Corruption

Former Deputy Mayor Steve Casey is providing affidavit testimony in the racketeering case against the three-term Mayor Byron W. Brown at the crux of corruption charges that could send him to prison. The testimony also represents the shattering of the political

BY TONY FARINA Is  former State Senator George Maziarz out of the woods nearly two years after he left office under the cloud of a federal investigation?  While Maziarz left office denying he was being chased out, it appears the

Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Jeremy Zellner was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigations last week. The nation’s leading law enforcement agency for public corruption cases is interested in a 2014 incident in which Zellner was widely perceived to be

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

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

BY MARC GROMIS As the number of patients qualifying to purchase medical cannabis under New York’s program slowly rises, many are complaining about the high price of the medicine in New York.  Medical marijuana, which is not covered by health insurance,

The Public’s Managing Editor Geoff Kelly is reporting that New York State Supreme Court Justice John Michalek as the target of a state investigation. Kelly writes: MICHALEK GOSSIP: Those downtown lawyers are always talking. The latest we’ve heard is that state federal investigators

BY A.J. BELL Grand Island Councilman Mike Madigan, a rising star in the local Republican Party, is slamming the Cuomo Administration’s signature economic development project, which is also the subject of an ongoing corruption investigation by United States Attorney Preet Bharara.

BY PAUL WOLF, ESQ.   The recent convictions of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos provide a great inside view of how campaign cash and political corruption meet. A key player in both trials was a 101 year

Peter F. Paul, a major contributor to Bill and Hillary Clinton when they were still in the White House, is alleging that he gave the Clintons $2 million in campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton’s Senate bid in 2000 that she did not

Today — at the second full day of the allegedly ‘public’ hearing to remove Joe Mascia as an elected official under New York State Housing Law — hearing officer Anne E. Evanko instructed court officers to detain and search a

BY RICH PURTELL A project labor agreement is a protectionist strategy, usually applied to public work, which mandates a certain labor pool to be used for a construction project.  New York State already has a prevailing wage law for public

Newly elected Grand Island Councilman Mike Madigan has released a statement on the conviction of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos — and is using a moment of intense public disgust to advance term

United States Attorney Preet Bharara is expected to indict Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday, January 2nd of next year. Sources familiar with the US Attorney say that he is waiting until after the holidays to make the indictment, “to encourage the idea of bringing back civility

United States Attorney Preet Bharara feels emboldened, sources say, following the conviction of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — on all of seven corruption charges. Despite lacking a “smoking gun” to constitute an explicit quid pro quo, the jury handed

Rus Thompson, the outspoken Tea Party leader,founder of TEA NY (Taxed Enough Already), and Grand Island businessman, is calling for US Attorney William Hochul to step down from his role as the region’s top federal prosecutor. Over the last several months,

Earlier this year the regional manager of Sheen and Shine — a local minority and veteran owned business that that does work for New York State Gas and Electric (NYSEG) — traveled to Albany to lobby the State Senate for government contracts. Paul

Delaware North is interviewing for a senior communications advisor. They were close to hiring Steve Casey, the former Buffalo deputy mayor, for the job. Before he got the offer, he removed himself from consideration due to the State Attorney General’s investigation into his involvement