Another closing – this time on the gallery front.

Bill de Blasio was removed from the ballot for telling the city Board of Elections officials he had 131 pages of petitions, instead of the 132 pages he actually filed.

NYC (and NYS) have the dumbest election laws in the country. They are designed for two things – keeping people from running for office and keeping people from voting.

And kudos to Norm Siegel (one of de Blasio’s opponents):

‘De Blasio should be on the ballot. Technicalities should not prevent a candidate from being on the ballot.’ [Siegel said]

I assume Eric Gioia and Mark Green will follow suit.

New Jersey reasserts its dominance as the center of political corruption in the universe. Sure, Illinois got a lot of attention last year. And South Carolina made a run for the title last month. Even Nevada has been doing its part – both locally and in Washington.

But c’mon – three mayors? Two State assemblymen? And five rabbis? That’s hitting for the cycle, Jersey style, baby. Out-scamming Abscam? It doesn’t get any better than that.

The Post reports that BTCC “is planning a two-pronged strategy to delay or derail the plan as it moves forward”. One of those prongs focuses on court challenges – a much better venue than the ULURP process for challenging the process of awarding development and housing.

Last year was taken up with fundraising and calling in favors. The winter was filled with bland meet-and-greets. June was wasted collecting petition signatures to get on the ballot. But now, with just two months to go before the Sept. 15 Democratic primary election — tantamount to victory in most Brooklyn neighborhoods — the race for key City Council seats in [Brooklyn] are about to go into hyperdrive.

The Brooklyn Paper has district by district rundown of the council race.

Developers who are in trouble are looking for ways to stay afloat. Stephan Butler was brought in to consult on a few projects that are not yet finished and heading for potential foreclosure—many are in Williamsburg.

Certainly in dollar value, commercial (development) foreclosures will far outstrip residential foreclosures in much of Brooklyn.

$5 each way on weekdays, but waived if you spend more than $10 at the store (not sure if that includes meatballs). Basically it puts the IKEA ferry at the same price point as the East River commuter service, but without the commuter hours (service will start at 11:00 on weekdays).

Still, a nice ride.

The Council’s Land Use Committee has approved the Coney Island rezoning. In the process, some good changes have been made. CM Recchia seems confident that more changes will be made between now and the full Council vote on the 29th. These include the very good changes being advocated by MAS. If more changes aren’t made (and Kinetic Carnival is not optimistic) Coney will suck.

Greenpointers takes a look at the temporary park at the foot of Greenpoint Avenue. The real park is slated to begin construction next Spring, at a cost of $10 million.