Donald Trump released his big presidential surprise. Instantly, the media was confronted with a serious challenge: Do you ignore the guy or make fun of him?

Trump's "surprise" is a challenge to President Obama to release his college records and passport history in return for a $5 million donation to...

The primary elections for state legislature turned into a referendum, of sorts, on same-sex marriage. I'm sorry to say that gay rights had a bad day.

New York got its historic gay marriage law last year after four Republican state senators switched positions and joined the Senate Democrats in...

We have all been waiting to see if the state ethics commission would decide to investigate a secret decision by powerful public officials to quietly pay off victims of sexual harassment with taxpayer money.

Results are in, more or less. The commission -- the grand reform product of the new...

In honor of the back-to-work season, let's send some positive thoughts toward the New York mass transit system.

You may not remember the days when the subways sucked, but there was a long, dark, dreary period back in the 1970s and '80s when nothing was reliable. Would a train come?...

If you live in New York, today you're probably asking whether your quality life is going to improve once Vito Lopez is no longer the Brooklyn Democratic Party leader.

Perhaps you're not.

If you've ever heard of Lopez at all, it's probably because of last week's sex...

New York has a history of disgusting political sex scandals. Perhaps that's because we're open-minded -- it takes something ultra-gross to shock us.

Assemblyman Vito Lopez fits the bill. The powerful Democratic boss in Brooklyn apparently had a fetish for sticking his hand between the thighs of his least...

Here's the most politically important fact about New York: everything is occupied. Do anything that takes up space -- erect a building, widen a sidewalk, put up a dog run in the park -- and you are elbowing somebody else out of the way.

So, the bike...

The hottest U.S. Senate race in the region will be in Connecticut.

I'm talking hot as in a baby's bath temperature, or maybe a puddle on the street at around 8 p.m. But at least you might actually be able to name the candidates. See if you can remember...

A trial balloon rose wafted across New York recently: Malcolm Smith as the Republican nominee for mayor?

That would be Malcolm Smith, the Democratic state senator from Queens. "I have had conversations exploring the possibility with a number of people around the city," Smith told a New York Post...

Don Cornwell says he got his first real look at wine counterfeiting in 1986 as a young attorney working in Los Angeles when the manager of a local wine store ushered him into the store's basement.

"It was unbelievable," Cornwell recalls. "The owner...

Test your civic skills: Name the winner of the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in New York.

The answer is Wendy E. Long. Missed it? Don't feel too worried. I've been trying this out on my friends, many of them true political junkies, and the results have been so...

Congressman Charlie Rangel won his primary. Probably. Very likely. You never know, but it certainly looks like he's ahead. Perhaps. Although one never can tell ...

The city's election officials have screwed up their vote-counting mission and the democratic process has dwindled off into head-scratching confusion. This is...

Tuesday is primary day for New York. Surprised?

Yeah, they do seem to be going out of their way to keep it a secret. This is the second of three state primary dates. Mitt Romney won the presidential primary in April. (What? You didn't hear about that either?) And...

Well, the New York State Legislature has gone away. Miss it? Me neither.

Among the things that didn't happen before the closing bell was action on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to change the marijuana laws, which currently allow residents to carry small amounts of marijuana in a pocket or...

Governor Andrew Cuomo has been on a huge, huge roll since he was elected in 2010, but this month it looked as though he might have run into a ditch after an embarrassing revelation about the way money from gambling interests had been flooding into a group that's been flooding...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's stop-and-frisk marijuana initiative is a great move for a whole raft of serious reasons. It's also good politics.

The issue at hand is current state law that makes it legal to possess a small amount of marijuana but not to display it publicly. That would seem...

Apparently, New York's role in the presidential election is going to center on our native sons developing new ways to embarrass their party's nominee. When it comes to Republicans in particular, New York has become the Poison Apple.

Exhibit A: Donald Trump

Trump is joining Mitt Romney...

All eyes are turning to Belmont race track, where I'll Have Another will be running for the Triple Crown on June 9. Will he create a magical New York moment, becoming the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to pull off the trick? Or will he become the 12th 3-year-old...

The FBI and the NYPD: Where's the love?

When the news came out last week about the latest version of an underwear bomb plot, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was publicly irked that he hadn't been briefed about the plot by federal officials despite the fact that days...

President Obama visited upstate New York this week. While he was there, we all speculated about whether being in New York, a state that has legalized gay marriage, would prod the president to mention his "evolving" position on the subject.

The next day, without any notable prodding from New Yorkers,...