Sam Levin

City Comptroller John Liu in Staten Island today.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said today that if the Ray Kelly running for mayor rumors turn out to be true, the dynamics of the mayoral race would certainly change. And some candidates gearing up for their campaigns are probably afraid of that, Stringer, an expected contender himself, told the Voice today.

In 2013 election news this week, rumors surfaced that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly might be interested in running for mayor to replace Mike Bloomberg. Regardless of whether he's actually considering it, some noteworthy Republican pols and other rich people are encouraging Kelly to throw his name into the mix.

If Kelly were to run as a Republican (and that's a big, big if), it would certainly change the dynamics of the 2013 mayoral race, which thus far is shaping up to be one that would be decided in the Democratic primary.

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Sam Levin

Mayor Mike Bloomberg at press conference this afternoon.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg is a big, big fan of Ray Kelly, but that doesn't mean he's going to publicly say that the city's police commissioner should step it up and run for mayor in 2013.

It's not that Bloomberg doesn't like him -- it's just, you know, a hypothetical situation. And Bloomberg's never talked to Kelly about it, the mayor said today.

"Let me say the same thing about Ray Kelly that I've been saying every time I get the question: nothing's different," said a slightly irritated Bloomberg after a reporter asked him this afternoon about rumors that a top state Republican is courting the police commissioner to run for mayor and that Kelly is in fact open to the idea. "I recruited the right guy. He had the experience with the NYPD...He's worked his way up from the bottom to the top in the Police Department...He's a great manager."

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Police Commissioner Ray Kelly

Asked today about rumors that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly might be interested in running for mayor in 2013, several mayoral hopefuls chimed in -- but would only say that he's good at his current job.

The New York Post reported today that a top state Republican is pushing Kelly to run for mayor and that the police commissioner is open to the idea. The head of the New York Police Department -- who has been criticized for his stop-and-frisk policies and for the department's surveillance of Muslims -- has said that he's flattered that folks are interested in having him run for mayor, but that he doesn't plan on it.

Today, Kelly said he's focused on his current job.

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A top executive at the investment bank JP Morgan Chase has special access to police headquarters, the Voice has learned. The mystery is why.

Most of us regular folks have to go through a ridiculous security screening process just to get into 1 Police Plaza (a public building, by the way), including showing ID and being vetted first at the blockhouse outside, and then again inside, submitting to two metal detector sweeps, and justifying one's presence.

But sources tell the Voice that Richard Breunich, a managing director with the bank who splits his time between the city and Punta Gorda, Fla., has "special entry status" at police headquarters. His picture was posted recently with that label in the headquarters security office.

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Lander

Councilmembers Brad Lander and Jumaane Williams want answers.

At a City Council budget oversight hearing today, they grilled NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly about how the department spends money -- specifically when it comes to surveillance and terrorism. But Kelly couldn't really say.

Lander and Williams, along with other council members, want to know exactly what happens to the cops' cash. And they think the best way to oversee the department is by creating an inspector general's office.

"Commissioner Kelly asks us to trust him that NYPD officers are following the law, but he either could not or would not tell us what the NYPD is spending our money on," he said post-hearing.

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Criticism of the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk practices have come from a wide range of elected officials and advocacy groups across the city. Now, in an effort to bolster the campaign for increased police accountability, dozens of organizations are joining forces under the umbrella of one campaign that aims to make the topic of police reform a major one in the upcoming mayoral election.

The new coalition, Communities United for Police Reform, or CPR, is officially launching this month with a "Week of Action" starting Sunday and has already brought together, thus far, around 30 organizations that support the cause.

Earlier this month, the Voice ran a cover story on the city's controversial policy, which allowed cops to stop more than 600,000 people in 2010. The largest age group is males 15 to 19, the majority of New Yorkers stopped are black and Hispanic, and overall, only nine percent of the stops result in arrests.

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New Yorkers think that Ray Kelly is just swell and really like to embarrass one another, according to a new poll.

Indeed, the stats suggest that many city-dwellers are a strange bunch.

Even though Kelly appeared in an Islamophobic vid used for cop training, most New Yorkers don't think the NYPD is anti-Muslim, according to a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute Survey.

Sixty percent say that the police have acted "appropriately" in dealing with Muslims.

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The District Attorney's office has decided not to charge the police commissioner's son, Greg Kelly, with any crimes, following the conclusion of a two-week-long investigation into accusations that he raped a woman last October.

Kelly's accuser is a 28-year-old paralegal. She told police that she met Kelly for drinks in Lower Manhattan, and that he later raped her in the office where she worked. In the state of New York, rape is defined as "sexual intercourse without consent," due to force, fear or impairment. Throughout the investigation, the woman maintained that she was too drunk to consent to sex.

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via @StephChuang

Chaos broke out in Oakland Saturday, after Occupy protesters tried to take over the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, in what they called "Move-in Day," a plan to turn a vacant building "social center, convergence center and headquarters." Hundreds of people were arrested, and three police officers were injured. (The New York Times and Reuters say the arrest count is around 200; The Associated Press via the New York Daily News says 300.) Police used tear gas and bean bag projectiles in the clash. Oakland wasn't the only stage for Occupy protests, though. In Washington D.C. protesters rallied outside the Alfalfa Club dinner, where President Barack Obama was in attendance. Williamsburg had it's own Occupy action last night as well. More on that later from Runnin' Scared's Leah Greenbaum. [NYT, Reuters, AP, ABC]

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More on the Kelly family's various travails this morning. First, NY1 reports that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Friday he does not have any plans to resign over his involvement in the anti-Muslim film The Third Jihad. "I don't think there was any ill intent here, but it should not have been shown," Kelly said. Kelly would not answer any questions on the other scandal in his family: the alleged sexual assault perpetrated by his son Greg Kelly. [NY1]

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