Your take: Bill of rights flies away

A little longer than a year ago, an ice storm hit New York on Valentine’s Day, crippling area airports. It was a particularly bad day for JetBlue, which essentially locked its passengers on a plane, without food, and water, while temperatures inside the cabin rose, and toilets quickly filled up.
The nightmare caused JetBlue to issue [...]

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Video: Paterson sworn in

In case you missed it:

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Bloomberg for governor idea a popular one?

It once seemed Gov. Eliot Spitzer was untouchable. Now he’s plain getting slapped in the face.
According to a post in the Daily News-run Daily Politics blog, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke at a event this morning at the Woodmere Country Club in Nassau County, which was hosted by state Sen. Dean Skelos. It was [...]

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Roosevelt district bailed out

You can’t say Gov. Eliot Spitzer does nothing for Long Island schools.
The governor today will pay off the Roosevelt School District’s $8 million debt, and promises to support the district until at least 2015.
From the NBC brief:
The state is bailing out the financially troubled Roosevelt School District on Long Island, which has been under state [...]

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Keep your nooses in your closet

The state Assembly today made it illegal for New York residents to display a noose or any other symbol of hatred.
The legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Mark Alessi, D-Wading River, makes it a class E felony to “etch paint, draw or display in anyway … symbols that are meant to harass or intimidate, including nooses, [...]

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The health commissioner is on the case

The news that a Melville doctor used dirty needles on his patients led to a regional hepatitis and HIV scare, and no doubt caused locals to take a hard look at how their physicians handle injections.
But the state government has stepped in to help ease the population. State Health Commissioner Richard Daines announced measures that [...]

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Marc Alessi is a farmer’s friend

From now on, consider state Assemblyman Marc Alessi one of your own. That is, if you’re a farmer.
The Democrat from Wading River was just named to the New York Farm Bureau’s “Circle of Friends” list for his support of agriculture and his voting record in favor of pro-farm measures.
The NYFB is a lobbying group for [...]

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State to the rescue

The rapid collapse of American Home Mortgage that put nearly 1,500 Long Islanders out of work is awful, but if there’s an upside it’s the level of humanity displayed by organizations offering to help the laid-off.
Today, the state’s Department of Labor is offering its help as well. The organization said it will hold a hiring [...]

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No Segways on the sidewalk

Two-wheeled wonder scooters have changed mall patrols forever, but do we really want these Segways clogging up our sidewalks? It’s bad enough when a stranger steps on your foot.
Environmental organizations the Adirondack Council, American Lung Association of New York State, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the New York Public Interest Research Group all [...]

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What is … a Republican assault?

Who said politics isn’t a game?
New York Republicans launched a new Web site that pairs good old-fashioned partisan finger-pointing with one of our oldest, most recognized game shows: Jeopardy.
The party, according to a New York Times story, set up the Web site, www.nyinjeopardy.com, to bash the 10 Senate Democrats most vulnerable in the next election.
That [...]

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State board wants gap timeline

As we all know, the Long Island Rail Road’s platform gaps need fixing, but the state wants to know exactly when we can count on the dangerous situation being remedied.
The Public Transportation Safety Board wants the LIRR to deliver a repair timeline by summer’s end, and by October, the board wants quarterly reports on how [...]

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These podcasts just keep getting better

The newest edition of LI Bizcast, the official podcast of Long Island Business News, is live and loaded with conversations about this week’s feature stories.
First, David Reich-Hale delivers a report on the state Legislature’s mad scramble to tackle some major issues before the session ends.
Then Ross Daly reports on a lawsuit filed against the New [...]

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No dunces on the board

In 2005, New York state passed a law that makes sense. It demands school board members have some basic understanding of finance if they want to make fiscal decisions for school districts.
Today, new comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says board members can get their training online.
From the Empire State News brief:

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has announced a [...]

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Report says IDAs don’t work too well

Industrial Development Agencies are meant to create jobs, so what if they’re not doing that?
New York Jobs with Justice released a survey that claims the state’s IDA system needs to be retooled. The organization claims that in 2005, almost half of the IDA-funded projects did not create jobs while 21 percent failed to meet job [...]

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ESDC consolidates

Patrick Foye, the old head of the United Way of Long Island, announced a plan Monday that would further unify the Empire State Development Corp.
Foye, who is chairman of the ESDC/Downstate, said the organization, which is the state’s chief economic development agency, will dissolve 13 of its subsidiaries and merge another 25 of its subsidiaries [...]

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State’s DEC launches a new Web site

The New York State Department of Environmental Conversation joined the redesign-those-drab-Web sites bandwagon, and unveiled its new Internet home on May 4.
Maybe Suffolk County will follow the organization’s lead.
Anyway, the state’s DEC said the new site “provides features that make it easier for visitors to find the information they are looking for,” according to a [...]

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Cuomo appalled at Verizon’s service

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Verizon’s telephone repair service in Queens and Long Island stinks, and he thinks the company should offer customer rebates to make amends.
The attorney general, in a filing with the New York State Public Service Commission, claimed the New York-based company’s service is “chronically poor” and he suggested the [...]

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How fast will New York spend the budget?

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state legislators hammered out a $121 billion budget Sunday. Now it’s time to spend it.
According to the Empire Center for New York State Policy, the state’s moola will evaporate at rate of $3,834 per second. In fact, the institute created a Web-based odometer-styled Spend-O-Meter to keep track of the state’s spending.
Here’s [...]

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Cig hike upsets convenience store owners

The New York Association of Convenience Stores says a proposal to tack a $2 local tax onto an already high-priced pack of smokes is crazy talk, as smokers would turn to the black-market before turning against their Marlboro reds.
From the press release:
“If the rationale for higher cigarette taxes is to compel smokers to quit [...]

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Did LI win big by Spitzer’s budget?

The state’s $120.9 billion budget passed late Sunday, and it looks like Long Island’s education system was a big winner.
But where there is a winner, there is a loser.
According to a New York Times story, that loser was Westchester County.
From the story:
More than half of nearly $21 million in new aid for special education went [...]

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Weitzman: Thanks but no thanks

Though Gov. Eliot Spitzer placed him on a list of candidates, Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman does not want to be considered for New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance.
He submitted this letter of explanation to the media today:

Dear Friend, You may have read that I was under consideration by Gov. Eliot Spitzer [...]

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Someone give Johnson a seat

When newly elected State Sen. Craig Johnson got to Albany, there was a bit of scrapping over his seat.
According to Gay City News, a New York-based newspaper that focuses on news related to gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual issues, the Republicans refused to give up a seat on the Democratic side of the Senate building [...]

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DiNapoli’s quiz was hard … but 0 for 5?

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the New York Post’s quiz for the new Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, you should.
Post reporter Frank Ryan fired five Economics 101 questions at DiNapoli during a lunch in Great Neck and DiNapoli got each of them wrong.
The consensus around here is that some of the questions were [...]

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The muckraking stops here

The bitter battle for the State senate seat left vacant by Michael Balboni is ended, as Democrat Craig Johnson edged out Republican challenger Maureen O’Connell.
That means no more commercials, no more press releases — which this blogger received in droves each day — and no more endorsements, thank goodness.
Now there’s still the matter of State [...]

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Retail workers line up for Johnson

Democrat Craig Johnson stole the mall workers’ votes.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union endorsed the Nassau County legislator for the vacant state senator seat on Tuesday.
The RWDSU, which is affiliated with United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 338, is not shy of power. Last October the union negotiated a new contract for Stop [...]

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Comptroller TV

The 17 candidates for Alan Hevesi’s old state comptroller job will have a chance to woo the powers that be.
Each hopeful will be grilled in televised, joint legislative interviews Tuesday and Wednesday.
The schedule for contending Long Islanders is as such:

Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, Tuesday, second session.
State Assem. Thomas DiNapoli, D-Great Neck, Wednesday, first session.
Long [...]

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Imus slams O’Connell commercial

Maureen O’Connell’s campaign commercial so offended morning radio host Don Imus on Monday that he replayed the spot for free so he and the boys could offer a nationwide critique.
Maybe the worst in the history of radio, Imus opined.
Then he dropped the “maybe.”
O’Connell, in the race to replace former senator Mike Balboni, accuses challenger [...]

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