politics
Ricky Martin says Obama's marriage shift 'is the kind of courage we expect'
At an early evening fund-raiser in the Rubin Museum, gay-rights advocates celebrated President Obama's new stance on same-sex marriage. More
Retiring congressman Gary Ackerman forms a new leadership PAC
Representative Gary Ackerman, who announced in March that he would not seek re-election, has started a leadership PAC on his way out the door. More
Steve Rattner sandbags the Obama campaign's presentation of an anti-Bain ad
On a conference call with reporters this morning, President Obama's re-election campaign described its new ad attacking Mitt Romney's business record as a reflection of the former governor's values, and not a broader attack on the private-equity industry. More
(2)Ryan Lizza says 'profiling' in a question about the NYPD, and Pete King demands he take it back
On CNN's "Starting Point" this morning, Representative Peter King attacked the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza for asking a question containing the word "profiling" about the controversial intelligence-gathering techniques being used by the New York Police Department. More
Jamie Dimon on $2 billion not being a big deal, and why he's 'barely' Democratic
"This is a very unfortunate and inopportune time to have had this kind of mistake," he said on "Meet the Press."
The interview with Dimon, who has long been regarded as one of Wall Street's better risk managers, was also marked by some inopportune timing. He had taped a sit-down with host David Gregory on Wednesday, when he knew about the losses but before he could mention them, which compelled the network to request another interview once the massive trading loss became public. More
At Barnard today, Obama will acknowledge cheers and possibly Charlie Rangel
Barack Obama is giving the commencement speech at Barnard this afternoon, at what will be his first appearance in New York since endorsing gay marriage last week. The atmosphere should be celebratory, although there is also the potential for stray bits of awkwardness.
For instance, there is the matter of Rep. Charlie Rangel, the dean of the New York election, who dared reporters to ask Obama whether he was supporting Rangel for re-election. When White House spokesman Jay Carney was duly asked, he couldn't muster an answer. More
Mitt Romney's haircut story was unearthed by a reporter who did a lot of research
On Fox, Goldberg demanded to know if the story was fed to Horowitz, or if he was assisted in any way by Romney's opponents in putting the story together. As Tom McGeveran -- who, like me, worked with Horowitz -- wrote, the answer is no.
"Not a single one of the people Horowitz interviewed contacted him before he began working on the story. Not a piece of information was given. All of it was found out through reporting." More
(1)'Joe Hynes has to live in the real world and he has to live in the world that they're in'
Brooklyn D.A. Charles (Joe) Hynes doesn't actually dispute the main point of the 2,580-word story in The New York Times, that his office treats sex abuse cases from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Borough Park and Wiliamsburg differently than ones in the rest of the borough. More
(1)Rangel, back in D.C., embraces his role as a target of conservatives and Adriano Espaillat
Referring to the anti-incumbent super PAC that added him to its list of targets earlier this week, Charlie Rangel said, "I've been on enemy hit lists all of my political life. I was so honored to be on the Nixon political hit list. I was almost equally as proud to be on a hit list where Secretary of the Treasury Geithner was one of a handful with me, to be targets for destruction. And now I find out that the PAC who has a very limited number of Democratic targets has picked me as a target." More
Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes has a special way of handling sexual assault in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods
The Times has a lengthy piece about Brooklyn District Charles Hynes prosecution of sex offenders in the ultra Orthodox Jewish community, suggesting he doesn't prosecute crimes there similar to the borough.
The case of David Zimmer is particular tragic. He plead guilty to one charge after he was arrested for groping a 9-year-old and telling cops "She liked it."
Zimmer wound up pleading guilty to "one count of sexual abuse in the first degree and received five years probation."
The lawyer representing Zimmer, is married to "Hyne's longtime liaison to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community.
But more starting is the statement from Hyne's office defending their practice of not publicizing the identities of the people accused or convicted, if they're are from the ultar-Orthodox Jewish community.
The office said that because it's a "very tight-knit and insular" community, and publicizing those identities would create "significant danger" in getting co-operation, and ultimately would make getting prosecutions "extremely difficult, if not impossible." More
Republican chairs: Kelly hasn't started yet, and the Democrats aren't exactly running away with it
For the chairman of the New York City Republican County organizations, it's hard to imagine a more disheartening headline than the one from the Associated Press today.
"Who would beat NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in a mayoral race? Any Democrat, poll finds." The poll the were referring to was from Quinnpiac University, and it showed Kell losing to Christine Quinn 48-33, Bill de Blasio, 46-34 and to Bill Thompso 46-34.
But the chairman from Manhattan, Daniel Isaacs, wasn't bothered one bit. In fact, he said they were "encouraging."
"To be polling under 50 percent," Isaacs said of the Democrats, "I think that sends red flags out and I think it firmly supports our contention that this will be a competitive race."
The Republican chairman from Brooklyn, Craig Eaton, said Kelly's poll numbers against Quinn, de Blasio and Thompson weren't indicative of the support he would garner in an election.
"He's not a candidate right now," Eaton said in an interview "I would assume that if and when the police commissioner throws his hat in the ring, it'll pick up a lot of traction." More
(1)'Barack on Broadway' gets a return engagement
Barack Obama will be joined by Bill Clinton for a fund-raiser at the New Amsterdam Theater on June 4.
The event is titled "Barack on Broadway," which is recycled from an event Obama did at the same theater in September of 2007.
It's a relatively low-dollar affair by fund-raiser standards, with maximum tickets going for $1,000 and discount $100 tickets for "Gen44 Young Professionals." More
City Dems vote for a House bill that would defund the NYPD for profiling; King loudly opposes it
Last night, the fight over the New York Police Department's interrogation tactics found its way to the House floor, when New Jersey Representative Rush Holt introduced an amendment "to prohibit any federal funds from flowing to law enforcement organizations that engage in any form of racial, ethnic or religious profiling."
Holt singled out the NYPD for criticism, which was promptly and vehemently opposed by Long Island Representative Peter King.
"Last night was such a frontal and, I thought, slanderous attack on the NYPD, I don't know how anyone could have voted in favor of that amendment to be honest with you," King told me this morning. More
(1)Bob Turner introduces an anti-Backpage resolution, and sees a victory
Republican Representative Bob Turner introduced a House resolution today condemning Backpage.com and calling for Village Voice Media to eliminate the site's "adult services section."
“The adult section of Backpage.com has been shown to be a hub for the despicable act of human trafficking," Turner said in a press release. "We cannot allow the site to continue to serve as a means of advertisement for criminals and sexual predators. The executives at Village Voice Media cannot continue making a profit off of this illegal activity. This section of Backpage.com should be taken down immediately. ” More
Giuliani, who said Romney was a flip-flopper, now hopes Obama's 'evolution' negates that argument
While "Good Morning America" was airing its "historic" interview with President Obama this morning, CBS' "Early Show" settled for former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who argued that the president's evolution negates any talk of Mitt Romney's shifting positions. More
