John Catsimatidis opening his new Brooklyn campaign office Wednesday evening. (Photo: Twitter/JCats2013)

All of the major mayoral candidates have been spending cash at a relative steady clip; but no other candidate has managed to do so as fast as billionaire supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis. The self-financed Republican has spent a whopping $880,000 since he entered the race, including $615,332 in bills over the past two months.

In addition to tens of thousands of dollars for radio and print ads, Mr. Catsimatidis is planning the race's very first road-side billboard. The filings show the campaign has already paid out $35,000 for the larger-than-life display on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach, Queens, which is set to be unveiled in the next week or so, spokesman Rob Ryan said.

The campaign has also been dishing out thousands of dollars on campaign swag, including $2,948.89 for baseball caps on April 29 and $693.37 for hand sanitizers on April 27--all branded in his honor. Of course, Mr. Catsimatidis is no stranger to putting his personal touch on advertising--his supermarket chain Gristedes prominently features his face in their regular newspaper inserts.

As it so happens, the campaign also likes to shop close to home. It has spent nearly $3,800 at Gristedes, in fact.

“It’s his money. It’s not like it’s money that was raised through people. Ninety-nine percent of the money on the campaign is his money,” Mr. Ryan explained, noting Mr. Catsimatidis' rule of paying for anything he gets from the supermarket.

“He would never even pull a banana off and eat it without paying for it,” he added. “Nobody should.”

Mr. Ryan further said the campaign has been giving away free stuff to people who show up at campaign events, like this evening's opening of their new Brooklyn office. “We’ve got everything from hats to tote bags, key chains, lip balm, hand sanitizer!” he boasted, noting the hand sanitizer looks just like a pen, so it’s easy to slip in a pocket.

And just in case folks get hungry, the campaign spent $118.02 at Oh! Nuts, which it classified under “Other,” with the explanation “Candy.”

On a more serious note, the filings include two final payments to Vincent Tabone, a close aide and the former executive vice president of the Queens Republican Party, who was arrested along with fellow lawmakers on April 2 for his alleged role accepting bribes as part of a scheme to get State Sen. Malcolm Smith on the ballot.

The campaign paid Mr. Tabone $3,000 in mid-March and then another $2,100 on April 5, 2013, several days after Mr. Tabone had been fired. Mr. Ryan said the money was back-pay for work he'd already done.

Chuck Schumer speaking at the Inauguration. (Photo: Getty)

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Long Island chef Butch Yamali is telling Senator Chuck Schumer to go duck himself after the Inauguration.

Senator Schumer was able to put his own New York-centric spin on today's festivities in his capacity as chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. However, Mr. Yamali doesn't feel Mr. Schumer went far enough to honor his home state and is holding a press conference tomorrow to "formally rebuke" the senator for not having Long Island duck at the inaugural meal at the Capitol Building.  

A statement announcing the press conference, which will take place tomorrow afternoon, noted Long Island's deep connection to duck.

"Long Island is known throughout the world for its duck–and even has a minor league baseball team called 'The Ducks,'" the statement said.

In addition to featuring the chorus from Staten Island's P.S. 22 and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at the swearing in ceremony, Mr. Schumer stocked the menu at the inaugural lunch with items from the Empire State including water from Saratoga Springs Water Company, two New York wines and a Hudson Valley apple pie. Mr. Schumer also wanted to serve Long Island duck, but he said the dish was not up to snuff.

"The duck was very good, but the preparation wasn’t great. We settled on South Dakota bison," Mr. Schumer told the New York Times. "When New York gets good bison, we’ll have that."

Mr. Yamali clearly doesn't think Mr. Schumer should get to duck his responsibility to Long Island so easily. The statement announcing his press conference tomorrow said he was "angered" by the "inaugural insult" and plans to "speak out" against the senator giving Long Island "the bird."

"Of all the things to be left off Chuck Schumer’s New York-inspired Inauguration menu, he should not have removed the duck," the statement said.

This isn't the first time Mr. Yamali has brought a culinary perspective to political issues. Back in August, he appeared on Fox Business to discuss President Barack Obama's infamous "you didn't build that" remark as the owner of a small catering company.

Politicker reached out to Mr. Schumer's office to see if they had any response to Mr. Yamali's duck-fueled rage. As of this writing, we have not received a response.

(Photo: Getty)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, known for single-handedly protecting constituents from burning flames, blizzard obstructions and crime, is currently attempting to live on a limited budget to better understand how food stamp recipients live their day-to-day lives. It may be the so-called "super mayor's" most difficult feat yet. Why? "Caffeine withdrawal."

"You make tough choices," Mr. Booker explained after his first day under the self-imposed budgetary restrictions. "The tough choice I have to live with this week is that I used my money to buy a lot of different things, but not caffeine. So I'm going to go this week without coffee, without Diet Pepsi, Diet Coke, which is going to be the first week of my life I can ever actually remember doing that."

Mr. Booker actually made a prior attempt to go a few days without diet cola last year.

“Yes, but doesn’t ‘coke zero’ rhyme with ‘my hero’?” he tweeted at one point, for example.

This time, his caffeine-free diet began to affect him on day two.

"And today it hit me – the first stages of caffeine withdrawal," Mr.  Booker wrote on LinkedIn today. "Not being able to stop and drop a few dollars for a Venti coffee or Diet Mountain Dew is really raising my consciousness about the food choices I often take for granted."

In an interview about the experience Mr. Booker cradled his limited Mountain Dew supply and described his fear of suffering withdrawal.

"I may have to be hospitalized with caffeine withdrawal. I can look at buying coffee and making coffee at home, but I just don't know how much it costs," he said. He then cradled a bottle of Mountain Dew. "I was told to hide this because I shouldn't be endorsing products but I mean, these are my friends."

Watch Mr. Booker discuss his caffeine craving below:

Joe Biden eating lunch in 2009. (Photo: Getty)

While campaigning this afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden stopped by Schmucker's Restaurant in Toledo, Ohio for a piece of pie. However, Mr. Biden may have gotten more than he bargained for at the restaurant. While he was eating, Mr. Biden found himself in conversation with another patron who was clearly eager to see the vice president and his running mate, President Barack Obama, lose the election and leave the White House. 

According to the press pool report by Politico's Donovan Slack, Mr. Biden encountered the man at the restaurant's bar after he was served a piece of "classic custard pie." Ms. Slack was able to eavesdrop on a bit of Mr. Biden's conversation with the other man and initially thought it was a friendly chat because she overheard the man say, "You're a good guy, Joe." However, afterwards, when Ms. Slack spoke to the man, who declined to give his name, it was clear his words to the vice president weren't all kind.

"Before that, I told him to enjoy his last couple of months," the man said, adding, "Just because you're a good guy doesn't mean you're a good vice president."

Ms. Slack noted that, following the encounter, Mr. Biden "understandably took his piece of pie" and sat down at another table to eat. Perhaps the sweet custard pie helped the criticism go down a bit easier.

Joe Biden (Photo: Getty)

The Obama campaign has just released some new details about Vice President Joe Biden's debate session. Apparently, Mr. Biden relied on a strict regimen of candy, sandwiches, energy drinks and caffeine to get him in shape for his matchup with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. 

According to the Obama campaign, Mr. Biden's "favorite snacks consumed during prep sessions this week include M&Ms, animal crackers, as well as lots of Gatorade, coffee and tea." The vice president and his team also ordered subs from the well-known Wilmington, Delaware institution Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop for lunch during one of his debate prep sessions. Politicker called Capriotti's and spoke to a woman who said Mr. Biden used to come to the restaurant "all the time before he became vice president." She also gave us more information about what Mr. Biden's crew ordered for their debate prep lunch.

"They were all mixed up. We had Italian, Turkey, bobbies, roast beef," she said.

Perhaps it's a Delaware thing, but we were unaware of "bobbies." The patient Capriotti's staffer explained that they include "stuffing ,cranberry, mayonnaise and turkey.

"It's like Thanksgiving on a roll," she added.

Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen played the part of Mr. Ryan for Mr. Biden's debate prep sessions. In addition to Mr. Biden's debate prep menu, the Obama campaign released an utterly hilarious anecdote about Mr. Biden and Mr. Van Hollen. Apparently, both men came to Monday's session "wearing the same exact outfit" consisting of a navy blue blazer with gold buttons, a light blue shirt and no tie leading to "some chuckles" among their staffers. Clearly, these debate prep sessions were filled with nonstop excitement in addition to all of the candy and caffeine.

Russell Gallo (Photo: Twitter)

New York's only branch of the controversial fried chicken sandwich chain Chick-Fil-A is located in an NYU cafeteria, but if a self-proclaimed Tea Partier running for State Assembly has his way  the restaurant will soon set up shop in South Brooklyn. As a response to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's letter asking NYU to close the campus Chick-Fil-A after the owner of the chain declared his opposition to same-sex marriage, Mr. Gallo sent a letter of his own. Mr. Gallo wrote to Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-Fil-A, saying, "I would like to invite your company to consider opening a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in southern Brooklyn."

"I want you to know that Ms. Quinn does not speak for all New Yorkers. I and many of my neighbors agree with your views on traditional family units. But more importantly, I’m sure we all could agree that no one in government should tell anyone what to believe, who to support and how to spend our money," Mr. Gallo wrote.

Along with Mr. Cathy's declaration of support for "biblical marriage," Chick-Fil-A has donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups in recent years. In a statement accompanying his letter to Mr. Cathy, Mr. Gallo described opposition to Chick-Fil-A as the latest of many assaults on "free speech, free enterprise and job creation" perpetuated by New York City Democrats like Ms. Quinn and Mr. Gallo's opponent in the 45th Assembly District, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz.

"Christine Quinn wants to add political correctness to the growing list of licenses, taxes, requirements and fees already passed by Democrats like Steven Cymbrowitz that already burden our small businesses," Mr. Gallo said. "I will not stand idly by and allow Quinn and Cymbrowitz to suppress free speech, free enterprise and job creation.”

Mr. Gallo's statement describes him as "on record for supporting traditional family values," but he doesn't think the Chick-Fil-A issue isn't about gay marriage.

"I and many of the people in the district agree with Mr. Cathy’s views on family, but that’s not the point," said Mr. Gallo in his statement. "I sent a letter to Dan Cathy to invite him to open a Chick-Fil-A in the district because, unlike Quinn and Cymbrowitz, I respect our individual rights and freedoms."

Read Mr. Gallo's letter to Mr. Cathy below.

Rep. Allen West (Photo: West.House.gov)

Florida Congressman Allen West  had a rather interesting response to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's threats to block the fast food chain Chick-Fil-A from opening a restaurant in the Windy City due to the CEO, Dan Cathy's, admission he doesn't support same-sex marriage. Mr. West brought up the Chick-Fil-A controversy during an interview with CNBC's Rick Santelli today on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.

"I had to come up from down South because I wanted to try to open up a Chick-Fil-A franchise here in Chicago," said Mr. West.

However, it doesn't seem like the congressman is really putting his money where his mouth is.

The Politicker called Mr. West's office to ask if he's actually working on starting his own Chick-Fil-A restaurant. His communications director, Angela Melvin, explained the remark was made in jest.

"He was joking," she said. "The way he jokes you can't tell sometimes, but he was kidding."

He might not actually be opening a Chick-Fil-A, but Mr. West is most definitely supporting the restaurant in the current controversy. In a previous interview, Mr. West slammed Chick-Fil-A's detractors and described his longstanding affinity for the restaurant.

"Freedom of speech, I guess you have people that determine, you know, if it's the type of speech that I like, it's free," said Mr. West. "I mean, I grew up on Chick-Fil-A in Atlanta, Georgia. I love Chick-Fil-A. I finish here, I'm going to Chick-Fil-A."

Chick-Fil-A has become a cause celebre for many conservative politicians in the wake of the gay marriage flap. Former presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have launched an effort encouraging other gay marriage foes to eat at the restaurant on August 1 for "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day." On Friday, Sarah Palin took a field trip to a Chick-Fil-A while campaigning for Senate candidate Ted Cruz in Texas.

Reverend Al Sharpton eulogizing Sylvia Woods at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon. (Photo: Getty)

Harlem restaurateur Sylvia Woods was a legendary chef, but she was also a key figure in the Uptown political scene. At her funeral service at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon today, many of the high-powered regulars from Woods' eponymous restaurant showed up to share their remembrances and pay tribute to Woods as a pioneering African-American businesswoman, an ally in the civil rights struggle and, of course, a superb chef.

"Every protest, every movement, every plan, every law started with a breakfast, or lunch or a dinner at Sylvia's," former Governor David Paterson explained.

Today's service was one of three memorials for Woods. On Saturday, her family is holding a "homegoing celebration" in her native Hemingway, South Carolina. Yesterday evening, Bill Clinton and Mayor Michael Bloomberg were among the luminaries who gathered for a "salute" to Woods at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. Woods' granddaughter, Tren'ness Woods-Black, spoke to reporters prior to today's service and said the turnout at yesterday's event showed her grandmother was beloved by average citizens as well as the boldface clientele.

"From presidents on down to 70-year-old people who have been eating at the restaurant every day, that's what showed up yesterday and that was a true representation of what Sylvia's is all about," Ms. Woods-Black said.

Before the service got started, Woods lay in state in an open casket as the mourners packed into their pews. As the ceremony began, Grace Baptist's associate pastor, Reverend William Franklyn Richardson III, plead for brevity from the scheduled speakers, who included Mount Vernon Mayor Ernest Davis, Abyssinia Baptist Senior Pastor Dr. Calvin Butts, Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP's New York State Conference and former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.

"We would like you to keep your remarks to two minutes," Reverend Richardson said. "Do that out of respect for this family, who has already had one service and will go to South Carolina for another, so I ask that you would not labor them or any of us by going over two minutes."

None of the speakers managed to stick to the time limit.

Woods' eulogy was delivered by Reverend Al Sharpton who reminisced about watching "Sylvia's grow from a counter to a global sightseeing place." He said he was introduced to Woods and her restaurant while he worked as a tour manager for legendary soul music singer James Brown.

"The first time I met her was in the late 70's when James Brown brought me to Sylvia's. He used to go there when it was just a counter, but he loved the food there," said Reverend  Sharpton. "When he was in town...I would be with him and he would look at everybody and say, 'Let's go by Sylvia's.' And I would go, one, because I lived in New York and, two, because I was one of the few that understood what he was saying when he was talking."

Reverend Sharpton also shared stories of visiting Sylvia's with two other famous dining companions.

"I remember one night Bill O'Reilly from Fox News--that Bill O'Reilly--he wanted to go to dinner," the Reverend said. "He goes, 'I want to go to Sylvia's.' We went to Sylvia's and he got out of the car waiting for everybody to recognize him, but when you're going to Sylvia's, you're just somebody else going to Sylvia's."

Reverend Sharpton noted Mr. O'Reilly got into a bit of a controversy following their meal at Sylvia's when he went on his syndicated radio show and expressed surprise that "all the people up there are tremendously respectful" despite the fact "it's run by blacks" and has "primarily black patronship."

"I was amazed he was amazed," Reverend Sharpton said.

The Reverend also described eating at Sylvia's with President Barack Obama.

"There's a picture as you come into Sylvia's of then-Senator Barack Obama and I eating at Sylvia's. And that night he was on his way to the Apollo to have a fundraiser in his quest for the presidency, but you look at the picture and he's eating fried chicken and cornbread. I was on a diet, I just had coffee in front of me," said Reverend Sharpton, who recently became a vegetarian.

Reverend Sharpton also gave his explanation for Sylvia's appeal among Harlem's power lunch set.

"She built that restaurant as a family business and all of Harlem became her family....Sylvia was connected to the community. Today, we have others in business, but they see the community as something to go through on their way somewhere else," said the Reverend. "Sylvia wasn't trying to go somewhere else, she was connected to us. Wasn't no accident we had our meetings in Sylvia's. Other folks had chicken, wasn't no accident that every political figure went to Sylvia's, every major cultural actor went to Sylvia's, every major minister went to Sylvia's. She was connected to us."

After the ceremony, Reverend Sharpton accompanied several of Woods' crying family members to a private gathering in the back of the church as the guests walked out into the street. The Politicker spotted Mr. Paterson and asked him what he generally ordered at Sylvia's. He answered without the slightest hesitation.

"Fried chicken, collard greens and potato salad. Sylvia's problem with me was that I would always eat it. She was like, 'Why do I even put a menu in front of you, because you just want to eat the same thing.'" Mr. Paterson said. "I always say I'm going to have something else, but rarely did I."

A group of pallbearers placed Woods' casket onto a hearse were it made the journey from Mount Vernon to Owens Funeral Home in Harlem, taking the restaurateur's body on a final trip down 125th Street.

A pair of Wisconsin football fans cheering on the Green Bay Packers in their trademark "cheeseheads."

Wisconsin is both the dairy capital of the United States and a major center for beer brewing, however, apparently Wisconsinites like their cheese way better than their brewskies. That interesting nugget was buried in Public Policy Polling's latest survey of the Badger State, which found that 64 percent of Wisconsin residents prefer cheese to beer compared to just 18 percent of Wisconsinites who have a higher opinion of beer than of cheese.

The PPP poll also found that cheese has a better overall favorability breakdown than beer and that men in Wisconsin like beer much more than women do. While 75 percent of men surveyed like beer, just 57 percent of female respondents said they enjoyed brewskies. Men in Wisconsin still prefer cheese over beer, but it was a much closer call than it was among women with with 54 percent of men saying they preferred cheese compared to 75 percent of women.

Of course, PPP's Wisconsin poll also addressed political issues. PPP found that support for gay marriage in Wisconsin is growing since last year, as it has been around the country. Last August, just 39 percent of Wisconsinites polled by PPP said they wanted same-sex marriage legalized compared to 50 percent who wanted it to remain illegal. This year, 43 percent of Wisconsinites said they wanted to legalize gay marriage and 47 percent said they oppose it. The poll also showed support for civil unions for gay couples is up to 69 percent from 67 percent last year.

Lena Dunham (Photo: Twitter)

Lena Dunham, the star, creator and producer of HBO's hipster-ific series Girls, took to Twitter today to encourage her more than 200,000 followers to take on the Tea Party by "eat[ing] dope shit" at a series of dinners dedicated to raising money to defeat a "targeted list" of Tea Party incumbents picked by a liberal super PAC. The dinners are hosted by hosted by a group called Downtown For Democracy and Ms. Dunham's real-life best friend, Audrey Gelman (who uses the handle @grumplstilskin on Twitter and works as press secretary for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer) is a member of the Downtown For Democracy Board.

"Want to eat dope shit for a wonderful cause? Support D4D and my oldest best ‪#girl‬ @grumplstiltskin," Ms. Dunham tweeted along with a link to the dinner series.

The Downtown For Democracy dinners, aptly titled "Dining For Democracy," feature meals cooked by star chefs including Mario Batali and Momofoku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi. There will also be guest speakers and musicians including MSNBC host Alex Wagner and Michael Bloomberg's deputy mayor for government affairs, Howard Wolfson. Tickets require contributions ranging from $125 to $2,000.

Downtown for Democracy was founded in 2003 "to organize artists around the Bush/Kerry presidential election." During this election cycle, they're focused on defeating the "Tea Party 10," a list of Tea Party incumbents in Congress compiled by the liberal super PAC CREDO that includes, Allen West and Steve King.