John Liu. (Photo: Getty)

John Liu's mayoral campaign may be hovering around ten percent in the polls, but according to the candidate himself, they understate his support by more than twofold. Indeed, a beaming Mr. Liu told a room full of teachers yesterday that if the surveys were accurate, he'd actually have the support of a quarter of the city's Democratic primary electorate.

"My true base of support in the electorate is closer to 25 percent," Mr. Liu, the city's comptroller, exclaimed at a teacher's union mayoral forum in Brooklyn. "You add on top of that the tremendous amount of labor support I’m going to have, that puts me very much in the running--much more so than other candidates who I don’t think have any piece of their base that is not being reflected in the public poll numbers."

The Brooklyn United Federation of Teachers forum was apparently closed to the press, but Politicker wasn't kicked out until after Mr. Liu spelled out his case for victory in a 25th-floor conference room packed with public school teachers. Making an argument he's presented before, Mr. Liu went on to say the possibility of electing the city's first Asian mayor will drive that voting bloc to the polls. These voters, Mr. Liu firmly insisted, are simply not being reached due to language barriers and lack of publicly listed phone lines.

"What the polls don’t show is if you look at the breakdowns, you see breakdowns for white voters, black voters or Hispanics voters," he explained, claiming the 15 percent of the Democratic primary electorate will be Asian. "That’s it; those are the only breakdowns you’ll see. The Asian voters are not being captured in the public polls."

Marist College, one of two public pollsters that regularly releases numbers, actually does include a breakdown of the Asian vote and had recently the comptroller with 11 percent of the overall vote. Additionally, Asian Americans are only 12.7 percent of the city's population, according to U.S. Census figures, and data crunchers widely expect them to be even less of the electorate due to lagging citizenship and civic participation rates.

Once all of his support is taken into account, Mr. Liu nevertheless claimed, he'll have enough "to be running circles" around his opponents--even though two of his former associates--including his one-time campaign treasurer--were recently found guilty of committing campaign finance fraud on his behalf. He dismissed any continuing cloud over his own campaign as mere "innuendos."

"I’m certainly not only relying on the Asian vote, I only bring up the Asian vote because they are missing from the polls," Mr. Liu said. "We got a broad outreach. I’m in every community, I’m going to be running circles around all of my competitors."

Additional reporting by Colin Campbell.

(Photo: Getty)

In his first television appearance since a social media-induced scandal torpedoed his political career two years ago, a contrite Anthony Weiner began to describe what life may be like under a theoretical Weiner Administration.

In particular, during the taped NY1 interview with Errol Louis, Mr. Weiner staked out several policy positions and offered criticism of the Democratic campaign primary thus far, edging closer to a mayoral bid that, based on the tone of the interview, appeared more likely.

"I got to do it soon. I mean, I'm starting the process and people are inviting me to come things and to talk to them about issues and I'm going to look for opportunities to talk about things as I move forward," Mr. Weiner said, responding to a question about when he would officially launch a mayoral campaign. "I'll tell you one thing for sure,  I want to be a part of the ideas primary, that's for sure. That primary I want to do very well in."

Mr. Weiner has emphasized his interest in "the ideas primary" in other ways recently too.  Earlier today, Mr. Weiner produced a policy booklet, for instance.  In his interview tonight, Mr. Weiner delved deeper into hot-button policy issues, including stop-and-frisk and a proposed inspector general for the city's police department. Interestingly, while critiquing how stop-and-frisk is executed, Mr. Weiner expressed his general support for the controversial anti-crime policy, placing him to the right of many of his potential competitors.

"I don't think it's smart to stop the police from having the ability to do that," Mr. Weiner explained. "But I will say this, if you are having so many 250's, so many stop-and-frisks going on in your precincts and the number of actual arrests and actual convictions is a tiny fraction of them, you're not a good cop, you're not a good commander, you're not a good supervisor. You're just not doing a good job. I don't know you can see the statistics that have been released now after court fights that show the relatively tiny number of people who actually turned out to have done something of any race, but particularly people of color, and consider those cops that did that job a good one."

Calling for more "transparency" in the police department, Mr. Weiner also criticized one of his hypothetical rivals, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, for her proposal to create an inspector general for the police department.

"I don't believe it's a good idea on the policy side," Mr. Weiner said. "I think it does something no one running for mayor I think should want. It blurs the lines of authority. If I run for mayor and if I become the mayor, I want people looking at me and saying, 'you know what, you're in charge, you did this, you're accountable, both on the good side and the bad side.' And I think inspector generals are vestiges of a time in New York politics when we were creating authorities and boards and agencies, anything we could to buffer the tough decisions from the boss. I don't like that ethos, I don't like that thinking."

Sounding like a potential candidate, Mr. Weiner despaired at both the policy discussions breaking out in the Democratic primary and the media coverage that has accompanied those discussions.

"The public debate has been a little disheartening at times, I think sometimes we get caught up in one or two issues and anything else that goes on seems to be too much for the coverage," he argued. "As a consumer--which I've had a chance to be, just a pure consumer of news for a while and information--I wish there were more ideas and books out there floating around, more decision-makers out there to look at that."

(Photo: Facebook)

Earlier this evening, conservative Christian Pastor Erick Salgado's campaign announced a breakfast event for his Democratic mayoral bid tomorrow in East Harlem that would feature "community leaders ... rallying support for Erick Salgado." The event's press release claimed two local Democratic officials, veteran Congressman Charlie Rangel and Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez, would "be in attendance." However, Hannah Kim, Mr. Rangel's spokeswoman, told Politicker the congressman has no plans to attend the breakfast and isn't even aware of Mr. Salgado.

"The Congressman doesn't know anything about this candidate at all," Ms. Kim said. "This event is not on his schedule."

The presence of the decidedly liberal Mr. Rangel at the event would be quite interesting as Mr. Salgado is not only a long-shot, but his campaign platforms are far more socially conservative than anyone else in the mayor's race, including the Republicans. Furthermore, the Harlem political machine headed by Mr. Rangel is expected to rally around another mayoral contender, Bill Thompson.

We reached out to Mr. Salgado's press contact to ask about Mr. Rangel's disavowal of the campaign's press release. In spite of the denial from Mr. Rangel's office, a representative for Mr. Salgado maintained the congressman was expected at the breakfast. The spokesman said he called Mr. Salgado's campaign and they had "assurances that [Mr. Rangel] would be there from representatives of Rangel."

As of this writing, Assemblyman Rodriguez, the other lawmaker named in Mr. Salgado's press release, could not be reached for comment.

Update (11:50 a.m.): Mr. Rangel explained all of the confusion this morning. Apparently he had agreed to grab coffee with a friend, which turned out to be at Mr. Salgado's event. Mr. Rangel said he had never heard of Mr. Salgado before.

Veda Jamoona's mugshot

On Monday, three individuals were arrested and accused of stealing more than $50,000 from a lunch program for senior citizens, including Veda Jamoona, a staffer in Comptroller John Liu's government office. In the wake of her arrest, a spokesperson for Mr. Liu said Ms. Jamoona has been suspended without pay "until further notice."

“We have been informed by the NYC Dept. of Investigation that Ms. Veda Jamoona was arrested yesterday morning for conduct unrelated to her employment at the Comptroller’s office," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Ms. Jamoona has been suspended without pay until further notice. Veda Jamoona has been employed since Jan. 17, 2012 as a public affairs associate at the annual salary of $55,000.”

Ms. Jamoona is not the only Liu staffer dealing with legal woes. In a completely unrelated matter, Jenny Hou, the former treasurer of Mr. Liu's still-unannounced mayoral campaign, was arrested and charged with orchestrating a straw donor scheme in February of last year. Ms. Hou pleaded innocent and her trial is ongoing.

The charges in question against Ms. Jamoona involve "a kickback arrangement" where the owner of Sonny's Roti Shop would submit falsely inflated invoices for lunches served to senior citizens and then share the profits. The two other individuals accused of participating in the scheme are the shop's owner, Steven Rajkumar, and Ms. Jamoona's mother, Chan Jamoona.

"Defendant Veda Jamoona, defendant Chan Jamoona's daughter, served as an Executive Director of United Hindu Cultural Council ('UHCC') from in or around February 2007 to in or around August 2008," the indictment against her stated. "She was appointed to this position after her mother stepped down from the position of Executive Director (defendant Chan Jamoona was also UHCC's Founder). Defendant Veda Jamoona, along with the other defendants, participated in the scheme to steal money from the NYC Department for the Aging ('DFTA') by submitting false Contract Invoice and Service Reports to DFTA. These reports inflated the tally of lunches actually served to seniors at UHCC and incorporated inflated costs of the monthly bills purportedly issued by Sonny's Roti Shop (formerly Singh's Roti Shop), the caterer for the senior lunch program at UHCC."

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn announced the news yesterday in a statement that slammed the defendants' "personal greed."

“By stealing from the senior center lunch program, the defendants put personal greed ahead of the basic needs of New York seniors,” Mr. Schneiderman said. “When it comes to services vital for our seniors, we cannot accept fraud as a cost of doing business. My office will prosecute fraud in critical New York programs to the fullest extent of the law.”

Joe Lhota addressing the club.

Last night in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, Republican officials, operatives and activists gathered to toast influential Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, including multiple mayoral candidates and--jokingly--at least one Gracie Mansion contender whose campaign has yet to be mentioned.

"I'm happy to be here," Mr. Long, the honoree of the evening, declared as he name-checked various officials in the room. "Joe Lhota, they're saying that there's an interest he may be running for mayor. ... Adolfo Carrión, I hear the same rumor about you, that you may be thinking about running for mayor. There's a lot of people in the room running for mayor and I haven't even made my announcement yet!"

A third Republican mayoral candidate, George McDonald, would later arrive and, like Mr. Carrión, address the crowd. But the prime speaking slot to give his complete pitch went to Mr. Lhota--whom Mr. Long has praised in the past. And, somewhat amusingly, Mr. Lhota quoted perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan, the radical "The Rent Is Too Damn High!" activist, in making his case.

"We need to reform our government. We need to streamline our government. We need to make it more transparent. We need to make it less intrusive. We need to make it more efficient," Mr. Lhota said. "Remember in the last governor's race, there was a guy who was running, Jimmy McMillan was his name? And he kept saying, 'The rent is too damn high!' I'm a mayoral candidate this year, we'll be saying over and over again, 'Our government is too damn expensive!"

The newly-minted Brooklyn South Conservative Club's crowd was a friendly audience for the declaration--official swag at every table included a 17-ounce cup dedicated to "Nanny Bloomberg," for example--and cheered at the line.

Of course, the Conservative Party is not where they'd like to be in New York State right now. The Conservative-backed candidate for U.S. Senate last year, Wendy Long, got destroyed in the ballot booth by incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand while Republicans in the State Senate were forced to form a bipartisan coalition to remain in power--enabling Governor Andrew Cuomo to pass new gun control legislation over Mr. Long's strong objections. For his part, Mr. Long addressed his party's condition to conclude his speech.

"A word about mountains," Mr. Long said. "One would say that to the question, 'Maybe the Conservative movement is in a funk. Maybe we took a little setback. Maybe we're not doing as well as we'd like to do.' Let me tell you this here. Politics is mountains and valleys. Right now, we hit the valley. ... Folks, if you think we're in trouble. We are. If you think of despair, don't. Do not despair, don't lose heart. The phoenix will rise again."

(Photo: Twitter /@JoeLhota4Mayor)

Joe Lhota isn't worried about the weather.

In fact, the Republican mayoral contender said his experience in the Giuliani administration would help him better manage some of the worst natural disasters that have hit New York City in recent years, citing post-blizzard plowing needs and Hurricane Sandy's crippling floodwaters in particular.

"Look, as Deputy Mayor for Operations, I had numerous assignments," Mr. Lhota said in a WNYC interview this morning, touting his "priority number one" work to close the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island. "I was also involved making sure that the city was prepared for any and every emergency that happened. On my watch, you wouldn't have had any situation where there would have been a problem in picking up snow or dealing with water surges. In fact, I was involved in some of the very first meetings that created the maps that showed what would happen if you had a Category 1, 2 or 3 hurricane in New York. So [the administration] was very concerned about that even 18 years ago."

In the same interview, Mr. Lhota also addressed a recent controversy where Staten Island powerbroker Guy Molinari very publicly withdrew his support from Mr. Lhota in response to unreturned phone calls. Mr. Lhota said he was "surprised" by the communications mishap, but Mr. Molinari should have called him personally to resolve it.

"That was a staff  member who didn't return the phone calls," Mr. Lhota explained. "There was a disagreement. I've talked to Guy since then. I was really surprised. If he thought somebody on my staff wasn't returning the phone calls, he should have called me. Everybody knows I return all of my phone calls. I pick up my cell phone myself, much to the chagrin of my staff. And quite honestly, since then, I've received the support of a lot of elected officials on Staten Island. I think Guy was a friend before this, Guy will be a friend after this and I will always be close to Guy Molinari and his entire family."

Asked if he would seek to regain Mr. Molinari's support, Mr. Lhota indicated he would.

"That will be at the appropriate time and place for that," he said.

(Photo: Getty)

Having already conquered the rapper Lil Wayne for his alleged slights against New York City, State Senator Malcolm Smith is now calling for a boycott against actor Alec Baldwin until he seeks professional help. Mr. Smith made the call for Mr. Baldwin to be blacklisted following a New York Post story that claimed the 30 Rock star used racial slurs in a confrontation with one of the tabloid newspaper's paparazzos.

‘’If these allegations are true, then no television network or film studio should hire the veteran actor until he seeks help,” Mr. Smith said in a statement. “In today’s modern age it’s a disgrace that people still use remarks that provide hatred to others based on race, religion or origin.”

Through a representative, Mr. Baldwin has denied using the racially-charged language the Post photographer has alleged the actor used, which includes terms like “coon," "drug dealer," and "crack-head."

This incident is like a preview for a version of this year's mayoral race that is, we can only hope, playing out in some alternate universe far more interesting than our own. Mr. Smith, who's a Democrat, has been exploring a run for mayor as a Republican and Mr. Baldwin was, at one time, seen as a potential mayoral contender himself.

(Photo: Getty)

Bill de Blasio has had it with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Mr. Bloomberg gave his final State of the City address last week, earning a round of condemnations from some of the Democratic mayoral hopefuls who wish to replace him, including Comptroller John Liu and former Comptroller Bill Thompson. Yesterday, on Up Close with Diana Williams, Mr. de Blasio joined the mayoral peanut gallery.

"Ah!" Mr. de Blasio exclaimed when asked about Mr. Bloomberg's ominous warnings concerning what will happen without his leadership in City Hall. "You know, he sounded a little royal when he was talking about [how] after him everything's going to fall apart. I'm a little sick of this way of thinking about the world."

Mr. de Blasio proceeded to cite former Mayor Ed Koch as an example of a "different leader" who could accomplish Mr. Bloomberg's job despite lacking his personal wealth.

"We just lost Ed Koch a few weeks ago, one of the greatest mayors we ever had," he said. "The ultimate everyman. This was not a guy who was a billionaire by any stretch of the imagination. He took us out of the worst crisis we've ever faced financially. So, I'd just like Bloomberg to acknowledge that there's lots of different leaders in the world who could do a good job."

The city's public advocate also blasted Mr. Bloomberg's address for painting what Mr. de Blasio described as an overly rosy picture of the city's economic and educational climate.

"That speech acted like everything is fine in New York City," Mr. de Blasio argued. "Didn't acknowledge what a lot of middle-class and working-class people are going through in terms of struggling economically. Didn't acknowledge that our schools are failing a lot of our kids. And I think people want a new direction."

(Photo: Getty)

While all-but-officially announced mayoral candidate John Liu aggressively slammed Mayor Michael Bloomberg's State of the City speech as revisionist history, one of Mr. Liu's likely rivals in the mayor's race, Bill Thompson, took a more moderate approach. Mr. Thompson released a statement earlier this afternoon that praised parts of the speech while critiquing others.

“I commend the mayor’s willingness to put forth specific ideas for our city’s future, including his Styrofoam initiative, and urge fellow leaders to engage in a vigorous and respectful debate on this important matter," Mr. Thomspon began.

Though he commended the mayor's proposed styrofoam ban, Mr. Thompson quibbled with Mr. Bloomberg's staunch defense of the New York City Housing Authority, notably where he lamented the lack of federal resources and said "some people in elected office and in the press have taken cheap shots at NYCHA in recent months. But none of them have offered a plan to fix the revenue problem."

Mr. Thompson, who's sharply criticized NYCHA in the past, is likely among those Mr. Bloomberg considers to have taken "cheap shots" at the agency and he didn't back down from his criticisms following the speech.

"One issue that strikes me as disturbing, however, is Mayor Bloomberg’s move to double-down on NYCHA and the Housing Authority’s failed policies," continued Mr. Thompson. "Instead of shifting the blame for NYCHA’s failures and attacking those who question the Authority, the Mayor should join us in addressing why NYCHA has not been able to deliver on its mission: to create and maintain affordable housing for New Yorkers. This obfuscation is precisely why I have proposed an overhaul of NYCHA’s governing structure so the mayor – any mayor – will be accountable on housing policy."

John Liu (Photo: Facebook)

In Mayor Michael Bloomberg's last State of the City speech today, he touted his record of accomplishments. But Comptroller John Liu, a likely candidate for mayor this year, isn't so sure about that. Accordingly, only minutes after Mr. Bloomberg finished speaking, Mr. Liu fired off a statement blasting the mayor.

“Obviously, Mayor Bloomberg can point to some accomplishments after 11 years, especially in improving New Yorkers’ health through reductions in smoking," Mr. Liu said. "But his selective retelling of history leaves out some troubling facts: near record unemployment, record numbers of homeless, record income disparity, record stop and frisks, record claims against the NYPD, record numbers of school closures, and a failed education record that has only one in five high school students graduating from college.  How can we be satisfied with that? No one can say that New Yorkers of all walks of life shared equally in the accomplishments he claims as his legacy."

But Mr. Liu wasn't finished there. He concluded by sharply criticizing the "hubris" Mr. Bloomberg displayed by temporarily overturning term limits to secure his third and final term in office.

"Bloomberg’s third term was a great mistake," Mr. Liu jabbed. "[A]nd this entire City is paying the price for that act of hubris.”

Thus far, Mr. Liu is the only one of the likely mayoral contenders who has released a response to Mr. Bloomberg's speech.