State Senate
Moving on from Sampson, State Senate Democrats elect Andrea Stewart-Cousins
The marginalized Democratic conference of New York State Senate has replaced its leader, John Sampson of Brooklyn, with Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester, who will be the first woman in the state's history to lead a legislative conference. More
'I am their instrumentality': Cuomo on making Skelos cooperate, in some form
Governor Andrew Cuomo would like to emphasize that his support for a majority-Republican coalition in the State Senate is conditional. More
Silver: 'I don't think Governor Cuomo believes this is a dictatorship'
Count Sheldon Silver among the Democrats who don't think Gov. Andrew Cuomo should have intervened in the State Senate leadership dispute to press for a Democratic majority.
"I think the governor is the Governor of the State of New York, and he moves or doesn't move forward in order to accomplish things for the great state of New York," the Assembly speaker said this morning, after a memorial lecture for his brother, the late Dr. Joseph Silver, in Brooklyn. More
(2)Cuomo on a Democratic 'schism' that has nothing to do with him
"This is not really about the Republicans, Fred," Cuomo today told New York Post state editor Fred Dicker during his morning radio show. "This is a schism within the Democrats." More
'It's bizarre': A liberal crusader gives up on Andrew Cuomo
"It's a total lack of leadership," said Samuels on Tuesday afternoon, before Klein's decision was announced.
"And it's bizarre, because I can't figure out why. He wants to run for president. He is losing--he can't get progressives across the country just because he was a leader on gay marriage. It's not enough. It's just not enough." More
(2)Gianaris makes a Cuomo pledge, calls Klein's 'bipartisan' Senate vision 'a cruel hoax'
Michael Gianaris, who led Democrats' efforts to reclaim the State Senate, said he would not seek to undo any of the accomplishments made by fellow Democrat, Governor Andrew Cuomo, if Democrats somehow succeeded in gaining control. More
When will Andrew Cuomo's abandonment of the Senate Democrats get awkward?
Jimmy Vielkind: You'll start to see a change in Cuomo's tune when major, core, New York-based Democratic constituency groups—think 1199—start calling him out. More
(2)The issues-based Democratic argument for Cuomo intervention, made gingerly
On Monday morning, State Senator Mike Gianaris argued, once again, that the progressive agenda outlined by Gov. Andrew Cuomo would be best served by a Democratic majority in the state Senate.
"They're all issues on which the Democratic majority sides with him and the Republicans side against him," Gianaris said on Fred Dicker's radio show.
It's an argument that Cuomo himself has declined to make. More
Cuomo: Albany has worked well for the past two years, hasn't it?
Responding this morning to criticism from liberal commentators over his political alliance with Republicans in the New York State Senate, Governor Andrew Cuomo said he'd prefer "a little less hyperpartisan rhetoric and a little more substantive rhetoric on issues." More
(2)Cuomo says criticism of his undermining of the Senate Democrats is 'hyperpartisan'
Gov. Andrew Cuomo deflected criticism of his Democratic bona fides this morning, in an appearance on Fred Dicker's radio show.
MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Salon's Alex Pareene both assailed Cuomo for not pro-actively supporting Democratic control of New York's state senate, and encouraging future primary voters to remember Cuomo's position in four years.
Cuomo shrugged it off. More
In the State Senate, historic Democratic victories come with an asterisk
ALBANY—Only here, perhaps, could such a decisive election result in even more confusion about who's in charge. More
(1)Post-Empire State shooting, A.G. Schneiderman calls for new gun control laws
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a statement in response to the shooting outside the Empire State Building this morning, offering thoughts and prayers to the victims, and reiterating the need for legislative action to protect the public from gun violence. More
(13)What the Senate Republicans got in exchange for not defunding the M.T.A.
It appears that what the Senate Republicans might have been holding out for, in this case, was more money for non-city road and bridge projects. And that they got enough of it to claim victory. More
Suburban legislators, from Lautenberg to Lanza, call for more oversight of the Port Authority
The New York State Senate and the U.S. Senate are calling for more oversight of the bistate Port Authority, and the New Jersey legislature is expected to follow suit.
Yesterday the U.S. Senate passed a $109 billion surface transportation bill that, among other things, directs the U.S. comptroller general to review tolls on bridges created under the Bridge Act of 1906, the General Bridge Act of 1946, and the International Bridge Act of 1972. The provision would also apply to tolls placed bridges or tunnels constructed along a federal-aid highway. More
Nadler on redistricting: 'Courts are gonna end up having a large role to play in this'
Amid the substantial concerns surrounding New York's legislative and congressional district lines, Rep. Jerry Nadler this morning predicted that, "courts are gonna end up having a large role to play in this," and that those courts, thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision that left him "astonished," will have to defer, to at least some extent, to the desires of the politically motivated state legislature. More
