Results tagged “governoreliotspitzer”

Politico tackles former governor Eliot Spitzer's recent forays back in the public and declares, "If there’s a textbook for scandal-scarred politicians on the art of the recovery, Spitzer has surely read it; if there isn’t, he might consider penning one." A Democratic consultant, Celinda Lake, explains, "The American public really believes in second chances [as long as you] don’t argue with them about the fact that you are guilty — and you pay a price," while Republican strategist Mark McKinnon says, "The truth is, voters are actually pretty forgiving. As long as you fall on your sword, crawl over broken glass and wear black for a year." Eh, maybe, but Hookergate aside, there was still Troopergate.

New York State Senate leader Joseph Bruno is still under FBI investigation for possibly improper ties to unions that deal with state pension agencies! In 2006, Bruno said of the FBI's look, "I have nothing to hide. They are going into background over the past five or six years," but the NY Times describes the feds' current investigation as widening.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced New York City will receive $153 million - up from last year's $61 million - in transit security grants. Wow - all we can do is remember Chertoff's 2005 remark, when trying discussing how security funding would be allocated, "The truth of the matter is, a fully loaded airplane with jet fuel, a commercial airliner, has the capacity to kill 3,000 people. A bomb in a subway car may kill 30 people. When you start to think about your priorities, you're going to think about making sure you don't have a catastrophic thing first."

In spite of the presence of a new governor, Albany politics has been as insanely frustrating as usual. And the NY Sun's year-end interviews with the top three lawmakers - Governor Eliot Spitzer, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver - demonstrate why pretty much everyone sighs when they think of the capitol and state politicians.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 1st Ave. in Manhattan, a possible abduction at 183rd St. and Webster Ave. in the Bronx, and a homicide on Cedarcroft Rd. and Home St. in Queens.
• A student at Stony Brook University was arrested for falsely reporting to police that he had been robbed at knife point on the Suffolk County school's campus.
• The newborn found by skateboarding teens on a Queens dumpster has been found a foster home for Christmas by the Administration for Children's Services. 'Christina Noel' was three hours old when discovered naked and stuffed in a paper bag with her umbilical cord still attached.
• Former State Attorney General and current Governor Eliot Spitzer issued the first pardon of his tenure in order to prevent the deportation of a man who was convicted and served time for robbing a payroll office. Gov. Pataki only issued one pardon his entire 12 years in office, and that was to comedian Lenny Bruce, after Bruce was dead.
• A stenographer reading back testimony in the case of a black man accused of killing a teenager he feared was going to lynch him or his son, had to leave a court room in tears. Deliberations in the racially charged trial continue with the jury saying it is deadlocked and the judge is threatening to to hold over the 12 through Christmas day.
• Dozens of buildings have to be re-inspected because city officials found that there were cracks in a pair of plumbers' resumes. The two men overstated their qualifications to install life-saving sprinkler systems.
• Profits may be down because of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown (excluding Goldman Sachs) and investment firm stocks may be in the toilet, but Wall St. bonuses are up 14% from last year. Bear Stearns CEO Jim Cayne didn't even bother showing up for an investor conference call, however, after he gave up his bonus for the firm's not-so-hot performance.
• The lawyer who is auctioning off one of the Knight Rider cars identified as KITT, suspended the auction because he found the interest overwhelming. Tasked with ameliorating the car's owner's debts, it was his first foray with eBay.

Governor Eliot Spitzer announced that he would ask the MTA to keep the base subway and bus fare at $2 yesterday morning, earning praise from elected officials and Mike Lupica, but it's hard for riders to truly weigh in, as the cost of unlimited Metrocards will probably be going up. About 85% of riders use the unlimited cards, and the director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, Bill Henderson, told the Post...

Governor Eliot Spitzer had a busy week. Not only was he working himself up to admit his driver's license plan would not pass, Spitzer suggested instituting the state's 8.375% sales tax on Internet goods - just in time for holiday shopping! But only hours after the NY Sun reported on the plan, Spitzer changed his mind, deciding to wait until the new year to implement taxes on Internet purchases. Currently, online retailers who don't have...

Democratic presidential frontrunner and New York Senator Hillary Clinton is feeling bruised from the Tuesday night debate, where the big moment was when Clinton gave meandering support of Governor Eliot Spitzer's controversial driver's license plan for illegal immigrants.

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.

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.

Taking the offensive, Governor Eliot Spitzer said high and low that he's "happy to, going to, look forward to" testify to the State Ethics Commission's investigation, should they want his testimony. The Subdued Steamroller said, "If they call me, I'd love to, and even if they don't, I'd love to send them my statement just because this needs to be clarified and made perfectly clear." Is he taking Ed Koch's advice?

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."

Senate Majority Joseph Bruno's and Governor Eliot Spitzer's epic Choppergate fight grows each and every day. Yesterday, Bruno demanded that investigations be opened to focus on Spitzer's administration and whether Spitzer staffers were engaged in trying to sabotage him. Bruno said, "A lot of people in authority think there was criminality in the executive branch... I want to know how much the governor knew ... This is not going to go away, not going to get swept under a rug."

Governor Eliot Spitzer's "ChopperGate" has more of a stink today: It turns out that two of his senior aides refused to speak with the Attorney General's office during the investigation. While the investigation ultimately found that Spitzer aides didn't technically break the law when they were trying to use State Police records to discredit State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, it makes it hard to believe Spitzer's assertion that his aides had cooperated fully with the AG's office.

Have you ever wondered why Governor Eliot Spitzer is so combative? Well, this week's New York magazine cover story about the Steamroller doesn't exactly explain why, but there are definite clues.

Mayor Bloomberg returned from Sun Valley's media mogul conference to stump for his congestion pricing program at three churches yesterday. And today he's headed to Albany, as the congestion pricing program will be discussed by the Legislature. The Bloomberg administration has pointed out that the federal Department of Transportation is pretty willing to give $537 million in funding to NYC if the concept of congestion pricing is passed by Albany lawmakers, but the deadline for that money is today.

This morning, Governor Eliot Spitzer is announcing the sale of the West Side Railyards. The NY Times reports that the state and MTA will "formally begin soliciting bids for the development rights." Boy, does this bring us back to 2005. Of course, developers will need a boatload of patience and a boatload of money - the land was appraised last September to be worth $1.5 billion and it's estimated to cost $1 billion to simply build a platform over the railyards.

The NY Times reports that Governor Eliot Spitzer is working on an "ambitious and potentially expensive push to expand health coverage to nearly three million more residents." With 15% of the state's residents uninsured, universal health care was one of Spitzer's campaign promises last year. He has also openly criticized the state's health system, saying billions of dollars are pumped into a "broken system with no deliverables and no accountability."

Talk about timing! Governor Eliot Spitzer visited an Albany child care center and got a photo op with some kids, which could only help take the attention off his bitter feud with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. But we wonder if these tots have been paying attention to the news: The Post reports that when Spitzer told them to call him "Eliot," one kid declined and said, "I want to call you 'clown,'" a suggestion three of his classmates thought was swell.

The Post takes out a fraction of its crowded cover (A-Rod's 30th home run gets top billing) to trumpet that Governor Eliot Spitzer's aides allegedly looked for dirt on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, in hopes of getting a NYC DA's office to investigate Bruno. Not only that, a source says Spitzer's office allegedly contacted an "investigative agency...about a possible probe of Bruno before the accusations of the misuse of state aircraft became public nine days ago - suggesting a conspiracy aimed at Bruno was already under way." That is some source!

Okay, this might be the official nadir of the Governor Eliot Spitzer-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno fight. The Post exclusively reports that a furious Spitzer called Bruno an "old, senile piece of s---t". Swear words and ageism!

Why is it that things are hotter in Albany with the Legislative session over? The brouhaha between Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Governor Eliot Spitzer has, as the Sun put it, "reached a new low." Bruno had a press conference yesterday, saying Spitzer's alleged State Police surveillance on Bruno's activities was "espionage." From the Times Union:

"I've been in government 31 years and I've never experienced anything like this," said Bruno. "I was stunned to learn Governor Spitzer is using the fine men and women of the New York State Police to conduct surveillance on me," Bruno said. "This should send shivers up the spine of every New Yorker."

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.

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.

The close of Albany's legislative session highlighted the fight between Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Spitzer, who has been planning a tour of the state to shame Bruno and Senate Republicans' decision-making, is now thinking about having the state inspector general look into Bruno's use of the state aircraft fleet for political fund-raisers.

Fifth Avenue was packed with revelers and performers during the 50th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. Celebrities, like "King" Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, were out in force, as were the politicians, including Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Eliot Spitzer, Senator Charles Schumer, Representative Jose Serrano, and Puerto Rico governor Anibal Acevedo-Villa.

A number of politicians offered their support (though not 100%) of Mayor Bloomberg's Voldemort, aka congestion pricing, today. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters appeared with Governor Eliot Spitzer and Bloomberg at a press conference today, with Peters saying, "This plan will keep the city that never sleeps from becoming the city that never moves." She also put some pressure on the state Legislature to approve the just submitted S. 6068, the NY State Senate's congestion pricing legislation, by saying that in order for the city to continue to qualify for federal transportation grants, it needs to pass congestion pricing.

After higher-than-safe levels of the chemical terachloroethylene, also known as PERC and used by dry cleaners and auto body shops, were found in Queens drinking water last month, a Queens politician wants to phase PERC from use. State Senator Malcolm Smith proposed legislation to help businesses switch to environmentally friendly products by 2012. Sounds like a no-brainer, but probably having the Department of Buildings check up on whether buildings have backflow preventer valves would help as well.