The hearing, called "Reviewing our Preparedness: An Examination of New York's Public Protection Ten Years After September 11" will be held Friday at 250 Broadway in Manhattan and will feature Nonie Darwish, a human rights activist who has attracted a good deal of controversy for her views on Islam, particularly the idea that the religion teaches its adherents to hate non-believers and to subjugate women.

The Democrats also blasted Senator Ball for inviting Frank Gaffney, a columnist who has questioned if Barack Obama was born in the United States. Ball said that Gaffney, in fact, will not attend.

"They are not people who are experts in security," said Senator Kevin Parker of Brooklyn. "They are folks who have developed their name by spending their time criticizing and attacking Islam, which is not where we think we ought to be as a legislature."

Washington was roiled by a similar issue when Long Island Congressman Peter King held a hearing about Muslims complicity in terrorist plots. Critics said that the hearing was wrong to focus on just one religious group.

Parker, who said he represents the largest Muslim Pakistani community outside of Pakistan, added, "When you look at his line-up this looks more like a Peter King attack on Islam than it is a valid investigation of New York's ability to protect itself from a terrorist attack."

Asked to respond, Ball accused Parker and his colleagues of playing politics over a serious issue, and said that they rebuffed his efforts to invite whomever they would like to speak.

"As chairman of the committee I bent over backwards requesting input for several weeks on who they would like to see be at the hearing," he said. "Instead of antagonistically trying to generate press he should go back to my original request for input so we can do our best for New York State and New York City."

He said that Congressman King and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly are also slated to testify, and he defended the presence of Darwish.

"We have to understand who our enemy is, and we have to understand the culture of jihad and get beyond the feel-good politics of political correctness and have New Yorkers have a clear look at people who want to destroy our city and our state."

The CUNY and SUNY students debated the redistricting bill that narrowly passed the Republican-controlled State Senate. Mirroring the real-life debate, students representing Republican districts controlled the chamber, and pushed for a constitutional amendment. Students representing Democratic districts said the G.O.P. bill would not fix the problem in time for the 2012 redrawing of legislative lines.

Highlights:

At 23:00 minutes, Marybeth Melendez, representing Democrat Senator Adriano Espaillat's district in Manhattan, introduced the use of props.

She waved maps that she said were gerrymandered. Then, she reached for a walking stick on her desk, and said, "I know I'm blind, but I know you're not. Does this look like a fair [district] to you?"

At the 1:33:30 mark, a student from Republican Charles Fuschillo's district on Long Island, said "Let us recall that the Democratic Party had the majority for two years. And what did they accomplish? Nothing. They failed to gain support for independent redistricting," and their colleagues in the Assembly "refused to face these problems at all."

This student, whose first name is Evan but his last name was inaudible in the audio, said Democrats were "disorganized" on the issue. "Take a look at us Republicans. We stand united under one bill."

At the 1:35:00 mark came the student standing in for the dangerously passionate Democratic State Seantor Kevin Parker, of Brooklyn.

"All 32 of you, I repeat, all 32 of you! Signed the New York Uprising pledge which calls for fair legislative redistricting reforms now!" the student said.

"Look at this chamber," the student added, "Look! Your representatives are betraying you!"

I'm told the G.O.P. legislation passed, with some student Democrats breaking with the party and realigning more along SUNY/CUNY divisions.

Libya: Editors question leadership and "objective" of the mission there. [NY Times]

Libya: "[T]he nations have not really defined what they hope to achieve." [David Brooks]

Libya: Editors say critic Rep. Nadler has a point. [NY Post]

Ground Zero: Clyde Haberman links lawsuit against Islamic Center to Jerry Falwell. [NY Times]

Nuclear: Indian Point official "reassured the legislators that Indian Point had been designed to withstand an earthquake much stronger than any on record in the region, though not one as powerful as the quake that rocked Japan." [Patrick McGeehan]

2012: Pawlenty "needs to demonstrate to the chattering class of opinion makers that he's a top-tier candidate" says editor of Rothen Political Report. [Bill Salisbury]

2012: Blind item says Trump decides by June. [Page Six]

Same-Sex Marriage: "The hope is Cuomo can get one GOPer to speak in favor of gay marriage to help break the logjam - and build momentum." [Adam Lisberg and Ken Lovett]

State Budget: Should Cuomo control $130 million in economic development funds? If so, it's "another diminution of legislative prerogative." [Jimmy Vielkind]

State Budget: Forcing legislature to pass budget piecemeal could hurt governor's relationship with legislature; passing bad budget would be worse. [Bill Hammond]

City Budget: Top aide misspoke; Bloomberg still opposes millionaire's tax. [Sally Goldenberg]

LIFO: Union ad links Bloomberg to "extremists like the governor of Wisconsin." [Carl Campanile]

NYC Schools: City plans to build 26 schools, down from 56. [Sharon Otterman]

NYC Schools: Paperwork delay slows funds for some schools. [Yoav Gonen]

Carl Kruger: Developer linked to tainted Senator removed from project. [Rich Calder]

Kevin Parker: "Slap on the wrist." [NY Post]

Kevin Parker: GOP colleague says chamber should consider removing him. [William Gorta & Brendan Scott]

Nassau Budget: Not leaking details of Mangano's revised budget, due at 5 p.m. [Sid cassese]

Oyster Bay Police: Very expensive, very Republican.[Paul LaRocco]

Scandals: Editors want Attorney General Schneiderman to probe Council members who got tax breaks for "primary residence" dwellings outside their district. [Daily News]

Drugs: John Flanagan wants to ban something Miley Cyrus smoked. [Glenn Blain]

Albany Arts: Cut in state funds forces 33-year-old iconic Egg art center to hold first ever fund-raiser. [Tom Keyser]

Media: Car deal helps readers circumvent nytimes.com paywall. [Email]

Embarrassments: "The unstated message of Fountain Day has always been an official endorsement of the binge drinking the event has always symbolized. The university might just as well hang up a sign that says, "It's spring; drink up and jump in." [Times Union]

The judge fined Parker more than $1,600 and noted, "He has a history of threatening physical violence, as well as bullying and assaulting members of his staff, members of the Senate, and others with whom he has come into contact."

Update: A spokesman for Donovan sent a new statement, saying "I respect [the judge's decision,] but I believe the sentence we recommended would have been appropriate."

The official announcement:

Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that Brooklyn Kings County State Supreme Court Justice Neil Firetog sentenced State Senator Kevin Parker to three years of probation for his reckless behavior during a dispute with a New York Post photographer.

Parker, who represents the senate’s 21st district in Brooklyn, was convicted at trial by a jury in Kings County Supreme Court of two counts of Criminal Mischief, Class A misdemeanors, on Dec. 7, 2010. The conviction refers to damage the defendant caused to the Post photographer’s camera and automobile after Parker confronted the photographer outside his home on Avenue H in Brooklyn on May, 9 2009.

“I applaud the decision of Justice Firetog to hold Kevin Parker accountable for his actions. No one, particularly a person entrusted by voters to represent them in the state legislature, should behave the way the defendant did during this incident,” said D.A. Donovan.

D.A. Donovan assumed the prosecution after Parker was indicted by a Kings County Grand Jury, assigning the case to Assistant District Attorney Kathleen DiGiovanni, Head of the Career Criminals Unit.

In a sentence memorandum, ADA DiGiovianni noted the defendant showed no remorse for his actions and asked the judge to consider the defendant’s history of abusive behavior.

“He has a history of threatening physical violence, as well as bullying and assaulting members of his staff, members of the Senate, and others with whom he has come into contact,” she wrote.

As part of the sentence, Justice Firetog ordered the defendant to pay $672 in restitution to the Post, for damage to the camera and a $1,000 fine. The judge also ordered the defendant undergo anger management counseling and issued an order of protection for the photographer, which requires the defendant avoid any contact with him.

Parker was found guilty of two misdemeanors in December for assaulting a photographer from the New York Post. 

He faces up to a year in jail, but if he is sentenced to prison time he is expected to appeal. Because he was found not guilty of a felony charge, Parker will not be forced to give up his seat, but Republicans however have said they will look into removing him regardless, as they did with Hiram Monserrate when he was found guilty of a misdemeanor for domestic assault.

Parker's incident with the photographer is not the first controversy he's endured.

I asked him about State Senator Kevin Parker, a fellow Democrat who had a volatile outburst at a recent hearing and went on the radio yesterday calling some Republican lawmakers "white supremacists."

At first, Schneiderman grimaced at the question, pointed to another AG candidate, Eric Dinallo, and said, "Talk to my lawyer."

Later, Schneiderman said Parker's behavior may be unseemly, but not something that rises to the level of the AG's office.

"I"m talking about cleaning up unethical conduct. I'm talking about people stealing money who are stealing money from public programs. We have people who are assaulting people. The fact that one senator yells at another senator at a meeting may be tremendously discourteous, may be wrong, but, you know, I don't think it's the kind of thing that comes under the jurisdiction of the attorney general's office," Schneiderman said.

Fun stuff, even by Albany standards.

Where it gets more interesting, I think, is Parker's impact on another colleague: Eric Schneiderman. He's running for Attorney General in part on his ability to criticize Albany troublemakers. I contacted Schneiderman yesterday to get his response to Parker's volatile outburst yesterday during a Finance Committee hearing, and haven't heard back.

Anyway, here's Skelos, saying Parker is "unfit" for public service.

"His comments yesterday and today have once again gone over the line of decency.  On a radio show this morning, Senator Parker called all the members of our conference, as well as members of his own Democrat conference, "white supremacists." Senator Parker is not fit to serve in the New York State Senate and he should be disciplined."

 

ACORN is gone.

Bloomberg 2012 may be gone.

Karim Carama sizes up Paterson.

Paterson didn't talk to Rahm about running.

David Paterson, on rumors: "[I]t’s even unfair to Attorney General Cuomo to raise his name here, because I don’t want him to be put in the same position I’ve been put in."

Patersons' entourage in Rochester.

Paterson should be applauded for hiring DJ.

Pollsters stopped asking about Steve Levy.

Rick Lazio gains.

Bloomberg doesn't want to discuss Quadrangle.

He wants to be private about his money.

Bloomberg defends his campaign.

If only Colin Powell had Bloomberg's wallet.

Most voters don't know who Mort Zuckerman is, but that's not an insurmountable obstacle, since he's really rich.

And pictured above is a trend of public opinion polls, showing Cuomo's commanding lead over Paterson.

"Nothing," he replied.

It's a classic hurry-up-and-wait situation here at the Capitol. The Assembly was scheduled to go into session at 3 p.m. I saw Abbate at 4:20. State Senators are sitting in a closed conference, with demonstrators in favor of same-sex marriage and stronger tenant protections lining the halls outside.

"Well we're printing bills--some agreed bills--and we continue and negotiate with members in relevant areas," Sheldon Silver told me walking toward his office, after waving for a photo.

Official staffs are trying to negotiate a deficit reduction package, the major sticking point being the State Senate's intransigence with $1.3 billion of cuts to health care and education proposed by David Paterson. There are also negotiations going on over a new pension tier, a spending cap and some kind of legislation to stiffen penalties for drunk drivers. But agreements are elusive.

"We are at a new plateau with the governor in conversation and negotiation," State Senator Kevin Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat, told me earlier.

"There's no problem," Silver said when asked what the problem was with the budget.

As the top officials--Silver, Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson and David Paterson--determine what to do, members wait in legislative purgatory. Many groused last week that this would happen if they were called back without any agreement on what to do. They were right.

"I'm going through constituent cases and reading lengthy things I don't normally have time to read," Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn Democrat, told me, saying he found "peace and quiet" in the chamber.

"We're waiting...for the Messiah," he said.

There were 15 people last night who voted for a bill which would end all of the progress that we've made in the schools in terms of bringing down crime and improving test scores and graduation rates and bringing down the drop out rate. You wonder what goes through their heads? And they all come from neighborhoods where the improvements in the schools have been dramatic.