James Brennan

Citizens Union, a group that promotes government openness and transparency, is urging state lawmakers to pass congestion pricing.  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 »

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 »

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.

Democratic Assemblyman Jim Brennan spoke last night to the Stonewall Democratic Club in Manhattan as part of his campaign to become city comptroller.

Brennan predicted that to help close the looming five billion dollar state deficit, when Eliot Spitzer presents his budget in January, he will delay implementation of the provisions required by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision (which sends millions of dollars to New York City schools) for a year or two, seek to reduce healthcare spending by about a billion dollars, and fail to produce money to prevent fare hikes.

More after the jump.  read more »

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 »

About that talk going around that City Councilman David Yassky of Brooklyn will enter the already-crowded City Comptroller’s race in 2009...

"I’m not trying to be coy about it," Yassky just told me. "I want to stay in government. I love this work. I think I’ll want to keep doing it after my term is over. And I think I’ll be in another election," but 2009 is "too far away and I have not decided. We’re not there."

Though there are at least five candidates, it's not that outlandish for Yassky to calculate that there may be room for one more. The list of announced and likely candidates for comptroller include Simcha Felder and James Brennan of Brooklyn, and John Liu, Melinda Katz and David Weprin of Queens, if I'm not missing anyone. The pool of voters in Manhattan, in the absence of another entrant (Scott Stringer, maybe?), are anything but locked down.

Yassky is popular with the New York Times and with Michael Bloomberg, who has already held two fund-raisers for Felder, but has shared national TV time with Yassky. So, if he can line up backing uptown and in his part of Brooklyn... who knows?

The city Campaign Finance Board is putting out some numbers today filed by some familiar candidates for citywide office.

The first total after each name below represents net contributions over a six-month period that ended last week, and the second is net contributions for the entire cycle.  read more »

Melinda Katz is going full steam ahead with her bid to be the next city comptroller in a race that, technically, doesn't happen until 2009.

“I’ve been in it for two or three months,” Katz, a Councilwoman from Queens, told me.

She's already picked up a major endorsement from RWDSU, the union representing sales and retail workers, to be announced formally tomorrow.

And aside from process, Katz is casting herself as the most experienced candidate for the job, reminding me that she is the chair of the Council’s Land Use Committee, a former state Assembly member, and former associate at Weil, Gotshal and Manges.

“I’ve become the known entity in this race,” she said, on her way to City Hall. That's where two of her three likely opponents for the race currently work: fellow Queens-based Council member David Weprin and Councilman Simcha Felder of Brooklyn.
Also considering the race the race is Assembly member James Brennan of Brooklyn.

Here is a letter from three Brooklyn Assembly members asking for changes in the design of the Atlantic Yards project, but stopping short of actually opposing it.

Assembly members James Brennan, Joan Millman and Annette Robinson said the venture should be scaled down, with guaranteed affordable housing and more extensive disclosure of the project's finances.

"A delay of several months while concerns are incorporated into the Project will cause no harm to Atlantic Yards and major long-term benefits to the community."

The letter was emailed out today by Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and posted on the group's website, although the moderate tone seems to be at odds with DDDB's more absolutist opposition.

Is this a sign that the Atlantic Yards opposition is beginning to coalesce around an eventual compromise position? Or am I just reading too much into this?

-- Azi Paybarah

Newsday has a helpful summary today about citywide candidates who have filed to raise funds for 2009.

The list is led by City Comptroller William Thompson Jr., who has so far raised $519,000 as an undeclared candidate.

Others who have raised money but have not declared the office they're seeking are Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (about $83,800) and City Councilmen John Liu ($350,000), Peter Vallone Jr. ($232,000), Domenic Recchia Jr. ($84,500), Michael McMahon ($108,000) and Bill de Blasio ($32,000).

So who's missing?

Left off of the list is Brooklyn Assemblyman James Brennan, who has raised close to $11,000 from 49 donors for a campaign to succeed Bill Thompson as comptroller.

Just to round things off.  read more »

—Nicole Brydson CORRECTION: We missed the latest information on James Brennan's disclosure filing with the Campaign Finance Board. Brennan reports total contributions of $154,515 from 800 donors, considerably more than the approximate $11,000 from 49 donors that we originally reported. He has one opponent so far, David Weprin, who has raised $362,413 from 477 donors.