Bloomy fills Golden’s chest

By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper

October surprise for state Sen. Marty Golden — but he sure raised a lot of money.

Mayor Bloomberg was the guest of honor at an Oct. 17 fundraiser for Golden (R–Bay Ridge) at Gargiulo’s in Coney Island — and the $500-per-plate dinner raised a whopping $300,000 for Golden’s still-undeclared candidacy.

But those looking for an indication of what office Golden will seek were left with more questions than answers.

“The city would be lucky if he ran for mayor, but we haven’t made a decision yet,” said Golden spokesman John Quaglione.

Mayor Bloomberg didn’t endorse Golden, but he also didn’t disappoint the heavily Republican crowd, speaking at length about Golden’s leadership ability.

Golden then took the stage and offered a “state of city politics” address that touched on the need for “real reform.”

Afterwards, the audience let him know how they felt about possible run, as Golden exited the stage to chants of “Mayor Marty.”

As we reported last March, Golden has definitely dipped his toe in the Republican-light mayoral waters for 2009, but he hasn’t fully jumped in. His flirtation with a run for City Hall led some — including this reporter — to speculate that Golden would announce his candidacy at the fundraiser with the current mayor.

But, alas, the evening turned out to be merely an expensive fundraiser for Golden’s re-election campaign next year, a race that won’t to put much of a dent in his $800,000 war chest.