Assemblyman Vito Lopez has a new campaign treasurer for his upcoming City Council run – and just in the nick of time. His former campaign treasurer, Christiana Fisher, avoided jail time but got a year of probation. … [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]

A Brooklyn nonprofit under investigation by the city and the federal government for its ties to Assemblyman Vito Lopez received $63,337 from the state in this year’s budget – but it wasn’t a new member item. Lawmakers stopped getting discretionary funding for their districts in 2009, but a residual pot of money remains. The Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council obtained a $1.9 million grant in 2004 to construct its youth center. The last of the grant is trickling through this year, according… [More]

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn officially announced her campaign for mayor yesterday by touring one neighborhood in each of the five boroughs, an Ed Koch-esque attempt to introduce herself to voters and highlight some of her accomplishments, as well as showcase her outsized personality. Quinn’s campaign was officially announced a couple of hours before the five borough “Walk and Talk” tour began with a five-minute video posted on her campaign website of Quinn sitting in Moonstruck Diner in… [More]

This year’s budget could wind up the smoothest in 30 years, cruising to passage before the session breaks for Passover and Easter holidays at the end of the month.… [More]

Legislators want their cash back, but the governor stands in their way.… [More]

With an elementary school choir, a dance troupe, and a trio of sibling violinists preceding him on stage this morning at John Jay College, it was a safe assumption that John Liu might be the least exciting person to take the stage on Thursday. Instead, Liu looked nothing like the mayoral candidate who has struggled to emerge from a cloud of suspicion surrounding his fundraising, and every bit like the ascendant and ambitious politician that New Yorkers thought they were… [More]

Elected officials and advocates wasted little time celebrating President Barack Obama’s re-election. That’s because come Jan. 1, Congress could drive the country over the “fiscal cliff” and cut $800 million in federal programs and services. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, along with Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, released a citywide impact report on the fiscal cliff detailing which programs would be cut and by how much. “We would lose, in this country, a billion dollars in cuts to FEMA… [More]

It has been a year since Gov. Andrew Cuomo set out to reform nonprofit executive compensation, but nonprofit groups say the most lasting achievement of the administration’s reforms may be industrywide confusion. In mid-May 13 state agencies issued regulations giving guidance on how a $199,000 executive salary cap would work. The cap covers executives at nonprofits that receive at least 30 percent of their funding from the state, and more than $500,000 annually in state funds. But many nonprofit groups… [More]

Sent 6:39 p.m. on Monday, June 25 from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s press office  … [More]