Labor Chiefs for Gay Nups [NYP]

Good news: He's up and about and will be just fine.

Bad news: As a result, he was forced to miss the grand opening of the new Times Square Junior's.

That last bit breaks our heart, too.

Markowitz Hospitalized [Daily Politics/NYDN]
Marty Recovering [Daily Politics/NYDN]
Earlier: Gottenyu! DOT Declares Markowitz's Meshugge Signage Kosher

GOP Chairman Asks K.T. McFarland to Bow Out of Senate Race [NY1]

Mayor Mike is quoted in today's News saying that he expects his lawyers to aggressively argue their position, which wouldn't be surprising except that he has repeatedly declared himself in favor of gay marriage and over the weekend said the city is just itching to perform gay weddings and will do so as soon as they're allowed. Meantime, it'll take the Court of Appeals months to render a verdict, leaving all of this up in the air for some time yet. Which, presumably, gives Bloomberg plenty of time to come out even more strongly in favor of what his lawyers are opposing.

New York Top Court Considers Gay Marriage [365Gay.com]
Mike: This Time City's Vs. Gay Nups [NYDN]
Mike Vows He'll Honor Gay Marriage [NYDN]

Asked if she felt upset that she would be missing out on free tickets, Ms. Bridges said, "I hate musicals, and usually plays are a little too long for me."

What, you thought the principal might have an attention span longer than her elementary-school kids do? Ha.

Klein Is Using Broadway Tickets to Entice Kids to a Meeting [NYSun]

But the mayors have little formal influence over national firearms policy, and the political climate in Washington is largely hostile to new gun restrictions. Mr. Bloomberg acknowledged those hurdles in his opening remarks to the mayors gathered in the mansion's ballroom, whose walls are covered in Wedgwood-blue Venetian plaster.

Sadly, no detail was provided on the carpet or window treatments.

Mayors Discuss Efforts on Gun Crimes [NYT]

There is some sort of symbolism, we're sure, that this deal to replace the hulking superblock of the old World Trade Center didn't come till several hours after the death of urbanism guru Jane Jacobs, who passed away in her sleep at a Toronto hospital this morning. But we'll leave it up to you to decide exactly what the symbolism is.

Developer Accepts 'Economic Terms' of Trade Center Deal [NYT]
Jane Jacobs, Urban Activist, Is Dead at 89 [NYT]

New York Leads Politeness Trend [NYT]

Clothing and Footwear Now Less Expensive for State Shoppers [NYSun]

And it kind of makes you wonder, even if you don't particularly like ol' HRC: Could it be that God just wants her to win?

Questions Arise About Resume of Challenger to Clinton [NYT]

Is Upstate 'Like Appalachia'? Well, Part of It Is Appalachia [NYT]

Mike for Monarch: The TV Campaign [Politicker/NYO]

A deal with an Internet cigarette peddler could make 12,500 city smokers cough up $33 million in unpaid sales tax, city officials said yesterday.

A Virginia-based company, eSmokes Inc., agreed to settle a city suit by giving up detailed information on untaxed cigarette sales it made to city residents between 2002 and 2003.

If our math is right, that's $2,640 per person. Lovely.

Holy Smoke! Puffers Face $33M E-Cig Tax Bill [NYDN]

Some established TriBeCa bar owners are scrambling to find a legal loophole that will allow them to hold onto their liquor licenses after the State Liquor Authority moved to revoke the licenses upon learning that the bars are within 200 feet of a mosque.

In fairness, it turns out the mosque isn't labeled as such on the building and it's not taking any sides in this dispute, and it has been invoked but what seems like some bitchy, townhouse-owning couple using any NIMBYish excuse to shut down the bars in their neighborhood. All that said, we can't help feeling that if we can't have several options on where to drink within feet of West Broadway and North Moore, we're letting the terrorists win.

N.Y. State Tries to Close TriBeCa bars for Being Too Close to a Mosque [NYS]

We're tempted to say no, because they're still not releasing him from the hospital. Which would also make sense: No one in Albany ever passes anything quickly.

Pataki Is Up and Around After Week of Hospitalization [NYT]
Pataki Awake, on the Mend [Newsday]
New York Gov. Pataki Recovering After Surgery [Reuters]

Tony Avella wants to end "goat tying" and "horse-tripping."

He would also prohibit the resale of undergarments, which is "certainly repugnant to general standards of hygiene and responsibility."

James Genarro plans to add the birthdays of Lord Krishna and Lord Buddha to the no-alternate-side-parking list.

And while we agree with The Politicker's suggestion that most of these proposals seem a touch ridiculous — whether you choose to buy used undergarments strikes as your own choice — we must defend one of them. It's a fucking bitch to find a parking spot on Lord Krishna's birthday.

Yes to Buddha, No to Goat-Tying [The Politicker/NYO]

Pataki Bowel Movement [Google News]

Um, actually, he would. Said the News this weekend:

On his weekly WABC-AM radio show yesterday, Bloomberg voiced support for placing devices atop taxis and private vehicles that would light up when motorists exceed the speed limit, making speeders easy prey for cops. He mentioned seeing such alarms in Singapore.

"We all want the laws enforced. And when we have technology [that] can let us enforce the law and save us money in doing so, what's the argument against that?" Bloomberg mused.

Oh, no. No argument at all, Mike. And let us tell you how excited we'll be for the special light on our pocket that goes off when we're carrying, um, something into the bar bathroom. Or the light on our coat that'll go off when we're crossing against the light.

Also, the big siren that will go off whenever people with sub-six-figure incomes come into Manhattan? That'll be doubleplus fantastic.

Pedal to the Metal? Mike's Eying You! [NYDN]

All we'd like to point out is that John Hall is running in the Democratic primary for that seat. And that John Hall was the lead singer of the band Orleans. And that Orleans is best known for its classic "Still the One." (Yeah, that song. You know it.) And that, as a Wonkette reader noted, the skinny, bare-chested, bearded dude in the center of the above very homoerotic album cover could well be a member of our state's congressional delegation.

Which makes us realize how little we'd like to see Jerry Nadler in that same pose.

John Hall for Congress [Offical site]

New York City's tax on cigarettes — already the highest in the nation — should be upped another 50 cents per pack, with the revenue going to public health efforts to stop smoking, Mayor Bloomberg proposed yesterday.

The hike would raise the combined city and state tax on cigarettes to $3.50 per pack, which would bring the price of a pack of smokes in some parts of the city to a staggering $8.

We have no further comment, as we're too busy looking for a good discount-cigarettes website.

Mayor Burning to Raise Cig Tax [NYDN]

Name: Fernando Ferrer. Age 43. Lives: Hammarbyh jden. (a suburb of Stockholm). Grew up: Camaguey, Cuba. Marital Status: Domestic Partnership. (Civilst nd is marital status in Swedish and "sambo" literally means "livestogether"). Job: Nurse's aid. Came out: 1987. Last movie viewed: "The guy in the grave next to me" (No idea what movie this is, probably the Swedish translation of an English language movie. Shallow grave??) CD in currently in my stereo: Il Divo's " Ancora. When I go out I like to go to: "Club Connection" or "Lino" (again, don't ask — I haven't lived in Stockholm for six years.) TV show I never miss: Idol, so now I'll have to find some other show to watch. (Idol is the Swedish version of American Idol.) Three words that describe me: happy, calm, and honest. On my bedside table: The Pyramid by Henning Mankell. My qruiser handle: AMIGOKOM. (qruiser is a gay Swedish chatroom and amigokom translates roughly to amigocum.)

And another translator points out the significance of his new profession. "One might say that Ferrer has moved up in the world — New York City politics to low-ranking nurse in Sweden."

So good for you, Freddy. Enjoy your new country, your new career, your new orientation, and, of course, a social-safety net you could only dream about here in New York. Godspeed, Amigocum.

Earlier: Where Have You Gone, Freddy Ferrer?

And maybe then we'd understand why Freddy's "civilstånd" is listed as "sambo."

A little help?

But today the News gives an entirely different reason rookie cops will be entitled to appear sullen and angry: They're now paid only $25,100 a year. Which would make anyone sullen and angry.

Recruits on the Cheap [NYDN]

(Someplace, we're sure, Democrat-turned-Republican Manhattan borough president candidate Brian Ellner is crying in the arms of his partner, Simon, who we're equally sure is not allowed to say anything in response. And someplace else, Ed Koch is no doubt silently thanking the Times for the strategic use of "openly.")

Nothing withstanding all that, we can't help but wonder: Has Charlotte Rae been booked yet for the inevitable Logo biopic?

OK, fine. And we're also a little sad Quinn didn't run for city council up in Peekskill.

Next Council Speaker in New York Is a Doer and a Trailblazer [NYT]

State Democrats and Republicans Duel Over Methods to Decrease Illegal Guns [NYT]

Two former top-ranking members of the city medical examiner's office siphoned off millions of federal dollars that flowed into the office after the Sept. 11 attacks, sending at least $5.5 million to overseas accounts as they staged their getaway, federal prosecutors said .

Natarajan (Raju) Venkataram, 41, and his girlfriend, Rosa Abreu, 38, were charged with a scheme to embezzle more than $10 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency cash meant for a computer system that analyzes DNA and was used after the attacks to identify thousands of bodies.

Now, don't think we're the kinds of squares who get too worked up about a little embezzlement between friends. But $5.5 million's a lot. From the government is worse. And from the agency working to identify 9/11 bodies, well, that's what makes it pretty evil.

Except there's this: Apparently the DNA-analyzing computer system worked just fine anyway. Which brings us back to, what's $5.5 million among friends, anyway?

Coroner Office Duo in 9/11 Con [NYDN]

The law assumes that a marriage will produce children and affords benefits based on that assumption. It sets up heterosexual marriage as the cultural, social and legal ideal in an effort to discourage unmarried childbearing."

Marriage laws are not primarily about adult needs for official recognition and support but about the well-being of children and society, and such preference constitutes a rational policy decision.

Because of course gay marriage would be detrimental to "the well-being of children and society." Even here in good ol' blue-state New York.

Court of Appeals Nixes Gay Nups in City [NYDN]

To wit:

U.S. Representative * 9TH CD, New York * Brooklyn-Queens
ANTHONY D. WEINER
P R E S S R E L E A S E

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2005

BRAUNSTEIN CASE HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO CLOSE LOOPHOLES IN FEDERAL LAW
WEINER CALLS ON EBAY TO STOP SELLING FAKE LAW ENFORCEMENT BADGES

Yeah, that's the big lesson of the Braustein case: Too many tchotchkes available on eBay. If not for that, everything with Braunstein would just fine, we're sure.

Congressman Anthony D. Weiner [House.gov]

City Hall has issued a warning that secondhand smoke endangers the health of puffers' pets....

"Even cats and dogs whose owners smoke have higher rates of cancer," the Health Department reports.

We know second terms are when administrations typically get power-drunk and a touch crazy. And, come to think of it, it just stands to reason that Bloomberg's second-term lunacy would be over-the-top anti-smoking campaigns.

Which, in the grand scheme, isn't the worst sort of over-the-top-ness. Chris Ofili, at least, must be pleased.

See Spot Cough [NYP]

That honor remains with Jeremiah Mahoney, who lost to Fiorello LaGuardia by 19.73 percentage points in 1937. Now that all of this year's absentee ballots have been counted and the final mayoral results certified, it seems that Ferrer lost to Bloomberg by a mere 19.37 points.

That's a tough break there, Freddy. But if you keep trying, we're pretty sure you'll beat Jeremiah next time.

Mike Barely Misses Mark Set by Fiorello [NYDN]

A local community board gave a Bronx cheer to plans for a new Yankee Stadium last night, voting 16-8, with five abstentions, to oppose its construction on city parkland.

The board has no real say in the decision, of course. But, still, thanks, Community Board 4, for making us feel at home again.

Bx. Board Sends Stadium Plan to Showers [NYP]

Which is why it must have been great news for Jeanine Pirro — the Ferrer running against Hillary's Bloomberg, if you've forgotten — when she found a new spokesman, Andrea Tantaros.

The Politicker yesterday found some of Tantaros old work, from her days as a college-newspaper columnist at Lehigh. And one particular column really got 'Ticker's heart racing. Some excerpts:

Yup, I guess Mrs. Clinton realizes that her time as first lady is coming to a close and this power-hungry monster feels she and her husband didn`t do enough damage to our country as a whole, so she needs to ruin New York.

Besides the fact that she isn't even from New York and has never even lived or been educated there, Mrs. Clinton is a power-hungry congenital liar....

'Hill' has been involved in multiple scandals (probably) more than all of the first ladies combined) and has lied probably about as many times as her husband has dropped his pants....

Oh, we can't forget the most famous, Whitewater. This was the Clinton's real-estate scam in Arkansas that ended up costing us taxpayers $69 million and White House Deputy Vincent Foster's life. (He was found dead in a nearby park in the heat of the scandal.)

And here we were thinking Republicans were nutcases. How silly of us.

Tantaros in Training [The Politicker/NYO]
A Dose of D.C. [The Brown & White]

New York Press was improperly referred to as "The New York Press," and mischaracterized in a piece that accompanied Patrick Healy's November 6 New York Times article ("For the City's Democrats, a Grim Future Could Last Long Beyond Tuesday").

While New York Press did endorse Fernando Ferrer for mayor, as the article indicated, the entire piece was written tongue-in-cheek. [...] Maybe The New York Times sees nothing suspicious or even funny when an alternative weekly writes, "We're honored to add our name to this list [of endorsements], and offer the all-important escort-seeking demographic."
[...]
In any event, we look forward to your correction and the subsequent restoration of our previously untarnished reputation.

Now we'll wait for the Times to issue a very serious correction, as well as a formal announcement of the death of humor on 43rd.

No, Seriously It Was Funny [NY Press]

They stored the answers in a vast computerized database to develop sophisticated psychological portraits of city voters - identifying eight never-before-identified voting blocs based on people's shared everyday interests and concerns, not on their broader racial, cultural or ideological differences, aides said in interviews in the last few days.

There's something a little scary, sure, about Bloomberg and his minions conducting this research into all of us. But, at the same time, there's something appealing about the idea of being sliced and diced by politicians in this new way — by the content of our characters, as it were, not the color of our skin. And so we were interested in this article, and intrigued to learn about these eight newfound, non-ethnic voting blocks. Curiously, however, the Times gave us only three.

FANS, or "Fearful and Anxious New Yorkers": described as mostly lower- and lower-middle-income New Yorkers of all races whose lives are "utterly dependent on New York surviving." They rely heavily upon the city's social services, and, perhaps working as janitors or in the airports, they depend for their livelihoods on the city's remaining financially stable and free from attack. ...

"Middle Middles": Aides identified these voters as middle-class moderates of all races who said in interviews that they sought independence and honesty in their leaders. They said they admired that Mr. Bloomberg built his fortune on his own. This group, aides said, included people from all walks of life....

"Cultural Liberals": These New Yorkers said in interviews that they considered the financing of arts and social programs to be crucial, and that they understood that the survival of such programs depends upon careful fiscal management.

So what are the other five? We have no idea. Work for Bloomberg and know? Tell us. If not, it's all up to you, Commenters. Let's hear your best guesses.

Voter Profiles for Bloomberg Went Beyond Ethnic Labels [NYT]

The mayor's wide support among minority voters is a sign that the strategy of the Democrat, Fernando Ferrer, to build on a dependable base of black and Hispanic votes fell victim to emerging political realities: that blacks and Hispanics no longer vote reflexively as a bloc, and that a middle-class coalition can trump traditional ethnic-based appeals. The winning multiethnic coalition turned out to be Mr. Bloomberg's.

He won a second term by wooing liberal defectors from Democratic ranks and by carrying every Assembly district in which white Catholics or Jews predominate. He also carried the only district in which Asians outnumber others.

In other words: All sorts of pandered-to minorities could get behind the rich Jew!

It's the American dream.

[Photo Tom Callan, 2005. All rights reserved.]

Mayor Crossed Ethnic Barriers for Big Victory [NYT]

Which, yes, is the biggest majority a Republican has ever won in New York. And, yes, is an even larger margin that when Giuliani steamrolled Ruth Messinger eight years ago. And, as we discovered, saying you'd vote Bloomberg is much easier than, once you're in the booth, actually pulling a Republican lever.

But, still: Only 20 points? We're very disappointed with you, Bloomie.

Bloomberg Rolls to Re-Election [NY1]

Then, of course, there's this election. In which the most recent Quinnipiac poll has Bloomberg up 68-30, and the most recent Marist poll has him up 64-30.

So all that suspense? It's just over whether Bloomberg will win by more or less than 35 points. Good work there, Freddy.

Earlier: New York Politics

A new study on smoking commissioned by the state Health Department found a whopping 75.5 percent of adult New Yorkers favor a ban on smoking in front of public buildings and workplace entrances.

Even a majority of adult smokers — 54 percent — favor such a ban, according to the study of 1,949 adult New Yorkers done earlier this year by North Carolina-based RTI International.

Keep that in mind. Then, a year or two down the road, when you're no longer allowed to even stand outside of your local drinkery and enjoy a smoke, you'll have one more reason to hate everyone around you. They deserve it.

Cig Ban Inside and Out [NYP]