President Barack Obama stood on the stage at Alice Tully Hall tonight dressed in a dark black suit with a dark tie and looking very much like a performer—a conductor, perhaps, of a swing band.

The seats in the audience were empty, but onstage with Mr. Obama were about 120 guests seated at a dozen or so round tables, each paying $20,000 for the privilege.

The event was a fundraiser with NBA stars, and when he spoke, Mr. Obama joked that usually at these kinds of events he was the center of attention, but at this one most people there hoped to get an autograph with some of the NBA greats in attendance, including Patrick Ewing, Bill Bradley, Walt Frazier and the host of the evening, Michael Jordan. Read More

Strange bedfellows indeed.

Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn–both top contenders in the mayor’s race–will join forces next month for a fundraiser to support same-sex marriage in the state of Maryland.

Also on the marquee that night is Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who as we have written about, has emerged as a top rival to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the early jockeying for the 2016 presidential race.  And the candidates record on gay marriage is expected to play a major role in that Democratic primary.

Same-sex marriage passed the legislature in Maryland, but  it’s up for a referendum in November, and both sides are marshaling major resources for the fight.  Read More

Manhattan Media publisher Tom Allon announced that he has raised a healthy $250,000 in his longshot bid to become the city’s next mayor.

It is also worth noting that although $250,000 is a significant sum, especially for a first time candidate, it is far below what the other mayoral contenders have received, most of whom are close to maxing out (if they have not already done so.)

Mr. Allon said that he $100,000 in the last filing period and added another $150,000 in this one, most of which came in he said in the past month.

Full announcement below: Read More

A report out today from MapLight, a research organization that studies the influence of money on politics, came out with a report today detailing which companies give the most to each state’s congressional delegation.

In New York, that distinction goes to the law firm of Boies, Schiller and Flexner who gave close to $700,000 to current members of the House and Senate from New York.

That firm was founded by David Boies, the super-lawyer who represented Al Gore during the 2000 recount and who has since been one of the lead lawyers attempting to over California’s anti-gay marriage Proposition 8. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a frequent target of the firms’ largesse, was also a partner there earlier in her career. Read More