“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”, Board of Elections Commissioner J.C. Polanco fired back at critics over how the Board handled last week’s Democratic primary in the 13th Congressional District.

Watch a clip of the segment above.

Tonight’s guests include: State Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh who wants to reform the city’s elections process; Our Friday Reporters Roundtable.

The New York Times

Kate Taylor reports: “Representative Charles B. Rangel’s narrow lead over his main primary challenger, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, widened slightly on Thursday as the New York City Board of Elections began counting absentee and affidavit ballots from last week’s five-way Democratic primary in the state’s 13th Congressional District.”

Michael Grynbaum looks at the soda industry’s lobbying efforts against the mayor’s proposed ban of large, sugary drinks.

New York Post
Dave Seifman writes about Mayor Bloomberg’s summer jobs push.

Erik Kriss reports: “Political fireworks erupted over Obamacare yesterday as the State Senate’s top Democrat popped off at his GOP colleagues for questioning the legality of Gov. Cuomo’s plan to implement the law.”

Andy Soltis notes: “Despite his repeated denials, Brooklyn Rep. Edolphus Towns got two sweetheart loans from a now-defunct mortgage giant, a congressional report said yesterday.”

Seifman & Gregorian report: “A state judge yesterday smacked down an executive order by Mayor Bloomberg that could have saved the city millions of dollars a year in wages paid to city workers. The City Hall edict had yanked control over salaries for 10,000 unionized city employees — including carpenters, electricians and other trades — away from city Comptroller John Liu’s office.”

Page Six reports on a surprise birthday party for the state’s “First Girlfriend”, Sandra Lee.

New York Daily News

John Marzulli writes: “Citi Field might not be big enough to accommodate all the parties eligible to rant to a Brooklyn judge about his rulings in the FDNY racial discrimination case. More than 60,000 potential claimants affected by Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis’ decisions will soon receive notices saying when and where they can give him their two cents’ worth.”

Columnist Juan Gonzalez writes: “Vote counting in the fierce congressional battle between incumbent Charlie Rangel and his insurgent challenger Adriano Espaillat is no longer a matter of the usual incompetence of the Board of Elections. Troubling signs have now emerged that some officials at the board crossed the line in an all-out effort by the Democratic Party establishment to ensure a Rangel victory, and that the board’s staff wrongly disqualified hundreds of paper ballots.”

Erin Durkin reports: “MAYORAL hopeful Scott Stringer thinks he has a better way to dole pout pork. Instead of handing out cash to favored nonprofits as his office has done in the past, the Manhattan borough president set up five independent panels this year to evaluate pleas for cash.”

Wall Street Journal

Laura Kusisto reports: “A group of SoHo property owners have secured funding to advance their campaign to overturn a four-decade-old law that was meant to preserve loft space for artists but has largely been ignored for years.”

Until Monday. Have a great weekend.

Bob Hardt