Results tagged “senatemajorityleaderjoebruno”

Yesterday, over 8,500 pages of documents detailing Albany DA David Soares's investigation into former Governor Spitzer's campaign to smear former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno were released yesterday--at a price. Lohud.com's Joseph Spector writes that the country clerk offered a $90 CD to the public and press that contained four boxes worth of information:

I’m just starting to go through it, and it’s an absolute mess. Every page is it’s own pdf file and not even scrollable or searchable. So it appears every page is its own file, making it that much more difficult to review. None of the files are titled, there’s no index...

Continue reading "Albany DA Offers Troopergate Docs for $90"

Former Westchester County District Attorney - and one-time Attorney General candidate and potential Senate candidate - Jeanine Pirro and her husband Al Pirro have announced they are separating. Their statement to the press: "We have agreed to amicably separate. As always, our priority remains our two wonderful children. We ask that people respect our privacy. There will be no further comment." The couple has been married 32 years and have weathered through many years of...

In a city whose mayor has made gun control one of his signature issues, it's no surprise that the number of registered gun owners has gone down. The Post reports that there are now 36,169, versus 38,000 last year. Permits that allow one to wear a gun on a holster (concealed) also dropped to 2,555, which the Sun says is almost 50% less than the 2004 number. Of course, there's now way to estimate illegal gun ownership.

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.

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."

He also compared Spitzer to a "Third World dictator." The allegations that Spitzer was asking the State Police to keep records of Bruno's activities stems from yesterday's Post article that had quotes from Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp saying that Spitzer was doing as much. But then Dopp called the Post story "grossly inaccurate and false," which then led to the Post detailing its exchanges with Dopp.

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.

WCBS 2 reporter Andrew Kirtzman takes up rumors of Mayor Bloomberg wanting to run for Governor (which the mayor denies) by way of looking at how everyone wants to talk about him. Given that he's frequently cited in national publications (writing about gun control in Newsweek, named a Time 100 influential), political consultant Norman Adler says, "Mike Bloomberg is kind of the Paris Hilton of politics. People want to report about him and want to conjecture about him." Phew, that's what the Paris Hilton comparison is about -- for a second we were worried he'd start toting around a Chihuahua and expose himself in paparazzi pictures. Besides, only one of them deserves to be famous.

The latest Quinnipiac poll about New York politics shows that the public is behind Governor Spitzer and his "Steamroller Style." Sixty-one percent say Spitzer's way is "good for the people"; by gender, men like Eliot a little more than women, with 63% men approving to 57% of women. (Men like a man who gets angry!) Interestingly enough, 59% of Republicans approve of Spitzer's attitude - probably because they are enjoying his fight with Assembly leader Sheldon Silver.

She may developing a talk show, but that doesn't mean former Westchester DA and failed Attorney General candidate Jeanine Pirro can't be investigated some more! WNBC's Jonathan Dienst reports the federal investigation into Pirro's doings has broadened, with a focus on what occurred during 2004-2005.

As if things couldn't get worse for Jeanine Pirro, State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has told the Westchester County DA to get out of the race for US Senate. Pirro has been fighting an uphill battle ever since her campaign started with a flub and the more recent news that her fundraising has been less than stellar. In his statement, Bruno said:

"I have said from the beginning, and I know a lot of my colleagues, and people within the party, share the thought, that she would make a great attorney general. By background, by her experience, by her prosecutorial record. And I hope that before this procedure gets too much further, that Jeanine Pirro would reconsider and run for A.G."

Ouch! But it seems like Bruno is just stating the obvious - Westchester DA to state attorney general, makes sense to us. In response to Bruno's statement, Pirro released a short statement, "Senator Bruno is a respected majority leader and I appreciate his confidence in my abilities. However, I am a candidate for U.S. Senate." We wonder if Pirro will be sending Senator Bruno a Christmas card this year.

The Village Voice on why the Jets' claims that their bid will bring in minority jobs may be "full of hot air." And the Daily News' Juan Gonzalez on how the MTA's decision to grant Jets the West Side railyards was like watching a sting.