Feed

Colin Campbell

By Colin Campbell 5/24 11:15am

Love & Romance

The two star-crossed lovers stared into each other's eyes on Tuesday. (Photo: Getty)

Bloomberg Says Girlfriend ‘Frosty’ After Muppet Make-Out

Mister Bloomberg kissed Miss Piggy again, and his girlfriend didn’t like it.

The fateful exchange came on Tuesday, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Muppets creator Jim Henson’s estate donated nearly 400 puppets, costumes and props to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria.

Asked about the subsequent kiss he shared with Miss Piggy during his weekly WOR radio show this morning, the mayor said his girlfriend Diana Taylor disapproved. Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/23 7:09pm

Blast From The Past

Ginger Lee speaking to the media about then-Rep. Weiner on June 15, 2011. (Photo: Getty)

Woman Involved in Weiner Sexting Scandal Disapproves of Mayoral Bid

Count Ginger Lee, a stripper who was intimately involved in the sexting scandal that led to former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s downfall, among his detractors as he now seeks the top job in City Hall.

“I do not think Anthony Weiner should run for Mayor of New York City because even now, nearly two years after this story broke, there are still details relating to other women that have not been exposed,” Ms. Lee said in a statement sent to Politicker. “Each time Anthony Weiner deflects or obfuscates these details, my life and perhaps the lives of other women are made more difficult by the increased attention from the media.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/23 1:28pm

Brooklyn Bid

Ola Alabi (Photo: Facebook)

Ola Alabi Announces Council Run

It was a long time coming, but former district leader and assembly candidate Ola Alabi officially threw her hat into the ring for outgoing Councilwoman Tish James’ Fort Greene-based district.

“I’m pleased to inform you that after careful thought and consideration, it’s official – I am a candidate for the New York City Council – 35th District,” Ms. Alabi wrote in an email, which you can view in full below, earlier today. Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/23 9:20am

Pun Fun

The Daily News 'What If.' (Photo: Colin Campbell)

‘He’s Got Some Balls’: Tabloid Touts Faux Anthony Weiner Cover

When former Congressman Anthony Weiner officially launched his mayoral bid yesterday, he took the unprecedented step of releasing an announcement video in the dark of night and only granting phone interviews with the media throughout the day. Some strongly speculated the strategy was designed to dampen the pun-filled tabloid reactions by entering the race after their print deadlines. If so, the plan worked–mostly.

Mr. Weiner was indeed kept off the front pages yesterday and today, but both the New York Post and Daily News managed to slip in some loud sideswipes. The News, in particular, seemed annoyed. On page 12, an insert read, “Here’s one for his scrapbook. Weiner’s midnight declaration prevented him from getting on the front page. Now for a ‘what if’ …” Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/22 4:36pm

Early Exits

Jim Gennaro. (Photo: Getty)

Queens Councilman Tells Anthony Weiner to Drop Out

Queens Councilman James Gennaro is not rolling out the welcome mat for Anthony Weiner’s mayoral bid.

Indeed, Mr. Gennaro released a lengthy, 824-word statement slamming Mr. Weiner. In paragraph after paragraph, Mr. Gennaro brought up Mr. Weiner’s infamous Twitter scandal that led to his downfall two years ago, arguing the former congressman’s poor handling of the affair disqualified him from being anything but a distraction. Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/22 12:44pm

Visiting the Neighborhood

Anthony Weiner talking to Charlie in his announcement video. (YouTube)

Anthony Weiner Does Midwood

In Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign announcement video, released early this morning, the former congressman visits a number of locations, including his childhood home in Park Slope, his current Park Avenue South residence and two small businesses in the Midwood section of his old congressional district.

“If you’re trying to run a business on a neighborhood shopping strip like this one, you’re drowning in regulations that nickle and dime you to death,” Mr. Weiner says as he stands on the corner of Kings Highway and East 18th Street in southeastern Brooklyn. “The very people who put everything they had into this city are getting priced right out of it.”

Politicker visited the two businesses in the video to see if Mr. Weiner left an impression after talking to the owners. Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/21 7:28pm

Brooklyn Rules

vito cover

Vito Override: Disgraced Politician Ponders a Second Act

The week before Vito Lopez resigned, the state ethics commission released a scathing 68-page report that detailed a lurid pattern of abuse in his district office.

According to the allegations, the former assemblyman once lamented the existence of statutory rape laws in the presence of a 14-year-old intern. Mr. Lopez demanded massages from female staffers, including one who cried and expressed her discomfort as a former rape victim. At a bar one evening, he grabbed an employee’s hands from across the table. When she tried to pull away, he tightened his grip. When she began to cry, Mr. Lopez said he’d release her only after she counted to 60. When she did, he stared at her for the full minute.

After resigning from his Assembly seat on Monday morning, Mr. Lopez is said to be contemplating a seemingly unfathomable second act: running for City Council. Given the accusations against him, what’s more surprising is that even his detractors acknowledge that Mr. Lopez actually has a viable path to victory. Read More

By Jill Colvin and Colin Campbell 5/21 3:56pm

alarms

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony. (Photo: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Helen Marshall Didn’t Know John Liu Was Running for Mayor

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall holds one of the most prominent elected offices in Queens. But the 83-year-old lawmaker was apparently unaware until yesterday that John Liu was running for mayor.

During the Queens Democratic Party’s endorsement event Monday, a reporter for a Chinese-language newspaper asked Ms. Marshall if she was disappointed the county hadn’t backed Mr. Liu, who lives in the borough and used to represent it on the City Council. (They backed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn instead.) Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/21 8:51am

suggested reading

amNewYork today. (Photo: Newseum)

Morning Read: ‘A Smear Campaign That Is Long on Repetitive Rhetoric’

Headline of the Day: “Sal: Squeeze Weiner for cost of election.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s aide forwarded New York Post columnist Fred Dicker‘s email to other reporters: “Monday, Vlasto forwarded that exchange to ten reporters with the subject ‘off the record’ and wrote, ‘Just to clean of conscience, I never denied she was leaving. I, in fact, confirmed it.’ ‘Vlasto, in his grammatically challenged blast to other journalists this morning, created a totally false straw man by saying he ‘never denied’ Glazer was leaving,’ Dicker told POLITICO. ‘Well, I never wrote that Vlasto did deny it, just that he handed my story to someone else.’” Read More