Senior Reporters
When only two journalists asked questions at Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s Feb. 29 press conference about a new package of bills to protect the elderly, Silver opened the floor to the seniors at St. Margaret’s House who there for the photo-op. They asked five before Silver called the event to a close.

Lindsay Staffers Feel Bloomberg Staffers’ Pain
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s definitive announcement that he would not be running for president could have left some on his staff down in the dumps.
Some veterans of Mayor John Lindsay’s administration have a message for them: we know just how you feel.
Lindsay, who was elected to his first term as mayor as a Republican and his second as a Liberal, made an abbreviated campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. But after losing the Florida primary, he ended his campaign and returned to City Hall.
“Obviously, there’s enormous disappointment, but the campaign in that sense was a continuation of the mission that brought many of us to work for the mayor and to work for the city,” recalled Jay Kriegel, who became one of Lindsay’s deputy mayors after the campaign, and is now a senior advisor at the Related Companies.
But the Lindsay supporters, like many of those who were pushing Bloomberg to run, had a sense that the campaign was over before the official word came. That helped, he said.
“By that point, the campaign was flailing, and we all realized we had a job we had to do,” he said. “Probably not unlike this band, it was a group of people that felt pretty passionately about what we were doing and worked very hard.”
Steven Isenberg, who left City Hall to work on the presidential campaign and returned as Lindsay’s chief of staff, said the first couple of days were the hardest.
“There’s no question there’s a disappointment, and a little bit that the air has been taken out of you,” he said.
That Bloomberg never actually started a campaign would make acceptance easier, he said. Still, Isenberg said, he would understand if some on Bloomberg’s staff found focusing on city government a little harder after entertaining dreams of West Wing offices and fancy Washington job titles.
But the one who always takes the end of a campaign the hardest is the prospective candidate himself, Isenberg said. That is how it was with Lindsay.
“The one who has to think about it and deal with it psychologically more than anybody else is the mayor,” he said. “But truth be told, the way City Hall life is, after a few days you’re just back into it.”

Spitzer Gets PR Advice from Cunningham and Arzt
Darrel Aubertine’s special election victory Feb. 26 might be good news for Democrats, but if Gov. Eliot Spitzer really wants to lead him to victory, Bill Cunningham has some advice: go after an enemy that people can rally against, like bond insurers. Cunningham offered his advice as part of a panel on Spitzer’s first year in office held at the New School Feb. 27, the morning after Aubertine’s surprise win.  
Spitzer has testified to Congress about the economic and job-growth impact of bond insurers, which backs the funding for construction of hospitals and schools. Cunningham said Spitzer is on the “verge of attacking” them. George Arzt, president of Arzt Communications, has a different secret to success: reach out to outsiders.
“He needs to get new blood in government,” Arzt said. “He’s got to get an agenda going.”

Chick Lit
Move over, Gloria Steinem. On May 14, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) will release Rumors of our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated, a look at women’s rights in America.
Exploring such issues as domestic violence, poverty and reproductive freedom, Maloney seeks to expose the “myth that women have achieved equal status with men in American society.”
In the book, Maloney, a former co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, outlines eight goals women must achieve to elevate the nation’s reputation in equal rights. She also tells the stories of women she considers to be inspirations, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), Meryl Streep and Mia Hamm.
The book includes an overview of legislation currently in the works that would affect women and a “take action” guide for women who want to make a societal impact.

The Animal Agenda
For many, Valentine’s Day was a time for romance and rose bouquets.
But for a group of animal rights protesters, Valentine’s Day was also the perfect time for a protest against the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry, which they fault with needlessly endangering and killing a number of horses.
“You can’t have this industry in New York and make it humane,” said Edita Birnkrant, a campaign coordinator at Friends of Animals, an advocacy group which joined in the protest at the corner of 59th Street and Fifth Avenue.
With both sides cramming the sidewalk, the scene rapidly turned ugly. One carriage driver looked on with a mixture of amusement and anger.
“Nothing ever satisfies these idiots,” he said. “These horses could be living in a penthouse in the Plaza.”
Council Member Tony Avella (D-Queens), who introduced a bill to ban carriages late last year, says more New Yorkers should be paying attention.
“The way we exist with animals in today’s society is a judgment against ourselves,” Avella said.
Avella has found some on the Council who agree with him, he said. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) and Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who both call the horses a lucrative tourist draw, have not budged.
“There’s people that are willing to listen, and then there’s the mayor and the speaker,” Avella said.
With Bloomberg and Quinn both in favor of congestion pricing, Avella said he finds their insistence on keeping carriages on the street especially strange.
“For the mayor to be so hot and heavy for congestion pricing but to still allow horse driven carriages in these same areas is absurd,” he said.
And that is not the only animal bill around. In the wake of the Michael Vick scandal, animal rights groups are petitioning Albany to create stiffer penalties for people who attend dog fighting matches.
But heightened tensions over control of the State Senate, as well as the approaching budget negotiations, seem to have distracted most lawmakers—and even the bill’s sponsor, Assembly Member Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn).
“I haven’t made a real push for it yet,” said Lentol (D-Brooklyn), “but I expect the bill to be acted on shortly.”
Lentol called the issue a no-brainer.
“If I have to come down on a side,” Lentol said, “I’d come down on the side of the animal every time.”

Containment Policy
Council Member Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens), who represents Howard Beach, has often heard complaints about glass on the beach. One constituent, he said, nearly severed his large toe on a broken bottle left in the sand.
Much of the broken glass, he said, is concentrated around garbage cans.
“Someone goes to throw something, goes for a three-pointer and they miss, and they leave it there,” he said.
With warm weather on the way, Addabbo is sponsoring a bill to prohibit glass packaging within 150 feet of city beaches.
Hoping to avoid a confrontation with businesses, he suggested that stores could transfer anything sold in glass containers—like beer or fruit drinks—into containers made of plastic or other non-breakable
material after purchase.

By David Colon, Edward-Isaac Dovere, Andrew J. Hawkins, and Dan Rivoli