By The Editors 9/05/12 10:36am

Editorials

Hit the Road, Vito

Why is Vito Lopez still in the State Assembly?

It has been two weeks since word leaked out that we the taxpayers paid off, er, compensated two women who claimed that Mr. Lopez, a veteran legislator and chairman of Brooklyn’s Democratic county committee, harassed them in the workplace. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver approved a secret $103,000 payment each—and never saw fit to refer the case to the Assembly’s Ethics Committee.

But that very committee did look into other allegations against Mr. Lopez and found an appalling record of intimidation, inappropriate conduct and harassment. Subsequent news accounts reported that Mr. Lopez, who is 71 years old, frequently commented on the appearance of female staff members, and sometimes made inappropriate advances. Women interviewed by The New York Times said that they felt threatened by Mr. Lopez’s boorish behavior. The assemblyman brusquely told one staff member to remain quiet after she complained about unwanted and aggressive advances from an aide to one of Mr. Lopez’s allies.

In a better world, Mr. Lopez would be thoroughly ashamed and would already be in self-imposed exile. His Assembly seat would be vacant. He would not still be the leader of Brooklyn’s Democrats.

But, of course, we are not talking about a perfect world, or even a decent one. Read More

By The Editors 2/14/12 7:30pm

opinion

Mr. Cuomo and the Teachers

Governor Andrew Cuomo says that if the teachers union continues to obstruct the implementation of a new, robust evaluation system for teachers and principals by Thursday, he’ll act on his own and impose a system. That’s precisely what he ought to do.

The showdown still was underway at press time, but regardless of whether or not the governor and the union reach an agreement, a larger point remains: Once again, the teachers union, emboldened by its allies in the Democratic-controlled State Assembly, has resisted efforts to bring accountability into the classroom.

Unlike his fellow Democrats in the Assembly, Mr. Cuomo has shown that he understands the reactionary role the teachers union continues to play against the effort to bring much-needed reform to poor-performing school districts. Mr. Cuomo is acting on behalf of poorly served students and their parents. The union, of course, is simply trying to protect incompetent teachers. Read More

By The Editors 1/31/12 7:17pm

opinion

Bad Time for a Raise

Democrats in the State Assembly want to raise New York’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8.50. At 17 percent, it would be the biggest one-time increase in the minimum wage in state history.

It would also be the wrong move at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. Read More

By Jimmy Vielkind 11/23/09 10:41pm

‘A Two-Way Is Better Than a No-Way’

ALBANY—Several members of the Assembly Democratic conference let their frustrations with what they see as State Senate’s inability to coalesce around a deficit-reduction agreement boil over in a closed-door conference this afternoon, sources said. Some members suggested cutting an agreement with David Paterson and leaving it on the Senate’s desk. That chamber is at Read More