Month: July 2016

BY FRANK PARLATO The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) agreed last week to spend an unspecified sum of taxpayer money on a full and formal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to examine alternatives to maintaining the Buffalo Skyway. The

Empire State Development still resisting FOIL requests in allegations against Hoyt

BY TONY FARINA The Empire State Development Agency (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York’s two principal economic development entities, the Urban Development Corporation and the Job Development Authority. It is the governor’s chief economic development tool and the

Cambria seeks info on plea deals in Pigeon case

BY TONY FARINA Political operative and former Erie County Democratic Chairman Steve Pigeon faces nine felony counts in a state prosecution involving former State Supreme Court Justice John MIchalek who has already pleaded guilty to two felony counts, including taking

Everyone had at least one brush with Pigeon

BY FRANK PARLATO A POLITICAL QUESTION The question of whether politics was a motive for New York State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman’s prosecution of political operative and attorney G. Steven Pigeon, 55, has been debated in a few circles. Last

Now a political force, history demands much of Nevergold

July 29, 2016

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI Dr. Barbara Seals-Nevergold served as President of the Board of Education prior to the installation of Carl Paladino’s majority bloc in 2013. After sweeping election victories in May, Nevergold has retaken control of the district and has emerged

Mazurek event seen as inflection point for Democrats’ opposition faction

July 28, 2016

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI Kristy Mazurek, the high profile Assembly candidate and muckraking journalist, has announced a campaign kickoff event that observers see as critical inflection point for the opposition faction of Democrats formerly led G. Steven Pigeon and his captains.

Small, grasping for relevance, follows Coppola’s lead on environmental issues

July 26, 2016

Amber Small, the former Brown administration staffer who is challenging the widely respected former State Senator Al Coppola in the 60th district primary, is making environmental issues a cornerstone of her campaign. Coppola, who has long championed environmental issues, is credited

Clinton’s VP selection likely to deflate liberal turnout

July 23, 2016

Republicans are rejoicing following Hillary Clinton’s selection of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, widely seen as a weak choice that will deflate turnout among key constituencies including minorities, progressives, gays, and West Coast voters. Kaine is a conservative Democrat from a red

Democratic headquarters launches a vicious attack on Kristy Mazurak

July 23, 2016

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI The headquarters faction of Erie County Democrats is planning a vicious smear campaign of Kristy Mazurak, the pioneering journalist and local reformer seeking the Democratic nomination for State Assembly. The attack is being architected by the embattled young

Senator Coppola to challenge Chris Jacobs in bid for 60th district seat

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI The retired State Senator and widely respected elder statesman of local politics, Al Coppola, has filed to seek the 60th district seat — a swing district that frequently determines control of the legislative chamber and is at the

Farina: District Attorney, 60th Senate district are races to watch

BY TONY FARINA Amber Small …Senate candidate turning heads Flynn Shows Momentum in DA’s Race, Gets PBA Endorsement Tonawanda Town Attorney John Flynn, who is the endorsed Democratic, Conservative, and Working Families candidate for Erie County district attorney, picked up

War is the health of the State: an argument for the impeachment of Obama and Hillary

BY JIM OSTROWSKI “War is the health of the state,” said Randolph Bourne. “War is hell,” said General Sherman. The war criminal Sherman was an expert in the subjects of hell and war. When I was twelve, I attended my

Michalek’s famous lawyer paid well to take guilty plea

BY TONY FARINA Carrie Cohen was a big-time prosecutor with corruption-fighting U. S. Attorney Preet Bharara in the Southern District of New York and before that, with the State Attorney General’s office. But she left it all behind a few

Paladino emerges as a leading voice in Trump’s presidential bid

BY TONY FARINA The big political news this week, of course, was the nomination of New York billionaire Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president at the GOP convention in Cleveland. Prominent among the Trump supporters is Buffalo developer

Speculation on the defenses of Steve Pigeon

BY FRANK PARLATO A lot has been written about political operative and attorney G. Steven Pigeon, 55, after a state grand jury was led to indict him on June 30th on nine felony counts of bribery, rewarding official misconduct and

Williams: Dyster’s tax increases must be stopped

BY ANN WILLIAMS Mayor Paul Dyster deceived the taxpayers by waiting until five days after the mayoral election to tell us that he was planning to do a citywide reassessment. He plans to raise our assessments on average from between

Schneiderman-Pigeon political feud colors indictment

BY TONY FARINA Almost lost in the unbelievable feeding frenzy over the indictment last week of political operative Steve Pigeon was the news that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s highly-touted job-creation program Start-Up NY has created more tax-free zones than jobs. Empire

Hang the Jury and nullify bad law

BY FRANK PARLATO As everyone knows, there is often a difference between “the law” and justice. After all laws are made by elected officials under the influence of lobbyists and their desire to enrich themselves, and get reelected. Anyone who

Goldman Sachs bails out Hamister, Cuomo, Dyster

BY TONY FARINA Gov. Andrew Cuomo came to Niagara Falls on Tuesday to officially break ground on the long-awaited Hamister hotel project in downtown Niagara Falls and he used the occasion to praise his state development team led locally by

Subdued hotel groundbreaking has Hamister making excuses