Burly NY1 desk-sitter Dominic Carter, host of Inside City Hall, has problems. Legal problems. Marriage problems. Job problems. Media problems. Name-dropping problems. Political problems. Quite a few problems. We'll itemize.

  • He's currently on trial for allegedly assaulting his wife last year—specifically, she told police at the time that he punched her and kicked her during an argument over their epileptic son's health care. That's no way to argue, sir.
  • The New York Post has decided to go hard against him on this story. That's a problem. The paper's currently running with "allegations" against Carter by relatives who don't like him—namely, that he's beaten his wife for years, has a secret family on the side (there does not appear to be any proof of that one yet!), and called his wife a "dumb project bitch."
  • On Dominic Carter's side, though: His wife! She now says that she lied to cops about him beating her up. Instead, she says, it was some day laborer who did it. Although she doesn't know his name or anything. She also denies the Post's allegations. Noted.
  • So maybe with his wife's support, Dominic Carter can keep his job? No he cannot! He's now on an indefinite leave of absence from NY1.
  • Well maybe with his wife's support, Dominic Carter can at least retain the respect of his peers and the politicos who haunt his show? No, probably not! Because whether or not he actually beat his wife, news reports are now making him appear to be a rather desperate, unseemly whiner, suckup, and name dropper. The Daily News says that in a court appearance last December, Carter tried to play the "Do you know who I am?" card, with a judge:

  • "I've appeared on the cover of The New York Times and TV Guide...I covered the state attorney general and the chief judge of the court."
    The New York 1 political anchor also claimed he was friends with former chief judge Judith Kaye and Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. He punctuated his pleading by insisting over and over, "This is not fair."
    If "my political enemies" find out about the charges, Carter warned, "it will end up in the Daily News."

  • Unseemly, Dominic Carter. Your prediction was correct, though.
  • This summer, New York governor David Paterson basically called Carter a suckup Uncle Tom. That earned Carter a moment of solidarity with his defenders both in the media and in the political community. That is now gone. His career at NY1 may very well be over for good (his contract is reportedly almost up). Whether you feel bad for him or not depends on whether or not the charges against him are true. But you wouldn't want to be him, either way.

[Pic via]