“Inside City Hall,” an hour-long look at New York politics, can be seen on NY1 News weekdays at 7 and 10 p.m.

On last night’s “Inside City Hall”, we hosted a debate between Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and City Councilman Charles Barron -- the two Democratic candidates who are locked in a tough primary battle for a newly redrawn congressional seat in Brooklyn.

Watch a clip of the debate above.

Tonight’s guests include: Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz; Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, our NY1 Wise Guys.

The New York Times

A Times trio reports: “A group closely allied with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo received $2 million from gambling interests last December as he developed a proposal to expand casino gambling in New York.”

Thomas Kaplan writes: “The New York Police Department, the mayor and the city’s top prosecutors on Monday endorsed a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small amounts of marijuana, giving an unexpected lift to an effort by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to cut down on the number of people arrested as a result of police stops.”

New York Post

S.A. Miller reports: “President Obama burst onto Broadway last night and performed a Tony-worthy show-stopper that could have been called ‘Gimme Your Money!’ He held a fund-raiser with ex-President Bill Clinton at the New Amsterdam Theatre on West 42nd Street, where ‘Mary Poppins’ is normally staged. Like the fictional nanny, America’s top caretaker hoped to float away from town with a suitcase — only his will be full of bucks.”

Mitchel Maddux writes: “FBI agents this morning arrested five more people in a widening probe of corruption allegations involving New York City government housing preservation officials. One city official and a former city employee were among those arrested today on a variety of corruption charges, sources said.”

David Seifman notes: “The Bloomberg administration has shifted gears on whether to require helmets for all bicycle riders — supporting the idea one year and rejecting it the next, The Post has learned.”

New York Daily News

Ken Lovett reports: “Gov. Cuomo warned he would not support an additional hike to bridge and tunnel tolls to offset the rising cost of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The Daily News reported Monday that the museum’s price tag, once projected to be $680 million, has nearly doubled — and that the Port Authority, which administers the tolls, could be on the hook for much of the overrun.”

Reuven Blau notes: “City Council members Monday grilled the city’s health commissioner over Mayor Bloomberg’s planned supersized-soda ban, with one arguing that restoring cut gym classes would be a better way to combat obesity. By the city’s estimate, about 40% of public school students are overweight or obese — part of the evidence the Bloomberg administration cites as justification in its latest push to reverse the obesity trend.”

Rocco Parascandola writes: “The NYPD has hired consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to help figure out its future. The firm, being paid nearly $1 million by the nonprofit Police Foundation, will work with the department to figure out what it will be like in 2020.”

Joanna Molloy marks the 58th wedding anniversary of Mario and Matilda Cuomo.

Wall Street Journal

Ted Mann reports: “A new study examining the effect of prevailing-wage laws, which set a minimum salary for construction workers on public projects, concludes that they drive up the cost of taxpayer-funded projects in New York state by as much as 30%. The report from Columbia University's Center for Urban Real Estate, to be released on Tuesday, wades into a thorny debate over the laws, which in New York mandate that trade workers on public projects be paid on par with existing labor agreements.”

Until tomorrow.

Bob Hardt