Principal Tyona Washington of Canarsie High School opened up a piece of mail that contained a noose made out of string as well as a 2-page letter containing, per Newsday, "a common racial slur and words suggesting that a black person should not be running the school." The letter also referred to "white power" and had the signature of a white administrator, but police do not believe the letter was from that individual. Additionally, the......

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......

In the latest battle between Governor Eliot Spitzer and Assembly leader Sheldon Silver, the governor has said that legislators should disclose their outside income, something they are currently not required to do. The state Constitution classifies legislators as part-time representatives, allowing them to work outside their elective office. Silver has worked "of counsel" to the law firm of Weitz and Luxenberg for the past five years. The New York Post reports that Albany insiders believe......

We couldn't even get through Governor Spitzer's first month before a "showdown with Assembly Speaker Silver." State Democrats have been saying they feel betrayed - or, in the words of Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright to NY1, "totally, totally disrespected" - because the panel formed by Spitzer to select State Comptroller candidates didn't select any of their choices. State Democrats claim the panel was supposed to pick five candidates, including a Democratic Assemblyman interested in......

Yesterday, Joseph Bruno, the NY State Senate's majority leader, revealed that the FBI was investigating him for his "outside business interests." Wow, is being investigated by the feds the new black for Republicans? Or is being investigation something most politicians need to go through (we're talking to you, Alan Hevesi!)? Republican Bruno called a press conference and told reporters, "I have nothing to hide. They are going into background over the past five or six......

The NY State Senate has scheduled a hearing with the State Liquor Authority this September. While the Senate would have had a hearing anyway, since a new commissioner, Daniel Boyle, was appointed, the hearing will be weighted towards recent New York City bar and club incidents that have resulted in patrons' deaths. The Post reports that representatives from the Bloomberg administration will testify - we wonder if they'll come with their "quality of life" agenda......

Among our favorites stories about this city are ones about our billionaire mayor's reluctant Republicanism. Or conveinent Republicanism - take your pick. Sure, the Mayor may have switched to be a Republican to win the mayoral nomination, and he may have made the city host the 2004 Republican National Convention, but he really hates the NY State Republicans, especially after the little support they show the city year after year. So, reading that Mayor Bloomberg......

With the urgent need to renovate their asbestos-filled and cramped headquarters on the East River, the United Nations is considering a move to Brooklyn. Seriously. Over a year ago, the U.N. selected Fumihiko Maki to design their new temporary space on First Avenue, a "glassy, white and sheer but elegant building," but the NY State Senate rejected the plan, so the U.N. had to hunt again for space starting in 2007. There are reports that......

Pooh-poohing the idea that being in a blue state meant their votes wouldn't count, New Yorkers were determined to vote yesterday, Washington > New York: Strong Showing at Polls Catches City's Old System Off Guard" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/03ballots.html">overwhelming voting centers and frustrating many. Our readers reported both frustrating and easy voting experiences yesterday, which makes us realize a couple things: 1) Voting on the way to work may make you late to work; 2) Voting at......

News that NY has the highest state and local taxes in the country is not new news, but it gives Gothamist an extra bit of heartburn, especially after the Brennan Center for Justice's report revealing that the NY State legislative process is the most dysfunctional in the country! The NY Times spoke to NY State Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, about the findings and possibility of reforming the legislature, and Bruno scoffed at those ideas,......