Long Island Congressman Steve Israel, last seen facing off with Rep. Jerry Nadler over whose Jewish deli was superior, has expanded his competitive food interests to pizza. And at a New York event this weekend for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Mr. Israel presented a chocolate-covered pizza to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to argue the Empire State’s pizza is, in fact, better than her native California’s. Read More
New York’s only branch of the controversial fried chicken sandwich chain Chick-Fil-A is located in an NYU cafeteria, but if a self-proclaimed Tea Partier running for State Assembly has his way the restaurant will soon set up shop in South Brooklyn. As a response to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s letter asking NYU to close the campus Chick-Fil-A after the owner of the chain declared his opposition to same-sex marriage, Mr. Gallo sent a letter of his own. Mr. Gallo wrote to Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-Fil-A, saying, “I would like to invite your company to consider opening a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in southern Brooklyn.”
“I want you to know that Ms. Quinn does not speak for all New Yorkers. I and many of my neighbors agree with your views on traditional family units. But more importantly, I’m sure we all could agree that no one in government should tell anyone what to believe, who to support and how to spend our money,” Mr. Gallo wrote. Read More
Florida Congressman Allen West had a rather interesting response to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s threats to block the fast food chain Chick-Fil-A from opening a restaurant in the Windy City due to the CEO, Dan Cathy’s, admission he doesn’t support same-sex marriage. Mr. West brought up the Chick-Fil-A controversy during an interview with CNBC’s Rick Santelli today on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.
“I had to come up from down South because I wanted to try to open up a Chick-Fil-A franchise here in Chicago,” said Mr. West.
However, it doesn’t seem like the congressman is really putting his money where his mouth is. Read More
Lena Dunham, the star, creator and producer of HBO’s hipster-ific series Girls, took to Twitter today to encourage her more than 200,000 followers to take on the Tea Party by “eat[ing] dope shit” at a series of dinners dedicated to raising money to defeat a “targeted list” of Tea Party incumbents picked by a liberal super PAC. The dinners are hosted by hosted by a group called Downtown For Democracy and Ms. Dunham’s real-life best friend, Audrey Gelman (who uses the handle @grumplstilskin on Twitter and works as press secretary for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer) is a member of the Downtown For Democracy Board.
“Want to eat dope shit for a wonderful cause? Support D4D and my oldest best #girl @grumplstiltskin,” Ms. Dunham tweeted along with a link to the dinner series. Read More
While campaigning in Ohio last night, Joe Biden stopped at the Naples Spaghetti House where he crossed paths with a Romney campaign spokesman, Ryan Williams, who questioned him about his policies on coal. Mr. Williams discussed his run-in with Mr. Biden with The Politicker.
“I was sitting at a table next to him. One of his staffers seemed to inform the Vice President that I was a spokesperson for the Romney campaign,” Mr. Williams said. “The Vice President mentioned me by name, asked me to come over. I walked over, I shook his hand, he introduced me to his dinner companions, asked me to sit down. I didn’t sit down. … I asked him, I said, you know, Mr. Vice President, it’s interesting that you’re here in coal country today given your staunch opposition to coal. Do you disagree with that?” Read More
The Park Slope Food Coop is currently embroiled in a debate over whether to boycott a handful of Israeli products in protest of the government’s treatment of Palestine, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a candidate for Mayor in 2013, entered the discussion Sunday afternoon by calling the potential boycott “an outrage to our collective values as New Yorkers.” Read More
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has another critic over his administration’s decision to ban food from homeless shelters, because, as CBS reported, the city “can’t assess their salt, fat and fiber content.” Public Advocate Bill de Blasio announced his opposition while challenging the basic rationality of the plan in a statement this evening.
“While I generally give this Administration high marks on protecting public health, the decision to ban food donations from shelters defies common sense,” said Mr. de Blasio, who’s a leading contender for the mayor’s office himself in 2013. Read More
