Capital New York

After a series of vivid stories in The New York Times highlighting problems in state-run facilities for the disabled and mentally ill, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed creating an inspector's office that would answer directly to him.

But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has a problem with that approach, saying it's "a totally internal process and that there is no outside review."

Cuomo's spokesman in turn criticized Silver, saying in a statement that he's "wrong" and "apparently he hasn't read the bill yet."

Meanwhile, the Republican-held, Cuomo-allied State Senate passed the governor's 78-page legislation without a public hearing, indicating that they probably hadn't read it either.

The Assembly has yet to hold a hearing. 

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Events

Andrew Cuomo is in Albany with no public schedule.

9 a.m. Michael Bloomberg speaks at the Conflict of Interest Board's annual seminar on ethics in government at 185 West Broadway.

10 a.m. Bloomberg participates in a panel discussion about immigration policy at 242 West 41st Street.

11 a.m. Rep. Jose Serrano will endorse Rep. Charlie Rangel on the City Hall steps.

12:30 p.m. Bloomberg speaks at the Broadway Association's annual luncheon at the Marriot Marquis, 1535 Broadway.

4 p.m. Rep. Jerry Nadler, NYS Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs and UAW Region 9a director Julie Kushner discuss Mitt Romney's business record at 256 West 38th Street.

5:55 p.m. Bloomberg hosts a reception in honor of Jewish Heritage at Gracie Mansion.

2012

Barack Obama's campaign will likely be outspent by Mitt Romney's (and David Axelrod wants you to know it). [Nick Confessore, Jo Craven McGinty and Derek Willis]

John Edwards was an extraordinary multitasker. [Kim Severson]

Cardinal Dolan filed a lawsuit to over federal rules requiring employers to offer birth control to their employers. [Gerry Shields]

Paul Singer is hosting Mitt Romney at the Grand Hyatt today, with Chris Christie. [Beth Defalco and Carl Campanile]

Jeff Plaut: "Cory Booker is entitled to his opinion and is raising a lot of money from wealthy donors for future races that he has. He's of course entitled to say what he pleases. [Inside City Hall]

Sarah Palin: "Dog gone it, it was a shame to see Cory back down." [Sean Hannity]

NY-13

Charlie Rangel is no longer using a walker. [Bobby Cuza]

Rangel will be endorsed by Jose Serrano today. [No Link]

In Washington

Chuck Schumer has two degrees from Harvard but is one of the most plain-spoken members of Congress. [Celeste Katz and Alison Gendar]

City Hall

The Human Resources Administration will testify today that the city plans to raise $3.4 million over three years from immigrants they helped out with grant money. [Sally Goldenberg]

Google will temporarily house Cornell University's applied science school. [Patrick McGeehan]

The 22,000 square feet being donated is worth $10 million. [Reuven Blau]

Stop-and-Frisk

Eric Schneiderman: "I've had discussions about it but there's nothing formal going on." [The Brian Lehrer Show]

Heather Mac Donald: "[J]ust because someone isn't arrested or summoned doesn't mean that the stop didn't deter a crime." [New York Post]

Alexis Grenell: "Frank Zimring, who is a noted criminologist who Kelly actually cited this morning in his Daily News op-ed, has said substantively that we absolutely have no idea what the effect of stop-and-frisk is. We cannot say quantitatively that this has had a positive or negative impact either way. It's to be determined. And this is the criminologist that the commissioner cites." [Inside City Hall]

Flashback: Frank Zimring isn't sure what would happen to crime rates if the level of stop-and-frisk was reduced. [Capital]

Al Sharpton: "Commissioner, facts are facts. It's hard to misrepresent this one. A disproportionate number of people being stopped are people of color. It's a matter of justice." [Politics Nation]

Education

"Bloomberg suggested the conspiratorial claims against the union chief were similar to the union’s wild allegations in several lawsuits against the city challenging its motives for closing struggling schools." [Natasha Velez, David Seifman and Antonio Antenucci]

Albany

A Cuomo spokesman disagreed with Silver, who questioned whether an inspector who answers to the governor has the independence to investigate cases of alleged wrongdoing by workers at state-run facilities for the disabled. [Danny Hakim]

Neither the Assembly or State Senate scheduled a public hearing on Cuomo's bill, but the State Senate passed it anyway. [Bill Hammond]

"Cuomo admits his ethics law could use fine-tuning" [Ken Lovett]

A Bronx judge said the health care network Pedro Espada took money from should sue him. [Mitchel Maddux and Kate Kowsh]

LIRR to Grand Central: "Officials blamed the $920 million jump on grossly optimistic projections ... during the tenure of former MTA CEO Jay Walder." [Jennifer Fermino]

Talk of a taxi-fare hike comes amid changes in the industry: outer borough taxis, Taxi of Tomorrow. [Ted Mann]

Minimum Wage

Nicole Gelinas: "Most minimum wage earners are not the breadwinners and most of them, in fact, are not poor at all." [Inside City Hall]

Dan Cantor: "92 percent of all minimum wage workers are adults." [Inside City Hall]

Cuomo isn't optimistic the legislation will pass this year. [Ken Lovett]

Media

NY1 profiles Matthew Hiltzik, a Democratic operative and spokesman for Katie Couric, Alec Baldwin and Glenn Beck. His mother makes a cameo appearance. [Budd Mishkin]

Some of Hiltzik's Democratic friends and clients can't understand how he can work for Beck. [Jason Horowitz]

'Natural Choice': Will Smith is ready to play Obama. [Page Six]

On TV

Ben Jealous: "What happened was we saw this great battle in North Carolina and realized as that was going on it was no longer sufficient to decide this state-by-state." [The Rachel Maddow Show]

Front Pages

Azi Paybarah

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