Sen. Chuck Schumer, a long-time advocate of "rational gun-control laws," is putting his legislative money where his mouth is when it comes to gun laws: he told reporters that he is drafting legislation to require all gun buyers to undergo a thorough background check. And he wants to increase penalties to any states that don't contribute names to the national background-check system. more ›

In the aftermath of last week's tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, which left six people dead and 14 others injured during an apparent assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, much of the ensuing discussion has revolved around gun laws. After Mayor Bloomberg and Peter King called for stricter gun laws this week, Senator Charles Schumer wondered this morning how accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner, who was rejected for military service because of drug use, was able to buy a gun: more ›

Senator Chuck Schumer may feel more at home riding his bike around Prospect Park and chilling with Jay-Z at the Pool Parties, but when it comes to the people's business, he's ready to grab a gun and kill some pheasants. This photo was taken during a recent hunting trip with Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who ended up as the Senate's last holdout on the health care bill. Of course, both men swear they didn't talk business during their male bonding weekend, but that's exactly what Dick Cheney and Antonin Scalia claimed about their little hunting trip in 2004, weeks after the Supreme Court decided to hear the Sierra Club's lawsuit against Cheney. more ›

Senator Chuck Schumer is doing damage control today after he was overheard calling a flight attendant a bitch. The Pool Party lover was sitting next to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand aboard a US Airways shuttle as the crew prepared to begin a flight from New York to Washington on Sunday. Both senators were talking on their cell phones when an unidentified flight attendant approached and told them to terminate their calls. Can you believe the nerve of this woman, telling famous ruling class elites to follow the rules? more ›

After the NY Times story revealed how NYC votes for Barack Obama appear to have been undercounted for the unofficial (yet official enough to be sent to the AP and other news outlets) results on primary night, State Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem spoke out. Perkins, who supports Obama, told the Post

: "Every election has problems, but in this case, all the problems seem to have been his," said state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem). "He got all the zeroes and undercounting. more ›

An estimated three million people assembled along Broadway during yesterday's ticker tape parade to celebrate the Giants' 17-14 Super Bowl XLII win over the New England Patriots. more ›

Come next year, when you're flying in and out of JFK, your flight may be slightly less delayed than it's been in the past. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced a plan today to reduce the number of hourly flights at JFK International Airport to 82 or 83 flights, depending on the time of day. That would be down from 95 this past summer and what would have been 104 an hour next summer. Secretary Peters' agreement with the major airlines flying out of JFK will start on March 15th, 2008 and be in place for 2008 and 2009. By shifting flights from peak times of day to off-peak times, the number of daily flights at the airport would actually increase by 50. Currently, there are nearly 100 flights an hour, causing delays that affect the rest of the nation's air traffic. more ›

While they certainly spent time criticizing each other, the Republican presidential hopefuls devoted much time to criticize the Democratic frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said, "she hasn't run a corner store. She hasn't run a state. She hasn't run a city. She has never run anything. And the idea that she could learn to be President, you know, as an internship just doesn't make any sense." And Senator John McCain got a big round of applause for blasting Clinton and Senator Chuck Schumer's $1 million funding of a Woodstock memorial:

"Now, my friends, I wasn't there. I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. (LAUGHTER) I was tied up at the time."

Now that cell phone service in the city's subway platforms seems like it will really will happen, the Post reveals that the service will also help authorities track down 911 callers underground. Since the subway system's amplifiers installed underground will be covering a much smaller area than, say, abovegruond amplifiers, callers can be located to the exact platform and end of platform! more ›

In the wake of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's resignation last month, President Bush will nominate former U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mukasey for the position. Mukasey, who was born in the Bronx and educated at Columbia and Yale Law School, was "appointed to the federal bench" by Ronald Reagan and has presided over terrorism trials, such as the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. more ›

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As Grub Street and others reported yesterday, a letter written last Thursday by Senator Chuck Schumer to Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Friedman may have prevented the forcible closure of the Red Hook Ball Field food vendors this past weekend. While this seems to be a small victory for the food purveyors, doubt remains whether the operating season for the newly food safety-certified vendors will end just after Labor Day, or at the end of October, the date observed by the vendors for the last few decades. more ›

You may have many opinions of Senator Charles Schumer. A man who gives weekly press conferences by way of making the rounds on Sunday morning news shows, someone who will "put a bullet betweens the president's eyes," the senior Senator of New York, orchestrator of the Senate's shift back to the Democrats, husband of a recent Department of Transportation commissioner, imaginer of middle class couple the Baileys, cereal hog. But defender of hedge funds' and private equity firms' desire to keep their low tax rate? Who knew? more ›

A while back we reported on possible changes at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, more widely known as "the birthplace of hip hop." Tenants of the apartment complex, as well as its supporters, have been fighting to get the building landmarked. Just as important, they want to keep the apartments rent stabilized. more ›

As we mentioned earlier this week, the vendors who set up shop at the Red Hook ballfields may be at risk for losing their permit. According to the New York Times, the vendors have operated for years under a series of temporary use permits, but now they will have to place a formal bid with the city in order to remain in the space. But the vendors are not guaranteed to win this bid, so the fans of this culinary community institution have rallied behind it. more ›

Senator Hillary Clinton brought out a big gun in her fund-raising arsenal last night: President Bill Clinton, who introduced her last night, noting that they had met 36 years ago at Yale Law School. He said, "You will never find anybody who will do a better job of it than she will." It was their first major fund-raiser together, and tomorrow they'll be in DC for another event. About on million dollars was raised, with tickets ranging in price from $1,000 to $4,600 per person. more ›

Surrender Monkeys, by Mihow.
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Since many of New York State's elections were runaways, the real election action was seeing how the House and Senate would turn - with the Democrats taking control of the house, which makes Nancy Pelosi possibly the first female Speaker of the House. The control of the Senate is still in question - votes are being counted and re-counted in the Virginia and Montana races (Democratic challenger John Tester has a narrow lead over incumbent Conrad Burns in Montana; Senator George Allen trails Democrat Jim Webb by just 6,000 votes). In one of last night's too-close-too-call elections, with incumbent Jim Talent conceding to Democrat Claire McCaskill. more ›

Monitoring the city's job postings can pay off! Luckily, Streetsblog has been doing just that and pieces together how the city is serious about developing "comprehensive transportation and land use strategy for New York City."

The first signal came at the beginning of Mayor Bloomberg's second term when DOT Commissioner Iris Weinhall was knocked one rung down the Administration's org chart. She is now reporting directly to Doctoroff. more ›

Phillyist notes a fistfight between local pols that leaves one man down for the count. Jehovah's Witnesses get a Philly contributor out of bed, things get a little geeky with a film festival and geeky gets taken to a whole new galaxy when they talk with the Dragon Queen of the Dark Kingdom. more ›

Staten Island Chuck, NYC's own weather-prognosticating groundhog, did not see his shadow this morning which means an early spring. And in keeping with the trend in the past few years, Punxsutawny Phil differed, seeing his shadow and dooming the Northeast to more cold weather. Well, if it's cold weather the way it has been the past few weeks, we'll take it! What's sad is that apparently people were booing Phil's forecast - he's just a groundhog, people! He rather spend his time digging up holes in your yard than working out the meteorology. more ›

For more about MLK, go to The King Center, with an essay about the holiday from Coretta Scott King (she also did a rare recent public appearance last week). And InfloPlease has links to many MLK-related events. more ›