Senate GOP (Plus Pedro Espada!) Valiantly Carrying On With The People’s Business

“We need just one brave Senate Democrat to come to the session so we can pass these and other important bills and move the session forward,” Senate President Pedro Espada said. “It is time for them to end their boycott of the session, come to work and get the people’s business done.” These important bills include but are not limited to:

• Senate Bill 3697, which would rename the Battery Park City Authority the “Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority”
• Senate Bill 1764, which would designate August seventh as “Family Day, a day of commemoration”
• Senate Bill 2398, which would permit correction officers to be color blind
• Senate Bill 1036, which would designate as a day of commemoration, February 14th, to be known as “Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day” (that’s got to be a joke, right?)

Things I’d Rather Not Know About Include . . .

. . . the idea that pedicab drivers are getting payola in the form of lap dances:

A Midtown strip club has made raunchy rickshaws out of the three-wheeled rides — and management is plying the three-wheeler drivers with free meals and private tours to help promote the hot spot.

In the latest move in its ongoing ad campaign, Rick’s Cabaret has outfitted at least 50 pedicabs with its posters.

Club owners have asked drivers to hand out free passes and are giving them firsthand knowledge of the club’s offerings.

“The drivers always ask when the next ‘orientation’ will be,” said a taxi driver.

It’s Like He’s Saying What He’s Thinking!

It’s a good thing he has curtailed taking questions from reporters or then he’d be saying 15 or 20 stupid things each week instead of just five:

On Monday, Mr. Bloomberg had intended to placate critics — or at least, the reporters who cover him — by announcing he would take questions at campaign events. He has previously shunned the practice, forcing reporters to ask questions about his campaign at formal City Hall press briefings. Several testy exchanges have resulted.

But the mayor’s new policy arrived with strict new rules — only campaign questions at campaign press conferences, and only questions about city government at city government press conferences — that touched off immediate protest from reporters.

Then came the mayor’s remarks on Mr. Obama’s pay. Mr. Bloomberg was asked about Republican criticism of the president and first lady for their whirlwind trip to New York on Saturday night, just as General Motors prepared to file for bankruptcy.

Mr. Bloomberg defended the romantic jaunt, saying it would bolster the economy, before adding that the president, whose income puts him in the top 1 percent of Americans, “does not get paid that much” and “lives on a budget.”

Head scratching ensued. Aides said he was referring to the cost of the president’s travel and security (which is paid for by taxpayers.) And later on Monday, the mayor sought to clarify the remarks, saying “The president is worth a lot more than we pay him.”

As for his eyebrow-raising remarks, the mayor had this to say: “I am 67 years old. I am who I am.”

Who Is This Man’s Grandchild? Whoever You Are, When Was The Last Time You Called Your Granddad? Ingrate . . .

Those “of a certain age” find great significance in the littlest things:

“When you pulled the cord you had a general feel — the cord in your hand, you heard the buzzer — of contacting the driver,” said Mr. Fischler. “You feel like you were doing something.”

“They Have A Lot Of Time On Their Hands”

Campaigning For A Third Term On Just $100 Million 101 teaches us that if you can either lock up or neutralize every possible interest group or constituency with massive amounts of time or money you will probably win:

Even as Bloomberg campaign aides worked to shore up GOP support, they have been quietly meeting with leaders of the [Working Families Party] and key union officials whose votes will be crucial to landing the party’s endorsement.

Or, at the very least, they aim to block a Democrat from getting it.

One labor leader said Bloomberg’s campaign has been “diligently working” the WFP’s executive committee and “relentless” in its pursuit of union support. They’ve dispatched multiple emissaries to woo labor leaders.

“They come from the school of ‘leave no stone unturned,'” said Bob Master, political director for the Communications Workers of America and a WFP co-chairman.

“These guys are relentless. [Bloomberg’s] got a high-caliber team. They have a lot of time on their hands, and they have ample staff resources.