C. Virginia Fields

DENVER—I'm on the floor of Invesco Field right now, where Barack Obama is giving his speech tonight, hanging with the New York delegation and talking about (what else?) term limits.

C. Virginia Fields, former Manhattan borough president told me, "I don't support any legislation akin to that change."

She said that in light of disputed election results in recent presidential elections in Florida and Ohio, "Democrats can't afford any move that is perceived as overruling the will of the voters."

Fields said she does support putting the issue on the ballot for voters because term limits have not worked well in New York City.

The city Campaign Finance Board just announced its latest round of fines, with Virginia Fields leading the pack.

Fields' 2005 mayoral campaign was fined $70,567, mostly for not responding to a draft audit in a timely fashion (112 days late!). She was also fined $5,727 for spending $57,272 on “non-campaign related and impermissible post-election expenditures.”

Other notable fines: Adolfo Carrion’s 2005 campaign for Bronx Borough President was fined $6,875, mostly for accepting over-the-limit contributions. Eric Gioia was fined $5,050, mostly for the same reason.

Here are some more people of interest on Eliot Spitzer's transition team:

Maureen Casey, Vice President at Giuliani Partners.

Ed Norton, the actor.

Dennis Rivera, president of SEIU 1199, whose members work in hospitals through out New York state, some of which may be closed because of recommendations from an independent panel due out in December.

Ken Rasky, head of the Greater New York Hospital Association, who also has concerns over hospital closings.

John Kest, head organizer for left-leaning housing advocates, ACORN.

Pat Lynch, President of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

Alan Van Capel, head of the Empire State Pride Agenda.

Michael Carey, son of former governor Hugh Carey.

C. Virginia Fields.

Rev. Floyd Flake, whose political operation in southeast Queens lays claim to Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and Rep. Gregory Meeks.

Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE HERE.

Stuart Appelbaum, head of RWDSU, who also helped elect Andrew Cuomo.

Joyce Brown, wife of Carl McCall and head of the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Diana Fortuna, head of the Citizens Budget Commission and wife of David Yassky, a Democratic congressional candidate whose primary opponent Spitzer endorsed.

-- Azi Paybarah

Yvette Clarke touts support from Liz Abzug, Betsy Gotbaum, C. Virginia Fields, Annabel Palma and Melissa Mark-Viverito among others on the steps of City Hall.

David Paterson and Eliot Spitzer will address advocates at St. Francis College about their plan to address domestic violence in New York State.

John Faso presents his homeland security agenda to law enforcement officials and emergency responders at the Embassy Suites in Manhattan before greeting evening rush commuters at Grand Central Terminal.

Marty Markowitz and Jerry Nadler endorse Alec Brook-Krasny for the 46th Assembly district on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Christine Quinn and James Gennaro launch an initiative to increase green jobs and businesses on the steps of City Hall.

—Nicole Brydson

From the people bringing you the C. Virginia Fields Comeback Campaign for State Senate, the following:

She raised around $100,000 yesterday at an event at the Yale Club, a sum that her handlers say will make her the money leader in the race to replace David Paterson.

Bill Perkins, the former councilman who is also running for the seat, has some significant organizational support of his own, including backing from Local 1199 as well as three current council members who represent part of the senate district.

The outcome of the contest featuring two well-known Harlem officials -- Fields, who left her borough presidency because of term limits, and Perkins, who left his council seat because of term limits -- will hardly produce a tectonic shift in the balance of power in Albany.

But the race is worth watching as part of the larger narrative of Harlem politics, where a younger generation has fought with mixed success to win power and influence from the generation of political lions like Carl McCall and Basil Paterson, both of whom occupied the seat now being contested.

When David Paterson won election to his father's old seat in 1985 at the age of 31, much was made of the notion that he was part of a new crop of emerging black leaders from a post-civil rights generation.

If history were linear, the seat he is abandoning to run for lieutenant governor might have fallen to Rodney Capel, the eminently likeable son of Charlie Rangel's chief of staff.

Capel toyed with the idea of running for it before withdrawing his name in March, citing "the large influence of money and challenges that face new leadership."

Sometimes, things just go in circles.

The Spitzer campaign has brought Luther Smith, a former top aide to Virginia Fields, abord to manage David Paterson's separate-but-not-really campaign, a friendly Rock Hackshaw reports.

A correspondent with labor ties offers this take on a potential challenge to Brooklyn Congressman Edolphus Towns:

There's a lot of personal affection for Charles Barron among the unions that would like to punish Ed Towns for voting for the Central America Free Trade Agreement and being absent on important, close budget votes. But there's not a lot of confidence at the moment that Charles can win. Unions continue to search for a candidate with greater fundraising strength and greater electoral appeal in Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene and Williamsburg, and hope that Charles might reconsider running if he sees a stronger candidate emerge (as he, gracefully, for example, did to support Virginia Fields).

Between organized labor and online groups*, there's a significant amount of money available for a viable challenger against Towns (who really is viewed as a sellout). Defeating Towns would send a message of discipline that would be heard throughout the House Democratic caucus.

But Charles has a chicken-and-egg problem. He can't win without *at least* $500k, but he probably can't raise $500k unless there is confidence he can win.

On the other hand, even an under-funded Barron effort would give Towns a scare and force him to work hard for re-election - and keep him from straying from a progressive, pro-labor agenda. And that would be no small accomplishment.

*You've probably seen that the netroots have raised $130k for Henry Cuellar's Democratic primary challenger: http://www.actblue.com/list/CiroforCongress

You can't blame the Ferrer campaign for latching on to this fight over debating at the Apollo. It's the first solid punch Freddy's landed on Mike for a while.

But Freddy's preparatory breakfast with Charlie Rangel, Virginia Fields, and Billy Thompson up at Sylvia's this morning did offer a clue as to why, quietly, many Democrats are wondering how much this line of attack actually helps.

The problems, one of which the Times gets at today, are two: the debate debate hasn't, yet, been clearly attached to any substantive attack on the Mayor. And in the absence of anything but the process, what you're really talking about is race.

Charlie Rangel, never shy of racial politics, defended them this morning, Politicker intern David Greenhouse reports:

"There's nothing wrong with racial politics as long as it's positive."

Virginia, too, saw a broader, and also purely ethnic theme in the debate debate:

"We know that the Apollo ... has become the place where political activities are very important to people of color in this city, so coming there every candidate would understand issues important to people of color in this city are going to be raised," she said. "That's to be expected, and that's where I think the arrogance comes in. So it's more than just whether it's Harlem or whether it's blacks, it is a state of mind, it is more than just a place on 125th Street, it is bigger than that, and I think [Mike] made a critical mistake."

(Freddy's response to Virginia: "I'm glad I don't have to debate against you anymore.")  read more »

In any case, beyond the welcome arrival of chicken-suit guy, where does the debate-debate go from here?

UPDATE: Or perhaps The Politicker is overthinking this. Robert George's take is that the Mayor is being an idiot. And TimesSelect hostage Joyce Purnick has something to say on the subject as well, but it's unlinkable.

The Politicker missed what I'm told was a heated, biting indictment of Al Sharpton by his ally Charles Barron, who was angered by the Rev. for endorsing against a black woman.

It was, one reader with long experience in black politics points out, a rarity: a public airing of a political grievance between two leaders, the sort of thing that -- whatever the hard feelings -- would never occur between, say, Sharpton and Charlie Rangel.  read more »

UPDATE: A reader sends on some notes from Barron's press conference: "You go ahead and support Freddy all you want but we will not accept the disrespect of a black woman who did nothing to you but respect our race and our movement. We will not tolerate that. How dare you get on your radio broadcast and lie? C. Virginia Fields did march across the Brooklyn Bridge. She was there. You need to check your records....Just because Freddie flip-flopped, don't get mad at Virginia. Virginia said it was a crime then."

It seems safe to say that Virginia Fields's $125-a-head On To Victory Breakfast at the Sheraton will be the only fundraiser held September 12, the day before the primary.  read more »

The database company Factiva has helpfully disproved Virginia Fields's contention that she's not getting as much press as anybody else, with a ranking of how often candidates' names have turned up in print lately.

What else this statistic is good for remains a bit unclear.  read more »

Anyway, a Factiva spokeswoman writes, "Here is how the candidates fared from a media perspective during the week ending September 7, 2005:"

Michael Bloomberg - 93 media mentions Gifford Miller - 74 media mentions Fernando Ferrer - 74 media mentions C. Virginia Fields - 60 media mentions Anthony Weiner - 51 media mentions

Virginia is up with her first television spot of the campaign, a series of black and white photographs and a script that understandably stresses her strongest suit: her Birmingham arrest.

Given how little money she has, it's no shock that her campaign won't say how much they're planning to spend airing the ad. Here's the script:  read more »

Who would know, that for the girl, being arrested and going to jail at seventeen would change her life, and ours, forever? Would it matter, to have a mayor whose heart contained that much determination - whose intelligence, turned hope into action. Others talk - she listens, builds, demands. Affordable housing? Jobs? She's done it. Imagine the difference courage could make. Imagine a great mayor. C. Virginia Fields, Mayor. UPDATE: Watch it here.

Another aspect of the Times's Snyder endorsement is the way in which it will raise the tempo of that race, and drive turnout in Manhattan. It's one of a number of exciting downballot races -- Borough President and City Council in Manhattan, D.A. in Brooklyn in particular -- that seem likely to raise turnout in ways that could help Gifford Miller and Virginia Fields.

The more white and African-American Democrats in Manhattan and Brooklyn go to the polls, the less likely it is that a Hispanic surge for Ferrer will push him over 40%. Or that's how it seems to me.  read more »

And with that observation, The Politicker is taking the rest of the day off. We'll be back -- at work, in Manhattan, for the duration of this cycle, sigh -- tomorrow.

The bright line between political campaigns and public offices is one of the sacred fictions of American politics, and so Fields' communications director, Kirsten Powers, probably didn't mean for this email -- apparently directed to Borough President's office aide Dan Willson -- to wind up in reporters' inboxes: this is how i would do it.

C. VIRGINIA FIELDS HOSTS SECOND MEETING OF ANTI-HATE CRIMES INITIATIVE  read more »

WHO: C. Virginia Fields with faith and community leaders WHEN: Wednesday, August 17. Press availability immediately after meeting at approximately 10:30am WHAT: Meeting to discuss next steps in developing plan to fight hate crimes WHERE: Manhattan Borough President's office CONTACT: Dan Willson, 212-669-3539 Not that anybody would think to introduce politics into an issue as sensitive as hate crimes.

A Politicker spy reports with some amusement that Virginia Fields turned up, unexpectedly, at the Mayor's announcement of money for a Bronx High School today, and stood behind him at the event. (Fields later sent out a release headed "Thank God for Election Years.") Meanwhile, our sister site, The Real Estate, has an exclusive on Mike's newest literary venture: the introduction to a book about Gracie Mansion.  read more »

New York City Mayoral candidate C. Virginia Fields just came out in favor of Forest City Ratner's bid on the Atlantic Yards. Perhaps she's hoping for a donation to her rapidly dwindling war chest? (Mike looks nearly unstoppable with his $23 million; Ms. Fields has a paltry $1.7 million.)

Here's her press release:

"The Atlantic Yards Project will create thousands of units of desperately needed affordable and market-rate housing and bring new jobs to the area. I am impressed with the developer's agreement to set aside half of the apartments for middle and low income New Yorkers. The Community Benefits Agreement ensures the needs and concerns of local residents and business operators will be treated with consideration. I also applaud the commitment Forest City Ratner Companies has made to minority and women owned businesses regarding this project.

"The arena will be a much-needed amenity for the community, providing a place for amateur athletics, graduation ceremonies and other events, commercial and non-commercial."  read more »

- Matthew Grace

Not long ago, critics from Charlie Rangel on down said that consultant Joe Mercurio's acrimonious parting from Virginia Fields' campaign meant he'd never work in this town again.

But according to Carlos Manzano's latest newsletter, Mercurio has already found another gig. He's going to work for the ultra-longshot Hells Kitchen candidate for Borough President.  read more »

If it's good enough for Joe Trippi, it's good enough for Joe Mercurio.

First, I'm sure there's a straightforward explanation for this, but it's hard to miss the fact that Virginia Fields received $250 from a man who identifies himself thus:

President, High Counsel of Malian.

And in another random note, Mike Bloomberg has begun polling -- on his Web site. Today's question is about your favorite NYC movie.

The Politicker voted for Manhattan, but couldn't help noting earlier today that Bronx Tale was at 34%, and tasting 40%.  read more »

UPDATE: Not really a Klingon. A reader with superior Nexis skills reports that the man in question runs the High Council of Malians Overseas. As in people from Mali. Oh well.

The story just won't die.

Joe Mercurio just emailed out copies of correspondence between him and the Fields campaign. The mid-March emails include .pdfs of the infamous flier, and the correspondence -- from Mercurio to top Fields aides and to Fields' own AOL account -- indicate Virginia could have seen before and after versions (links now work), and that her staff did.

That does not, obviously, necessarily mean she read the email.

In other bad news, Newsday reported today that Donna Brazile is skipping that fundraiser.  read more »

OK, enough.

UPDATE: Well, not quite enough. Fields spokeswoman Kirsten Powers responds: "Virginia Fields does not review drafts of campaign literature in email. As is true with many candidates, she reviews all drafts of campaign literature in hard copy. She was paying Joe Mercurio $15K a month for his political services and this included overseeing the campaign literature process and the use of the photo in question was his decision. She was outraged to learn last week that the photo was doctored with stock images and she made a decision about who was responsible and took action. She never saw the photo before it was doctored. At no point did Mercurio disclose that the photo in the literature had been doctored. His attempts to blame this on other people are shameful and must stop." UPDATE II: Last addition, I'm sure. Mercurio writes to clarify the nature of his business: "Just for the record I was getting 3% each of the total budgets for the primary, the runoff and the general election with a minimum payout of $15,000 a month. There is also a termination clause with payout. If I was getting 15 a month it would mean I would have gotten $7,500 for the runoff. Hardly."

Gifford Miller and Carolyn Maloney will endorse Dan Garodnick later today, bringing to two the number of entrants in the 4th District primary to receive backing from mayoral candidates. Jack Lester, the longtime Upper East Side land use lawyer, is supported by Virginia Fields. Garodnick already has support from a bunch of local elected officials and Democratic clubs, and Lester has the Working Families Party. It's hard to tell which of these endorsements means anything, especially given the fact that these two candidates - and a third, Meryl Brodsky - are already pretty well-known commodities to East Side Democrats. But it's interesting that Miller is following Fields in dispensing with the conventional political wisdom that aspirants for higher office shouldn't choose sides in potentially divisive primaries. Then again, if you're polling in the low teens, there's probably something to be said for throwing caution to the wind.  read more »

Democrats seemed happy to stay with the Karl Rove theme today, from the draft council resolution from Gifford Miller calling for Rove's removal to C. Virginia Fields' statement knocking Bloomberg's "weak response" to his statements. There's no obvious downside for them in continuing to express their anger at Rove for what he said, and at Pataki and Bloomberg for what they didn't. But will it help them? Pataki has used the Rove affair as an excuse to go on the attack by repeating Republican talking points on the Dick Durbin stuff. And Bloomberg's handlers seem to have decided that the mayor no longer needs to deal with Rove's comments at all. Bloomberg made it through a radio appearance and a public event in Harlem today without expanding upon the artfully bland statement he made yesterday. So that makes nothing from him today and, I presume, nothing over the weekend. It has apparently fallen to enterprising, if lesser-known, Republicans like Senate hopeful John Spencer to engage the Democrats: the former Yonkers mayor is holding a press conference later today outside Hillary Clinton's Senate office to denounce comments she made about the Iraq war. The conversation about outrageous comments, jump-started by Rove, will continue to provide great fodder for local bloggers until something better comes along. But I'm wondering where the point of diminishing returns is for everyone else.  read more »

Word has it that the C. Virginia Fields campaign is about to finalize the hiring of a new press secretary... one Kirsten Powers. For those of us who are actually nerdy enough to seek out sub-plots in this mayoral primary, Powers' new position will set up the scintillating prospect of close combat with former partner and current Ferrer spokeswoman Jen Bluestein. The two worked together for a time as Powers/Bluestein, a partnership sufficiently glamorous for Ben to have described it as "a movie script waiting to happen." And who said this was going to be a boring race?  read more »

Google "Gifford Miller." Or "Freddy Ferrer." Or "Virginia Fields."

And check out who bought the ad on the right side of the page.  read more »

Miller aide Steve Sigmund offered this reaction: "Like any public figure, Gifford Miller accepts that obsessive fans are sometimes part of the job."

The Bloomberg money has apparently begun to flow in earnest, and among the first beneficiaries seems to be Ed Gorman, a retired police captain from Brooklyn who was clever enough to purchase the URLs bloomberg05.com, bloomberg05.net, and bloomberg05.org back in 2003.

Just this week, Gorman told us, he received an anonymous offer of $5,000 for the domains, which he happily accepted. Not a bad return on an investment of less than $100. And in case you're in a speculating mood, welovemike.com, bloombergrules.com, votemikein2005, and mikekicksbutt.com are all available.

Gorman, a registered Republican who lives in Bensonhurst, told us he's "generally supportive," of the Mayor. But, like any wise investor, he hedged a bit. Now he's hoping some interested Democrat will take dumpbloomberg.com off his hands.

Meanwhile, a candidate with somewhat shallower pockets, C. Virginia Fields, has a cybersquatter problem of her own. Fields2005.com is currently occupied by an anonymous, and extremely vitriolic, enemy.  read more »

UPDATE: It's been pointed out to us that Virginia's critics are less anonymous than we'd thought, though no less vitriolic. The site is registered to the hard-to-please folks over at TenantNet.

If C. Virginia Fields has actually made up her mind to run for mayor -- and her advisers say she has -- here's a central question: Who will back her?

Very little support comes as a given. But two important sets of power brokers are leaning her way. The first is obvious: the Harlem establishment, her own political grouping, led by by Charlie Rangel, Denny Farrell, and presided over in a certain way by David Dinkins.

"Charlie doesn't want her to run, but if she's in, he feels like he has to be with her," said a Harlem insider.

But now apparently Rangel has given her his blessing.  read more »

"Virginia came out of a meeting saying 'Charlie wants me to run,'" said another city Democrat.

His support comes despite the fact that some members of the Harlem group have suggested that Fields return to the City Council and take a shot at becoming Speaker, and have even floated offers of seats on corporate boards in exchange for her staying out of the race, according to the insider. David Paterson put it bluntly: "Virginia Fields creates a problem for me."