Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell has taken the next (baby) step towards repealing the city's term limit laws, promising to introduce a bill proposing to extend them within weeks. Previously the Council were waiting for Mayor Bloomberg to confirm he would sign such a bill into law. But Koppell is ready to take the lead in extending the eight-year limit to twelve; he tells City Room that limits “cut off people’s careers in politics, which makes......

Instead of courting New York City voters with a ballot initiative or City Council with legislature to overturn term limits, Mayor Bloomberg first pitched the idea to another group: the owners of the three largest newspapers in New York. In what sounds like a storyline from The West Wing, the NY Times reports that Bloomberg has had private discussions with Rupert Murdoch (NY Post), Mortimer Zuckerman (NY Daily News), and Arthur Sulzberger Jr. (NY Times)......

The mere act of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo hosting a community forum on the Upper West Side raises the question about whether he may be eying a run for mayor next year. The Sun reports that the "forum provides an opportunity to raise his profile in the city and make inroads with elected officials whose support would be invaluable in a mayoral campaign," especially when "critics have expressed frustration with the current field of likely......

Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons, rumored to be one of big business’s top hopes to run for mayor in 2009, has definitively denied that he will be throwing his hat into the ring, reports NY Magazine. 'I’ve never woken up a day in my life and said, ‘What I really want to be is mayor,’ ” Parsons said. Among those in favor of a Parsons candidacy was Bloomberg himself. While the mayor has said repeatedly that......

The NY Times posted this map showing just how many big players in New York City politics will be forced out of office next year due to term limits and just where those leaving may end up next. With so many heading out, the Times says that "a record 166 people have declared for city office thus far." The biggest question surrounding those leaving of course is just what direction Mayor Bloomberg will head......

The billionaire owner of Gristedes is getting his ducks in a row for a possible mayoral run in 2009. NY1 reports John Catsimaditis is "hiring staff and launching an exploratory committee," per a letter to the city's GOP officials. Like the current billionaire mayor, Catsimaditis shed his Democratic affiliation for the Republican party. Last year, Forbes listed him at #220 on the Forbes 400, noting his estimated fortune of $2.1 billion. And for reference, Bloomberg......

New York business leaders have been scrambling recently to find a mayoral candidate for 2009 who would be as business-friendly as billionaire Michael Bloomberg has for the last seven years. Today the NY Post reports that they may have found their man for '09: Mayor Bloomberg. The city term-limits law, which was created in 1993 and currently restricts elected officials to eight years in office, can be changed through City Council legislation, a charter referendum......

Yesterday, Representative Anthony Weiner made headlines for his anti-big box stance and his praise of Mayor Bloomberg, which was a little odd, since Weiner often criticizes him, or just timed to coincide with Weiner accelerating his mayoral aspirations. Today, the NY Times looks at how he has the highest staff turnover for anyone in the NY House delegation in recent years. For instance, "Roughly half of Mr. Weiner’s current staff has been on board for......

Second quarter campaign filings reveal who's leading and who's lagging among the contenders for the mayor's office. On top of the list is Representative Anthony Weiner (he ran a surprisingly strong second to Fernando Ferrer in the 2005 Democratic primary) who raised $1.4 million and believes he reached the maximum of $6.2 million (including matching funds). City Comptroller William Thompson raised $625,000 and has raised $4.8 million so far. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn raised......

Titans of industry are working to find a suitable mayoral candidate in a similar vein as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to the NY Times. The Times even calls the executives ("some of New York’s most influential business leaders: Martin Lipton, a founding partner of the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; the financier Steven Rattner; and Jerry I. Speyer, chairman of the developer Tishman Speyer") "desperate"--Mayor B ought to feel very flattered that......

As Senator Hillary Clinton ignores calls to drop out and gets ready for a likely West Virginia primary victory, Politico's Ben Smith reveals one funny suggestion from a NYC politician: Clinton should run for mayor in 2009. The politician's reasoning is that though it's not being leader of freed world, "it's a big executive job, comes with a media spotlight and a mansion." Smith asked Koch for a comment (Koch yelled at Smith for "wasting......

Everyone's favorite potential candidate for something, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, tried to quiet rumors of more years in public office by telling reporters, "One of the things I would love to do is spend some time traveling the state. There are some wonderful places all through the state. I used to be a Boy Scout. I used to really spend a lot of time outdoors. I'd love to do that again, but not as a candidate,......

Is Mayor Bloomberg tired of being called a lame duck? A source says the billionaire may consider asking that term limits be revised so he could run for a third time. The sources says Bloomberg is "50-50" on that idea, which would involve the City Charter being revised. But past talk--from Rudy Giuliani after September 11--of ending term limits has been unpopular. And mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser said, "The mayor is absolutely not seeking a......

Photo courtesy New York Shitty. Congestion pricing is toast, and so is Bloomberg’s “legacy,” so let’s start talking about the city’s next mayor. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says he’s not yet made up his mind about running, but, judging from this peculiar photo, eliminating mayoral term limits must be at the top of his agenda. Or is "Marty for Life" just an innocent campaign slogan? If so, it’s a lot catchier than the one......

City Councilwoman Melinda Katz (D-Queens) broke news of her pregnancy to the Post today. And she landed on the cover because she conceived via in vitro fertilization, she's single, and she is running for City Comptroller next year! Katz, who is 42, is due in June. She told the Post:"This is a decision that I felt if I didn't do, I would regret for the rest of my life," said Katz, who acknowledged her situation......

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) will be formally announcing his bid to replace Mayor Bloomberg this Sunday. Theories about likely candidates abound (e.g. Councilman John Liu, Rep. Anthony Weiner, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly), but Avella is jumping to the head of the line by explicitly announcing his desire to be Mayor this Sunday at 1 p.m. on the steps of City Hall. Avella is the chairman of......

Sure, the 2008 election is exciting, but hundreds of candidates are expected to run for city office next year. Of the current City Council, 36 members out of 51 are up for reelection or getting the boot due to term limits. Former Bloomberg aide William Cunningham advised the Sun, "Put on your helmets and put on your seat belts: It's going to be like a demolition derby." It'll be a donation derby as candidates who......