By Colin Campbell 1/14 10:11am

your pal sal

(Photo: Callie Lipkin/Albanese Campaign)

Sal Albanese: Don’t Call Me a ‘Long Shot’

Earlier this month, former City Councilman Sal Albanese kicked off his third campaign for mayor on the Democratic line, where he will go head-to-head with a number of major rivals in a packed primary later this year. Even though he last held office in 1997, Mr. Albanese strongly objects to media descriptions–including our own–that gave him long odds, calling them “totally unfair.”

“I think you’ll see as the campaign progresses that this is a real, viable effort. Starting late puts us behind the eight-ball. That’s why some in the media have questioned my ability, but the election is ten months away,” he explained over Sunday brunch in a Bay Ridge diner. “They don’t know my record, most of them. Second of all, if you look at the race in ’97, we garnered 22 percent of the vote. That’s a lot of votes.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/24/12 5:27pm

fuhgettaboutit

Councilman Gentile leading the protest against "Brooklyn 11223"

Local Neighborhood Rallies Against ‘Jersey Shore’ Knockoff ‘Brooklyn 11223′

Elected officials and community members rallied against the upcoming reality show “Brooklyn 11223″ this afternoon, lambasting the show as demeaning to women and calling on the Oxygen network to take it off the air.

Councilman Vinnie Gentile, who organized the event, told The Politicker the show “hit such a nerve in Bay Ridge and we had such a reaction from the locals that they wanted an avenue, a way, to speak out.”

And speak out they did. Carlo Scissura, representing Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, took the largest broadside to the network for hosting the show.

“What amazes me is the hypocrisy of this network. This is a network that brands itself as looking out for the interests of women, and yet they do something that completely disparages women, particularly Italian-American women,” he said, before calling for the community to rise up. “If the show’s filming in one of the restaurants, stop going there, period. If the show’s coming out here and they’re wrecking the streets or taking up parking spots, call the police.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/22/12 4:41pm

bay ridge's honor

This is the sort of thing Councilman Gentile objects to. (Photo: Oxygen)

Brooklyn Councilman to the Oxygen Network: ‘Take This Show Off the Air!’

Bay Ridge Councilman Vinnie Gentile is calling for the Oxygen network to take off the air a new program called, “Brooklyn 11223,” a show that has been called “as trashy as “Jersey Shore.”

Oxygen’s announcement of “Brooklyn 11223″ said the series will offer “a voyeuristic look into the lives of a group of twentysomething friends whose once rock-solid friendships have been torn apart by betrayal.”

The exact nature of the betrayal isn’t completely clear, but Oxygen teases that it will involve “one friend [who] may have betrayed another by seducing a boyfriend.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/05/12 10:01am

criticism of criticism

Andrew Gounardes (Photo: Facebook)

Andrew Gounardes Takes Exception to Marty Golden's Cuomo Criticism

Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave his formal State of the State speech, laying out a legislative agenda for the next year.  In response to that, Republican State Senator Marty Golden stated his disappointment with Governor Cuomo’s for not developing a full plan to address public safety and fraud. Now, his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gounardes, is criticizing Senator Golden’s criticism. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 8/08/11 12:43pm

backstory

Governor Hugh Carey pictured with one of the new Hino buses in New York City, kicking the bus for emphasis. A number of buses were bought in 1981 to ease the strain on New York City's public transit. (via NYS archives. photographer not identified)

Hugh Carey's Departure from Congress and Chuck Schumer's Rise in D.C.

Before saving New York State, Hugh Carey served 14 years in congress representing part of Brooklyn.

The Democrat and Chronicle yesterday wrote that “Senator Charles E. Schumer was elected to Carey’s Congressional seat after Carey.”

Not exactly.

Carey gave up his seat in 1974, when he got elected governor. The person who replaced him was a man named Leo Zeferetti, a conservative Democrat from the Bay Ridge / Bensonhurst area. Schumer, in 1974, was elected to the State Assembly. Read More