On April 17, Mr. Booker, a Democrat, crossed party and state lines by endorsing Mr. Bloomberg, an independent running as a Republican, in Harlem. About a month later, Mr. Bloomberg’s longtime accountant contributed $26,000 — the maximum allowed — to Mr. Booker’s re-election committee, according to campaign finance records.

Technically, the contribution to Mr. Booker’s 10-member slate, which includes 9 Municipal Council candidates, was made by Martin J. Geller, Mr. Bloomberg’s accountant. But Mr. Geller has long had a habit of contributing money to candidates or committees that the mayor supports, with a total of $100,000 in 2007 to Senate Republicans in Albany being one notable example.

The Booker contribution is only the second one that Mr. Geller has made to anyone in New Jersey politics. In 2005, he gave $2,000 to the campaign efforts of the Assembly Republicans in Trenton. At that time, Mr. Bloomberg was still registered as a Republican.

. . .

Never was Mr. Booker more effusive than on Sunday when he traveled with Mr. Bloomberg to black churches in Queens.

“My big brother mayor,” Mr. Booker said in describing Mr. Bloomberg, during a rousing address at the Rev. Floyd H. Flake’s Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens.

See also: Bloomberg For Mayor 2009.

Michael R. Bloomberg, the Wall Street mogul whose fortune catapulted him into New York’s City Hall, has set another staggering financial record: He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office.

Newly released campaign records show the mayor, as of Friday, had spent $85 million on his latest re-election campaign, and is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3.

That means Mr. Bloomberg, in his three bids for mayor, will have easily burned through more than $250 million — the equivalent of what Warner Brothers spent on the latest Harry Potter movie.

The sum easily surpasses what other titans of business have spent to seek state or federal office. New Jersey’s Jon S. Corzine has plunked down a total of $130 million in two races for governor and one for United States Senate. Steve Forbes poured $114 million into his two bids for president. And Ross Perot spent $65 million in his quest for the White House in 1992 and $10 million four years later.

. . .

He has spent at least 14 times what his Democratic rival in the race, William C. Thompson Jr., has: $6 million.

The heady display of overwhelming force also provokes adulation from supporters and admirers:

The Sanitation Department reported yesterday that Thompson’s campaign is facing a hefty $125,775 bill for plastering city property with 1,677 illegal campaign posters.

. . .

In contrast to Thompson, Bloomberg’s campaign has been cited for 70 violations.

See also: Bloomberg For Mayor 2009.

Even if the cause was unseemly, the execution of the political strategy to rewrite the law was staggeringly impressive, enlisting Bloomberg’s moneyed friends and the friends he’s made with his money and displaying an impressive eye for detail. An ethnically diverse cast of average citizens appeared in the front row at the council hearings, clutching preprinted signs reading democrats for choices. Bloomberg campaign aides like Patrick Brennan were suddenly “volunteering” their time to round up supporters to pass the needed City Council bill extending term limits. When Linda Gibbs, the mayor’s head of Health and Human Services, lobbied an official at a social-services group to make calls to council members, there didn’t seem to be much choice. The mayor’s operatives coaxed a wide range of recipients of his charitable donations to testify, but most were smart enough that they didn’t need an invitation. The Public Art Fund has received at least $500,000 from Bloomberg; its head, Susan Freedman, spoke enthusiastically on the mayor’s behalf — and, she says, with a clear conscience because of Bloomberg’s belief in the importance of the arts. “Do you think you would need to twist my arm to have me want this kind of leadership continue?” she said afterward.

The parade of witnesses included Mario Cuomo, the former governor, who is now of counsel to Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the firm that is defending Bloomberg L.P. against sexual-discrimination lawsuits and that has as one of its top partners Richard DeScherer, Bloomberg’s lawyer. Geoffrey Canada, who runs the Harlem Children’s Zone, spoke of his worry for New York’s most vulnerable during the downturn. He didn’t mention that his organization has city contracts worth millions of dollars and has received more than $500,000 in private money from Bloomberg.

“It’s a legitimate question, to ask about people being compromised,” Canada says. “But everybody knows we get money from the city! We have since the seventies. I wouldn’t turn down money from anyone who wants to support our programs. But is my vote for sale? Absolutely not. I’m very comfortable with the real reasons I’m supporting Bloomberg — his attention to education, the reduction in crime without the rancor of the Giuliani years, and his fairness in spreading the budget pain.”

See also: Bloomberg For Mayor 2009.

Garage managers in the swanky 10021 ZIP code say the recession has driven away customers, and it’s little wonder with monthly fees hitting $800 or more. An extra $100 is often tacked on for exotic cars.

Rolls-Royce owner Jonathan Martin said he’s fed up with paying about $500 a month for the privilege of parking and recently started searching for free spaces with the masses.

“The garage rates keep going up around here,” he said.

A newly installed ‘no parking’ sign in front of the Tosca Marquis catering hall, located at 4034 E. Tremont Avenue, is difficult to see because a tree obscures it.

Many unwitting motorists are getting tickets because of the obscured sign in front of the hall designated as a no parking zone from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. There is no clear indication as to where this parking regulation ends on the street. The sign has only one arrow pointing north to the curb in front of the dining hall. The entire area is now designated for loading and unloading in what had formerly been two metered spots.

“The sign is obstructed by the tree, so I didn’t even notice it,” said a motorist named Milton, who was parking in front of the catering hall on Friday, October 9.

NY1 reports this morning that 18-20 sanitation, anti-graffiti, and steam-cleaning trucks recently descended on Inwood in preparation for a campagin appearance by Mayor Bloomberg scheduled for that afternoon.

. . .

Don’t such over-the-top cleaning efforts, in neighborhoods normally neglected and left filthy by the Sanitation Department, for the sole purpose of creating a pristine stage for the mayor’s campaign appearances, constitute an expropriation of city resources for the mayor’s own uses?

*Didn’t realize he was blogging this kind of stuff in addition to food-related items.

Some diehard Yankee fans were on line for 14 hours early Wednesday, waiting and hoping there’d be tickets available for game one of the playoffs when the doors opened.

. . .

Paul was on the line since 7 p.m. Wednesday night to be there for his beloved team, and he’s on a budget.

But when the doors finally opened, there was disappointment bordering on outrage when dozens of fans found out the cheapest tickets sold cost $380.

“I live right here in the neighborhood. I attended 34 games in the stadium this season, and I am not exactly rich,” said Paul. “I can’t go on line and pay an extra $25 surcharge.”

“Absolutely, something should be done for people in the neighborhood who were giving whole new life to the Yankees, but this is capitalism,” said Sam Soghar.

Fred Negron was the only one of the group who chose to buy the $380 ticket, but that’s because he just sold his house and had the cash.

For comparison’s sake, Phillies NLDS tickets are between $35 and $75.

Location Scout: New Yankee Stadium.

“New instructions have been given to our traffic agents. The way we issue summonses will be different and we ask our agents to be patient,” said Frank Sepulveda, the NYPD’s director of traffic enforcement for the city. “By the end of this month all our agents should have the new training. We will look at how we can handle difficult summons situations differently.”

. . .

On problems, businessman Dan Texeira led the complaint barrage. “I stopped my car to let off my son. Just then a traffic agent cut off in front of my car and gave me a ticket.

“That wasn’t right,” said Sepulveda.

Rod Blagojevich, who was selling his just-published book in New York last week, has a lot to say about Bradley Tusk, the former Deputy Governor of Illinois now running Mike Bloomberg’s campaign.

They came to clear overgrown brush from the yard in what they might have thought was an abandoned building in Tompkinsville.

But the building’s owner says workers from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene were filching copper pipes, tools and whatever else they could grab from the former American Legion post at 43 Van Duzer St.

One Health Department worker, Edwin R. Torres, 54, of Queens, was arrested this morning, according to a law enforcement source, after building owner John Galarza called police when he said an employee saw the men begin hauling their alleged booty into a private van as well as a city Department of Health vehicle.

Three other Health Department workers were questioned as well.

“All the copper pipes are gone,” said Galarza as he walked through the building, which smelled of urine, where the toilet and boiler had pipes removed. He pushed his toe against a buckled wood floor, showing how it had sustained water damage after the pipes were removed. “I’m going to talk to the legal department of the Health Department.”