Marc Molinaro (photo: @MarcMolinaro)

Marc Molinaro wants you to believe in government again. In order to do so, he will argue, you must elect him to be the next governor of New York, eschewing the cutthroat, divisive, corrupt politics of Andrew Cuomo and opting for unity, dignity, and bipartisan problem-solving.

The 42-year-old Republican is in his second term as Dutchess County Executive; on Monday he will officially launch his gubernatorial campaign from the town of Tivoli, where he grew up and was elected mayor at 18, in

Gov. Cuomo and top aides announce a budget deal (photo: Mike Groll/The Governor's Office)

Governor Andrew Cuomo and his top aides held a press conference late Friday night to announce a deal with the Legislature on a new $168.3 billion state budget for fiscal year 2019, which begins April 1. The announcement came several hours before the final budget bills were voted through both the Senate and Assembly, despite reservations from some lawmakers and another flawed process wherein legislators did not know the full details of what they were voting on and the

Gov. Cuomo at the wheel (Philip Kamrass/Governor's Office)

Though Governor Andrew Cuomo has expressed support for instituting a congestion pricing program to reduce street congestion in Manhattan and create a dedicated source of revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and said that he is fighting for such a scheme in state budget negotiations, the governor has recently indicated that he may only be able to win a modest first step, raising the ire of those expecting more.

“Congestion pricing doesn’t happen in one fell swoop,” Cuomo

Nixon at a campaign event (photo: @CynthiaNixon)

When actor and activist Cynthia Nixon recently launched her gubernatorial campaign, she said that in 2010 she voted for Andrew Cuomo, the man she is now running to unseat in this year’s Democratic primary, but that she became disillusioned with the governor as his approach to governance took shape.

While there is no apparent reason to doubt Nixon’s claim about that vote, there are questions about her voting record, particularly where she has been registered in recent years.

Nixon has shifted her voter

(image via Sex and the City website)

With actor Cynthia Nixon now running for governor of New York, questions arise about whether reruns of her most famous show, “Sex and the City,” would need to be pulled from the airwaves to not violate federal election rules mandating equal time for candidates on television and radio broadcast networks.

But, given its current distribution, Nixon’s show may not be subject to the federal equal time rule, which applies to broadcast networks but not cable channels or streaming services.

The Federal

Gov. Cuomo during his budget address (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

A state budget is due by the April 1 start to the new fiscal year, and lawmakers have pledged to have a spending plan -- which is likely to include several new policy items -- done before Friday, March 30, given the impending Passover and Easter holidays. As Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders negotiate a wide variety of policy and spending issues, many are important to New York City, not the least of which include determinations of state funding to the city for

Gov. Cuomo being endorsed by 1199, Feb. 2018 (photo: @nydems)

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign website has been updated with a 2018 logo but was touting dozens of endorsements that the governor received in the 2014 election cycle, with no indication that the backing of the groups listed did not apply to the current election, in which the Democrat is seeking a third term.

The Cuomo campaign took down its endorsement page, which said “endorsements updated daily,” on Thursday after Gotham Gazette inquired about it. Shortly after an email to a campaign

Alain Kaloyeros (photo: The Governor's Office)

Following the recent conviction of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s longtime aide Joseph Percoco on corruption charges – a humiliating blow for a governor who once campaigned on a promise to reform Albany – Cuomo quickly sought to shift attention from the executive to the legislative branch.

A day after Percoco was convicted of fraud and soliciting bribes, Cuomo called for ethics reform – in the Assembly and Senate.

“The single best ethics reform, which makes everything else moot, is no outside income in

(Photo: Office of the Governor - Kevin P. Coughlin)

Governor Cuomo’s $175 million workforce development proposal, announced earlier this year, promises major new investments in the skills-building programs that New York needs. With industries like healthcare, tech, and construction facing shortages of skilled workers, the governor’s plan can help expand access to opportunity while boosting

Cynthia Nixon (photo: Nixon campaign website)

After months of speculation, actor and education activist Cynthia Nixon officially announced Monday that she will run for governor, challenging two-term Governor Andrew Cuomo in this year’s Democratic primary.

Nixon’s announcement was all but expected, with her name circulating on the rumor mill for months and news reports just barely over a week ago that she had retained the services of two Democratic ...

Gov. Cuomo in Buffalo (photo via The Governor's Office)

New York State and local governments spend over $8 billion annually in taxpayer money, giving subsidies to businesses through tax abatements and credits, low or no interest loans, grants, and capital investments like building factories. Eight billion dollars could otherwise pay for the MTA Subway Action Plan in addition to the entire 5-year capital plan for New York City Housing Authority

Joe Percoco behind his lawyer (photo: Samar Khurshid/Gotham Gazette)

The jury in the federal corruption trial of Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, returned with a verdict on Tuesday, finding Percoco guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of soliciting bribes, charges related to a pair of bribery and bid-rigging schemes involving firms seeking to do business with the state. Percoco was also found not guilty on three charges he was facing.

Over the

Rebecca Katz at The Broad Room (photo: Monica Klein on Twitter)

Actress and education activist Cynthia Nixon is reportedly close to launching a gubernatorial bid and may challenge Governor Andrew Cuomo in this year’s Democratic primary.

Nixon has long been rumored as a candidate for governor and is close to making an official announcement that she is running, according

Gov. Cuomo and Sen. Stewart-Cousins (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

What would New York State’s budget look like if women were in charge? That is this year’s $168-billion question.

For decades, the final details and compromises in New York’s annual budget have been decided by the so-called “three men in the room,” or the leaders of the two legislative houses and the governor, but with workplace sexual harassment at the forefront this year, it seems that at least one woman will be included in parts of the closed-door

Joseph Percoco, rear, his legal team, and others (photo: Samar Khurshid)

Jury deliberations began Thursday in the federal corruption trial of Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, and three corporate executives who were allegedly involved in a criminal conspiracy to pay Percoco bribes in exchange for favorable official actions in their efforts to do business with the state government.

In federal district court in lower Manhattan on Thursday morning, the prosecution offered its rebuttal to the defense’s closing arguments

Barry Bohrer and his client, Joseph Percoco, behind (photo: Samar Khurshid)

Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, was not “one of the most powerful officials in state government,” argued Barry Bohrer, Percoco’s defense attorney, on Wednesday, the second day of closing arguments in the federal corruption trial of Percoco and three corporate executives, Joseph Gerardi, Steven Aiello, and Peter Galbraith Kelly.

Percoco and the others face charges of bribery, fraud, and bid-rigging related to two separate schemes involving state contracts. The

Speaker Johnson talks with Mayor de Blasio (photo: William Alatriste)

The City Council is set to begin hearings next week on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $88.67 billion preliminary budget proposal for fiscal year 2019, with a smaller but significant figure likely to become an issue of controversy in negotiations between the two sides of City Hall.  

Council Speaker Corey Johnson

Governor Cuomo (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)

The federal corruption trial of Joseph Percoco, a former top aide and close ally of Governor Andrew Cuomo, and three co-defendants reached near conclusion with prosecutors making closing arguments to the jury on Tuesday.

Percoco and the three others, all corporate executives, face several bribery, bid-rigging and fraud charges related to state contracts sought by the companies represented by Percoco’s co-defendants. Percoco was charged with accepting bribes amounting to more than $300,000

Cuomo in 2013 (photo: The Governor's Office)

Governor Andrew Cuomo sharply critiqued his counterpart from Florida, Rick Scott, on CNN on Friday, criticizing Scott’s Action Plan on gun safety in the wake of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as “incremental” and unlikely to have a real impact. Cuomo, a second-term Democrat, is known for his landmark 2013 gun control law, the SAFE Act, which he pushed through after the mass killing of children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in late 2012, and has been vocal on

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul (photo: The Governor's Office)

“That’s what we do in New York -- that’s what we need in our nation!” declared Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul from a church lectern Sunday, sounding not unlike her boss, Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Hochul, whose remarks were at times drowned out by applause, was highlighting Cuomo’s progressive accomplishments -- paid family leave, equal pay provisions, and criminal justice reform -- before a congregation of elected officials, aides, and others attending the New York State Association of

Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits

February 22, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Lieutenant Governor Candidate Jumaane Williams

City Council Member Jumaane Williams recently announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor, opening a Democratic primary challenge to incumbent Kathy Hochul, Governor Andrew Cuomo's chosen

Howard Zemsky (photo: Govenor's Office)

Starting this year, the state’s central economic development agency is required to produce an annual comprehensive report of all of the state-funded programs it oversees. The requirement of Empire State Development (ESD) was part of the state budget agreement reached last April amid intensifying criticism of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s approach to economic development.

With the report due on December 31 of each year, ESD must compile the past fiscal year's “aggregate totals” for each economic

photo via the Governor's office

There is plenty of debate ongoing about the pros and cons of congestion pricing - but little discussion yet about the purpose of creating such a large flow of money -- $1-$1.5 billion a year -- that logically must be a way to fund the next MTA capital plan. That plan is due out in the fall of 2019 for a five-year cycle from 2020 through 2024.

The MTA had estimated that both the existing plan (2015-19) and the prior plan (2010-14) would cost about $30 billion each. For both plans,

(photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor’s Office)

A more transparent administration would reveal rival bid, economic estimates.

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a triumphant press conference on Dec. 20 to announce that the New York Islanders would return home to Long Island, building a new arena and ancillary retail, office,

Mayor de Blasio testifying in Albany (Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

Testifying in Albany Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $168 billion executive budget and outlined the city’s funding priorities for the next fiscal year.

De Blasio was the first to testify at a joint legislative budget hearing on local governments, making his annual journey to the Capitol, where he also met privately with Cuomo for an hour, and was scheduled to meet with three of five legislative conference leaders: