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Archive for October, 2011
Silver Discusses Limiting Businesses With Iran
Oct 28th - 8:51 pm
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proposed a bill that would ban companies and individuals that invest in Iran natural gas, oil or nuclear industries from doing business with all levels of government in New York. He says the ban is about Iran’s poor human rights record and work on “unconventional” weapons.”
Extras
Oct 28th - 5:18 pm
NYC is not Oakland, Mayor Bloomberg explained, yet the NYPD pulled the plug on Occupy Wall Street protestors, confiscating about a dozen gasoline cans and six generators from Zuccotti Park.
Another NPR freelancer was fired for participating in the Occupy movement.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand plans to introduce a bill barring federally-funded foster care and child adoption agencies from discriminating against potential adoptive parents because of their sexual orientations or gender identities.
Mayor Bloomberg is hosting an “intimate dinner” at Gracie Mansion Sunday night for a bipartisan group of senators, labor and business leaders to discuss how the Super Committee can “go big” and cut $4 trillion worth of spending.
Labor advocate Jonathan Tasini plans to protest Bloomberg’s dinner, and hopes some Occupy Wall Streeters will join him.
From Tasini’s invite to Occupy Gracie: “Come dressed as Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, or a Peasant – and bring the family. We’ll vote for the best costumes and they will serve us all cake!”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo at last night’s ESPA gala: “You know they give great speeches about the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. Baloney! It is BENT towards justice.”
Cuomo’s speech last night was national in scope, but he declined to advise President Obama from afar on same-sex marriage.
Conan O’Brien may be taking that message to heart when he does his show in New York.
Sandra Lee (AKA the dress-up queen) said she was thinking of “Raggedy Ann and Andy” for Halloween, but Cuomo insisted he’s “still deciding” on his costume.
Jon Huntsman’s daughters spoofed Herman Cain’s smoking Web ad.
Former Rep. Anthony Weiner reportedly encouraged NYC Councilman Vincent Gentile to run for Congress.
Cuomo may not pick the popular candidate to serve as APA chair.
Americans’ interest in national politics remains high despite the fact that this is an off election year.
Poker is not protected by the 1st Amendment, a NYS appeals court ruled.
Glee’s Lea Michele wrote to Bloomberg (via PETA) in favor of the carriage-horse ban.
Happy 125th anniversary, Lady Liberty!
Developer wars in Buffalo! (Surprise, surprise. A certain controversial former gubernatorial candidate is involved).
Who will Cuomo pick to lead the Adirondack Park Agency?
Cuomo’s ESPA Speech
Oct 28th - 4:15 pm
Here’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s full speech at the Empire State Pride Agenda gala last night. Much is being made of the national scope of his remarks about same-sex marriage, particularly since Cuomo has been very careful up until now NOT to make remarks that could be parsed to be an expression of his desire to run for higher office in the future.
This was Cuomo’s first major speech in front of an LGBT audience since he successfully pushed the gay marriage bill through the Legislature last June and quickly signed the measure into law. The governor was careful not to take all the credit for the win, insisting it was a “universal victory” that helped “crystalize the issue” of marriage equality both in New York and nationally.
He also singled out for praise the four Republicans who changed their votes from “no” in 2009 to “yes” this summer, but did not specifically mention the three Democrats who did so, too – Sens. Shirley Huntley, Carl Kruger and Joe Addabbo.
“We need marriage equality in every state in this nation,” Cuomo said. “Otherwise no state really has marriage equality. And we will not rest until it is a reality. This was a magnificent effort. And what was special about the effort is how people came together and groups came together and really put their ego and their self aside. And ESPA did that magnificently.”
“Let’s be honest. It’s not easy to get people to come together and put aside their own ego and their own name with their own letterhead and really work as a collective. It happened here. And, there is no one person, truly, that made this work. Otherwise it wouldn’t have worked. This really was a collective and a group of people who focused on the goal. And when you do that you can do anything.”
“So this award that I’m honored with tonight I will accept on behalf of the people of the state of New York and on behalf of the government of the state of New York. And you had a government that really did rise to the best of occasions.”
“You have Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell who led 80 Democrats to vote yes. You have Sen. Tom Duane, who brought the Democrats in the senate. You’ve got four Republicans who showed courage, Marc Grisanti, Jim Alesi, Roy McDonald and Steve Saland. You have a lieutenant governor, Bob Duffy, who fought all across the state; my former chief of staff Steve Cohen; Governor David Paterson who started this fight and brought this fight to Albany in the first place.”
Staten Island Pols Mail Christie On Toll Hikes
Oct 28th - 3:48 pm
A colaition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers from Staten Island, led by GOP freshman Rep. Michael Grimm, sent a letter to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today urging him to see “first hand” the effects of the Port Authority toll hikes will have on their community.
But they also note that the toll hikes for the Verranzo Bridge on the island will have negative reprecussions for Garden State residents as well.
“Clearly these are challenging economic times at all levels of government and most especially forthe citizens that we serve. We believe a meeting to discuss the impacts this toll increase willhave on our community will serve to help you better understand the burden it places upon boththe citizens we represent and our economy.”
The Port Authority, which has jursidiction in New York and New Jersey, proposed raising tolls for bridges and tunnels earlier this year, a move that Christie and Gov. Andrew Cuomo claim caught them by surprise (though both men had dinner several days before the announcement).
Both Christie and Cuomo agreed to lesser toll hikes, and knocked the Port Authority’s fiscal mismangement. Both vowed in a joint letter to get to sort out the authjority’s finances.
PA Executive Director Chris Ward will be gone at the end of the year and was relpaced by Cuomo loyalist Pat Foye.
Malpass Dings Cuomo
Oct 28th - 1:50 pm
ICYMI: Former GOP US Senate hopeful David Malpass told me on CapTon last night that the bloom is off the rose for him when it comes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose performance the economist and ex-Reagan administration policy advisor once praised.
Malpass said he was very impressed with Cuomo last spring – about the time when the newly-minuted Democratic governor was laying down the law with the Legislature, pushing for deep health care and education spending cuts along with a 2 percent property tax cap. Since then, however, things have changed for Malpass.
“I’ve wanted him to go farther, faster on the fiscal front in New York,” he said. “I’m afraid we’re feeling, we’re getting this feeling that everything’s great.”
“In New York City, you know, it’s in a boom. Yet upstate, it’s very hard on the jobs front, on the economy front, and I’m afraid that Governor Cuomo hasn’t gone far enough with pension reform, with the Triborough Amendment, which impedes the goverance process – mandatory arbitration on contracts is very costly for New York, and it’s making it very hard for small businesses and job growth here. So, I’m very concerned with the direction New York State is going as well.”
Malpass came on the show to discuss his new role as an economic advisor to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign, which occurred right around the same time that Perry debuted his optional 20 percent flat tax proposal – and then promptly stepped on his own message by reigniting the controversy over President Obama’s birth certificate.
Malpass admitted Perry has been gaffe-prone since he announced his candidacy, and will need to get more disciplined is he wants to win the GOP primary. He was also remarkably pragmatic for a guy who has chosen a favorite candidate, saying he believes all the Republican contenders are credible and would be viable against President Obama.
As for his own political future, Malpass, who finished second last year in the GOP primary to former Rep. Joe DioGuardi (who went on to lose to Gillibrand), has kept his hand in NYS politics through his GrowPAC. He didn’t rule out a future statewide run, and he didn’t specifiy which office he might seek, which makes his criticism of Cuomo all the more interesting.
Senate Dems: A ‘Supermajority’ Of Voters Want Indy Redistricting
Oct 28th - 1:21 pm
Senate Democrats are sending out a statewide letter to supporters today to nudge the majority Republicans on independent redistricting of legislative boundaries.
The conference was, as expected, heartened by this week’s Quinnipiac issues poll that showed broad support for taking the power away from legislators when it comes to redrawing lines next year.
From the email:
Once again New Yorkers like you have made clear what we all know: they are sick and tired of status quo politicians who pledge reform to get elected but do nothing once in office. You, your friends and neighbors across the state are demanding real action, not just more broken promises. Senate Republicans came into office promising change but unfortunately delivered more of their same old Albany.
Senate Democrats are pushing hard for an independent process, which they believe will help them recapture the majority in 2012, a presidential election year. Given their overwhelming enrollment advantage, Senate Democrats believe it’s only a matter of time before the chamber goes back to their control.
Plus, they enjoy needling Republicans on the issue. Senate Republicans signed on to former Mayor Ed Koch’s reform Albany pledge, which included a provision for independent redistricting. But rather than blinking on the issue, the GOP winked. They passed a bill that would set up a constitutional amendment for an independent process, but that wouldn’t be in placed until 2022 at the earliest.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, has made vary threats to veto lines he deems either non-independent or too political, although he reiterated this week that such a move would create a chaotic situation and wasn’t a guarantee that a court-driven redrawing would produced a better result.
The full email after the jump. More >
IG: Former DEC Worker Racked Up $20K Phone Chat Bill
Oct 28th - 1:05 pm
A retired state Department of Environmental Conservation engineer spent 500 hours on what appear to be phone sex lines racking up more than $20,000 in costs, Inspector General Ellen Biben said today.
Biben said Delmar resident Edward Reilly, 52, was arrested after an invesitgation revealed he billed the state for the calls, many of which were made during working hours.
“The charges allege he not only misappropriated State resources but that he did it while on the taxpayers’ time,” Inspector General Biben said. “Theft from the State will not be tolerated, and my office will continue to vigorously root out individuals who abuse the public trust.”
Reilly is alleged to have called chat lines VIP Sensual Chat, VIP Club Sensual Chat, Quest Chat, Secret Encounters, Metrovibe and Local Chat over a six-year period. the calls were mainly amde in the DEC offices in Albany and he’s made more than 760 calls, Biben said.
He was charged with third-degree grand larceny and five counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, all felonies.
Reilly retired Aug. 4 with a final salary of $88,256.
Senator’s Aunt Killed In Hit-And-Run
Oct 28th - 12:41 pm
The Seneca Falls Police are seeking information about a hit-and-run accident yesterday that claimed the life of an 88-year-old local resident who is related to Sen. Mike Nozzolio.
Christine Comernisky was struck and killed at 12:23 p.m. at the intersection of Fall and State streets in the downtown business district. Nozzolio’s office confirmed to YNN that Comernisky is the senator’s aunt.
The police are looking for a Red Volvo tractor combination vehicle with a white trailer that was last seen westbound on fall St. Rt 5 & 20. Anyone who was in the business district around noon and who may have seen this vehicle or have any information to contact is being asked to contract the department at 315-568-5555.
Acting on a tip, the police did locate a tractor trailer with Michigan plates parked in a loading bay Syracuse, but ultimately determined that it was not the vehicle that had been involved in the fatal crash.
McCall Cancels French Fundraiser
Oct 28th - 9:49 am
…That would be Dan French, Beekman town supervisor and Democratic candidate for Dutchess County executive, who was counting on the newly-minted SUNY Board of Trustees chairman headlining a fundraiser on his behalf in Clinton Corners tonight.
The Saturday after the former state comptroller was tapped by his old political rival, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to head the SUNY board, French’s campaign sent out an email invite to tonight’s event with the following message:
“I would like to extend my congratulations to Carl McCall on his recent appointment by Governor Andrew Cuomo to the position of Chair of the State University of New York’s board of trustees! ”
“As a member of the board of trustees for Dutchess Community College, I am very pleased to see such a capable and committed individual take over as the Chair of the SUNY board. Please join us next week for a great event at Clinton Vineyards.”
Tickets to the fundraiser range from $60 for general admission to $500 for “benefactors.”
French’s email was forwarded to me by someone connected to the campaign of his GOP rival, Assemblyman Marc Molinaro. I asked SUNY spokesman Morgan Hook what the policy is for board chairs when it comes to political fundraising, and initially received the following response:
“SUNY Trustees, as gubernatorial appointees, are governed by the Public Officers Law. There is no specific guidance in the SUNY or board by-laws related to your question. And absent that specific guidance, we would refer back to the POL.”
That was last week. Sometime between then and last night, however, McCall had a change of heart about this event, deciding to err on the side of caution to avoid even the whiff of a potential conflict.
According to Hook, McCall not only called off his appearance at French’s event, but he “will not support any candidates during his term as SUNY board chair.”
McCall had already faced questions about a possible conflict caused by his wife’s position as (the extremely well-compensated) FIT president.
Hook insisted there’s no conflict. But just in case, McCall, who has served as a SUNY trustee since 2007, has routinely recused himself from any FIT-related decisions and will continue to do so.
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