I remember back in 2004 at the RNC, Michael Moore wrote an excellet piece about how there was a time that moderate New York Republicans like John Lindsay and Fiorello de La Guardia actually helped influence the party by moving it to the Left.

It is tragic today to see the moderate NY Republicans like Bloomberg and Guiliani -- completely hostage to the most right-wing elements of their Party.  TRAGIC.

As a Democrat, I personally support Ferrer. But when you have support from both White & Black NY Democratic leaders like Peter Vallone ( Former Dem. Mayor Candidate) & Charles Hynes, to Rev, Calvin Butts, Former Dem Mayor Ed Koch, to even prominent Liberal Democrats like Actress Whoopi Goldberg & prominent african american NBA stars- HE IS GOING TO BE VERY HARD TO BEAT.

What's s shame is Polls showed Ferrer had a Good Shot in the early stages of his campaign. But he made several MAJOR ERRORS such as his Stupid comment on Police Brutality in his attempt to pander to  White voters which cost him dearly
among Black Democratic voters.

You have to remember. Mike Bloomberg was a Lifelong Pro-Choice Jewish Democrat who ONLY switched parties in order to enhance his chances of being Mayor since there was such a CROWDED FIELD of Career Democrats in NYC who all wanted to be Mayor.

He saw how Guliani masterfully won the NYC Mayoral race as a republican in a Dem city & pretty much copied the blue print for success.

This is not Bloombergs fault. It is not the fault of the voters. Look to the Democratic Paty for the problem.

Send him a massage by voting for Gloria Mattera, the Green Party candidate for Brooklyn Borough President, who has already picked up endorsements from Chris Owens and the Sierra Club (unheard of for a 3rd party candidate), with more coming in all the time.  She's also just reached matching funds, so she will have a quarter million dollars to spend of TV, radio, newspapers, mailings and GOTV to compete with Marty's millions from developers like Bruce Ratner.

Even with a 5 to 1 Democratic Party registration advantage, a significant enough number of Dems would NOT just BLINDLY support a Mayoral candidate just for having a D next to his name.

By most accounts, Bloomberg is doing an excellent job as Mayor. That explains why a significant number of NYC dem voters are crossing party lines.

If a politician is showing results, his party ID almost becomes insignificant. I don't think you can call Democrats who are supporting a Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay Rights, Pro-Affrimative action - going to the Right?

As for Ferrer, he is a career politician who has had a spotty track record in some of the decisions his made as the Bronx Big Boss.

Besides, where else can you find a Republican who is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-affirmative action ? As I've said, Bloomberg was a Lifelong Jewish Democrat who switched parties in order to enhance his chances of becoming Mayor in a crowded field of Democrats? It was a strategic move that obviously worked magnificently.

This reminds me of another successful Republican Mayor who DID THE EXACT SAME thing as Bloomberg. Former Jersey City Mayor Republican Bret Schundler was a lifelong Democrat. He ran for  Mayor in a city ( I believe 1991) that had a 4 to 1 Democratic registration advantage.

While 8 Democrats slugged it out, he was the lone Republican candidate & pulled an upset victory.

During his reelection campaign, he again won this time in a landslide as many Jersey City Democrats crossed party line to vote for him.

Bloomberg, Schundler also can call Republican Sen. Coleman of MN as part of their Former Democrats Club. Coleman was a Lifelong Jewish Democrat who obviously switched party for personal political ambition.

And for all 3, it just happened to be a successful political move.

Yet the mayor REFUSED to discuss the Rent Guidelines Board's (RGB's) June deliberations on whether and how much to raise rents on close to a million apartments in the city.

Asked at a press briefing about the RGB's first vote, Bloomberg bravely responded: "Any raises will obviously be too much for tenants. Any raises will obviously be too little for landlords."

That's what the mayor said. What Bloomberg DID was appoint investment banker Marvin Markus as chairman of the RGB. Marvin Markus is a former Koch-administration chairman, affectionately known as Marvin "Markup" for the double-digit increases granted during his first tenure. This year, Markus kept the tenant representative position on the RGB unfilled until the last minute and then pushrd through increases of 2.75% for a one year lease and 5.5% for a two year lease. The best we can say about these increases is that at least they weren't as high as in 2003, when they hit 5.5 and 8.5%. That year Bloomberg replaced five of the nine members of that board just two weeks before the vote. Four of those five voted for the hike.

Mayor Bloomberg was notably silent in 2003 when the future of rent stabilization for 1 million NYC apartments lay in the hands of Joe Bruno's state senate. Of course, there wasn't much he could officially do to alter the outcome of the senate vote. However, back in 1997 when rent regulations were up for renewal, Mayor Giuliani aligned himself with tenants' groups and came out with lobbying guns blazing on our behalf.

Additionally, Bloomberg vetoed the "Tenant Empowerment Act," a measure to give tenants in some affordable housing programs an opportunity to buy their buildings and opposes a repeal of the Urstadt law, which deprives New York City of home rule over rent regulation.

I'm just an ordinary middle-class NYC renter. I can't wait any longer to become a priority for Michael Bloomberg.

Next he became an aide at the assembly, getting a staff job on a state commission studying rent regulations. Then he served two terms as a city councilman.

He took over as Borough Pres when Stanley Simon got caught in a bribery scheme. Ferrer instituted a code of ethics, brought in auditors, and had his staff file statements of personal finances. He was praised by reform pols and the newspapers for cleaning the place up.

During his term as BP, the Bronx turned around. Over 60,000 new housing units were built and neighborhoods were revived.

In the early 1990's, city planners wanted to bulldoze much of a 33-block area near Yankee Stadium.  Ferrer persuaded City Hall to give ground. He helped come up with a new plan for the area, called Melrose Commons, that allowed the residents to stay put.

From the NYTimes, "Many people also credit Mr. Ferrer with the wisdom to back off himself. Some of the people active in housing issues in the 1990's say that Mr. Ferrer rarely tried to delay projects or steer contracts to his friends."

That's why he was re-elected three times as Bronx BP, always by at least 110,000 votes. You're gonna hold that against him?

So Ferrer comes from the Bronx. Is his clubhouse any grubbier than Bloomberg's? Google Bloomberg+Related Companies to find out who some of Mayor Mike's clubmates are.  

This state of affairs has arisen because of the changed City charter.  The Borough Presidents were stripped of any authority in NYC's governance and the positions have been reduced to primarily ceremonial posts.  Once they used to weild power through the Board of Estimate, but no more.  Now, they cut ribbons and issue declarations.  The City Council has limited authority compared to the Mayor, even over the city budgets which the Mayor prepares, proposes and can force through even against Council opposition.  The Council members are term limited, so no one has any power compared to the Mayor.  With NYC's "strong mayor" (more like "Godzilla mayor") form of government, only the Mayor receives any attention from the press and the public.

The net result is that the only folks who can really run for the position are billionaires like  Bloomberg or politicians with a record from outside the NYC government, like Koch or Giulliani.  This wasn't always the case, but with the current NYC charter it is likely to stay that way.  Marty Markowitz slit his own throat with his declaration for Bloomberg and he really doesn't even know it.   He has no future outside Brooklyn.  

FACT: ONLY AFTER Pataki was safely re-elected did Bloomberg push through the HIGHEST Real estate tax increase in NYC history.  Did he raise taxes on wealthy and corporations?  No he did it on backs of all NYers

FACT: Bloomberg then had Department of Finance change assessment value rules so assessment values went up

FACT: Bloomberg gives back 2 rebates of $400 each while claiming to have given 3 real estate tax breaks

FACT: Ferrer's plan for real estate tax relief calls for an automatic savings of $973 per person and not just $400 if home valued below $800,000 and $400 if it is over.  And renters get a break too...