By Ross Barkan 4/09 12:38pm

Numbers Game

halloran singing

Dan Halloran Touts Questionable Constituent Services Ranking

Councilman Dan Halloran, charged last week in a wide-reaching bribery scheme, often says his office has been consistently ranked number one citywide in constituent services, but it’s not completely clear where his number comes from.

Indeed, after Mr. Halloran’s chief of staff resigned yesterday, his spokesman repeated the assertion that their office was “the most responsive to constituents in the Council, closing over 8,000 cases.” At his re-election kick-off in February, Mr. Halloran himself touted their “No. 1 ranking in constituent services in the Council.” The claim was again presented by his spokesman last October and their office produced a press release celebrating the achievement in January. Read More

By Colin Campbell 3/04 4:06pm

Mo' Money Mo' Problems

Senator Schumer attempts to hand some cereal to Mayor Bloomberg. (Photo: Getty)

Bloomberg Doesn’t Like the Forbes Billionaires List

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is now the 13th richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine’s latest rankings, up from his 20th place position last year. Nevertheless, despite his reported $5 billion increase in net worth–totaling $26 billion–Mr. Bloomberg doesn’t seem overly enthused with his official standing in the list.

To wit, the billionaire mayor interrupted the New York Post’s Dave Seifman with a sarcastic “way to go” as Mr. Seifman asked him about the ranking system today.

“Look, the numbers in these things are always suspect,” Mr. Bloomberg continued. “And I never liked any of these lists.” Read More