Manhattan Borough President

Incumbent: Scott Stringer, Democrat

Educational background: I graduated from New York City public schools, including John F. Kennedy High School and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Qualifications for office: As a lifelong Manhattanite, I am devoted to public service. I served for 13 years in the State Assembly, where I authored legislation to protect victims of domestic violence, led the successful fight to end “empty-seat voting” in Albany and voted against every attempt to weaken rent regulations. As Borough President, I have revitalized Manhattan’s community boards, built coalitions among diverse stakeholders, used the land-use process to tackle issues ranging from affordable housing to school overcrowding, and worked to make Manhattan healthier, greener, safer and more affordable.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my next term: 1) Manhattan’s public schools will top my agenda. Continued progress on public education is essential for the future of our children and our economic vitality. Although English and mathematics test scores have improved, many challenges remain. My work on school overcrowding created new schools and started reforming the city’s planning process for school construction to prepare for the likely addition of a million residents in the next two decades. 2) I will bolster Manhattan’s economic security by working to create jobs, support small business and diversify our economy beyond Wall Street. 3) I will strive to make New York the greenest and healthiest city in the United States by fighting to reduce diabetes and asthma and expanding my “Go Green” programs that add farmers markets, plant street trees and give people healthier food choices.

Why my challenger is the wrong person for this job: I believe the office of borough president plays an indispensable role in giving neighborhoods a voice in development and solving Manhattan’s problems. My challenger, who seems like a very nice fellow, does not.

Challenger: David Casavis, Republican

Educational background: B.A., SUNY Buffalo, history/education (teacher’s certificate); M.B.A., PACE University; M.S. in real estate valuation and analysis, New York University.

Qualifications for office: There is almost nothing left to the office of borough president except for urban land issues. I have worked on, and extensively written about, these issues for more than 20 years. These included an impact study on New York City if the city won the 2008 Olympic bid, and a projection of where the new central business district of Berlin would form after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when East and West Berlin came together as one city. I have been involved with the ULURP land-use review procedure and assembled the Society of Industrial Office Realtors’ annual report. I will continue to work on such land-use issues long after my opponent moves on to his next appointive position. I hope to utilize my vast expanse of technical expertise in the field to represent Manhattan.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my first term: There is only one issue in any borough president’s race: whether to keep a vestigial organ or to remove it. Like the human appendix, it is benign until it becomes infected—and then it must be removed. Twenty years after the U.S. Supreme Court found that the Board of Estimate proffered unconstitutional representation to different boroughs, the president of the Board of Estimate is still on the ballot. I promise that, when elected, I will make it my sole impetus to eradicate the office of the borough president, beginning with my own seat in Manhattan.

The incumbent’s biggest failing: I am running against an office, not an individual. Yet I am moved by the many rank-and-file Democrats who labor diligently for their party and their beliefs only to be scorned by one of the elected officials they labored so hard for.

City Comptroller

John Liu, Democrat

Educational background: I am a proud product of New York City public schools, beginning with kindergarten at P.S. 20 and going all the way through to the Bronx High School of Science. I went on to earn a degree in mathematical physics at SUNY-Binghamton.

Qualifications for office: I am a certified actuary, and immediately prior to my historic election in 2001, I managed a team of actuaries at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, working on the largest pension plans in the country. This professional experience, combined with my extensive understanding of city government gained through my terms in the City Council, qualify me well to serve as the next city comptroller.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my first term: 1) Ensure federal stimulus funds are actually used for capital infrastructure projects (i.e. roads, bridges, mass transit) and for creating jobs in New York City. 2) Ensure equal opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses, especially with regard to the procurement process. 3) Accountability and transparency in city agencies, achieved by fully utilizing the power of audit (both financial and operational) upon city agencies, particularly the Department of Education, the Industrial Development Agency and the Economic Development Corporation. Also examine past and future city development deals that feature(d) specific promises of affordable housing and job creation.

Why I am a better choice than my opponent: As my fellow comptroller candidates, I offer professional financial expertise. However, unlike the other candidates who would likely face a much steeper learning curve, I bring the deep understanding of how city government and agencies work in order for me to hit the ground running on January 1, 2010.

Joe Mendola, Republican

Educational background: Archbishop Molloy High School, Queens, N.Y., class of 1980, Fordham College, Bronx, N.Y., class of 1984 (final rank 3/605), Columbia University School of law, class of 1987.

Qualifications for office: Legal, compliance and risk abatement and audit specialist with expertise in the rules governing investments, the formulation of investment strategies and the tools necessary to conduct effective audits—two skills essential to any successful New York City comptroller.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my first term: 1) Minimize taxpayer contributions to New York City pension fund payments by effectively investing the New York City pension funds in appropriate and sound investments. 2) Complete the first thorough and comprehensive fiscal audit of the New York City Department of Education. 3) Eliminate $300 million in fees paid by the city to so-called “outside experts” hired to “assist” the comptroller in managing New York City pension funds.

Why I am a better choice than my opponent: I am not a career politician, I have no interest in running for mayor and will not use the office as a stepping-stone to higher citywide office. I am not beholden to special interest groups, such as the Working Families Party and ACORN and, as such, I will make decisions using my private-sector expertise with a goal toward safeguarding New York City taxpayer funds.

Public Advocate

Bill de Blasio, Democrat

Educational background: bachelor’s degree from New York University; master’s in international and public affairs from Columbia University.

Qualifications for office: As a Council member, I have been a dedicated advocate for New Yorkers, keeping government accountable and defending our right to full participation in the democratic process. Whether advocating for parents and children as a school board member, exercising tough oversight over the city’s child welfare and homeless services as chair of the Council’s General Welfare Committee, or leading the effort to oppose the mayor’s term limits law, I’ve never shied away from a tough fight or making tough choices.
Throughout my career in public life, I’ve gotten results for New Yorkers. I’ve found that this takes persistence, creative thinking and the ability to assemble broad coalitions of support—qualities New Yorkers should demand of their public advocate.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my first term: 1) Education: increasing parent engagement in public schools. 2) Reforming the Civilian Complaint Review Board: improving civilian oversight and restoring public confidence. 3) Affordable housing: promoting the creation of affordable housing through the land-use process and organizing communities around development projects.

Why I am a better choice than my opponent: My priorities as public advocate will reflect my values: a belief in efficient and transparent government, dedication to helping New Yorkers and the willingness to make hard choices. The job of the public advocate is, most fundamentally, that of a watchdog—ensuring that all New Yorkers receive the city services they deserve and have a voice in shaping the policies of their government. Through exercising the specific powers of the public advocate’s office and my position as an independent, citywide leader, I will advance key issues and advocate for New Yorkers each day.

Alex Zablocki, Republican

Educational background: I am a proud product of the New York City public school system and I earned a bachelor’s in finance and investments from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College in Manhattan.

Qualifications for office: For more than six years I have worked in city and state government, serving as director of land use and chief of staff for City Council district 51 from 2003-2006, and as district director for State Senate district 24 since 2007. As director of land use, I successfully worked with civic associations and numerous city agencies on eight rezoning applications to fight overdevelopment. In both the Senate and Council, I have worked with residents to fight for better city services, more funding for community-based programs and schools, housing, traffic solutions and more mass transit options. Since 2001, I have owned and operated a small business, and in 2007, I obtained a financial services license (Series 7).

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my first term: 1) Decentralize the office and work closely with all community boards to bring local issues to City Hall, giving all residents a seat at the table. 2) Work with local groups and community boards to look at zoning and traffic/transportation problems and bring forth solutions. 3) Use the duties of the public advocate to hold government accountable, make it more transparent and fight to make our city more affordable to live, work and start a business in.

Why I am a better choice than my opponent: I am not a cookie-cutter politician and will bring extensive government, small business and financial experience to the public advocate’s office. Unlike my opponent, I am not supported by special interests and I’m not a political insider. I am one of you, your neighbor and your friend, and I understand how important it is to have an independent voice in government. My plan for office can be found at alex2009.com/plan.

City Council District 6

Roughly covers the Upper West Side from West 56th to 96th streets

Incumbent: Gale Brewer, Democrat

Educational background: M.P.A, Kennedy School, Harvard University; B.A., Columbia University and Bennington College

Qualifications for office: I’ve represented the 6th district for eight years. My terrific staff and I have assisted thousands of constituents: saving people’s homes, creating jobs, protecting our quality of life, and writing laws to make government more open. After 40 years as a West Sider, and three decades in public service, the private sector, non-profits and Community Board 7, I know the diversity of the West Side and how to represent it.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my next term: 1) Reduce school overcrowding and offer students more choice in middle and high schools; 2) Protect our affordable housing, require it in many new buildings and stop illegal hotels that take units off the market; 3) Preserve and bring back neighborhood mom-and-pop stores.

How I voted on term limits and why: I voted against it, and supported a ballot referendum to let the public decide. The vote was 29-22; I was in the minority. New Yorkers had made their views clear in two referendums and should have been given the chance to do so again. I have always believed, however, that a 12-year term makes a Council Member a more effective representative. You need that long to complete large and complex projects like the multi-million dollar renovations of St. Agnes Library, 59th Street Recreation Center, Harmony Atrium and the new Frank McCourt High School. In large part I am running for a third term to finish what I’ve started, and bring these projects to fruition.

Challenger: Joshua Goldberg, Republican

Educational background: Pace University (1986-1990) with a double major in journalism and political science. I have a keen interest in history and politics in general and New York particularly. I like to say I am also a graduate of “Dad University.” My father, Sidney Goldberg, was brilliant with a steel-trap intellect and wit.

Qualifications for office: I am independent. I have funded my campaign only with individual contributions and have taken NO money from special interests, political action committees, unions or public matching funds. I have what some have called an “encyclopedic” knowledge of New York City history and politics. I am a lifelong Upper West Sider. I have held a number of quintessentially “New York jobs,” from working at the Fulton Fish Market, Yellow Cab, the New York Post’s “Page Six,” sales for the  New York Press and I am a licensed New York City tour guide. I have worked on several local campaigns, too. Also, I know intimately what it is like navigating the health care system in New York due to my wife’s chronic illness (sickle cell anemia.)

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my first term: 1) Get control of the budget and the wasteful, run-away spending. 2) Reform the way the Council does business by making the position of Council member a full-time job and eliminating non-profit political slush funds. 3) Take control of the subways from the MTA (Albany) and give it back to the city. New York needs to have control over its own transit system that is the life-blood of the local economy.

The incumbent’s biggest failing: Two things: her willingness to house dangerous felons and sex offenders in residential, family neighborhoods and her defiance of the public will by running for a third term even after she came out very strongly in favor of keeping term limits. She cynically voted to keep term limits while on the floor of the Council but acts in opposition to her record.

City Council District 9

Covers a sliver of the Upper West Side from Broadway to the Hudson River between West 96th and 110th streets

Incumbent: Inez Dickens, Democrat

Educational background: I am a product of the New York City public school system. I also studied urban development and land economics at New York University and Howard University.

Qualifications for office: For over 30 years, I have actively been involved with the political process. I believe that the power of the ballot can improve the quality of our lives and the environments in which we live. I volunteered in community service organizations before I was elected to office. During my first term in office, I focused on creating affordable housing opportunities and improving infrastructures of community service organizations, especially in the area of public health issues related to our children.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my next term: 1) Create more affordable housing opportunities. 2) Improve access to financing for small business enterprises. 3) Jobs and job training programs for young people (emancipated youth) and adults, along with educational enrichment programs for our children.

How I voted on term limits and why: I voted to extend term limits because I have always been against term limits. I believe in the power of the vote, and that is how you can exercise term limits. Furthermore, I believe that term limits disenfranchise people of color, as term limits can prevent people of color in office from attaining seniority and significant leadership positions.

Challenger: Abbi Lee Rogers-Haff, Republican

Educational background: University of Hard Knocks, New York, N.Y., business management and administration, accountancy, marketing.

Qualifications for office: Entrepreneur experience: negotiate government and corporate contracts to promote sales, eliminate competition and the bid process; write proposals and opportunity to bid according to rules, regulations and government codes of law. White-collar undercover investigator for national clothing manufacturer—became consultant to create a system of checks and balances to prevent embezzlement and theft. Professional experience: national general manager for the United States division of an international company based in the United Kingdom. Real estate building manager responsible for 50 exclusive residential buildings, Douglas, Elliman Gibbons & Ives.

Three goals I’d most want to accomplish during my first term: I propose to “follow the money” and regulate wasteful spending by the Council for purposes that are self-serving, special-interest and a conflict-of-interest. Power to the people! I will serve the district full time as City Councilwoman, attend community meetings and create a system of communication between the community and Council to represent my constituents in an efficient manner. Review proposed affordable housing to be income-targeted, based on median income in the district, with a percentage of affordable professional/retail space allocated to small businesses in the district at a reduced lease amount. This concept will deter the displacement of residents and small businesses.

The incumbent’s biggest failing: Councilwoman Inez Dickens does not represent the residents of District 9. Councilwoman Dickens voted against her constituents, in favor of extending term limits to Mayor Bloomberg, and in favor of the 125th Street rezoning plan. In addition, the Council budgeted $600,000 for the Metropolitan NY Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty, Councilwoman Dickens budgeted $100,000 in her name only, and $5,000 for the Harlem Little League.

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.

Auditors found that the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene could do a better job overseeing inspections and licensing requirements. Among other things, the report alleges that these agencies do not maintain an updated listing of horse-licensing numbers, which means that inspectors and outside organizations cannot properly conduct field visits to make sure the animals are being treated humanely and maintained in a healthy manner.

While we won’t go so far as to suggest that this industry be banned altogether, we agree that now is a good time for the administration and City Council to look closely at carriage horses and put better safeguards in place to make sure that the horses are treated well and that these carriages do not endanger public safety.

A new group, NY Class (New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets) has joined with the ASPCA and others in demanding that the city look at alternatives to the carriage horse business because of the way it treats these animals and because they believe it creates a danger to public safety. One idea that deserves consideration is eco-friendly, classic replica automobiles. This would allow tourists and others who want a nostalgic ride around Central Park to do so in a safer, cleaner and more animal-friendly way.

We are also sensitive to the fact that carriage horses are a long-standing industry in the city and that the 324 licensed operators add to our economic tax base. Perhaps if the city moved to the classic automobile model, these operators could be retrained and given tax breaks to shift their mode of transport. That could be a win for the industry, for the horses, for our environment and for public safety.

Many prominent New Yorkers have joined with NY Class to advocate for this alternative and to end the sometimes dangerous and inhumane treatment of more than 200 horses in our city. We urge the City Council to take up this cause and look at this idea very closely this fall.

Before the primary, we weighed in on both these contests; we still stand by those choices and reiterate them here to readers, who we hope will go to the polls on Sept. 29 to cast their vote in these important races.

Comptroller
The comptroller can be seen as C.F.O. of the city, responsible for making sure that budgets are tight and inefficiencies are pinpointed. But we also need more than a bean-counting bureaucrat. That’s why we feel New Yorkers should vote for Brooklyn Council Member David Yassky as the city’s next comptroller.

Yassky showed independence by being the only candidate to endorse legislation that will create a new level of pension benefits for future retirees, with the goal of reducing taxpayer costs. He understands the need to have a diverse portfolio that will protect the pensioners and taxpayers when the economy suffers. (Full disclosure: Yassky’s campaign rents separate office space from this newspaper’s parent company, Manhattan Media.)

His opponent, Queens Council Member John Liu, will surely bring the same tenacity to the comptroller’s duties as he does to Council committee hearings, but we’re concerned he’ll be too focused on using the office as a bully pulpit. Yassky is a well-rounded candidate who can balance experience with leadership, and we endorse him in the run-off for comptroller.

Public Advocate
Brooklyn Council Member Bill de Blasio has the most far-reaching vision for the public advocate’s office, and the most detailed plans for executing that vision on a shoestring budget. De Blasio plans to 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. Through the office’s appointee to the City Planning Commission, he pledges to be an aggressive watchdog on development.

There are, however, a few reservations about his candidacy. If elected, he’ll be tasked with policing the large swath of elected officials and unions that have endorsed his bid for office; we hope this doesn’t make him too cozy to be an effective independent check on city government. And we feel that de Blasio should be more proactive in addressing the questionable services provided to his campaign by the Working Families Party and its for-profit company, Data Field Services.

Mark Green, his opponent, did a commendable job as New York’s first public advocate. But he seems too focused on the past to enact a forward-looking agenda. De Blasio strikes us as the candidate most ready to hit the ground running in January, and we endorse him in the run-off for public advocate.

Public advocate hopefuls Mark Green and Council Member Bill de Blasio will face each other. In an upset, de Blasio bested Green, the former public advocate who is trying to reclaim his seat, by a margin of 32 percent to 30 percent.

On the East Side, Green’s main base of support, de Blasio edged out his rival by 385 votes.

Council Member Eric Gioia and civil rights attorney Norman Siegel received 18 percent and 14 percent of the total vote, respectively.

Green, with wide name recognition, was expected to be in the lead, but de Blasio, who enjoys immense union support, pulled ahead. Green is trying to paint de Blasio as a political insider, tying him to the Council’s slush fund scandal. Green said that de Blasio doled out taxpayer money to nonprofits, which then donated the money back to his campaign.

For his part, de Blasio has criticized Green for being absent from city issues since he left office in 2001, after failing to beat Bloomberg in the mayor’s race that year.

For comptroller, Council members John Liu and David Yassky will face off again in the Sept. 29 run-off. Liu nearly avoided a run-off with 38 percent of the vote. Yassky, from Brooklyn, came in second with 31 percent.

Yassky was the clear favorite on the East Side, receiving 7,668 votes. East Siders’ second choice, Melinda Katz, got 3,359. When Katz failed to make it to the run-off, she endorsed Yassky.

Overall Katz got 20 percent of the city’s vote and Council Member David Weprin came in last place with 11 percent.

Liu, from Queens, is seeking to be the first Asian-American elected to citywide office. He has strong union support, including the labor-backed Working Families Party, and he is popular among minority voters. Weprin also threw his support to Liu.

While running third in the polls, Yassky leapt to second place after key endorsements from the New York Times, the Daily News and his former boss, Sen. Chuck Schumer. Yassky has pulled support from his home borough of Brooklyn and Manhattan’s liberal base.

“We’ve had a great first phase of the campaign, and now we’re going to make it count by building on our momentum over the next two weeks,” Yassky wrote in an email to supporters.

Moments after the polls closed, the general election between Thompson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg began, with both candidates lobbing blistering attacks at each other.

Thompson reiterated his claim that Bloomberg favors the wealthy, and that he overturned the will of the voters with his extension of the city’s two-term limit for local office holders. Using the slogan, “Eight is Enough,” the Democratic mayoral nominee began soliciting $8 donations.

Though Bloomberg was unopposed for the Republican nomination, he held a lavish party along the Hudson River in Manhattan. There, the mayor slammed “politics as usual,” which is part of his new ad slogan, “Progress. Not Politics.”

One sign that the mayor might not be a shoo-in for re-election were the results of several City Council elections. Backlash to the term-limit extension appeared to play a role in ousting four incumbents, with two more hanging on by a handful of votes, certain for a recount. Nearly all of the Council members who survived contentious races received less than half of the total vote. Even Council Speaker Christine Quinn only received 52 percent of the vote against two spirited challengers.

“Even though few voters voted, the ones who did spoke loud and clear in turning out and voting against incumbents,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of the good-government group, Citizens Union. “That is a loud shout to the city’s elected leadership.”

The biggest winner in Manhattan on primary night was Cy Vance, who is all but assured to be Manhattan’s next district attorney, with no Republican running for that seat. With 44 percent of the vote, Vance beat 2005 candidate Leslie Crocker Snyder and newcomer Richard Aborn.

In the East Side’s District 4, two Republicans faced off for the right to go against Council Member Dan Garodnick—an uphill battle, considering the incumbent’s popularity and the district’s Democratic lean. Ashok Chandra, a native Texan and member of the New York Young Republican Club, beat the Manhattan Republican Party’s candidate, Neal D’Alessio, 477 to 239.

“My campaign has brought a lot of people out of the woodwork; Young Republicans who in the past haven’t been Republicans. They’re very conservative about fiscal issues,” Chandra said in an interview before the primary.

Moments after the polls closed, the general election between Thompson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg began, with both candidates lobbing blistering attacks at each other.

Thompson reiterated his claim that Bloomberg favors the wealthy, and that he overturned the will of the voters with his extension of the city’s two-term limit for local office holders. Using the slogan, “Eight is Enough,” the Democratic mayoral nominee began soliciting $8 donations.

Though Bloomberg was unopposed for the Republican nomination, he held a lavish party along the Hudson River in Manhattan. There, the mayor slammed “politics as usual,” which is part of his new ad slogan, “Progress. Not Politics.”

One sign that the mayor might not be a shoe-in for re-election were the results of several City Council. Backlash to the term-limit extension appeared to play a role in ousting four incumbents, with two more hanging on by a handful of votes, certain for a recount. Nearly all of the Council members who survived contentious races received less than half of the total vote. Even Council Speaker Christine Quinn only received 52 percent of the vote against two spirited challengers.

“Even though few voters voted, the ones who did spoke loud and clear in turning out and voting against incumbents,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of the good-government group, Citizens Union. “That is a loud shout to the city’s elected leadership.”

The biggest winner in Manhattan on primary night was Cy Vance, who is all but assured to be Manhattan’s next district attorney, with no Republican running for that seat. With 44 percent of the vote, Vance beat 2005 candidate Leslie Crocker Snyder and newcomer Richard Aborn.
The nail-biter primary races were for public advocate and comptroller, and no candidate broached the 40 percent mark needed to avoid a run-off. The top two contenders in each race will now face each other in a run-off election on Sept. 29.

Public advocate hopefuls Mark Green and Council Member Bill de Blasio will face each other. In an upset, de Blasio bested Green, the former public advocate who is trying to reclaim his seat, by a margin of 32 percent to 30 percent.

Council Member Eric Gioia and civil rights attorney Norman Siegel received 18 percent and 14 percent of the vote, respectively.

Green, with wide name recognition, was expected to be in the lead, but de Blasio, who enjoys immense union support, pulled ahead. Green is trying to paint de Blasio as a political insider, tying him to the Council’s slush fund scandal. Green said that de Blasio doled out taxpayer money to nonprofits, which then donated the money back to his campaign.

For his part, de Blasio has criticized Green for being absent from city issues since he left office in 2001, after failing to beat Bloomberg in the mayor’s race that year.

For comptroller, Council members John Liu and David Yassky will face off again in the Sept. 29 run-off. Liu nearly avoided a run-off with 38 percent of the vote. Yassky, from Brooklyn, came in second with 31 percent.

Queens Council member Melinda Katz got 20 percent of the vote and David Weprin, also a Queens Council member, came in last place with 11 percent.

Liu, from Queens, is seeking to be the first Asian-American elected to citywide office. He has strong union support, including the labor-backed Working Families Party, and is popular among minority voters.

While running third in the polls, Yassky leapt to second place after key endorsements from the ITAL New York Times ITAL, the ITAL Daily News ITAL and his former boss, Sen. Chuck Schumer. Yassky has pulled support from his home borough of Brooklyn and Manhattan’s liberal base.

“We’ve had a great first phase of the campaign, and now we’re going to make it count by building on our momentum over the next two weeks,” Yassky wrote in an e-mail to supporters.

In the East Side’s District 4, two Republicans faced off for the right to go against Council Member Dan Garodnick—an uphill battle, considering the incumbent’s popularity and the district’s Democratic lean. Ashok Chandra, a native Texan and member of the New York Young Republican Club, beat the Manhattan Republican Party’s candidate, Neal, D’Alessio, 477 to 239.

“My campaign has brought a lot of people out of the woodwork; Young Republicans who in the past haven’t been Republicans. They’re very conservative about fiscal issues,” Chandra said in an interview before the primary.

Tony Avella

Mayor
If going against Mayor Michael Bloomberg is considered a long shot for Comptroller William Thompson, then Council Member Tony Avella is the longest of shots. Avella, from Queens, has spent most of his Council career as a firebrand who often casts the lone-dissenting vote on legislation. He wants to empower community boards to take a greater role in local development, pledges to increase the involvement of parents and teachers in education policy making and supports commercial rent control.

William Thompson

Mayor
When most prominent Democrats declined to take on Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Comptroller William Thompson was the last one standing, facing only Avella, a long-shot aspirant, in the primary. As comptroller, Thompson’s alternative investment strategies helped cushion the pension fund when the economy collapsed. He knocks the mayor for being overly focused on Wall Street and real estate, a strategy that he says has harmed the middle class, and he promises to diversify. He would create an independent body to study student progress, and wants to mitigate the taxes, fees and fines that he says burden small businesses.

Melinda Katz

Comptroller
In the City Council, Melinda Katz chairs the powerful Land Use Committee, which oversees all development projects that need zoning changes. That has helped her raise campaign cash from real estate interests, but Katz says she has also pushed for affordable housing, fair labor wages and buildings that fit within a community’s context. Before her Council election, she worked in the Queens borough president’s office and she was a State Assembly member. As comptroller, Katz promises to invest a portion of pension funds in successful but debt-strapped companies that do business in New York, to help spur local job creation.

John Liu

Comptroller
John Liu is a reserved City Council member from Queens, but he also has a reputation for being a pit bull during committee hearings. As chair of the Transportation Committee, he claims to be the first elected official to discover the now-infamous “two sets of books” the MTA was using. Liu promises to use his tenacity when auditing city agencies, which the comptroller must do every four years. He also wants to audit and track stimulus funds coming to the city. On pensions, Liu wants to return to traditional, low-risk, low-yield investment strategies.

David Weprin

Comptroller
David Weprin wants voters to understand that he knows the buck. The Queens Council member chairs the Finance Committee, which must pass the city’s budget. He was also Gov. Mario Cuomo’s state superintendent on banking. His position in the Council has baggage, as he was partly blamed for not catching the slush fund scandal sooner. Nonetheless, he is touting his experience and his willingness to stand up to the mayor when appropriate, as he did when opposing the term-limit extension. Weprin plans to open satellite comptroller offices that would focus on financial literacy and assistance programs.

David Yassky

Comptroller
In a field of comptroller candidates from Queens, David Yassky is the lone Brooklynite. He is also the only candidate who supports the creation of a new level of pension benefits that would ease the city’s budget woes, but that remains unpopular with unions. Yassky points to his record in the City Council, where he worked to eliminate waste in the Housing Department, assisted in closing a tax loophole used by luxury developers and supported creating gas-electric hybrid taxis. He promises to invest a small portion of pension funds into biotechnology companies and increase transparency; during the campaign, he put the city’s budget online, at www.ItsYourMoneyNYC.com.

Bill de Blasio

Public Advocate
Council Member Bill de Blasio became Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s chief antagonist during the fight to extend term limits. The successful extension ruined de Blasio’s plans to run for Brooklyn borough president, but he found a spot in the public advocate’s race. He was quickly endorsed by most of the city’s elected officials. As the city’s ombudsman, de Blasio said he would stand up to a powerful mayor when necessary and promises to work collaboratively with other elected officials to get results.

Eric Gioia

Public Advocate
This two-term Queens Council member built a network of support from unions and young professionals, winning his first term without the backing of the borough’s Democratic organization. Gioia is capitalizing on this “outsider” status in his bid to be the city’s ombudsman and is touting his effective use of publicity to drive policy change. In 2007, he went on food stamps for a week, then pushed for legislation that would put applications online. He says he will continue working to improve schools, fighting for economic justice and holding government accountable.

Mark Green

Public Advocate
Voters may remember Mark Green as the city’s first public advocate who served during the Giuliani years, when he sued the mayor for withholding information on racial profiling and police misconduct, and he served as a general foil to many administration policies. He promises to continue that “aggressive progressive” platform, standing up to City Hall and helping government better serve New Yorkers. Since his unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2001, he has been president of Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network that was owned by his real estate mogul brother, Stephen.

Norman Siegel

Public Advocate
This is civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel’s third bid for public advocate, following his unsuccessful challenge of incumbent Betsy Gotbaum in 2005. Siegel, who says the public advocate needs to be visible, a big mouth and a fighter, points to his record representing groups like the 2004 Republican National Convention protestors and West Harlem tenants in their battle against Columbia University. He plans to recruit hundreds of volunteers to be “surrogate public advocates” in each community, and create an “Institute of Advocacy” to help New Yorkers make themselves heard.

Richard Aborn

Manhattan District Attorney
Richard Aborn, a former assistant district attorney under Robert Morgenthau, stormed into the district attorney race as a dark-horse candidate. Yet his campaign has gained momentum after most of the borough’s elected officials, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler, endorsed his campaign. A gun-control advocate who was behind the federal assault weapons ban and the Brady Bill, Aborn is running on a platform of providing alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders and expanding the use of technology in the office.

Leslie Crocker Snyder

Manhattan District Attorney
This year, Leslie Crocker Snyder is mounting her second attempt to be Manhattan’s top prosecutor. In 2005, the former State Supreme Court judge ran against incumbent Robert Morgenthau, who had been in office since 1974. Snyder, a former assistant district attorney, was the first woman to prosecute homicides, founded Manhattan’s Sex Crimes Bureau and co-authored the Rape Shield Law. As district attorney, she would create a Second Look Bureau to address wrongful convictions and connect prosecutors to local law enforcement, civic and religious groups.

Cyrus Vance, Jr.

Manhattan District Attorney
Retiring prosecutor Robert Morgenthau chose Cy Vance, his former assistant district attorney, to be his successor. Vance, the son of President Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state, has been a defense lawyer in Seattle, Wash. for most of his career, litigating white collar crimes at a national firm. He plans to develop a community-based justice model in neighborhoods to better attack problems such as domestic violence and discrimination against immigrants. If elected, Vance would tackle the criminal court backlog and form special units for mental health issues and hate crimes.

Readers should note that for two of these offices (comptroller and public advocate), the winner from a field of four candidates needs to get 40 percent of the vote. That means that if no one broaches the 40 percent mark—a very likely occurrence—there will be a Sept. 29 run-off election between the top two contenders, prolonging the politicking.

Mayor: Michael Bloomberg

The general election for mayor isn’t until Nov. 3, but since the Democratic primary will determine nearly all of the most hotly contested races this year, we are including our choice for the city’s chief executive officer with this slate of candidates.

New York City is at a pivotal point in its history. While the city is arguably the most livable it’s ever been, fallout from the imploding financial sector and real estate industry still lingers, despite some initial signs of improvement. The key 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 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. We’re impressed with the caliber of staffers Bloomberg has trusted to enact this agenda, and the record he’s shown in working amicably with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. It’s a refreshing change from the past, one that engenders a climate of productivity, rather than political squabbling.

But what’s most compelling about this mayor is the overall vision orienting these initiatives: his goal is 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.

Certainly, Bloomberg’s record has not been perfect. The administration’s focus on teacher quality and blind support of residential development has left classrooms at overcapacity and kindergartners on wait-lists for zoned schools. This was a problem that many saw coming several years ago, and the Department of Education should not have had to scramble to find seats.

Likewise, we think he could do more to help small businesses. Bloomberg’s “Business Solution Centers” assist entrepreneurs with networking, cost cutting and navigating city regulations. He asserts that the biggest help the city can provide is to create a climate that attracts more customers. But this shies away from what’s really hurting mom-and-pops: skyrocketing rents. A more aggressive approach using carrots and sticks, like zoning changes and tax incentives, is worth exploring. And Bloomberg’s suggestion, during our endorsement interview, that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority be responsible for aiding businesses hurt by Second Avenue subway construction is unreasonable, given that agency’s reputation for dysfunction. The city, state and MTA should collaborate to share the financial burden.

But these are flaws in a record that has, on the whole, been bold, inventive and overwhelmingly successful. We’d like to see Bloomberg both build on these accomplishments and address these shortcomings in a third term, leaving a legacy of perhaps one of New York’s greatest mayors.

One issue we have not addressed here is the mayor’s successful bid to change the term limits law. We came out in favor of this proposal, as we thought it was important to have the leadership of a talented incumbent during these economically challenging times. Bloomberg himself has stated that if voters disagree with his actions, the Nov. 3 election is their chance to weigh in. Certainly William C. Thompson is an estimable candidate. But during his successful tenure as city comptroller, he has often been in alignment with the mayor, and there are few major points of difference between the two candidates.

We feel that Bloomberg is the right leader for the next four years, and we support his reelection on Nov. 3.

Comptroller: David Yassky

The comptroller can be seen as C.F.O. of the city, responsible for making sure that budgets are tight and inefficiencies are pinpointed. In this economy, New Yorkers need a comptroller who will audit city agencies, kill contracts that waste money, propose a wise pension fund investment strategy and be a leading voice on transparency and government reform. But we also need more than a bean-counting bureaucrat.

That’s why we feel New Yorkers should vote for Brooklyn Council Member David Yassky as the city’s next comptroller. Yassky showed independence by being the only candidate to endorse legislation that will create a new level of pension benefits for future retirees, with the goal of reducing taxpayer costs. This is the kind of leadership that the future comptroller must exhibit to help the city get through the recession. (Full disclosure: Yassky’s campaign rents separate office space from this newspaper’s parent company, Manhattan Media.)

Yassky has an evenhanded approach to managing the city’s $83 billion pension fund. He understands the need to have a diverse portfolio that will protect the pensioners and taxpayers when the economy suffers. His idea to invest in biotechnological companies as an alternative is not reckless, like some of his opponents’ plans.

Yassky’s campaign also posted the city’s budget and member items on a website, www.ItsYourMoneyNYC.com. While this information is already online, it is buried in the Council’s website and has never been presented in a format that regular New Yorkers can read easily and understand.

The other three candidates—Queens Council members John Liu, David Weprin and Melinda Katz—are qualified. Katz has too many connections to the real estate industry, and her plan to use pension funds to invest in viable but debt-strapped businesses is irresponsible. Liu will surely bring the same tenacity to the comptroller’s duties as he does to Council committee hearings, but we’re concerned he’ll be too focused on using the office as a bully pulpit. Weprin, though he has the financial expertise, lacks a broader vision for the office.

Yassky is a well-rounded candidate who can balance experience with leadership, and we endorse him in the Democratic primary for comptroller.

Public Advocate: Bill de Blasio

Each of the candidates running for this office brings something to the table when it comes to being the city’s ombudsman. But Brooklyn Council Member Bill de Blasio has the most far-reaching vision for this office, and the most detailed plans for executing that vision on a shoestring budget.

De Blasio plans to 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. Through the public advocate’s appointee to the City Planning Commission, he pledges to be an aggressive watchdog on development, making sure that affordable housing, landmarks and neighborhood context are given adequate consideration in the approval process. We also like his promise to examine the “consultant” culture at the Department of Education, as well as the proliferation of testing under Schools Chancellor Joel Klein’s leadership.

The other candidates in this race certainly have their attractive qualities. Mark Green, New York’s first public advocate, has a long and distinguished record of challenging the powers that be, but he seems too focused on the past to enact a forward-looking agenda. Norman Siegel likewise has an impressive resume as a civil rights lawyer, but he has run a lackluster campaign and we aren’t convinced that he will most effectively execute the public advocate’s duties. And Queens Council Member Eric Gioia has become an effective and vocal advocate for constituents, but we feel he’s spending too much time touting his history, rather than detailing his plans for office.

There are, however, a few reservations about de Blasio’s candidacy. If elected, he’ll be tasked with policing the large swath of elected officials and unions that have endorsed his bid for office; we hope this doesn’t make him too cozy to be an effective independent check on city government. And we feel that de Blasio should be more proactive in addressing the questionable services provided to his campaign by the Working Families Party and its for-profit company, Data Field Services (a series of stories in our sister publication, City Hall, highlighted some serious questions).

Still, de Blasio strikes us as the candidate most ready to hit the ground running in January, and we endorse him in the Democratic primary for public advocate.

Manhattan District Attorney: Leslie Crocker Snyder

This year’s race to be Manhattan district attorney is a historic one. The winner will succeed Robert Morgenthau, the legendary prosecutor who was sworn into office in 1974.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is the most important prosecutorial body in the country. It has far-reaching jurisdiction that has successfully tried complex white-collar crimes, international crime, governmental fraud and violent murderers and attacks. The district attorney needs experience in trying such cases, as well as the vision and management skills necessary to prevent and target criminal activity.

All three candidates—Leslie Crocker Snyder, Cyrus Vance, Jr. and Richard Aborn—are well qualified. They have detailed similar plans for the office, including implementing a community-based justice system, improving technology in the office and minimizing and addressing wrongful convictions. But we feel that Snyder has the experience and drive to follow through with these plans while being an able prosecutor.

Snyder has varied and lengthy experience as an assistant district attorney, defense lawyer and a judge in New York State’s Supreme and Criminal courts.

In 2005, she had the courage to challenge Morgenthau in the Democratic primary. The move was potential political suicide, and we endorsed Morgenthau in that race, but we feel that her courage to take on such a popular figure and highlight the office’s flaws demonstrates the kind of gumption that Manhattan’s next D.A. needs.

With a three-decade-long background in criminal justice, we feel confident in her plans to open a Second Look Bureau to prevent and rectify wrongful convictions, train assistant district attorneys to better prosecute white-collar crimes and manage one of the largest criminal justice offices in the country.

Her opponents are also qualified for the position. Vance is an able prosecutor, but we are concerned that his ties to Morgenthau—his biggest supporter—would not be broken. Aborn’s work on gun-control laws and crime prevention are exemplary, but his ideas are lofty.

We are concerned about the negative tone Snyder has brought to the campaign in recent weeks, as the district attorney needs to show public restraint. But we feel that once elected, Snyder will be a fair-minded and tough prosecutor. We endorse Snyder in the Democratic primary for Manhattan district attorney.

City Council District 3: Christine Quinn

Traditionally an area of Manhattan known for progressive politics, especially involving gay and lesbian issues, City Council’s District 3 has also seen record development and improvement of services. Although some constituents feel incumbent Christine Quinn is detached from the daily issues affecting the West Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen due to her duties as City Council Speaker, we feel that Quinn has served her district well, using her considerable clout to negotiate and broker deals that have benefited the area. While Quinn can appear too-closely aligned with the mayor these days, she is not afraid to come out against him in vocal ways and we feel she remains the strongest advocate for her district, as well as the city as a whole. We still see a great many positives in Quinn’s time in office. She remains one of the most powerful voices in New York politics and her activism continues; Quinn has spent a great deal of time lobbying for marriage equality with State Senators. Since it appears Bloomberg’s hope for a lasting legacy rests in West Side development—both with the Hudson Yards and extension of the No. 7 train line—we want Quinn to weigh-in on these issues. We admire the achievements of the two women who have challenged her in the race, especially Yetta Kurland, whom we hope to see run for office again. We feel that Christine Quinn’s pragmatism and skills will serve her district and the city best at this critical juncture, and we endorse her for re-election.

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In the interest of full disclosure, readers should also know that earlier this year, Manhattan Media—the parent company of Manhattan Newspaper Group, publishers of Our Town, West Side Spirit, New York Press, Chelsea Clinton News and The Westsider—formed a separate company called Madison Square Partners, LLC. Clients of this ad placement consulting firm include the campaigns of Michael Bloomberg, Norman Siegel, Cyrus Vance, Jr. and David Weprin.
In order to separate the business interests of Madison Square Partners, any individuals involved with that division were not included in the endorsement process. Endorsement decisions were based on candidates’ records, proposals and on-site interviews conducted collectively by the editorial board of the Manhattan Newspaper Group.

Borough President Scott Stringer and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal threw their support to John Liu, a Council member from Queens.

Liu has racked up most of his support from unions and the city’s black and Latino lawmakers. Stringer and Rosenthal’s endorsement gives him a boost in the Upper West and East Sides, where Democratic primary voters come out to the polls in droves.

Stringer cited Liu’s independence and work on education and transit issues as chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee.

“John has been a consistent and progressive voice on issues that matter most to middle-class families,” Stringer said in a statement.

Council Member David Yassky of Brooklyn has added State Sen. Tom Duane, who represents parts of both the East and West Sides, to his list of endorsements. Duane called Yassky a “true progressive” on affordable housing, civil rights and government reform.

“As comptroller, David will continue his progressive fight to root out wasteful spending, demand accountability and results and get our city’s economy back on track,” Duane said in a statement.

The support from Duane came on the heels of Yassky landing the coveted backing of the New York Times, a powerful endorsement in what is expected to be a low-turnout Democratic primary.

But breaking with Duane’s fellow politicians, the State Senator endorsed Cy Vance for district attorney over Richard Aborn, who enjoys immense popularity among Manhattan’s elected officials.

Duane met with all candidates, which also includes Leslie Crocker Snyder, but cited Vance’s 25 years of experience on both sides of the justice system, calling him the “people’s prosecutor.”

Vance also won the Times’ backing.

Comptroller-hopeful David Weprin, a Council member from Queens, called on the NYPD to stop towing cars if owners cannot retrieve them on the same day. And Council Member Melinda Katz, a comptroller candidate from Queens and chair of the Land Use Committee, was endorsed by four labor unions that represent the city’s painters, elevator constructors, bricklayers and pavers.

D.A. CANDIDATES ROLL OUT NEW PLANS—In the run up to the Sept. 15 primary, the three district attorney candidates are unveiling a slew of new plans that cover everything from terrorism to transit.

Leslie Crocker Snyder and Cy Vance released dueling plans to combat terrorism—an area not completely foreign to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. In 2006, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, retiring this year, used financial transactions made in Manhattan to investigate money laundering that helped finance terror organizations.

Snyder’s plan calls for a counterterrorism bureau that would be led by a trained assistant district attorney with specific security clearance to access classified information. The bureau would also coordinate with other units in the office to share information about related investigations.

The plan was endorsed by Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association.

Vance would appoint a counterterrorism coordinator who would report directly to the district attorney. This coordinator would expand the office’s relationship with federal agencies and the police department. Vance also said he wanted to designate a team of prosecutors and investigators to work with police to link related crimes, such as money laundering and false identification, to larger terrorist operations.

Snyder also wants to introduce a housing bureau that would create a database of complaints received about landlords to identify a pattern of criminal behavior. The bureau would coordinate with city and state housing agencies. Snyder would also assign an assistant district attorney to each of Manhattan’s public housing developments to help residents with criminal justice issues.

Meanwhile, Richard Aborn released a workers rights platform that promised criminal prosecutions of wage law violators, and detailed an education and outreach campaign to prevent violations.

Aborn, who is endorsed by the labor-backed Working Families Party, said he would designate a member of his leadership team to work with other bureaus to identify wage theft.

“We need to do more than just issue the equivalent of traffic tickets to businesses that steal the wages of their workers,” Aborn said in a statement.

John Liu

Running for City Comptroller
By Josh Zembik

Before running for City Council, John Liu worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

He doesn’t have the faintest hint of a Boston accent, and he doesn’t summer at Hyannis Port, but City Council Member John Liu has a bit of Kennedy mystique coursing through him. When Liu’s family moved to the United States from Taiwan when he was 5, his father, Chang Liu, changed the son’s name from Chun to John in honor of President Kennedy. Appropriately, Chang changed his own name to Joseph, and John’s younger brothers became Robert and Edward.

Now, nearly 50 years after Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President of the United States, Liu hopes to do a little trailblazing of his own. Already the first Asian-American to be elected to legislative office in New York City, Liu is running for city comptroller.

“My dad was a big Kennedy fan,” Liu said, “and when he suggested I change my name to John, I took him up on his advice. But that’s as far as I’d dare go in terms of likening myself to President Kennedy.”

This is a story the Council member has told many times before, so much so that it’s become a joke among the city’s political insiders. But the Kennedy connection and immigrant story is perhaps one way Liu hopes to distinguish himself to Manhattan primary voters, a critical bloc being wooed by all four outer-borough candidates vying for comptroller. All of the candidates serve on the City Council, and three hail from Queens: Melinda Katz, David Weprin and Liu. The fourth candidate, David Yassky is from Brooklyn. The glut of candidates from Queens made that borough’s Democratic Party endorsement of Liu all the more notable: he won 49 votes to Katz’s six and Weprin’s three.

Prolific in his press releases, and known for asking tough questions during Council committee hearings, Liu was at first considered a public advocate contender before he became the last entrant in the comptroller’s race. He staked out a high-profile role opposing Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s term limit extension bid, though the effort was unsuccessful.

He says he has great concern over the city’s financial health. Liu has suggested a small tax increase targeted at the city’s wealthy to replenish the depleted coffers; the idea has been seconded by Katz, but rejected by the other two candidates.

“New York City’s income tax simply is not progressive,” Liu said. “It tops out at about $80,000, and it doesn’t seem fair that the teacher pays the same city income tax rate as a filthy rich person like Mike Bloomberg. We should be graduating our tax rate and combining that with the need to make up the [budget] shortfalls by at least temporarily asking the very high income earners to pay a slightly higher percentage.”

As manager of the city’s financial health, the comptroller oversees city pension funds. At a June candidates’ forum, Liu and his opponents all agreed that the current system is bankrupting the city. However, while Katz has suggested investing some of the fund in successful local businesses that are strapped with debt, Liu has erred on the side of caution.

“I believe that restoring confidence in the pension fund is of paramount concern, and the way to do that is not to go into all sorts of risky investments,” he said. “There are plenty of buy opportunities in the stock market, and there should be traditional investments that get us back to the basics.”

Liu has also taken a keen interest in New York City schools. A member of the Education Committee, he has called for infrastructure and high-tech upgrades, as well as a reassessment of standardized testing. While all four candidates have criticized Bloomberg for what they see as too much emphasis on test scores, only Liu and Weprin joined Comptroller William Thompson in calling on the mayor to fire Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

“I’m for change and some level of business discipline,” Liu said. “A move like this is perhaps necessary to give things a jolt. [Klein’s] approach has outlived its usefuless.”

Liu attended New York City public schools, and graduated from SUNY Binghamton. A Flushing resident since his family moved from Taiwan, he and his wife, Jenny, have a young son, Joey.

Before running for Council, Liu worked as a manager at the financial consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he says he gained experience in oversight and rooting out waste.

Those skills have served Liu well as chairman of the Transportation Committee, which deals with the MTA, Department of Transportation and Taxi and Limousine Commission. Liu has been a major critic of the MTA, opposing fare increases and congestion pricing fees, and pushing for faster and better-appropriated bus service, especially for outerborough residents.

Although his base is among the black and Hispanic community and unions, including 1199 SEIU, DC 37 and the Transit Union, Liu has also snagged the backing of Rep. Charles Rangel. According to the latest data, Liu has a substantial fundrasing lead, pulling in $3.2 million to date, almost $1 million more than his next closest competitor, Katz.

He is proud of his fundraising edge, but knows it doesn’t make him a shoo-in.

“The only poll that counts is the one on September 15,” Liu said, referring to Primary Day. “That’s all that matters.”

Leslie Crocker Snyder

Running for Manhattan District Attorney
By Danielle Friedman

Leslie Crocker Snyder was one of two women in her Case Western Reserve University class. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

On the steps of City Hall, Leslie Crocker Snyder is flanked by nearly a dozen burly men. Many wear navy T-shirts emblazoned with “FDNY.” Snyder is polished and youthful-looking, dressed in a pinstriped pantsuit, her blond hair perfectly straight and styled. Her gaze is steady.

The group has convened on a sunny morning in July to announce that the Uniformed Firefighters Association, New York’s largest firefighters union, is endorsing Snyder for Manhattan District Attorney. It’s one of more than a dozen law enforcement organizations that have pledged support to the former Criminal and State Supreme Court judge, who is known for doling out formidable sentences.

“For 35 years, Judge Snyder’s work has made our streets safer and our city a better place to live, work and visit,” said UFA president Steve Cassidy.

The lone woman in this sea of men, Snyder began breaking gender barriers in law school, where she was one of two women in her Case Western Reserve University class. If elected to fill the well-worn shoes of current District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, the 67-year-old will become Manhattan’s first female D.A. and one of only a handful in the country.

Snyder seems at ease standing alone. She earned her tough reputation presiding over cases involving some of the city’s most dangerous criminals, including violent street gangs and mobsters; for years, her family needed 24/7 bodyguard protection. While she was lauded for helping to protect the city during some of its most tumultuous years, some critics have singled her out as ruthless. She once, now famously, told a defendant that she’d be willing to give him a lethal injection herself, a comment she says she now regrets (she’s since changed her position on the death penalty, saying she is opposed to it under any circumstances, a move her opponents have characterized as pandering to progressive Manhattan voters).

Snyder stood alone in 2005, too, when she became the first candidate in decades to challenge Morgenthau for his seat. The attempt to dethrone her former boss led Morgenthau to vilify her—he’s attacked her in the press ever since.

Now, weeks before the Democratic primary, Snyder is standing out again—this time for beating competitors Cyrus Vance, Jr. and Richard Aborn in polls by double digits. She’s also ahead in fundraising; she had raised $1.45 million by mid-July. Her campaigners have been working hard, and she believes her experience wins voters over.

All three candidates are alumni of the Manhattan D.A.’s office, and Vance has scored Morgenthau’s endorsement. The son of President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of State, Vance touts his decades as a litigator and defense attorney. Aborn drafted two major pieces of gun-control legislation and has worked as a technology consultant to law enforcement agencies. But Snyder believes her experience trumps her opponents’. She’s earned the endorsements of big names like Ed Koch and Geraldine Ferraro, and she points out that she’s been advocating for reform for four years now, while her competitors only recently stepped up.

Snyder, who grew up in New York and Baltimore, said she knew she wanted to be a criminal lawyer since the age of 5.

“My parents used to tell me that I argued about everything,” she jokes.

In 1968, she landed a job as an assistant D.A. under Frank Hogan, becoming the first woman in the office to prosecute homicides (Hogan initially told Snyder she’d need a “letter of permission” from her husband). She also founded Manhattan’s Sex Crimes Prosecution Bureau and co-wrote its Rape Shield Law, which prevents a rape victim’s sexual history from being used against her, and repealed a requirement that witnesses corroborate a victim’s testimony. She joined a private practice in 2002.

Now Snyder hopes to invigorate an office she’s said has become stale under Morgenthau, who began when Gerald Ford was president. She also hopes to build on its strengths. Her vision includes transforming the office into a more proactive one, in which assistant D.A.s form partnerships with educators, religious leaders, social service agencies, law enforcement and others, working together to prevent young people from becoming first offenders. She believes that “far too many” have been incarcerated, and that early intervention is the solution.

Other top priorities include fighting for the rights of minority groups and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and prosecuting white-collar crime “vigorously and fairly.” She also hopes to form a so-called Second Look Bureau to examine possible wrongful convictions and learn from past mistakes. And she wants all New Yorkers to develop greater confidence in the legal system.

“People on 125th Street feel like they’re getting a very different kind of justice than people on Wall Street,” she said.

An Upper East Sider for four decades, Snyder raised two sons in the area. She and her husband, a retired pediatrician and artist, can sometimes be spotted walking their dog through the neighborhood.

Snyder has honed a tough reputation, but surely a thick skin and steely resolve are necessary for the role of top prosecutor. As for the animosity from Morgenthau, she’s not dwelling on it: she’s more interested in focusing on the positive—and on the changes she hopes to bring to the city.

“I’m looking forward,” Snyder said, “not back.”

Norman Siegel

Running for Public Advocate
By Danielle Friedman

Norman Siegel, a civil rights lawyer, came of age during the civil rights movement. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

On a drizzly Monday night, the Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is buzzing. More than 100 locals have turned out for a public advocate candidate forum. Steel-drum calypso music blasts from speakers as the mostly black audience takes its seats.

Three of the five candidates vying to replace incumbent Betsy Gotbaum, who opted out of a third term, are participating. After brief introductions, they take the floor. When Norman Siegel addresses the crowd, he sounds more like a preacher than a lawyer.

“Good evening,” he booms, then smiles.

The 65-year-old holds the mike a little too close, causing his words to rattle in the speakers. He paces, getting in the audience’s face.

“Up to this point, this office has not fulfilled its potential,” he says. “When I’m public advocate, people will know who the public advocate is.”

The other candidates at the forum, Council Members Eric Gioia of Queens and Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn, offer eloquent opening remarks (the fourth Democratic candidate, Mark Green, and Republican contender Alex Zablocki said they could not participate.) The Council members are more polished, more specific. But they don’t rouse the audience like Siegel does.

While all city offices represent and serve the people, none are quite as direct as public advocate. The post is meant to provide a voice for New Yorkers. Or as Siegel describes it: to be visible, a big mouth and a fighter.

The public advocate is also next in succession for mayor, making it the second highest elected office in the city. Yet few New Yorkers know what the office is or does. Siegel plans to change this.

A high-profile civil rights lawyer and former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Siegel says he has represented New Yorkers for 40 years. In many ways, he embodies the city. A graduate of Brooklyn College, he’s loud, outspoken and a little zany (he has mentioned organizing a doo-wop singing contest among the candidates; he grew up on the music in Brooklyn). He’s passionate and a little angry. He quotes Clint Eastwood, telling corrupt officials they can “make his day.” And he’s a dreamer. When he talks about becoming public advocate, his eyes gleam. He came of age during the civil rights movement—during law school at New York University, he spent summers in the South, fighting for equal rights—and the zeal of that era continues to propel him.

Among the candidates, Siegel is also the only non-career politician, something he often points out. Yet while his outsider status could help him, it could also serve as a disadvantage. He’s rougher around the edges than the other Democratic candidates, arguably with less name recognition. And while it’s his third bid for the office, he’s still honing his campaigning skills.

“I believe I’m the only one of the four who can transform this office,” he says, so that it “makes a huge difference in people’s lives.”

Throughout his career, Siegel has fought for outcasts and radicals, the privileged and destitute. During the Republican National Convention in 2004, he successfully lobbied to release protestors who’d been arrested and held inappropriately. He fought for public access to the steps of City Hall and the right to protest on Central Park’s Great Lawn. And he represents tenants in West Harlem in their fight against Columbia University and eminent domain. Siegel and his wife, Saralee Evans, an acting justice in the State Supreme Court for New York County, are residents of the Upper West Side. They have five grandchildren.

Siegel has far-reaching plans for the office. He hopes to recruit hundreds of volunteers to be “surrogate public advocates” in each community—every week they’d meet with residents and report back to him. He also wants to create an “Institute of Advocacy” through which he’d train New Yorkers to make themselves heard.

Other priorities include helping New Yorkers navigate the recession and improving public education and literacy for all ages. He also wants to address race relations head-on, particularly within the law enforcement community.

If a city agency isn’t serving the public, he says he’ll use the “bully pulpit,” as the office has been called, to its full advantage. He’ll embarrass whoever’s responsible via the media, and if he has to, he’ll sue.

In the latest Marist Poll, Siegel placed second to Green, who’s running for the office again after being the first to hold it in the 1990s (Green scored 39 percent of the vote, while Siegel had 16 percent). Yet Siegel has raised more money than in his previous two campaigns—$134,000 of matchable amounts, totaling more than $800,000—thanks largely to phone calls and house parties. He’ll now be able to advertise widely.

Still, Green has the advantage of name recognition. And Gioia and de Blasio have long records to show for their own public advocacy.

In the end, Siegel’s chances will, in part, come down to whether New Yorkers are ready to take a leap of faith on an outsider. Of course, if Siegel had his way, the race would likely be decided by a doo-wop sing-off. In that contest, Siegel would surely project his voice above the rest.