The race for mayor of New York City took a long-expected turn last night when Anthony Weiner, the former city councilman and congressman from Forest Hills, entered the contest with an announcement posted on YouTube.

Weiner, who quit the House two years ago after sending lewd photos of himself to young women across the country via social media and then lying to the public about doing so for two weeks, said he had made big mistakes in his life but is looking for a second chance.

Gov. Cuomo announced last week that A train subway service will be restored to the Rockaways on May 30, just over seven months after Hurricane Sandy destroyed tracks across Jamaica Bay and seriously damaged two stations.

“Superstorm Sandy devastated the entire MTA network like no other storm, but the MTA did a remarkable job of restoring service following the storm and at the end of this month, the A line to the Rockaways will be up and running,” Cuomo said in a statement issued Thursday morning.

“This is a totally obvious statement, but being the mayor of the City of New York is a tough job, and people need to make sure they have somebody who’s tough enough to lead, but smart enough to listen and to lead in a collaborative way.”

That’s how City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) responded to the first question asked of her during an interview last Thursday with the Queens Chronicle editorial board: the old standard, “What makes you the best candidate?”

The Queens County Democratic Party on Monday announced its endorsements three three citywide candidates, as well as its pick to be Borough Hall’s next occupant.

The borough’s Dems, led by Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens, Bronx), are backing former Councilwoman Melinda Katz for borough president, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) for mayor, Resham Saujani for public advocate and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer for comptroller.

The Queens County Democratic Party on Monday announced its endorsements for three citywide candidates, as well as its pick to be Borough Hall’s next occupant.

The historic Forest Park Carousel, which has survived fire, closure and bad management in the past, may finally be heading into a safer position than the tenuous one it lived under for decades.

The carousel, built in 1903, will be considered for landmark status after the city Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to schedule a public hearing on the proposal.

The New York City Water Board voted on Friday, as expected, to increase water rates by 5.6 percent for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

The average annual water bill for a single-family home will increase from $939 per year to $991. The average increase for a unit in a multifamily dwelling will go up from $610 to $644.

The New York City Water Board voted on Friday, as expected, to increase water rates by 5.6 percent for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

The average annual water bill for a single-family home will increase from $939 per year to $991. The average increase for a unit in a multifamily dwelling will go up from $610 to $644.

Preet can’t be beat, unless you think Loretta is better. The U.S. attorneys for the southern and eastern districts of New York, respectively, Preet Bharara and Loretta Lynch, are in the midst of stellar work that should do more to clean up the political corruption that seems endemic to Albany than most so-called reforms have ever managed.

They’re going after corruption in case after case and knocking down one elected domino after another. Any city or state lawmaker who’s on the take and hasn’t been charged yet must be very, very nervous.

City Comptroller John Liu continues to run for mayor as if confident he can overcome the embarrassment of a campaign finance scandal that could send one of his top former aides and a contributor to prison for decades.

How much impact the case will have is an open question. But according to two political science experts in Queens, the Liu campaign faces multiple challenges arising from the convictions last week of Jia “Jenny” Hou, his former treasurer, and Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, a fundraising “bundler,” who secured donations from other parties that then went to the campaign.

The reviews are in, and critics of Mayor Bloomberg’s final executive budget are saying they have seen this show before.

And, as per usual, there is likely to be a rousing closing dance number when City Council members restore funding for the same fire companies, after-school programs, senior centers and libraries that have been proposed for cuts by the mayor for years.

They weren’t talking drag queens or queens of England, they were talking the Borough of Queens, as the actors in the new show “Let’s Hear It for Queens” sang at its debut at the Free Synagogue of Flushing last Saturday.

The musical takes audience members on a historical trip from the beginning of Queens when the Dutch snatched land from the Native Americans who occupied the area, up to present times, pausing on notable moments with personal testimonies from people who grew up in the borough and musical numbers.

The former treasurer of City Comptroller John Liu's campaign for mayor and one of his fundraisers were convicted of attempted fraud and other federal charges yesterday for their roles in accepting illegal contributions and attempting to rip off the taxpayers of New York City.

Jia "Jenny" Hou and Xing Wu "Oliver" Pan were each found guilty of playing a role in taking campaign contributions from straw donors — people whose names were entered as contributors even though someone else had provided the money — and could each face decades in prison.

An ongoing dispute over the elimination of a scholarship geared toward undocumented youth is gaining the attention of community leaders across the city.

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) rallied with Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, former Comptroller Bill Thompson and several immigration advocacy groups outside City Hall last Thursday, urging Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn to reconsider a 2011 budget slash to his father’s scholarship program.

It’s been done before, he says. A longshot candidate can win the mayoralty of New York City. Just look at the race in 1977.

At this point in that year, former City Councilman Sal Albanese says, there were two candidates polling about where he is now —in the single digits. But their name recognition improved, and in the end, one of them won. That was Ed Koch. The other lost that election but did all right in politics in the end. His name was Mario Cuomo.

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner, the Forest Hills Democrat, may or may not have launched a campaign for mayor this week when he released a plan called “Keys to the City: 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class” — and started a new Twitter account.

Weiner was forced from office a little less than two years ago when it was revealed that he had been sending lewd photos of himself to young women around the country, many via Twitter, and then lied about it for weeks. Until the scandal hit, he was a darling of the Democratic Party for his take-no-prisoners approach to political discourse, advocacy for the needs of his Central and Southwestern Queens district and staunch support of Israel, among other things. He was, for example, a foremost cheerleader of President Obama’s healthcare bill, without which, Weiner said, the economy couldn’t recover from the recession.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is calling on City Hall to release documents that he says are needed to justify a 5.6 percent increase in water rates being requested by the Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP has asked the New York City Water Board to hike the price of water to $3.57 per 100 cubic feet effective in July.

Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) is celebrating her first 100 days in office as the first Asian-American member of Congress from New York and the first female member of Congress from Queens since vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro.

“It is difficult to put into words how honored I am to be your congresswoman, and how excited and proud I am to represent the great borough of Queens in the United States Congress,” she said in an address given Sunday. “It is an incredible privilege to be your voice in Washington, and I cannot thank you enough for the confidence you have in me to fight on your behalf.”

Four of the Democratic hopefuls for mayor gathered at Queens College on Tuesday to talk about education, public safety and other issues.

Former Councilman Sal Albanese, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu and 2009 Democratic nominee Bill Thompson attended the event, which was co-moderated by journalist Errol Louis and Michael Krasner, a political science professor at the school.

Want to play?

Would you allow your child to do it among protruding fences, loose monkey bars, even open manholes?