Winners and Losers, Sept. 21, 2012
This week was all about money. We learned that the gap between rich and poor New Yorkers is widening, that Mayor Bloomberg is the tenth richest man in the U.S., and that 47 percent of Americans...
View ArticleSenators Dean Skelos And Jeff Klein May Be Onto Something
Susan Del Percio It’s just weeks after Election Day 2012 and—as can only be expected in the madhouse that is Albany—there is no clear way to determine who will control the New York State Senate. Many...
View ArticleWinners and Losers, Dec. 7, 2012
Gov. Andrew Cuomo celebrated his 55th birthday this week, and what he did get? Only a divided State Senate, which could give him more power but could also bring dysfunction back to Albany. Cuomo...
View ArticleManhattan Young Dems Feel Betrayed by IDC
Sen. David Carlucci Updated with more information Manhattan Young Democrats are grumbling over the new power sharing agreement between Senate Republicans and the Independent Democratic Conference,...
View ArticleCan The Governor Keep Dysfunction Out Of Albany?
Susan Del Percio(Illustration Credit: Lisanne Gagnon) For the past two years Gov. Andrew Cuomo has done a fantastic job of threading the legislative needle. To date, his success is based on having a...
View ArticleFrack Attack? IDC In Pivotal Role On Fracking
Actress Debra Winger spoke out against hydrofracking at a press conference before the State of the State address. (Photo credit to Aaron Adler) You wouldn’t expect such a hopeful smile from state Sen....
View ArticleThe GOP and the IDC: Living Together, But Will It Last?
Professor Gerald Benjamin By Gerald Benjamin The brief dustup in the Judiciary Committee regarding the nomination of Jenny Rivera for the Court of Appeals is just the latest piece of evidence that...
View ArticleZero Tolerance: Malcolm Smith And The Politics Of Turning A Blind Eye
City & State Editor-in-Chief Morgan Pehme When I asked Malcolm Smith nine months ago whether, despite the years of accusations against him, he could say unequivocally that he had never done...
View ArticleUnlucky Guys: Can The IDC Withstand The Malcolm Smith Scandal?
The IDC State Sen. Malcolm Smith woke up to FBI agents pounding on his door in Queens on Tuesday morning—and his colleagues in the Independent Democratic Conference woke up to a pounding headache....
View ArticleWinners and Losers, April 5, 2013
It’s not ABSCAM, but the bad old days are back. Albany was shaken up by a slew of shakedowns, filling up our losers list faster than Malcolm Smith making a deposit into his checking account. We...
View ArticleMalcolm Smith: A Man Without a Conference [Updated]
Legislators returned to Albany on Monday and booted state Sen. Malcolm Smith from the Independent Democratic Conference two weeks after federal agents arrested him on bribery charges. “If [the...
View ArticleFrack Inaction: Hydrofracking Foes Target IDC In Moratorium Push
Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have the final say over whether hydraulic fracturing is allowed in New York—but some hydrofracking opponents are shifting their focus to lawmakers to pass a two-year moratorium...
View ArticleLicense to Defraud: Lawmakers Take Aim at Auto Insurance Fraud
It’s a fraud so ubiquitous it hardly gets recognized as one. In New York City it’s everywhere you turn, and the criminals involved proudly display their work for all to see. Pennsylvania, North...
View ArticleFair Elections Advocates Put Pressure On IDC
Jeff Klein With just two weeks left in the legislative session Fair Elections advocates are stepping up the pressure on the Independent Democratic Conference. Today the coalition, which includes...
View ArticleA Hostile Campaign Finance Amendment Dies in the Senate [Updated]
A last gasp effort to reform campaign finance laws sputtered on Thursday night when Senate Democrats failed to muster enough votes for its passage. State Sen. Gustavo Rivera The drama began shortly...
View ArticleStewart-Cousins: IDC Does Not Accomplish More by Working with Republicans...
Senate Democratic Conference leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins fired back Thursday morning at the notion that more will get done with the Independent Democratic Conference than without it. Sen. Andrea...
View ArticleThe New Voice of Talk Radio in Rockland County
Rockland County has a new radio host with an Albany connection. State Sen. David Carlucci’s new radio show, “The Albany Report,” debuts today at 10:10 a.m. on WRCR AM 1300. David Carlucci The show,...
View ArticleKeeping the DREAM Alive
Gov. Andrew Cuomo concluded his State of the State Address by trumpeting the importance of New York’s immigrant community. “That is the Statue of Liberty in the harbor,” he said. “Come one, come all,...
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