The key players and issues regarding casinos and gambling.… [More]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has never been a big fan of casino expansion in New York City. When the proposal for a casino at Willets Point recently surfaced, his administration quickly shot it down, saying it had been dismissed months earlier. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the first phase of any casino expansion would be exclusively in upstate New York, the mayor wasn’t disappointed, saying a casino might not even be “appropriate” in New York City. But if Las Vegas-style… [More]

With Election Day rapidly approaching, the devastation from Hurricane Sandy could have residual consequences that may alter the outcome of local and federal elections. With many polling sites still without power and thousands of residents displaced due to flooding and damage to their homes, the New York City Board of Elections has been scrambling to come up with solutions that would allow voters to cast their ballot. With its Lower Manhattan offices incapacitated due to power outages and flooding, the… [More]

Marty Markowitz first became a state senator in 1978 and was elected Brooklyn borough president in 2001. Over that time he’s accumulated a lot of stuff: shovels from ground-breakings, embroidered jerseys, alcohol and collectables from his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. Markowitz’s favorite objects lean toward the nostalgic and the sports-related, but he waxes most emotional about his pet bird, “Beep,” an African gray parakeet. He keeps several photos of Beep on his desk, next to his wife and family.… [More]

Jeffries and Barron face off in a tight Brooklyn congressional primary Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries or City Councilman Charles Barron? For some observers outside of the new 8th Congressional District, the choice is a simple one, given Barron’s inflammatory statements denouncing Israel and his support for African strongmen like Robert Mugabe and Muammar Qaddafi. But in the newly redrawn district in Brooklyn, where the two men are vying to take the place of retiring Rep. Ed Towns, the choice of who… [More]