Tom Duane

LGBT Purists to Christine Quinn: We'd Love a Gay Mayor. Just Not You.

Former Historic Home of Beastie Boy Faces Possible Demolition

We have recently learned that a historic, federal era row-house is in threat of demolition in the South Village.The property, located at 186 Spring Street, was built in 1824 and is one of the last structures of its kind that has mostly remained intact as it was originally constructed. It also belong ... More >>

'Drill Ass, Not Gas' and Other Messges We Heard at Pride 2012 [PHOTOS]

Yesterday's Pride Parade was marked by extremely beautiful weather and a much more relaxed tone than last year's march, which was frantic right after Marriage Equality Act had just passed. Although we wrote in this week's Voice feature that debate has grown limited in gay organizations, the march ... More >>

Governor Andrew Cuomo, Activists React to Marriage Equality in Albany

Sen. Tom Duane and Natasha Dillon After the Vote​After the Senate passed same-sex marriage equality in Albany last night, the reactions were mixed: volatile, ecstatic, tearful, joyous, and outraged. There was a shared sense of history and exhaustion by people for and against the issue, as many ... More >>

Finally, a List of Who You Have to Blow in the New York State Senate to Get Gay Marriage

Paul Schindler of Gay City News has put together a great scorecard of how everyone stands on gay marriage in the state Senate, which is where the issue will be decided. Senator Tom Duane's bill needs 32 votes. Currently, 26 Democrats and zero Republicans publicly support it. Those Log Cabin Republ ... More >>

Sweatshop Free Upper West Side Rallies the Troops to Battle Saigon Grill

westsidespirit.comThe restaurant, in calmer times​Saigon Grill is associated more with being the site of labor disputes than for the Vietnamese cuisine it dishes up. It's been embroiled in battles since 2007, and picketers and protesters are a common occurrence in front of the restaurant. Ev ... More >>

10 Arrested at Protest Over Detention of Immigration Reform Advocate

Photos by Mizue Aizeki. There was a protest in Manhattan today over the detention of Jean Montrevil, a Haitian who has had a green card since 1986 but, owing to a drug conviction for which he served time in the 1990s, has been subject to supervision and was detained by U.S. Immigration authoritie ... More >>

MTA Considers Cuts; Parents, Disabled Advocates, Others Complain

There's no B or D service into Manhattan because of a sick passenger, and the MTA board is preparing to vote on service cuts to pull the Authority out of the red ($400 million) -- into which it sank, just months after the last Doomsday "rescue" plan, thanks to spectacular financial mismanagement -- ... More >>

Gay Marriage Debate Continues: Diaz Cries "Treason"!

So, Who Do We Have to Blow? We'll find out shortly. The marriage debate has begun in the state senate. By the end of the day, the undecideds should be outed, and marriage advocates (if they haven't retired) will know exactly who they'll have to blow moving forward. But before the vote, a lot of ... 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 >>

Manhattan D.A. Candidates Scramble for Gay Support

​New York is so gay that even its law enforcement officials look for political support from the LGBT community. All three current candidates for Manhattan D.A. -- Richard Aborn, Leslie Crocker-Snyder, and Cy Vance, Jr.(pictured, center) -- sent us photos of themselves at the Pride Parade. Now ... More >>

Duane, CB4: Hell's Kitchen Will Have 1,026 More Kids Than Schools Can Handle by 2019

School overcrowding seems to follow the revitalization of New York neighborhoods, and Hells' Kitchen -- known to some by its post-gentrification name Clinton -- may soon be getting its hyper-influx. State senator Tom Duane and Manhattan Community Board 4 have compiled a report that claims planned re ... More >>

$85 Million in Albany Member Items Disbursed for Parrot Adoption, Self-Esteem, Etc.

The state senate laid out its new member items, and it's hilarious or grim reading depending on whether you read it as a student of human nature, or as a taxpayer. Jimmy Vielkind has the list. The $85 million feedbag of discretionary items for senators' constituents includes $2 million for Pedro Es ... More >>

Tom Duane Burns Up the Floor for HIV/AIDS Rent Bill

This is a little long, but you seldom see a legislator get so hot on the floor of a chamber, and if you aren't familiar with the old days of the AIDS epidemic it might be instructive. Tom Duane rises to speak on behalf of a state senate bill that would keep HIV/AIDS patients from having to payin ... More >>

Upper East Side Gay-Bashing Epidemic?

Assemblyman Micah Kellner, one of the officials to whom state senator Tom Duane reached out when Joe Holladay got gay-bashed on the Upper East Side last week, has told WCBS that there have been other incidents in the neighborhood recently that are disturbingly similar -- "Three of which are curren ... More >>

Update: Gay-Bashed on Pride Weekend

Joe Holladay, the man whose gay-bashing we reported on Saturday morning, has been getting some help. Today state senator Tom Duane announced that "Mr. Holladay's case has been referred to the New York City Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force for further investigation," and asked for any witne ... More >>

Hell's Kitchen Neighbors March in Memoriam at Deadly 9th Ave Stretch

Not all this weekend's parades were as cheerful as the Puerto Rican Day festivities. Because the stretch of Ninth Avenue between 45th and 36th Streets has seen a lot of pedestrians run down by cars -- the most recent being art restorer Susanne M. Schnitzer, killed in a hit and run on April 9 -- th ... 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 >>

Cheek, in Review: 7 Days of Runnin' Scared

On Third Avenue. Albany went coup-coup! Pedro Espada Jr. seized the state senate with the help of Hiram Monserrate and billionaire Tom Golisano. After some skirmishes, which saw Tom Duane appearing to lean GOP to save gay marriage, the Dems locked the chamber, but Espada got the key and the GOP w ... 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 >>

Duane Says He Has Gay Marriage Votes; NY1 Says, No You Don't

Tom Duane says he has the votes to pass a gay marriage bill in the state senate. NY1 is less sure. They surveyed the senators and got 27 firm no votes (including five Democrats) and only 20 firm yeses. As there are eight Republicans among the undecided/uncommitted and we all know how they are, it's ... 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 >>

Medical Marijuana Bill Considered in Albany

Sweet! Here it is 4.20, and PolitickerNY reports movement on a medical marijjuana bill for the state. The current bill would allow "certified patients" who, in the opinion of a medical practitioner, "are likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the primary or adjunctive tr ... More >>

Paterson, Hated by All, Turns to Gays as Last Resort

Bad news, Governor: the unions are flipping out over your proposed civil service givebacks or layoffs, and Andy Cuomo's scooping up your lost support. The MTA may announce another round of service cuts. Your name is even getting booed at Mets games. It's time to drop the gay bomb! As we said before ... More >>

Protesters Say Cops Target Older Gay Men with Bogus Charges at XXX Shops

Photos by Candice M. Giove. In front of a backdrop of hot pink placards - some splashed with hearts and cupids - Robert Pinter, a 53-year-old gay man, recounted the horror of being falsely arrested for prostitution this past October. He is one of many older gay men, activists said, targeted by ... More >>

Malcolm Smith on Gay Marriage: "We Don't Have the Votes"

In December, it was reported that Malcolm Smith had scrapped a deal with dissident Democrats to make him majority leader rather than accept state senator Ruben Diaz' demand that gay marriage leave the senate's agenda. The Empire State Pride Agenda and other marrige equality advocates praised Smith. ... 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 >>

Obama Win Bittersweet for Gay Rights Supporters

LGBT New Yorkers Put Muscle Behind Obama

Golisano's Senate Picks: Mostly (and in NYC, Only) Same-Old

NYC RFD: Early Morning Notes from Our Little Town

Motel Sucks

Exploiting a Depression-era loophole, more landlords are booting renters for short-term hotel guests

Talk Ain't Cheap

The Nightlife Summit didn't solve every club owner's problems, but it's an overdue start

They Did It for the Kids: High Court Nixes Gay Nups

Gay Marriage "Inevitable": Rally in Sheridan Square

Letters

The Outsider Comes In

The party bosses choose a former activist as Council Speaker

Odd Man Out

With his fancy footwork over gay marriage, Bloomberg could be stepping on too many toes

It Can Happen Here

Is New York's Marriage Law Gender Neutral? The City Council Speaker Says Yes. The Mayor Says No. It's Time for the Rest of us to March.

The Working Through

Karen Finley Teaches a Class on Dealing With 9-11

Life After SONDA

Gay Politics Will Never Be the Same

Plaza Sweet

Fashion Institute Hatches un-FIT Traffic Plan for Neighbors

Bias Ban in the Balance

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

Ill Wind

In Politics, Image Trumps Medical Reality

Life After Duane

Four Candidates Vie for 'the Gay Seat'

The Company He Keeps

Chelsea candidate Chris Lynn's suspect pals

Room Disservice

Fran Reiter will check out SROs on convention web site

Full House

Theater Row Plan: Is It Art, or Real Estate?

Porn Free

The city's war on sex shops has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with development. Especially around Times Square.

Act II: The Siege

Battle Over Theater Zone Nears Final Scenes