By Gerald Benjamin   The brief dustup in the Judiciary Committee regarding the nomination of Jenny Rivera for the Court of Appeals is just the latest piece of evidence that Republicans, with their Independent Democrat coalition partners, are presiding in the Senate but not governing through it. The Committee is comprised of 12 Republicans, 9 Democrats and 2 Independent Democrats; unlike the Senate as a whole, it has a Republican majority. The committee chair, John Bonacic, and some GOP members… [More]

On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo took his staff, Cabinet members and the Capitol press corps for a field trip to a piece of newly-acquired land in the Adirondacks, about two hours north of Albany. For several hours, on the grounds of a hunting lodge formerly used as an executive retreat for the lumber company Finch Pruyn, reporters were granted an unusual amount of access to roughly two dozen cabinet members and the Governor himself in a largely unstructured “hang.” The… [More]

The plaintiffs in the Little v. LATFOR lawsuit may be planning to drop their suit against a law passed in 2010 that required the state to count prisoners in their home districts instead of where they are incarcerated for purposes of drawing new district lines, sources said today. The decision to drop the suit “locks in the need for Senate Republicans to go to 63 districts to maintain their majority,” an attorney involved in the case said. A spokesman for… [More]

It was another banner week for Cuomo the Barbarian. He got knocked for twisting arms over his tax deal, and anointed the new Governator for his ability to get things done. John Liu saw a dip in his approval numbers, but given the general malaise over the 2013 mayoral candidates, it hardly seems to matter. And the tragic death of a Brooklyn cop gave an unfortunate boost to Michael Bloomberg’s crusade against illegal guns. Here’s our weekly look at who’s… [More]

  George Fertitta President and CEO, NYC & Company Q: What the city has done through policies to grow tourism? GF: They clearly gave us greater funds. Our original five-year contract was for $103 million over five years, which is greatly enhanced from what it was before, from when it was the original NYC & Company—they were only receiving about $7 million a year, and we’re receiving substantially more, which has allowed us to do many things. It’s allowed us… [More]

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly should have been a loser this week, with dozens of shootings, a secret Muslim surveillance program unveiled and a city councilman in handcuffs. Yet Kelly’s personal popularity remains unsullied by the actions of his department, such as staying on top of recent, credible terrorist threats, making him a winner. Plenty of other pols want to know his secret, but until they figure it out, here are the rest of this week’s Winners & Losers: Andrew Cuomo… [More]

Assembly Member Sam Hoyt and State Sen. Betty Little size up consolidation and its various promises and pitfalls.… [More]