Albany

Gov. Cuomo Has Decided: The State Will Take Over Teacher Evaluations

Looks like State Education Commissioner John King wasn't kidding. Yesterday, the Associated Press was informed by an anonymous Cuomo administration official that, in his 30-day budget amendments coming up this week, the governor will position Albany to be the central arbiter of a still-not-disclose ... More >>

Mini Hot Dogs Hit Manhattan

Yes, after 90 years, the mini hot dog has finally arrived at Union Square -- but without Zippy Sauce. I'm a big fan of the tiny hot dogs found almost exclusively in the Albany area, and have been known to travel to places like Troy, Cohoes, and Schenectady, New York just for a taste. These miniatu ... More >>

With Compromise In Sight, Gov. Cuomo Talks Gun Control In State Of The State Address

In recent weeks, we've been following the Governor's actions regarding gun control quite closely. After the Newtown tragedy, Cuomo proposed a handful of measures to hopefully curb gun-related violence; one of which would be the strictest magazine clip ban in the nation. However, the momentum hit a w ... More >>

Gun Control In Albany: Cuomo Pushes For Strictest Magazine Ban In Nation

Governor Andrew Cuomo owns a gun. To be specific, it's a shotgun that he keeps locked up in his Westchester home. He's admitted to this; regardless, since his inauguration, he's been strident on gun control, siding with Mayor Bloomberg on the need for more regulation in Albany and Washington. And th ... More >>

Lap Dances Officially Not "Art," Court Rules

Sorry, strippers -- rubbing your asses on strangers is officially not "art" thanks to a ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals this morning (yes, the court actually had to decide whether lap dances are "art").In a 4-3 ruling, the Court ruled that lap dances are not tax-exempt works of art the ... More >>

Upstate Farm Refuses to Host Lesbian Wedding

Gay people in New York have had the right to get married for more than a year. Bigots have had the right to be fear-mongering assholes since the drafting of the U.S. Constitution -- but do they have the right to decide to not host a wedding because the two people getting married happen to be lesbian ... More >>

What To Look For in the Farmers' Markets This Week: Wild Bush Blueberries

Identify them by their size. [See More Market Watch: Dear New York Plums, You're Amazing | Shishito Peppers] I spotted them at the Tompkins Square market Sunday: bush blueberries of the type that grow wild in northern lakeside and mountainous regions. They are about half the diameter of regular c ... More >>

State Senator Michael Gianaris on Redistricting: 'We're Not Going To Stand for It'

After a lot of back-and-forth and a fair amount of confusion about when the state's redrawn district maps might actually be released, the new state Senate lines came out today. This is it! After months of talk and hearings, these are the new political lines that the state task force charged with r ... More >>

Nik Wallenda, Brave Soul, Approved to Cross Niagara Falls by Tightrope

Last time around​As the legislation session in Albany grinds on, and with the gay marriage vote still undecided, New York lawmakers approved Nik Wallenda of the storied Flying Wallendas to traverse Niagara Falls via tightrope. "I'm thrilled to death ... It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportu ... More >>

Is the 32nd Senator Ready to Come Out of the Closet For Marriage Equality?

​It's been nearly a week since same-sex marriage supporters announced they have 31 out of 32 pledged votes toward passing the Marriage Equality Bill. However, Capital Tonight just tweeted that a 32nd, unidentified Senator has been confirmed. Others, like the NYCLU, are claiming there is a 32nd ... More >>

New York Doctors Could Be Banned From Wearing Ties

​A male doctor, in our minds, always wears a white coat over a starched dress shirt and unoffensive tie. Not for long, maybe! The state legislator, led by half of Albany power couple "Klavino," Sen. Diane Savino, is plotting to ban all hospital workers from wearing neckties because they spread ... More >>

Democratic Rebels Stage New State Senate Breakaway

​ The new Albany legislative session opens this morning with yet another rebellion in the ranks. This one comes from a quartet of Democratic state senators who announced this morning, with plenty of tough words, that they're moving away from their party's minority to form an "independent caucu ... More >>

Pumped-up Steve Levy Fires Downtown Volleys

​Steve Levy, newly hatched Republican candidate for governor, was working the Wall Street precincts today in search of campaign cash and took the opportunity to blast away at almost everyone else. Using a conference room at a friendly downtown law firm (Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles), the Suffolk ... More >>

Steve Levy and the Ford Taurus: The True Story

​Stop the tabloid presses: Steve Levy did not -- repeat, did not -- drive that beat-up old Ford Taurus up to Albany last week when he launched his new career as a Republican running for governor. Yes, you might well have thought he did because you too saw the marvelous photo of the Suffolk Cou ... More >>

Racetracks One More Thing Suffering from Incompetent Albany Rule

Those of us who selfishly thought of the Aqueduct racino mess merely as a political scandal should be ashamed. The death of the AEG bid for the video slots franchise now leaves a gaping hole, not only in the state's coffers, but in those of the New York Racing Association, which runs Aqueduct and ot ... More >>

This Week in the Voice

​Like to gamble online? Political odd couples like Barney Frank and Al D'Amato are fighting for your right to do so. Meanwhile James Giordano made millions via internet gambling, and wound up in prison. So... do you feel lucky? Graham Rayman has the story. Tom Robbins has previously covered t ... More >>

Paterson Rejects Albany Half-Loaf Budget Cuts, Says "The State is Going Bankrupt"

Governor Paterson wanted the endless Albany special sessions to produce $5 billion in budget cuts over the next year and a half. The legislators said: How about $2.9 billion? After some ominous rumblings ("Governor Paterson had enough and will not wait any longer"), it now appears there is no deal. ... More >>

Gay Marriage Bill Wins in D.C. Council; New York Still Lags

​By a vote of 11-2 (with former Mayor Marion Barry among the minority), the Washington, D.C. city council has agreed to recognize gay marriages in the District. This isn't the end of it: procedure requires a second reading within two weeks, and then the Mayor's signature, a Congressional resol ... More >>

Cheek, In Review: 7 Days of Runnin' Scared

​ Kristen Stewart, New Moon premiere. Twitpic via KriisStewart_. Our Man of the Week is Rudolph Giuliani. He started off with confused but belligerent comments about the KSM trial, making him look like a candidate for something. Then word leaked that he would not run for Governor, then that ... More >>

Albany Gay Marriage Vote Delayed

Gay marriage is on the special session agenda in Albany today. Earlier the Lower Hudson Journal found state senate Democratic leader John Sampson "noncommittal" on its chances in the chamber, slimly controlled by the Democrats, and now the senate has delayed the vote. Reports indicate a lack of sure ... More >>

Tax Amnesty Idea Looking Better: 1 Guy Owes $19 Million

​When Governor Paterson included a tax amnesty program in his proposal to cut the state's $3-billion-plus budget deficit, claiming it would bring in $350 million, we thought it was rather wishful thinking. But the Albany Times-Union finds some big numbers among the top 200 state tax scofflaws ... More >>

Gov Adds Gay Marriage to Special Session Agenda

As Maine doesn't go, so goes New York, maybe: Governor Paterson says that along with the pressing budget issues for which he called the special session of the legislature for Tuesday, he's also going to push the gay marriage bill, which he proposed in April but which got set aside as Albany pursued ... More >>

Rick Lazio Calls for Constitutional Convention, One House to Rule Them All

Remember the flurry of interest this summer in a New York state constitutional convention from politicians and voters? The voters may be climbing down from the threat, but Rick Lazio is still ready to capitalize on it in his race for governor. The man best known for losing to Hillary Clinton in h ... More >>

Mayoral School Control Deal Allegedly Happening; NYU Center Bloomberg Hates Gets Bumped

We suppose we should mention it since some people find it exciting, but the news that a "deal" is "in the works" for the state senate to renew mayoral control of the city's schools seems pretty weak tea. The parent training institute, arts advisory council, and safety committees sound more like gest ... More >>

IG: State Employees Slept, Did/Sold Drugs in Break Room/"Man Cave"

Two state government workers, Office of General Services supervisor Louis Marciano and OGS janitor Gary Pivoda, have made an assload of overtime in recent years. Making that easier for them, the Inspector General's office alleges, was a space they'd commandeered in an Albany parking garage they nomi ... More >>

Quinnipiac Poll Makes Siena Poll Look Optimistic

Depressed by the new Siena Poll, which shows that New York hates its elected officials and itself? Try the new Quinnipiac Poll (thanks, Liz). It's even worse! 71 percent of respondents are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the state now, and 78 percent call our government "dysfunctional. ... More >>

Staten Islanders to Tie Up Verrazano Bridge with Pennies on Monday

Hey, you can have your Tea Parties -- Staten Island's having a Penny Protest! As few outside the forgotten borough noticed, the recent Albany MTA bill added a dollar to the Verrazano Bridge's $9 toll. So local "self taught artist" Scott LoBaido proposes that at noon on Monday, drivers protest the hi ... More >>

"Spitzer" Joins "Paterson" on SNL

Are we awful for enjoying the Saturday Night Live Paterson gags? They're certainly dopey, focusing as they do on Paterson's blindness, drug and sex history, and epochal unpopularity. And New Jersey! But we like dopey sketches, and are pleased that Fred Armisen has found a political character that ... More >>

Albany Approves MTA Bill; Governor's Signature Expected; Fare to $2.25

The state senate has cleared the MTA budget plan, and Governor Paterson says he will quickly sign it. The bill is lengthy, and full of legislative nuggets that will take time for the rest of us to parse. We do notice that it says the 50-cent taxi surcharge "must" be passed on to the rider -- the c ... More >>

Verrazano Bridge Toll Going Up?

We're still waiting for the vote that is expected to pass the MTA budget compromise, which charges drivers and employers taxes and surcharges to keep the buses and trains running with just a slight increase in fares. And we hope the Dalai Lama's invocation in Albany this morning put them all in a mo ... More >>

Cheek, in Review: 7 Days of Runnin' Scared

President Obama came down on the credit card companies. They're still trying to hang the socialist and elitist raps on him, but they don't seem to be sticking. Mayor Bloomberg got mad as hell about the MTA fare hike -- but didn't bother to tell his friends in Albany. His "Puppets for Educational ... More >>

This Week in the Voice

Remember the epidemic years of AIDS, when infected New Yorkers fought to get into untested drug trials? People fought to get infected babies into those trials, too. Some of them, because of the nature of the trials, were given placebo drugs. Some made it, some didn't. Not much has been written abo ... More >>

MTA Fare Hike All But Certain

The MTA's Doomsday Budget, which raises all our fares and passed the finance committee Monday, is expected to be approved today. Transportation Alternatives is staging a "Call-a-Thon" this morning at Union Square to get citizens to ring the MTA and denounce the plan. Even Mayor Bloomberg had an awk ... More >>

Poll: Tax Half-Millionaires, Quarter-Millionaires, and Millionaires

Ah, the wisdom of the people: a Quinnipiac poll shows 79 percent of New York state residents approve of increasing taxes on millionaires. In fact, they approve of tax hikes on people making half a mil, and even a quarter mil, though by slimmer margins. The Albany Times-Union headlines this news "vo ... More >>

Marriage Equality Backers Turned Away by City

This morning outside the city's Manhattan Marriage Bureau -- which was recently refurbished to draw tourist trade -- more than a hundred protesters expressed their displeasure with the absence of a marriage equality law in New York. Same-sex marriage gets much lip service from Democrats in Albany, b ... More >>

David Paterson and Kirsten Gillibrand: New Senator, New Scandal

The Governor's pick is genuine machine-made royalty

Bed-Stuy Man Kidnapped, Put in Trunk; 2 Arrested

Tenants Jeer for New Housing Chair Espada

The first reviews are in for Pedro Espada, the Bronx Democratic renegade whose hardball negotiations with new majority leader Malcolm Smith won him the post of  state Senate housing committee chair. They're not good: It's "an unhappy development for tenants," said veteran housing advocate Michael ... More >>

Lousier Subways Predicted; Panic Ensues

Lynn Yaeger: About Last Night...

Naturopath vs. Naturopath

Some New York alternative healers seek government stamp of approval

Outing Cardinal Egan

A priest's lawsuit alleges the Catholic Church is hiding pedophile clergy—and offers a stunning reason why

NYC to Washington: Drop Bucks!

Security on the Domestic Front

New legislation would end exclusion of housekeepers and nannies from basic labor laws

Bloomberg at the Crossroads

With a Budget That Will Define Him, Mayor Mike Pushes Pataki, Unions

Pataki's SUNY Shock

Fed Up With Cuts and Hikes, Students Prep to March on Albany

Bloomberg's Fragile Budget

Re-Election Year Politics Dictate Choices

A Defining Bloomberg

Our Nice-Guy Mayor Makes Some Bad Budget Choices

New York’s Anti-Terror Express

State Pols Ride a Troubling Crime Agenda Toward Re-Election

Loft Law Limbo

Artists Fret As Albany Fiddles