The UFT candidate.

Made up of over 70,000 members, the United Federation of Teachers has demanded a voice in this upcoming mayoral election. President Michael Mulgrew told the Observer two weeks ago that he expected his union to sway the election; the reason why each Democratic candidate has gone above and beyond to court his attention. And, as of last night, it looks like one of the most powerful unions in city politics has made its decision: the UFT wants Bill Thompson as its Mayor (Sorry, Weiner).

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Remember the provision in the Women's Equality Act that would solidify abortion rights here in New York in the face of anti-abortion bills popping up in state legislatures across the country? Remember Cuomo's call for campaign finance regulation in a state electoral system that is drastically outdated and loophole-heavy? Remember the legislative push for medical marijuana in New York in a state with a record high number of weed arrests? Yeah? Well, none of them are happening anymore.

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Viktor Koen

High-cost, low-interest loans from NYU are the hottest commodities on the market these days. On a city level, they've been used (and eventually forgiven by the school) across Manhattan to pay for profiled professors' lofts or condos. On a national level, they've made their way into the Senate, with Senator Chuck Grassley grilling Treasury Secretary Jack Lew for accepting one when he was an NYU professor. And, on a world level, they're the subject of serious backlash in relation to the school's expansion here and abroad. Now, it looks like the loans have gone coastal.

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As the days wind down to November 5--when New Yorkers will choose their first post-Bloomberg leader--the would-be mayors continue their mad dash for donors, seeking large contributions from New York's most powerful elites. Spearheading that movement is City Council Speaker and Democratic frontrunner Christine Quinn; with the largest campaign treasure chest of any candidates thus far, she faces major criticism for her connections to the real estate industry. In this series, we'll be spotlighting Quinn's most prestigious bundlers in Big Development for the upcoming mayoral election.

Our third subject: Macro Sea, a developer that's reinventing the Brooklyn Naval Yards, largely due in part to its preferred (and funded) mayoral aspiration.

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John Surico

"What type of cellphone do you have, what carrier is it and what's your favorite app?" At 7:30pm, after media and tech folk scrambled into the Museum of the Moving Image off 35th Avenue in Astoria, the NYC Tech Forum began. Hosted by Coalition for Queens--a non-profit organization that promotes the tech community from Long Island City and elsewhere--Sal Albanese, John Liu, Adolfo Carrion Jr. and Anthony Weiner were subject to numerous questions about the realignment of New York City as the next Silicon Valley. Let's just say the phrase "coaxial cable" was in abundance last night.

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They're study drugs. Adderall, Ritalin, Vyvanse--you name it. The plague of prescription pills, with their often dangerous side effects, has been heavily reported by major media outlets but still continue to dominate finals week on college campuses across the country. And Senator Chuck Schumer wants to do something about it (in New York, at least).

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Sam Levin

700,000 miles. That's the lengthy equivalent of about 280,000 Central Parks. Or a little more than 50,000 Manhattans from the bottom up. It's also the amount of miles CitiBike users--who have now clocked in over 250,000 rides--have covered in three weeks' time.

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Chad Griffith

It comes as no surprise that controversy would ride the coattails of the news yesterday that Attorney General Eric Holder may suggest a federal monitor over the NYPD should stop-and-frisk be deemed unconstitutional in Floyd v. New York. Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly freaked out in a teleconference with Holder the other day when they heard about the Justice Department's proposal. And yesterday, at an unrelated press conference, the m ayor made his opposition to the proposal absolutely, 100 percent clear.

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Was Guangcheng's dismissal a result of pressure for NYU Shanghai?

Last year, Chen Guangcheng arrived in New York to take a teaching position at New York University. He'd just escaped house arrest in his native country of China after being prosecuted for representing thousands of women in a class-action lawsuit against the Communist government. Now, more than a year later, the university has let the renowned dissident and self-made lawyer go, leading many to point fingers of blame at the school's PR coup de grace: worldwide expansion.

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Maybe the parts of the Community Safety Act that debuted on the council floor yesterday won't even be necessary. In an exclusive report by the Daily News last night, it's been discovered that Attorney General Eric Holder and his Justice Department are thinking about asking the trial judge on Floyd v. New York--the case in motion downtown that questions the constitutionality of stop-and-frisk--to assign an inspector general to oversee the NYPD's actions should the practice be overturned. A controversy so bad, even Washington might get involved.

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