Brigid Bergin

As lawyers began boiling down the trial of two of John Liu's former campaign associates on Tuesday, the prosecution made a pointed argument that Liu himself was in on the campaign finance scheme.

As treasurer for the John Liu campaign, defendant Jia "Jenny" Hou was trained to comply with New York City's Campaign Finance Board's rules - rules she's accused of breaking.

In the trial of Xing "Oliver" Pan and Jia "Jenny" Hou, prosecutors outlined their case Tuesday, saying that it will include evidence from an undercover FBI agent who posed as a wealthy businessman seeking to buy access to John Liu through a campaign donation.

A key government witness who has worked for City Comptroller John Liu will take the stand during the trial of two people accused of a fundraising scheme connected to his campaign.

This week in politics, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn came under fire from animal rights activists and some union members, and her poll numbers ticked down. Former Congressman Anthony Weiner emerged to tell all -- and perhaps run for Mayor. And John Liu got a chilly reception from business leaders, a week before two of his former campaign staffers go on trial for illegal fundraising.

A day after being targeted in an attack ad by a new political action committee with anonymous donors, Council Speaker Christine Quinn sent a letter to the rest of the candidates Tuesday challenging them to “condemn and reject” independent expenditures in the mayoral race.

A group working to challenge Christine Quinn's mayoral bid isn't yet fully disclosing its financial backers. The political committee "New York City Is Not For Sale" plans to spend $1 million against Quinn and already has one ad on the airwaves Monday.

When Assemblyman Nelson Castro was first elected in 2008, he was hailed as the Bronx's first Dominican American elected legislator. On Thursday, Castro was named as Assemblyman-1 in the bribery indictment of fellow Assemblyman Eric Stevenson. But Castro spent almost his entire tenure in office as a convicted criminal who had been cooperating with law enforcement authorities for years.

For the second time this week, a bribery scandal has ensnared elected officials in New York. On Thursday, federal prosecutors charged Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, who they say accepted cash bribes to help businessmen set up an adult day care center in the Bronx.

A corruption scandal is rippling through the New York City Mayor's race. A day after federal prosecutors indicted six people for conspiring to place Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith on the Republican ballot for mayor, candidates in the current field are working to distance themselves from from the lurid tales of money and politics that prosecutors laid out.

There's a deal at City Hall on paid sick leave legislation, and it has the potential to up-end the dynamic in the Democratic primary race for mayor. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was regularly the target of her opponents for blocking a vote on a bill for years, and Friday, she stood at City Hall to take credit for the compromise bill that is now likely to pass.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn reached a compromise Thursday night with supporters of a bill that would require companies to provide paid sick leave for thousands of employees in the city.

The city’s independent budget analysts warned on Wednesday that the fiscal health of the city faces a serious threat: all the city's municipal labor unions are working with expired contracts.

A contentious hearing on paid sick leave ran for more than six hours Friday at City Hall. The legislation would require employers with more than five employees to offer paid days off for sick employees. Advocates for and against the policy have been arguing on the merits of the bill. But the hearing is also setting the stage for a heated political battle.

Is a rift opening up between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn? The two have worked closely but are disagreeing sharply over council legislation that would create an independent monitor for the New York Police Department. It’s one of a number of issues that are showing a rift between the mayor and the woman who hopes to replace him.

When it comes to public safety, the 2013 mayoral candidates seem to agree on one thing: add more police officers. Beyond that, the candidates differ — to varying degrees — on who those officers would report to, where they would be deployed and what policies they would follow.

The New York City area is home to about 4 million Catholics, and each church that serves this population has its own challenges and needs. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez and Brigid Bergin che...

What’s big, orange and looks like an old lever voting machine? It’s a new voter kiosk unveiled for the first time Tuesday by staff at the New York City Board of Elections, who say deploying them citywide would shorten lines at polls and speed the process of communicating results on election night.

Christine Quinn is walking and talking through the streets of New York. Stressing her middle class roots, the City Council Speaker formally launched her mayoral bid Sunday making stops in each of the five boroughs.