The elder Towns recently sat down with City Hall to talk about the perks of chairing a committee, hosting his own Internet talk show, his feelings about Sammy Sosa and why he may owe his career to car trouble.

New Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., recently sat down at El Nuevo Bohio, a Puerto Rican restaurant on East Tremont Avenue, to talk about the Diaz family think tank, the allure of octopus salad and whether or not he takes after Reese Witherspoon.City Hall: What does “El Bohio” mean?Ruben Diaz: It’s a kiosk. So in places like Carolina, in...

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx, Westchester and Rockland) does not take kindly to razzing of his home borough. Stereotypes of “da Bronx” infuriate him, particularly when people overlook Riverdale’s impressive dining scene. Mexican, Japanese, kosher delis, traditional diners—Engel says look no farther...

Christine Quinn has spent her political life representing Chelsea and the West Village, first as chief of staff to then-Council Member Tom Duane, and then in 1999 as his successor on the Council, after Duane was elected to the State Senate. She still lives in the same Chelsea apartment that she has been renting since...

A Chelsea resident since 1976, Tom Duane (D) has been representing the neighborhood in some capacity for nearly 20 years, first in the City Council and, since 1998, in the State Senate. Today his district stretches as far north as the Upper West Side and includes Greenwich Village and parts of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.Duane recently sat down for lunch at one of his regular haunts, the Ninth Avenue diner Dish, to talk about his former staffer Council Speaker Christine Quinn...

Ever wonder what happened to Rick Lazio Republicans? They voted for a Democrat, Steve Israel, who won the seat Lazio vacated to try his luck in the 2000 Senate race against Hillary Clinton. Voters have returned Israel to the House three times since. Israel recently sat down with City hall over Chinese food to...

State Sen. Jeffrey Klein, who won a competitive primary in 2004 to snatch Guy Velella’s old seat from the Republicans, now represents the Bronx neighborhood where he grew up, Morris Park. Klein recently sat down with City Hall at his favorite local Italian eatery, Venice Restaurant &...

In a deviation from City Hall  tradition, Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro opted to order in at his Borough Hall office. The reason? The popular elected official says he tends to get approached while eating out, making the office a more conducive setting for interviews. Food arrived from Montalbano’s Italian Food Specialties, a nearby eatery with an extensive sandwich menu, and was garnished with the BP’s very own hot sauce, which he dries on top of his...

On one visit, getting a sense of the two Danny Rosses is easy.There is the Danny Ross in slacks, oxford shirt and a tie, denoting his work as a staffer for Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn). But hidden underneath is the other Danny Ross, with the tousled hairdo and a pair of thick-framed glasses, which add some...

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (D) is one of several names often discussed for the 2009 mayoral election. One of her biggest cheerleaders: husband and labor leader Victor Gotbaum, who told City Hall in this past February's “Political Power Couples" issue that she would be "the best god-damned mayor the city's ever had." Gotbaum recently sat down at...