Carlos Menchaca. (Photo: Facebook)

The influential 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers Union weighed in on two City Council races today, boosting Brooklyn's Carlos Menchaca and the Bronx's Ritchie Torres, in their bid for office this year.

“Carlos Menchaca has the background, experience, and judgment working people need in the City Council,” Kevin Finnegan, 1199's political director, said in a statement. “A product of Bronx public housing and Bronx public schools, Ritchie Torres reflects the community he is running to represent in City Hall," he said in another

Neither endorsement is a surprise--they come after the labor-backed Working Families Party backed the pair--but the Menchaca endorsement stands out as he's working to unseat an incumbent Democratic Councilwoman, Sara Gonzalez. It is relatively rare for labor unions to coalesce around candidates who are not incumbents--indeed, this appears to be the only race across the five boroughs where they have done so this year.

Asked about the powerhouse unions--including 32BJ SEIU--opposing her bid, Ms. Gonzalez brushed them off.

"I would say that there is a movement in the city and some people choose to do that. But, you know, I ran originally with no one--no unions," Ms. Gonzalez told Politicker outside of her campaign headquarters Saturday. "Everybody else had unions ... You know what? I'm not afraid. I've been out here all my life. Folks are going to do better because I'm here in office. And we're going to win."

On the other hand, Mr. Torres, just 25, is the front-runner in a crowded field to replace term-limited Councilman Joel Rivera. Mr. Torres, a staffer to Bronx Councilman James Vacca, has received a lion's share of the labor endorsements in the race, including the United Federation of Teachers and Hotel Trades Council.

Additional reporting by Colin Campbell

The Working Families Party logo. (Photo: Facebook)

Last night, the labor-backed Working Families Party announced their support in a host of races across the city, beginning with Tish James for public advocate and working their way down to open-seat council campaigns.

The endorsement for Ms. James, a Brooklyn councilwoman, is particularly notable because, with a less sizable campaign war chest than her top rivals, Ms. James' strategy relies on unifying union forces. There are two other citywide races this year, but without a strong labor consensus for mayor and a virtually uncontested race for comptroller, the public advocate competition is relatively unique.

“Tish is always the first one to stand with David and stare down Goliath. For a decade, she's been a leader on every fight that matters to progressives in New York," WFP's executive director Dan Cantor gushed in a statement. "Whether it’s paid sick days, defending our public schools or cracking down on corporate looters, Tish has been out front.”

At a glance, several other candidates also stand out. Carlos Menchaca, for instance, is the only endorsee who's working to unseat a Democratic incumbent--Brooklyn's Sara Gonzalez. Additionally, Igor Oberman, Laurie Cumbo, Austin Shafran and Marc Landis are fighting for votes in very crowded primaries and are surely quite happy with the WFP's seal of approval.

The WFP is still neutral in a few races, especially those with more moderate or establishment-friendly incumbents, but as of last night, the party has weighed in on the vast majority of them.

View the list below, the latest endorsements are bolded:

Public Advocate: Letitia James
Comptroller: Scott Stringer

City Council District 2: Rosie Mendez
City Council District 3: Corey Johnson
City Council District 4: Dan Garodnick
City Council District 5: Micah Kellner
City Council District 6: Marc Landis
City Council District 7: Mark Levine
City Council District 8: Melissa Mark-Viverito
City Council District 10: Ydanis Rodriguez
City Council District 11: Andy Cohen
City Council District 12: Andy King
City Council District 14: Fernando Cabrera
City Council District 15: Ritchie Torres
City Council District 16: Vanessa Gibson
City Council District 18: Annabel Palma
City Council District 19: Austin Shafran
City Council District 21: Julissa Ferreras
City Council District 22: Costa Constantinides
City Council District 23: Mark Weprin
City Council District 24: Rory Lancman
City Council District 25: Danny Dromm
City Council District 26: Jimmy Van Bramer
City Council District 27: Daneek Miller
City Council District 30: Elizabeth Crowley
City Council District 31: Donovan Richards
City Council District 33: Steve Levin
City Council District 34: Antonio Reynoso
City Council District 35: Laurie Cumbo
City Council District 36: Kirsten Foy
City Council District 37: Kim Council
City Council District 38: Carlos Menchaca
City Council District 39: Brad Lander
City Council District 40: Mathieu Eugene
City Council District 41: Darlene Mealy
City Council District 43: Vincent Gentile
City Council District 45: Jumaane Williams
City Council District 46: Alan Maisel
City Council District 48: Igor Oberman
City Council District 49: Debi Rose

(Photo: Facebook)

Over the weekend, the influential Working Families Party announced their support in a number of key races across the city, sending a signal of labor support as candidates vie for a seat in the City Council next year.

“New Yorkers have a huge opportunity to decide the direction of our city. It’s time to choose whether we’ll be a city that caters to the rich and powerful 1%, or whether New York City can work for all of us,” Bill Lipton, the party's deputy director, said in a statement. “Every day New Yorkers can count on WFP-endorsed candidates to stand up for all of us.”

Six endorsements were for open seats, going to Mark Levine, Ritchie Torres, Rory Lancman, Daneek Miller, Antonio Reynoso and Kirsten John Foy. The rest of the endorsements, which can be viewed below, went to incumbents who are generally not facing serious re-election challenges.

As a great number of council members are term-limited out of office this year, organizations like the WFP are hoping to impact enough races so the next City Council Speaker is one sympathetic to their interests.

Incumbents:

City Council District 2: Rosie Mendez
City Council District 8: Melissa Mark-Viverito
City Council District 10: Ydanis Rodriguez
City Council District 12: Andy King
City Council District 21: Julissa Ferreras
City Council District 25: Danny Dromm
City Council District 26: Jimmy Van Bramer
City Council District 30: Elizabeth Crowley
City Council District 31: Donovan Richards
City Council District 39: Brad Lander
City Council District 45: Jumaane Williams
City Council District 49: Debi Rose

Bill de Blasio (Photo: Getty)

Bill de Blasio and his campaign got quite a kick out of a prank internet site that mocked his mayoral opponent, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, this afternoon. The site, which looked exactly like Ms. Quinn's campaign page, featured an announcement claiming Ms. Quinn would permit a vote on the Paid Sick Days bill Mr. de Blasio and other critics have long accused her of stalling in the Council. An email was also sent out linking to the page and proclaiming, "It's time for an up-or-down vote on paid sick days." Shortly after the site was unveiled, Mr. de Blasio's campaign sent out a statement reacting to the hoax and praising the mysterious prankster.

"Consider us had. We thought after 3 long years of blocking paid sick days, the million New Yorkers who need them were finally going to get a break," Dan Levitan, a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio's campaign said. "Whoever is behind this may have an odd sense of humor, but they do have better judgment for what’s right for New Yorkers than Speaker Quinn."

Mr. de Blasio has been one of the loudest voices accusing Ms. Quinn of using her power as speaker to bottle up the legislation, which is supported by a majority of Council members. Ms. Quinn has said she supports the idea of giving workers paid sick leave, but does not feel a bill should be passed now because it would be detrimental to small businesses "who are still being impacted by the recession" and "the effects of Hurricane Sandy."

Ms. Quinn's actual campaign page is located at QuinnForNewYork.com, but the fake email and webpage used the address QuinnForNewYork.org. The announcement posted on the fake site purported to be a statement coming directly from Ms. Quinn and said she would allow the bill to come to a vote though she still opposes it.

"Paid sick leave is a laudable goal for New York. 64 percent of low wage workers—including restaurant workers—have no paid sick days. ... At the same time, in our current economic environment, many of our small businesses are hanging on by a thread. That's why I stand with Mayor Michael Bloomberg in opposing paid sick days for New Yorkers," the announcement said. "A veto-proof majority of the City Council stands ready to approve a paid sick leave bill. ... For basic democracy and human rights, the voices of millions of everyday New Yorkers must be heard. It's time for an up-or-down vote on paid sick days. Let's bring the bill to the floor of the City Council, debate it in the light of day, and vote. The public deserves transparent and democratic process."

Mike Morey, a spokesman for the Quinn campaign, confirmed the page was a fake.

"This is not a campaign website. This is not a campaign email. The speaker's position hasn't changed," he said.

Whoever made the website used a private domain registry service to keep their identity hidden.

Along with Mr. de Blasio's statement on the hoax, operatives working with his campaign pushed it into the public eye by emailing the site to reporters and being the first to promote  it on Twitter. Additionally, Working Families Party Deputy Director Bill Lipton, who has previously pressed Ms. Quinn on her opposition to the bill, also released a statement about the hoax that criticized the pranksters behind the site for using "the tactic of impersonation" wile also urging "the real Quinn" to have a "change of heart."

"Every joke has an element of truth in it. A vote on the paid sick days bill is long overdue. We condemn the tactic of impersonation, but we also condemn the delay of democracy for a million working New Yorkers," said Mr. Lipton. "I hope Speaker Quinn has a change of heart, and at least allows a vote on the paid sick days bill. When the real Quinn does that, we'll be the first standing up to congratulate her."

(Additional reporting by Colin Campbell)

Update (2:58 p.m.): This story initially attributed the De Blasio campaign's statement to Mr. de Blasio. It came from his spokesman. The story was corrected to reflect the proper attribution. 

(Photo: Facebook)

The February 19 special election to replace Councilman James Sanders continues to heat up, and one of the candidates, Donovan Richards, scored the influential endorsement of the labor-backed Working Families Party.

“A district that’s still badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy needs a champion for working families like Donovan Richards,” said Bill Lipton, the WFP's deputy director in a statement, referencing the extensive devastation that occurred along the southeastern Queens coastline. “Donovan has fought gun violence and protected libraries, schools and hospitals from cuts and closure. He’ll be a tremendous addition to the City Council.”

Mr. Richards, the chief of staff to Mr. Sanders when he was in the Council, might be considered the front-runner in the crowded field that also includes former State Senate staffer Selvena Brooks, attorney Jacques Leandre, Community Board 8 District Manager Marie Adam-Ovide and Pesach Osina, who works in Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder's office, as well as community activists Mike Duncan and Earnest Flowers.

In addition to at least one of the WFP's member unions, Mr. Richards also has Mr. Sanders's endorsement, all of which will probably boost him in what is almost certainly destined to be a low-turnout affair. The district was vacated when Mr. Sanders won election to the State Senate last fall.

(Photo: Facebook)

The Working Parties Family rolled out duel endorsements this afternoon, and while neither is necessarily surprising, both candidates are undoubtedly happy to have the labor-backed coalition's support.

The first endorsement went to Councilman James Sanders, who's working to unseat State Senator Shirley Huntley in the Democratic primary only 9 days away. The deadline has passed for the WFP to officially put Mr. Sanders on their ballot line, but the backing is a nice validator as Ms. Huntley tries to keep her head above water since she was arrested on Monday of last week.

“On the City Council, James Sanders has proven himself to be a forceful advocate for the issues that matter most to working class New Yorkers,” WFP Deputy Director Bill Lipton said in a statement. “He’s stood up to predatory lenders and fought for quality public schools for all our children. His energy and passion for working families’ values will be a welcome addition in Albany.”

The other endorsement also runs tangent to some questionable behavior by a public official, as it went to Andy King in the special election replacing Councilman Larry Seabrook, who was removed from office after he was convicted on fraud charges earlier this year. Like Mr. Sanders, the party won't be able to officially grant its ballot line, but in this case it's because City Council special elections are nonpartisan.

Mr. King faces a crowded field for that election -- which is timed to occur on the same date as the presidential election, but due to his strong performance when he ran against Mr. Seabrook in 2009 and his official endorsement by the Bronx Democratic Party, he's currently the frontrunner to serve out the remainder of Mr. Seabrook's term.

"As a proud member of the Working Families Party, I am humbled to receive the party’s support,” Mr. King said in the statement. “The leadership of this party has always been at the forefront of the struggle to protect hard-working New Yorkers and their communities. When elected to the City Council, I will continue to fight for New York’s working families.”

Jesus Gonzalez (Photo: Facebook)

Forget 2012's elections, the Working Families Party is already taking a look at the 2013 City Council campaigns beginning to heat up. Accordingly, the party announced their first endorsements of council candidates this afternoon, backing Jesus Gonzalez and Costa Constantinides. And while neither endorsement is especially shocking, it's certainly nice for the respective candidates to have the labor powerhouse's support for their respective Democratic primaries.

Mr. Gonzalez previously received the Working Families Party's backing when he ran in a high-profile State Assembly special election last year. In that election, he ran only on the WFP line against the Democratic candidate, Councilman Erik Dilan's then-Chief of Staff Rafael Espinal. Mr. Gonzalez ultimately lost that election and subsequently decided to seek the seat belonging to Mr. Dilan, who is term limited, rather than seek a rematch with Mr. Espinal.

The WFP's other endorsement went for Mr. Constantinides, currently running for term-limited Councilman Peter Vallone's seat in Astoria. Although the party and the Queens County Democratic organization have often found themselves on opposing sides in recent years, the endorsement could represent a point of agreement between the two, as Congressman Joe Crowley, the head of the county Democrats, appeared at a fundraiser for Mr. Constantinides months ago.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with these two candidates. New Yorkers deserve leaders like Costa and Jesus who will fight for the values working families, not billionaires, lobbyists and corporations,”  Bill Lipton, the WFP's Deputy Director said in a statement. “They’ll be great additions to the City Council.”

Interestingly, the outgoing incumbents in both council races could very well come down opposing the Working Families picks. Mr. Dilan is all but certain to back another candidate, possibly his wife Janitza, while Mr. Vallone has said positive things about Tony Meloni's campaign for his seat, declaring him "a very formidable candidate."

With a huge number of term-limited council members leaving open seats behind them, control of the Council's powerful speakership hangs in the balance, creating a possible opportunity for the WFP to secure the position for a labor ally if they can win enough of these races. Which is likely why they're weighing in so early.

Mark Zuckerberg (Photo: Getty)

While others are focused on Facebook's co-founder's citizenship-based tax evasion, New York State's Working Families Party leaped into another loophole debate associated with the profits accumulated from the company going public.

"You're not gonna Like this. Facebook plans to Like tax loopholes this week -- in a big way," the organizations' executive director, Dan Cantor, said in an email blast sent to supporters, some of whom may have groaned with the "Like" rhetoric. "And it'll cost taxpayers billions."

Facebook's critics allege Mr. Zuckerberg plans to write-off the profit it receives from going public as a business expense, and thus avoid paying taxes on billions of dollars of revenue, which Mr. Cantor clearly feels to be an unacceptable outcome.

"Like Warren Buffett, billionaire Zuckerberg has told President Obama he agrees that the mega-rich should pay more in taxes," he continued. "So we're calling on Mark Zuckerberg to follow through and ask Congress and President Obama to close the Facebook loophole today so that Facebook -- and every big company that goes public -- pays its fair share."

The Working Families Party is asking its supporters to "poke" Mr. Zuckerberg through signing their petition and "tell him that his big corporate tax dodge won't win him any friends."

Hakeem Jeffries

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, a candidate against veteran Congressman Ed Towns in the Democratic primary, is leaving open the possibility of continuing his campaign on the Working Families Party line even if he loses the primary.

Asked about the hypothetical situation, his campaign spokeswoman Lupé Todd said, “We intend to win on June 26. We will address any questions about the general election once the primary is concluded."

According to the blog Orthodox Pundit, Mr. Jeffries may have told the Yiddish newspaper Der Yid even more than this, saying, "I will continue to run in the general election at any circumstances."

(Although it's always possible for a key point to get lost when it's translated into another language and then back to English again.)

Only one elected official in State or City Legislature, Councilwoman Tish James, has been elected exclusively on the Working Families Party line, and that was following rather chaotic circumstances involving the assassination of a sitting city councilman.

Councilman Charles Barron is also competing against Mr. Towns and Mr. Jeffries.

TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen. (Photo: YouTube)

The Transit Workers Union Local 100 is holding a daylong "reclaim public transit" event tomorrow in conjunction with Occupy Wall Street and the Working Families Party, against the backdrop of their protracted contract negotiationswith the Metropolitan Transit Authority. According to the statement announcing the event, it is designed to "highlight funding and infrastructure needs of public transportation across the nation" and "raise awareness about how public transit supports good jobs, sustainable communities, a greener environment and reduced consumption of oil." Tomorrow's event will include a pair of press conferences as well as leafleting and petitions calling on the MTA to "reoccupy" underutilized buildings in Downtown Brooklyn in order to cut costs.

TWU Local 100 remains engaged in protracted contract negotiations with the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Technically, the union's contract expired in January, but both sides agreed to continue talks past the deadline. Last time Local 100's contract expired in 2005, the union went on a strike that cost them millions of dollars due to penalties imposed under the Taylor Law, which bars New York's public employees from going on strike.

Occupy Wall Street is planning a general strike on May 1, but the occupiers have reportedly had trouble convincing unions to join them. Late last month, occupiers took responsibility for chaining open gates at several subway stations and posting flyers advertising the general strike and "free entry." Though Occupy Wall Street claimed workers from Local 100 cooperated with the free ride protest, the union denied any involvement.