By Ross Barkan 11:40pm

Cats Out of The Bag

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John Catsimatidis Holds Court in Brooklyn

Freewheeling billionaire John Catsimatidis was told again and again it was time to for him to leave as he stood at the foot of the Verrazano Bridge in Brooklyn this afternoon.

“No, no, no…” his handlers pleaded as Mr. Catsimatidis, a Republican candidate for mayor, prepared to tell a gaggle of reporters about another press conference of his scheduled for next week.

“Now, there’s another press conference coming, guess what we did in Brooklyn that nobody knows about?” Mr. Castimatidis asked as his team strained to keep  their plans under wraps.

But Mr. Catsimatidis, arriving in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to originally explain his plan to call upon the MTA to freeze additional toll and fare increases, was in his element, rambling extemporaneously about whatever subjects the assembled reporters cared to discuss. Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/21 4:31pm

Kings County Bounty

Nicole Malliotakis and John Catsimatidis (Photo: Twitter/@NMalliotakis)

Brooklyn Republicans Split on Mayoral Endorsements

There are many different endorsements growing in Brooklyn.

Indeed, despite its 2.5 million residents, the city’s largest borough only has a handful of Republican elected officials and they all seem to be leaning in opposite directions when it comes to who the next mayor should be. State Senator Marty Golden endorsed Joe Lhota yesterday, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis recently announced her support for John Catsimatidis, and Brooklyn GOP Chair Craig Eaton has been backing Adolfo Carrión for City Hall’s top job.

“I’ve known John for a number of years,” Ms. Malliotakis told Politicker this afternoon. Read More

7/09/12 5:42pm

bandwagoning

A scene from The Tudors, an unrelated television show set in 16th century England.

Candidate Attempts to Drag ‘Feminine Presence’ Seminar Into His Own Race

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis doesn’t have much to do with State Senator Marty Golden’s decision to host a nationally mocked “Feminine Presence” seminar, but that didn’t stop her Democratic rival from seeking to tie her to the infamous, now-canceled event.

“My opponent, who has been awfully silent throughout this matter, has the opportunity now to defend the women of her district by distancing herself from Senator Golden,” John Mancuso declared in a statement sent this evening. “This is just a mailer, but it’s quite obvious how her Republican colleagues view the role of women in New York today.” Read More

By David Freedlander 5/03/12 12:24pm

Congress

ref grimm

Dems Have Fun With Facebook, Mock Ref Grimm

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has apparently been scouring Facebook, and sent out today a photo of Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm gleaned from the page of Staten Island GOP Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis.

In the photo, Congressman Grimm is seen wearing the familiar zebra stripes of a referee and he seems to be officiating over something called “Third Avenue Festival Table Tennis Grand Slam.”

“Gasp! Somebody Actually Let Congressman Grimm Referee?” the DCCC says in the email header.  Read More

By Colin Campbell 5/03/12 10:40am

neuticles

(Photo: Getty)

Nicole Malliotakis’ Opponent Doesn’t Want to Talk About Fake Dog Testicles

Yesterday evening, the Albany Times-Union reported that Staten Island Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis was dropping fake dog testicles, or “neuticles,” from her legislation banning unnecessary animal surgery, as, apparently, implanting them turned out to be far less invasive than originally thought. And late last night, John Mancuso, a Democrat challenging the freshman GOP lawmaker, declared neuticles to be an unnecessary distraction on Facebook.

“Neuticles? ……Really? How about worrying about the prescription pill epidemic, or the lack of funding for our public schools, or even the promises you made to expand the MTA and bus service,” he wrote. “Let’s start worrying about the real issues facing the 64th district and STOP chasing cameras and publishing non-sense.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/15/12 5:10pm

campaign announcements

John Mancuso (Photo: Facebook)

John Mancuso to Formally Announce Malliotakis Challenge Tomorrow

John Mancuso, an owner of a Staten Island catering business active in Democratic politics, will kick off his race against freshman GOP Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis tomorrow evening, his campaign announced. City & State had originally reported Mr. Mancuso was eyeing the race, but tomorrow marks the official firing off point for what will be one of the few competitive assembly races in New York City this year.

“I’m a fourth generation Staten Islander,” Mr. Mancuso told The Politicker this evening, professing his love for Staten Island and Brooklyn. “Right now the 60th Assembly District is not getting what it deserves.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/06/12 8:32am

social media excitement!

(Photo: Facebook)

Politicians Celebrate Super Bowl Victory (!!!!!)

Everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows the New York Giants whipped up an impressive victory in the Super Bowl last night. However, even rock-dwellers were aware of the news if they were friends with any elected officials on Facebook.

Generally, the excited politicians’ responses needed at least five exclamation marks.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and State Senator Marty Golden were examples of this. Ms. Crowley wrote “NY Giants XLVI Super Bowl Champions!!!!!” while Mr. Golden wrote “Congratulations to the SuperBowl Champions the New York Giants!!!!!! Go Big Blue.”

Councilman Jumaane Williams, who correctly predicted the score of the game, might have been the most excited of them all. “UH…Yeah! We did it again. ANY DAMN QUESTIONS!!!!!!!” he declared, adding “WHOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” He also had another “WHOAA” post containing 50 exclamation marks. Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/03/12 8:42am

a ferry for two

Diane Savino and Nicole Malliotakis driving to Albany together. (Photo: Facebook)

Diane Savino and Nicole Malliotakis: Bipartisan BFFs

Democratic State Senator Diane Savino and Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis both get along extremely well, and their Staten Island-based districts even overlap. According to the Staten Island Advance, both Ms. Savino and Ms. Malliotakis shop together at the same Staten Island Mall Macy’s, arrive together at many of the same political events and drive up to Albany together as well.

“In a testament to those differences,” the Advance writes, “Ms. Malliotakis’s cell phone has “The Odd Couple” theme song as Ms. Savino’s ring-tone.” Read More