Results tagged “attorneygeneralandrewcuomo”

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a report on bank bonuses, which he had previously sent to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Eldophus Towns, yesterday, and in it, Cuomo continued to criticize Wall Street's compensation methods. The Wall Street Journal says the report gives a "rare window into the pay culture" of Wall Street:

Nine banks that received government aid money paid out bonuses of nearly $33 billion last year -- including more than $1 million apiece to nearly 5,000 employees -- despite huge losses that plunged the U.S. into economic turmoil...

Continue reading "AG Cuomo's Report Blasts Wall Street Bonuses"

Caroline Kennedy's sudden, apparently last-minute decision to abandon her Senate bid is the talk of the Empire State, you know? After varying reports about why she was ditching the chance to be junior Senator—her uncle's failing health, learning that Governor David Paterson wasn't going to choose her— plus one on saying she dropping out, Kennedy did nothing to clear things by only saying in a statement, "I informed Governor Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate."

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has made misleading practices in the student loan industry one of his major issues (see the AG's info on student lending), and yesterday he announced seven companies will follow a "code of conduct for their marketing". Campus Door, EduGap, GMAC Bank, Graduate Loan Associates, Nelnet, Nextstudent and Xanthus were found to have questionable practices--mailing fake checks or false rebates, offering gifts (iPods) to distract from "sometimes onerous" loan terms, and making false representations about private loans being better than lower-cost federal loans. Cuomo said, "I commend the eight lenders who have today signed the code... It is unconscionable for lenders to entice students into loans that are not best for them.”

According to its website, Murray Hill's Tonic East “is the most well rounded sports bar in the area, with an attractive scene of locals.” But it seems black was not deemed beautiful by the management: they recently agreed to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to the tune of $35,000.

On Wednesday, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo crashed Fashion Week when he announced an indictment against the former superintendent of the 26th Street Armory. James Jackson had solicited bribes from fashion darling Marc Jacobs (pictured), who allegedly complied in order to secure the coveted armory space for his fashion shows. The Armory is considered a "community asset" whose space is to be used by the military and public.

A New York State appellate court ruled that under the federal concept of the "marriage recognition rule," which grants reciprocity to the bond of marriage formed in other states, it will recognize gay marriages solemnized in other states. As one of the largest states in the nation, this is a huge step for proponents of normalizing same-sex marriages. Gay marriages still aren't allowed in New York State, although a young mayor in New Paltz, NY attempted to go forward with that initiative, but marriages performed elsewhere will be granted legal status. It's a bit of legalistic court-leading-the-horse, but gay rights proponents seem pleased.

With Martin Tankleff's recent release (after 17 years behind bars) and the appointment of none other than New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as a special prosecutor in the murder investigation, there's more attention paid to who may or may not have been responsible for the murder of Seymour Tankleff and his wife Arlene in 1988. At the time, prosecutors pegged the cold-blooded killing on their 17-year-old son Martin, claiming that the distraught teenager copped to killing his parents in hope of getting an early inheritance.

Troopergate is the story that just keeps giving! Yesterday, we found out that Darren Dopp, former aide for Governor Spitzer accused of leaking information to smear Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, probably won't face perjury but there's question as to whether a sworn statement he gave is actually a sworn statement since it doesn't have the language "I swear to the truth of this statement." Now it turns out that Dopp called Attorney General Andrew Cuomo "an animal"!

While Governor Spitzer has been trying to get back to business, the Senate Investigations Committee and Albany County DA's office have been busy deciding what to do with Spitzer's from communications director Darren Dopp. Dopp resigned after he at least co-devised a plan to smear Spitzer's rival Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno over the summer. The NY Times reports the Albany County DA's office is not going to charge Dopp with perjury - yet. Dopp's...

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that NY State filed papers with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission explaining why the license for the Indian Point nuclear power plant should not be renewed. In fact, Cuomo called the plant a "catastrophe waiting to happen" and said, "I believe Indian Point should be closed and it should be closed now." Here are some of the reasons Cuomo and Governor Spitzer gave (more here - the petition submitted to the...

When Governor Spitzer announced he was dropping his controversial plan to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants yesterday, he was praised by his fellow Democrats. The NY Times notes that the decision won Spitzer "the kind of wide acclaim from elected officials that he could not win for the proposal itself." And that's gotta sting a little. Spitzer had first introduced a broad plan to allow illegal immigrants to get licenses, which caused outcry from...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on Monument Walk in Brooklyn, a stabbing on West 31st St. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Hughes Ave. in Brooklyn.
• Cops are looking into the death of a man who was found unconscious in the bathroom of the Knitting Factory. They're deeming the incident suspicious.
• A Columbia University hunger striker was carried off a couch after passing out from hunger. Meanwhile, a group of drunken students handed out fliers articulating (presumably in lieu of verbally) why they thought eating was a good thing.
• New York poker players are feeling nervous after last week's late-night holdup that left one player dead.
• News crews with cameras are the wrong people to get into hysterical parking rage incidents with.
• Former Congressman John Sweeney was pulled over on the NY State Thruway after he was observed driving erratically. State Troopers had no comment on the identity of the 23-year-old woman who was accompanying Sweeney when he was pulled over and later registered a BAC of .18.
• Federal regulators feel their toes are being stepped on by NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has initiated an investigation into federally guaranteed mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.
• On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, armed forces veterans marched up Manhattan's 5th Ave. to commemorate those who have served.

It's turns out that a dirty tricks campaign - even if it's not quite criminal - can be pretty damaging. A new Quinnipiac poll shows that Governor Spitzer's approval rating has dropped to a new low of 47%. Of course, that's the low after nine months in office, so there's still room for improvement - or to find a new low.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery at the Washington Mutual on Sheepshead Bay Rd. in Brooklyn, a worker fell into the water off Pier 11 on Governor's Island, and a bank robbery on 57th St. and Broadway in Manhattan.
• Additional charges could be in store for the woman who allegedly shot a Staten Island commune leader before fleeing to Philadelphia.
• Maya Rudolph is not returning for the new season of Saturday Night Live
• New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is cruising Facebook.com for underage hookups, in order to file charges against the online social networking site.
• Is there a mad firebomber in Park Slope, endangering Subarus, garbage cans, small animals and Eve Ensler's privates? Brownstoner readers are worried.
• A 28-year-old woman was killed while crossing Houston St. this morning. A truck knocked the young woman out of her shoes and pinned her as she was crossing 6th and West Houston at 7:15 a.m.
• Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens was scratched from the series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, including tonight's start. Kei Igawa will start in place of the high-priced hurler with the hurt hamstring.
• Six New Yorkers were awarded MacArthur Genius Grants.

Governor Spitzer can rest a bit easier now: The Albany County DA found that the governor's aides broke no laws when they tried to use the state police to discredit a rival, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. DA David Soares will release a report today, but in the meantime, his spokeswoman's statement said, "This office found no illegal conduct. To the contrary, we found that the governor, his staff, and the New York State Police were acting within their authority in compiling and releasing documents to the media concerning the use of state aircraft."

With Hillary Clinton focusing on her strong presidential campaign, NY State Democrats are wondering who will take over her place as the junior Senator from New York. Apparently Governor Spitzer may be open to putting Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on his shortlist.

After years of legal wrangling, the Appellate Court has backed the College of Staten Island and says that the CUNY school can deny official status to fraternity Chi Iota. But the battle may not be over, as the brothers want to fight this at the Supreme Court.

Thought Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hilary Clinton appeared at a press conference to discuss health coverage of New York children, they had to answer questions about campaign donations they accepted from fugitive apparel executive Norman Hsu. Clinton received $23,000 from Hsu and announced that she would donate the money to charity after revelations that Hsu has been wanted in California for defrauding California investors since 1991. Hsu has fled to Hong Kong but has been living in New York as a high-profile donor since 2003. Guess when those cases grow cold, they stay cold.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: shots fired on Jamaica Ave. in Queens, another shooting on East 126th St. in Manhattan, and yet another shooting at Snyder and Rogers Aves. in Brooklyn.
• Some Lower East Side residents want the currently vacant portion of the Essex St. Market used as a site for cheaper housing, not additional restaurants for wealthier newcomers.
• A beautiful panorama shot from the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center.
• The Daily News talks to Bobby Vigil, the first time visitor to NYC from Colorado who helped a flight crew restrain an airline passenger who wanted to get off a plane immediately, when it was still in the air over New York.
• In a settlement with New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Fraternal Order of Police will disburse $9 million to the families of 72 cops killed in the 9/11/01 attacks.
• The Post reports that even as the number of cyclists in the city grows, the number of summonses issued for violations like riding without a helmet, riding on the sidewalk, or not having required reflectors declined 19%, to 21, 719 for the year ended June 30th.
• New Yorkers look out for each other at a West Village jazz club.
• When a woman leaned out her window yesterday and yelled "Help! Fire! The people next door are trapped!", 20-year-old William Kindred and an unidentified friend ran into a burning building on West 148th St. and kicked down the door to the super's apartment, rescuing the super, his daughter, and a third person.

Something we did not realized happened on Sunday: Governor Eliot Spitzer attended a Nascar race in Watkins Glen, NY (the only NY State town that has a Nascar track, same town where the Farm Sanctuary is located) and was called "the best Jewish Nascar fan" by cable executive and race car driver Leo Hindery. The NY Times explains that his brother-in-law is an engineer at Hendrick Motorsports and that Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon is Spitzer's favorite.

Governor Spitzer's ethics woes went to the national stage yesterday when the Today show ran a segment (see it here) about the mess that included the on-screen caption "Spitzer Scandal." Sure, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office did not find any law-breaking by Spitzer's aides, just dirty tricks-ing by way of using the state police to discredit Spitzer's main Albany rival, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

Governor Eliot Spitzer think the State Senate's idea to have Attorney General Andrew Cuomo appointed "special prosecutor" - to investigate misdeeds in Spitzer's office - is "pointless." Spitzer told the Sun, "It seems to me that the attorney general already issued a report that he called complete, and Joe Bruno already called it a complete report. We have the Ethics Commission doing its thing."

Earlier this month, the NY Times had an article about how Governor Spitzer seemed "defiant and chastened" about the battles he was having with State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Now, after the Attorney General's office found that Spitzer's aides had been involved in a dirty-tricks attempt to smear Bruno by using State Police records, the NY Times reports the Spitzer is "at a loss for words" and that he will try to rebuild his image.

“This is going to be seen — and I understand it very clearly — it is going to be seen as more than a blemish,” Mr. Spitzer said in the interview, conducted in his Manhattan office. “My feeling is real loss, both substantively and from a perception perspective, about what we’re trying to do. The perception matters, not just because I’m worried about what’s the public perception of me, but because the perception about what we’re doing affects our capacity to do it.

Continue reading "Spitzer Rethinks the Whole Steamroller Thing"

Whoa: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a report investigating allegations that Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno misused state aircraft, using it to travel to political fund-raisers, as well as Bruno's subsequent allegations that Governor Spitzer misused the state resources to spy on him. The report clears Bruno of wrongdoing, noting that the Republican was conducting state business and could justify using state aircraft.

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.

Starrett City, the subsidized housing development in Brooklyn, was sold for $1.3 billion in February, but for the second time, the Department of Housing and Urban Development rejected the deal. The February sale needed to be approved by HUD, because Starrett City is the country's largest subsidized development, and shortly after the sale was announced, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo got to work on blocking the sale.

What a way to mark the middle of Governor Eliot Spitzer's first year in office: He has forwarded information about Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's statecraft and police escort use to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Albany DA Daniel Soares. That's quite a steamroll! But the story is totally, almost deliciously insane. If you've been trying to ignore the dysfunction of Albany, we urge you to stop - this is too good.

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.

After months of investigation from the State Attorney General's office, Columbia University has finally fired the director of undergraduate financial aid David Charlow yesterday. Charlow had been suspended last April when his "questionable financial ties" to a student loan company were revealed: Charlow was an adviser to Student Loan Xpress, owned stock in the company, and actively encouraged students to use Student Loan Express as a lender. Then the Post printed this excerpt from an email from Charlow to Student Loan Express's CEO Fabrizio Balestri yesterday: "I want by its design to lead the students to [the] best decision in an idiot-proof way." The best decision being Student Loan express.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a body was found at Schenk and Livonia Aves. in Brooklyn that was initially reported as body parts, a shooting on Prospect Ave. in the Bronx, and there was a police car multi-vehicle accident on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 79th St.
• A daycare cries child abuse as the artists who share their space are attempting to throw the tots out on the street.
• The head of neuropsychiatry at NYU Medical Center testified that Peter Braunstein was plotting to cap his life of crime by killing Vogue Editor Anna Wintour.
• A former domestic violence counselor was found strangled to death in her own home in Brooklyn.
• The Yankees cursed pitching staff suffers another setback as Darrell Rasner broke his finger in today's game against the Mets.
• New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating real estate practices that may have involved brokers pressuring appraisers to inflate values.
• Jason Giambi finally admits to taking steroids prior to the BALCO scandal and apologizes for it. Deafening silence is heard from other accused players.
• Eyewitness News anchor Liz Cho gave birth to a little girl this week.