(Photo: Facebook)

Assemblyman Micah Kellner has maxed out.

In 53 days, Mr. Kellner, a candidate for Upper East Side Councilwoman Jessica Lappin's seat this year, has raised over $123,000 from over 440 donors, his campaign announced this morning. The total makes Mr. Kellner one of the strongest fundraisers in the city and effectively means he can't raise any more money for the decisive Democratic primary while accepting public matching funds.

"Over 225 in-district contributions, three times the 75 required to receive matching funds. Kellner’s disclosure highlighted strong community support across the district," his campaign noted. "Nearly $40,000 in matchable donations, almost eight times the $5,000 threshold needed to receive matching claims. Widespread support from grassroots donors and activists. 320 contributions were for $175 or less, the maximum contribution amount to receive a 6 to 1 match."

Mr. Kellner's main opponent, attorney Ben Kallos, raised about $43,000 last year but has yet to file his latest report since then. Attorney Ed Hartzog also has yet to provide his new numbers--due later today--but previously posted approximately $8,000. And college professor Hill Krishnan, a disco-dancing former Bollywood "bad guy," brings up the rear with $3,000.

Ms. Lappin is vacating her seat to run for Manhattan Borough President.

Micah Kellner (Photo: Facebook)

Upper East Side Assemblyman Micah Kellner's campaign for the City Council got a nice boost this morning with the official endorsements of the neighborhood's congresswoman, Carolyn Maloney, and the woman whose job he's aiming to grab, Jessica Lappin.

“I wholeheartedly endorse Micah Kellner for City Council. I have been honored to represent the 5th District for the last seven years and know he will make an outstanding Council Member for our community," Ms. Lappin said in a press release. "One example of his success was passing a landmark law to protect New Yorkers with chronic and life-threatening diseases from prescription drug price gouging at the hands of insurance companies," she continued. "His experience, creativity and accomplishments give Micah the best qualifications to be our next City Council Member. I look forward to voting for him and will be proud to call him my Council Member.”

Ms. Lappin is vacating her district to run for Manhattan Borough President, leaving a field of aspiring council members to compete for the position.

Attorney Ben Kallos has been the most aggressive fundraiser in the race and would appear likely to be Mr. Kellner's main rival, with dancing professor Hill Krishnan and gaffe-prone community board member Ed Hartzog rounding out the pack. Mr. Kallos was previously endorsed by former Public Advocate Mark Green.

(Photo: Facebook)

Step aside Joe Lhota, you're not the only one who registered a new campaign account today.

Assemblyman Micah Kellner, who had been "inching" towards a City Council campaign as far back as April of last year, officially pulled the trigger by forming "KELLNER 2013" and, in a statement, announced the bid as the next step towards representing his Upper East Side constituents.

"I entered public service to tackle the tough issues, and to fight for our community. This year presents a new opportunity to serve by running for New York's 5th City Council district," Mr. Kellner said. "In 2013, New Yorkers will elect a new Mayor and a new City Council. Our city needs experienced leaders who can get to work on day one. As a member of the City Council, I will be able to use my legislative experience to make a difference for New Yorkers when it matters most. I am humbled by the early encouragement that I have received from community leaders and I am very excited to take this next step."

Mr. Kellner won't have the field to himself, however, and there are a number of other candidates in the race, including attorney Benjamin Kallos and adjunct professor Hill Krishnan, who is notable for his impeccable dance moves.

The incumbent, Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, is leaving a vacant seat behind her as she campaigns for Manhattan Borough President.

Update (4:45 p.m.):  In a statement touting his résumé and not mentioning his new electoral rival by name, Mr. Kallos welcomed Mr. Kellner with some critical words:

Dan Squadron last night, reportedly bowling a strike. (photo: @pristind)

At a Brooklyn Bowl fundraiser last night, State Senator Dan Squadron may have very well picked up his first endorsement from an elected official in his unannounced campaign for the Public Advocate's Office: Assemblyman Micah Kellner. Bill de Blasio, the current inhabitant of that office, is widely expect to mount a campaign for mayor, leaving a vacancy behind him, and Mr. Kellner is openly backing him to fill that position.

"I am definitely urging him and encouraging him and trying to draft him to run for Public Advocate," Mr. Kellner said, offering to head efforts to round up votes for Mr. Squadron on the Upper East Side. "We're going to have a new mayor in 2014, and probably a new public advocate and we need somebody who's smart enough to stand with the mayor when he or she is right, and we need someone who is strong enough to stand up to the mayor when he or she is wrong."

"He is so smart and savvy in being able to build consensus and actually achieve real successes," he said, adding that the residents of his district will benefit if Mr. Squadron is successful in his efforts -- along with Mr. de Blasio's -- to get fireworks on the East River for future Fourth of Julys.

Two other candidates have been raising money and campaigning for Mr. de Blasio's job so far: Councilwoman Tish James and former deputy public advocate Reshma Saujani. Interestingly, Ms. Saujani is most notable for her high-profile, unsuccessful congressional campaign against Upper East Side Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, but Mr. Kellner wasn't especially enthused with her candidacy.

"I have not heard from her campaign," he said. "After spending $1.5 million dollars, to barely be a blip on the screen for congress, I'm not sure if she's a strong candidate."

In the Brooklyn part of his district, Mr. Squadron is known as a rival of Brooklyn Democratic boss Assemblyman Vito Lopez.  And although Mr. Kellner endorsed Mr. Lopez's candidate for congress in that same area this year, he'll certainly be on a different page than him in the public advocate's race next year.

"I like Vito, Vito's been very generous in his advice to me," Mr. Kellner said of the situation. "I have to look at the individual candidate, look at the race, look at the field of candidates. ... I try and support the person who I think is going to be the best candidate."

Benjamin Kallos (Photo: Facebook)

Attorney Benjamin Kallos might be off and running with his Upper East Side City Council campaign, but he had nothing but kind words to describe one of his top potential opponents, Assemblyman Micah Kellner. Mr. Kellner has not made any formal decision, but a source close to him previously told The Politicker he was "inching" towards a run.

"I think he's been doing a good job," Mr. Kallos said when asked of Mr. Kellner's record in the Assembly at his redistricting-themed fundraiser earlier this week. "Assemblyman Kellner does represent me, I actually live in the 65th Assembly District."

Mr. Kallos proceeded to reference his work with Mr. Kellner when he was chief of staff to a neighboring district's Assemblyman, as well as recently on his own passion of data transparency legislation.

"When I was Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Jonathan Bing I had the privilege of working with him a lot of key issues in the district," he, proceeding to tick off a range of local issues. "I've always had a comfortable working relationship with his office. When Gale Brewer introduced the open data bill in the City Council I was actually happy to work with him and his office in introducing an open data bill in the state."

"I've with worked closely with his office," he added. "I'm really happy with the legislation he's introduced."

Also in the race, which won't take place until 2013, are attorney Nico Minerva and disco-dancing adjunct professor Hill Krishnan. The seat is open as the current occupant, Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, is expected to run for Manhattan Borough President.

Benjamin Kallos (Photo: Facebook)

Benjamin Kallos, an attorney and consultant, said in an interview today that will seek the seat currently held by Democratic Councilwoman Jessica Lappin. Councilwoman Lappin is thought to be running for Manhattan Borough President, where the incumbent, Scott Stringer, is expected to run for Mayor.

Should that set of dominoes fall in place, Mr. Kallos stated he "absolutely" will campaign for the seat and has already opened a 2013 campaign committee for the endeavor.

Mr. Kallos, a former Chief of Staff for Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, previously campaigned for the seat in 2009 when Ms. Lappin, whom Mr. Kallos calls "amazing," was contemplating her own campaign for Public Advocate. After she decided to run for reelection instead, Mr. Kallos dropped his bid.

Currently Mr. Kallos works at the New Roosevelt Initiative where he focuses on government transparency projects. He notably helped develop websites aiming to increase such transparency in the past and said he would like to translate some of these efforts into government policy. Making hundreds of thousands of government documents publicly accessible, he says, would be "a huge job creator," as it can allow businesses and individuals to operate more efficiently in unexpected ways.

Other candidates mentioned for the seat include Assembly Members Dan Quart and Micah Kellner, although neither has publicly signaled their interest.

A new sign for the Ed Koch Bridge, at 56th Street and 1st Avenue in Manhattan. (sent by a reader)

2012: "Clinton poked a little light-hearted fun" at Perry. [Newsmax.com]

2012: The firemen who heard Clinton's remarks laughed. [NY Post]

2012: The story gets picked up by the wires. [AP]

2012: Romney notes only other candidate with private sector experience is Herman Cain. [S.A. Miller / NY Post]

2012: Perry touts "We created more jobs than any other state in the nation - from June of 2009 until present…Nobody in this race can say that." [Huffington Post]

2012: "I can think of no reason why anyone who, for some unaccountable reason, supports Michele Bachmann will not move over to Perry." [Richard Cohen / Daily News]

2012: "Republicans have yet to articulate a clear and compelling case for the White House -- other than that they’re 'not Obama.'” [NY Post]

2012: "Both parties’ primary systems give far too much weight to a small coterie of true believers." [New York Times]

2013: "[Quinn] is unapologetic about her move to the middle, and brushes off her critics as 'naïve' ideologues. 'There’s very few things in life…where there are angels and devils. Everything is usually more complicated than that.' ” [David Chen / New York Times]

NY-9: Schumer to endorse Weprin. [Celeste Katz / Daily News]

NY-9: Turner defends opposition to Park51 and use of 9/11 imagery. "I'm not even remotely backing off it." [Michael Saul / WSJ]

NY-9: "[Turner's] campaign is geared around nationalizing the race and winning the support of Democrats who are dissatisfied with the president." [Alex Isenstadt / Politico]

VP: Biden was in the Hamptons with tech entrepreneur David Bohnett and his partner, Tom Gregory. [Page Six / NY Post]

Transporting Cuomo: "It cost New York about $13,000 to shuttle Gov. Andrew Cuomo on state-owned aircract for six months." [AP]

Reading Cuomo: He "seemed rudderless when it came to the Port Authority." [Bill Hamond / Daily News]

County Chairman: "With strong hints from statewide Democrats close to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that his services are no longer required, [Erie County Democratic Chairman Len] Lenihan is quietly slipping out the door." [Robert McCarthy / Buffalo News]

Ethics: "The new commission will mark the first time an independent body has been in charge of overseeing legislative ethics." [Jon Campbell / Poughkeepsie Journal]

Labor: CSEA ratifies deal with Cuomo; avoids layoffs. [Democrat and Chronicle]

Labor: Unofficial vote was 60-40 in favor of the contract. [Rick Karlin / Times Union]

Labor: CSEA ratification is a big win for Cuomo. [Erik Kriss / NY Post]

Labor: "[R]atification also goes a long way toward validating Mr. Cuomo’s strategy for dealing with public workers." [Thomas Kaplan / New York Times]

City Council: Former Councilman Jennings is best-funded challenger to Ruben Wills. [Lisa Colangelo / Daily News]

Taxis: Assemblyman Kellner urges Cuomo to block Bloomberg's taxi plan until more cabs are handicap accessible. [Ken Lovett / Daily News]

Monroe: Incumbent GOP County Exec seeks unprecedented third term; Dem challenger vows to create integrity office. [Jill Terreri / Democrat and Chronicle]

World Police & Fire Games: No events on Staten Island. [Judy Randall / SI Advance]

Third Party: New SI chairman of Libertarian Party is Dave Narby. [Tom Wrobleski / SI Advance]

Fire: Judge blocks Bloomberg plan to eliminate emergency call boxes. [Benjamin Weiser / New York Times]

Health: State health officials support Oswego County's decision not to spray insecticides, despite "a dozen positive tests for Eastern equine encephalitis this summer and the death of a 4-year-old girl." [Teri Weaver / Post-Standard]

Taxes: GOP candidates are proposing "most radically conservative positions of any set of candidates at least since Barry M. Goldwater in 1964." [Steven Rattner / New York Times]

And Attorney General Schneiderman's push against a settlement with BofA gets a boost from Nevada's Attorney General. [David McLaughlin / Business Week]

Kellner chided the city's "Taxi of Tomorrow" for being "the delivery van of yesterday."

Yassky - a bookish, former law school professor with a dry sense of humor - wrote "And can we please schedule time to debate what a 'van' is." That was a sarcastic reference to what Kellner wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

(Kellner, that day, wrote, "Mayor Bloomberg and David Yassky would prefer to debate the definition of 'van' is instead of making all cabs accessible. Was a third term really necessary for this disgrace?")

After Yassky's comments today, Kellner, who has taken up the mantle of disability access as a key legislative aim, responded, "I'll leave that to the lawyers at the Department of Justice."