Bill de Blasio, a seasoned political operative from Brooklyn, proclaimed that the city had chosen a “progressive path” as he became the first Democrat to be elected mayor in more than 20 years on Tuesday. Riding a campaign that tapped into widespread discontent with the direction of the city under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, de Blasio trounced his main rival for the job, Republican Joe Lhota, with a margin of about 49 percentage points. It's the largest mayoral landslide since 1985. This means the end for Commissioner Kelly. De Blasio will now take his agenda to Albany, and it could be a paradigm shift for the relationship between city and state. He's likely going to bring a number of close allies along with him into office. Avoiding special interests will be a test for the new mayor. For example, the pro-de Blasio super PAC, New York Progress, spent more than $1 million on television ads painting Lhota as a Tea Party Republican.

In other races: Kenneth Thompson defeated Charles Hynes for Brooklyn DA, again. Voters approved of new casino businesses for the state. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer will become the city's new comptroller. And voters sent 21 new members to the City Council, ushering in new left-wing era.

Voters reported problems to WNYC at 40 poll sites across the city, they vented about scanning glitches on Twitter, and NYPIRG surveyed 31 poll sites and found malfunctioning scanners at 19 of them.

MORE GOTHAM GAZETTE COVERAGE OF THE 2013 ELECTION

De Blasio's Election Could Mean Paradigm Shift In Albany: After years of being at odds with the head of the city that most of them represent, Albany Democrats now hope to have a partner to help them push a progressive vision through the state Legislature. READ

Cuomo Wins Big With Casino Ballot Measure: Gov. Andrew Cuomo scored a huge victory at the polls on Tuesday — and his name wasn’t even on the ballot. READ

Voters Squint As They Choose New Mayor: Small font size makes for headaches on Election Day.READ

Other Stories We're Following

Costa Wins Astoria City Council Seat (LIC Journal)

Republican Steven Matteo Takes Staten Island Council Seat Against John Mancuso (Staten Island Advance)

Helen Rosenthal Wins Upper West Side City Council Seat (DNAinfo)

The Brief, Ill-Timed Political Career Of Joe Lhota (Capital)

Corey Johnson Wins Landslide Victory For District 3 Council Seat (DNAinfo)

New York Is Investigating Advisers To Pension Funds (NY Times)

Two New York Counties Re-Elect Republican Executives (NY Times)

China-Based Investors, Developers Drop Huge Sums On NY Property (Crain's)

Cheap Natural Gas Hits New York City (Businessweek)

City Looking For Some Big Ideas For Downtown Jamaica (Daily News)

Two Big Greenpoint Apartment Towers Face Key Vote (Crain's)

Former Inmates Carve Their Own Path (Crain's)

Today is Election Day, and mayoral front-runner Bill de Blasio has soaked up most of the day's media coverage. It seems he's mostly been campaigning in Manhattan and Brooklyn. But he's provided some indication of what he's looking for in an education chancellor, even if he's not naming names. And his sleeping habits remain an odd source of interest. In case you forgot, Adolfo Carrión is still running for mayor, and he's fighting for a strong finish in his home turf of The Bronx. The casino ballot question is also a hot topic and means big rewards and risks for the state. See below for more voting info.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find your voting site and see a sample ballot: Who's On The Ballot

Problems at the polls? NYPIRG/Common Cause New York helpline: (212) 822-0282

Toll-free bilingual voter information hotline: 888-839-8682

For updates on #NYC2013 follow us on Twitter or check out GothamVotes 2013 throughout Election Day.

Gotham Gazette's Guide For The Last-Minute Voter General Election 2013: Our look at the candidates, issues and races you need to know about before you head to the polls today. READ MORE

6 Proposals On The Ballot And What They Mean READ MORE

Other Stories We're Following

NY Begins First Statewide School-To-Job Project (Crain's)

Commission Certifies Domino Sugar Plan (Crain's)

Lt. Gov. Duffy Would Welcome Ethics Inquiry (Capital)

Cuomo Robocalls Support Casino Ballot Measure (Albany Times Union)

Teacher Pension Fund Regaining Lost Ground (Albany Times Union)

The Problem With Not-So-Random Case Assignment (Wall Street Journal)

No Riders Killed In Bike-Share's First 5 Months (NY Times)

Study: 779,000 New Yorkers Can Get Insurance Subsidy (Associated Press)

Five Candidates Face Off For Astoria's City Council Seat (DNAinfo)

Juvenile Justice Advocates Seek Key Reforms Under Next Mayor (Juvenile Justice Information Exchange)

A poll out this weekend found that nearly two-thirds of likely voters say they will back Democrat Bill de Blasio for mayor, meaning a possible rout of his Republican rival. De Blasio also appears to be winning across demographics, according to the Wall Street Journal-NBC 4 New York-Marist poll. Election Day is on Tuesday. Polls open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

NEW IN THE GOTHAM GAZETTE: De Blasio Pins Affordable Housing Hopes On Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning by Sophia Rosenbaum READ MORE

Gotham Gazette's Guide For The Last-Minute Voter General Election 2013: Your vote will help determine the shape of city government for the next four years. Here's our guide to the candidates, issues and races you need to know about before you head to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 5. READ MORE

Find out more about the historic 2013 election at GothamVotes.

Today's Policy Agenda: The New York Immigration Coalition releases a "top 10 wish list" for the next mayor; 11 a.m., City Hall steps.

Other Stories We're Following

At De Blasio Event, Belafonte Calls Kochs 'White Supremacists' (Capital)

Small Towns Bet On Casino Proposal (NY Times)

Key State Senator Say's He'd Back De Blasio's Pre-K Plan (Daily News)

De Blasio Accused Of Coordinating With PAC (NY Post)

3 Judges Plan To Serve Past 70 If Referendum Is Approved (Daily News)

Nation's 1st Statewide School-To-Career Program Begins (Associated Press)

Sharpton To Meet With Macy's CEO After Arrest Of Black Actor (Daily News)

Daily News Endorses De Blasio -- But Worries (Daily News)

Sources: De Blasio Pushing East Harlem Councilwoman For Speaker (NY Post)

Schumer Endorses Clinton For 2016 (Capital)

Poll: Majority of Likely Voters Support De Blasio (Wall Street Journal)

Bronx 'Slow Zone' Saves Lives (Crain's)

A federal appeals court yesterday blocked changes to the New York Police Department's use of stop-and-frisk that had been imposed by a lower court and removed the judge from the case. A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, writing on their decision to remove the judge, said that the "appearance of partiality surrounding this litigation was compromised." Stop-and-frisk has been a major source of conflict in the mayoral race. "I'm extremely disappointed in today's decision," said Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio in a statement. "We shouldn't have to wait for reforms that both keep our communities safe and obey the Constitution. We have to end the overuse of stop and frisk — and any delay only means a continued and unnecessary rift between our police and the people they protect." Republican candidate Joe Lhota applauded the decision to remove the judge. "Bravo!" he wrote. 

The Guide For The Last-Minute Voter General Election 2013: Your vote will help determine the shape of city government for the next four years. Here's our guide to the candidates, issues and races you need to know about before you head to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 5. READ MORE

Find out more about the historic 2013 election at GothamVotes.

Today's Policy Agenda: City Council public housing committee tours Red Hook Houses NYCHA development, 2 p.m., 110 W. Ninth St., Brooklyn.

Other Stories We're Following

1000s Of NYers To Lose Medical Policies Because of Obamacare (NY Post)

De Blasio Attracts Tech Donors (NY Times)

New Yorkers Brace For Major Cut to Food Stamps (Daily News)

Giuliani Set to Campaign For Lhota (Daily News)

De Blasio Plans to Delegate as Mayor (NY Times)

Cuomo Threatens ‘Accountability’ For Legislators Who Don’t Comply(Capital)

De Blasio Promises Strong Turnout (Capitol Confidential)

Anti-Casino Coalition Comes Together (Wall Street Journal)

Casino Opponents Use Mario Cuomo’s Words Against Son (Capital)

Former Sampson Aide Not in Complaint (Crain's)

Eye On Albany: The Senate Republican Campaign Committee asked a Supreme Court judge to dismiss a subpoena from the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption. | Another Albany Arrest May Mean Trouble For Senate Democrats 

A Plan To Reform The City Council: The slate of reforms announced yesterday at City Hall aim to decentralize the next speaker's key powers over member items and committees, boosting the power of individual Council members and committee chairs to set the city's legislative agenda. By Chester Soria. READ MORE

De Blasio Should Mandate Affordable Housing In City RFPs. By Leonard Grunstein, an expert in real-estate finance.

In last night's final mayoral debate between Democrat Bill de Blasio and Republican Joe Lhota, neither candidate landed a knockout blow. Instead, the candidates rehashed the positions they have sparred over during the campaign. Lhota, the underdog, did try a new tactic in his attacks on de Blasio. Instead of focusing on crime, Lhota tried to discredit de Blasio's management skills. The debate followed yet another poll that showed de Blasio leading with a commanding 39 percent. Both men will now focus on turning out voters on Nov. 5th. 

The Guide For The Last-Minute Voter General Election 2013: Your vote will help determine the shape of city government for the next four years. Here's our guide to the candidates, issues and races you need to know about before you head to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 5. READ MORE

Find out more about the historic 2013 election at GothamVotes.

Today's Agenda: A "diverse coalition," including state Sens. Liz Krueger and Kevin Parker, speaks out against the casino ballot proposal, noon, City Hall steps. NY Jobs Now will hold a pro-casino rally featuring State Democratic Party Chair Keith Wright and United Federation of Teachers head Michael Mulgrew at The United Federation of Teachers headquarters, noon, 52 Broadway, 2nd floor.  

Other Stories We're Following

Albany Democrats War Over Cuomo’s Anti-Corruption Panel (Daily News)

Coney Island Nursing Home Increases Protections For Future Storms (NY 1)

Lhota as Manager Made Swift Decisions, Put in Long Weeks (NY Times)

On Council, de Blasio Blended Idealism With Push For Power (NY Times)

City to Boost Purchase Age For Tobacco (Wall Street Journal)

Marathon Evolves In Era of Tighter Security (Wall Street Journal)

Atlantic Yards Builder Sues City Over Taxes (DNAinfo)

JCOPE Vote Splits Commission (Albany Times Union)

Working Families Party Asks Voters to Reject One of Its Own (Capital)

Sandy Recovery Gap Yawns (Crain's)

Eye On Albany: The Senate Republican Campaign Committee asked a Supreme Court judge to dismiss a subpoena from the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption. | Another Albany Arrest May Mean Trouble For Senate Democrats 

A Plan To Reform The City Council: The slate of reforms announced yesterday at City Hall aim to decentralize the next speaker's key powers over member items and committees, boosting the power of individual Council members and committee chairs to set the city's legislative agenda. By Chester Soria. READ MORE

De Blasio Should Mandate Affordable Housing In City RFPs. By Leonard Grunstein, an expert in real-estate finance

A panel of federal judges questioned yesterday why they should listen to city lawyers and delay court mandated stop-and-frisk reforms when the next mayor may support those changes. If Bill de Blasio is elected as expected, he will likely stop fighting the court's ruling. The judges also ripped the city for appealing the changes at such a slow pace. Meanwhile, a new report finds that students stopped and frisked by police are also more likely to be suspended from school. And Commissioner Kelly was booed off stage during a speech at Brown University.

The Guide For The Last-Minute Voter General Election 2013: Your vote will help determine the shape of city government for the next four years. Here's our guide to the candidates, issues and races you need to know about before you head to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 5. READ MORE

A Year After Superstorm Sandy, Turmoil Continues On Staten Island: When they emerged from their attic on the morning of Oct. 30, they found “everything was in a big pile. It was like a snow globe, like someone shook the house.” By Melissa Checker. READ MORE

Today's Agenda: Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Deputy Mayor Cas Halloway and other officials, data experts and policymakers share ideas about how data can be used to improve government services at the NYU Wagner Executive Briefing titled "The Measured City," 8 am to 3:30 pm, Kimmel Center, New York University. /// The City Council votes to raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco above 19 and marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy with a package of bills aimed at increasing resiliency, 1:30 p.m., Council chambers.

Other Stories We're Following

Commissioner Quits State Ethics Board (Associated Press)

Feds Open Sandy Spigot A Little Wider (Crain's)

Albany Cold To City Taxes For Pre-K (Wall Street Journal)

Errors Rife In State’s List Of Health Insurance Assistance Sites (NY Times)

Throughout The Region, Hoping For A Sandy Buyout (Wall Street Journal)

MTA Shows Off Anti-Storm Equipment (NY Post)

Queens, Brooklyn Real Estate Prices Rise Despite Post-Sandy Foreclosures (Daily News)

Public Housing Authority Turns Attention To Future Threats (WNYC)

Public Housing Residents Relying On Agency Still Recovering From Storm (NY Times)

Lhota Declines To Tout Sandy Record As MTA Chief (NY Post)

De Blasio Will Bring His Own Brand Of Leadership To City (Politicker)

Firm Helps de Blasio From Obscurity To City Hall (Crain's)

Study Shows State Spending For Inmate Health Care Up (Associated Press)

The post-Bloomberg era of city government is beginning to take shape.

Although the general election on Nov. 5 will decide the first new mayor in over a decade, much of how City Hall will look in 2014 was set in party primaries.

Nevertheless, a handful of City Council seats are still up for grabs, there is a mild battle over the comptroller’s office and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office is being fought over by the same two candidates who battled in the primary.

New Yorkers will also have the opportunity to approve or reject six ballot measures this year. Voters are being asked to decide on upstate land disputes, whether to approve an extension for how long certain state judges can serve on the bench and whether to allow up to seven casinos to be built.

Here’s our guide to the candidates, issues and races you need to know before you head to the polls on Election Day.

Table of Contents

Hizzoner-to-Be

Fiduciary Finale

D.A. Deja Vu

Last Call for City Council

Voting Goes Back to the Future

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The two leading candidates to take over the helm at City Hall — Democrat Bill de Blasio and Republican Joe Lhota — have whittled their messages to the starkest of themes: safety versus fairness.

On the one hand, Lhota, the cerebral, bureaucratic former transit chief credited with steering the city’s subways system nearly intact through Superstorm Sandy, has promised to maintain low levels of crime and spur job creation by lowering taxes.

On the other hand, de Blasio, the current public advocate and longtime left-leaning political operative, has built his campaign on a laser-focused message of a “tale of two cities” — the indisputable social and economic disparity that has made the city painfully unaffordable to most New Yorkers.

Lhota has dismissed his Democratic rival’s message as class warfare, opting to portray de Blasio’s vision for New York as one with racially charged rioting and police handcuffed from doing their jobs.

But less than a week away from the elections, that message has yielded mixed results and Lhota is no closer to convincing New Yorkers than he was a month out. No poll has given the former transit chief less than a 40-point spread between him and de Blasio, and Lhota trails with almost every demographic group despite a majority of respondents seemingly agreeing with him on his key safety and education policy proposals.

Lhota’s uphill battle is nothing new for Republican candidates in a deep-blue city, and yet the seemingly overwhelming odds don’t preclude a win for the former chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — there hasn’t been a Democrat in Gracie Mansion in 20 years. At the same time, De Blasio is riding the wave of a progressive message that hit a crest with his primary win and invigorated the Democratic base.

There are a handful of clear differences between the two candidates on the key issues of public safety, education and affordable housing.

PUBLIC SAFETY: The most contentious moments between Lhota and de Blasio have centered on public safety. Lhota infamously dropped the rhetorical bomb on de Blasio with a visceral television ad that portrayed a de Blasio administration as the catalyst for reverting New York City back to the era of the Crown Heights riots and graffitied subway cars.

Dismissive of de Blasio’s community policing approach, Lhota favors singular mayoral oversight over the police department and the continued use of stop-and-frisk without any of the modifications recently handed down by the courts. He’s argued that the problem isn’t stop-and-frisk but communities not understanding how stop-and-frisk works.

It’s a stark contrast to de Blasio’s support of the Community Safety Act, which made its way through the Council this year. The laws, which Bloomberg vetoed and were nonetheless overturned by the Council, created an inspector general and broadened the city’s existing ban on racial profiling. Both play a role in de Blasio’s support for a community policing model for NYPD.

Regardless, neither candidate has argued for eradicating stop-and-frisk, even if de Blasio would reform it.

EDUCATION: On education, de Blasio has been hit in almost every single debate — through both the primary and general seasons — for his universal pre-K proposition, which would require a tax on New Yorkers making $100,000 or more. With little taste for the idea of higher taxes in Albany, especially ahead of next year’s election, Lhota has argued that de Blasio is bloviating on the plan, and that de Blasio can’t come through with his promise.

Beyond pre-K, Lhota has come out as an ardent supporter of the city’s charter school system and accused de Blasio of wanting to “annihilate” it by charging rent and capping the number of schools. While de Blasio has never said he’d destroy charter schools, he has suggested he wouldn’t prioritize growing the number of schools and would charge rent for wealthier, more successful schools.

Lhota has argued for lifting the cap on charter schools and would not stop the closures of failing schools, a practice that Bloomberg has often come under fire for. Unsurprisingly, de Blasio disagrees on both counts. But both do want to keep one of Bloomberg’s biggest education legacies in place: Lhota and de Blasio support mayoral control of schools.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: On affordable housing, which both men argue is central to addressing the city’s growing inequality, the two offer disparate views. Lhota has consistently said he would announce a housing emergency on day one, and has vowed to drive $8 billion of public capital into the housing sector.

De Blasio, on the other hand, sees mandatory inclusionary zoning, whereby developers are required to make a certain percentage of their proprieties affordable in order to qualify for tax breaks, as the way to solve the city’s housing ills. The idea doesn’t sit well with Lhota, who previously called it “unconstitutional.”

ON OTHER ISSUES, both candidates have a tendency to be oblique about certain issues weighing heavily on some voters’ minds. Neither is willing to negotiate in public the idea of retroactive pay for municipal employees who have worked for as many as five years without contracts, nor are either of the candidates any closer to explaining how they would reform Bloomberg’s overhaul of the city’s taxi system.

The contrast between de Blasio and Lhota can also be nuanced. Both want to wrestle control of the transportation system back from the state, and both commend Bloomberg’s resiliency plan post Superstorm Sandy. And as Lhota was apt to point out in his first general election ad, both he and de Blasio support same-sex marriage, women’s right to choose and decriminalizing marijuana.

Just a few months ago, the contest for comptroller was grabbing as many headlines as the mayoral race. Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s failed bid for the seat of New York’s chief financial officer left outgoing Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer the Democratic nominee in what’s reverted once again to a sleepy race.

It’s not to say that Stringer doesn’t face a challenger: Republican John Burnett has toiled to make sure voters know that the Democratic candidate’s win is anything but presumed.

The office of the comptroller, while more limited in powers than the mayor, oversees the performance of $139.2 billion in pension funds for retired teachers, police officers, firefighters and other municipal workers. The office also plays a role in auditing contracts and can be a key weight against the mayor.

A veteran of Wall Street, Burnett has suggested combining the city’s pension funds into a single comprehensive plan, and has prioritized job creation and increasing the city’s investment in minority- and women-owned small business. Stringer also wants to drive more city money into supporting MWB projects but hasn’t suggested any overhaul of the pensions system.

Instead, Stringer has focused his message on improving accountability with the city’s contracts and increasing transparency on how the city invests its money, notably proposing that the office track money spent on recovery from Superstorm Sandy.

The race for the office of Brooklyn district attorney was supposed to have ended on Primary Day when longtime incumbent Charles Hynes conceded the Democratic Party’s nomination to former federal prosecutor Kenneth Thompson.

But all that changed in a matter of days after Hynes decided to go back on his concession at the urging of supporters and run on the Republican and Conservative lines for re-election. With that, it was as if someone had hit a replay switch on the race, with Thompson and Hynes trading some of the same attacks from the primary anew.

For his part, Thompson has slammed the six-term, 78-year-old incumbent for his office’s record of wrongful convictions, allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and “silence on stop-and-frisk.”

Thompson, 48, has said that as district attorney he would not prosecute arrests involving small amounts of marijuana, emphasize gun buybacks to combat street violence and create a labor unit to protect workers’ rights.

Hynes has argued that under his watch the district attorney’s office has been more innovative and effective. He said Thompson was too inexperienced to run an office with 1,200 people that serves millions of people in the borough.

He also alleged that ex-Brooklyn Democratic Party Boss Clarence Norman was working closely to get Thompson elected, calling the former power broker’s role in his opponent’s campaign a major reason fueling his re-election. Hynes’ office successfully prosecuted a corruption case against Norman.

Thompson denied that Norman had a role in his primary win, calling the accusation by Hynes a desperate move to keep his job.

Conventional political wisdom in New York holds that the Democratic primary decides what the following four years of Council business looks like. In a post-Bloomberg, post-Christine Quinn era, that seems to hold true.

Of the 51 seats on the ballot, most are essentially reserved by Democratic primary winners. Fewer than 10 of those races are competitive in the general election, mostly pitting Democrats up against Republicans in politically purple-hued, if not outright red, districts.

Most of the seats still in play for the general boil down to the hyperlocal quality of life issues and the age-old Republican versus Democrat fights in battleground districts. Queens currently has two Republicans sitting on the Council: Eric Ulrich and the embattled Dan Halloran, who announced he wouldn’t seek reelection as a result of the federal investigation into his time at the Council.

A wide-open seat, the race for the 19th district is left to Democrat Paul Vallone — son of former Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr and term-limited Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. — and Republican Dennis Saffran. The district has flipped between parties, leaving some to question if Halloran’s tainted legacy will have any influence over which party the voters trust more.

In September, Vallone won the Democratic nomination by a margin of 193 votes. Saffran’s last bid for office was a close one, too: he lost the same seat to Democrat Tony Avella in 2001 by a nail-biting 1 percent.

Nearby, outgoing Democratic Councilman James Gennaro’s seat in the 24th district is also up in the air. Former Assemblyman Rory Lancman might keep the seat with the Democratic Party, but that’s only if he can obliterate Republican candidate Alex Blishteyn’s chances like Lancman did in the primary against his Democratic counterparts.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley of the 30th district is the only Queens Democratic incumbent having to defend her seat from a Republican challenger. Up against first-time candidate Craig Caruana, Crowley’s bid for a second term is complicated by a tense relationship with Speaker Quinn that afforded Crowley little support from the Council. Caruana’s counting on dissatisfaction with Crowley’s last four years in Council to bring back the district back under Republican control

A few miles south, Brooklyn has been solidly Democratic territory for the Council. That might change with the 48th district race. Currently held by term-limited Councilman Mike Nelson, the district saw a heated Democratic primary end with the nomination going to former Nelson aide Chaim Deutsch.

In a district still recovering from Superstorm Sandy, Deutsch has tried to make the race about his ability to provide constituent services, taking every opportunity to remind constituents that he is always available on cell to take their calls. He faces Republican stalwart and former state Sen. David Storobin, who won the party’s nod unopposed, as well as primary rival Igor Obermann on the Working Family Party line.

Greg Davidzon, a local Russian radio personality and power broker, also announced his own last-minute write-in campaign.

Often considered the most conservative borough, Staten Island currently has one Democrat and two Republicans in the Council. That might change with Republican Councilman Jimmy Oddo trading City Hall for Borough Hall. His move leaves his 50th district seat open for either Republican Steven Matteo or Democrat John Mancuso to take the seat in a district also rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy.

There might even be a race to keep an eye on in Manhattan in the general election. In the 5th district, Councilwoman Jessica Lappin left the Council for an unsuccessful run at the Manhattan Borough presidency. That left the door open for Democrat Ben Kallos, who has been endorsed not only by Lapping but also a crew of heavy hitters in the party. He even bested state Assemblyman Micah Kellner in the controversial primary. But a loss didn’t stop Kellner from announcing a run on the Working Families Party ticket, which has since disavowed their endorsement.

And the two still also face David Garland as he vies to become the only Republican City Council member from Manhattan.

Unlike the primary, which brought back the controversial lever machines to supposedly turn around the vote counts in a timely matter for the runoff, the optical scanners are back for the general election.

While New Yorkers won’t be using the old crank-and-lever booths again, they might struggle with some of the fine print on this year’s ballot. In a struggle to fit every race and ballot proposal on a single sheet of paper, the city’s Board of Elections opted to use a 6-point typeface.

As a means to help decipher the tiny type, the Board will provide giant, quad-fold posters of the ballots for every polling site. Voters are also encouraged to request the use of its ballot marking devices, or BMDs. Typically offered to disabled voters who require assistance in casting their vote, the board offered it as an option for anyone who might need a little help reading the ballots.

Once in the booth, the Board instructs New Yorkers to:

1. Get a ballot at their designated polling site, which can be found by visiting the Board of Elections website, where you can also download a sample ballot.

2. Mark your paper ballot by filling in the ovals below the names of the candidates and proposals. Fill in the oval, don’t checkmark or “x” it in, and don’t make any stray marks on the ballot. If you are writing in, fill in the blank oval and write in the candidate's name.

3. Scan your paper ballot in the designated area, and insert the marked ballot into the scanner to cast your vote.

Letizia Tagliafierro has been named executive director of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics after a lengthy closed-door meeting. Tagliafierro is a former aide of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and previously worked as JCOPE's director of investigations and enforcement. The position of executive director has been vacant since May when Ellen Biben, Cuomo's former inspector general, stepped down.

Biben's resignation followed the resignation of original JCOPE chair Wetchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore. Cuomo replaced DiFiore with Daniel Horowitz, a Cuomo apointee to JCOPE. The state ethics panel has come under major criticism for being controlled by Cuomo and legislative heads. Cuomo has faced similar criticism over his handling of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.

Tagliafierro worked as a prosecutor, acted as a special counsel to the Division of Criminal Justice Services in 2007 and 2008 and spent time in the attorney general's office. She also worked as a legisaltive aide for Sen. Serphin Maltese. 

Commission Chair Daniel J. Horwitz issued this statement:

Letizia will be an outstanding executive director. Her leadership skills, integrity, commitment to public service and her diverse background in government made her a terrific choice for Executive Director. The Commission is looking forward to continuing its important role of working to restore trust in our State government. Through increased transparency, compliance training and enforcement, our public officials and those hoping to influence government decisions will be held accountable.

The state Board of Elections testified in front of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption in what will go down in one of the most lopsided contests in New York State governmental hearings.

The BOE showed up, testimony in hand, claiming they had both done a good job enforcing campaign finance laws and were underfinanced and understaffed. They came ready to play checkers. The commission, reeling from leaks and criticism from the press, came prepared with data obtained from subpoenas. They had come looking to play chess. 

Moreland co-chair and Nassau County district attorney Kathleen Rice quickly disputed the BOE's insistance that the 2008 fiscal crisis prevented them from hiring new staffers. 

Rice: "Mr. McCann is laying out this impossible Herculean effort that the BOE makes, and yet, you had 21 positions to fill and you didn't fill them."

BOE Co-Executive Director Robert Brehm responded: "We worked diligently to fill them. No one anticipated the fiscal crisis that we would be under." 

"This was before the fiscal crisis," Rice reminded Brehm. 

Things didn't get any better for the BOE as they continued to claim they had diligently enforced election law. 

"You had an investigator sitting at his computer, asking you for work — and playing solitaire and studying his Bible verses because you refused to give him work," said Warren County district attorney Kathleen Hogan. 

The commission grilled the BOE on individual investigations and openly wondered why some obvious violatioins took so long to process. In one case the BOE claimed they had misplaced a box containing information regarding an investigation. The commission also highlighted emails from BOE members that indicated they were motivated by political affiliation. 

Rice informed the audience that the BOE resisted turning over information the commission was looking for. Rice noted that the BOE's counsel was subpoenaed but retired and moved out of state and was not at the hearing. 

While Moreland's drubbing of the board certainly played well with good government groups that have been telling the commission how dysfunctional the BOE is since the commission was formed, others saw it as an easy win following a slew of reports that have cast the panel's independence into doubt. 

The BOE's written testimony can be read here. 

BIll Mahoney of The New York Public Interest Research Group provided this rebuttal: 

NYPIRG BOE Fact Check.pdf

A year after Superstorm Sandy, much remains to be done. Only $5.2 billion of the federal $60 billion aid package has been spent. $6 billion was set aside for future disasters but has yet to be handed out to the proper recipients. Soon the city will receive $1.3 billion on top of the $1.8 billion it was given shortly after the storm. The MTA continues rebuilding and the effects of the storm will last for years. One-third of the stores on Midland Ave. in Staten Island remain shuttered. A panel agreed that Bloomberg developed a comprehensive approach to resiliency after the storm that should be built on by the next mayor. And the debate continues about how effective natural storm defenses like marshes and oysters can be for smaller events.

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Hurricane Sandy Anniversary

For updates throughout the day, follow Gotham Gazette partner @AdaptNY on Twitter or go to the AdaptNY website.

Researchers with the New York City Poison Control Center documented a surge of carbon monoxide poisonings following Hurricane Sandy, reported in Clinical Toxicology.

NPR reports on uneven rebuilding in storm-battered areas.

Ellis Island reopens.

WSJ's streaming coverage of the one-year anniversary.

WSJ interactive looks at storm victims one year later.

Today's Report

Flood Maps Will Increase Insurance Costs
A recent report by the Bloomberg Administration found that the number of families required to pay for federal flood insurance will double when new FEMA flood maps are complete. It calls on Congress and FEMA to ensure that coverage is not cost prohibitive (read the full report)