Malcolm Smith

Andrew Cuomo Goes to Albany, Where Lobbyists Are Waiting

State Senate's Malcolm Smith Invents Perfect Mouth-Trap as Feds Eye Home Scam

​What with terror terrier Faisal Shahzad trying to send some of us to infidel oblivion this past weekend, we temporarily lost sight of our home-hatched wackos in Albany. On Monday came news that senate President Malcolm Smith has his own plans on sending people to oblivion, although in his ca ... More >>

Aqueduct Racino Deal Investigated, Directly and Indirectly; Bidders Reportedly Offered Right to Amend Documents

​The selection of Aqueduct Entertainment Group for the "racino" video lottery contract at Aqueduct Racetrack continues to provoke suspicion. Not only federal investigators but also the state inspector general are nosing around the general vicinity of the deal, which has some connected backers. ... More >>

State Senate Staff-Up Enriches Espada's Office by $500,000

The state senate Democrats have been staffing up and shelling out -- to the tune of $1 million, says the Post, though the office of president pro tem Malcolm Smith claims the overall number after cuts "will be in line with the previous majority, if not lower." Whichever way the cash flows, majority ... More >>

The Taking of the State Senate 1 2 3

For Espada and Monserrate, the future is all used up

And Now Introducing State Senate Leader John Sampson ...

Here are a few highlights on the career of John Sampson, the south Brooklyn state senator who is taking the reins from now-deposed state senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith.- Like Smith, Sampson is a soft-spoken pol who hasn't made a huge impression since he was elected to the senate in 1996. A ... More >>

Coup in Review: Albany Dems Offer Deal, GOP Balks, State Senate Still Stuck, Sampson is "CEO"

Poor Acting Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. McNamara, forced to listen to the case of the Albany Democrats and Republicans, keeps asking them to figure it out themselves, but they show no signs of breaking their deadlock. Since Hiram Monserrate left the Espada-Monserrate-GOP coalition yesterday, pu ... More >>

Obama Defends DOMA, Pisses Off Gay People

Boy, this is turning out to be a shitty Pride Month. With the Albany coup making the New York gay marriage bill more problematic than ever, state senator Tom Duane, previously rumored open to joining the rebels to get the bill passed, now says he's completely behind Malcolm Smith and seems to indica ... More >>

Albany Coup Update: Duane "Flirting" With GOP for Gay Marriage?

They're still swinging in Albany, where the New Model Republican Majority is locked out of the state senate chamber. Democratic cavaliers are leaning on Hiram Monserrate, with operatives availing a robocall that claims Monserrate has "abandoned Barack Obama and everything we believe in" with his apo ... More >>

Coup in Review: Republicans at the Gates

Pedro Espada says he's got the keys to the state senate chamber and he's goin' in! Malcolm Smith says he's going to court to block the Republicans. "This is getting a little ridiculous," says Governor Paterson, "they've got to act like adults here." He urges the warring tribes to come to a "com ... More >>

Coup in Review: No Session Today; Monserrate Keeps 'Em Guessing

Earlier Pedro Espada said he was goin' into the senate chamber and Malcolm Smith said he was goin' to court. Espada has not, that anyone could see, gone into the chamber, and Smith seems not to have gone to court. There was no senate session today, not even the al fresco one Espada had threatened, b ... More >>

Coup Update: Weird Scenes Outside the Senate Chamber

The defenestrated Dems of Albany are fighting back against the Skelos-Espada-Golisano coup -- not in the state senate chamber, which remains locked and where they were pretty useless anyhow, but with picket signs and press conferences. The Albany Times-Union reports protesters outside new senate pr ... More >>

Espada GOP Coup in Albany? (UPDATE: Smith Out, Espada Sworn In)

Hmm: state senate Republicans have proposed to seat rebel Democrat Pedro Espada Jr. as "President pro tempore" of the senate, reports PolitickerNY, and to return former majority leader Dean Skelos, a Republican, to his old seat, replacing Democrat Malcolm Smith. (Update: Apparently they got away wit ... More >>

Coup de Villains: The Albany Takeover So Far

Dear Leader: misty watercolor memories of Pedro Espada Jr. here. Malcolm Smith says he's still in charge, but he hasn't been able to achieve much over the past five months of Democratic rule in the state senate, and we doubt he has the resources to overturn the overthrow of his leadership today. ... More >>

Doomed Gay Marriage Bill Passes Assembly

In a statement, Sheldon Silver expresses his pleasure that the gay marriage bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell and backed by Governor Paterson, passed the assembly 89 to 52. "This is a matter of equity and justice," he say. "New Yorkers should have the right to marry who they chose." W ... More >>

Senator Diaz: Stopping Malcolm Smith was Paterson's Idea

Our colleague John DeSio via Bob Kappstatter points us to this wonderful interview with state senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., one of our favorite local politicians, in The Capitol. "I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told anyone," promises Diaz. (An ellipsis follows. Maybe he was trying to go ... More >>

Paterson "Backpedaling" Gay Marriage, or Peddling It?

The status of Governor Paterson's gay marriage bill is garbled, possibly by the Governor himself. "Paterson backpedals on gay marriage," says Newsday, claiming he will "go along with a plan by State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith not to put a same-sex marriage bill to a vote without knowing i ... More >>

Barrett: If Murdoch and Zuckerman are Whining, is the State Budget Really So Bad?

News flash! The state budget that's been so trashed in the tabloids does loads of good things you've heard next to nothing about. Whenever the rich are taxed, the only media contest in town is who will howl louder -- Rupert or Mort. Both are such class enemies of their own readers that, in a budget ... More >>

Albany Still Working on Budget; Tolls Out

The state senate and assembly are trying to get the new budget passed by their midnight deadline, and it appears that bridge tolls won't be part of the package. "The senate has really eliminated what my choice would be, which would be to have the tolls," Governor Paterson told reporters. (Malcolm Sm ... More >>

Paterson Threatens 8,900 Layoffs to Close Budget Gap

Governor Paterson is playing hardball, or at least fast-pitch softball, with the civil service unions. He wants them to skip a pay increase and give back some on benefits, or else, he says, he may have to fire 8,900 of them to close his growing budget gap. That's about four percent of the government ... More >>

NY1: Albany Dems Dish Out Fat Raises to Aides

These days, when many people are seeing their salaries cut, it seems there are only two jobs in which you can reasonably expect to make more money in the New Depression: as failed executives of bailed-out corporations, and in politics. We previously saw NY1 reveals that dozens of Democratic aides ... More >>

State Senate to Unveil MTA Plan Nobody Likes

The Mayor and others are pressing state senate majority leader Malcolm Smith (pictured) to do something to head off the oncoming MTA "doomsday" budget. Smith and his allies are expected to unveil a plan today with fare increases and payroll taxes -- both smaller than what the Ravitch Commission prop ... More >>

Governor Abandons Soda Tax, iPod Tax, and Other Weird Taxes

Apparently Governor Paterson is giving up on that whole tax-everything thing, or at least part of it. At a press conference Paterson joined Sheldon Silver and Malcolm Smith and opened with what we hope was a joke: "The Majority Leader and the Assembly Speaker and I have good news. That news is that ... More >>

Padavan, Squadron Back New Rent Laws -- But What Will Espada Do?

Local pols are getting on the pro-tenant bandwagon. New state senator Daniel Squadron did a press conference in front of the Economakis residence on East 3rd Street, site of "owner-occupancy" evictions, which has been the subject of protests and a Voice story last year. The Assembly has passed a b ... 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 >>

Espada, Hailed as "Mi Hermano" by Malcolm Smith, Swears Into Senate

Homophobe Ruben Diaz, l., gives gavel to Pedro Espada. Photos by John DeSio. Fresh from their behind-closed-doors victory over Malcolm Smith and the new Democratic majority in the State Senate, the so-called "Gang of Three" held what amounted to a victory party last night in the concert hall of Le ... More >>

Habemus Corruptio! Senates Dems' Deal Settled

We know we've said this before, but it looks as if, on the morning of the actual vote, the Democrats of the state senate have pulled together a deal that will get everyone, including the rebellious Gang of Three, on board for Malcolm Smith to be elected to majority leader. The New York Times break ... More >>

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 >>

Albany! LL Cool J Endorses Smith, Diaz Fights "Homosexual Marriage"

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

How the 'Gang of Three' Ties Up Senate Dems

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Memo Allegedly Details Espada & Co.'s Power, Payoff Demands

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Diaz "Sanctified" Now-Dead Senate Deal with Prayer

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

State Senate Deal Collapsing: Espada, Maybe Smith Out?

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Smith Won't Drop Gay Marriage -- Deal with Dissidents Off

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Smith Announces Senate Chairs, Then Flees

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Pedro Espada's 'Clerical Error'

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Tab Takes on Senate Deal: Eye of the Beholder

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Dems Deal -- Espada to Majority Leader?

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Latino Power in Albany? More Pressure on Paterson

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Espada Got Big $ from GOP, Healthcare Companies

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Albany Ready to Referendum Bloomberg's Term-Limits Plan

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Monserrate Caves on Willets Point; Hearing Tomorrow

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Smith Peels Off a State Senate Dissident, Says He'll Allow Term Limits Vote

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Staten Island's Molinari to Sue Over Term Limits

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Diaz Splits, and Now It's a "Gang of 2" in State Senate (Updated)

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Looks Like Diaz is Still Splintered -- Denies Deal with Smith

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

4 State Senate Dems Continue to Defy Leadership

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Paterson Grilled at Breakfast on "Bloodsuckers," Obama, Apt., Etc.

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Congestion Pricing Panel Named

Say, aren't our elected representatives supposed to go to Albany and get sworn in on January 1? And isn't the fate of the elected Democratic majority -- the state's first since the Ice Age -- still unsettled? Would-be Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's biggest achievement recently was to pick up the en ... More >>

Serph's Up

Friendly Democrats forget muscle, fumble state senate again