A Man, A Plan, A Fax Machine And An Email Inbox

The Queens Chronicle crunches the numbers and deems Councilmember John Liu grandstander of the month for December:

One of the modern personalities that accompanied the invention of e mail was the electronic chatterbox. Friends who forward every chain letter, relatives who send a new digital photo every time their child eats a new type of food, and dates of little consequence who keep sending text messages long after the initial spark is gone are all prime examples of this.

In the world of Queens politics, the leading electronic chatterbox is City Councilman John Liu (D Flushing). Over the past month, the Queens Chronicle has collected every e mail and fax sent by Queens representatives at all levels of government: city, state and federal. The paper tabulated the total number of communications and Liu came out ahead by a large margin.

Between Nov. 21 and Dec. 21, he sent 37 separate e mails and three faxes about his work on the council. He sent out advisories about his intentions to take part in rallies after the police shooting of Sean Bell, releases about his opposition to Rosie O’Donnell’s impersonation of Asians and announcements about his appearances on television. He also chronicled his participation as the council’s Transportation Commitee chairman and outlined his opposition to the expansion of a gas station in Flushing. On one day in particular — Dec. 1 — Liu sent five individual e mails on topics ranging from the announcement of new free Chinese language courses to the dedication of a new mobile computer lab in a local school.

Learn From The Masters

Reverend Sharpton and Mayor Bloomberg show us how it’s done:

It was an odd moment in the aftermath of the police shooting of Sean Bell: the Rev. Al Sharpton posing with Mayor Bloomberg before TV cameras at a City Hall press conference but then bolting before the first word was uttered.

Bloomberg explained Sharpton’s hasty departure Monday by saying the reverend had to rush to a meeting with the victim’s family.

In fact, Sharpton hadn’t wanted to attend the press conference at all — but was persuaded by the mayor to put in a brief appearance, sources said.

With Sharpton at his side, Bloomberg could demonstrate that he had reached out to the most fiery critic of the NYPD.

But by leaving early, Sharpton avoided putting himself in an awkward situation where he might have to publicly disagree with the mayor, whom some had expected to defend the police.

Only Ivy League And Similar Need Apply

The Daily News is shocked to discover that between shutting down the Minutemen and figuring out how to get Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit, Columbia University students are engaged in their own sort of horny jerk-off situation:

Famed as a hotbed of debate over academic freedom, New York’s most elite school is also a playpen for sexual hijinks, sophomoric antics and the wacky indulgences of the children of the rich.

While their parents shell out $33,246 a year in tuition, Columbia University students doff their clothes at naked parties, flock to sex toys workshops, broadcast porn on campus TV, bake anatomically correct pies for the “Erotic Cake-Baking Contest” and heat up the steps of the Low Library in a mass makeout session called the “Big Kiss.”

Elderly Nazis . . . I Hate Those Guys (The New York State Commission On Health Care Facilities, Too!)

Someone tell Anthony Weiner now that the balance of power has changed in Congress it’s no longer necessary to keep vapidly grandstanding*.

First, out to the Rockaways to rail against something over which he has no control:

Congressman Anthony Weiner yesterday railed against the state closing one of two hospitals in the Rockaways.

Reacting to word that either Peninsula or St. John’s Episcopal would be recommended for closure by a state panel, the Queens/Brooklyn Democrat argued that hospitals are being punished for an antiquated system that funnels more money into surgical care than preventive care.

“The Rockaways need two major health-care providers,” said Weiner, whose district includes both Queens hospitals. “Everybody agrees that there should be more outpatient care and fewer hospital beds, but the regulatory obstacles are enormous.”

Then it’s off to Jackson Heights to go fuck with some elderly Nazis:

Congressmember Anthony Weiner (DQueens, Brooklyn) grabbed a sign and joined a neighborhood protest in Jackson Heights November 9 outside the home of a former Nazi SS death camp guard who was stripped of his United States citizenship in 2003.

Jakiw Palij, 84, has not been deported because U.S. immigration officials can’t find a country to take him. He was stripped of his citizenship after officials discovered he lied when he applied for an immigrant visa in 1949.

Weiner joined hundreds of high school students at the protest who demanded that Palij open his door and face them.

“No one is going to hide among us,” Weiner said. “This monster is responsible for the deaths of thousands and thousands of people in the Nazi death camps. He is not paying for his crimes by living a peaceful life on 89th Street in Jackson Heights.”

*What is he thinking seriously about a run for Borough President or something? Oh, right — Mayor. Forgot.

Good Gig If You Can Get It

It turns out that the vestigial office of the borough president will receive a raise, too:

Which of the five borough presidents doesn’t deserve a raise in Mayor Bloomberg’s opinion?

The actual answer never left the mayor’s lips yesterday — but he left little doubt that the answer is Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

Bloomberg touched off the question game yesterday on his weekly WABC-AM show while commenting on the raises approved by the City Council for all municipal elected officials. The borough presidents are getting a $25,000 hike, bringing their salary to $160,000.

Without mentioning names, Bloomberg said, “You know there’s one that just all he does is rush to the steps of City Hall to hold press conferences — doesn’t really do anything.”

Backstory: Twenty-Five Percent, Retroactive . . . Ballsy!