Political Newswire

Pols push MTA to spend surplus on Queens lines

Posted by Phil Corso in Assembly, District 24, District 25 on April 26, 2013 | No Comments

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A $40 million MTA budget surplus has leaders from northeast Queens calling to expand service and undo drastic cuts made in 2010. Elected officials joined in Manhattan Sunday with advocacy group Riders Alliance and Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Allen Cappelli over the weekend with their eyes on the new state dollars made possible through [...]

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Council race expands after Halloran arrest

Posted by Phil Corso in City Council, City Offices, District 14, District 19, State Senate on April 26, 2013 | No Comments

Dennis Saffran and Ron Kim

While the race to challenge City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) was already crowded on the Democratic side, a member of his own party has stepped up for a spot on the ballot now that the lawmaker faces federal corruption charges. Halloran had been preparing to defend his northeast Queens seat against a growing list of [...]

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Smith gets booted from IDC

Posted by Rich Bockmann in City Council, City Offices, District 14, District 19, State Senate on April 19, 2013 | No Comments

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Nearly two weeks after he was accused of trying to bribe his way into Gracie Mansion as a Republican, state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) returned to Albany Monday and was kicked out of the Independent Democratic Conference. Smith, who joined the IDC in December in a controversial move that wrested power from Senate Democrats, was [...]

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Candidates line up to replace Councilman Comrie

Posted by Rich Bockmann in Assembly, City Council, City Offices, Congress, District 23, District 24, District 27, District 28, District 29, District 5, U.S. House on April 19, 2013 | No Comments

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City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) will be term-limited out of office at the end of the year after representing St. Albans, Hollis, Cambria Heights and Jamaica for the last 12 years, and a bevy of candidates have lined up to take his place. Community Board 13 Chairman Bryan Block, state Assembly staffer Manny Caughman, [...]

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Ackerman doubled staff salaries in ’12

Posted by Phil Corso in Congress, District 6, U.S. House on April 12, 2013 | No Comments

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Bayside’s departing congressman left office with a generous farewell for his staffers: nearly doubling their pay. Former U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman handed out hefty bonuses to his staff members at the end of last year just as he was preparing to leave office, making way for his successor, Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), according to financial [...]

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Halloran holds on as staff shrinks

Posted by Joe Anuta and Phil Corso in Assembly, City Council, City Offices, District 13, District 14, District 19, District 25, State Senate on April 12, 2013 | No Comments

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Funding for community-based projects in northeast Queens is in limbo after City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) was arrested in a bribery scandal last week and charged with plotting to misuse money meant for neighborhood groups. For months, Halloran has been meeting with northeast Queens residents to assemble a list of initiatives the community could vote [...]

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