"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”, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio explained why he has been critical of how City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has handled paid sick leave legislation. Watch the video above.

Tonight’s guests include: two opponents of the sick pay bill; the city's health director will discuss a new initiative urging mothers to breastfeed.

The New York Times

Kate Taylor reports: “Members of the New York City Council, visibly frustrated by the performance of the city’s Board of Elections, on Wednesday interrogated and berated the board’s leadership. The council members said they were particularly disturbed that it took multiple days for the board to release complete and accurate results in the Congressional primary that took place on June 26, and that they were worried about the board’s ability to expeditiously tally the results of next month’s legislative primaries, as well as the presidential election in November and as many as three municipal election days next year.”

Cowan & Rashbaum write: “When Representative Michael G. Grimm, a first-term Staten Island Republican, went on a fact-finding trip abroad last year, he widely publicized his first stop, Israel, sending off a stream of messages about his activities there via Twitter. But he was largely silent about his second stop, Cyprus. In fact, Mr. Grimm did not file required paperwork about the trip, which was paid for by a private organization, with the House clerk, according to Congressional records. Nor did he initially report the Cyprus trip on his Congressional financial disclosure filing in May, even though he did list the Israel trip, according to the records.”

New York Post

Carl Campanile reports: “A possible fusion ticket will be on the menu when state Sen. Malcolm Smith dines with the city’s five county Republican bosses on Monday to discuss his potential mayoral bid, sources said. Smith’s meeting comes a week after The Post reported that Smith, a Queens Democrat, met with New York state Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox about running for City Hall as a GOP ‘fusion’ candidate.”

Dave Seifman writes: “They know where you are and what you’re doing. Soon, they’ll know where you’ve been, if you have a criminal record and whether you’re emitting even the slightest bit of radiation. Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly unveiled a new system yesterday that integrates video surveillance from 3,000 street cameras with the NYPD’s vast database to provide cops with “one-stop shopping” to track potential terrorists and criminals.”

Seifman also reports: “The check is most definitely not in the mail. Comptroller John Liu says he’ll fight to the bitter end before paying $527,400 in fines for illegally attaching 7,032 campaign posters to city property in 2009.”

Bruce Golding notes: “The city’s Board of Elections is violating the rights of the disabled by failing to ensure that blind and handicapped people can use their polling places, a judge ruled yesterday.”

Jen Fermino writes: “It’s the Bronx version of a bridge to nowhere, according to critics. The city has greenlighted the construction of a $149.5 million bridge to City Island, a futuristic-looking mega project that many locals claim is wildly ugly and overpriced.”

New York Daily News

Moore & Durkin note: “Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged Wednesday that the New York City Housing Authority could be doing better for its residents — but continued to blame budget woes despite NYCHA’s nearly $1 billion in unspent federal funds.”

Wall Street Journal

Michael Howard Saul reports: “New York election officials have recommended that beginning next year the primary for state and local offices be moved to June from September, a proposal that would have a dramatic impact on next year's mayoral race.”

Jacob Gershman notes: “As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo toured the state this year to promote his budget plan, local officials greeted him with a chorus of praise on each stop that sounded almost identical. That wasn't an accident: Some of their speeches were written by Mr. Cuomo's staff. The governor's aides sent a fully scripted speech to some local politicians and officials scheduled to speak before Mr. Cuomo at the regional budget presentations in January and February. Although they were called "suggested talking points," at least three officials—a mayor, a state senator and a college president—used nearly identical language as they introduced the governor on three separate dates in different cities.”

Until tomorrow.

Bob Hardt