Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall on Wednesday, but he had a few things to say about Gov. Andrew Cuomo too. “I think he’s doing a great job,” Malloy said. “He’s working very hard, he’s assembled a good team on the gun control stuff. He shot out pretty quickly and did a lot of good work. I support him.” Malloy, a Democrat, also got a gun control bill through the state legislature this year but has dealt with far less corruption… [More]

Assembly Democrats on Tuesday passed the Fair Elections Act, which includes partial public financing of election campaigns, but the bill is not expected to get much traction in the Senate, where Republicans oppose the measure. It does not help matters that the previous lead sponsor of a public financing bill was state Sen. John Sampson, who was indicted on Monday for allegedly embezzling $440,000 from an escrow account to fund his failed 2005 campaign for Brooklyn district attorney. State Sen. Malcolm Smith,… [More]

Women’s rights organizations held a lobby day in Albany on Tuesday for reproductive health and equal pay, but they also took time to castigate mixed martial arts and the sport’s push for legalization in New York State. The mixed martial arts industry has been lobbying the legislature for the past six years to permit professional matches in the state, but the bill has always died in the Assembly. This year, representatives from NOW-New York and several state legislators are arguing… [More]

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman voted for the Articles of Impeachment against President Richard Nixon.   Holtzman recalls that historic experience as one of the commentators in the new documentary All the President’s Men Revisited, executive produced by Robert Redford. In the film, Redford, who played Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men, “returns to the scandal that broke all the rules of press and politics.”   The documentary, which will eventually premiere on the Discovery… [More]

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said farewell to his constituents in his last State of the Borough address, which he delivered Thursday night at the Barclays Center. Markowitz mostly stuck to a litany of development projects and a lot of shtick. But he veered off script to defend politicians and lash out the tabloids after doing a comedy bit with NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan, who read several critical Marty-themed headlines. “There are crumb bums in every profession, but public officials are hardworking and… [More]

City & State won four awards in its division of the New York Press Association’s 2012 Better Newspaper Contest. Reporter Aaron Short won first place in the best feature story category for his piece “Who To Call When Scandal Strikes?” about political crisis-management specialists. A judge wrote that the story was an “intriguing” and “excellent behind-the-scenes look” and “a fresh take on something not often tackled by newspapers.” City & State also took the first place Richard L. Stein Award for Overall Design… [More]

Assemblyman Eric Stevenson was hauled away by the feds last week for taking bribes to write legislation for his constituents. His bill, which he drew up in February, would establish a moratorium on the construction of new adult day care centers. But Assemblywoman Joan Millman, who is chairwoman of the Assembly Aging Committee, said the bill is “certainly not going anywhere.” “We’re never going to bring it up,” she said. “I took a look at it [on Friday]. He didn’t circulate it. The… [More]

At a press conference announcing federal corruption charges against Democratic state Senator Malcom Smith and New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara indicated that while the investigation is still ongoing, there is no evidence that state Sen. David Carlucci is in any way involved, as an earlier report had discussed. The criminal complaint says that Smith had been speaking to an undercover FBI agent posing as a wealthy real estate developer. Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and… [More]

State gun owners have been fuming over the New York SAFE Act since its passage in January, and now the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association and other plaintiffs will challenge the constitutionality of the gun regulations in a lawsuit they plan to file in state Supreme Court today. The association’s president, Tom King, would not comment about the details in the suit, but called the SAFE Act “feel-good legislation.” “Any anti-gun law is a method for the legislators to make… [More]

Though the announcement was made too late to be included in Monday’s First Read, you may have already heard by now that City & State was purchased yesterday in a management buyout led by Tom Allon, the CEO of the publication’s former parent company, Manhattan Media. As a consequence of the deal, Allon has resigned from Manhattan Media and now will become the president of a new venture, which will focus exclusively on producing City & State. The news of… [More]