Generally Speaking: When will Mayor de Blasio endorse Hillary Clinton?

Mayor Bill de Blasio literally shocked the Democrat Party establishment by holding back his personal endorsement of the former senator and Secretary of State. It also looks like the acrimony gap between Andrew Cuomo and hizzoner has widened a bit more. Cuomo didn’t miss a beat and wholeheartedly offered his support to Clinton from the get-go. Perhaps de Blasio is waiting for an exclusive photo op with all the cameras on him with Hillary at his side?

In any event, no one is more happy to have the notoriety and prestige of having the national campaign headquarters for Hillary Clinton, first in Brooklyn and secondly in the same building on Court Street, than Carlo Scissura. Scissura, if you didn’t know, is the president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and is an attorney, former school board officer and past president of the Community Education Council for School District 20 in Bay Ridge. He now also has even a bigger reason to jump for joy. He is the proud poppa of a daughter, Teresa Rose.

According to the city’s Education Department, while 36,000 students from kindergarten to third grade took the aptitude test, only 9,000 citywide scored high enough to be eligible for a gifted and talented public school class. We’re proud to say my five-year-old granddaughter Grace, who attended pre-k at St. Patrick’s Catholic Academy, and is now in Kindergarten, without any coaching and/or tutors, is one of the 9,000. She aced the exam with a 99 percent score! However, her parents plan to keep her at St. Pat’s.

Reverend Robert Lauder, a professor of philosophy at St. John’s University, and an author and weekly columnist for the Tablet, the Brooklyn Catholic Diocesan newspaper, was the guest speaker at the recent meeting of St. Patrick’s Men’s Club, held at Hunter’s Steak and Ale House on Fourth Avenue. Also in attendance was Monsignor Michael Hardiman, St. Patrick’s parish pastor. Patrick Gilbride is club president and James Lamond is the board chair. Music was provided by Tony Travis and Friends with Paul Fox on guitar.

With the May 5 special congressional election quickly approaching, the Bay Ridge Inter-agency Council on Aging is hosting a candidates’ forum at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center, 100th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway, on Wednesday, April 22, at 9 a.m. All three candidates — who include Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan (R, C, I), Brooklyn City Councilmember Vincent Gentile and Green Party contender James Lane — have been invited to participate.

Our congratulations to George Healy and his fellow fire chiefs on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the FDNY Fire Chief Association. Chief of the Department James Leonard is the main speaker at the association’s dinner dance at Russo’s on the Bay in Queens.