Isaac-Davy Aronson

New York, NY —

New York's two U.S. senators are the latest Democrats to call for the resignation of Hiram Monserrate. The Queens Democratic state senator was convicted last week of misdemeanor assault against his girlfriend.

Chuck Schumer says Monserrate "should do the right thing" and step down, and Kirsten ...

New York, NY —

It was a raucous atmosphere at El Museo del Barrio last night, for the first mayoral debate. The issue of term limits was front-and-center from the start. Mayor Bloomberg was barely through the first sentence of his opening statement when he was interrupted by a ...

New York, NY —

The three candidates for New Jersey governor met in their first debate last night and the state of the economy was front-and-center. Facing off on NJN television, Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, Republican challenger Chris Christie, and Independent candidate Chris Daggett offered sharply different proposals for ...

New York, NY —

Voters will go to the polls again tomorrow, though probably not many. There was historically low turnout in the primaries earlier this month and many expect turnout to be even lower tomorrow.

There are runoff elections in two city-wide races in which no candidate garnered 40% ...

New York, NY —

In their last debate before Tuesday's runoff election, the two remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination for City Comptroller faced off last night. Councilmen David Yassky and John Liu were cordial, but they clashed sharply on issues from term-limits to each other's integrity.

On the issue ...

New York, NY —

A New York City imam accused of lying to officials investigating a terrorism plot has been ordered held without bail.

Ahmad Afzali, an imam at a mosque in Queens and a former NYPD informant, is accused of lying to authorities about tipping off terror suspect Najibullah ...

New York, NY —

New York Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada says his son will resign his new Senate job today, after prosecutors said they were investigating the hire. WNYC's Isaac-Davy Aronson has more.

REPORTER: It may be the shortest Senate staff tenure on record. Former state Assemblyman Pedro G. ...

New York, NY —

A judge has issued a restraining order blocking Richard Ravitch from serving as Governor Paterson's lieutenant governor, until the constitutionality of Ravitch's appointment can be determined. WNYC's Isaac-Davy Aronson has more.

REPORTER: Paterson appointed Ravitch earlier this month as a way of breaking the month long ...

New York, NY —

Long Island Republican Senator Dean Skelos, in a response to the governor's announcement, said he agreed with state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that Paterson lacks the constitutional authority to appoint a Lieutenant Governor. And he said the real crisis was one of taxing and spending ...

New York, NY —

New York finds itself this morning, in what Mayor Bloomberg calls "uncharted waters."

With the state Senate still deadlocked -- several crucial pieces of legislation expired at midnight -- including mayoral control of city schools.

Governor Paterson ordered senators into one last special session, hours before the ...

New York, NY —

An arts organization that's been serving the Lower East Side out of a dilapidated tenement for nearly 30 years, is on its way to building a brand new community center, thanks to a grant from the city.

ABC No Rio offers the community access to their ...

New York, NY —

President Obama has nominated New York Republican Congressman John McHugh as Secretary of the Army

MCHUGH: John understands personally and deeply the sacrifices our soldiers and their families make everyday. Just ask the soldiers he's always fought for in his district at Fort Drum. Home to ...

New York, NY —

Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered increased security for at-risk abortion providers and facilities, in the wake of Sunday's killing of Dr. George Tiller.

Tiller's Kansas clinic was one of only 3 in the nation that provided late-term abortions.

Dr. Ann Davis, medical director of the New ...

Rounding out a day of resignations (first Bob Kerrey, then Lee Sander), Stephen Friedman, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's board of directors, has resigned effectively immediately.

The resignation follows a Monday Wall Street Journal story highlighting Friedman's 'tangle of overlapping interests' as NY Fed Chair: namely, he was also serving on the board of Goldman Sachs, in which he had a large holding. And it was during his chairmanship, of course, that Goldman got a huge government bailout.

To be sure, the bailout was hardly Friedman's decision. It was made at the federal level...in consultation with a certain Timothy Geithner, then president of the NY Fed. (The NY Fed board ostensibly plays a strictly advisory role to the NY Fed president.)

Friedman's Goldman holdings weren't a problem at first - Goldman was an investment bank, and the NY Fed regulates commercial banks. But when the financial sector crisis began last year, the Federal Reserve quickly converted Goldman to a bank holding company, putting Friedman, by dint of his Goldman holdings, in violation of NY Fed policy.

So Friedman asked the Federal Reserve Board in Washington for a waiver of the policy for the remainder of his term. In the Journal's narrative, the feeling was that the NY Fed had just lost another director (Dick Fuld, who left just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers) and couldn't afford to lose another in the midst of a financial crisis...so the waiver was granted. But while the waiver was being considered, Friedman bought $3 million more in Goldman shares (which have since risen $1.7 million in value).

The NY Fed's executive vice president and general counsel Thomas Baxter says Friedman's purchases of Goldman Sachs stock in December 2008 and January 2009 'did not violate any Federal Reserve statute, rule or policy.' But in his resignation letter today, Friedman says, 'The Federal Reserve System has important work to do and does not need this distraction.'

New York, NY —

Today Mayor Bloomberg rolled out an austere $60 billion budget plan for next year that tries to keep the City's basic services intact despite a continued slide in every category of City tax revenues. He calls for laying off almost 4,000 City workers but says ...

New York, NY —

It sounds like a nice idea planting one million trees across the five boroughs but some seniors in Jamaica Queens say the Million Trees NYC program hasn't taken the downsides into account.

Council member Leroy Comrie says some seniors in his constituency have gone from zero ...

New York, NY —

The promenade of the Brooklyn Bridge is filled with people soaking up the sun and the sky-line. Brooklyn's Pat Grave says shedding the heavy coat is better than taking St. John's Wart.

GRAVE: When the spring is here, you know your mood elevates, you're not as ...

New York, NY —

The center of America's political universe today is New York's 20th congressional district, where a special election has become a referendum on President Obama. WNYC's Isaac-Davy Aronson has more.

REPORTER: One recent flier for Democratic congressional candidate Scott Murphy doesn't even mention him by name. It ...

New York, NY —

The two candidates vying to fill Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's old congressional seat met in their final debate last night. The special election in the district surrounding Albany is set for Tuesday, and some political analysts see it as a referendum on President Obama and his ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson says at least $24.6 billion will flow into New York State from the federal stimulus package signed by President Obama. Senator Charles Schumer says the money will help cover at least some of New York City's budget shortfall, especially for education.

SCHUMER: The city ...