David Freedlander

CUNY, or Change: The Jeffrey Wiesenfeld Guide to Campuses and Anti-Semitism With a Key to Board Politics

By David Freedlander and Dan Duray | May 10, 2011 | 11:16 pm

Jeffrey Wiesenfeld's mother doesn't... MORE >

Towns, Dilan District Leader Face-Off Slated for May 18

By David Freedlander | May 9, 2011 | 8:57 am

The unlikely face-off for a district leader spot between a sitting senior Congressman and a longtime Councilmember will be decided next weekend. Both Congressman Ed Towns, a 15-term congressman from Central Brooklyn, and Erik Martin Dilan, a nine-year veteran of the City Council, will stand before Brooklyn's district leaders May 18 at the Stars and Stripes Democratic Club in... MORE >

CUNY Board to Reconsider Decision To Nix Kushner Degree

By David Freedlander | May 6, 2011 | 4:35 pm

The Board of Trustees at the City University of New York has just announced that they are holding an emergency meeting Monday night to reconsider the decision to nix the honorary degree awarded to Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner. "I would not ordinarily ask for a reconsideration of a decision so recently taken," said board chairman Benno Schmidt in a statement. "But when the board has made a mistake of principle, and not merely... MORE >

Bloomberg Unveils Bad News Budget

By David Freedlander | May 6, 2011 | 11:46 am

Mayor Mike Bloomberg made his annual Blue Room budget presentation for the New York City press corps this afternoon and took aim at officials in Albany and Washington who he said are taking money from the city's... MORE >

Poll: Corwin/Hochul in Dead Heat

By David Freedlander | May 6, 2011 | 10:25 am

Politico has the scoop on a new internal poll out from the Kathy Hochul campaign which shows the Erie County Democrat in a dead heat for a race in an open Congressional seat against Republican Jane Corwin. According to the poll, by Global Strategy Group, Corwin has 31 percent of the vote while Hochul grabs 30 percent. Independent candidate Jack Davis has 26... MORE >

2010 A Record Year for Lobbying Cash

By David Freedlander | May 5, 2011 | 4:47 pm

Cue up "We're In The Money." A new report out today from the Center on Public Integrity confirms what we all knew: Albany is awash in lobbyist cash. Says CPI: In 2010, $213.4 million was spent, up from $197.8 million the previous year. One of the largest increases came in the area of advertising. Clients reported spending $29,804,878 for advertising in 2010, compared to $6,167,701 in... MORE >

54th Assembly Update: Towns Hires, Velazquez Weighs In

By David Freedlander | May 4, 2011 | 6:04 pm

More news out of the 54th Assembly district--a seat left vacant when Darryl Towns was named Andrew Cuomo's housing commissioner. According to several sources, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez is backing Jesus Gonzalez, a community organizer with Make the Road New York who also has the support of the Working Families Party. Velazquez has a longtime rivalry with Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez. Rafael Espinal, who is the chief-of-staff to Council member Erik Dilan--a longtime Lopez ally--is... MORE >

Kushner Responds to CUNY Degree Snub

By David Freedlander | May 4, 2011 | 5:26 pm

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner contacted The Observer earlier this afternoon to respond to an earlier post about the CUNY board of directors nixing a decision by the John Jay faculty to award him an honorary degree after one board member alleged that Kushner had "anti-Israel"... MORE >

CUNY Nixes Honorary Degree for Tony Kushner, Citing 'Anti-Israel' Views

By David Freedlander | May 4, 2011 | 3:29 pm

The City University of New York cancelled plans to award an honorary degree to playwright Tony Kushner after a board member objected to his "anti-Israel" views. According to The Jewish Week, board member Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld raised objections about the possibility that Kushner could be given a chance to speak at the graduation... MORE >

Senate Dems Take on Social Media, Ethics [Live Video]

By David Freedlander | May 4, 2011 | 1:08 pm

The New York State Senate Democrats are holding what they are billing as the state's first ever inter-active public forum on ethics reform. The Senate Dems say that the move is necessary because "Senate Republicans continue to stall progress and refuse to allow public hearings on key ethics... MORE >

Bloomberg Defends Freedom of Expression at Opening of Show for Jailed Chinese Artist

By David Freedlander | May 4, 2011 | 11:57 am

Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened a public art exhibit this morning in Central Park by the jailed Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei and delivered a forceful defense of free... MORE >

Poll: Clear Majority 'Would Never' Vote for Trump

By David Freedlander | May 4, 2011 | 11:01 am

Quinnipiac University is out with a poll this morning that contains bad news for local real estate tycoon turned reality TV star Donald Trump: a clear majority of voters say that they "would never" vote for... MORE >

Diaz Says Take Same Sex Marriage Vote to the People

By David Freedlander | May 4, 2011 | 9:50 am

Bronx Democratic Senator and leading same-sex marriage opponent Ruben Diaz, Sr is out with a release today urging the Gov. Andrew Cuomo to give up his legislative push for marriage equality and put the issue before the voters instead. "Governor Andrew Cuomo has threatened the New York State Legislature that if we do not pass a law to redefine marriage to include homosexual marriage, he will take it to the people," Diaz writes.  "I challenge... MORE >

Hot Damn! Behind the Young Rummy Aide Who Broke Bin Laden's Bust

By David Freedlander and Nate Freeman | May 3, 2011 | 7:18 pm

Late Friday night, according to his now-infamous Twitter feed, Keith Urbahn toasted the end of the work week with a tall mint julep on a warm Washington evening, made from mint from his garden and 1792 small-batch Kentucky bourbon. By the end of the weekend, Mr. Urbahn, 27, had become a minor celebrity in the media storm that surrounded the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and his Twitter feed had jumped from a... MORE >

Oddo Knocks De Blasio for Knocking Grimm—UPDATED

By David Freedlander | May 3, 2011 | 3:21 pm

Last week's New Yorker magazine featured an article about Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm getting into an altercation at a club back when Grimm, then an FBI agent, took his gun out and ordered all the white people there to... MORE >