Mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio received his first endorsement from a City Council member today.

Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, described by the de Blasio campaign in a press release as an “East Harlem and Bronx Leader,” threw her support behind the Public Advocate, citing his progressive politics, particularly with regard to immigrant issues, as the point of appeal for her.

“Bill de Blasio has proven himself a consistent ally and champion for immigrant and wrking class communities across our city—and I’m proud to endorse him today,” Mark-Viverito said.

Mark-Viverito lauded de Blasio’s proposal for a university city ID for undocumented immigrants, and said he has “fought to create and preserve 200,000 affordable housing units.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has received endorsements from six City Council members.

A representative of the John Liu campaign said that Liu has been endorsed by “several” members of the City Council but would not provide names, instead saying, “the endorsements will be rolled out in the coming weeks.”

The Bill Thompson and Anthony Weiner campaigns did not immediately respond to an inquiry about endorsements from members of the Council.

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On the same day that Anthony Weiner announced his candidacy for mayor with a video, a new poll revealed that more New Yorkers believe the former congressman should not run.

When asked if Weiner should run for mayor, 49 percent said he should not and 38 percent said he should, according to the Quinnipiac University poll released early Wednesday morning. The same question last month returned slightly more favorable responses for Weiner: 44 percent said he shouldn’t run and 41 percent said he should.

Weiner still trails only City Council Speaker Christine Quinn among the Democratic candidates. Quinn leads with 25 percent of support from voters, Weiner follows with 15 percent, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Comptroller Bill Thompson are tied with 10 percent, Comptroller John Liu holds 6 percent of support and former Councilman Sal Albanese has 2 percent.

Twenty-seven percent are undecided, according to the poll.

While Quinn still holds a strong lead, her support has dropped from 28 percent last month.

“With former Congressman Anthony Weiner seeking the Democratic nod, it still looks like Council Speaker Christine Quinn against the guys,” said Maurice Carroll, director of Quinnipiac’s Polling Institute. “But where she once was brushing up against the magic 40 percent number that could get her past a runoff, the wear and tear of the campaign, and possibly the addition of Weiner, are taking a toll on the front-runner.

“This poll says there’s a runoff. It just doesn’t say who’s in the runoff,” Carroll said.

The poll also found that former MTA Chairman Joe Lhota would lose to any Democratic candidate by 61 to 13 percent in a general election.

There is more support for a candidate who would create an inspector general for the NYPD, the poll found. Forty-five percent said they would vote for a candidate who favors an inspector general, 18 percent said they would not, and 32 percent said it would not affect their vote.

The poll surveyed 1,082 New York City voters from May 14-20 with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

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An analysis by New York City’s public advocate may indicate that racial profiling does not contribute to effective stops.

The report looked at public NYPD data on stop-and-frisk from 2012, and found that weapons and guns were more often found on white New Yorkers than African-Americans or Latinos.

The NYPD discovered a weapon in one of every 49 stops of white New Yorkers. They only found weapons on one of every 71 Latinos stopped and one in every 93 African-Americans stopped, the public advocate’s office said.

Contraband, including marijuana, was also found more frequently on white New Yorkers than minorities. One out of every 43 white people stopped had illegal substances on them, while illegal items were found on one out of every 57 Latinos and every 61 African-Americans.

The director of policy at Bronx Defenders, a holistic public defense organization, said the data align with “what we see representing clients every day in the Bronx.”

“Despite promised reforms a year ago, black and Latino New Yorkers — especially young people — are still stopped every day based on nothing more than the color of their skin or the neighborhood they hang out in,” said director Kate Rubin.

The report acknowledges an overall reduction in stops but found that the skewed proportion of stops of minorities is still the same. Minorities constitute 84 percent of all stops, but make up only 54 percent of all New Yorkers.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said there is “an ugly truth in these numbers” and said the inefficacy of the system puts communities and police officers in danger.

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Public Advocate Bill de Blasio unveiled a plan Thursday intended to promote the safety and economic involvement of immigrants in New York City.

The plan would eliminate bureaucratic obstacles faced by domestic violence victims, who are eligible for a special visa, lessen cooperation with the federal detention and deportation process, and eliminate the city’s Human Resources Administration’s mandate that sponsors of legal immigrants repay the city for assistance sought by the individuals they sponsor.

“Our city can’t be whole while hundreds of thousands of people are living in the shadows,” de Blasio said.

Karen Kaminsky at the New York Immigration Coalition called de Blasio’s proposals “common sense,” and said they “will contribute to rebuilding a sense of trust between the NYPD and the communities they serve.”

“NYC should not be in the business of helping deport people,” Kaminsky said.

De Blasio’s proposal includes legislation similar to that in Colorado, which would enable immigrants to get driver’s licenses and auto insurance, as well as legislation that currently exists or is being put in place in New Haven, San Francisco and Los Angeles, which would provide undocumented immigrants with municipal IDs, giving them access to city services.

“We’re seeing states and cities around the country take the lead in opening their doors,” de Blasio said. “New York City has to retake the mantel of the nation’s premier open city, that welcomes all immigrants and knits them into our civic life.”

Council members, including Daniel Dromm and Gale Brewer, recently proposed legislation to allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections. While Mayor Michael Bloomberg has generally been a vocal proponent of immigrant rights, his office said they would not support such legislation because it conflicts with state law.

The Mayor’s Office of Immigration Affairs, established in 1984, is the only chartered immigrant affairs office in the country.

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Local politicians are speaking out against anti-Muslim graffiti found spray-painted on a sidewalk in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

“This revolting act of prejudice was meant to intimidate New Yorkers on their streets and in their homes, but because of our unity and our strength, it’s not going to work,” Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn issued a joint statement with City Council Member Michael Nelson, who represents the area where the graffiti was found. “The vulgar anti-Muslim graffiti found in Sheepshead Bay does not represent the views of the residents of Brooklyn and our city. We join with millions of other New Yorkers in condemning such hateful acts.”

The graffiti reportedly read “dumb Muslims die” and was found outside a home on Avenue Z. Police are investigating the situation, according to NY1.

The Anti-Defamation League’s acting New York regional director Etzion Neuer also released a statement, saying, “We deplore this disturbing act of bigotry, which is an affront to the entire Muslim community and the community at large.”

He continued, “An act of hate like this sends shock waves through an entire community and makes residents feel unsafe, and it is critical that we reaffirm our commitment to remaining united in speaking out against hate.”

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The potential candidacy for disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner has an unlikely supporter: a mayoral candidate who may be a future rival.

Former MTA chair Joseph Lhota told reporters outside City Hall that he would love to debate Weiner in the race.

“Anthony’s been a friend for a long time,” Lhota said. “I think he raises the level of the debate.”

Lhota also says he believes in forgiveness, indicating that voters should forgive Weiner for his 2011 sexting scandal.

Weiner said in a New York Times interview published last week that he was mulling a mayoral run.

Lhota is among an increasingly busy field of candidates, from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

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Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said he will sue the city after he said students were sent to the emergency room when they showed behavioral problems.

De Blasio planned to file a lawsuit Tuesday for data surrounding such incidents.

His concern, he said, is that with inadequate mental health services in schools, more educators are simply dialing 911 when students have outbursts.

This means more kids at the hospital instead of at school — and possibly more traumatized children, he said.

The State Supreme Court lawsuit demands documents from 2005 to 2010, including age, ethnicity and behavioral problems of each child. He also wants to know how much parents had to pay for each incident.

“This is wasteful, hurtful and wrong,” De Blasio said. “As a parent, I’d be furious if one of my kids was sent to an E.R. because the school didn’t know how to handle them. This is a disturbing reality for thousands of kids and parents.”

About one-third of schools have mental health services for students struggling with behavioral issues, according to De Blasio.

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Christine Quinn is under attack, and from a side she may not have been expecting.

A new attack ad slamming Quinn as “always on the wrong side” apparently comes from “a coalition of left-leaning labor unions and Democratic activists who say they are not backing anyone in particular” according to the New York Times.

However, Quinn’s campaign spokesman, Mike Morey, reportedly accused opponent Bill de Blasio of being behind the ad, pointing to de Blasio’s “strong connections” to the groups backing it.

“If Bill de Blasio is the progressive he claims to me, then he should oppose this effort to undermine the most progressive campaign finance system in the country,” Morey said.

De Blasio spokesman Dan Levitan reported denied knowledge of the spot prior to being questioned by a reporter late Sunday, and replied, “Nothing undermined our democratic system more than when Speaker Quinn overturned term limits and let Mayor Bloomberg spend $100 million buying four more years.”

The organizers behind the ad have reportedly pledged more than $1 million to the campaign against Quinn and are spending $250,000 for the television ad. Another commercial is on track for this week, as well as mailers and radio ads.

Quinn declined to place blame on a specific opponent, but told Capital New York, “We have no place for this type of indecent expenditure in New York City’s campaign system.”

New York City elections have a 6-to-1 funds matching system: each donor-dollar up to $175 is matched with $6 in public funds for a maximum of $1,050 in public funds per contributor.

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The City Council may pass legislation requiring the NYPD to have an inspector general, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said today.

Quinn said the Council is negotiating legislation regarding cops’ interaction with New Yorkers, including reaching “broad agreement” on the proposal of an inspector general.

“We’re in ongoing negotiations on several significant proposals that will work to improve police-community relations throughout our city,” she said in a statement this afternoon.

Public Advocate Bill De Blasio held a press conference Tuesday to press the Council on details that he said should be included in the legislation.

The Community Safety Act would require the NYPD to have an independent monitor, someone to review the department’s actions.

The NYPD needs “an inspector general with teeth,” de Blasio said in a letter sent to Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Tuesday.

In the letter, he noted that advocates reported the NYPD’s five millionth stop-and-frisk last week. The department is facing a trial that began this week about the stop-and-frisk practice.

“These two milestones are closely linked — with the overuse and misuse of its stop-and-frisk policy, the NYPD has risked department policy being set by judicial decree,” he wrote in the letter. “That is no way for a government agency to operate.”

An inspector general would specifically help reform the stop-and-frisk program, he said.

De Blasio said any appointed inspector general needs an independent budget and subpoena powers. Without those, a court ruling could limit his powers, he said.

“We have seen this movie before — assurances that reform is on the way only to see the council substitute a half-measure for true change,” he said at the conference. “This time must be different.”

The NYPD has been criticized for recent practices like stop-and-frisk and its surveillance of Muslims in and around New York City.

The NYPD’s top spokesman told Metro the suggestion of an inspector general was “wasteful and duplicative.”

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City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is leading among the Democratic contenders for mayor by a huge margin, with more support than her three biggest challengers combined, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

Quinn has the support of 37 percent of registered Democrats, inching closer to the 40 percent she needs to avoid a runoff election.

Public Advocate Bill De Blasio follows with 14 percent, former Comptroller Bill Thompson has 11 percent and City Comptroller John Liu has 9 percent. Twenty seven percent are undecided.

The Quinnipiac survey also found that more New Yorkers are comfortable with a woman, an African-American, a Hispanic-American, an Asian-American, a gay or lesbian or someone married to a gay or lesbian as mayor than are comfortable with a business executive as mayor.

Quinn leads Republican candidate and former MTA Chairman Joe Lhota 69 percent to 19 percent, according to the poll.

Voters also said they do not know enough about the Republican candidates to form an opinion.

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Public advocate and 2013 mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio released a report today looking at an increase in fines against smaller businesses, which he says is overly burdening lower-incomes business owners in the outer bouroughs.

The report details an uptick in fines due to more frequent inspections, and suggests the increase was intended to compensation for a decrease in City revenues due to the recent recession.

According to de Blasio, the inspections disproportionately targeted certain boroughs and neighborhoods over others.

The agencies de Blasio’s report looked at most closely are the Department of Consumer Affairs  and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He said for the DOHMH between 2010 and 2012 there was a 55 percent increase in inspection visits and a 73 percent increase in violations issued. For the DCA, his report apparently found a 66 percent increase in inspections and a 102 percent increase in revenue from fines.

Both agencies apparently increased annual fine revenue by a combined $50 million, according to the report.

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City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continues to hold the lead among the democratic contenders for mayor by a huge margin.

According to a NY1/Marist poll reported yesterday, Quinn is ahead of the other Democratic candidates with 37 percent of registered Democrats liking her for mayor. The poll placed former City Comptroller Bill Thompson at 13 percent and Public Advocate Bill De Blasio at 12 percent.

In the Republican pool, former MTA Chairman Joe Lhota is leading 20 percent support.

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They are working full time, but they are living in poverty.

One day after President Barack Obama said America should not be a place where people working 4o-hour weeks are still in poverty, New York workers said that reality exists all too often.

During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama said a family with two kids earning minimum wage lives below the poverty line.

“That’s wrong,” he said. “In the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.”

Obama suggested raising the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour.

New Yorkers want even more – raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour would give full-time workers an annual salary of $20,000, according to a report released today.

Right now, about 1.7 million New Yorkers are trying to live on about $18,530 for a family of three, according to the report. Meanwhile, unemployment increased from 5.3 percent in 2007 to 9.7 percent now, the report noted.

And more than 110,000 full-time workers live in poverty, according to the report, authored by groups The Center for Popular Democracy and UnitedNY.

Many of these are in the low-wage industry, like car wash workers, who often work more than 60 hours a week but make less than $400 per week.

And some are tasked with important services, like airport screening. The report said a survey of 300 airline employees found them paid barely more than $8 per hour.

Last year, many rallied outside their workplaces, with retail workers standing outside the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch to demand higher wages. JFK workers also threatened to strike before the 2012 holiday season. And fast-food employees went on strike in November to demand nearly doubling their salary to $15 an hour.

“You can’t even afford to get sick, “ McDonald’s worker Linda Archer told Metro while striking.

The report referenced the struggle to pay New York City prices on a retail or car-wash paycheck.

“After working as a cashier at Abercrombie & Fitch for over a year, I ended up with an average of just 10 hours per week,” one worker said. “That’s not enough to live on and go to school.”

A car wash worker in the report added, “I came to this ‘land of opportunity’ with so many hopes, but I have become disillusioned about being able to help my family.”

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Public Advocate Bill de Blasio toured early childhood facilities this morning to call attention to his plan for universal pre-kindergarten, as well as afterschool programming.

De Blasio visited P.S. 50 and the East Harlem Center, both run by the Children’s Aid Society.

The mayoral hopeful is calling for universal pre-kindergarten for all four-year-olds, a program he said would be the first in the city’s history.

According to de Blasio, there are currently 48,000 children who receive only part-time pre-kindergarten or none at all.

De Blasio’s plan would also establish after-school programming for middle schoolers from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every weekday.

De Blasio proposed the plan be funded by a five-year income tax increase on New Yorkers earning $500,000 or more.

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