Last week, Senator John "Maybe Maverick" McCain (R-Arizona) was kind of dismissive to a 9/11 first responder who would really love some Republican support for the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Last night, McCain was kind of dismissive about Democrats' efforts to try to give $7.4 billion in benefits to first responders and survivors; when arguing against time limits for discussing the START Treaty, "To have a time agreement after all of the fooling around that we’ve been doing on ‘DREAM’ Act, on New York City … we will not have a time agreement from this side.” Naturally, that set off Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). more ›

Last night, embattled longtime House member Rep. Charles Rangel won the Democratic primary for the 15th Congressional seat in Harlem. He had 50% of the vote; the next closest challenger was Adam Clayton Powell IV, who had about 24%. The 80-year-old told his supporters, "I don’t know how this will be misconstrued by the press. But no matter what they say, I go back to Washington a stronger man than I have ever been." more ›

In July, when the 9/11 health and compensation bill was up for a vote under "absolute majority rules," it failed to pass, enraging New York's Congressional members. Now the bill will be up for another vote this month. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler said yesterday, "We have talked to the Democratic leadership and they have told us that the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will be brought to the House floor soon after Congress returns from recess.  We anticipate that the bill will be taken up the second week we are back in session and will be considered under regular order, with the expectation and belief that neither side will play politics with this vitally-important legislation." more ›

Apparently anyone that's anyone is living out in Palisades, New York. Björk Gudmundsdottir (better known by just her first name) was selling her home there last year, and Al Pacino, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Harvey Keitel are (or have been) residents. Oh, and Didi Conn—who you know as Frenchie in Grease—is now selling her home there. The NY Times reports that the home, once owned by Bill Murray, has about 5,000 square feet on about 2 acres, and Conn and her composer husband are asking $2.9 million. more ›

After ripping into Republican House members for failing to vote for the 9/11 health and compensation bill, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) have been getting lots of press, thanks to his Youtube-captured speech (video below). But now many think his loud, passionate display was less about the bill and more about his 2013 mayoral chances. In other words, Weiner could have been acting like...a politician! more ›

Rep. Charles Rangel, the long-serving Congressman from Harlem who stepped down from chairing the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has been charged with multiple ethics violations by the House investigative committee. The AP reports, "The panel's actions sends the case to a trial on the allegations. A separate ethics panel will decide whether the alleged violations can be proved by clear and convincing evidence. Sources said the committee and Rangel's attorney attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a settlement to end the case. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions. A settlement would have required Rangel to agree that he violated ethics rules." more ›

Early this morning, House and Senate leaders agreed on reconciling financial reform legislation. President Obama said, before leaving for Toronto to attend the G20 Summit, "Over the last 17 months, we passed an economic Recovery Act, health insurance reform, education reform, and we are now on the brink of passing Wall Street reform. And at the G20 summit this weekend, I’ll work with other nations not only to coordinate our financial reform efforts, but to promote global economic growth while ensuring that each nation can pursue a path that is sustainable for its own public finances." more ›

The legendary Amityville home that inspired the terrifying book and movie is for sale (they're asking a little over a million bucks), and PETA wants the keys! The animal rights group says they've written to the current owner asking if they could rent the residence to set up an exhibit called the "Amityville Slaughterhouse of Horrors," which would teach carnivores about the evils of factory farms and slaughterhouses. They would also set up an on-site café where visitors could learn about vegetarian options. more ›

Last night, the Senate voted 59-39 to approve a "far-reaching" financial reform bill, with four Republicans voting for it while two Democrats voting against it. The next step is for the Senate and House versions of the bill to be reconciled, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said the reform will protect Americans from "Wall Street greed that cost middle-class families their homes, their jobs and their retirement savings... It’s a choice between learning from the mistakes of the past or letting it happen again. For those who wanted to protect Wall Street, it didn’t work... When this bill becomes law, the joy ride on Wall Street will come to a screeching halt." in case you didn't catch that, FU, Wall Street! more ›

Senator Charles Schumer has been so busy lately worrying about baggage fees and Facebook privacy, not to mention criticizing Wall Street, it's easy to forget he's up for re-election. But it seems he doesn't have to worry about fundraising among his old crowd: Sen. Schumer has made nearly $2.2 million from interest on political donations that he collected more than six years ago. more ›

This morning, a woman who was in the front yard of a Hempstead, Long Island home was killed when a van barreled onto her lawn and slammed her into her house. It's unclear if the woman was a resident or pedestrian, but WCBS 2 reports, "A broken lawn mower was seen near the van with the handle bars stripped off. Black tire tracks in the street mark where the van veered onto the sidewalk, followed by a long trail of tracks through the grass. The front of the gray van went through a portion of the brick house by the front door." more ›

A couple of years ago Alexander Hamilton's country home, known as Hamilton Grange, was on the move for the second time. Hamilton only got to spend two short years in the house, thanks to Aaron Burr and his good aim—but the Federal-style home will live on forever. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] A health care reform opponent sent a letter containing a suspicious white powder to outspoken health care reform supporter Rep. Anthony Weiner's Kew Gardens district office, according to police scanner reports. Wire dispatches indicate that nine people are being decontaminated after potential exposure to the substance, which was sent in a letter "making reference to President Obama's healthcare reform bill." more ›

Before he resigned from office, former Rep. Eric Massa was reportedly under investigation for allegedly groping three male staffers, as well as incidents of improper conduct with interns and aides. The southwestern New York Congressman has said he stepped down for a number of reasons including his health, his "salty" language, and because Democratic leaders had launched a conspiracy to force him from the House before the healthcare vote. White House officials have called those allegations "ridiculous." more ›

On Sunday the New York County Democratic Committee said it would wait to endorse Rep. Charles Rangel’s reelection campaign. Upon hearing the announcement, the long-running official, who’s currently under investigation for a slew of ethics violations, maintained his usual bravado. "This time I may get less than 90% of the vote," said Rangel, who's already in the middle of his 20th term. Still, all over the state Democrats are ripping up checks he wrote them, fearing criticism for taking contributions from the shamed congressman. more ›

Last year the House passed legislation to block Seneca Indians from selling cigarettes through the mail, a business that, combined with their gambling empire, nets them $1 billion annually. But now, thanks to aggressive political practices, the western New York Nation may be back in tobacco. The Times reports their success is due to a “campaign of back-room lobbying and public political threats” but a Seneca spokesman says they're playing by the rules. “Isn’t that the way things go in the American system?” asked Richard Nephew, co-chairman of the Seneca Nation’s foreign relations committee. “It is something new for us to actively get involved in the American political process,” he said. “But we are trying to learn what works in America, and I guess making political contributions is something that works.” more ›

During a recent news conference Sen. Eric Adams cut loose on Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, calling his request that Gov. Ravitch handle the budget in place of disgraced Gov. Paterson "inappropriate and offensive." The enraged lawmaker continued: "The speaker is not the judge and jury or the decider of who he negotiates the budget with... Our state constitution determines that," he said. "Unless he has become the modern-day Napoleon, where he crowns himself, he's only the speaker. He is not the leader or the king of New York State." Adams hasn't always supported Paterson in the past, but in this instance he was firm, reports the Post. "[Paterson is] a sitting governor," he said. "You don't state because of a credibility problem or because you don't like the suit he's wearing." more ›

After a lengthy investigation, a House ethics panel ruled that Rep. Charlie Rangel violated congressional rules by traveling to the Caribbean on corporate junkets in 2007 and 2008. The Harlem Democrat said he had been "admonished" by the committee, which has not yet announced its findings regarding allegations of improper fundraising, tax evasion on property in the Dominican Republic, and his use of four rent-stabilized apartments in Manhattan despite House rules barring gifts worth more than $50. more ›

There are two kinds of New Yorkers: those who lock their doors, and those who do not. The Times investigates some of those brave residents with open door policies, like 63-year-old real estate firm vice president Joyce Weisshappel, who never locks her door. In fact, Weisshappel doesn't even know where her keys are. Though Weisshappel lives in a luxury apartment building with 24-hour doormen, others, like 52-year-old Brooklyn resident Sarah, don't have that kind of security. Sarah leaves her door unlocked for brief trips out — like when she walks the dog — though she locks it when she leaves for extended periods. "It's a bit of a habit and maybe a bit of a dare, as I always considered myself lucky." more ›

An early morning blaze at a pot-grower's house hotboxed an entire block in the Bronx today. One dazed neighbor tells the Post, "It was like the house was a giant weed farm. I thought it was a fog, there was so much smoke." The blaze raged through a two-story home on Hone Avenue in Allerton around 1 a.m., and in addition to lights used for growing plants indoors, investigators found a cache of guns. No arrests were made, but an NYPD officer was seen hauling five garbage bags filled with pot plants from the house. It ultimately took some sixty firefighters to cash the well-packed blaze; now investigators just need to scrape the house for resin. more ›

President Obama's been in office just eight months, and already the government is moving in to disarm the citizenry. Why, just the other day they raided Anthony Cortese's house over in Midland Beach, Staten Island, confiscating his weapons and dragging him off in handcuffs, all because he hadn't registered some of his firearms with Obama's thought police! Cortese says he's a big game hunter (he owns property up in the Catskills) and tells the Staten Island Advance, "I think it's absolutely horrible that in America, they would take away a man's hunting rifles. I have to fight to get them back." more ›

Brooklyn prosecutors expect to meet next week with gotcha "journalists" James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles to view raw hidden-camera footage recorded by the duo at an ACORN office in Brooklyn, where they duped employees of the community organizing group into giving bad advice to Giles, posing as a prostitute with O'Keefe as her pimp. A spokesman for the Brooklyn DA tells the Daily News, "This is a first step, and there are possible criminal charges." As you probably know by now, the heavily edited video has become a rallying cry for drown-government-in-the-bathtub right-wingers, and yesterday the House of Representatives voted 345 to 75 to deny funding for ACORN. The vote came on a provision attached to a student aid bill; on Monday the Senate voted 83 to 7 to deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN. According to the AP, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the latest allegations against ACORN as "horrible," but she still believes the group has many honest employees and stresses that it's up to House-Senate negotiators to determine whether the provision to cut funding remains in the final version of the bill. more ›

48-year-old Calixta Guerrero was in her underwear in her Washington Heights apartment around 6 a.m. yesterday when police started pounding on the door. She told them she needed a moment to cover up, but cops shouted, "Open the f-----g door, right now!" So Guerrero complied, and was promptly forced to the floor and handcuffed. Good morning! more ›

A Long Island guy is in major trouble after a perfectly innocent evening spent hanging with his 5-year-old son in a parking lot went terribly wrong, all thanks to some nosy cops. Christopher Grossman, 37, was spotted Tuesday night just chilling with the little man around 11:30 in a parking lot in Seaford, standing next to a car with the music "blasting." A Nassau County police officer decided to see what was up, and noticed that the car's interior was a disgusting mess, overflowing with trash, clothing, golf clubs, and bottles of anti-freeze and laundry detergent surrounding the child's car seat. more ›