Kenneth Lovett
The Archive
$121B BUDGET A DEBT MESS: COMPTROLLER
April 26, 2008 | 8:15amALBANY - State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned yesterday that the new state budget contains "unsustainable" spending, "risky" revenue projections, and huge amounts of new debt. And while the budget closes...
GOV IS PLAIN CHEAP
April 15, 2008 | 7:33amALBANY - Gov. Paterson and his wife last year gave a shockingly low $150 to charity, despite a combined income of nearly $270,000, the couple's income-tax filings show. The $150...
NY'S AUDIT THREAT TO 'NET SHOPS
April 14, 2008 | 8:16amALBANY - Online retailers based outside New York state, such as Amazon.com, could face audits and bills for back taxes going back years unless they agree to start collecting sales...
$$ FOR GAYS & DOLLS
April 11, 2008 | 7:34amALBANY - Among the hundreds of dubious pork-barrel projects larded into the just-completed state budget is a group devoted to quilt-making, a doll museum and a "gay day" in the...
TEACHERS 'BUY' ALBANY
April 10, 2008 | 7:19amALBANY - The city and state teacher unions spent a whopping $3 million to influence lawmakers last year, as overall lobbying in New York hit a record, a report released...
'IRATE' MIKE UNLOADS ON POLS OVER TENURE
April 10, 2008 | 7:19amStill stinging from his loss on congestion pricing, an "irate" Mayor Bloomberg called various state senators to rip them for agreeing to a deal that put a roadblock in his...
BUDGET IS PASSED 9 DAYS LATE
April 10, 2008 | 7:19amALBANY - State lawmakers yesterday passed a pork-laden $121.7 billion budget that includes $1.5 billion in new taxes and increases spending by 4.9 percent, despite what Gov. Paterson has called...
MIKE LOSES TEACHER-TENURE FIGHT
April 9, 2008 | 7:18amALBANY - In another blow to Mayor Bloomberg, state leaders yesterday agreed to a controversial plan that will make it easier for teachers to get tenure. City Schools Chancellor Joel...
BLOOMBERG LOSES TEACHER-TENURE FIGHT
April 9, 2008 | 12:53amALBANY - In another blow to Mayor Bloomberg, state lawmakers finalized the state budget tonight, including changes that will make it easier for teachers to receive tenure. The revisions sought...
CONGE$TION HITS END OF THE ROAD
April 8, 2008 | 8:26amIn a move that Mayor Bloomberg denounced as "shameful," Assembly Democrats yesterday killed off his controversial congestion-pricing plan - without even putting the measure up for a vote on the...
DEFIANT MIKE DOOMS CONGE$TION BID: POLS
April 7, 2008 | 8:05amThe city's congestion-pricing proposal is effectively dead - short of a "miracle" - after Mayor Bloomberg yesterday said he was done making changes to it. Bloomberg has been pushing for...
BUDGET IS GOING NOWHERE
April 7, 2008 | 8:05amALBANY - State budget talks remained stalled over the weekend, despite Gov. Paterson's call Friday for lawmakers to remain in town until a budget is done. "The issues that were...
BATTLE ON FOR BRUTAL BOUTS
April 7, 2008 | 8:05amALBANY - Once called "barbaric" by then-Gov. George Pataki, Ultimate Fighting is getting a second look in New York. The no-holds-barred extreme fighting - or mixed martial arts that critics...
'CONGEST' DEAD END LOOMING IN ALBANY
April 5, 2008 | 8:22amWith support for congestion pricing rapidly eroding in the Legislature, the plan may have to go through some major changes if it's going to get passed. Lawmakers have a battery...
GOV TO POLS: STAY PUT 'TIL YOU OK A BUDGET
April 5, 2008 | 8:22amALBANY - A frustrated Gov. Paterson yesterday demanded that legislators not leave town until a new state budget is in place. "If it means staying the weekend, that's what we'll...
CONGE$TION PLAN IDLES
April 4, 2008 | 7:27amThe State Assembly will take congestion pricing down to the wire. Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday there will be no decision on whether to vote on the proposal until Monday...
CONGESTION PRICING WHEEZING IN ALBANY
April 3, 2008 | 7:40amMayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing plan was "on life support" last night after a contentious closed-door meeting of Assembly Democrats in Albany. The meeting was called by Speaker Sheldon Silver to take...
SO MUCH FOR NYRA 'INTEGRITY'
April 3, 2008 | 7:40amALBANY - The troubled New York Racing Association violated state law when it hired its former federal court-ordered monitor as its $125,000-per- month business-integrity counsel, the State Investigation Commission found...
DA UNDER GUN IN DIRTY TRICKS SCANDAL
April 2, 2008 | 7:15amALBANY - In another bizarre twist to the Dirty Tricks Scandal, a state commission yesterday announced it will "investigate the investigations" - including those by Albany DA David Soares -...
STATE'S 'LATEST' BUDGET IS NO DEAL
April 1, 2008 | 8:05amALBANY - With the state budget now officially late, state lawmakers yesterday said they are hopeful an agreement will be finalized and passed within the next few days. The budget...