Cy Vance. Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.

Senate Republicans may have killed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, but Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., still is calling for the legislative change. At an event held by the New York City Bar Association last night, Vance criticized the current law, which allows police officers to have people they stop empty their pockets – and once any marijuana is outside their pockets, the possession of it becomes a crime. “It’s 6,200 cases in Manhattan in 2011 fell into that category, where the arrest was based upon of a small amount of marijuana outside, where if it had been inside the pocket … it would have been a violation,” Vance said. “I don’t think that it’s a fair distinction that a piece of clothing should frame the basis between what is legal and what is not.” Vance added that his staff would better serve the public by devoting the time spent on those cases on violent, serious crime instead. “And we are taking violent serious crime aggressively in our office, and prosecuted over the last 18 months successfully six or seven large gangs throughout Manhattan,” he said. “So I want to take those resources and apply them to more violent crime.”

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Jason Quinones, who is 22 and was 21 at the time of the attacks, admitted to raping a woman in her East 90th Street home last August. He climbed through the window of her ground floor apartment at 4:30 a.m. while she slept, grabbed her cell phone to keep her from calling the police and raped her.

Quinones was arrested several days later, based on DNA evidence left at the scene, and later also charged with another sexual assault that had taken place in July on East 83rd Street. He told prosecutors that he approached his first victim from behind in her building and forced her into her apartment, where he pushed her onto a couch and sexually abused her.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance admonished Quinones for committing “atrocious sex crimes.”

“In both cases, he saw a chance to sexually assault a woman while she was vulnerable, and both times, he took it,” Vance said.

Quinones is scheduled to be sentenced on June 20, and could face up to 25 years for the class B felony rape conviction, as well as up to 7 years for the sexual abuse conviction.

LOWER EAST SIDE

SILVER PROPOSES GUN BUY-BACKS AT RUTGERS HOUSE

In response to increased gun violence in the Lower East Side over recent months, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wrote a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly recently, asking for their support in a plan to reduce gun violence.

Silver’s plan is to rally the DA’s office and NYPD to sponsor a gun buy-back program
on the Lower East Side. “Gun buy-backs have proven to be a very effective way to remove guns from our streets,” he said. Silver has also suggested a location for the program, offering the community room at Rutgers Houses on Pike Street, which he said would be a perfect location, noting that the tenants have already agreed to host the venue, should the DA’s office and the NYPD agree to the program.

CITYWIDE
CITY OFFICIALS RENAME MADISON SQUARE PARK IN HONOR OF FALLEN 9/11 RESPONDER

Earlier this month, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and New York City Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner William Castro gathered at Madison Square Park, which spans from
23rd to 26th Street, to celebrate the life and courage of NYPD officer Moira Smith by renaming the park in her honor.

Smith, who is survived by her husband and daughter, is credited with saving hundreds of lives on Sept. 11, 2001. “People who survived the World Trade Center attacks will tell you they remember Moira, a beacon of calm in the chaos, leading the injured to care,” said Kelly.

SQUADRON OUTRAGED OVER REDISTRICTING

In the wake of a state Senate vote in favor of controversial redistricting lines and a constitutional amendment that would form a 10-member commission (with eight of the members chosen by the Legislature) responsible for redistricting, State Sen. Daniel Squadron spoke March 15 about his opposition to the vote, which he called a “doubly broken promise.”

“The only way to change this poisonous process once and for all is to get the
Legislature out of the business of drawing its own districts. One more year based on this process, much less a decade of its gerrymandered and political results, is unacceptable,” he said.

As a next step, Squadron has proposed that the governor veto the proposed
amendment; however, his opinion is in direct odds with other city politicians,
including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who in a statement after the vote, said, “This agreement will permanently reform the redistricting process in New York to once and for all end self-interested and partisan gerrymandering.”

CHIN SEEKS TRANSPARENCY FOR METHADONE CLINICS

Last week, City Council Member Margaret Chin introduced a law that would mandate community board notification of proposed methadone clinics. Currently, the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) is only required to notify the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) of plans to establish a methadone clinic, satisfying its obligation to inform the community.

Chin’s plan, however, would obligate DOHMH to notify the local community board and the City Council when they are first contacted by OASAS.
This measure of transparency, Chin believes, will aid in informing the general public of the potential presence of methadone clinics.

“Given the strong feelings that many communities have regarding clinics that dispense methadone within their neighborhoods, there is little incentive for applicants to inform the public that they are intending to open a clinic,” said Chin. “Local governments know their community best and they should have an opportunity to comment on whether the proposed siting is appropriate or needed.”

A PROPOSED END TO FINGERS FOR FOOD THROUGHOUT NYC
With the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, State Sen. Daniel Squadron has introduced a bill that would effectively ban the fingerprinting of individuals eligible for food stamps, believed to be directly responsible for nearly 6,000 food stamp denials between 2009-2010, according to an analysis by the Empire Justice Center.

Advocates claim that fingerprinting deters families from applying because of embarrassment and places an unnecessary financial burden on the state.
“Finger imaging is so ineffective, such a waste of money and such an impediment to food stamp access that even Governor Rick Perry eliminated it in Texas, and now only Arizona and New York City still cling to this discredited process,” said Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.

Illustration by Thomas James

New York is a city with a booming elderly population—there are over 3.4 million people over the age of 65 living here. With that aging population come the predators who single out older victims for their nefarious swindles. In an age of small-time Internet scams and big-time Ponzi schemes, everyone is a potential victim of financial crimes, but the elderly are particularly at risk and are often targeted by would-be criminals.

Take, for example, the case of an 82-year-old widow living on the Upper East Side. The
elderly victim was robbed of $53,000 over a period of several months as 30-year-old Sylvester McCoy stole checks from her home and forged her signature many times over. Or think of the example, perhaps made worse by the victim-perpetrator relationship, of Peter Wilde, who abused the power of attorney he exercised over his aging parents to steal over $1 million from the couple. Or the case of Carolyn Turner, a home aide to an 81-year-old woman living on the Upper West Side, who stole over $25,000 from her employer. Turner swiped the victim’s debit cards and forged checks without her permission in order to make credit card and car payments not only for herself but for her adult children as well.

These are just a few of the cases that have been prosecuted in the past year, and those only show the crimes that are reported and solved, an outcome not always feasible
for elderly victims. “What is common for all these and for so many elder abuse cases is they take place based on existing relationships, whether it’s a home health aide, a family member or someone trusted and known to the senior—that’s the vulnerability that the defendant takes advantage of,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in an interview.

The Elder Abuse unit in the DA’s office specifically investigates and prosecutes
cases of financial fraud and other types of elder abuse. They take on roughly 650 cases each year and work to prevent crimes; Vance has spoken at senior centers around the city, hoping to give seniors the tools they need to recognize suspicious situations and the confidence to report crimes when they happen. “There is just an enhanced vulnerability when you get older,” Vance said. “There is a reluctance to either know what’s going on or, even if you know what’s going on, to have the courage to report it because it might be people who are in fact taking care of you.”

Sometimes, the person is not a family member but someone an older person
has come to trust. The Council of Senior Centers and Services (CSC), an umbrella group that represents New York City’s senior centers, has collected stories of elder abuse in which city services have been able to intervene and help. One case involved an 80-year-old man living on the Upper West Side who met a 46-year-old woman at a ballroom dancing class and befriended her. When his friend said she needed $38,000 to get her harassing landlord off her back, he willingly loaned it to her, then allowed her to move in when she lost her apartment anyway. Within months, this former friend became a threatening roommate who refused to pay back the loan and routinely threatened to kill her victim.

“Over 30 percent of elder abuse cases are perpetrated by family members and friends,” said City Council Member Jessica Lappin, who chairs the Council Committee on Aging. “It’s important for people to know that there are support services out there for them. If they are being exploited, they should feel comfortable about speaking up.” The scams that target older people are often complex and well-oiled. Mortgage scams or deed thefts, in which people trick seniors who are homeowners into signing away their savings or their property, are common. Donna Dougherty, the attorney in charge of legal services at Jewish Association Serving the Aging, said seniors who have their lives, finances and wits
about them can still get taken by these types of scams.

“I’ve had people who have lost their entire savings and whatnot, and they were professional people. I had someone who had worked at the Federal Reserve and got taken by a mortgage scam. It was terribly embarrassing to her; she was brilliant with finances,” said Dougherty. “You have to understand that it’s a crime. They really are looking to give you false information and mislead you; it has nothing to do with intelligence.”

While those crimes usually require a personal connection to the victim, some criminals chose their targets at random, anonymously. “There are scams going on when a [person pretending to be a] grandchild who lost a wallet calls and needs a ticket home,” said Bobbie Sackman, director of public policy at CSC. “They’re preying on people’s fears that they’re alone. Some people might not have their full cognitive abilities, so they just prey on these older folks to get whatever it is they want to get. That’s a common one, when they call from another place.”

Police reports confirm the trend. Officer Ross Dichter, crime analyst for the Upper West Side’s 20th Precinct, said that identity theft and online scams are some of the fastest growing crimes, and he routinely comes across reports targeting elderly victims. “Someone approaches an older person on the street, they say, ‘Hey I found this envelope with $50,000 in it, go get me $5,000 and we’ll split this between the two of us, no one has to know,’” Dichter explained, describing a scheme he said happens all the time. The victim goes to the bank, takes out thousands of dollars in cash and hands
it over. The swindler gives up their “share” and quickly disappears, leaving the elderly
person with an envelope stuffed with tissue paper and out five grand.

Another common scam is through Craigslist, when a scammer answers an ad posted by an older person advertising a service like babysitting. The swindler corresponds and agrees to pay the person in advance, then sends a check for far too much money. The scammer then claims it was a mistake and asks the person to mail back the difference in cash; meanwhile, the check bounces and they become unreachable.

Some schemes that target elderly victims aren’t necessarily criminal but fall into the category of consumer fraud. Council Member Gale Brewer said that her older constituents are bombarded by mailings soliciting information from them and that they often get confused about what is legitimate and what’s not. She has also heard of scams that collect low monthly payments in exchange for supposed ownership of land or property, which turns out to be for nothing—send in $10 a month and get a piece of land in Florida, for instance—that operate just this side of legally through complicated fine print disclaimers. “They can make $80 million a week off of these scams. They’re not small operations,” Brewer said. “They have the best attorneys in the U.S. and they usually stay just above the law. They only prey on the elderly. You can’t quite believe that people
would actually do these things but they do.”

Advocates say there are ways for seniors to protect themselves and for loved ones to be on the lookout for signs of financial exploitation. The DA’s office has worked to educate major banks to be aware of unusual transactions in their older clients’ accounts, and anyone helping an elderly relative should be alert for changes in spending or strange bills
being delivered. Dougherty cautions that anyone who tries to isolate elderly people and not allow them to seek outside advice should not be trusted. “Seniors, like everybody else, need to be vigilant without necessarily being fearful,” Vance said. “Being vigilant may be something as simple as checking your credit card statement, checking your bank statements. When someone calls you on the phone and it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

New York is a city with a booming elderly population—there are over 3.4 million people over the age of 65 living here. With that aging population come the predators who single out older victims for their nefarious swindles. In an age of small-time Internet scams and big-time Ponzi schemes, everyone is a potential victim of financial crimes, but the elderly are particularly at risk and are often targeted by would-be criminals.

Take, for example, the case of an 82-year-old widow living on the Upper East Side. The elderly victim was robbed of $53,000 over a period of several months as 30-year-old Sylvester McCoy stole checks from her home and forged her signature many times over.

Or think of the example, perhaps made worse by the victim-perpetrator relationship, of Peter Wilde, who abused the power of attorney he exercised over his aging parents to steal over $1 million from the couple. Or the case of Carolyn Turner, a home aide to an 81-year-old woman living on the Upper West Side, who stole over $25,000 from her employer. Turner swiped the victim’s debit cards and forged checks without her permission in order to make credit card and car payments not only for herself but for her adult children as well.

These are just a few of the cases that have been prosecuted in the past year, and those only show the crimes that are reported and solved, an outcome not always feasible for elderly victims. “What is common for all these and for so many elder abuse cases is they take place based on existing relationships, whether it’s a home health aide, a family member or someone trusted and known to the senior—that’s the vulnerability that the defendant takes advantage of,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in an interview.
The Elder Abuse unit in the DA’s office specifically investigates and prosecutes cases of financial fraud and other types of elder abuse. They take on roughly 650 cases each year and work to prevent crimes; Vance has spoken at senior centers around the city, hoping to give seniors the tools they need to recognize suspicious situations and the confidence to report crimes when they happen.

“There is just an enhanced vulnerability when you get older,” Vance said. “There is a reluctance to either know what’s going on or, even if you know what’s going on, to have the courage to report it because it might be people who are in fact taking care of you.”

Sometimes, the person is not a family member but someone an older person has come to trust. The Council of Senior Centers and Services (CSC), an umbrella group that represents New York City’s senior centers, has collected stories of elder abuse in which city services have been able to intervene and help.

One case involved an 80-year-old man living on the Upper West Side who met a 46-year-old woman at a ballroom dancing class and befriended her. When his friend said she needed $38,000 to get her harassing landlord off her back, he willingly loaned it to her, then allowed her to move in when she lost her apartment anyway. Within months, this former friend became a threatening roommate who refused to pay back the loan and routinely threatened to kill her victim.

“Over 30 percent of elder abuse cases are perpetrated by family members and friends,” said City Council Member Jessica Lappin, who chairs the Council Committee on Aging. “It’s important for people to know that there are support services out there for them. If they are being exploited, they should feel comfortable about speaking up.”

The scams that target older people are often complex and well-oiled. Mortgage scams or deed thefts, in which people trick seniors who are homeowners into signing away their savings or their property, are common. Donna Dougherty, the attorney in charge of legal services at Jewish Association Serving the Aging, said seniors who have their lives, finances and wits about them can still get taken by these types of scams.

“I’ve had people who have lost their entire savings and whatnot, and they were professional people. I had someone who had worked at the Federal Reserve and got taken by a mortgage scam. It was terribly embarrassing to her; she was brilliant with finances,” said Dougherty. “You have to understand that it’s a crime. They really are looking to give you false information and mislead you; it has nothing to do with intelligence.”

While those crimes usually require a personal connection to the victim, some criminals chose their targets at random, anonymously.

“There are scams going on when a [person pretending to be a] grandchild who lost a wallet calls and needs a ticket home,” said Bobbie Sackman, director of public policy at CSC. “They’re preying on people’s fears that they’re alone. Some people might not have their full cognitive abilities, so they just prey on these older folks to get whatever it is they want to get. That’s a common one, when they call from another place.”

Police reports confirm the trend. Officer Ross Dichter, crime analyst for the Upper West Side’s 20th Precinct, said that identity theft and online scams are some of the fastest growing crimes, and he routinely comes across reports targeting elderly victims.

“Someone approaches an older person on the street, they say, ‘Hey I found this envelope with $50,000 in it, go get me $5,000 and we’ll split this between the two of us, no one has to know,’” Dichter explained, describing a scheme he said happens all the time. The victim goes to the bank, takes out thousands of dollars in cash and hands it over. The swindler gives up their “share” and quickly disappears, leaving the elderly person with an envelope stuffed with tissue paper and out five grand.

Another common scam is through Craigslist, when a scammer answers an ad posted by an older person advertising a service like babysitting. The swindler corresponds and agrees to pay the person in advance, then sends a check for far too much money. The scammer then claims it was a mistake and asks the person to mail back the difference in cash; meanwhile, the check bounces and they become unreachable.

Some schemes that target elderly victims aren’t necessarily criminal but fall into the category of consumer fraud. Council Member Gale Brewer said that her older constituents are bombarded by mailings soliciting information from them and that they often get confused about what is legitimate and what’s not. She has also heard of scams that collect low monthly payments in exchange for supposed ownership of land or property, which turns out to be for nothing—send in $10 a month and get a piece of land in Florida, for instance—that operate just this side of legally through complicated fine print disclaimers.

“They can make $80 million a week off of these scams. They’re not small operations,” Brewer said. “They have the best attorneys in the U.S. and they usually stay just above the law. They only prey on the elderly. You can’t quite believe that people would actually do these things but they do.”

Advocates say there are ways for seniors to protect themselves and for loved ones to be on the lookout for signs of financial exploitation. The DA’s office has worked to educate major banks to be aware of unusual transactions in their older clients’ accounts, and anyone helping an elderly relative should be alert for changes in spending or strange bills being delivered. Dougherty cautions that anyone who tries to isolate elderly people and not allow them to seek outside advice should not be trusted.

“Seniors, like everybody else, need to be vigilant without necessarily being fearful,” Vance said. “Being vigilant may be something as simple as checking your credit card statement, checking your bank statements. When someone calls you on the phone and it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

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.

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.

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.