“Being powerful is like being a lady,” mused the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. “If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” In Albany, as in every political arena, bluster is often mistaken for true power. Of course, even the perception that one has influence can yield genuine authority, but more often that not, those with true power in government are not the grandstanders but those who work dutifully, quietly and shrewdly behind the scenes to achieve their… [More]

  What does Mayor Michael Bloomberg do on his birthday, which also happens to be Valentine’s Day and the day he addressed the city in his 12th and final State of the City talk? Does he put on a tuxedo and throw himself a classy yet staid black tie party at the Waldorf Astoria like Jack Donaghy did once? Does he pop a copy of Annie Hall into his 90-inch television and curl up on his animal print sofa with… [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 presidential contenders showed up and took off the gloves in New York this week, the governor got a firsthand look at how presidential debates are won (or tied, depending on who you ask), and the mayor announced he’ll be spending millions of dollars supporting moderate candidates all across the country. With just a few short weeks to go until the elections, we have your latest winners, and their unlucky counterparts, the losers. Dan Maffei – Things are looking… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is still wildly popular among New Yorkers, with a 70 percent approval rating in a recent Siena poll. But that didn’t stop our voters from choosing him as one of the biggest losers in our own, entirely unscientific poll. Here’s a recap of the rest of the winners and losers across the city and state—and which ones stood out for our readers.  Go to cityandstateny.com each week to vote.… [More]

It was a political holiday this week, but for some reason there were still plenty of winners and losers to consider. Redistricting seemed to be nearing some sort of end game, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg raised the stakes on pension reform. Albany and Washington were on vacation, as were public school teachers, who stared down a P.R. nightmare. Here’s how the rest of the week shook out for New York politics:   Karim Camara – The… [More]

By Chris Bragg, Andrew J. Hawkins, Jon Lentz, Adam Lisberg and Laura Nahmias Nobody loves God more than Bible Club President Ruben Diaz Sr. Well, maybe that’s debatable, but he really is a reverend and lets the whole school know it! Ruben was sure fired up this year, and he brought a lot of friends to flood the hallways in May, when the Gay-Straight Alliance went on the offensive to legalize same-sex marriage. But it wasn’t just about Jesus—they were… [More]

As parishioners walked out of Sunday mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on July 24, the day same-sex marriage officially became the law in New York, Archbishop Timothy Dolan was nowhere to be found. He was not at the lectern where he sermonizes most Sundays. He was not at the curb outside the church discussing the momentous occasion. Blocks away, State Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., a Pentecostal reverend, led a rally in front of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office to protest the… [More]

The legalization of same-sex marriage was a momentous occasion for the state, but it was also a political deal, with clear-cut winners and losers. So why not game them out? Gov. Andrew Cuomo is an obvious winner, while Dean Skelos, the Senate majority leader who ultimately cleared the way for the vote, has a more ambiguous fate that history will have to judge.  The rest are left to ride the aftershocks of a truly memorable moment in Albany history.  … [More]