It's hard to believe anyone with leadership and public spirit would be willing to hang around Albany. Cynicism and despair aren't going to get us anywhere, but there are days when you find it hard to feel anything else.

The lack of enthusiasm for Bill Thompson has roots in more than a super-rich opponent. New York City believes in the values of the Democrats, but doesn't trust them to produce strong leaders on the local level.

There is only one possible upside to the pathetic, miserable, appalling story of New York state Senator Hiram Monserrate: Teenagers are not generally known to take state legislators as role models.

Shock waves from Judge Jed Rakoff's scathing denunciation of a proposed settlement between the SEC and the Bank of America are still rippling through Wall Street and Washington.