January 25, 2013 8:12 PM

John Catsimatidis, The Philanthropist Candidate?

BY Celeste Katz

Yet another benefit of being a billionaire: When a worthy and high-profile cause comes along, there's no need to rush out and drum up donations to help. You can just reach into your own pocket.
CatsimatidisAVSP.jpeg Such is life for John Catsimatidis, the supermarket tycoon seeking the GOP nomination for mayor.

Republican state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis today announced Catsimatidis has contributed $10,000 to A Very Special Place, a non-profit serving people with developmental disabilities, to help the organization rebuild its Hurricane Sandy-battered New Dorp Beach office.

"We've seen quite a few examples of storm victims like A Very Special Place doing their part to help others despite their own suffering. Words cannot express how pleased I am that John has found a way to do something for them," Malliotakis said in a statement this afternoon.

Catsimatidis added, “Nicole told me about the devastation right after the hurricane, how A Very Special Place was impacted [and] how this organization helped during the recovery effort despite experiencing devastation of its own. I am honored to be able to help A Very Special Place start its long road to recovery."

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January 25, 2013 6:48 PM

President Obama: Hillary Clinton One Of Finest Secretaries Of State In U.S. History

BY Celeste Katz

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat down today to speak to Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes -- the only U.S. interview the president has ever given with anyone other than FLOTUS Michelle Obama -- and the president says history will remember Clinton as one of the nation's finest occupants of the office. The talk, which airs in full Sunday night, is an indicator of the president's support of Clinton, who this week faced Senate grilling over the Sept. 11, 2012 killing of American diplomatic personnel in Libya and is not sticking around for Obama's second term. This sneak peek aired tonight on The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.

From the clip: 

 
Kroft: Why did you want to do this together, a joint interview?
 
President Obama: Well, the main thing is I just wanted to have a chance to publicly say thank you, because I think Hillary will go down as one of the finest secretaries of state we've had. It has been a great collaboration over the last four years. I'm going to miss her, wish she was sticking around but she has logged in so many miles I can't begrudge her wanting to take it easy for a little bit. But I want the country to appreciate what an extraordinary role she's played during the course of my administration. A lot of the successes we've had internationally have been because of her hard work.
 
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January 25, 2013 5:14 PM

Who Trashes The Trashers? Howard Wolfson

BY Celeste Katz

If the current crop of mayoral candidates want to use Mike Bloomberg as a punching bag, they're probably going to hear it from Howard Wolfson.

RACEforMAYOR_2013_print_logo_59K.jpgBefore joining Bloomberg's 2009 re-election team, the veteran Democratic operative spent plenty of time trashing the mayor himself. But now, as a top deputy to Hizzoner, Wolfson's been playing defense for the boss -- and trying to shore up his legacy -- as he says the contenders are trying score points with primary voters by dumping on City Hall.

"Just now on City Hall steps: A scary look at NYC's possible future where the UFT runs the schools and Michael Mulgrew calls all the shots," Wolfson tweeted after Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, city Controller John Liu and his predecessor Bill Thompson appeared at a union rally about teacher evaluations.

The event -- and Wolfson's criticisms -- didn't include City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who seems to be the favorite to score Bloomberg's endorsement in the crowded race.

"It is obvious that there are candidates running for mayor who believe that the correct political strategy for them is to appeal to farthest fringe of the Democratic primary in order to get elected," Wolfson said Friday, a day after six candidates at a Daily News co-sponsored forum on housing issues bashed Bloomberg, albeit to varying degrees.

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January 25, 2013 5:14 PM

Who Trashes The Trashers? Howard Wolfson

BY Celeste Katz

If the current crop of mayoral candidates want to use Mike Bloomberg as a punching bag, they're probably going to hear it from Howard Wolfson.

RACEforMAYOR_2013_print_logo_59K.jpgBefore joining Bloomberg's 2009 re-election team, the veteran Democratic operative spent plenty of time trashing the mayor himself. But now, as a top deputy to Hizzoner, Wolfson's been playing defense for the boss -- and trying to shore up his legacy -- as he says the contenders are trying score points with primary voters by dumping on City Hall.

"Just now on City Hall steps: A scary look at NYC's possible future where the UFT runs the schools and Michael Mulgrew calls all the shots," Wolfson tweeted after Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, city Controller John Liu and his predecessor Bill Thompson appeared at a union rally about teacher evaluations.

The event -- and Wolfson's criticisms -- didn't include City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who seems to be the favorite to score Bloomberg's endorsement in the crowded race.

"It is obvious that there are candidates running for mayor who believe that the correct political strategy for them is to appeal to farthest fringe of the Democratic primary in order to get elected," Wolfson said Friday, a day after six candidates at a Daily News co-sponsored forum on housing issues bashed Bloomberg, albeit to varying degrees.

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January 25, 2013 2:35 PM

Former New York State Senator Emanuel Gold, Author Of "Son Of Sam" Law, Dies At 77

BY Celeste Katz

Former state Senate Deputy Minority Leader Emanuel Gold, whose decades-long public service career included the crafting of New York's "Son of Sam" law, died Thursday after a bout with cancer. He was 77.

senator gold image.jpgBorn in Brooklyn and raised in Laurelton, Gold's service with the state Legislature began in 1965 with a three-year stint as counsel to then-Assembly Majority Leader Moses Weinstein.

Gold, known as "Manny," served as an Assemblyman before his 1971 special election to the Senate, where he served as deputy Democratic conference leader from 1978 to 1994. He became ranking member of the powerful Finance Committee in 1996, a post he held until his 1998 retirement.

His family noted that among the more than 80 laws he sponsored included the groundbreaking "Son of Sam" law, which blocked notorious criminals such as serial killer David Berkowitz from making money by peddling their stories.

After the Supreme Court overturned the law in 1991, Gold continued his efforts on behalf of crime victims by advancing another, broader statute.

Gold also served on the Senate's Rules and Judiciary Committees. 

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January 25, 2013 11:24 AM

New Glasses Show Vision Problems One Legacy Of Hillary Clinton's Concussion

BY Celeste Katz

An update on a story our Tina Moore had in today's editions:

hillary glasses.jpg

Closeups of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton taken during her Senate testimony Wednesday revealed that her head injury last month left her with dealing with vision problems.

As she testified about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, the secretary of state appeared to have tiny vertical lines etched onto the left lens of her new brown specs.

"She’ll be wearing these glasses instead of her contacts for a period of time because of lingering issues stemming from her concussion," Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines elaborated early Friday morning. "With them on, she sees just fine.

Experts told the Daily News that Clinton likely has a Fresnel prism placed on her glasses. The adhesive panel is used to treat double vision.

“If she’s wearing a Fresnel prism, then she has double vision without it,” said Dr. Mark Fromer, medical director of Fromer Eye Centers.

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January 25, 2013 10:34 AM

The First Daily News/Metro IAF Mayoral Forum: Now With Video

BY Celeste Katz

RACEforMAYOR_2013_print_logo_59K.jpgThanks to all the readers who joined us for last night's mayoral forum, the first of three the Daily News is sponsoring in conjunction with Metro IAF. In case you missed it, here's a fresh posting of my liveblog, featuring the photography of our Pearl Gabel. We tried an experiment with broadcasting via Google+ On-Air Hangouts; Quality's not great; we'll build on that for our February and March panels. The video follows the liveblog module.

And the video... Again, there may be some disruptions with the audio and video feeds, but most of it's here. Skip ahead to about 11:05 for the beginning of the Q & A.

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January 24, 2013 6:49 PM

LIVE! Daily News/Metro IAF Mayoral Forum

BY Celeste Katz

Welcome to what should be a great mayoral forum on housing, sponsored by the Daily News and Metro IAF here at St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn. We'll be getting started at 7, so stay with us for the entire 90 minute presentation and follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #NYDNmayor !

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January 24, 2013 12:45 PM

Streaming Live At 1:45: VPOTUS Joe Biden's Google+ Hangout On Gun Control

BY Celeste Katz

live.jpg
Vice President Joe Biden will discuss gun regulations with the nation via Google+ Hangout at 1:45 p.m., and you can watch it all right here. The Dec. 14 murder of children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. reinvigorated a gun control push, as evidenced by the enactment of the NY Safe laws here and a package of proposals from the White House. Biden has been charged with anchoring the initiative -- amid blowback from the gun lobby and Second Amendment activists -- in talks with leaders on both sides of the debate.

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January 24, 2013 12:30 PM

Keith Wright Replaces Vito Lopez As Assembly Housing Committee Chairman

BY Ken Lovett

Veteran Assemblyman Keith Wright has been officially appointed to replace pervy Assemblyman Vito Lopez as the chairman of the chamber’s powerful housing committee.

Wright’s appointment, which had been long whispered, was among the committee chairmanships and leadership positions announced by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver just now.

Silver had stripped Lopez of his committee chairmanship and other legislative perks in late August after the Assembly Ethics Committee found sexual harassment accusations brought by two former  staffers to the once powerful Brooklyn Democrat were credible.

Wright, a Harlem Democrat who had been the Assembly Labor Committee chairman, will be busy. Not only is he chairing the important committee, but he also is Gov. Cuomo’s hand-picked co-chairman of the state Democratic party.

Here is Silver’s formal announcement:

 
Speaker Silver Announces Leadership Positions and Committee Chairs for 2013-2014 Legislative Session
 
Speaker Sheldon Silver
Majority Leader Joseph D. Morelle
Chair, Ways & Means Herman D. Farrell, Jr.
Deputy Speaker Earlene Hooper
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