David Yassky

To see Mark Page testify at a City Council finance hearing is a bit like watching a standoffish professor defend an academic paper to a panel of overconfident college first-years.

Some questions to the city's budget director are well informed and intelligent. Others are asked as if they are.  read more »

After voting to extend term limits yesterday, both Christine Quinn and David Yassky went to political events where the reception was less than welcoming.

According to a reader, Quinn attended the Queens County Democratic Dinner and delivered the line, "We did a great thing today." It was met with silence, according to the source.

In Brooklyn, Yassky attended a meeting of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats.

There, according to an email from District Leader Alan Fleishman, Yassky was on the receiving end of some very pointed questions, including one about running for not just a third, but a fourth term. Yassky didn't rule it out, according to Fleishman.  read more »

"You're trying to have it both ways," said Citizens Union executive director Dick Dadey to Councilman Councilman David Yassky.  read more »

After his amendment -- a proposal for the creation of a charter revision commission to arrange a referendum on term limits -- was shot down, David Yassky, a previously undecided City Council member from Brooklyn who is a good-government type, said he will support the bill extending term limits.  read more »

David Yassky spoke about his amendment to put the issue of extending term limits before the voters by creating a charter revision commission to put the issue on the ballot as early as February.  read more »

Three undecided City Council members—David Yassky, Gale Brewer and Alan Gerson—told reporters just now they’ll introduce an amendment to the term-limits legislation that would establish a charter review commission that could put term-limits to a voter referendum at the earliest opportunity.  read more »

City Councilman David Yassky is undecided about whether to support or oppose a legislative change to the term limits law.

But his former chief of staff, Evan Thies, who is running to replace him, called the move "dead wrong." Thies expressed himself in an email to supporters, which was forwarded to me by a reader.

Here it is.

Dear #####,

A few weeks ago, Mayor Bloomberg declared his intention to run for re-election, and asked the City Council to overturn our City's term limits law--a move that would increase the number of consecutive terms allowed for elected officials from two to three. Since then there has been much debate, and subsequent growing opposition, about the Council's right to make such a change.

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City Councilman and comptroller candidate David Yassky just told me he's surprised the federal bailout legislation failed.

In fact, the mood around City Hall since the news broke is one of shock.

"New York City relies to a frightening extent on the financial service industry," Yassky said, "and the financial service industry needs speedy and decisive action from the federal government to work its way back to long-term health."

The city comptroller's race continues to shrink as Assemblyman Jim Brennan just announced he's out of the race. 

Brennan, who's from Brooklyn, dropping off the ticket is a boon to City Councilman David Yassky, also from Brooklyn.

Another Brooklyn candidate, Simcha Felder, dropped out in June. That leaves Yassky competing most intensely for votes in Queens, where City Council members Melinda Katz and David Weprin are from. Another candidate, Adolfo Carrion, is from the Bronx.

Of course, there's still plenty of time for someone else to jump into the race.  Here's Brennan's email:   

State Assembly member Jim Brennan (D.W-F, Bklyn) will not seek the office of the Comptroller of the City of New York in 2009.

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If you thought the racially tinged opposition to the 2006 congressional bid of David Yassky was rough, check out this ad attacking freshman Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee.

The ad is ostensibly about prayer in school, but as Ben Smith notes, there's there's probably a little more to it than that.

In an appearance last night on the Perez Notes radio show, Council finance committee chair (and comptroller candidate) David Weprin discussed David Paterson's speech on the budget, congestion pricing and development in the city.

Perez also brought up the Council slush fund incident, which Weprin was quick to characterize as a minor blip in the face of a roughly $60 billion budget.

“I’m not proud of these scandals or these misappropriations of some small amount of money in a very large budget, but in the end I think the process is stronger for it, and we’re all better off for all the scrutiny that came out of this,” he said.  read more »

Pollster Joel Benenson, who is currently working for Barack Obama, confirmed he’s set to work on at least two citywide races next year.

In a brief interview this morning, Benenson said he’ll be crunching numbers for Anthony Weiner--who has all but announced formally he’s running for mayor--and David Yassky, who is running for comptroller.

Benenson was Weiner’s pollster for his 2005 mayoral race and worked for Yassky during his 2006 congressional race. Interestingly, one of Yassky’s main opponents in the comptroller’s race, Melinda Katz, has hired Hillary Clinton pollster Geoff Garin.

Also worth noting about Benenson: back in 2003, he, along with Howard Wolfson, conducted a poll that helped brand Michael Bloomberg as an out-of-touch billionaire.

Campaign finance filings for the city comptroller race show candidates getting ready for what looks like it will be one of the more competitive 2009 races. (The latest filing period is January 12 to July 11, 2008.)

According to a search of donations for those candidates between those dates:

David Yassky--$463,575

David Weprin--$334,499

Melinda Katz--$206,154

Jim Brennan--$84,577

Adolfo Carrion’s campaign finance numbers are not posted yet on the Campaign Finance Board’s Web site, but his campaign spokeswoman said he raised $600,000 this filing period.

Melinda Katz's numbers are lower than expected, but then she did just have a baby.

UPDATE: Here are the contribution numbers for the comptroller candidates:

Adolfo Carrion: $570,052
David Yassky: $452,075.00
David Weprin: $316,899.00
Melinda Katz: $192,938.00
Jim Brennan: $83,677.00

(These numbers take into account any refunded donations the candidates dealt with.)

Since campaign finance numbers for city candidates are due tomorrow, a few have begun releasing them, including two candidates in the competitive comptroller's race, David Yassky and Jim Brennan.

Yassky’s campaign said they raised almost $500,000 this period, from a total of 600 donors, bringing his cash-on-hand total to $1.25 million.

Jim Brennan’s campaign spokeswoman said he raised $104,000 this filing period, bringing his total raised to $507,000. The spokeswoman, Jill Harris, also said the campaign is eligible to receive more than $750,000 in matching funds.

Numbers for the other comptroller candidates--Melinda Katz, Adolfo Carrion and David Weprin--were not immediately available.

UPDATE: Weprin told me he raised $336,000 this filing period, bringing his cash on hand total to $1.7 million.

Earlier this afternoon, a diverse cast of politicians gathered in front of the Brooklyn House of Detention on Atlantic Avenue to protest the Bloomberg administration's plan to reopen and expand the downtown jail. (It was the Bloomberg administration that closed it back in 2003, due to high costs).

Councilman and city comptroller candidate David Yassky, comptroller and likely mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, State Senators Marty Connor and Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and Randy Mastro, a deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani, were among the rally participants. They all gave the current administration an earful for creating what they portray as a serious impediment to the goal of creating a financial hub in Brooklyn.  read more »

Ken Diamondstone, who recently abandoned a bid to try for the second time to unseat State Senator Marty Connor, just announced this morning that he will run for City Council in the 33rd district.

The district, which includes Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO, is currently represented by term-limited David Yassky.

In the announcement, Diamondstone’s campaign said he will “make history by becoming Brooklyn’s first openly gay representative to any legislative body in New York State.”

He has reason to believe he can do it.  read more »

The State Senate contest that Simcha Felder just decided to jump into bears some resemblance, at least on the surface, to the 2006 primary in Brooklyn's 11th congressional district in which Councilman David Yassky, who is Jewish, jumped into a field that included multiple black candidates.  read more »

Councilman Simcha Felder is not getting into the city comptroller race, but he will run for the Brooklyn State Senate seat currently held by fellow Democrat Kevin Parker, according to a source.  read more »

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Congestion pricing, for all practical purposes, died this week. But Councilman David Yassky hasn’t lost faith.

“If you step back, the congestion pricing idea was put forward by Michael Bloomberg a year ago, and it’s a very big idea,” he said on the night of April 7, a few hours after Sheldon Silver’s Democratic Assembly majority snuffed out the proposal in committee. “It’s a complicated idea, it’s an ambitious idea. In some ways, it’s amazing that it’s gotten as far as it has in as short a time.”  read more »

Assemblyman Jim Brennan of Brooklyn, who is also running for city comptroller, introduced his own congestion pricing bill today. A spokesman, when asked, did not say whether he will support the plan as it is currently presented to lawmakers.

Brennan's new bill would ensure the program comes up for renewal in three years, and wouldn't allow the state to issue bonds against the program's future earning. Critics say allowing the bonds means the current congestion pricing plan wouldn't be temporary enough because it would last for the life of the bonds.
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A reader sent along this invitation for a May 1 awards dinner hosted by the Independent Neighborhood Democrats, a political club in Brooklyn. Among the honorees is the organization's councilman, David Yassky, who is also a candidate for city comptroller.  read more »

Last night two city comptroller candidates -- Melinda Katz and David Weprin -- voted against congestion pricing, while three of their likely opponents in the race -- David Yassky, Simcha Felder and John Liu -- voted for it.
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A congestion pricing measure before the Council just passed, 30 to 20.

Domenic Recchia, who is planning to run for Congress, took a pass on voting the first time around, but eventually voted yes. Eric Gioia, who had told the New York Times on March 8 that he was voting no, also voted for it. Comptroller candidate Melinda Katz voted no, but her likely rival David Yassky voted yes. The two candidates for Brooklyn brough president, Bill De Blasio and Charles Barron, both voted against.  read more »

Here’s a shot from the breakfast hosted Sunday morning by the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations on the West Side, which, as Grace Rauh noted, attracted nearly every 2009 candidate for citywide office.  read more »

During an interview on The Perez Notes last night, Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf delivered a hypothetical negative ad against Councilwoman Melinda Katz, one of the leading candidates for comptroller in 2009.

“I haven’t written it yet," said Sheinkopf. "I’m going to write it write now. Somebody can steal this and do what they want with it:

"‘Melinda Katz wants to be comptroller of the city of New York. Her credentials? Well, she was the Land Use Chair of the City Council. Here are some facts. During her Land Use [Committee] chairmanship, New Yorkers lost more affordable housing than in any other time in history. Rents skyrocketed. She’s taken millions from land lords. Some of those landlords'--lets do it this way--

"'She’s taken hundreds of thousands from landlords, slumlords, the worst kind of people. Those who want to jack up our rents and throw us on the street. So there you have it. Melinda Katz, for the landlords. Think she ought to be comptroller? Ha. Absolutely not.'

Response from Katz's office after the jump.  read more »

Adolfo Carrion just announced two more co-chairs for his city comptroller campaign: former city comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman and Merryl H. Tisch, chairperson of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.

Last month, Carrion rolled out two others: former state comptroller Carl McCall and business executive Leo Hindrey Jr.

Locking up the support of two former comptrollers gives Carrion, at least, a distinction among a field that also includes Melinda Katz, David Yassky, David Weprin, Simcha Felder and James Brennan.

The official statement is after the jump.  read more »

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, and so is the big parade, meaning it's once again for local politicians to make a statement one way or another on the organizers' decision not to allow gays to participate under their own banner.

I asked a few possible citywide candidates about their parade plans, and here’s what I heard back so far.

Mayoral candidates:

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The co-chairs for Adolfo Carrion’s comptroller campaign will be former state comptroller H. Carl McCall and business executive Leo Hindrey Jr. of InterMedia Partners, the campaign announced this morning.

Hindrey, the former C.E.O. of the YES Network (which broadcasts Yankees games) also helped raise money for another Bronx politician seeking citywide office: Fernando Ferrer, who ran for mayor in 2005.  read more »

Here is David Yassky spokesman Sam Rockwell, who is leaving the Council payroll to go on tour with his band, The XYZ Affair. I asked Rockwell, who plays drums and provides backup vocals, if working in politics has ruined his cred in the music scene--both he and Yassky weigh in.  read more »

For those buildings in the city that are kept warm with heating oil, a City Council proposal could throw some old French fry residue into the mix. Tomorrow, the council's environmental protection committee is hearing two bills that would require all heating oil to be 20 percent biodiesel, forcing the more environmentally friendly combustible often made from vegetable oil into the mix. The bills, introduced by Council Members James Gennaro and David Yassky, would take full effect in 2013.

Biodiesel tends to be more expensive than normal heating oil, though advocates in New York and elsewhere are pushing for government subsidies.  read more »

To the fund-raising numbers for comptroller candidates Adolfo Carrion, Melinda Katz, David Yassky, and David Weprin -- all hovering around the million dollar mark -- add a total for one more candidate.

Jim Brennan’s campaign announced just now that he’s raised $144,000 in this most recent fund-raising period, bringing his total amount of contributions up to $405,000, they said. That leaves him with $280,000 on hand, according to spokeswoman Linda Gross.

Brennan’s campaign estimates they are also eligible for about $670,000 in matching funds from the city’s Campaign Finance Board.

David Yassky (jokingly?) suggests that reporters should be subject to Freedom of Information Law requests, just like elected officials. Why? Because it would be educational to the public, and so he can to see the stockpile of embarrassing footage of his colleagues.

UPDATE: Yassky just called to tell us: he's definitely joking! "I was trying to be humorous, but I guess I'm no Simcha Felder," Yassky said, referring to his comedic comptroller rival.

Non-presidential campaign activity!

On Monday. A "Lawyers for Yassky” fund-raiser.

Details here.

* Pictured above is Councilman James Gennaro with Josh Tickell, the producer and star of “Field of Fuel,” a documentary about foreign oil dependence that has been selected for the Sundance Film Festival. As Gennaro’s press release puts it, “The film also features a variety of people, including Woody Harrelson, Julia Roberts and Councilman James F. Gennaro, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection.”

* Councilman Simcha Felder will hold the second of two kick-off fundraisers for his bid for comptroller in Queens this Thursday. The suggested donation is $18, perhaps an effort to draw a contrast with rival David Yassky, who asked supporters for $500 at his kick-off. Felder’s first event was in Brooklyn on Monday night.  read more »

Some reactions from the 2009 circuit to Adolfo Carrion’s entry into the comptroller’s race:

Fernando Ferrer, the most recent Hispanic candidate to run for mayor, told me via cell phone, “Well look, I think that he’s staked out for himself a race where he’s going to be a dominant figure.”

Asked if he was disappointed that Carrion would not be seeking the mayor's office, Ferrer replied, “I’ve just given you my comments.”

More after the jump.  read more »

At the kick-off fund-raiser for David Yassky's campaign for city comptroller last night, I asked him to tell me a little about the race, which will be his second high-profile bid in as many years.

“Well, it all started when I was five,” Yassky jokingly began, before turning serious.

“I started in city government when Koch was mayor, 20 years ago, at the budget office. I talk about it because that is where I first saw what a difference it makes whether you spend money on something that’s a big waste or whether you spend money on something that has a big effect,” he said.

More after the jump.  read more »

 

 

This evening, David Yassky kicks off his City Comptroller campaign with a fund-raiser at the Harvard Club.

He's part of a fairly crowded field in which some of the candidates have already started to raise money and endorsements: Melinda Katz, David Weprin, Jim Brennan and (all-but-declared) Simcha Felder.

The next Campaign Finance Board disclosure filing deadline is January 15. Any predictions as to what the candidates will show?

UPDATE: Also tonight is a birthday party/fund-raiser for Assemblyman Micah Kellner of Manhattan at XES Lounge, 157 West 24th Street, starting at 6:30 p.m.

I just spoke to David Yassky, the Brooklyn councilman and comptroller candidate who was in on Hillary Clinton's closed-press two-hour backroom meeting with Brooklyn politicians late yesterday afternoon.

Yassky said that Clinton turned in an "uber-impressive" performance, fielding questions dealing with, among other things, the persistently high unemployment rate for young African-American males, energy policy and President Vladimir Putin. (The Russia question came from an Assemblyman from Brighton Beach.)

"In Brooklyn you get a very wide range of issues and interests," Yassky said.

It's official: David Yassky is running for comptroller.

He filed paperwork with the Campaign Finance Board late last week and it just popped up on the CFB’s web site a few minutes ago.

Earlier, I noted the strategy will likely be to pick up support in his vote-rich section of Brooklyn and, since the race is full of outer borough candidates, scoop up the largely unclaimed votes in Manhattan. The other candidates in the race are David Weprin, Melinda Katz and possibly John Liu, all from Queens, plus Simcha Felder and James Brennan from Brooklyn. There's low-level grumbling about Adolfo Carrion getting into that race (although Carrion indicates he'd prefer to run for mayor).

When I spoke with Yassky on Friday, he didn’t confirm or deny he was entering the race. Instead, he said, “I still feel like it’s a long time away. And when given that we still have a city that is almost entirely reliant on diesel fuel to heat itself, when there is biofuels that would make so much of a difference, in terms of carbon emission, and we’re still spending all this money on tax breaks that would happen anyway, which we shouldn’t be doing. I feel like those are the things to be focusing on. Over and above atoning for my sins.”

He added, “It seems too far away to be talking about 2009.”

UPDATE: Just to clarify, Yassky's statement about atoning for sins was a eference was to Yom Kippur, which started on Friday, the day we spoke.

Councilman and all-but-announced city comptroller candidate Simcha Felder of Brooklyn hired another staffer: Eric Kuo, who will be the new new press person.

Kuo previously did press for Councilman Vincent Gentile, a Democrat in the conservative-leaning Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn (the same area that produced Democratic operatives George Fontas, Scott Gastel and Sam Cooper). He also worked for Councilman Oliver Koppell in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. (There are probably some notable operatives from there too, but I'll need some help on that one.)

More on Kuo after the jump.  read more »

Barack Obama is in town today – look for him on The Daily Show later tonight – and the non-vacationing Azi was on hand at a rally near Times Square that the Illinois senator held to show off some endorsements from New York pols.

You can get a summary of the event here, but Azi took note of the presence of one particular elected official:

Given that one of Obama’s themes is “turning the page” on the past, it seems ironic that he’s touting the endorsement of City Councilman Al Vann. Vann is a product of the Civil Rights generation who got his political start during the Ocean Hill-Brownsville fight over school control. But he’s dabbled in the kind of racially polarizing politics that Obama talks about overcoming. For instance, he rallied opposition to David Yassky’s Brooklyn last year – in part, by pointing out that Yassky was “a white individual.”