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June 2002 Archive
June
30, 2002
Governor George E. Pataki vowed on Saturday
to build a memorial where the World Trade Center towers once
stood, while allowing for additional development on the
16-acre site.
(New York Times)
(Daily News)
(New York Post)
The two Democratic candidates for governor,
Andrew Cuomo and H. Carl McCall, want to use the clout of
New York State's $112 billion pension fund to reform Wall
Street.
(New York Times)
June
29, 2002
The New York State Senate plans to return to
the Capitol on Tuesday to deal with legislation, including
the passage of a labor rights bill unpopular with employers.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick) said he
would recall members if four or five deals had been struck
with the Assembly. But with just the labor bill agreed upon,
Bruno announced Friday that the chamber will return.
(Albany Times Union)
Whatever fiscal cushion New York managed to
build during the boom years of the late 1990s has all but
vanished with adoption of the 2002-03 state budget, state
Comptroller H. Carl McCall, who is seeking the Democratic
nomination to run against Governor George E. Pataki, said
Friday. McCall called the 2002-03 spending plan the
"governor's election-year budget," and said that once
Election Day passes it "leaves the rest of the year up to
hope.
(Albany Times Union)
June
28, 2002
Andrew Cuomo, H. Carl McCall's rival for the
Democratic nomination, assailed McCall again yesterday over
poor performing investments - including WorldCom - that
damaged the New York Common Retirement Fund, which is now
worth $112 billion, down from its high of $127 billion two
years ago. McCall, who has made the fund's performance part
of his campaign for governor, said this drop is the largest
single loss in the fund's history.
(Newsday)
(New York Post)
An aide to Andrew Cuomo demanded on Thursday
that his Democratic gubernatorial rival H. Carl McCall dump
Alliance Capital, a pension fund management firm embroiled
in the WorldCom scandal. McCall's office refused, saying
Alliance Capital has handled the state's investments
prudently.
(Albany Times Union)
Democratic gubernatorial candidates Andrew
Cuomo and H. Carl McCall have agreed to headline a gala in
Manhattan on July 22 to raise cash for their party's
coordinated campaign against Republican Governor George E.
Pataki. The campaign will include a radio ad blitz bashing
Pataki in his political base upstate that will begin to run
next week.
(Daily News)
For the second time, New York City's largest
Spanish-language television station has rejected a
pro-Rockefeller Drug Laws reform advertisement that is
critical of Governor George E. Pataki after his
administration demanded it be pulled because of
inaccuracies. The ad stopped running last week after the
station received a letter from state Director of Criminal
Services Chauncey Parker that pointed out errors, including
a claim that "thousands of New Yorkers have a family member
who must complete an obligatory sentence of 30 years" as a
result of the laws and another stating that Pataki's reform
"will not reunite these families."
(Albany Times Union)
June
27, 2002
As the legislative session winds to a close in this election year, Governor
George E. Pataki has quietly put the brakes on several popular measures,
including a minimum wage increase and a ban on smoking in restaurants. But
the governor, who Republican allies say would suffer politically if he
vetoed either bill, has not spoken publicly against those bills, and has
even sent vaguely positive signals about some of them.
(New York Times)
Governor George E. Pataki and legislative leaders reached a deal yesterday
on a hotly contested measure that would ban employers who receive state
dollars from using that cash to deter union organization. The measure was
immediately criticized by the business lobby as a union organizing tool,
while supporters contend that the measure will help curb what they called a
common practice of employers threatening workers who choose to unionize.
(Newsday)
(Albany Times Union)
The New York State pension fund is among the big WorldCom losers - out at
least $300 million, which prompted criticism yesterday of state Comptroller
H. Carl McCall, who oversees the fund and is running for governor. His rival
for the Democratic nomination, Andrew Cuomo, demanded that McCall release a
report on the fund's performance for the fiscal year that ended March 31.
The report is expected to be released this morning, aides to McCall said.
(Daily News)
The collapse of WorldCom became a hot issue in the governor's race
yesterday - as the two Democratic candidates, H. Carl McCall and Andrew
Cuomo, pointed fingers at each other for ties to the scandalized
telecommunications company.
(New York Post)
After four months in the New York State Senate, Senator Liz Krueger has
discovered what she believes to be an intractable Albany reality: that
the governor and two legislative leaders control the legislative domain.
(New York Times)
H. Carl McCall and Andrew Cuomo, the two Democrats running for governor,
city council members, borough presidents, and the city comptroller showed up
at New York City Hall yesterday to criticize the appeals court ruling which
reversed a lower court's order to the state to spend more money on education
in New York City. But Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who just won control of
the city's schools and who also supports Governor George E. Pataki, in favor
of the court ruling, stayed out of sight.
(New York Times)
June
26, 2002
State legislative leaders admitted they have
nothing to show for their return to Albany on Tuesday,
reporting they have yet to reach an agreement on about 15
key bills. Governor George E. Pataki said they are far apart
on at least three - dealing with extending the state cleanup
program for hazardous waste sites, enacting a package of
bills Pataki and New York State Senate Majority Joseph Bruno
(R-Brunswick) say are needed to combat terrorism, and
reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
(Albany Times Union)
Mayor Bloomberg's aides waged an attack
yesterday on a proposal by state lawmakers to allow the sale
of novelty fireworks such as sparklers, contending fires and
injuries would inevitably result. The bill was one of
several pieces of legislation, including stiffer
requirements for city tax assessors, that legislators were
tackling on the eve of the session's end.
(Daily News)
With a state appeals court ruling yesterday
that Albany has not been swindling New York City's schools
out of funding, Governor George E. Pataki racked up a
significant victory in the area Democrats believe is his
most vulnerable among city voters: his record on urban
education. By signing legislation that gives Mayor Michael
Bloomberg control over the school bureaucracy and providing
enough state aid to ensure a new contract with the United
Federation of Teachers, Pataki amassed two accomplishments
to parry the complaints of his Democratic rivals that he has
neglected the city's schools during his eight years in
Albany.
(Newsday)
Governor George E. Pataki said yesterday
that he was "pleased" with a state appeals court decision to
throw out a judge's finding that the state has been cheating
city kids out of billions of dollars in public-school
funding, noting that he's already increased education
funding.
(New York Post)
The United States Justice Department gave
tentative clearance yesterday to the redistricting plan
approved earlier this month by the New York State
Legislature and Governor George E. Pataki, ruling that its
review found it did not violate the rights of minorities
covered by the federal Voting Rights Act. A three-judge
federal court panel overseeing the redistricting effort
scheduled a hearing for Friday in Manhattan when it is
expected to formally adopt the state legislature's plan. The
plan would eliminate two of the state's 31 congressional
districts and threaten the careers of at least two veteran
representatives.
(Newsday)
After reviewing the plan approved earlier
this month by the New York State Legislature and Governor
George E. Pataki, the United States Justice Department
issued a long-awaited ruling that the newly drawn
congressional lines do not violate the rights of minority
groups protected under the federal Voting Rights Act. The
plan threatens the career of Republican United States
Representative Benjamin Gilman by combining his district in
Rockland and Orange counties with Republican Sue Kelly's
district in Westchester County.
(Albany Times Union)
When he jumped into the governor's race more
than a year ago, Controller Carl McCall touted himself as a
gifted investor and a shrewd manager of the $112 billion
state pension fund. But with the fund hit by a stock market
downturn as well as Enron and Global Crossing investment
losses, McCall's office has yet to release an annual report
on the fund's performance for the fiscal year that ended
March 31.
(Daily News)
On Monday, New York State Senator Ada L.
Smith, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, was one
among a crowd of residents at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's town
meeting in Ozone Park, Queens who booed and hissed when the
mayor defended his plan to turn a hotel in Jamaica into a
shelter for homeless families. Ms. Smith, making her point
with a visual aid, by standing up, approaching the table
where the mayor was sitting with several of his
commissioners and slamming a package of homelessness facts
in front of him, said that she was simply trying to
underscore that 12 of 14 of the Queens' shelters were
already in Community Board 12, where the proposed new one
would be located.
(New York Times)
Governor George E. Pataki's 23-year-old
daughter has a starring role in his latest TV campaign ad,
fueling questions about whether she's being groomed for
future political office. The statewide 30-second spot,
titled "Emily," features a personal testimonial from the
pretty, brown-haired recent Yale graduate, who heads the
youth-oriented "People for Pataki" arm of her father's
re-election campaign.
(New York Post)
Emily Pataki's father is the candidate
running for governor, but some days it seems like First
Daughter Emily is the Pataki seeking office. The photogenic
Yale University graduate stars in a 30-second TV testimonial
Governor George E. Pataki began airing yesterday, increasing
the 23-year-old's already prominent role in his campaign.
(Daily News)
Transit and community activists yesterday
called on subway commuters to demand that Governor George E.
Pataki reverse controversial changes on the Queens Boulevard
lines. The coalition argues that last December's rerouting
of the F express to a stop at 63rd Street and Lexington
Avenue in Manhattan from a station 10 blocks south has
inconvenienced commuters, while the new local V train has
not reduced crowding on the E express train.
(New York Post)
June
25, 2002
Governor George E. Pataki has worked hard to
build his popularity among two important groups of voters
normally viewed as loyal to Democrats - labor unions, from
whom he already has received endorsements, and Hispanics.
But the biggest test of Pataki's campaign strategy comes
this week in Albany, as the New York State Legislature
extends its session by one week to act on some key measures
that have the support of labor union members and Hispanics,
but face opposition from Pataki's Republican base.
(Daily News)
Gubernatorial candidate H. Carl McCall
pledged on Monday to reduce the size of kindergarten and
first grade public school classes to 18 students if he is
elected governor. Critical of his opponents' commitment to
educational reform, McCall's proposal calls for pumping an
additional $8 billion into the public school system over
four years, with most of the money coming from increased
federal and state aid.
(Albany Times Union)
More than a few eyebrows were raised
yesterday when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a Republican,
threw his support behind Guillermo Linares, a Democrat and
former city councilman, for New York State Senate. This
recent move by Mr. Bloomberg, a longtime Democrat who
became a Republican to run for mayor, has caused some to
wonder whether the mayor was reverting to his Democratic
roots, trying to bolster the case for his new project -
nonpartisan elections in New York - or attempting to build
on his relationship with Hispanic voters.
(New York Times)
Seen as a jab at New York State Senator Eric
T. Schneiderman (D-Manhattan), Mayor Michael Bloomberg
endorsed his challenger, former Democratic New York City
Councilman Guillermo Linares, for New York State Senate
yesterday.
(Newsday)
On Monday, former New York City Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani announced that he will be chairman of
Republican state Assemblyman John Faso's campaign for state
comptroller. Assemblyman Faso will face either Democrat Alan
Hevesi, a former state assemblyman and New York City
comptroller, or investment broker Bill Mulrow in the
upcoming election.
(Albany Times Union)
June
24, 2002
Over the past month, Democratic candidates
for governor Andrew M. Cuomo and H. Carl McCall have been
overshadowed by problems when trying to present a challenge
to Republican Governor George E. Pataki. While Cuomo and
McCall are plagued by unpopularity, Pataki is enjoying the
highest approval ratings of his entire time in office. A
key to Mr. Pataki's continued success, his advisers say, is
that voters pay as little attention to this campaign as
possible, allowing him to glide to victory in what is an
increasingly Democratic state.
(New York Times)
Gubernatorial candidate Andrew M. Cuomo sent
a letter to Governor George E. Pataki yesterday,
recommending random anti-terror checks on fuel tankers
coming into New York State, comprehensive identification
checks of tanker drivers at fuel stations, and the inclusion
of synagogues and Jewish centers in the locations that now
receive special attention. Cuomo's letter follows warnings
from federal authorities on new terrorist threats.
(New York Post)
Governor George E. Pataki, running for
re-election this year, said the statistics of a report
issued yesterday show the success of his administration's
anti-crime efforts. Since 1994, the Pataki administration
claims, violent crimes have decreased by 45 percent in New
York State and property crimes by 38 percent - outpacing
nationwide declines of 23 percent and 14 percent,
respectively, in those categories.
(Newsday)
Proponents of a bill that would raise the
minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.75 are assailing
Governor George E. Pataki, who critics claim is urging the
New York State Senate to resist the bill under pressure from
upstate business groups.
(Newsday)
Governor George E. Pataki announced his
proposal for legislation that would make it illegal to
secretly create and disseminate images of intimate parts of
another personžs body on Thursday. A video voyeurism bill
similar to Patakižs was introduced by Assemblyman Robin
Schimminger in 1999, after an incident in the Buffalo-area
when a woman discovered a video camera in an air vent of a
dwelling she was renting.
(Albany Times Union)
On Friday, one day after State Senator Pedro
Espada, Jr. went to Federal Court to block his removal from
the Democratic party and the Democratic line in the
September primary, the county Democratic organization opened
expulsion hearings against him. Espada, Jr. faces
elimination from the party and the Democratic primary after
switching his allegiance from the Democratic to Republican
caucus.
(New York Daily News)
June
23, 2002
The state legislature is expected to pass a bill this week that would
ease sanctions against stores that sell cigarettes to minors. The
measure reworks a 2-year-old law that convenience-store and bodega
owners argued was too harsh and has the potential to force many stores
to close.
(New York Post)
A tense showdown between Governor George E. Pataki and West Village
residents over a plan to build two new PATH-station exits on historic
Christopher Street is coming to a head, as construction on the exits
could begin as early as July. The Port Authority claims additional
stairways at the Christopher and Ninth Street stops are needed to
evacuate passengers effectively in case of fire or terrorist attack. But
neighborhood residents say the changes will damage the neighborhood.
(New York Post)
Encouraged by the recent political successes
of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Senator John Corzine
(D-NJ), a trio of wealthy newcomers to state politics are
the latest in a long line of multimillionaires who have
sought public office. Dennis Mehiel, the Westchester
chairman and principal shareholder of S.F. Holdings which
runs the Sweetheart Cup Company, is running for lieutenant
governor while Bill Mulrow, an investment banker, is vying
for the Democratic nomination for state comptroller, and B.
Thomas Golisano, owner of a Rochester check processing
company, makes his third bid for governor. (Newsday)
(Newsday)
June
22, 2002
In response to recent attacks on New York City mass-transit workers, the New York State Assembly approved a bill designed to make such assaults a felony.
(New York Post)
State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi
delivered a setback to two candidates for lieutenant
governor and state comptroller Friday when he ruled they
were inappropriately placed on the Independence Party ballot
line by the state Board of Elections. Teresi removed
lieutenant governor candidate Dan Mahony and state
comptroller hopeful Alan Hevesi from the line, saying they
lacked formal permission from Independence leaders to run.
Representatives for Mahony and Hevesi said they will appeal.
(Albany Times Union)
Kimberly Wilder, a 34-year-old Suffolk
County piano teacher and educator, began circulating
petitions last week to add her name to the Green Party
ballot in the race for governor. If Wilder succeeds in
gathering signatures, she will face the Greens' nominee,
Stanley Aronowitz, 69, a City University of New York
sociology professor who was placed on the ballot at the
party's convention in May.
(Albany Times Union)
June
21, 2002
Would-be governor Andrew Cuomo, who snubbed
the Democratic Party to take his campaign "to the people''
and petition his way into the September primary, on Thursday
began collecting the 15,000 signatures he needs to get on
the ballot.
(Albany Times Union)
Continuing his effort to reach out to Hispanic voters,
Republican Gov. George Pataki on Thursday named a Spanish-speaking
spokeswoman to his campaign for a third term.
(Albany Times Union)
Clergy members would be required to report
allegations of child abuse to the authorities under a
tentative agreement between the Senate and the Assembly
today, one of the few compromises lawmakers forged on the
last official day of the legislative session. But as the day
wound down, it became clear that the Republicans in control
of the Senate and governor's office would not reach
agreements with the Assembly's Democratic majority on a host
of significant bills.
(New York Times)
When local governments complain of financial burdens too heavy to bear,
Albany often comes to the rescue, plugging budget holes with millions of
dollars in state money. But for New York City, the pumping heart of the
state's economy, that has not held true.
(New York Times)
June
20, 2002
H. Carl McCall said yesterday that
ex-convicts should get preference in the awarding of college
tuition grants by the state and federal governments, arguing
that government assistance was the best way to guard against
inmates' returning to jail.
(New York Times)
Bills to allow more flexible sentencings of
drug offenders and make restaurants smoke-free ran into
trouble Wednesday, leading to substantial pessimism the
issues will be resolved this session.
(Albany Times Union)
The leaders of the Senate and Assembly labor
committees are looking at bills that would raise the minimum
wage to $6.75 per hour, extend unemployment benefits 13
weeks and boost workers' compensation payments by about 50
percent.
(Albany Times Union)
June
19, 2002
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful H. Carl McCall on Tuesday
said Republican Gov. George Pataki should withdraw state
certification of the Indian Point nuclear power plant
evacuation plan, arguing it won't adequately protect nearby
residents from radiation released by an accident or attack.
(Albany Times Union)
Despite resistance from Gov. George Pataki, the New
York State Senate and Assembly have reached a consensus on raising
the minimum wage to $6.75 an hour from $5.15 over the next year
and a half. The AFL-CIO and Working Families Party have campaigned
ardently for the raise, and the passage of a bill enacting the increase
could lead to endorsements for Republican senators running in close
races for re-election. (New
York Times)
The race for governor hit Westchester yesterday -
with Gov. Pataki getting the backing of a union there, while Carl
McCall called on him to revamp the evacuation plan for the Indian
Point nuclear power plant. (NY
Post)
The race for governor hit Westchester yesterday -
with Gov. Pataki getting the backing of a union there, while Carl
McCall called on him to revamp the evacuation plan for the Indian
Point nuclear power plant. (NY
Post)
June
18, 2002
The United States Justice Department today approved
New York's new legislative district lines, but a federal court blocked
the circulation of candidates' petitions to get on the ballot, which
was scheduled to begin Tuesday. It is the second time the petition
process has been postponed. Lawyers involved in redistricting lawsuits
said the court's objections were technical and would probably be
easily addressed, but lawmakers said the delay could force them
to shorten the petition period and reduce the number of signatures
needed. (New
York Times)
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