Joe Bruno

The Heavyweight Albany Lobbyist They Call 'Feathers'

James FeatherstonhaughMy cover story this week about Albany lobbyists featured "Feathers," otherwise known as James Featherstonhaugh, who is the final toll on the thruway to the state capitol. Everyone, apparently, pays. Over the course of a four-decade career as unofficial state gatekeeper, Feathe ... More >>

Andrew Cuomo Goes to Albany, Where Lobbyists Are Waiting

Joe Bruno, Other Pols Use Campaign Funds to Pay Legal Expenses

Joe BrunoBy Adam Schwartzman Five prominent New York politicians have dipped into their campaign funds to pay for nearly $3 million in legal expenses associated with investigations of their possible misconduct, a Voice examination of campaign disclosure reports has revealed. While it's unclear if t ... More >>

Carl Kruger's Russian Secrets

State senator's big stash attracts the FBI

Being Joe Bruno Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

​Former state senate boss Joe Bruno's speech at his criminal sentencing yesterday was so full of self-applause that you almost expected him to just keep going and announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor. Bruno's 40-minute spiel in Albany federal court came just before ... More >>

Spitzer Stays Mum on Bruno, But the Saga Continues

​Eliot Spitzer hasn't been publicly heard from on the topic of Joe Bruno's conviction but it's a safe bet that the ex-gov is wearing a satisfying "told-you-so" smile. Before his own randy escapades brought him down, the former prosecutor-turned-politician was engaged in hand-to-hand combat wit ... More >>

Cheek, in Review: 7 Days of Runnin' Scared

​Kennedy Airport. Twitpic via sawyerlex. War on Christmas season swung into full effect. In a holiday spirit, the Staten Island D.A. tried shame on shoplifters. A GOP Congressman moved to read a pro-Christmas resolution into the House record. Andrea Peyser denounced the godless Bloomingdales ... More >>

Jurors: Guilty Joe Bruno is an 'Honorable Man'

​You get a good idea of what federal prosecutors were up against from the comments by a pair of jurors in the Joe Bruno federal fraud case in Albany where there's a bronze bust of the former top Republican at the airport and a stadium that bears his name. "It was very hard to convict him when ... More >>

Joe Bruno Down for the Count: Guilty on Two Charges

Joe Bruno - legendary former leader of the New York State Senate - is guilty of two counts - and not guilty of five others. The jury - after seven days of deliberations and hearing repeated testimony readbacks - announced its verdict just after 4PM. The jury said that it couldn't decide on an additi ... More >>

Joe Bruno and the Life Fantastic

The divine rights of an Albany powerbroker

This Week in the Voice

​Rats, drug dealers, hookers, a gambling "casino' in one of the apartments: 2320 Aqueduct Avenue in the Bronx sounds like a terrible building. It used to be bad when one of the Voice's perennial "10 Worst Landlords" owned it. Then he sold out to fancy new owners -- including a Tishman Speyer a ... More >>

Cheek, in Review: 7 Days of Runnin' Scared

​ Twitpic via DPixel. It was a short week but a merry one, with or without a vodka infused turkey. Now that Thanksgiving has been properly ruined, thanks to the diabolical War on Thanksgiving, and Black Friday has passed without fatalities, we descend into Xmas, which has apparently been mad ... More >>

Bruno Case Goes to the Jury and It's Bully For Him

A jury of seven women and five men will start deciding the guilt or innocence of ex-state senate leader Joe Bruno this morning. They're either going to find that he really was like that bully shaking down kids in the schoolyard with a guy named "Tiny" at his side - as the prosecutors told them yeste ... 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 >>

Bruno's Heads Up to Senators: Steer Clear of the Mailman

​There was another of those rare moments of truth at yesterday's session of the Trials of Joe Bruno. From the witness stand, former top state senate legal counsel Kenneth Riddett, was asked about an April 21, 2001 memo he prepared for the senate's then Republican majority members. Assistant ... More >>

Bruno Aide: I Did His Shopping and He Still Treated Me Rotten

​That fabulous image of former state senate leader Joe Bruno as the silver-maned, horse-riding, man's man, the ex-boxer who always looked like he could (and would) drop Shelly Silver with a half-punch - even at the age of 80 - took another beating yesterday in Albany. This time it wasn't just ... More >>

Quick hits

Some folks are really unhappy about Brooklyn/Staten Island Democrat Michael McMahon's no vote on the health care bill. Some folks aren't. -- The city has made 700k WPA photos of New York addresses and another 800k of the same addresses taken in the 80s available for sale. -- A year after a bus d ... More >>

Joe Bruno Call Radio Show, Denounces Waste of Taxpayer Dollars on His Trial

​Former state senate majority leader Joe Bruno, on trial for corruption, called in to Post reporter Fred DIcker's radio show this morning to not-really-but-sort-of discuss his case, and Capitol Confidential was tuned in. You will be unsurprised to learn Bruno maintains his innocence and thin ... More >>

Barrett: My Favorite Nugget from Last Night's Debate

​My favorite nugget from last night's mayoral debate was Mike Bloomberg's smug smile as he pronounced Joe Bruno a better majority leader of the state senate than Pedro Espada. Democrat Bill Thompson had already picked the-sometime Democrat Espada as the better of the two. By 3:12 a.m., the Po ... More >>

Barrett: My Favorite Nugget from Last Night's Debate

​My favorite nugget from last night's mayoral debate was Mike Bloomberg's smug smile as he pronounced Joe Bruno a better majority leader of the state senate than Pedro Espada. Democrat Bill Thompson had already picked the-sometime Democrat Espada as the better of the two. By 3:12 a.m., the Po ... More >>

Tales of Albany: Why Joe Bruno Quit

He didn't jump -- he was pushed. It's just a footnote to history now, but for those keeping score on Albany misdeeds it's worth noting that when former senate majority leader Joe Bruno announced last June that he would not seek reelection after 32 years in office, it wasn't just to have some retirem ... More >>

The Chief: Bruno investors won pension sweetener

The recent federal indictment of ex-state senate master Joe Bruno was overshadowed by Governor Paterson's antics with his U.S. senate candidates, but now the city weekly, The Chief, has taken a look at the charges and makes some interesting connections. Chief editor Richard Steier reports that at t ... More >>

David Paterson and Kirsten Gillibrand: New Senator, New Scandal

The Governor's pick is genuine machine-made royalty

Joe Bruno Indicted

Joe Bruno, former state senate majority leader and close personal friend of Kirsten Gillibrand's family, has been indicted on eight counts of corruption after a long FBI investigation. He is accused of soliciting business from unions and companies for vendors who later reimbursed him for his influen ... More >>

Paterson Campaign Site Pushes Honesty, "Civility"; Other NY Pols Rely on Cash

Veteran Pol Tony Seminerio and Bribe-Taking in Albany

Bribes and blatant nepotism in the senate. What else is new?

Midday Mashup: Wild Man, Falling Man, "Prancey," and Pervs

GOP Star Marty Golden Doles Out Big Bucks to his Family Catering Hall

Bloomberg and the Press Give Joe Bruno a Pass on Congestion Pricing

Bloomy's Dubious 'Most Honest' Award

Living the Political Life Fantastic

Surf, turf, and doughnuts: A state senator dines out on his campaign war chest

How the Spitzer Sex Scandal Could Help Joe Bruno

The Bruno Files: Exploring the Record of the State Senate Leader Calling for a Spitzer Probe

The immaculate record of the state senate leader calling for investigations of Eliot Spitzer

Cuomo's Gal Friday

Plenty keeps Albany's political odd couple, Andrew and Joe, together

The Truth Behind Troopergate

A capital melodrama starring Eliot Spitzer, Joe Bruno and Andrew Cuomo

Mike's Well-Armed Pal

Anti-gun Bloomberg buys ammo for pro-NRA Bruno

He Shot the Sheriff

Spitzer guns down Albany's real clean-up man

Minutemen Take Border Battle to 39th Street

The Shel Game

Silver and his Albany pals mint hundreds of millions in corporate handouts without anybody noticing

Shelly Sacs the Stadium

Fixer Fonz

The Ex-Senator Brags About Bonanzas, Hides Behind Pataki

Way to Go, Joe

Bruno Dumps Pataki, Sticks With Union Allies

Pataki's Class Bias

Guv Seeks Sacrifice From Average New Yorkers, Protects High-End Friends

The 2002 Wacko Awards

East Side Attack

Eristoff Goes Dirty in Senate Race

The Imaginary Ticket

Will Pataki and Donohue Really Serve Out Their Terms?

Senator Straddle

East Side Liberals Tire of Roy Goodman’s Albany Alibis

Letters

Bias Ban in the Balance

Will Lazio Burn State Hate Crimes Bill's 'Chance in Hell'?

The Reflective Rudy

Memo to file: Rudy Giuliani, April 4, 1999