By The Capitol
December 15th, 2008
They left us too soon. Some were the victims of their own self-destruction. Others went out on a high note, leaving people wanting more. A few may still have a second act in the works. But while every year has its share of martyrs, this year, for whatever reason, seemed to have more than most. Some of the politicians whose faces we will see no ...
Read more »
From Loss to Boss
By Dan Rivoli
December 15th, 2008
In 2006, Dan Maffei came extremely close to toppling his Republican predecessor, retiring Rep. James Walsh (R-Onondaga/Wayne/Monroe). But with Walsh choosing retirement this year, the second race was the charm for the young Democrat. Running for the open seat, Maffei scored a decisive victory against a former Onondaga County lawmaker.Maffei entered Congress as one of four new ...
Read more »
After decades of Republican dominance, Democrats have the old stronghold in the crosshairs—and it may tip the balance of power in New York for good
By Sal Gentile
December 15th, 2008
For 16 years, Nassau Republican Chairman Joe Margiotta was the king of the Long Island GOP and, by extension, Long Island.The old myths about his influence were true: all the time, countless Nassau residents approached him in supermarkets and restaurants, in airports and on the street, thanking him for changing their lives. Most of them were strangers.For decades, he and other ...
Read more »
Hopes emerge that Bills playing in Toronto will help Ontario change the game for region
By Karen Zraick
The Buffalo Bills will play their first regular season home
game in Toronto this month, marking
a new chapter in a long history of links between the economies of Western
New York and Ontario.
To observers, the team’s efforts to build a fan base in a city so close and
prosperous is smart business—as it stands, Canadians make up 15 to 20 ...
Read more »
By The Capitol
December 15th, 2008
Triggering a New Definition of Attempted MurderPeople v. NaradzayDecided by: Court of Appeals, Nov. 21In February 2004, Jason Naradzay wrote out a “to-do” list detailing his plan to break into a home and kill a Syracuse woman, her husband and their three kids. The woman, who Naradzay met on vacation, had recently informed Naradzay that she no longer wanted to see ...
Read more »
Carl Kruger explains his rebellion, and himself
For someone who is causing such a big commotion, State Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) occupies a very small office. The room is roughly eight by eight feet. There is a picture on a bookshelf of Kruger smiling with Bill Clinton, a bust of John F. Kennedy, various letters scattered across his computer-less desk, two purple chairs for visitors and room for little else except ...
Read more »
With $3 billion in assets, agency looks to clean up its records after scandal
After almost 100 years in the shadows, the New York Liquidation Bureau is looking forward to a little sunlight.The agency, which manages impaired or insolvent insurance companies in New York, issued its first audited financial statement in late October. The analysis came back clean, showing the bureau, whose assets exceed $3 billion, to be operating in an open and transparent ...
Read more »
Breaking Bread With the New Leader
By The Capitol
November 13th, 2008
Three days after Democrats took the majority in the State Senate, apparent incoming Majority Leader Malcolm Smith joined City Hall and The Capitol for an On/Off the Record breakfast sponsored by Finklestein, Newman Ferrara LLP and held at the TD Bank on 42nd and Madison in New York City. In his first at-length interview since the election, Smith discussed many topics, ...
Read more »
By The Capitol
November 13th, 2008
Over the summer, Gov. David Paterson (D) began to put together a team to run the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), first appointing M&T Bank chief executive Robert Wilmers to chair the economic development agency. Two months later, he nominated former Citi executive Marisa Lago to be president and CEO. Since then, Lago has been traveling to communities upstate and ...
Read more »
By The Capitol
November 13th, 2008
What Happens in Louisiana Stays in LouisianaBoudreaux v. State of LouisianaDecided by: Court of Appeals, Oct. 28In 1981, the State of Louisiana constructed a new bridge for Interstate 12 in Tangipahoa Parish, 30 miles north of New Orleans. Two years later, heavy rains caused the Tangipahoa River to flood, leaving numerous local homes deep under water. By building over the ...
Read more »
With $3 billion in assets, agency looks to clean up its records after scandal
After almost 100 years in the shadows, the New York Liquidation Bureau is looking forward to a little sunlight.The agency, which manages impaired or insolvent insurance companies in New York, issued its first audited financial statement in late October. The analysis came back clean, showing the bureau, whose assets exceed $3 billion, to be operating in an open and transparent ...
Read more »
On/Off The Record With Sheldon Silver
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was the featured guest at the On the Record-Off the Record Breakfast held by The Capitol and City Hall and co-sponsored by the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and the New York Affordable Reliable Energy Alliance (NY AREA). Among other things, Silver discussed what he thinks of people who call state government dysfunctional, what ...
Read more »
Your Honor, Please Excuse My Death Threats Against YouIn re BascianoDecided by: Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Sept. 17The Bonanno crime family has a rocky relationship with United States District Judge Nicholas Garaufis. Judge Garaufis, who sits in Brooklyn, sentenced former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino to life imprisonment in 2005. The judge is now preparing to hear the ...
Read more »
Power Grid
Over the past four presidential elections, overall voter turnout in New York has steadily dropped, culminating in one of the lowest turnouts in 2004 of any state in the nation. A closer look at figures from the New York State Board of Election reveals how the balance of power in the state's congressional delegation and in the State Senate relate to voter turnout during ...
Read more »
The legacy of Chief Judge Judith Kaye
Back in the early 1800s, the chief judge of New York really got to call the shots. As a member of the Council of Revision, he-and until 1993, the chief was always a he-along with the governor, chancellor and one other judge had the power to preemptively veto any legislation which they deemed unconstitutional. Instead of wending through the judicial system, laws could be ...
Read more »
To some state Republicans, success as U.S. Attorney makes the case for 2010 run
Michael Garcia, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, has certainly had a busy year. He busted the prostitution ring that ensnared Eliot Spitzer (D), brought corruption charges against several state and local elected officials and their aides, and aided in the arrest of a United Nations employee for selling fraudulent visas. Garcia's prosecutorial zeal is ...
Read more »
BACK AND FORTH with Tom Golisano
Tom Golisano once again sent shockwaves through the political world this year by creating Responsible New York, an organization which has put millions toward the primary and general election campaigns of candidates-money which could prove decisive in determining the party control of the State Senate. Taking a break from the proceedings of the September annual meeting of the ...
Read more »
Rockefeller veteran Richard Rosenbaum publishes political memoir
Growing up in the North Country, two things prepared Richard Rosenbaum for a long and noteworthy career in New York politics: being Jewish and having no hair. Rosenbaum held several different roles in New York politics during the '70s and '80s: chief of staff to Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, head of the state GOP for four years, New York State Supreme Court judge and one-time ...
Read more »
Back and Forth
Michael Balboni shocked many political observers in late 2006 when he left the State Senate to accept then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer's (D) invitation to become the state's deputy secretary for public safety, overseeing all criminal justice and homeland security agencies. Giving up life in the Republican majority was no easy task for Balboni, who then watched as his seat in Nassau ...
Read more »
Malcolm Smith's quiet plan to win in November and govern in the majority
THERE THEY ARE, JEFF KLEIN AND DIANE SAVINO, STANDING outside Nice Guy Eddie's on Houston Street in Manhattan, where the primary night party for Martin Connor is taking shape. Doug Forand, the chief strategist behind the Democratic Senate campaigns, arrives by himself, quietly sidling up to the two out of three senators running this year's Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. ...
Read more »
Picking the last Democratic majority leader took five weeks and 25 Republicans
MALCOLM SMITH DISMISSES the rumors that even if he helps the Democrats get to the majority in November, he may not get to be majority leader, saying he has not worried about doing anything over the past few months to solidify the support within his conference. "That stuff probably comes from the other side of the aisle," he said. "Remember, when you're losing on all fronts, ...
Read more »
For building grit and connecting with communities, valuable experience, they say
When the vote on the 1997 State Budget was called in August of that year, Assembly Member James Bacalles (R-Steuben/Yates) was in Virginia, attending the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree. His staff sent him a budget briefing, and a few days later, he was in the car, driving to Albany and voted the next day. After the vote, he got right back on the road and returned to ...
Read more »
New Senate No. 2 mulls plans to expand sales and production for his very own A.1.
One day every August, the focus of state Republican politics moves to Binghamton, to a golf course in suburban Endicott, where party members feast on grilled meat at State Sen. Thomas Libous' (R-Broome/Tioga/Chenango) annual steak roast. They also have the chance to purchase Libous' own line of steak sauce and seasoning.Libous has been hosting the annual steak roast for 20 ...
Read more »
Ryan McMahon (R)Syracuse City CouncilorAge: 28Many Syracuse students come from far away and leave after graduation, and of those who stay in the area, most soon move to the suburbs. Ryan McMahon, defying all trends, chose to stay in Syracuse and begin a career in politics. After narrowly losing an open race in 2003, McMahon captured the seat in 2005 and held on to it in ...
Read more »
Legal Linguistics Cuts Deep for Machete SwingerPeople v. Montilla Decided by: Court of Appeals, June 25One month after pleading guilty to third-degree assault, Franklyn Montilla had the bold wisdom to swing a machete in front of several police officers. While he did not threaten or harm anyone, he was indicted for third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. In New York, ...
Read more »
Look at how much some of the highest-rolling organizational donors headquartered in New York gave to candidates across the country this year, and the top three beneficiaries of each in the state.
THIS IS A CORRECTED VERSION OF THE POWER GRID WHICH APPEARED IN THE PRINT ...
Read more »
Dean Skelos retools the property tax debate and the SRCC in a high-speed effort to keep the majority
"How do you pronounce his name?""Is it Greek?""This is the guy that's going to take Bruno's place?""Yes," said New York City Council Member Anthony Como (R-Queens), helping State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens) show Dean Skelos around the Glenridge Senior Center. "He already took it."After 14 years as the assistant minority leader, the floor manager and loyal deputy to former ...
Read more »
Former Erie chair courts more controversy helping Golisano in Senate battles
Steve Pigeon has spent over a decade as one of the most dominant and controversial Democratic names in Western New York politics. This year, he may become more dominant and controversial than ever. As the chief political advisor to billionaire Tom Golisano and co-chair of his Responsible New York committee, Pigeon will help shape this year's battle for individual State Senate ...
Read more »
In 1975, former Gov. Hugh Carey (D) came into office at a time when the state was on the verge of bankruptcy. In his first State of the State speech, he famously said that "the days of wine and roses are over," and then set out to bring business and labor leaders together to help steer the state through the financial storm. Today, in the face of expanding budget shortfalls, ...
Read more »
Springfield produced a presidential candidate—could Albany?
Experts rate the contenders.
Now he is the Democratic nominee and presidential frontrunner, but until just four years ago, Barack Obama was the state ...
Read more »
Prostitution ring will be implied, policies and power grab will be point of attack
Sightings of Eliot Spitzer since his resignation in February have been rarer than UFO encounters. He has been spotted in public only a handful of times, mostly ...
Read more »
Rethinking State Finances and the State Budget in a Struggling Economy
In the melee of Albany life over the last year and a half, Tom DiNapoli—himself the cause of an unusual amount of excitement and attention around the office of comptroller when he was ...
Read more »
Hearings and research statewide will focus on rebranding SUNY, promoting internships
Three young Republican Assembly Members are taking a statewide road trip this summer.Marc Molinaro (R-Dutchess), Jack Quinn (R-Erie) and Rob Walker (R-Nassau) are not out to party and hit the ...
Read more »
Chair Grilled
June O’Neill, St. Lawrence County Democratic Committee chair, was named co-chair of the Democratic State Party in 2006, and ...
Read more »
The influence of the Assembly Banks Committee has waned as financial institutions have elected to be regulated by federal law. But in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the committee has resurged, considering far-reaching lending legislation.The rising home foreclosures have highlighted the tension in Albany between the desire to protect the consumer, often championed ...
Read more »
Charlie King has been an attorney, a politician and a civil rights activist. After retooling following his third attempt for statewide office—he ran for lieutenant governor in 1998 and ...
Read more »
Bellafiore and Greenberg miss the collegiality, but say the rancor is good for business
Steven Greenberg and Robert Bellafiore, regular political commentators on “Capital Tonight,” rarely see eye-to-eye on the issues. Greenberg likes the Yankees and the ...
Read more »
Major Court Decisions Impacting New Yorkers This Month
An Annoying Law to EnforceVives v. City of New York Decided by: United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, May 1Despite some anecdotal evidence to the contrary, it is illegal in the State of New York to intentionally annoy people. Carlos Vives learned this when the NYPD arrested him in 2002 for sending 2002 lieutenant governor candidate Jane Hoffman press clippings ...
Read more »
Watertown and East New York adjust to life without Assembly members
The doors were locked and the curtains drawn at former Assembly Member Diane Gordon’s (D-Brooklyn) district office in East New York. The lone office staffer who answered the door said all ...
Read more »
Session Daze
Why labor still rules in New York—and what that will mean this November
Election Day 2006 was a cold one in Albany, so Danny Donohue, president of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), wore a sweatshirt when he went out to wave a sign above his head, urging drivers to head to the polls on their way home. The sweatshirt was from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s re-election campaign. The sign was from State Sen. Joseph ...
Read more »
The campaign pitting veteran 18-term Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens) against well-financed challenger New York City Council Member James Gennaro (D-Queens) has been quiet so far, but both candidates said the contest is heating up and each party expected to spend more than $1 million trying to win the seat that arcs from Whitestone, Bayside and Douglaston in the north to Jamaica ...
Read more »
Debating Dysfunction and Tackling Taxes, New and Old
Assembly Minority Leader James ...
Read more »
Leaders disagree over whether stressing local issues or Iraq War will win them the majority
Democrats in the New York State Senate are expecting that high turnout for the presidential election in November will give a boost to their efforts to retake the majority in the chamber, where Republicans currently hold a two-seat majority. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans five to two in the state.But this also creates a messaging challenge for the Democrats: how to ...
Read more »
Bruno will not attend Buffalo gathering, but Paterson will deliver keynote
David Paterson arranged the party. He found the location, he invited all the guests.But now he can only stop by to give a speech.Last year, in his inaugural year as a member of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA), Paterson was instrumental in securing Buffalo as the site for the group’s 2008 annual convention July 23-26.But with his ascension as ...
Read more »
Sunshine State Says Textbook Prices Fail Economics 101
College textbook prices are rising across the country and, spurred on by constituent complaints and a recent report by the Government Accountability Office in Washington, legislators across the country are taking action.Florida Rep. Anitere Flores (R-Miami) remembers dealing with the problem herself while a student less than a decade ago. She and her classmates were often ...
Read more »
Major Court Decisions Impacting New Yorkers This Month
Actually, I’m Sharing My Broker’s Undivided AttentionRivkin v. Century 21 Teran Realty, LLC Decided by: Court of Appeals on a Certified Question from the Second Circuit, April 24In May 2004, Oleg Rivkin decided summers spent in New Jersey were less appealing than those spent in New York. In his search for a summer home, he contacted Century 21 Teran Realty of ...
Read more »
Their constituencies are often spread across many miles, but that has not stopped the next generation of New York State’s elected leaders from making themselves known and prompting intense speculation into their political futures.The Capitol has identified five of the most promising up-and-comers in each of the state’s seven regions outside of New York City. Ages were not ...
Read more »
Outside Man
Blair Horner, the longtime legislative director at the New York Public Interest Research Group, recently returned to his watchdog post after spending a year working for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) on Project Sunlight, the searchable database of lobbyist and campaign information. Sitting on the plush green velvet seats outside the Senate chambers, Horner discussed how ...
Read more »
This year’s state budget came in at $124 billion dollars. That makes New York the third-highest state spender in the nation, and represents about a $10 billion jump from last year.But considered per capita, New York ranks behind several other states, including Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming and Vermont.This position may yet change—the budget numbers used for the 49 other ...
Read more »
A former Special Ed teacher with an autistic son, Weisenberg works to make himself a resource for colleagues
Last October, at an extravagant ballroom in the affluent south Long Island town of Atlantic Beach, Assembly Member Harvey Weisenberg (D-Nassau) was commemorated for his 31 years of public service. But the guests—some 40 children with developmental disabilities—were the focal point of the night. The children performed songs for the crowd, showcasing the talents that ...
Read more »
Taking cues from Jack Welch, Chris Collins pursues his agenda in Erie
A year ago, no one thought a Republican could be elected the next Erie County Executive. A budget crisis, presided over by two-term Republican Joel Giambra, led to an unprecedented shut down of county government and the installment of a fiscal control board. In an already Democratic county, this seemed to make a Democratic victory all but certain. And with an unknown ...
Read more »
Kevin Tighe, head bartender at 74 State Street, said that his new drink, the David Paterson, could also be called the Silver Apple.Similar to a Bellini, the drink features all New York products: Glenora Brut, cortland apple puree and simple syrup infused with Madagascar bourbon vanilla.Tighe encourages that the drink be lightly stirred because of the sparkling wine.The David ...
Read more »
Ripped in the HeadlinesGuardian News v. AmiconeDecided By: New York Southern District Federal Court, March 3Yonkers Mayor Phillip Amicone was the subject of withering attacks in the Westchester Guardian, a free weekly newspaper, throughout his ultimately successful 2007 re-election campaign. He apparently did not want to read the coverage, and sought to make sure no one else ...
Read more »
Norm-ative Philosophy
At the beginning of the year, Norman Adler sold his ownership stake in Bolton St. John’s to his partners, entering what he calls his “semi-retirement” period. But he has not disappeared just yet, keeping on several high-profile lobbying clients and consulting with several politicians, including five Republican state senators.He took a break from his ...
Read more »
Smith on the Spitzer Surprise and Smooth Sailing for Senate Democrats
Hours before Eliot Spitzer resigned on March 12, State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith was the featured guest at the first “On/Off the Record” Breakfast hosted by The Capitol. In a wide-ranging interview conducted at 74 State, Smith discussed how he first heard about the scandal that ended Spitzer’s political career, what the political earthquake meant ...
Read more »
Red State, Blue State
Nearly 50,000 new voters registered in New York in the six weeks leading up to the Super Tuesday presidential primary registration deadline, with some counties getting less than 100 new voters, and some close to 10,000.And they did not break evenly: though Republicans had a slight edge in some places, new Democrats outnumbered new Republicans by wide margins in many ...
Read more »
The fight over the State Senate could put Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in his strongest position yet
To most Albany Democrats, Darrel Aubertine’s win was an opportunity to crow about the Senate. The blue tide was at their backs, they said. They were on a roll, their control of the chamber assured by Jan. 1, 2009, if not before. To Silver, Aubertine’s win was another reason to brag about the Assembly. Once again, his conference had been the farm system for his ...
Read more »
Major profits and changes could be ahead for lottery,
though legislators question constitutionality of lease
All that stands in the way of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s (D) plan to lease the lottery to a private investment bank is the Legislature, and perhaps the State Constitution. In his State of the State address, Spitzer proposed building a $4 billion endowment for the State University (SUNY) and City University (CUNY) systems by making New York the first state to change the ...
Read more »
Although still considered something of an Albany backwater, the Assembly Real Property Taxation committee is taking ambitious steps into the territory of some of the more influential committees.Despite its name, the Assembly committee has not had much influence on property taxes or funding the overall state budget. It generally focuses on technical or targeted legislation, ...
Read more »
Their constituencies are often spread across many miles, but that has not stopped the next generation of New York State’s elected leaders from making themselves known and prompting intense speculation into their political futures.The Capitol has identified five of the most promising up-and-comers in each of the state’s seven regions outside of New York City and ...
Read more »
A trip back to the old block with Serphin Maltese
The outside of the red brick apartment building at 49 First Avenue in Manhattan is largely the same as it was when Senator Serphin Maltese was growing up there in the 1930s and ‘40s. Looking up at the building recently, however, Maltese pointed out one thing that had radically changed about the place.“My father was very unhappy when they raised the rent from $35 a ...
Read more »
Though Darrel Aubertine brought Democrats one step closer to wresting control of the State Senate from the Republicans by defeating Will Barclay in the Feb. 26 special election, the former dairy farmer insists that moving to the Senate after serving in the Assembly for six years is less about the balance of power and more about addressing the needs of his constituents. Now he ...
Read more »
By The Capitol
February 11th, 2008
They say love and politics do not mix. But in honor of Valentine’s Day, The Capitol sought out your picks for the single people in and around state government who should stay single no more. Here are the beautiful and the powerful, the brassy and the brainy, Democrat and Republican, young and old, divorced and never married, staffers and elected ...
Read more »
No back-ups in Syracuse if former footballer skips race
If deciding whether to run for New York State Senate were like football, Tim Green, a former defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons, would be at fourth-and-goal. But the clock is ticking, and Green may be running out of time. Green, now a Syracuse-based attorney, television commentator and novelist, is said to be considering a run against incumbent State Sen. John ...
Read more »
Once a rising star, Suozzi tries to find his political future
Tom Suozzi was one of the first elected officials to arrive at Sen. Hillary’s Clinton’s Super Tuesday celebration. He stood toward the front, chatting and clapping, primely positioned in front of the podium. Eventually, others started pouring in, including Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan), New York City Comptroller William Thompson and Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Not long ...
Read more »
Assembly Member Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) may have been on the congestion pricing commission, but he certainly does not agree with its recommendations. In a 13-2 vote earlier this month, the commission approved a modified version of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Unaff.) congestion pricing plan, which would charge motorists $8 to drive below 60th Street ...
Read more »
Allocation Arithmetic
By The Capitol
February 11th, 2008
Members of Congress are allocated north of $1.3 million to spend each year—committee chairs get slightly more. Only $169,3000 goes to their base salaries. The rest is divided up at their discretion, letting them each decide how much to spend on the basics: staff, travel and district office rent.Between them, New York’s 29 representatives spent almost $25 million ...
Read more »
Merriman says there should be no ‘cap’ on high-performing schools
James Merriman, the new CEO of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, formerly served as Executive Director of the Charter Schools Institute of the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation’s second-largest university-affiliated authorizer of public charter schools. In his previous role as authorizer of charter schools, Merriman was responsible for ...
Read more »
By John Celock
February 11th, 2008
Their constituencies are often spread across many miles, but that has not stopped the next generation of New York State’s elected leaders from making themselves known and prompting intense speculation into their political futures.The Capitol has identified five of the most promising up-and-comers in each of the state’s seven regions outside of New York City and ...
Read more »
Latimer, Magnarelli and DelMonte reflect on surviving the Spitzer attacks and rebuilding
By John Celock
February 11th, 2008
For the legislators Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) attacked in the wake of their votes to select Tom DiNapoli as the new state comptroller, the last year has been one of mending relationships and repairing the damage the governor may have done with their constituents.Spitzer went on something of a rampage in those first few weeks after the DiNapoli vote, calling the 150 members who ...
Read more »
No Set Powers or Meetings, But an Insistent Role
By Adam Pincus
February 11th, 2008
The Assembly Ethics and Guidance Committee is a unique and often misunderstood body charged with the narrow mission of upholding the rules and decorum governing its members—not necessarily the laws.The chamber's only committee evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, Ethics and Guidance rarely meets. Most of the issues brought to its leaders are the ...
Read more »
Since its founding in 2001, Patricia Lynch Associates has quickly become one of the state capital’s top lobbying firms, billing more than $5 million dollars in fees for clients in 2006. Much of that has to do with Lynch herself, who spent 30 years in various government positions—including eight working with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan)—before ...
Read more »
Cashew Chicken and Egg Rolls with Steve Israel
Ever wonder what happened to Rick Lazio Republicans? They voted for a Democrat, Steve Israel, who won the seat Lazio vacated to try his luck in the 2000 Senate race against Hillary Clinton. Voters have returned Israel to the House three times since. Israel recently sat down with The Capitol over Chinese food to discuss harmful Long Island stereotypes, his post-Congressional ...
Read more »
The Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee is chomping at the bit to review critical horse racing legislation this session.The 10-person committee, headed by Sen. Willliam Larkin (R-Orange/Ulster), expects to see a bill concerning the franchise with the New York Racing Association (NYRA) in the coming weeks, as the Jan. 23 deadline for an interim agreement looms.But NYRA ...
Read more »
Southern Tier
Their constituencies are often spread across many miles, but that has not stopped the next generation of New York State’s elected leaders from making themselves known and prompting intense speculation into their political futures.The Capitol has identified five of the most promising up-and-comers in each of the state’s seven regions outside of New York City and ...
Read more »
Fitting It All In; Lobbyist, consultant and legal counsel, Cunningham retains her clout
Jennifer Cunningham is no longer the executive director of 1199 SEIU, but she still has the union members’ interests very much on her mind. Though she is now with Knickerbocker SKD, a six-year-old consulting firm with a client list that includes many of New York’s political heavyweights, she continues to lobby for the large and influential labor union, which ...
Read more »
How David Soares believes he and the Albany DA’s office are showing New York the way on Rockefeller reform and public integrity
David Soares shakes his head. “The oldest working prostitute in Albany,” he says, pointing out the woman in caked-on makeup and a pink coat on the bench across the street. Soares is sitting behind the wheel of his black Dodge Charger—his Batmobile, as he sometimes calls it—complete with toy motorcycle and Teddy Grahams wrapper (as well as a few stray ...
Read more »
With a year to go before Election Day, several major congressional races in New York are starting to take shape. Both political parties will be looking to pick up seats, and the outcomes in New York could impact the national balance of power. Here are six contenders already putting together the campaigns and the resources to mount serious challenges in 2008.
By Elie Mystal
November 13th, 2007
Alexander “Sandy” Treadwell (R)District: 20thRunning Against: Representative Kirsten Gillibrand (D)Work Experience: New York Secretary of State; Chairman, New York Republican PartyFundraising to date: $821,714.46Sandy Treadwell views Rensselaer, Saratoga, Dutchess and Essex counties as prime Republican territory, though the district he wants to represent is ...
Read more »
While the state’s legislative taskforce on redistricting sharpens its pencils in preparation for the 2010 national Census, a debate is brewing over who should be responsible for redrawing district lines.The bipartisan legislative taskforce, which consists of four legislators and two others, is charged with preparing research and statistical models for the redistricting, ...
Read more »
A Power Broker, Still Plugged In; Rappleyea says retirement ‘didn’t take’
By Elie Mystal
November 13th, 2007
Clarence Rappleyea—or “Rapp,” as he calls himself—tried retirement for three months. “It didn’t take,” he said.Rappleyea, the former Republican minority leader of the Assembly, still works for a living in Albany, as he has for half a century. “I used to clerk for the Assembly in the mid-50s,” said Rappleyea ...
Read more »
Maziarz seat could be Dem pick-up if he makes rumored House run
By John Celock
November 13th, 2007
A series of possible moves on the Western New York political chessboard could move one State Senate race from safe Republican to political toss-up just as Democrats make a play for control of the Senate. Multiple sources in Western New York politics have confirmed that there is a strong possibility that Cong. Tom Reynolds (R–Erie) will not run for a sixth term next year, ...
Read more »
Major Court Decisions Impacting New Yorkers This Month
By Elie Mystal
November 13th, 2007
Court of Appeals Kills Death PenaltyPeople v. TaylorDecided by: New York Court of Appeals, Oct. 24On Oct. 24, the Court of Appeals effectively ended New York State’s death penalty statute by overturning the sentence of John Taylor, the last death penalty case pending in the state. New York’s death penalty statute requires the jury to come to a unanimous decision to ...
Read more »
Minority Report
The Assembly Republicans made some headlines in July, when George Amedore (R–Montgomery/Schenectady) won the special election to replace Paul Tonko. Not that it changed the balance of power—James Tedisco’s (R–Schenectady/Saratoga) conference went from 41 to 42 members, and seems unlikely to grow much beyond that in the years ahead. Nonetheless, Tedisco ...
Read more »
Peering around the corner of a single-family home on 188th Street in Queens on a recent morning, Assembly Member Mark Weprin (D) tried to find his name in the brick siding.“I can remember scratching my initials into the brick here,” he said, looking in vain for his mark. The house, at 8209 188th Street, was where Weprin grew up with his older brothers, Barry (now ...
Read more »
Their constituencies are often spread across many miles, but that has not stopped the next generation of New York State’s elected leaders from making themselves known and prompting intense speculation into their political futures.
The Capitol has identified five of the most promising up and comers in each of the state’s seven regions outside of New York City and will profile each in this ongoing series. Ages were not taken into account in the development of these lists. What matters here is potential, which everyone in this group has in abundance.
REGION DE scri ptION:
Bounded by two Great Lakes, Erie to the west and Ontario to the north, Western New York is home to two of the state’s largest cities: Buffalo and Rochester. It is also home to one of the nation’s most-seen tourist attractions to international visitors—Niagara Falls.
With Democratic majorities in the urban areas and Republican domination of rural areas, the region is politically split. The economy has been in distress for years with the departure of the traditionally manufacturing economy leading to an exodus of residents for warmer climates. Most local races are dominated by the issues of economic development and property taxes.
By John Celock
November 13th, 2007
Antoine Thompson (D)State SenatorAge 37As the political fortunes of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown (D) have risen, so have the fortunes of his political protégé, Antoine Thompson, who has literally been a Brown follower for his entire political career. A former staffer for Brown on the Buffalo City Council in the 1990s, Thompson was selected to replace Brown as the ...
Read more »
Looking Out for No. 2
By The Capitol
November 13th, 2007
David Paterson has spent two decades in Albany, but there has arguably been more turbulence in Albany during the 10 months he has been lieutenant governor than in all the previous years combined. But while the fighting has continued in the capital, he has spearheaded a reorganization of the duties and responsibilities of his office which, according to the state constitution, ...
Read more »
The Battle for Long Island
For Buffalo’s Future, Western New Yorkers Look to Canadian Connection
Anatomy of a Senate Renegade
On/Off the Record with Malcolm Smith
Bench Mark
Michael Garcia-GOP Candidate for Governor, Attorney General, Congress?
Responsible Responses
Playing It Close
The Kruger-Diaz-Espada-Squadron-Monserrate-Klein Conundrum
Taxing Times
Pigeon Hopes For Political Coup As Architect of Responsible New York
Back and Forth: Back to Hugh
The State Senate Obameter
Gone But Not Forgotten, Spitzer to Be a Factor in Fall Races
State of the Unions
State Senate Watch: Padavan Claims Dirty Tricks on Mailers, Gennaro Points to Ignored Immigrants
No Lieutenant Governor, but a Lieutenant Governors Conference for New York
Man in the Middle
On Lotto Proposal, Spitzer May Need a Little Bit of Luck
In the Margin
Albany's Most Eligible Bachelors and Bachelorettes
Democrats Fret Over Green’s Delay of Game
Commission Impossible?
Making His Case
Rumored Reynolds Retirement Could Swing State Senate
The Streets Where They Lived: Mark Weprin
