Isac Weinberger

City Hall gadfly (and by-the-way Department of Transportation employee) Isac Weinberger has some predictions for Tuesday’s elections.  read more »

Here’s Isac Weinberger at my desk in City Hall yesterday, explaining why David Paterson is so popular amid a state financial crisis. Isac also says that the Republicans “will be working closer with Governor Paterson than the Democrats” because they’re “looking to be the gentle person in the state."

Here's Obama supporter Isac Weinberger in City Hall's Room 4A talking about the prospect of Barack Obama meeting with Palestinian leaders -- it's a necessity, he says, like when Israeli leaders first went to Germany -- and giving advice about what other groups should be on the agenda. (All of them, he says.)

Here's Isac Weinberger, mingling near the City Hall steps last week during a Barack Obama rally.

He said he was there because Obama was the Democratic nominee, and because the governor was going to show up. He also said (in reponse to my Isac-style question, 'What's the latest?') that he hoped that a high-profile display of support for Obama from New York Satmars would help with the Jewish vote elsewhere.

Yes, Isac Weinberger spends most of his work day at the D.O.T. calling political reporters - without the kind of retribution you'd expect - but he knows how to work the party circuit.

Here he is, on the right, with political operative Yoel Lefkowitz on the left.  The man in the middle is none other than George Soros, who hosted a fund-raiser in his Manhattan for freshman congressman John Hall.

Oh, to be Isac.

Isac told me today he’s supporting Melinda Katz for city comptroller.

“She’s the only female running against five men,” he explained.

Here's an invitation for an April 29th "political banquet" in support of Rep. Ed Towns, featuring appearances by Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller Bill Thompson.

The event is being organized by Towns' finance chair, the Satmar rabbi Leib Glanz, and as a reader who forwarded it to me noted, the RSVP phone number listed on the invitation is for his non-profit group, the United Talmudical Academy.

UPDATE: Isac Weinberger called to say that Glanz's title as executive director of the non-profit group was listed for identification purposes, not as an indicator that the group was organizing the event.

As for the RSVP phone number... When I called, a man said it had been taken off the invitations and that it was added by mistake. He did not have the new number.

The Jewish blog Canonist gets into the weeds of the Muslim chaplain controversy, and notes that the most fervent anti-Zionists in the city's employ are likely some of its Jewish chaplins who are members of the Satmar sect of Chasidism.

The anti-Israel Satmar congregated at City Hall a month ago; one man was introduced to me with a proud, "He was at the funeral of Yassir Arafat."

UPDATE: The Politicker's Satmar Affairs Advisor, Isac Weinberger, tells me the anti-Zionist Jews I met on the steps of City Hall that day were not in fact Satmar, but another group. As for the Satmar, "They're anti-Zionist, but not that militant." I will, I swear, get this all straight one day.

In the days before yesterday's election, The Politicker asked a number of people who work in and around politics to predict the outcome. Many preferred not to (cowards!) but a couple dozen went along with the admittedly silly exercise.

There was a bit of a wisdom of crowds result here: the median prediction, as it turns out, was right on -- 58.5% for Mike. A lot better than those public polls.

There is also a clear winner of this contest, for which the prize is honor alone. Political Consultant Joe Mercurio not only hit Mike's number on the nose, to the first decimal place; he was also just 0.2% off Freddy's number. Mike McKeon also hit Mike's number right, but unwisely discounted the Ognibene/McMillan factor. Isac Weinberger and I did pretty well too.

The predictions, which range from a Bloomberg landslide to a Ferrer squeaker:

New York Magazine scribe Chris Smith: 68-30 New York Post bomb-thrower Fred Dicker: 65-33 Former Working Familes worker Adina Berrios: 62-37 Most-Quoted Man in New York Doug Muzzio: 60-38 Television Instigator Andrew Kirtzman: 60-38 NY1 Host Davidson Goldin: 59-37 Labor Politcal Guy Peter Colavito: 59-39 Brooklyn Loyalist Michael Tobman: 59-39 The Ubiquitous Isac Weinberger: 59-38 Newsday's Exiled Glenn Thrush: 59-37 GOP Tough-Guy Mike McKeon: 58.5-41.5 Reality: 58.5-38.7 Mercurio: 58.5-38.5 Miller Speechwriter Noel Hartman: 58-41 Fields Campaign Chief Chung Seto: 58-41 State GOP Director Ryan Moses: 58-40 Me, Guessing Blindly: 58-39 Crainian Insider Anne Michaud: 57-42 Brooklyn Aficionado Bob Liff: 57-40 GOTV Guru Kevin Wardally: 57-40 East Side GOPer Lolita Jackson: 56-42 Hank Aide Dave Vermilion: 56-40 The Conservative Hank Sheinkopf: 54-42 And a Hopeful Rafael Martinez Alequin: 47-50

Rafi brought the "It's Over" New York Post cover to Freddy's "victory party," telling anyone who would listen that he had it ready for Ferrer's Dewey-Defeats-Truman moment.  read more »

Several people also submitted their guesses on the rest of the ballot, and Kevin Wardally did best on that score, predicting a Democratic Council sweep and a Corzine win, calling the ballot measures right, and coming in just a few minutes late on the timing of Freddy's concession speech.

Thanks for playing!

Our greatest fear in starting this blog is our inability to compete with Isac Weinberger. Isac is to aficionados of New York City politics what the Internet is to other, more advanced people. A Satmar Hasid with a thick Yiddish accent and an indefinable city job -- "a desk and a phone," he says in Nick Paumgarten's wonderful profile -- he's talking constantly to reporters, source of a million stories.

A month or two ago, we tried to explain to Isac that we were starting this blog, and that he'd like it. He had no time for this.  read more »

"I don't know computers," he told us. "Listen: You gonna have something, you gonna fax it to me"