As the state is buffeted by a seemingly unending series of scandals involving elected officials, we asked a number of experts and politicians to weigh in what was New York’s worst political scandal ever. Let us know if you agree–and what scandals may have been overlooked. Larry Norden Deputy Director, Brennan Center for Justice The past 10 years have been really bad for Albany. We’ve had at least 13 convictions of elected officials, many more indictments, including three of the… [More]

Q: In House of Cards, Congressman Russo is having sex with his aide, while House Majority Whip Underwood is having sex with a journalist. Which happens more often? —A.S., New York City Great question—it actually inspired me to write a separate column on the fact and the fiction behind House of Cards. The answer is, definitely the former. During my time in the Missouri Senate, I never knew of a legislator sleeping with a journalist, but there was a lot… [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]

Former Gov. David Paterson on the 2012 elections.… [More]

Is there an odder alliance in New York politics these days than the one between Steve Pigeon and the New York Senate Democrats? Pigeon, a controversial and influential Democratic operative in Western New York, helped orchestrate the 2009 Senate “coup” that put the legislative body in gridlock for a month—an act of party disloyalty that contributed mightily to the Senate Democrats losing their first majority in four decades. Yet after being bounced from his highly paid position in the Senate… [More]