New York Democrats WILL Take The Senate This Year

It might have been back in December when local Senator Martin Connor predicted that we would pry away a Senate seat (in a heavily Republican upstate district) in yesterday's special election. That whittles the GOP Senate Majority (held for 40 years) down to one (1) seat.

Mr. Aubertine won 52 percent of the vote to 48 percent for Mr. Barclay, according to unofficial results. Republicans outnumber Democrats 78,454 to 46,824 in the north country district, and Mr. Barclay had been favored to win.

Further, he predicted that if we were able to swing this seat, we will take the Senate this year. There were some skeptics in the crowd. But hot damn, the winds of change are blowing. Change is coming to Albany, massive change, and sooner than you think.

Congratulations to Senator-elect Aubertine, Senator Connor, Governor Spitzer, and the party leadership on a tremendous victory.

Public Place Renderings at Curbed

Check them out at Curbed.

I had to leave a bit early for another meeting. Both renderings have significantly larger bulk than the neighborhood is used to, and the reps from the City basically conceded that no study has been done on local infrastructure needs to go along with the development proposals.

Also, a large turnout of union workers attended the meeting. Apparently, one of the developers has a spotty history of using non-union labor.

CB6 Tonight: What's Going On At Public Place?

As announced by District Manager Craig Hammerman at the last CGNA meeting, CB6 is hosting an informational meeting tonight to get out the word on the Public Place development proposals.

This is a big project by any measure. It's important to have a large presence of interested residents out there to maximize community input.

Tonight, 6:30PM
PS 32 Auditorium
317 Hoyt Street
(between Union & President)

Brooklyn CB6 Calendar

My Campaign Website Is Up!

The basics are there now, at www.garyreilly.org. Check it out! And if you have a few bucks, consider making a contribution. There's also a permanent link now in the left margin to the campaign site.

I'll be adding a lot more as the campaign progresses, links to sign up for the mailing list and to volunteer, as well as a comprehensive platform of positions on the issues.

I'm looking forward to a good race, and to working with you to address the needs of our community.

Brownstoner: AIA Kills Drive for Zoning Text Amendments

This is good news.

The process was deeply flawed, and the zoning changes that AIA was pushing would not only have led to bigger buildings shoehorned into tight spaces, but also would have substantially weakened contextual zoning.

This is good news.

How Did The Housing Bubble Happen?

The biggest factor was the credit bubble and financial chicanery on a grand scale.

This cartoon (45 slides) , which has made the rounds on Wall Street, sums it all up in layman's terms. Via Big Picture.

Colorful language warning.

Frank's Deli, on Smith at 2nd Place

Frank's Deli, across from the Carroll Street subway station, got a facelift in the last two weeks. I'm a big fan of the pancakes there (only an occasional indulgence or I'd be bigger than Stein's plan for 360 Smith - zing! I'll be here all week).

Anyway, the new awning looks great; it's much more inviting than the old enclosure in front of the door. I'll bet they double or triple their business from this investment. Seriously.