Suffolk’s Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory won his fourth term Tuesday to lead the 18-member county legislature for another year, vowing to focus on county’s budget problems.
Gregory was voted in on an 11-5 party line vote, with Republican lawmakers nominating Legis. Kevin McCaffrey, GOP caucus leader, as a symbolic alternative.
Despite his candidacy, McCaffrey complimented Gregory on being evenhanded with the minority...read more ››
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday proposed free state college tuition assistance to ease the burden of paying for higher education for hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income students.
Cuomo announced the Excelsior Scholarship college degree program, which would help cover the cost of SUNY and CUNY tuition, including at two-year community colleges, for students whose families earn up to $125,000 annually. Individuals also would...read more ››
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer prodded President-elect Donald Trump and said Democrats will hold him and the Republican majority “accountable” to the American people and the law as the New Yorker made his first speech Tuesday as Senate minority leader.
“With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency,” Schumer said as he warned Trump about using social media to make policy. “These issues are complex and demand both...read more ››
A 200-member team of investigators has been assembled to help ensure businesses across the state comply with the new minimum wage law that took effect Saturday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his top aides announced Monday in Manhattan.
The Multiagency Enforcement and Outreach Unit will hold employers accountable by notifying employees of their rights, collecting their complaints and conducting investigations, Cuomo said.
New York...read more ››
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo established a statewide “hotline” Tuesday to report hate and bias crimes and incidents after an “explosion” in “bias-motivated events,” including displays of swastikas and Confederate flags in White Plains, Wellsville, Geneseo and other parts of New York following Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election.
Cuomo, a Democrat, said the State Police, the state Division of Human Rights and university...read more ››
Voters in New York encountering problems Tuesday during the general election can call an Election Day hotline for help, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
Schneiderman said his office has created the hotline to help troubleshoot and resolve a range of issues and barriers encountered by voters at the polls, according to a Friday news release.
Schneiderman urged voters experiencing problems or issues at the polls to call the...read more ››
The 1st Congressional District starts on the East End of Long Island and reaches all the way to denser western Suffolk towns. It includes some of the most expensive real estate in the world, as well as working farms, a major research university and many working-class hamlets stung hard by a lack of opportunity.
It’s a district narrowly won by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. In 2014, it turned out an incumbent Democrat to elect Lee...read more ››
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell told an audience of more than 1,000 Long Island business and political leaders Tuesday that he will vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, citing her experience, temperament and — in a jab at GOP nominee Donald Trump — her “stamina.”
Powell, speaking at the Long Island Association fall luncheon in Woodbury, was harshly critical of Trump, arguing that the New York businessman was “not...read more ››
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has created a state fellowship to honor a former Long Island aide killed this summer in a horrific car crash on the Long Island Expressway, he announced Monday.
The two-year Scott Martella Fellowship will be awarded to recent graduates committed to public service with a passion for helping others, Cuomo said in a news release. Scott Martella, 29, of Northport, was among six people who died in the Aug. 21 crash in...read more ››
These are perilous times at home and abroad.
Our economy is in stasis, pinching the dreams of millennials and leaving many older workers behind. Gaping fault lines in race relations are again laid bare. Evolving gender roles widen the cultural divide.
The Middle East is wracked by endless conflict, Russia growls and a more assertive China imperils our allies in the East. The threat of terrorism rises. The dangers of climate...read more ››
