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]

  Many public officials found something to cheer for in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal, which, besides closing a $1.3 billion deficit, includes a minimum wage hike, some mandate relief, more money for environmental programs and increased funding for schools. But this isn’t a cheerocracy, it’s a democracy. Legislators, mayors and all sorts of special interests will have a say in what gets cut. Also this week, George Amedore got cut as Cecilia Tkaczyk won a state Senate race whose… [More]

  Happiness is a warm gun? Not in New York. The governor played Russian roulette with the Legislature over his package of gun control bills and the Republicans blinked, passing the toughest firearms restrictions in the country. Further downstate, the mayor celebrated the passage of the New York Safe Act while blasting the teachers union over evaluations and threw bus drivers under the bus as they went on strike. And even further to the south, Congress finally signed off on… [More]

A divided state Senate spent its first day of session debating the merits of a package of new gun laws that would tighten restrictions on assault weapons, before passing it late Monday night in a 43-18 vote. It was the first bill passed under the body’s new power sharing agreement, though it was unclear to some lawmakers who was actually in charge. “It doesn’t matter,” said Temporary Co-President Jeff Klein, a Democrat who shares control of the Senate with Republican… [More]

City & State’s 2012 Year-End Awards… [More]

From the State of the State in January to the announcement of the GOP-IDC Senate coalition in December, 2012 was a year to remember in New York politics.… [More]

  The elections are over, but the battle for control of the state Senate is just beginning: Simcha Felder revealed he’ll join the Republicans, the IDC’s Jeff Klein met with the GOP’s Dean Skelos and the Rev. Al Sharpton canceled his meeting about the Senate Dems. Meanwhile, other political figures dealt with the ongoing fallout of Superstorm Sandy, positioned themselves for next year’s elections in New York City or faced legal troubles — with varying degrees of success. And to… [More]

Democrats are poised for a leadership fight while Republicans hold out hope in upstate races … [More]

While not all residents of Brooklyn’s so-called “Super Jewish” District — a.k.a. State Senate District 17 — are Orthodox Jews or Russian immigrants, the candidates clearly have put a lot of emphasis on Orthodox voters. Democrat/Conservative candidate Simcha Felder, according to his campaign manager, E. O’Brien Murray, does not have a web site because few in what Murray described as “the community” use the Internet, and many are actively hostile to it. In that case, a website seemed likely to… [More]

Barack Obama was the forgotten man in the 17th State Senate District today as both candidates in Brooklyn’s newly created, so-called “Super Jewish” district sought to link their names with Mitt Romney. Flyers for David Storobin, a Republican who won last year’s race to fill the seat vacated by imprisoned State Sen. Carl Kruger, advised voters that he “stands with Mitt Romney,” and together they would be “a team for our families and our community.” Simcha Felder, although appearing on… [More]