If I were running against Chuck Schumer. I would take every one of his Sunday press releases - and there are 52 for as many years as he's been there - and I would ask, 'How many of the things he said he was proposing became law?' I doubt many.

There's a nastiness out there that wants to harm me with words. These are my enemies - the ideologues, the populists, the columnists who don't like the fact that I take them on toe-to-toe. What I try to do is tell the truth. It's not the coin of the realm in politics.

I happen to believe that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. It’s whatever God made you. It happens that I’m heterosexual, but I don’t care about that. I do care about protecting the rights of 10 percent of our population who are homosexual and who don’t have the ability to protect their rights.

I love being the mayor. I want to be the mayor forever.

It's a lot more fun being a critic than being the one criticized.

I know many writers who first dictate passages, then polish what they have dictated. I speak, then I polish - occasionally I do windows.

You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag.