Howard Koeppel

Last night, just 24 hours after fueling speculation that he was planning an independent candidacy by announcing that he had dropped his Republican affiliation, Bloomberg exited the Sheraton hotel in midtown after giving a well-received speech to the Jewish Labor Committee.

It was only a floor below the ballroom where Rudy Giuliani held a fund-raiser for his presidential campaign.

On his way out, Bloomberg ran into longtime Giuliani supporter (and former roommate) Howard Koeppel. Or, more accurately, Koeppel almost physically ran into Bloomberg -- who basically owes the start of his political career in large part to Giuliani -- and promptly told him why he thought an independent candidacy was such a great idea.

“I told him that if he runs, he’ll help Rudy, because he’ll take votes away from the Democrats,” said Howard Koeppel, a longtime Giuliani supporter.

“‘Don’t worry,” Bloomberg responded, according to Koeppel, who had slung his arm around the mayor. “I’m not running.”

The mayor told Koeppel that he was running late as he made for the black SUV waiting for him on the street. Koeppel, an acquaintance of Bloomberg’s going back to the mayor’s first campaign in 2000, offered the mayor a friendly smack on the back of the head.  read more »