Metropolitan Operatives

Thanks to term limits, scads of city offices will be up for grabs this fall–but that doesn’t mean your favorite neighborhood progressive candidate is a shoo-in. Three political kingmakers give wannabe contenders some pointers. City Limits gets the 411 from Martin Brennan, Kevin Finnegan and Micah Lasher.

Buildings Department Burnout

A Queens building that burned to the ground in a catastrophic fire in early December was the site of extensive renovations that were being done without proper permits from the city Department of Buildings.

Tally No

Census 2000 was supposed to make up for a decade-old miscount of New York’s homeless. Instead, snafus and incompetence may deprive the city of billions.

No Contest

Western Queens faced the unthinkable: a contested primary for Congress. How the borough’s political leaders made sure it didn’t happen.

WFP V. GOP

If the state Republican Party has its way, the Working Families Party won’t be around to cause trouble in this fall’s election.

FOSTERING DISCORD

A harsh letter to the editor ends a potential relationship between the city’s Administration for Children Services and an parental advisory committee.

Power Outrage

The deregulation of New York’s power industry is making electric bills as freewheeling as the Nasdaq. Instead of taking a promised dive, prices are heading higher than the mercury.