A reader who attended Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez’s holiday party at Cono's last night told me that Lopez “took pains to introduce his co-leader Maritza Davila as his candidate against Diana Reyna, though he did not mention her by name.” In a brief interview, Lopez said Davilla is "a community organizer" and "she will be a very ...

Michael Bloomberg, who plans to seek re-election next year, is rekindling his friendship with Brooklyn Democratic County Leader Vito Lopez, who hosted the mayor at a community meeting last night. Bloomberg was greeted with thunderous applause when he walked into the gymnasium inside the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center, the epicenter of Lopez’s world. In front of a crowd of ...

Even in these days of increased transparency when it comes to the City Council's appropriation of member items, the process remains, unavoidably, one that rewards people who know people. For example, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a non-profit group whose executive director, William Rapfogel, is married to the Assembly Speaker's chief of staff, Judy Rapfogel, got $556 ...