Councilmembers are pushing the NYPD to abolish a database containing the names of New Yorkers who have been stopped, frisked, and released without charges. With the NYPD stopping and frisking a record number of people last year, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) and Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) wrote a letter urging Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to get rid of files on individuals who haven't been arrested or given summonses, arguing the current policy "raises significant privacy-right concerns and suggests that these innocent people are more likely to be targeted in future criminal investigations." more ›

Long before getting hit with a 13-count federal indictment for charges of fraud and extortion stunning in both their scope and their audacity, Councilman Larry Seabrook (D-Bronx) successfully brushed off a scandal that could have brought an end to his political career. According to the Daily News, Seabrook somehow divorced his wife without telling her. more ›

The list of opponents of the plan to hold the trials of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other suspect terrorists in a Lower Manhattan courthouse keeps getting longer. Due to concerns about security, cost, and trial's possible impact on the lives of Manhattan residents, the state Senate passed a resolution today urging the federal government to try the suspects in military tribunals, not civilian courts, according to 1010WINS. The advisory vote comes as the Obama administration appears to be considering moving the trial out of Manhattan—but not necessarily out of civilian courts. Meanwhile, tomorrow's planned City Council hearing on the terror trial has been postponed due to the pending snowpocalypse. more ›

Just weeks after trouncing Councilman Charles Barron (D-East New York) to be re-elected as Council Speaker, Councilwoman Christine Quinn (D-Chelsea) stripped Barron of his position chairing the Higher Education Committee. In a near repeat of the 48-1 vote in the Speaker race, the Council voted 47-1 to demote Barron. In both instances, Barron cast the only vote in his favor. more ›