Brendan Scott
The Archive
Sen. Alesi predicts gay marriage bill will get 35 votes
ALBANY – The breakaway Republican whose surprise support gave gay-marriage advocates new hope of victory predicted this morning that same-sex nuptials would pass 35-27 if brought to a Senate vote....
NYers: Tax cap & ethics first - then same-sex nups
ALBANY -- Far more New Yorkers name capping property taxes a top priority among legislative initiatives than do approving same-sex marriage, according to a poll released yesterday. The Siena College...
GOPer's switch a huge boost to gay marriage
ALBANY -- Major cracks opened in Republican opposition to gay marriage last night as a key GOP senator dramatically endorsed the measure and put New York on the verge of...
Poll: Taxes, ethics trump gay marriage, rent in Albany
ALBANY – Legalizing gay marriage and extending rent laws trail capping property taxes and tightening ethics oversight as voter priorities as lawmakers return to Albany for what's poised to be...
Gov: Thumbs down!
ALBANY -- OMG! U btr wtch out! New Yorkers would face one of the toughest distracted-driving laws in the nation -- banning the use of almost all handheld electronic devices...
Upstate police chief admits to sexting on duty
ALBANY – It’s sexting epidemic. Days after Congressman Anthony Weiner tearfully bared his digital dalliances in Manhattan, one post-card perfect community in upstate New York was reeling from a text-message-sex-mess...
Watchdog bites $hadow groups' political ads
ALBANY -- Alarmed by a "worrisome" rise in mysterious front groups that sway debate in Albany, a leading government-reform group yesterday called for greater disclosure of spending on influential TV...
Room for rent extension
ALBANY -- With less than a week before rent regulations expire on more than 1 million city apart ments, the governor and legislative leaders are privately mulling a short extension...
The rent is damn low, too
ALBANY -- Despite a recent decline in the number of rent-regulated apartments, nearly two-thirds of the city's 2 million rental units still enjoy price protections or government subsidies, according to...
Pols' bill tailor-maid to protect hotel gals
ALBANY -- Disgraced international financier Dominique Strauss-Kahn could soon become the poster boy for a statewide effort to protect hotel housekeepers. A bill introduced by two state lawmakers yesterday would...
Ethics 'Clean Up' bill gets some 'Integrity'
ALBANY -- Goodbye, Clean Up Albany Act. Hello, Public Integrity Reform Act. The sweeping ethics bill Gov. Cuomo says will finally flush the filth from state government got a scrubbing...
Poll says seniority + merit = layoff solution
ALBANY -- Last in, worst out. Half of all New Yorkers favor scrapping the current "last in, first out" teacher job protections and using both merit and seniority to pick...
Andy opts out of fed alien plan
ALBANY -- Gov. Cuomo withdrew New York from a controversial federal deportation program yesterday, drawing praise from immigrant-rights groups. The Democratic executive cited "mounting evidence" that the 3-year-old Secure Communities...
Albany frack attack
ALBANY -- Attorney General Eric Schneiderman officially joined the "fracking" fight yesterday with a lawsuit accusing the feds of advancing the controversial gas-drilling technique without the necessary reviews. Schneiderman said...
Indicted B'klyn pol hit with ethics rap
ALBANY -- The state Legislature's notoriously sleepy Ethics Commission -- recently condemned by Gov. Cuomo as toothless -- sprang to life yesterday with ethics charges against already-indicted Brooklyn Assemblyman William...
Gov calls teach bluff
ALBANY -- Go ahead, sue me. Gov. Cuomo vowed to plow ahead with new test-heavy teacher evaluations yesterday despite threats of lawsuits from incensed teachers unions. "We're going to persevere...
Key threat to tax-cap deal
ALBANY – Gov. Cuomo's just-announced tax cap hit an unexpected snag yesterday as a key backer cried "bait-and-switch" over an undisclosed poison pill and threatened to remove his support. E....
No bang for the buck
New York state's school systems deserve an F -- in financial accountability. State taxpayers spend substantially more money on education than any other state in the nation but get far...
Andy & Shelly in deal for property-tax cap
ALBANY -- Gov. Cuomo gave new meaning to "cap-and-trade" yesterday as he secured a historic agreement on a sweeping cap on upstate and suburban property taxes linked to the renewal...
Albany out to boo$t malpractice lawyers
ALBANY -- A package of bills moving through Albany could mean big paydays for medical-malpractice attorneys -- proving the case for greater ethics disclosure among the state's elected officials, good-government...