The New York Times delved deeper into Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s purchase of a used car for his daughters.
Former Governor Eliot Spitzer, who has given a his own State of the State speeches, had some advice for Mr. Cuomo’s address at 1:30 p.m. today. “He has to separate between the pressing political issues of the moment and the structural issues of the long-term agenda,” he explained on Inside City Hall last night.
Among things Mr. Cuomo is expected to talk about are gun-control policies and expanding the state’s nanotech sector. The former may move quickly as a legislative deal on addressing gun violence is taking form, according to Speaker Shelly Silver.
One has to wonder if the best, most positive governmental announcements occur in the middle of the night, but nevertheless, the Independent Senate Democrats and the Senate GOP did just that with some coalition details.
Paul Vallone, the brother of outspoken Councilman Peter Vallone, officially announced his campaign to run against Councilman Dan Halloran.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn has taken her opposition to Assemblyman Vito Lopez‘s potential Council candidacy to the next step and is hosting a fund-raiser for his leading opponent.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio rehired Pinny Ringel, who left his office in order to become former Senator David Storobin‘s chief of staff. The move reflects Mr. de Blasio’s continued focus on Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community, part of which he represented in the City Council. “We are thrilled to have Pinny back on our team. He’s a powerful voice for Brooklyn,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement.
Also on Inside City Hall, Rev. A. R. Bernard, who’s eyeing a run for mayor as a Republican, said he’ll “absolutely” be making an announcement by the end of month. “I have a series of meetings with political leaders–party leaders–this week, and coming out of those meetings I’ll be better equipped to make some decisions,” he said. “It’s a big decision. There’s a lot involved. I have to understand the legalities. Of course, I have to settle that with the family to make sure my wife of 40 years is still with me in a decision like this, so far she’s backing me. So there are preliminaries that I have to go through. So we’re looking at the next couple weeks.”
This is quite the intersection of politics, theater and actual governance. Long-shot mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan explained on the O’Reilly Factor how he used to be a stripper, and therefore proposed legislation to restrict government funds from strip club A.T.M.s would be counterproductive: “I’m a former stripper here in the United States, and being a former stripper–100 percent of them, strippers, are welfare recipients–they need that money because they have someone babysitting their children. So when they get off work, they may have to get money from that machine.”
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