John Catsimatidis. (Photo: Getty)

The Greek-born John Catsimatidis is ineligible to run for President of the United States, but that doesn't mean the GOP mayoral candidate hasn't thought about it. Indeed, during yesterday's rowdy event at the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, Mr. Catsimatidis talked extensively about federal policy before proclaiming that he would have defeated President Barack Obama's re-election bid if he were in the race.

"I'm running for mayor, I can't run for president!" he declared. "But let me tell you something, I would have won. I could have beat Obama. Buy me a box of Kleenex."

Afterwards, Politicker caught up with Mr. Catsimatidis to ask if he could elaborate on how this hypothetical scenario would have played itself out. He responded by laying out the agenda of a Catsimatidis administration.

"'Independence Day 2020': put a 7-year plan that the United States would be independent of foreign oil in 7 years. And it could be done," he said. "I would seriously look at getting help from the industrial countries that are very, very successful to reimburse us the cost of protecting them. I'm not asking [for] a lot of money. But if it costs us $1.5 trillion for our military and we're protecting Korea and Japan and Saudi Arabia, can't they afford to give us a little bit back? And I really believe that ... Send them a bill!

Although Mr. Catsimatidis himself can't run for president, he expressed hope that perhaps one of his two children--John Jr. or Andrea--might be able to.

"You know, maybe either my son or my daughter," he said. "I hope I live to see it. I could be like Joe Kennedy and say, 'My kids are going to run for president!'"

His son was standing nearby and shrugged when we asked.

John Catsimatidis addresses the audience.

Earlier today, John Catsimatidis gave his mayoral campaign pitch to the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, and it was certainly not a humdrum affair. His initial speech, given as he stood in the backroom of a Cobble Hill Irish pub, went smoothly enough. When Mr. Catsimatidis veered into the question-and-answer period, however, the GOP candidate quarreled extensively with a multiple audience members.

"I still don't understand what your plan is," conservative activist Frank Russo told Mr. Catsimatidis, for example, about his job training program. "Quite frankly, I'm being honest. I'm not trying to be confrontational."

"That's public money, that's my money," another audience member chimed in about the proposal, which would train some young people trade skills early on in their careers. "You think it's okay to steal it!"

"No! No! No!" Mr. Catsimatidis boomed back, pausing for effect. “Bullshit! Go bullshit yourself if you want! ... The program is to teach these people the ability to earn a living, okay? ... I know how to make a living! I know how to teach people to make a living. You know, if you don't like it, tough!"

The verbal exchange continued. Mr. Russo, the head of the Brooklyn Tea Party club, said he was baffled at the tension.

"I'm a registered voter. I'm a Republican registered voter," he said. "I don't know whom I'm supporting. I don't know who I will vote for. Why would I vote for you if that's how you talk to people?"

"If that's the way you talk to me!" Mr. Catsimatidis exclaimed as the two attempted to shout over one another. "I am not scared. Let me tell you, I'm not scared of the 12 people that will be demonstrating at the bottom of the street saying, 'Oh, bap-bap-bap-bap.'"

This was not Mr. Catsimatidis' only heated back-and-forth during the meeting. Another questioner, Bay Ridge Republican gadfly Jim McCall, pressed the candidate on whether he'd get involved in elections for party leadership posts. The borough's one GOP elected official, State Senator Marty Golden, is currently trying to oust party chair Craig Eaton and Mr. McCall wanted Mr. Catsimatidis to stay out of the squabble.

"State committee and county committee, what does that mean?" Mr. Catsimatidis replied, confused. "Here's what I'm going to do. I will always support my friends--full stop! I will always support my friends--full stop! I still support my friends from grammar school, I still support my friends from Brooklyn Tech. And I'm not going to stop doing that ... Tough luck if you're not my friend! Tough luck if you're not my friend!"

"Maybe you'll get tough luck!" Mr. McCall snapped, attempting to be heard over Mr. Catsimatidis and the escalating noise in the room. "And a lot that rhymes with 'luck.'"

"Well, 'shit' doesn't rhyme with luck," Mr. Catsimatidis noted back. "If everybody wants to fight me, I'll be there! Next!"

Update (7:50 p.m.): Jessica Proud, spokeswoman for rival Republican candidate Joe Lhota, sent in a response to today's event.

"Anyone running for mayor should be able to offer substantive ideas and solutions to our city's problems without engaging in irrational and antagonistic exchanges with voters," she wrote in an email.

Below you can watch some of the sparring between Mr. Catsimatidis and Mr. Russo, courtesy of Jacob Kornbluh of the political blog NYC Elects -- 2013:

Dan Halloran. (Photo: Facebook)

A name familiar to millions of New Yorkers could enter a volatile Queens City Council race.

Rudy S. Giuliani, chief of staff to Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich and second cousin to the former mayor of the same name, is mulling a run for indicted GOP Councilman Dan Halloran's seat, multiple sources told Politicker.

"If there's a special election, it'd be hard to pass up," one Queens Republican insider said. "That's how he's framed it to me."

Mr. Giuliani is perhaps the only candidate who could keep the seat in their party's possession, two GOP sources argued, since Mr. Halloran was arrested two weeks ago for participating in an alleged bribery scheme and the Republican Party lacks a deep bench in the northeastern Queens district. The sources said Mr. Ulrich is encouraging Mr. Giuliani to run for the seat if Mr. Halloran does not seek re-election.

A special election, which would automatically occur if Mr. Halloran resigned or is convicted of a felony, could present a unique opportunity for a Republican candidate. A crowded field Democrats are already vying for the competitive seat, and as councilmanic special elections are non-partisan, a unified Republican front would be hard to defeat.

For his part, Mr. Giuliani denied interest in the race when Politicker reached out yesterday evening.

"Listen, as far as I'm concerned, there's still a sitting councilman. Anything else is premature right now," he said. "There's still a councilman."

Dennis Saffran, a Republican who ran against Mr. Halloran's predecessor, Democrat Tony Avella, in 2001, may also be weighing another run for the seat. Last year, Mr. Giuliani passed on his own bid against Mr. Avella, who's now in the State Senate.

Mr. Halloran has denied all wrongdoing.

Preet Bharara explaining the alleged bribery plot. (Photo: Getty)

"That's politics in New York," the New York Post's cover blared in stark black-and-white ink this morning. "It's all about the f--king money."

The quote, allegedly made from Councilman Dan Halloran to a cooperating witness, was revealed yesterday as U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara unsealed charges not only against Mr. Halloran, but State Sen. Malcolm Smith and a small slew of other political figures in what Mr. Bharara called "a corridor of corruption stretching from Queens and the Bronx to Rockland County and all the way up to Albany itself."

Specifically, Mr. Halloran is accused of "essentially quarterbacking" a scheme to secure Republican establishment support for Mr. Smith's mayoral bid. Mr. Smith, a Democrat, would need the blessing of three of the five county Republican organizations to run on the GOP line, and he allegedly arranged for cash bribes in his attempt to do so. But, looking more broadly, the strange scandal also shines light on these county organizations and their few remaining powers in city politics.

"County organizations, like political parties overall, are dinosaurs, left over from an age where they once ruled earth," said one Queens Republican operative. "These days, when the party says this is our candidate, the average voters says, 'What the fuck are you talking about?'"

Eliot Spitzer, a former state governor and attorney general, argued that because New York City is overwhelmingly Democratic, corruption is even more prevalent in local Republican organizations struggling to make an electoral impact with relatively little amounts of money and influence.

"I don't want to say this the wrong way," he said on Inside City Hall last night. "The Republican Party in this the city, because it's so weak, has been left with virtually nothing other than a series of wealthy benefactors who show up with money and therefore make the system in corrupt in virtually every way. Every party has this problem, but when you have a party with so little, money can buy the nomination."

Furthermore, the two Republican county organizations that have been engulfed in the scandal, Queens and the Bronx, are--according to multiple insiders--dysfunctional and verging on irrelevancy. The Bronx, for example, doesn't have a single Republican elected official, and the local party apparatus is mostly relegated to appointing patronage positions at the Board of Election and a vote to let non-Republicans run on their party's line--the sort of vote that is at the heart of the Smith scandal. "That's the biggest thing for them," a veteran Bronx politico explained. "Otherwise, they aren't really relevant."

The Queens GOP, when it isn't beset by infighting, has a less-than-sterling reputation itself, one highly-placed source with detailed knowledge of the county parties, told Politicker.

"Bronx Republican Chairman Joseph Savino and Queens GOP Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone are bitter enemies," the source claimed, naming two of the officials charged with accepting Mr. Smith's bribes. Mr. Tabone has since resigned. "They hate each other ...  [Mr. Tabone] and Phil Ragusa (Queens GOP Chair) are known as 'Super Mario Brothers' -- even the other Italians call them Mario and Luigi and wouldn't trust them to leave the tip at a diner."

The source additionally said that Mr. Smith's odds of getting into the Republican primary were "zero" because the Wilson Pakula authorization--the letter needed for a candidate to run on another party's line--involves more than simply bribing three top Republicans.

"See, the thing is, the Wilson Pakula letter is portrayed in the complaint as some document that 3 guys have to sign (3 of the 5 chairmen)," he continued. "The reality is, it's way harder to get that. ... So even if these guys were taking bribes for PROMISING to get Smith a WP letter, the reality is they had nearly no chance of actually delivering that letter."

In what may be the most bizarre aspect to this controversy, no one we spoke to thought Mr. Smith had a chance even if he somehow managed to bribe his way into the Republican fold. In addition to Mr. Smith's already badly-damaged brand thanks to a reported federal government probe into a nonprofit he funded with taxpayer dollars, the Republican mayoral field already contains several heavyweight contenders like former M.T.A. Chairman Joe Lhota and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis.

"Total stupidity, the whole thing! I mean, it's ridiculous!" former Senator Al D'Amato, a Republican, raged last night--on the same program as Mr. Spitzer. "They get players who are involved in government to be playing this almost childish, ridiculous game ... Bizarre beyond words. If Malcolm Smith could--first of all, he couldn't get the nomination, ... [but] what do you think he'd get? 3, 4, 5, 6 percent of the of the Republican primary voters to vote for him? I've never heard anything so stupid! And then this jackass who's a councilman ... to be involved in this thing, and for party leaders to be involved? Just one more stupid than the other."

In an AM 970 radio interview this morning, GOP Councilman Eric Ulrich--an outspoken rival of Mr. Ragusa's and Mr. Tabone's--largely concurred with this line of thinking.

"The whole thing is like something out of a movie or The Twilight Zone," he mused. “I mean, let's assume their plan had worked, does anyone think that with Joe Lhota and John Catsimatidis also in the race, that Malcolm Smith had any shot of winning a Republican primary? How stupid! The whole thing is stupid."

Although Mr. Smith's electoral plans could have simply been a fantasy in his own mind, some officials and good-government groups claim that the key takeaway from the allegations is the need to reform New York State's campaign finance system. Current Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated over $3 million to various state and county GOP organizations over the past decade, even after he left the Republican Party to run as an independent in 2009. He received their Wilson Pakula blessing in order to do so. And Mr. Catsimatidis, who used to employ Mr. Tabone in both his campaign and his company, has been plowing plenty of his own dollars into the various county parties himself.

"Our wild-west campaign finance laws have nurtured a culture of corruption in this state," Democratic Senator Liz Krueger told Politicker in a statement. "It has become accepted wisdom to too many people in New York politics that enough four- or five-figure checks, distributed to enough elected officials, can change anything and fix anything. At the same time, incumbents raise enormous amounts of money -- the lion's share of their money -- from the established interests that are lobbying them."

Reflecting on the multitude of political scandals that have rocked New York City in Albany in recent years, Ms. Krueger added, "The result is an environment where bribery schemes don't seem outlandish and wrong -- they seem pretty normal."

Malcolm Smith (Photo: Facebook)

Manhattan GOP Chair Dan Isaacs assured his supporters in an email today that he has nothing to do with the alleged political bribery scheme that has already led to six arrests across the state.

"Nonetheless, if anyone harbors concern that there is 'another shoe to drop' here in Manhattan, I want to take this opportunity to reassure you that there is not," Mr. Isaacs wrote. "Anyone who knows me and has worked with me during my involvement with the Republican Party knows that I value personal integrity over all else."

The Bronx Republican Party chair and Queens Republican Party executive vice chair were arrested yesterday, along with State Sen. Malcolm Smith and Councilman Dan Halloran, for allegedly taking part in a bribery scheme to try to land Mr. Smith, a Democrat, in the Republican primary. Jay Savino, the Bronx chair, allegedly received $15,000 and Mr. Tabone, the executive vice chair who resigned today, allegedly received $25,000 in bribe money.

Mr. Isaacs is not named in the criminal complaint, though there is a "County Chairman #1" and "County Chairman #2" in the complaint who are not accused of wrongdoing.

View his full letter below:

Dear Manhattan Republican:

I want to take this opportunity to reach out to you following yesterday's shocking and disturbing arrests of four elected officials and two political leaders that has garnered media attention nationwide.

The alleged actions of those arrested are an outrage and a complete betrayal of the public trust. With three Democrats and three Republicans arrested, it also shows that corruption is not limited to an exclusive partisan provenance.

As you can imagine, I received numerous media inquiries following yesterday's arrests. My response was simple: I believe that it is inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation, especially one where the allegations are so serious, until the appropriate authorities have been given the opportunity to completely and thoroughly conduct their investigation. I hope and expect that they will do so as quickly as possible and that justice will be served to anyone who has broken the law. No one is above the law.

Nonetheless, if anyone harbors concern that there is "another shoe to drop" here in Manhattan, I want to take this opportunity to reassure you that there is not. Anyone who knows me and has worked with me during my involvement with the Republican Party knows that I value personal integrity over all else. I demand it as much from myself as from those with whom I deal. There is an expectation and covenant that I have with those who have given me the responsibility to lead our local Republican organization which I simply will not betray.

Notwithstanding our collective disgust at yesterday's revelations, we still have a tremendous amount of work to do. The two frontrunners to be the Republican candidate for Mayor of the City of New York are clearly head-and-shoulders above all other candidates for that office. It is absolutely essential that we elect our party's candidate in November to ensure the future of our great city.

As you know, we are having our Spring Fling event tonight - an annual informal celebration designed to gather Republicans throughout Manhattan as we look forward to the coming campaign season. Tonight's event will be a good opportunity to begin to restore trust in the concept of an honest and participatory political process and I sincerely hope that you will join us. For more information, please visit the events calendar on our web site at www.nycrepublican.org/calendar.htm.

Thank you again for all you do on behalf of our local Republican organization.

Yours in a common cause,

Daniel W. Isaacs
Chairman
New York Republican County Committee

Former Congressman Bob Turner.

In the wake of bribery charges being brought against the Queens Republican Party's executive vice president, Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich is calling for former Congressman Bob Turner to the lead the party.

"I want to see Bob Turner as the next chairman and I want [Queens GOP Chair] Phil Ragusa to resign immediately," Mr. Ulrich told Politicker. "I believe Ragusa has an obligation to step aside. The only person who can bring peace and bring people together is Bob Turner because of his integrity, character and ability to work with people on different sides. He's very conciliatory."

Mr. Turner lost his congressional seat in the decennial redistricting process last year. He has been a rumored candidate to replace Mr. Ragusa, who angered some party insiders when he ran a primary opponent against Mr. Ulrich's State Senate bid last year--the latest in what has been an ongoing feud between the party's two factions. For his part, Mr. Ulrich also tried and failed to oust Mr. Ragusa in 2011.

Mr. Ulrich further said he was shocked that his colleague, Republican Councilman Dan Halloran, was charged with participating in an alleged bribery scheme to land Democratic State Sen. Malcolm Smith in the Republican primary, but was not surprised Vince Tabone, the executive vice president of the Queens GOP, was arrested as well.

"I've said all along and believe for a long time that [Mr. Tabone] and several others involved with county leadership have betrayed the public trust," Mr. Ulrich said. "They don' t stand for principals or ideology. They stand for themselves and financial gain. Now that the feds have gotten wind of this, they must be brought to justice. They should be prosecuted and held accountable for their actions."

A spokesman for Mr. Turner did not immediately return a request for comment. Mr. Ragusa didn't return a request for comment, either.

(Photo: Getty)

John Catsimatidis may be campaigning for mayor on the Republican line, but the billionaire businessman is willing to cross the party aisle for his consultants. Accordingly, Mr. Catsimatidis hired Millennial Strategies LLC, a political shop stacked with mostly Democratic operatives.

Brad Gerstman, a partner at the firm, told Politicker that Mr. Catsimatidis is their only Republican client, but given New York City's Democratic tilt, the move makes plenty of sense for the GOP Gracie Mansion hopeful.

"We expect to get through as a winner of the primary," Mr. Gerstman said last week. "He needs to endear himself to Democratic voters and I think it's natural for John."

Mr. Gerstman said his lobbying organization, Gotham Government Relations & Communications, is more bipartisan, however, and has had a relationship with Mr. Catsimatidis for some time.

Of course, Mr. Catsimatidis won't be the first mayoral candidate to sign up operatives from multiple political parties. Current Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who's also a billionaire, prominently hired Howard Wolfson, for example, even though the former national Democratic strategist had worked against him in the past.

(Photo: Mirocznik campaign)

For local races, New York City overwhelmingly tilts towards the Democratic Party and there are only a handful of Council campaigns with the potential to be competitive in this November. The race for outgoing GOP Councilman Jimmy Oddo's seat is likely to be one of them. And, according to a source active in local politics, the Democratic establishment is backing Mendy Mirocznik, a non-practing rabbi and lawyer, for the Staten Island district.

“We’re seeing fewer education dollars, less transportation options, deteriorating roads and there seems to be no relief in sight," Mr. Mirocznik said in a statement announcing his candidacy yesterday. "Meanwhile, our small-businesses, the economic engine, of our community are struggling to survive - that is not a recipe for recovery. We need an advocate who will reverse this trend and bring real results for Mid-Islanders, and I believe I can do that.”

Despite the establishment support, Mr. Mirocznik, who also serves as the President of the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island, is set to face primary opposition. John Mancuso, who waged an unsuccessful campaign against Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis last year, announced his own campaign over the weekend.

The Republican field is also heating up, with Mr. Oddo strongly supporting his chief of staff, Steve Matteo, for the job, as elements of the Staten Island GOP back party vice chair Lisa Giovinazzo.

(Photo: Getty)

Early on in the mayoral race, the head of the Brooklyn Republican Party, Craig Eaton, was solidly in the corner of former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, whom he declared to be a potential "gamechanger" for the party as it seeks to retain its hold on City Hall. Mr. Carrión, however, is a registered independent and would need the support of three of the five county chairs to run in the Republican primary. As Mr. Carrión has only been able to secure the backing of two, Mr. Eaton told Politicker that he's now "leaning heavily" towards endorsing another candidate, billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis.

"We've been friends with John Catsimatidis a long time and we supported him last go around [in 2009] when he was looking to run," Mr. Eaton said earlier this afternoon. "We were on the sidelines with Adolfo since he came into the race and were looking to endorse Adolfo. However, it doesn't appear that we're going to get a third Republican chairman on board. About a month ago, I mentioned that if we don't get a third Republican chairman on board, then John would probably be the heir-apparent of the Brooklyn GOP. ... You can say that we're leaning John Catsimatidis at this point. "

Should he endorse Mr. Catsimatidis, Mr. Eaton would be joining the Queens and Manhattan GOP chairmen who have already declared their support for Mr. Catsimatidis. Staten Island chair Bob Scamardella had been leaning towards a third Republican, Joe Lhota, but surprisingly resigned at the end of last month, leaving that borough's situation a little more murky. The fifth chair, Bronx's Jay Savino, was backing Mr. Carrión's bid, but is also reportedly set to switch over to Mr. Catsimatidis should his first choice falter.

Nevertheless, the party's field is set to be a crowded, four-way affair even without Mr. Carrión, as publisher Tom Allon and Doe Fund founder George McDonald additionally compete for the nomination.

(Photo: Facebook)

Earlier today, the New York State Republican Party employed a sexual innuendo in its push for Governor Andrew Cuomo to reform so-called unfunded mandates, which require local governments to contribute to state social programs without the funding for them, so that local tax relief can be passed on to struggling municipalities.

"So Governor, How big is your mandate relief package?" the party asked in a Facebook image featuring Mr. Cuomo making a rather suggestive gesture indicating a small object.

The rest of the Facebook post focused on the substance of the issue rather than ribald humor, linking to a press release signed by a host of Republican county executives and declaring, “Unfunded mandates are crushing New York's counties. Yesterday, 11 County Executives released a joint statement calling for mandate relief. Your move, Governor Cuomo."

Politicker reached out to the State GOP spokesman David Laska to ask about the PG-13 joke and he said the humor was "absolutely" a "great way to get our message out."

"The solutions are there but what's missing is a leader who can do anything about it," Mr. Laska said, stressing the importance of Mr. Cuomo heeding Republican and Democratic calls to reform the state's local mandates.

We also inquired as to whether there might be some unintended irony in making the joke, as the State Republican Party is headed by a man named "Ed Cox."

"I'm going to leave that one to you, Colin," Mr. Laska replied.