Albany

Hochul expected to use Mahoney Building for gubernatorial office when in Buffalo

Upon taking office on August 24th, Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to set up an Executive Chamber office inside the Mahoney State Office Building on Niagara Square at Court Street, which she will use when working from Buffalo. Her advisors

Feature 1

Niagara Falls has infrastructure needs too, Senator Kennedy

The massive new infrastructure bill proposed by President Joe Biden makes more than two trillion dollars available to remake the American infrastructure system — and Western New York stands to be appropriated billions.  The federal government will fund 80% of

NY Senate

When will Tim Kennedy start delivering on Transportation money?

Senator Tim Kennedy has been getting a lot of newfound attention following the Democratic Party’s takeover the Senate chamber last November.  He was even named the Chairman of the Transportation Committee by Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester County. His

NY Senate

Kennedy asked to return $5,400 from opioid pushers

Senator Tim Kennedy (D-South Buffalo) is being asked by constituent groups to return $5,400 in campaign contributions that he has accepted from firms that have contributed to the Nation’s opioid epidemic. Kennedy has accepted money from Allergan and Pfizer.  Allergan

NY Senate

Activists urge Benczkowski to run for 63rd district Senate seat

The wildly popular Cheektowaga Town Supervisor Diane Benczkowski — the region’s highest profile advocate for infrastructure modernization — is being urged by environmental activists to seek the 63rd District’s State Senate seat.  The district comprises Cheektowaga, Lackawanna, Depew, South Buffalo,

Courts

AG files felony election charges against Pigeon; Kennedy not charged

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman‘s Office filed felony election charges against the renowned political operative G. Steven Pigeon — a confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and billionaire B. Thomas Golisano — along with his two longtime associates,

Cheektowaga

Benczkowski may challenge Kennedy to help Grant

The newly elected Cheektowaga town supervisor Diane Benczkowski — considered a rising star in local politics — is thinking about dabbling in state senate politics this year, a source familiar with her thinking tells The Chronicle. A Benczkowski run for State Senate

NY Senate

Western New York will be a Senate battleground

As next year’s State Senate elections approach in the distance, the fog is clearing to reveal a political landscape that will make Western New York a central battleground for control of the chamber. Typically five or six seat are competitive

NY Senate

Will Supervisor Benczkowski run for State Senate next year?

Diane Benczkowski won the Cheektowaga Democratic party primary for town supervisor — guaranteeing her the office — and is already being talked about as a contender for the State Senate seat currently held by Tim Kennedy.  Benczkowski’s down to earth

Economy

Guercio’s, as an economic development strategy

Rumor has it that Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found inspiration in a visit earlier this week to Guercio’s, the ethnic Italian delicatessen that founded by an immigrant family who, four generations later, continue to own and operate it today. The Grant-Ferry landmark

NY Comptroller

DiNapoli tours Guercio’s to support small business growth

This morning, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli — who controls one of the largest institutional investment funds in the world — toured Guercio’s, the third generation delicatessen that has been a mainstay in the Italian American community for four

City

Who will be Buffalo’s next Mayor?

As Deputy Mayor Steve Casey prepares to leave City Hall, political observers expect Mayor Byron Brown to forgo a fourth run for the office. It has been long rumored that Brown will pursue a lucrative position in the private sector.

NY Senate

Kennedy vs. Grant: the battle inside the Democratic Party

It’s an interestingly diverse district, drawn after the 2010/11 redistricting process in which the Eastside of Buffalo, South Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Lackawanna, and parts of the Westside were bound together in the  63rd State Senate district.  That year, in the neighboring