Peter Vallone Jr.
Ray Kelly's supporters respond to Eric Holder
amNew York's front page declares "Mike vs. The Feds." That's a reference to the mayor's response to U.S. Attorney Eric Holder's motion to support an independent monitor to oversee the NYPD if a federal judge rules against the police department's stop-and-frisk tactics. More
City Council bottleneck cleared, State Senate bottleneck intact
Maybe Albany can take a lesson from the New York City Council. More
Lacking county support, Peralta drops Queens borough president bid
Peralta's move emphasizes the potency of the county's endorsement in this down-ballot race for an office whose core functions were gutted after the city charter change in 1990. (Some have floated the idea of scrapping the office all together.) Without many policy issues separating the candidates, the race is likely to be geographic and ethnic politics. More
(1)Anderson Cooper gets a phone call, and Christine Quinn gets some criticism
Two City Council members said Quinn retaliated against them. [Azi Paybarah]
Screamer piece good for Quinn's name-recognition if not for her reputation. [Azi Paybarah]
Someone at NBC called Anderson Cooper. [Tom McGeveran and Joe Pompeo]
Jerry Nadler, a leading DOMA opponent in the House, is happy right now. [Reid Pillfant]
How the Old Town Bar (and 49 countries) came to embrace Bloomberg's smoking ban. [Dana Rubinstein] More
Two Council members describe Quinn's retaliation against them, and predict more
"I will likely be retaliated against. I've come to the understanding," she said. More
Councilman demands a 'Queens' name for a new soccer team, and consideration of Citi Field as its home
Major League Soccer is planning on bringing a professional soccer team to Queens, and one Queens councilman is demanding that the team have an appropriately 'Queens' name.
"Whatever happens, if we bring a soccer team to Queens, whether it be at Citi Field or a new stadium, that soccer team must be called the 'Queens' whatever," said Queens Councilman Peter Vallone. "Like there's the Brooklyn Nets, I want a 'Queens' team." More
(2)Two city councilmen who think the N.R.A.'s school proposal is legitimate
Going seriously against the grain of local reaction to the the National Rifle Association's proposal to put armed guards in every school in America, two New York City councilmen say the idea is worth considering. More
'Create and capture': An NYPD confidential informant on fomenting conversations about terrorism
The informant "said it involved creating a conversation about jihad or terrorism, then capturing the response to send to the NYPD." More
A loud stop-and-frisk debate on the side
The City Council hearing was supposed to be about the four bills known as the Public Safety Act, which would alter how New York City police officers interact with and question suspects and create a new inspector general's office for the police department. More
(1)Quinn says stop-and-frisk problems are 'a danger to good policing'
At a public safety hearing this morning, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn raised her concerns about the controversial police tactic known as "stop-and-frisk," saying the fact it impacts mostly black and Latino men in poor neighborhoods "is a problem." She also said the policy creates a rift with local residents that is "a danger to good policing and a danger to keeping our city safe." More
(1)Council spars over stop-and-frisk: 'I thought you were a professional'
Here's an example of how contentious the debate about stop-and-frisk can get, courtesy of Helen Foster and Peter Vallone Jr., two Council members who are diametrically opposed to one another on this issue. More
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Bloomberg's aide will argue legal technicalities at public safety hearing
The bill redefining racial profiling has more than enough signatures to pass the 51-member Council. But what the Bloomberg administration is expected to argue is that the bills — regardless of their merit — are not constitutional under the City charter which bars the Council from setting policy for mayoral agencies.
"I kind of wish they would have taken the opportunity to show how harmful [this bill] would be," said Vallone, who has called it the most dangerous bill in the history of the City Council.
Melinda Katz's 'welcome' entry into the Queens borough president race
Melinda Katz made official what many local political observers suspected shortly after she publicly acknowledged details about her closely guarded personal life: She's running for Queens borough president. More
Council says more traffic accidents bear investigating, even when no one dies
Amid all the talk about gun control, City Council members today launched an effort to address violence of a more prosaic sort: car crashes, and what councilmembers described as the police department's inadequate methods of investigating them. More
Rise in crime could push stop-and-frisk off the 2013 agenda
"New Yorkers are going to be asking for more police by the start of the next mayoral campaign," said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University and an informal Bloomberg adviser. "By early 2013, running against the police department is not going to be acceptable."
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