V is for vegetables, not victory, in 2013. (TRD)

John Catsimatidis sat down with The Real Deal to talk about just how great Downtown Brooklyn is (who knew?!) and while that topic dominates the discussion, the real estate rag couldn't help but bring up next year's mayoral elections. After all, the grocery store magnate and billionaire developer has been bandied about as a possible Republican candidate in the race to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg. While he may no longer be interested in that job, he's not sure the woman widely considered the most-pro-business candidate in the pack of potential Bloomberg successors is ready for it either.

You announced your candidacy for Mayor in 2009, but eventually endorsed Mayor Bloomberg. Do you have any interest in the position this time around?
They’re trying to get me to do it again, but I don’t need it. I don’t have an ego. I just want to do the right thing for the city. I said I’d rather find somebody qualified to run. In the last 12 years, [Mayor Bloomberg’s] leadership has led to billions and billions of dollars of investment by Europeans and by the international community. We need somebody that’s going to provide confidence to the international business community to keep supporting New York City. We are looking at people; we are talking to people, but we haven’t made any decisions.

What do you make of Christine Quinn as a candidate?
I’ve met with Christine. She’s a very lovely lady, but she has to prove that she’s capable of being tough enough to be mayor.

Hey, at least he called her lovely. Then again, maybe an ambivalent endorsement from Mr. Catsimatidis is just what the City Council speaker needs. Snide remarks from a conservative supermarket mogul could help her in her quest to shore up her business support without seeming too pro-business and losing points with her liberal base.

Thanks, David. (Daniel Neuner)

It's only been a few days since the Ward-for-mayor movement got started, but he's already gotten that coveted endorsement from The Times's editorial page—well, the Op-Ed page, actually.David Brook's got a tour of the World Trade Center from Mr. Ward, and apparently he liked what he saw:

Ward (who is inexplicably being replaced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo) rescued the ground zero project by disenchanting it, by seeing it as it is, not through shrouds of symbols — by attending closely to all the practical complexity. American politics in general could use that sort of disenchantment.

[...]

Maybe it’s part of living in a postmaterialist economy, but nearly every practical question becomes a values question. You get politicians and commentators whose views are entirely predictable because they don’t care about the specifics of any particular issue. They just care about the status war against their social enemies and the way each issue functions as a symbol in that great fight.

It would be nice if there were more leaders like Ward inclined to disenchant problems and stare directly at specific contexts. Sometimes circumstances compel you to raise taxes, sometimes circumstances allow you to cut them. Sometimes government can promote innovation; in most cases it can’t.

As one politico put it to The Observer earlier today, "the man’s PR skills have now reached legendary status."

Speaking of, we caught the Port Authority boss' speech at the Summit for New York City yesterday, where he talked about leveling Red Hook to create a better Governors Island. Afterwards,  The Star-Ledger collared him and asked about his mayoral ambitions, giving us his first on-the-record thoughts on the matter. He seems interested but unsure.

"I think it's very flattering, but highly unlikely, given the politics of New York City," Mr. Ward told the Jersery daily. He did argue that he would be capable of the job, though: "I think I am qualified. I've run a large city agency. I've been with the Port Authority. I think I could do O.K."

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

The occasion was a debate on Piers Morgan Tonight on Monday night over President Barack Obama's energy and Libya policy, and towards the end things got a little heated between the Queens congressman and the Manhattan real estate developer and (potential) presidential candidate.

Asked by Morgan if the U.S. should go into Syria, Weiner responded, "I am not president yet, although I think I have as much chance as Donald Trump does."

When Trump was asked to respond, he said, "If I were polling like Anthony were polling I would drop out immediately."

Shot back Weiner, "You will be dropping out soon enough, Donald, we both know it."

Asked if he would fact be dropping out, Trump cited polls that he said showed him doing very well, and added "It's too bad for him...I look at his polls in New York running for mayor he does very poorly, so I just wish him a lot of luck."

Responded Weiner, "I am the front-runner big guy, I am not sure you are even going to be around at the end."

Trump then told the congressman that if he wins, a lot of people would flee New York.

Take a look:

Quinn and Kelly are perhaps the two most prominent Irish-American officials in the city, and are both mentioned as potential 2013 candidates (although Quinn seems the more likely to throw her hat into the ring of the two.) Indeed, earlier this month, former mayor Ed Koch said that he was likely to back either of them for mayor in 2013.

The award is named after late Congressman and Queens powerbroker Thomas Manton.

Says Quinn:

"New York City is fortunate to have Ray Kelly as our police commissioner and we are proud to salute him with the Thomas Manton Irish Man of the Year award. Historic declines in violent crime began when Kelly first led the NYPD in the early 1990s. His return to the department after the attacks of September 11, 2001 helped restore New Yorkers' sense of safety and security when we needed it most. With his continuing efforts to keep our City, State, and Nation safe, Commissioner Kelly is an inspiring example of the great tradition of Irish American public service."

Thompson made a public appearance at the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, sitting on the dais with other elected officials, but leaving before Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrived.

When pressed on what the announcement will be, Thompson said, "We will announce it in the next day or two but we are moving forward, we are definitely moving forward."

Fundraising is expected to be a challenge for Mr. Thompson's 2013 effort, since donors might have less incentive to give to a politician no longer in office. And his 2009 campaign still has to pay off a $600,000 fine for illegal campaign posters.

Asked if he was raising money, Thompson said, "Beginning to. That is all part of it but we are starting some things and we will have some announcements in the next day or two."

Thompson now works for the municipal bond underwriting firm of Siebert, Brandford & Shank, chairs the board at the Battery Park City Authority and serves as the chairman of Andrew Cuomo's Minority and Women-Owned Businesses task force.

Thompson also weighed in on a couple of the hot-button issues roiling the local political scene. He said that he was in favor of bike lanes, for example, but said that more community input was needed.

"You go back to the last campaign and I was talking about the bike lanes and the needs to have communities involved in the planning of those bike lanes, and the fact that they were being dumped on people or dumped on communities without consultation. So I am not against bike lanes. I am in favor of working with communities to make sure you get it right."

Thompson likewise agreed with Mayor Bloomberg's position on changing "Last In, First Out" rules regarding teacher tenure, but disagreed with the mayor's approach.

"Nobody wants to hang on to bad teachers but at the same point there is too much pressure being put on the principals to get rid of higher priced teachers and perhaps get a two-fer, you know two younger teachers, lower paid teachers in return for one higher paid teacher," he said.  "I think what the governor is doing in pushing and saying let's accelerate the Race to the Top criteria, making sure we have multiple levels of criteria to judge whether a teacher is doing a good job or not makes sense."

According to someone there, Koch asked the audience of 75 or so how many of them also supported Kelly. When only a handful of hands went up, he said, "That surprises me for such a smart crowd."

So far, Kelly has given no indication that he plans to run, but a Q-Poll released yesterday gave him sky-high approval ratings.

Over the past year, Koch has been out on the trail endorsing candidates left and right who signed onto his "New York  Uprising" pledge and he retains serious popularity and credibility among older, outer borough voters in particular.