In the wake of the Casey Anthony verdict (which nearly two-thirds of Americans disagree with) lawmakers across the nation are trying to prevent something like that happening in their jurisdiction. And New York is no different. Enter Staten Island Senator Andrew Lanza. more ›

The ongoing Marriage Equality debate in Albany could all come down to the vote of Republican Staten Island Senator Andrew Lanza, a fact whose humor was not lost on Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night. more ›

The city's flat-footed response to last week's blizzard has given Staten Island Senator Andrew Lanza the perfect excuse to demand, once again, that his borough secede from the rest of NYC (where, you'll recall, the snow was immediately and efficiently collected from every street and airlifted to Staten Island). His first order of business when his fellow Republicans regain their majority in the Senate will be to re-introduce his existing secession bill. With piles of uncollected garbage now rivaling the snow banks' former heights, Lanza thinks the time is ripe for his constituents to liberate themselves from New York City's shackles and fly free as the seagulls that once circled Fresh Kills Landfill. more ›

Though a 1994 bid for Staten Island secession failed, State Senator Andrew Lanza will propose that S.I. secede from the rest of NYC next year. The Staten Island Advance spoke to Lanza as he "is putting the finishing touches on the 2,115-page bill" and found out he "really believe[s]" in the secession, because "being part of New York City works against Staten Island on all the issues we care about." Lanza admits that Mayor Bloomberg has been helpful to his borough, but: "Staten Island's voice is diminished in this big, bureaucratic system that we pay a lot of the bill for." If S.I. secedes, it would be the second largest city in NY State and Lanza thinks it could raise enough money from property, business and payroll taxes. As for the Mayor, his spokesman said, "Mayor Bloomberg doesn't agree with Sen. Lanza on this but he appreciated...when Andy said that this mayor has been a great friend to Staten Island at City Hall who built on Mayor Giuliani's record of looking after Staten Islanders." more ›

Governor Paterson signed a law that will restrict violent video games, as well as create "an advisory council to study the effects of violent games" and "to help families better monitor" the games. While bill sponsor State Senator Andrew Lanza said, "Technology advances have allowed video games to become increasingly more realistic and interactive, and unfortunately more violent. Some games simply aren't appropriate for nine and ten year old children for example," Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist opined to the AP, "The reason it is politically popular is the average citizen will read a headline that says, 'State Legislature is against violence in children's video games.' They are unlikely to read a headline that says, 'Legislature will waste $70,000 of your tax dollars.'" more ›