After leaving the State Senate, claiming he wanted to spend time with family and then taking a job with a company with many state contracts, former Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno has officially registered as a lobbyist. Bruno, now CEO of CMA Consulting, said that his registration with the NY State Commission on Public Integrity was to "guarantee maximum transparency." He's unable to lobby lawmakers for two years, but NYPIRG's Blair Horner says Governor Paterson......

The NY State Legislature has long been considered the most dysfunctional state government in the country, and NY Sun has a great article giving weight to that statement: "The Empire State's Legislature employs more people than any other state legislature in the nation." Well, all that dysfunction has to be enabled from someone - or many someones! According to the most recent data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, the NY State Assembly and......

The City Council voted 40-3 to end the tax breaks Madison Square Garden has enjoyed since 1982. It's estimated that the city has lost almost $300 million in potential revenue in subsidies to the "World's Most Famous Arena." Although the City Council wants the tax breaks to end (our favorite quote is from Councilman Lew Fidler: "I have spent my entire life as as Knicks fan, and I doubt if there's anyone who loves the......

Six months ago, ice storms on Valentine's Day walloped airlines, especially JetBlue, at the area airports. WABC 7 got a hold of some tapes between air traffic controllers and pilots on that crazy day where some flights were lingering on runways for more than seven hours, even up to 13 hours. Here are two of our favorite conversations:Air Traffic Control 1: "These [flights] were there before I got here. You got JetBlue 80, 1048,......

State Ethics Commission, long time no see! It's been about eight months since you found State Comptroller Alan Hevesi had violated state law, and now you're back on the radar with an investigation into Governor Spitzer's administration's conduct regarding use of the state police to track State Senate Majority Joseph Bruno. The SEC has the power to subpoena people to answer questions, a power the Attorney General's office does not have - which means that......

Yesterday, City Council members Robert Jackson, Larry Seabrook and John Liu introduced a resolution to formally apologize for NYC's role in slavery. According to the Empire Zone, Jackson hoped the resolution would "spur dialogue and interest among the new generation of New Yorkers who will lead us in the future" while Liu stated, "New York is the greatest city in the world, but let’s face it: The early foundation of this city was built on......

Hours ago, former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was fined $5,000 and sentenced to probation for "unlawful use of a state vehicle and driver" when he used his employees to drive his ill wife. The Times Union has an 18-minute video of the sentencing; reporter Rick Karlin noted that Albany County Court Judge Stephen Herrick said to the Queens Democrat, "Your fall from grace has been total and from a very great height…You are now......

The news is grim for many gay rights supporters after the NY State Court of Appeals upheld the gay marriage ban - ceding a decision to the NY State Legislature (one of the most dysfunctional in the country!). The NY Times' news analysis calls this a "key setback" as other states deciding on gay marriage will look at this ruling:For now, at least, so-called marriage equality is the fight that both sides want to......

The next time the NY State Legislature takes forever to do something (which will be next time), consider this: The Idaho Legislature has passed a resolution commending the vision of indie sleeper film Napoleon Dynamite and what it stands for. Seriously. See the resolution here, but here are some highlights of the reasons:- WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro has furthered multiethnic relationships - WHEREAS, Rico and Kip's Tupperware sales and Deb's keychains and......