New York's election law requirements are justly criticized. So much so that I usually agree with the complaint that they are the worst in the land.

But then I read the following  about Pennsylvania:

Diamond is hoping to get on the fall election ballot as an independent candidate for governor. He gained notoriety for channeling voters' anger over last summer's legislative pay raise into an effort to oust those lawmakers.

This euphemism about a Computer Mishap at the Board of Elections is completely ridiculous.  A mishap is defined as an unfortunate accident. It will take a lot of finessing to move this incident from the criminal category to the “unfortunate accident“ category.

Sorry, Mr Ravitz, and Mr. Paybarah.  Azi, you’re the man, a priceless jewel,  and we thank you for being on the spot. But  I suspect that the expression “mishap” is one that Ravitz gave you with a sad, innnocent look on his face. He’s a very charming guy, Mr. Ravitz.

I'm one of those people who watch Seinfeld reruns over and over, enjoy Curb Your Enthusiasm not because it's the greatest show ever, but because it's the same creator and type of humor, and wish that the show had never gone off the air. Luckily, living in the City that  inspired possibly the best sitcom ever, we get to experience the real thing.

Is it time to disband (or re-think) the Landmarks Preservation Commission?

Yes, who can forget when Penn Station was destroyed some 40 years ago, and the LPC was started. I'm a NYC historian, and certainly some of our history should be preserved. But it's been 40 years--the best stuff has already been landmarked. NYC has to grow and create new landmarks.

Must we waste our time preserving such travesties as 2 Columbus Circle? There's also the free market solution--if people really love this building at it is, they can simply buy it!

The Gotham Gazette has digested proposed city council bills about the LPC. [See Intro 393 by Tony Avella and Intro 400 by Jessica Lappin.]

This is a story that originally had a different name. The title was supposed to be Midnight In The Garden of Evil. I started writing it a few hours after the deadline for filing petitions at Board of Election headquarters on Broadway, Manhattan. Thursday, July 13.

Through my life bad things had happened to me on days that fell on the thirteenth of the month. So being of a superstitious nature I thought there was something ominous and evil about midnight on the 13th of July. Especially when that midnight straddled a Friday. The thought occurred to me that the Board of Elections could be The Garden of Evil.

President Bush signed the Voting Rights Act reauthorization yesterday. But it appears that bill drafters overlooked the fact that the new expiration date for Section 5 preclearance (and minority language assistance) lands directly during 2031 in the middle of the post-2030 redistricting cycle.

While the 1982 VRA amendments were set to expire in 2007, congressional leaders wanted to reauthorize before the 2006 session ended. The bill signed by the President apparently  goes into effect immediately, extending 25 years from 2006 to 2031.

The simple answer is that it will be whatever Suozzi wants it to be.  There is zero doubt that Suozzi is any political consultant's dream.  He's very intelligent with a great grasp of policy and budgetary issues, he's got the political pedigree (father and uncle were successful LI politicos), the proven track record (turned Nassau County around), and most importantly, the telegenic presence.  This all adds up to a person that will be incredibly successful regardless of what he chooses to do.

The real question is how strong is Suozzi's power ambitions?  He publicly confirmed what everyone in Nassau County already knew, he wants to be President of the United States.  However, the experience of a crushing defeat (which is what he'll suffer in Sept.) and the prospects of making tons and tons of money in private practice may play an influence in his final decision.  He's publicly said that he's going into the private sector if he loses this race and he might just uphold that promise and do a Lazio by essentially disappearing from the public eye.

I guess I should begin my first blog post with an introduction.  You can call me JP.  They're letters that are meaningful to me, but that wil not help in outing me (eg, they're not my initials).  I'm a relatively young born and bred New Yorker that for some reason became obsessed with politics, especially NYC and NYS politics, while a freshman in college.  Since then I've been fortunate to have spent time working in Albany in the NYS Assembly and working on numerous campaigns, both for incumbents and challengers, in Long Island, Queens and Manhattan.  I love the strategy and backroom dealings that go on behind closed doors in the Assembly and was fortunate enough to be present and a minor part of some of those negotiations.

I am new to the world of blogging--reading and participating. However, I am not new to the world of politics. I have many years of experience working at the state and city level.

I am an immigrant, naturalized-citizen, who came to Queens at the age of 5 in 1981. Almost every person I have ever met in NYC is an immigrant or is connected to an immigrant in some manner and I'm not talking at the 6th degree--3 degrees max!

So, why is the issue of immigration swept under the rug in every forum, debate, blog, and political conversation in NY? Why is the national debate dominated by the anti-immigration south and mid-west?

A TRAFFIC HOMICIDE CLOSE TO HOME:

I just returned with my wife (Angie Garcia) from a vacation in the Dominican Republic. We visited my wife's father. Just as we were about to fly back to LaGuardia (if it still had electricity), we learned that Eugenio Garcia was killed by a hit and run driver on Third Avenue and 28th Street.

Eugenio Garcia was my wife's uncle (her father's younger brother).

The circumstances of this hit and run death are humiliating enough. However, how is it that no one has been caught, that nothing was on tape?

This occurred in Manhattan, in broad daylight, on Third Avenue and 28th Street. I know that the Iranian Embassy is located near 30th Street. (I protested there.)

If the public owes the Daily News anything, it is for freeing up Nancie Katz. to write her stories and share the truth with her readers. For whatever reason,  the public has been deprived of Nancie‘s reporting from time to time. But when she emerges, she inevitably has critical information to bring. Without her, much of what has come to light about corruption in the last 10 years would never have been exposed. out.

Now, a Daily News editorial, although chiding judicial candidates and judges for not reporting what it refers to as an “attempted shake down.” commends them on the purity of their conduct at Diane Gordon’s birthday party because they declined  the Assemblywoman’s offer to purchase a judgeship. The willingness of the editorial staff to condemn crooked judges is welcome news. What is needed from the most widely-circulated newspaper is not an occasional brief comment but a consistent blistering campaign.. Moreover, it is clear that whoever wrote the editorial does not have much of a clue about what is going on here. The fact that “not a single one of these individuals(judges) took Gordon up on her offer” is hardly  a heartening sign. .  It is more  likely a reflection of the level of information available to would- be purchasers. The clear sign was posted at the entrance to Diane’s birthday party.  CAVEAT EMPTOR. .And in fact, Diane wore it on her own forehead.

As noted in my prior post, we are facing a slowly building economic crisis on energy, and we are facing it without leadership. But what would leadership on energy look like? And do I have a proposal? As it so happens, I do. The unfortunate fact about the demand for energy in the United States is that it is “inelastic” in the short run. Since we cannot start living in compact cities or throw away our energy-intensive homes and vehicles overnight (doing so would take a lot of energy), we consume nearly as much no matter how much it costs, desperately bidding against the rest of the world for the limited supply, sacrificing other aspects of our standard of living. In the long run, if we had had leadership, we would have made different choices over the past 20 years. In the long run, if we had leadership, we might make different choices over the next 20 years. In the short run, however, there is only one thing that suburban, auto-oriented America can do to substantially reduce its energy consumption – carpool on a large scale.

Promise, Ben and I are not working in tandem, nor are either of us employed by the Daily Show (Daily News, perhaps; but that's ... very different).

In any case, if you missed Jon Stewart's uber-hilarious take last night on the Mayor's now infamous eye-rolling ode to ConEd (and the Queens power debacle in general), I can only advise you to click here.

You will not be disappointed.