The federal government shutdown could delay aid to New Yorkers still struggling after Hurricane Sandy. Nearly a year after the storm hit the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on Congress to end the stalemate that has curbed federal government services, saying that critically needed block grants to communities affected by the storm could be delayed. "If, for example, you're a business owner in the Rockaways, this could mean a longer wait time to get grants and loans," he said in his weekly radio address. Critical infrastructure projects to make the city more resilient to storms could also be slowed.

Mayoral candidates Joe Lhota and Bill de Blasio agreed in interviews with NY1 that the shutdown was putting in peril much-needed storm aid to the city. "What has gone on in Washington is outrageous," said Lhota, a Republican who disagrees with his national colleagues but has battled to get that message across.

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GothamVotes: Campaign Trails Weekend Update

Republican GOP mayoral candidate Joe Lhota battles "spillover effect" from Republican-led shutdown of federal government. (Newsday)

Lhota's plan for downsizing government. (Crain's New York)

Over the weekend, Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio labeled himself first as a "fiscal conservative" and then as a "fiscally responsible progressive." "I am a progressive, I am an activist, I’m also fiscally cautious,” de Blasio said. (The New York Post)

Business and real estate interests foresee battle with de Blasio over living wage. (Wall Street Journal)

De Blasio's fundraising soars. (The New York Times)

De Blasio and Lhota celebrated the Rev. Al Sharpton's 59th birthday with him at his organization's headquarters in Harlem on Saturday. De Blasio got a standing ovation; Lhota did not. (The Daily News)

Assemblyman Micah Kellner, who lost the Democratic primary for the 5th City Council District, filed papers indicating he intended to run in the general election on the Working Families Party line. (Politicker)

De Blasio's victory is "a reminder that through some inexplicable emanation, certain New York mayors have caught perfectly the gestalt of the city." (New York Review of Books)