected officials support Adriano Espaillat.

Brooklyn

Simcha Felder denounced (his one-time friend) Charles Barron’s congressional bid.

The Village Voice profiled OWS congressional candidate George Martinez, at length.

The head of the Brooklyn GOP is eying an Assembly run.

Queens

Sheldon Silver says he has a “special bond” with Grace Meng, but is not endorsing her.

Liz Crowley got a newspaper endorsement.

Elsewhere

The Buffalo News called on Chris Collins to take part in a GOP primary debate.

During her first year in Congress, Rep. Kathy Hochul has often taken stances and votes independent of her Democratic colleagues.

To read more about City & State click here.

Charles Barron, photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

Brooklyn

POLITICO looked at Ed Towns’ unexpected endorsement of Charles Barron.

Wall Street and the city’s political class are fearful of a Barron win.

Hakeem Jeffries and Barron debate foreign policy.

Queens

Rory Lancman is pounding the issue of protecting social security.

Bronx/Manhattan

Charlie Rangel skipped a debate in the Bronx, which Adriano Espaillat criticized.

Espaillat himself denied that he is ignoring African-Americans by skipping a forum.

At a debate both attended, they debated the virtues of longevity.

U.S. Senate

Rudy Giuliani appeared in a radio ad for Bob Turner.

Bashar Assad, photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

At a press conference yesterday where group of Jewish elected officials lambasted congressional candidate and City Councilman Charles Barron for his criticism of Israel and for backing dictators Robert Mugabe and Muammar Qaddafi, Assemblyman Dov Hikind speculated that Barron supports the leadership in Syria too. “I can only imagine what he thinks of (Bashar) Assad of Syria, who has murdered 12,000 of his own people,” Hikind said. “He probably thinks Assad is a great hero. He probably thinks Assad is a civil rights leader.” Asked after a candidate town hall meeting last night to comment on the recent violence in Syria, Barron started to answer but then cut himself off, saying that he was more concerned about Africa – and that he would not be distracted from more pressing local issues like foreclosure, unemployment and crime. “Look at Sudan, look at Congo, look at those places where more people are dying than they’re dying in Syria,” Barron said. “But you want me to talk about Syria because it’s a hot-button issue and you want to see if I’m going to be for a dictator or something.”

Winners

Tony Avella – Woody Allen famously said 80 percent of success is just showing up. Who knows if Avella’s perfect attendance record in the Senate has anything to do with the fact that he chalked up the Independence Party’s endorsement this week and seems to be cruising to a surprisingly easy reelection, but it certainly didn’t hurt. By taking seriously the fact that he works on the taxpayers’ dime, Avella deserves a gold star and inspires the question: why can’t his colleagues do the same?

Brad Hoylman — Is it possible that a West Side state Senate seat could be open — and the field will be pretty much clear? It’s not quite certain yet, but Sen. Tom Duane quickly said he was likely to back Brad Hoylman if he runs, and no other definite contenders have yet emerged. It also doesn’t hurt that Duane announced his decision only two days before petitioning began — making mounting any sort of insurgent campaign difficult.

Charles Barron - Even if you buy that Barron’s endorsement on Monday by the longtime incumbent, Ed Towns, was neutralized by Hakeem Jeffries’ starring role in Governor Cuomo’s pro-pot decriminalization press conference, there was still ample reason to conclude that the councilman’s campaign keeps building momentum just when it matters most. After leaving little doubt as to who got the better of their NY1 debate, Barron continued to bruise Jeffries the next day by landing The Amsterdam News’ support. Could this be the start of a Nehru jacket craze in Congress?

Barry Caro — New York Congressional candidate Richard Becker has an uphill battle in a four-way Democratic primary this month, but he’s got a great asset in his dogged press secretary Barry Caro, who sniffed out an incendiary Facebook post written by Jay Townsend, the press man for Rep. Nan Hayworth, in which Townsend recommended hurling acid at female Democratic senators. Caro flagged the post and pushed it until it went viral, ultimately forcing Hayworth to let Townsend go. It’s the kind of moment that catches national attention and could ultimately focus more eyes and dollars on the race, a plus for whichever Democrat ends up staring down Hayworth this fall.

To read the full list of this week’s political winners and losers, and to vote for the best and worst, visit City & State by clicking here.

Charter School supporters are gearing up.

Brooklyn

David Storobin’s district office will be the same one that was used by Carl Kruger.

Charles Barron’s affinity for Nehru jackets could be a problem in Congress.

Tenants PAC is going after Marty Golden.

The Amsterdam News is backing Charles Barron.

Queens

A breakdown of the key neighborhoods in the NY-06 race.

A rare policy disagreement has emerged in the race.

U.S. Senate

Wendy Long’s campaign is using Fred Dicker’s words to fundraise.

Elsewhere

Ex-Assemblyman David Koon, who is running for his old seat, apologized for comments slamming his constituents following a 2010 loss.

There was a bit of a Twitter fight in the Democratic primary to take on Nan Hayworth.

To read more from City & State click here.