Even though everyone knows Albany is full of people doing terrible things, even politicians and lobbyists are shocked at the events of the past year, from Comptroller Alan Hevesi stepping down from Comptroller to former Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno retiring, with nadir/peak being Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace. Various parties share their amazement with the times--lobbyists don't want to look at their Blackberries, Governor Paterson acknowledges the "consistent number of weird situations that just......

Even though he's serving a jail sentence, cleaning prison bathrooms, for stealing millions from the Roslyn schools district, it's certainly nice to be Frank Tassone, knowing that he still gets his $173,495 annual NY State pension. Newsday reports that he and other former Roslyn officials still get their considerable pensions, even while serving jail time. Tassone, who notoriously stole $2.2 million for a lavish lifestyle (he did pay back the money, but it's unclear if......

For the past few years, the officials have been warning that NYC's Off-Track Betting, or OTB, has been on the verge of going broke, whether it's former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi or City Comptroller William Thompson. OTB doesn't give the city any revenues and recently pinned its hopes on attracting more customers by making over OTB parlors and allowing bets to be placed online and by cell phone or Blackberry. Yesterday, the Post revealed that......

State Ethics Commission, long time no see! It's been about eight months since you found State Comptroller Alan Hevesi had violated state law, and now you're back on the radar with an investigation into Governor Spitzer's administration's conduct regarding use of the state police to track State Senate Majority Joseph Bruno. The SEC has the power to subpoena people to answer questions, a power the Attorney General's office does not have - which means that......

Alan Hevesi recently hired a new lawyer and adopted an aggressive stance to battle accusations that he misused his position as New York State Comptroller, who oversees the state's $157 billion pension fund, for personal financial benefit. Last week, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was investigating whether Hevesi used his tenure as Comptroller to financially benefit from the many financial firms that vie to profitably manage a slice of the enormous pension fund.......

The fight between Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Joseph Bruno gets more and more unbelievable. Yesterday, Bruno claimed that the Times Union, the Albany newspaper, tried to shake him down for money and today the Post says Spitzer had Bruno tailed by the state police! Hopefully the next news will be that the Legislature is selling tickets to a fight in the boxing ring. Over the weekend, the Times Union reported that Spitzer was......

New York magazine has a great examination of the Greenpoint pollution problem lurking beneath the neighborhood's surface, and floating along the surface of Newtown Creek. It describes a ten million gallon reservoir of industrial pollution that includes, fuel oil, naptha, gasoline, parrafin wax and likely many more materials that were used along the industrial area of the waterway that separates Brooklyn and Queens. The contamination of the area is hardly breaking news. Brooklyn drew its......

Hours ago, former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was fined $5,000 and sentenced to probation for "unlawful use of a state vehicle and driver" when he used his employees to drive his ill wife. The Times Union has an 18-minute video of the sentencing; reporter Rick Karlin noted that Albany County Court Judge Stephen Herrick said to the Queens Democrat, "Your fall from grace has been total and from a very great height…You are now......

Yesterday, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that the State will sue ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Keyspan and Phelps Dodge over a 17-million-gallon oil spill in Newtown Creek that has spread underneath Greenpoint over 100 acres. The spill was detected in 1978, when a Coast Guard pilot noticed an oil plume; oil seeped underground from ExxonMobil refinery and storage operations since the 1950s. Attorney General Cuomo said:This is one of the worst environmental disasters in the......

There's nothing like a State Comptroller -using- state- employees- to- chauffeur- his- wife scandal to make our own Police Commissioner stop having the po-po drive his wife around. Oh, yes: NYPD Confidential spoke with a few detectives about "Driving Mrs. Kelly", a practice that ended right when State Comptroller Alan Hevesi came under fire: One detective said the detail drove Mrs. Kelly as many as three or four times a week. Another detective said that......

We couldn't even get through Governor Spitzer's first month before a "showdown with Assembly Speaker Silver." State Democrats have been saying they feel betrayed - or, in the words of Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright to NY1, "totally, totally disrespected" - because the panel formed by Spitzer to select State Comptroller candidates didn't select any of their choices. State Democrats claim the panel was supposed to pick five candidates, including a Democratic Assemblyman interested in......

Here is part two of our semi-chronological look back at the top stories this past year (here is part one): Queens Blackout The Blackout of 2003, as irritating as it was, happened to the whole city, could be blamed on other states and didn't last too long. When parts of Queens lost power in July, Con Ed wrote it off as an isolated event affecting only a few thousands customers. But as Queens spent days......

Midtown special on the Gothamist Newsmap: an overturned car at 11th and 44th Street, an armed robbery and pursuit on 43rd and 9th, and a hazmat condition at 47th and 9th. Noah Kalina, the oft-photographed everyman hero of Noah K Everyday, has recently expanded his self-portraiture by including a smattering of celebrities. A few days ago he discussed the project with the Washington Post: "I don't know if I would call it a catatonic......

Ouch! A teacher accidently amputated a kindergartner's finger yesterday at PS240 in Clinton Hill. She was slamming a door, and didn't realize that he had placed his finger in the way. Doctors at Lutheran Medical Center were able to stitch things back together. A gun found in a Westchester lake has been definitively linked to the murder of one of Bill and Hillary Clinton's neighbors. The police haven't announced any progress in the case,......

We'd describe recently resigned State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's expression (and posture) as "Worst Day Ever." Danny Hakim at the NY Times' Empire Zone blog says the two biggest bombshells from this morning might be that Hevesi now admits he never intended to reimburse the state for the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on chauffeuring his wife and that Albany County DA David Soares says, "Since attaining these convictions, we've received a number of......

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi pleaded guilty to charges and resigned from office today. From the AP:The plea ends an investigation by Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who had been presenting evidence against the Queens Democrat to a grand jury. Hevesi will serve no jail time, but will pay a $5,000 fine and agreed not to file any appeal. He also agreed not to take office on Jan. 1. Friday's agreement also heads off......

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who managed to be re-elected this past November after an ethics commission found that he violated state law by using state employees to chauffeur his sick wife over the year, is said to be looking to resign shortly as part of a plea agreement. The Albany County DA has been investigating Hevesi's actions, and the possibility of an indictment was in the air; the plea would allow Hevesi to avoid......

Yesterday, Joseph Bruno, the NY State Senate's majority leader, revealed that the FBI was investigating him for his "outside business interests." Wow, is being investigated by the feds the new black for Republicans? Or is being investigation something most politicians need to go through (we're talking to you, Alan Hevesi!)? Republican Bruno called a press conference and told reporters, "I have nothing to hide. They are going into background over the past five or six......

- The NY Times reports that the Democratic party will decide on where the 2008 convention will be held either tomorrow or Monday. New York and Denver are the finalist cities; while Denver is attractive for its swing-state quality, NYC can guarantee better "financing, hotel rooms, entertainment space, logistical support and labor union cooperation." - The Politicker has the U.S. Attorney's flow chart detailing how NY Senator Efrain Gonzalez allegedly stole money from federal funds......

The NY Post uses its cover to claim Attorney General - and Governor-elect - Eliot Spitzer will release a damning report about State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's actions. Hevesi was re-elected this past November in spite of admitting that he use a state driver to chauffeur his wife, but Spitzer, who withdrew his support of Hevesi after a State Ethics Commission's report suggested that Hevesi did violate laws, has been leaning towards getting rid of Hevesi......

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi released a report about the city's economy, noting that we had been benefiting from "a growing economy and sound management decisions made by the Mayor and the City Council over the past five years." Well, isn't that a little post-election political butt kissing? But the Mayor's budget was pretty cautious for the year. A surplus of $1.9 billion is projected for the 2007 fiscal year (which ends next June), and the......

Uh-oh, missing City Council members, if you miss a meeting, you need a note from your doctor (or other documentation) Curbed's monitoring of Gehry's IAC Building pays off: The windows are properly lined up. Park Slopers are scared of raccoons, possibly to the point of not crossing the street for a non-fat latte The Goya stolen as it was being transported from Ohio to NYC was recovered in NJ! No word if it's going......

Maybe the new badge of infamy is how quickly your story gets co-opted by a Law & Order show. Apparently the antics of former Attorney General candidate Jeanine Pirro and trouble-making husband Al will be dramatized for an episode of Criminal Intent that will air next year. The Post has details:In the episode, a very Pirro-like politician has her eyes on becoming the first female mayor of New York. But her husband, who's described as......

Despite of a record victory, Governor-elect Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has to face a big problem: What do to with State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who was found guilty of violating state law by the State Ethics Commission. The NY Times speaks with people involved with Spitzer's discussions (they are anonymous, of course) about the matter:“While a personally painful decision, it’s an easy decision because the facts are clear,” said one person with knowledge of the......

On Election Day, Alan Hevesi won re-election for State Comptroller, in spite of news that he used a state driver to chauffeur his wife for many years. This tidbit, offered by Republican challenger Christopher Callaghan, prompted: 1) A State Ethics Commission report that found Hevesi did violate state law; 2) For many Democrats, including Eliot Spitzer, to drop their endorsements; and 3) Governor Pataki to request an investigation on whether Hevesi should be removed. But......

To no one's surprise, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was elected the next Governor, Senator Hillary Clinton was re-elected, and Andrew Cuomo was elected Attorney General. (Democrat Alan Hevesi was re-elected Comptroller, but more on that later.) But the dynamics are interesting: Spitzer won in a "historic landslide" and Clinton managed to take votes of 20-25% of Republican voters. After a victory speech that included a reference to Ali G, Spitzer will have to make......

The polls in New York close in a half hour, so the media won't be reporting returns until then. But it's still exciting and heartbreaking to watch the other states' elections returns. For starters, Bob Casey ousting Rick Santorum for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania? That's exciting. Heartbreaking would be reports of bugs and intimidation at the polls. NBC also projects that Bob Menendez will win re-election in NJ (with only 3% reporting, though).......

Hilarious: The NY Times' election blog, The Empire Zone, reports that Chelsea Clinton's name wasn't found in the book of registered voters at the West 20th Street polling place: "The book containing her name was apparently forwarded to the wrong district, denying her the ability to enter a polling booth." D'oh! So she - and probably the other people in that book - had to fill out an "affidavit vote," ensuring that she would be......

Governor Pataki's office released a report saying there's enough evidence to recommend the removal of State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Lawyer David Kelley wrote, "I do not feel that I am now in a position to advise you to proceed with a recommendation to the senate for the comptroller's removal...Considering the record as a whole, I believe there is a preponderance of evidence that the comptroller knowingly and intentionally violated New York's public officers law." Hevesi's......

Have you seen Alan Hevesi's new ad where he's sitting against a somber blackground, apologizing for the "stupid mistake" he made to have a state driver chauffeur his wife? He humbly asks for voters to consider his 35 years of experience and says he'll fight for New Yorkers. And yet it's hard to listen to it and not be disappointed and upset, knowing that comptrollers are supposed to monitor this kind of behavior in the......