People watch a television broadcast reporting the North Korea's nuclear test at the Seoul Railway station. (Photo: Getty)

While Korean media in New York City was abuzz with the news that North Korea had conducted its third nuclear test, the radioactive blast left members of the city's Korean community decidedly nonplussed.

Although New York's biggest dailies were still fixated on the Pope's recently-announced abdication, the Korea Times and Korean Daily News, two largest Korean-language newspapers in New York, splashed news of the test on their front pages. Myungsuk Lee, publisher of the Korean American Times, told Politicker the local Korean community was worried, but have also grown somewhat desensitized to North Korea's nuclear threats. For Korean-Americans, who virtually all emigrated from South Korea, northern leader Kim Jong-un's nuclear test--the first under his new reign--did not come as a surprise, he said, but rather as a somewhat routine development.

"We feel agitated, but it's not that serious," Mr. Lee explained. "North Korea is isolated and this is just a way for them to show their military strength. This made headlines in every daily newspaper in the Korean language, radio, television, which means that's the biggest news of today. But it tends to be like this, it's been like this several time before. Koreans take it for granted."

In Manhattan's Koreatown, Mr. Lee's sentiment was echoed by several people we spoke with. No one questioned about the nuclear test seemed particularly panicked.

"As a South Korean person, actually, I don't give a damn," said Doo Young Cho, an elderly man standing near 5th Avenue. "I don't think it will lead to anything."

Moonsoo Shim, a cashier in a Korean bookstore on 32nd Street, was not quite as defiant as Mr. Cho, but he said he was not scared.

"It's weird and I am a bit worried, but I am not scared of North Korea," he said.

Two young men smoking outside a restaurant were at first reluctant to talk about the nuclear test, but one of them, wearing designer jeans and sleek black glasses, smiled through puffs of smoke.

"I don't really care about that," he said of the North Korean test. "It takes a very long time for them to do what they want to do."

However, not everyone we spoke with was as unconcerned about the test. Ron Kim, New York's first and only Korean elected official, insisted Koreans here were "sick and tired" of the repeated threats from the North and said uncertainty Kim Jong-un contributed to fears in the community.

"I think each test is taken very seriously," Mr. Kim, a Queens Assemblyman, said. "I have cousins in South Korea. You can see that in social media, the younger generation is tweeting about it. It is taken very seriously every time and there's new leadership in North Korea. We don't know the kind of rationale this person has which further fuels paranoia."

A map of New York City's State Senate districts.

It's Election Day in New York next Thursday! But instead of a titanic battle between ideologies--your Mitt Romneys vs. Barack Obamas, if you will--the options on the ballot will be little-noticed state legislative contests between candidates of the same party, often with few policy differences.

However, that doesn't mean that there aren't some exciting races happening. From "Who Gets Arrested for Raping a Grandmother?" to “Assemblywoman Caught Up in Sex Scandal with Two Young Men,” there's been no shortage of nasty drama and mud slinging as voters head to the polls.

Here's a breakdown of who's running and why it might matter who wins. The list below focuses on Democratic races because the few Republican primaries in this staunchly blue city tend to have clear favorites or are taking place in such Democratic territory that the victor is reasonably likely to be irrelevant.

So, without further ado...

Category #1: The End of the Rainbow

Four Republicans crossed the aisle to help pass gay marriage in New York last year, and three of them are running for re-election this year, Senators Mark Grisanti, Steve Saland and Roy McDonald, are all facing primary challengers that have come out on the opposite side of the marriage issue.

Advocates on both sides of the debate have invested heavily in these races, and regardless of the outcome, the results are sure to help set a national narrative about what happens to Republicans who support gay marriage. Can otherwise conservative lawmakers survive the backlash, or will their unorthodoxies topple their political careers? As state legislatures across this country consider passing gay marriage themselves, these three races could impact the discussion.

And with campaign literature like this, these races won't be short on fireworks.

Category #2: Indictment Excitement

There are a number of elected officials running for re-election with various criminal allegations hanging over their heads. If the more ethically challenged ones win and are eventually convicted of abusing their offices, the results of these races might send a depressing message about the state of the electorate. (They have all maintained their innocence.)

State Senator Shirley Huntley, who was arrested a couple weeks ago on charges that she used member items to line the pockets of her friends and family, is facing a very strong primary challenge from Councilman James Sanders. Even before Ms. Huntley's legal troubles, Mr. Sanders was mounting a credible primary challenge, as his base in Far Rockaway was drawn into her southeastern Queens district in this year's redistricting process. Mr. Sanders has also picked up support from a number of unions and the influential Rev. Floyd Flake, making this race seem like it's his to lose at this point.

Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. currently stands accused of one of the more hilarious acts of alleged official impropriety in recent memory -- taking bribes to pay for his legal bills he ran up in a separate bribery case. It's not clear if Mr. Boyland intends to fight the federal charges again or accept a plea deal, but the indictment--with wiretap evidence--seems pretty damning. Damning enough that he'd have a much harder re-election bid ahead of him if it weren't for the fact that he's facing eight (!) challengers who will split the anti-Boyland vote. With such a large field, it's difficult to get a clear read on this Brownsville and Ocean Hill-based district, but activist Tony Herbert and campaign operative Anthony Jones seems to be running some of the stronger non-Boyland campaigns.

Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera is being investigated by a small army of agencies on whether she may have illegally provided jobs to her boyfriends and used a nonprofit's funds for personal and political purposes. She faces a field of three opponents, but businessman Mark Gjonaj is running the most serious campaign of the bunch, with over $200,000 in his war chest and substantial investments in advertising and field operations. Ms. Rivera won't go down without a fight, however, and the Bronx Democratic establishment is pulling out all the stops to ensure she pulls out a victory. Will she be able to survive the barrage of bad headlines that have dogged her for the last few weeks and make it through Election Day?

Category #3: Rage Against the Machine

While Ms. Rivera's race features a classic establishment vs. insurgent dynamic, it's hardly the only one. Candidates across every borough except Staten Island are running against the folks who are currently in charge. Nowhere is this dynamic more pronounced than Brooklyn, where scandal-scarred Kings County Democratic boss Vito Lopez is still ostensibly in control and has yet to formally relinquish power. If anti-County candidates succeed, it will weaken the organizations' ability to convince mayoral contenders and other candidates they are still top dogs in this city.

District Leader Lincoln Restler is considered a rising star in Democratic politics, but before he can continue rising, he's going to have to win a tough reelection battle. Mr. Restler, a prominent critic of Mr. Lopez, would be cruising to reelection but for the fact his opponent, Chris Olechowski, is destined to receive the majority of the ballots in vote-heavy Hasidic Williamsburg. It seems like all the winds are blowing in Mr. Restler's favor, but given the bloc of votes against him, this will be a race that plenty of political observers will be following Thursday night.

Senator Martin Dilan may or may not be vulnerable, but given his close alliance with Mr. Lopez and the fact that his senate district overlaps with Mr. Lopez's assembly seat, his reelection race will serve as a test for the machine in Brooklyn's new political world. While Mr. Dilan would appear to have the edge, attorney Jason Otaño is mounting a vigorous campaign. If Mr. Otaño can make a strong showing, he could be a strong candidate in the future, at the very least.

Open Seat to replace outgoing Assemblywoman Grace Meng: A crowded field of candidates is vying to replace Ms. Meng--who left the her diverse seat based in Asian-majority Flushing to pursue a congressional campaign. The County's Democratic Party has backed Ron Kim, a former government aide and political operative, but his electoral prospects are far from clear. Ms. Meng has stayed out of the race and a number of other hopefuls, notably former City Council candidate Yen Chou, are in Mr. Kim's way. The other entrants in this unpredictable race are; Ethel Chen, Myungsuk Lee and Martha Flores-Vasquez.

Open seat to replace outgoing Assemblyman Rory Lancman: Mr. Lancman lost to Ms. Meng in her congressional race's Democratic primary and isn't pursuing reelection. His seat, like Ms. Meng's, is an Asian-majority district in northeastern Queens, but the field couldn't be more different as it features just two non-Asian candidates: community board chairman Jerry Iannece and former assembly chief of staff Nily Rozic. Queens Democrats are pushing hard for Mr. Iannece, and he would seem to be favored as a result. However, Ms. Rozic has picked up a number of notable endorsements, including The New York Times and various unions, creating a genuine horse race between the two.

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, who's also running for reelection in a Queens district that has been reconfigured to be Asian-majority, shouldn't really be that vulnerable without any major blunders in office and a reliably Democratic voting record. However, she only won 45 percent of the vote  in 2010 against two challengers. With a district that now includes new areas, she's facing a rematch against one of her 2010 foes, John Messer. Mr. Messer, a businessman and attorney, has his placed his personal wealth in the campaign too, to the tune of $500,000. Ms. Stavisky, with close ties to her senate colleagues and Queens County, has been doing plenty of her own fundraising and running an aggressive campaign, however.

Open seat to replace outgoing Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries: Mr. Jeffries is on his way to become Brooklyn's next congressman and he's leaving a vacant Fort Greene and Clinton Hill-based district behind him. Three contenders are hoping to replace him; Walter Mosley, Ola Alabi and Martine Guerrier. Mr. Mosley has the support of Mr. Jeffries, who has a strong base in the district, but Ms. Alabi has been racking up endorsements and doesn't appear to be someone who can be easily counted out. Ms. Guerrier recently earned the endorsement of The Times and could potentially make an electoral mark of her own come Election Day.

Open seat: Pretty much everyone and their mother has endorsed community board chairman Brad Hoylman to replace retiring Senator Tom Duane in his Midtown-based district, but businessman Tommy Greco is hoping he can make a dent with the help of the storied McManus Club. It wold be a pretty surprising upset for Mr. Greco to pull off a victory, however.
.
.

Category #4: Demographic Pressures

Like it or not, voting patterns often correspond with with ethnicity and political candidates often seek to take advantage of this fact. Some incumbents hold on year after year in districts that don't exactly look like them, while others have seen their districts change beneath their feet since they were first elected. Sometimes it all comes down to the political talents of the incumbents, while in other cases, there just might not be a path to victory anymore.

Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz is facing a challenge from Ben Akselrod in a race that could demonstrate electoral power of southeastern Brooklyn's Russian-speaking community. Mr. Akselrod, who started off with a strong campaign, stumbled a bit lately when he release a campaign mailer that referred to crime going up in the "negrohood," a mistake that generated local and national coverage. Whoever wins will be one of the more vulnerable Democratic candidates in the city, as the district's Russian and Orthodox Jews communities are increasingly trending conservative at the ballot box.

In a race that will test demographic realities to their very limit, veteran Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs is hoping she can be successfully reelected again in a district that is only 15% white. She is facing a serious challenge from District Leader Rodneyse Bichotte, who is of Caribbean descent. Ms. Jacobs, a high-ranking member of the State Assembly, is hoping for high turnout in the district's observant Jewish community.

Assemblyman Mike Miller is running for reelection in a district that contains Woodhaven and is plurality Latino. He faces off against Etienne David Adorno, who seems to be mounting a spirited campaign. If Mr. Miller's fundraising were just a tad stronger, this might not be a race to watch, but his campaign war chest is fairly weak for an incumbent.
.
.

Category #5: Odds & Ends

There are some races to keep your thumb on that might not fit into an overarching narrative, but could still be well-worth watching for various reasons. More details below.

State Senator Adriano Espaillat, who narrowly lost a campaign against veteran Rep. Charlie Rangel earlier this year, is now running for reelection and facing a Rangel-backed challenger in Guillermo Linares. Mr. Linares, who's been endorsed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and The New York Times, hasn't been holding his own in fundraising, but Mr. Espaillat has been spending lots of money and would appear to have the edge in this Washington Heights and West Side-based district. Mr. Espaillat is a leading contender for Mr. Rangel's seat in 2014, but his political career could be nipped in the bud if Mr. Linares is able to pull off an upset.

Open seat: With Mr. Linares' challenge to Mr. Espaillat, there's a new vacant Assembly district on the northern tip of Manhattan, and several contenders, including Mr. Linares' daughter Mayra Linares, are hoping to replace him. The other candidates include Assembly aide Gabriela Rosa and former candidate Ruben Vargas. Ms. Rosa, who is backed by Mr. Espaillat, and Ms. Linares, who is obviously being supported by her father, would appear to be the frontrunners. How much Mr. Espaillat and Mr. Linares can impact this race is unknown, however, as both may be focused on their own rivalry.

Councilman Charles Barron has made headlines in recent years with provocative campaigns for governor and congress, both of which he lost badly. However, Mr. Barron is not ready to exit stage right just yet. Insiders believe Mr, Barron and his wife, Assemblywoman Inez Barron, may intend to switch offices  and keep their respective seats in the family when he is term-limited in 2013. First, Ms. Barron will have to succeed in her own re-election bid against Chris Banks.

Moshe and Avraham Tischler, brothers who are 20 and 21 years old respectively, are challenging incumbent Assemblyman Dov Hikind and frontrunner State Senate candidate Simcha Felder for two overlapping Brooklyn seats. While neither is especially likely to win, should they post strong showings, it could be taken as a sign of weakness for the two establishment pols they're opposing, as well as the Orthodox Jewish political establishment at-large. Mr. Hikind doesn't have a GOP opponent but Mr. Felder is running against incumbent Republican Senator David Storobin, and he'll need Democrats on his side in the general election.

Assemblywoman Barbara Clark's ethical issues aren't quite enough to land her in the "Indictment Excitement" category, but attorney Clyde Vanel is running an active campaign and is hoping that voter dissatisfaction could lead to an upset in her eastern Queens district.
.
.
.

.
Veteran Assemblyman Nick Perry shouldn't necessarily be vulnerable, but his opponent, attorney and community board chairman Terry Hinds, has a relatively strong profile.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well, there you have it. For those who really want to get into the weeds, there are also a number of competitive court races across the city. Otherwise, this list should be more than enough to keep you busy on Election Day. Politicker, of course, will be up late into the night following the results.

(Photo: NY Post/James Messerschmidt)

Just over a week ago, Queens Assembly candidate Myungsuk Lee held a press conference denouncing the New York Post for publishing reports of his newspaper, the Korean American Times, containing ads for prostitution services. At the conference, he reportedly vowed to sue the tabloid for defamation and libel, in addition to seeking a face-to-face sit down with the Post's chief editor to discuss the publication's bias "against Korean-American community at large."

Well, it looks like Mr. Lee backed down.

“Personally, I want to send a letter to the Post, but my political consultants advised me not to do it,” he told the Queens Courier while denying he intended to file a lawsuit. “It makes it worse.”

And even though Mr. Lee apologized in the original Post report, he said that was not in fact an admission of guilt.

“If you see my newspaper’s back pages, there are a lot of massage businesses on Northern Boulevard and Union Street. They’re all legal businesses. ... I acknowledged it at the time because I trusted the New York Post reporter,” he said. “But I called the massage business the New York Post visited and they said they are just a regular massage business.”

Mr. Lee is facing off in a crowded Democratic primary to replace Assemblywoman Grace Meng, who's now candidate for Congress in northeastern Queens. Joining Mr. Lee are Ron Kim, Yen Chou, Ethel Chen, John Scandalios and Martha Flores-Vazquez.

Mr. Lee reportedly held a press conference last Friday arguing that the alleged brothels are, in fact, legal businesses, and said he would seek to file a lawsuit against the Post for defamation and libel. In a translation provided to The Politicker, Mr. Lee further said he would seek a face-to-face discussion with the publication's management, which he said produces articles "against Korean-American community at large."

Of course, defamation lawsuits against political figures are notoriously difficult to prove in the United States as they require significant evidence of malicious intent. But Mr. Lee likely feels that he needs to push back in order to succeed in the September 13th primary, where he is competing against Democrats Ron Kim, Yen Chou, Ethel Chen, John Scandalios and Martha Flores-Vazquez.

View two translations of Korean news reports of the press conference below:

Korean Times N.Y.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Page A-3
Reporter: Jin Woo Cho

“These are not an illegal brothel businesses…they are legal,” Myungsuk Lee said, adding “(We) will take legal action against the New York Post” for defamation of character.

Myungsuk Lee, a Democratic primary candidate for District 40’s State Assembly seat in Queens, said he will take legal action against New York Post regarding the article that exposed illegal sex ads in his paper, Korean American Times.

Lee held a press conference on Friday, July 20, at Kum Gang San Restaurant, claiming that “We concluded that all the businesses that were said to be illegal brothel businesses by New York Post operating in legal manner.” Lee added, “Obviously, this is driven by political maneuvers behind the scenes and is being manipulated in malicious manner.”

He also promised that “On Monday, July 23rd, I will send complaint letter to the chief editor of New York Post and request a face-to-face talk. If New York Post cannot answer in responsible manner, we will file a lawsuit against them for defamation and libel.”

Myungsuk Lee, during the conference, has also told the reporters that he will withdraw the objection to petition signatures that he filed against another Korean-American candidate, Ron Kim, who is running for the same seat in Assembly, and that Mr. Kim should also take same action. He has also talked to reporters that there should be a mutual understanding and cooperation between him and Mr. Kim to refrain from any accusation, lawsuit, or objections against each other while working together towards making a single Korean-American candidate.

New York Ilbo
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Page A-2
Reporter: Jae Han Park

Considering the questions surrounding his newspaper business as “political maneuvers behind the scene against a Korean-American candidate,” Myungsuk Lee, plans to take strong action against the New York Post.

Myungsuk Lee, who is running for the 40th Assembly District seat in September’s Democratic primary, held a press conference on Friday, July 20 at Kum Gang San Restaurant to state his official stance against New York Post exposure of illegal prostitution-related advertisements in his paper, the Korean American Times. He also announced his suggestion to Ron Kim for a civil campaign. Kim is also running for the same seat in the State Assembly.

Lee has stated his position against New York Post articles, which were covered on July 16 and 17, exposing his newspaper’s advertisements of illegal brothel businesses during the press conference.

He stated that “New York Post articles are against Korean-American community at large” and claimed it to be “political maneuvers” since it was launched by one of the mainstream press. He also concluded that New York Post’s claims are “false” after his own efforts to verify all the legality of these businesses his company advertises. He said, “There is no precedent that any press attacked or called into a question regarding newspaper ads of this kind,” adding “The New York Post’s articles regarding the Queens’ District Attorney’s investigation into my business is intentionally manipulated in threatening way.”

Based on all these reasons, Lee declared that he would “send a complaint letter to New York Post, requesting face-to-face talk with the chief editor” regarding the allegations. Should the New York Post fail to comply to his demands, Lee “will file a lawsuit against (The New York Post) regarding the articles.”

During the press conference, Lee announced his ‘5 suggestions’ to Ron Kim, the Queens County-backed Democratic candidate for the seat.

To Mr. Kim, Lee suggested (1) Building a righteous and fair political campaign environment; (2) Not to slander or defame each other; (3) Not to take any legal action against each other, such as objection or lawsuit, and withdraw any outstanding petition signature challenges; (4) To continue to work to make single Korean-American candidate and; (5) To endorse and support the candidate who has better chance of getting elected, if mutual efforts in making a viable Korean-American candidate end up failing.