New York State of Mind

Warning: What you are about to see has been deemed the greatest threat to New York - maybe to the world. Open at your own risk. Let's hope it's not too late...


If it's not too late, then, thank goodness there are elected officials like Felix Ortiz (D/Brooklyn) who cares so much about our health and well-being that he will risk his life and reputation to save us from ourselves.

On March 5, he introduced a bill in the State Assembly to ban salt in food preparation in all restaurants in the State of New York. Not just lower the salt content, but an outright ban on ALL salt used with $1000 fine for each piquant violation. He states that with this legislation “consumers [will] have more control over the amount of sodium they intake, and are given the option to exercise healthier diets and healthier lifestyles.”

Needless to say, every chef, restaurant owner and, well, food eater is calling this legislation ridiculous. Even Mayor Bloomberg, our Nanny in Chief, is not supporting this ham-handed legislation; well, tofu-handed anyway. Just as a precaution, I suggest that Assemblyman Ortiz not eat in any restaurants in New York for awhile. Chefs have stockpiles of salt hidden in their kitchens and they aren’t afraid to use it all in the name of their art!

On to the rest -

I admit it. I was wrong. I predicted last week that Governor David Patterson would resign after escalating accusations of ethics violations have been made public in the last few weeks. He did not resign, so we still have an at least partly elected official as Governor. But just in case, Richard Ravitch, our appointed Lt. Governor, is anxiously waiting in the wings. And in another related story...

It's about dang time that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo admitted that he might have a little conflict of interest where Gov. Patterson is concerned. I think I mentioned last week that Cuomo is planning to run for Governor against Patterson. Cuomo has been investigating our Governor on a host of ethics violations – witness tampering, taking illegal gifts, and awarding lucrative contracts to friends. And, after pounding Patterson publically unabated for weeks, he finally decided to recuse himself and appointed an independant investigator to take over. It was either his strong ethics or a dramatic drop in his poll numbers. Who knows?

Oh, and you’ll love this – Kristin Davis launched her campaign for Governor as the Personal Freedom Party candidate. Her platform includes the legalizing, regulating, and taxing of marijuana and prostitution among other issues. Oh, yeah, she’s the madam who owned the escort service that was popular with our former Governor Elliot Spitzer. She should not be confused with Kirsten Davis of "Sex and The City" fame.

Oh, former Luv Gov Elliot Spitzer is considering a run for state comptroller.

This is the last time I will mention Democratic House Rep. Eric Massa – he’s crazy. He resigned officially on Monday, but his reason keeps changing and just keep getting stranger and stranger. The less said about him the better, but so far no talk of his replacement.

And finally, here is list of possible Republican challengers to watch in the upcoming months to run against Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand and Sen. Chuck Schumer –

• Former NY Gov. George Pataki,
• Former Bush aide Dan Senor,
• Port Authority Commissioner Bruce Blakeman, and,
• Former Pataki aide Diane Taylor.

As it turns out, Taylor is also Mayor Bloomberg’s girlfriend. I will report on each as I learn more about them.

Until next week, beware of salt...