New York State Senate

Ruben Diaz: Paterson Trying To Act Like A 'Macho Man' For Voters

AP | MICHAEL GORMLEY | Posted 11.24.2009 | New York


ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. David Paterson wants the Legislature to grant him emergency, one-time power to close a $3.2 billion deficit in the ...

Please Don't Tolerate Me, Reverend Senator Díaz

Johnathan Wilber | Posted 11.14.2009 | Politics


Johnathan Wilber

I guess I need one of these evangelists to explain the "it's nothing personal" thing to me. Because frankly I can't imagine a single thing more personal than denying my family rights.

Gay Marriage In New York: How Will State Senators Vote?

NY1 | Posted 11.12.2009 | New York


With the announcement Tuesday from members of the New York State Senate that they'll put same-sex marriage legislation to a vote before the end of the...

NY State Senate Refuses To Deal With Deficit During Special Session

AP | MICHAEL GORMLEY | Posted 11.11.2009 | New York


ALBANY, N.Y. — With New York drowning in deepening deficit spending and running out of cash to pay huge bills due next month, the Legislature me...

Eviscerating Rubén Díaz on Gay Marriage

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 11.10.2009 | New York


Nathaniel Frank

New York State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr.'s opposition to marriage equality in New York state is just plain stupid, and history must hold him to account.

Same-Sex Marriage May Get Albany Vote On Tuesday

AP | MICHAEL GORMLEY | Posted 11.09.2009 | New York


ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. David Paterson on Monday urged lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, calling it "an issue that touches on the...

Joe Bruno, New York Senate Leader, Faces Corruption Trial

AP | MICHAEL VIRTANEN | Posted 11.01.2009 | New York


ALBANY, N.Y. — For more than a decade, state Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno was a top power broker in New York. The backslapping former b...

Paterson Says Gay Marriage Bill Will Pass In New York

AP | MICHAEL GORMLEY | Posted 10.23.2009 | New York


ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. David Paterson said Thursday that he expects to sign a same-sex marriage bill into law in the coming weeks. Paters...

Eric Shneiderman, State Senator In Charge Of Monserrate Panel

The New York Observer | Jimmy Vielkind | Posted 10.21.2009 | New York


This week, Schneiderman was announced as leader of a panel charged deciding the fate of Senator Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat who had just been ...

Would You Buy a Used Car From This Man?

Dan Collins | Posted 10.19.2009 | New York


Dan Collins

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.

Hiram Monserrate Verdict: Guilty Of Lesser Charge In Girlfriend Attack, Acquitted Of Felony (VIDEO)

Posted 10.15.2009 | New York


New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate was found not guilty on two counts of felony assault in his slash-and-gash case today. The Queens Democrat wa...

Hiram Monserrate Video: Tape Of Alleged Karla Giraldo Assault Released

Huffington Post | David Weiner | Posted 11.22.2009 | New York


A newly released video in the Hiram Monserrate assault trial shows the state senator violently dragging his girlfriend through the hallway of an apart...

Pedro Espada Jr. Seizes New Role In Senate

New York Times | NICHOLAS CONFESSORE | Posted 11.14.2009 | New York


Three months after a State Senate revolt catapulted him to infamy and power, Mr. Espada - audacious, unapologetic, a magnet for prosecutors - is seizi...

Mark Schroeder, Dem NY Assemblyman Calls Espada Thug

1010WINS | Posted 10.20.2009 | New York


ALBANY, N.Y. (AP/ 1010 WINS) -- A Democratic assemblyman says Democratic Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada should quit, saying the Bronx senator wh...

Pedro Espada Fires a New Aide, Onix Sosa, Over Real Estate Scandals

New York Times | RAY RIVERA | Posted 10.17.2009 | New York


Pedro Espada Jr., the majority leader of the State Senate who is already at odds with tenant advocacy groups, appointed a new deputy chief of staff la...

Senate Democrats Authorized $350,000 For Espada New Hires And Pay Raises

Times Union | IRENE JAY LIU | Posted 09.19.2009 | New York


As Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. fended off scrutiny over his son's short-lived Senate job, the chamber's Democrat leaders authorized $350,000 in pay raises a...

Little Gordon Gekkos

Dan Collins | Posted 09.18.2009 | New York


Dan Collins

The worst news from Albany is that things are exactly what they seem. With the obvious exception of a virtuous minority, the people who serve are there out of greed, and greed of the most depressingly base nature.

Poll: New York State Government Broken

Posted 09.18.2009 | New York


A Quinnipiac Poll released today reveals that a large majority of New Yorkers believe that the state government is the worst or among the worst in the...

Ex-Worker Says Senate Aide, Indira F. Noel, Had Carte Blanche With Gov. David A. Paterson

New York Times | DANNY HAKIM and NICHOLAS CONFESSORE | Posted 09.14.2009 | New York


ALBANY - A former Senate employee who is suing the state over his dismissal in 2007 said on Thursday that he had testified under oath this week that h...

Republicans Lost Senate Majority... And Millions Of Campaign Dollars

nytimes.com | NICHOLAS CONFESSORE | Posted 09.12.2009 | New York


ALBANY -- Losing the majority in the State Senate last year cost Republicans the choice office space they long occupied in the Capitol, their committe...

Craft Statewide Force to Spur Jobs, New Kinds of Businesses

Kathryn Wylde | Posted 09.11.2009 | New York


Kathryn Wylde

From a business perspective, nothing could be worse during this period of economic uncertainty than the chaos and instability that have characterized New York state government during the past two years.

Pedro Espada's Son Part Of Senate Deal?

Daily Intel | Daily Intel | Posted 09.10.2009 | Home


How badly did Democrats in Albany want to lure turncoat senator Pedro Espada Jr. back to their side? Well, we know they crowned him majority leader of...

A Town Hall Meeting, New York Style

David Vines | Posted 09.07.2009 | New York


David Vines

It's unfortunate but generally true that most people, even the most informed political junkies, do not know who their state senator is.

Senate/Assembly Pork: Who's Getting The Choicest Cuts?

Times Union | Times Union | Posted 09.03.2009 | New York


Under Democratic control of the Senate, upstate lost nearly $26 million in member items, the discretionary grants doled out by legislators commonly ca...

NYC Left High and Dry

Ester Fuchs | Posted 08.18.2009 | Home


Ester Fuchs

NYC is the poster child for America's dysfunctional federalism. It makes no difference the magnitude of the crisis. We can be in the deepest recession since the great Depression and the City is held hostage to the unaccountable politics of Albany.