Even though everyone knows Albany is full of people doing terrible things, even politicians and lobbyists are shocked at the events of the past year, from Comptroller Alan Hevesi stepping down from Comptroller to former Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno retiring, with nadir/peak being Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace. Various parties share their amazement with the times--lobbyists don't want to look at their Blackberries, Governor Paterson acknowledges the "consistent number of weird situations that just......

Long before Kristen and Hookergate, former Governor Eliot Spitzer was embroiled in Troopergate, a spectacularly misguided attempt to smear his rival, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, with state police records. Now, the Spitzer aide most identified with the scandal is trying to set the record straight, but the state ethics panel apparently isn't having any of that. The NY Times speaks with Darren Dopp, former communications director under Spitzer. Dopp, who was suspended and......

Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver is up for re-election this fall, and while he's likely to win it, one woman is making sure one of his challengers has her help: The Daily News reports former Assembly staffer is helping challenger Paul Newell with his campaign because Silver "ignored her accusations of rape against one of his top aides" back in 2001. Elizabeth Crothers told the News, "I see it as the only opportunity to bring real......

What's a Mayor to do? When he's not trying to quiet rumors that he has a bad relationship with Albany, Mayor Bloomberg is still getting shafted by Albany. The NY Times describes the latest indignity: How a city proposal for bus-only traffic lane enforcement was shot down. The bill, which would have put cameras on the new rapid transit buses (the whole bus rapid transit system will be complete by 2011) to catch cars the......

It seemed like Gov. Paterson had managed to cobble together a deal for the State to take over NYC OTB yesterday afternoon and prevent its closing. A state takeover would require a vote by the legislature Monday, but Sheldon Silver and Joseph Bruno both seemed amenable to the idea. Mayor Bloomber, however, is holding fast on his insistence that he is going to close all of the city's OTB parlors tomorrow. Gov. Paterson said......

According to various sources, Governor Paterson has reached a deal to take over Off Track Betting (OTB) parlors from New York City, in order to prevent its total shutdown Despite handling more than $1 billion in wagers annually, the company lost $13 million last year. When asked if about the possibility of an arrangement to could keep OTB open, Mayor Bloomberg was very brusque in his dismissal of the idea earlier this week. He answered,......

Last month, the NY Times found that an actuarial consultant who reviewed legislation pending in the State Legislature also had financial ties to labor unions. The consultant, whose expertise was used to examine the financial impact of bills (like retirement, pension benefit bills), even admitted he skewed his analysis to support unions. Now, the city has found the consultant's work underestimated costs by $500 million. The Times reports the independent actuary and Mayor Bloomberg's office......

Governor David Paterson explained possible rumormongering by the state police was why he admitted his extramarital affairs and drug use shortly after taking office. Yes--Paterson was essentially afraid of the NY State Police! When being interviewed on WFAN-AM and questioned about Spitzer administration's monitoring of State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's aircraft activity, Paterson said, "I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I will say this: That was also on my mind......

Congratulations, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo: You seem to be the "wealthiest statewide elected official," according to the NY Times and your tax returns. While Cuomo makes $151,000 as AG, his total reported income was $545,000, thanks to investments. Governor David Paterson's 2007 income, combined with his wife's, was $269,815. Most notably, the Patersons only made one charitable donation: $150 in clothing to the Salvation Army. That works out to be 0.06% of their income,......

State judges want a raise in salaries after years of paycheck stagnation. They got close during last year's budget negotiations as the former Governor Spitzer lobbied on their behalf, but the proposal was dropped in closed-door negotiations. The primary stumbling block: state legislators are tying any raise in judges' salaries to a pay raise for themselves. Once again this year, the judges were stonewalled on a pay increase and the state's top Honor, Judge Judith......

Bigger isn't always better, warned Governor David Paterson. Yesterday, Albany lawmakers passed a $121.7 billion budget, which is 6% bigger than last year. The Times Union calls it a "Budget built on borrowing, fees." Paterson says the slowing economy will require a "change in culture and a change in course of where this state's priorities are...We're running out of time thinking we can tax our way into the future." But State Senate Majority Leader Joseph......

Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver announced the State Assembly is rejecting congestion pricing. The controversial plan, a pet project of Mayor Bloomberg's, was approved by the City Council last week and had support from Governor David Paterson and State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, making the Assembly's support the final, critical step to ensure $354 million in federal funds (which would have been directed towards the MTA's projects). Bloomberg had been very vocal about wanting the......

The fate of the controversial plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street lies with Albany, as state legislators must decide whether to approve the plan by midnight tonight. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said last night, "There isn't a groundswell of support for it" among other Assembly members. But most papers are saying the plan is effectively dead. If Albany can approve congestion pricing today, then the city is eligible for $354 million......

State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has kept a relatively low profile over the past several months, as Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno battled with Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who would go on to self-destruct in a highly public style. With Mayor Bloomberg's beloved congestion pricing plan past the City Council hurdle and with the support of our new Gov. Paterson, it now lays stalled in the Assembly, where whatever Silver says pretty much goes. A profile......

Democratic lawmakers in Albany seem poised to block Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, which attempts to reduce traffic by charging drivers $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours. Though the plan was approved by the City Council on Monday, a “lively, sometimes emotional” meeting between state lawmakers yesterday ran over three and a half hours, and approximately 30 of them expressed opposition to the plan, with only four or five in favor.......

Mayor Bloomberg appears to have the necessary votes to get congestion pricing passed in the City Council, because the Council scheduled a vote on the matter for this afternoon. The fact a vote has been suddenly scheduled is interpreted as a sign that fellow supporter Council Speaker Christine Quinn has enough votes for approval. The Mayor must have spent his weekend bending ears and twisting arms! A critical amendment was made to the statewide version......

Just as news settles that former Governor Eliot Spitzer was personally involved in trying to bring down rival State Senator Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the Albany DA's office probably won't prosecute anyone in the Troopergate mess. Not only will former Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp, who leaked information about Bruno to the Times Union back in July, not face perjury charges, it also looks like Attorney General Andrew Cuomo knew about Spitzer's plan to use the......

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer was deeply involved with the plot to smear rival State Senator Joseph Bruno to the point of being so mad he would spit his coffee, according to NY Times sources. Troopergate investigation insiders described testimony Spitzer's former communications director Darren Dopp gave, indicating the former governor's extreme interest in taking Bruno down, by way of leaking state police records on Bruno to Albany newspaper The Times Union. (The Times Union wrote......

Screen grab of employee web tracking software A Manhattan court upheld the firing of city employee Toquir Choudhri for doing too much Web browsing on the City's time. Choudri, who was an education analyst for the Department of Education's Human Resources department, was fired in 2006 for spending far too much time online. He had been formally warned to knock of his Web-wandering ways, but an internal audit showed that despite the warning, Choudri......

Lieutenant Governor David Paterson spent the weekend working on the speech he will give after his swearing-in as Governor. According to the NY Times, he had been "rehearsing it and committing it to memory," and since he is blind and cannot rely on a teleprompter, "his remarks will be partly memorized and partly improvised." The speech is also be "conciliatory," versus his predecessor's aggressive approach (Spitzer implied Governor Pataki turned NY State into Rip Van......

The abrupt elevation of Lieutenant Governor David Paterson to the top seat in NY State government should mix things up a bit in Albany and NYC. First up is the state budget, and with a grim economic outlook and behind-the-scenes transitions, he said yesterday, “We cannot afford to waste another second. We have a budget that is due and a deadline to meet.” Paterson added he would attempt to govern by consensus, rather than take......

Parades are generally times when politicians come out to march with and wave to constituents. (At last year's Gay Pride Parade, City Council Speaker Quinn and Senator Clinton marched, and Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Spitzer, and Senator Schumer were at the Puerto Rican Day Parade.) But Monday's St. Patrick's Day Parade may have few politicians, because Lieutenant Governor David Paterson is being sworn in that day, too. The Staten Island Advance points out the swearing-in is......

Photo of Eliot Spitzer and wife Silda Wall Spitzer during press conference by AP/Stephen Chernin Two days after news that he patronized an international prostitution ring, Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation. With wife Silda Wall Spitzer at his side, he spoke for about three minutes at the Governor's office in Manhattan, at approximately 11:40 a.m. Here's a transcription:In the past few days, I've begun to atone for my private failings with my wife......

State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno spoke to reporters around 11 a.m. The Spitzer rival appeared to take no pleasure in the governor's fall and invoked the importance of governing and helping the overtaxed residents of New York. Here are some of his remarks via Cityroom: For the last several days New York has faced a crisis unlike any other ever faced in state history. But it is now time to move on. At times......

A NY Times survey shows City Council members, if they were to vote today, oppose the congestion pricing plan 2-1. Which means it's not just Albany legislators that Mayor Bloomberg has to politick to get his congestion pricing plan passed. Congestion pricing has been a centerpiece of Bloomberg's PlaNYC initiative, a program to ensure the city's sustainability in the year 2030. A lot of transit-related planning hinges upon the millions expected from congestion pricing;......

State Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell 4th, Democrat and son of the trailblazing Harlem politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr., was arrested for drunk driving on the upper West Side at 2:30 a.m. this morning. According to the Daily News, an unidentified woman passed out in the back of the car was so intoxicated she had to be taken to a local hospital. Powell failed a breath test at the scene by a small margin and, while......

After his $500,000 donation to NY State Republicans was revealed, Mayor Bloomberg explained why he did it to reporters while attending a Mayors Against Illegal Guns conference, "I've said repeatedly, I will help those who help us. They have stood up for the city a number of times — when we needed to have a voice in Albany and we didn't have that voice from the Assembly or from the governor, whether it was the......

Just because Mayor Bloomberg has denied running for governor in 2010 doesn't mean it has to be true! The Sun's Davidson Goldin thinks that for Bloomberg, "Running for governor is likely, and becoming more so." Why? Well, though the mayor and Governor Spitzer have tried to be cooperative, Albany is involved in many plans the Mayor has a stake in, such as congestion pricing, OTB, and the Javits Center, not to mention Moynihan Station and......

Less than two weeks after Gov. Spitzer publicly reaffirmed his commitment to going forward with plans to construct Moynihan Station despite a $1 billion funding shortfall, it looks like the matter may be out of his hands. The New York Times is reporting that the whole $14 billion project, which would involve building Moynihan Station at The Farley Post Office building and constructing a new Madison Square Garden on the site, is on the brink......

The NYPD's recruiting woes appear to be continuing through 2008, with a sharp drop-off in the number of candidates applying to sit for the Police Officer Exam, which is the first step to qualifying to enter the Police Academy. According to the New York Post, the number of test takers is down 20% from number of people who took the exam at the same time last year. "Slightly fewer than 20,000 have applied for the......