Covering the politics, policies and people of New York State government.
Voters across the state approved 99 percent of school budgets Tuesday, according to a preliminary estimate by New York State United Teachers. “We are extremely pleased with the vote of confidence in our public schools by New Yorkers in every region of our state,” said NYSUT President Karen Magee. […]
It’s official. Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, the outspoken and independent-minded assemblyman from Glenville, has thrown his hat in the ring for the open 49th Senate District, hoping to replace longtime Senator Hugh Farley, who announced his retirement last week. The Republican legislator, a master of tapping into public sentiment, and […]
To the editor: A federal judge sentenced Dean Skelos, the former Senate Majority Leader, to five years in jail for public corruption. Sheldon Silver, former Speaker of the Assembly, was sentenced to 12 years for public corruption. Many other officials in New York state have been arrested, convicted, sentenced to […]
If Andrew Cuomo would only listen to me, he’d be doing better and more people would like him. Unfortunately, he does not listen to people like me, and as a result, he languishes in the doldrums of public opinion. So here goes — Andrew, if you want to do […]
New York, New York! It’s really a time of judicial reckoning. Former Speaker Shelly Silver, who I have interviewed many times, is off to the penitentiary for twelve years (maybe the rest of his life.) Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos also faces some serious jail time. Now, York City […]
To the editor: New York’s proposed “Cecil’s Law,” which would ban “trophies” from lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, and elephants, shows that the state shared the disgust that the rest of the world felt upon hearing that beloved lion Cecil suffered for nearly two days before finally succumbing to his injuries, […]
To the editor: Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal creating the New York State Design and Construction Corporation to provide oversight for all Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital projects worth $50 million or more is redundant. On a yearly basis, the United States Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration provides over $1 […]
Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, D-Manhattan is, for the third time, pushing for the passage of a bill that would ban state funded travel to places that discriminate. Bill A.6913 directs the new York state comptroller to prohibit payment of any travel to, from, or within a state that allows businesses […]