PolitickerNY

Hudson Valley Congresswoman Nan Hayworth sent out a fundraising email this morning to her supporters announcing that:

In response to the devastation left by August’s severe storms, I’ve taken a position as a co-chair of the Hurricane Irene Coalition, consisting of both Republican and Democratic Members from the affected states and charged with addressing both the short-term and long-term needs of our families, businesses, farms, and communities.

This set off chortling in Democratic circles since Hayworth backed House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s call for disaster aid to be coupled with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget. This led to a torrent of criticism for the congresswoman, even from members of her own party and Hayworth eventually asking for disaster-aid money.

Full fundraising letter below: Read More

A spokesman for Mayor Mike Bloomberg called John Haggerty, the Queens political operative who stands accused of bilking the mayor for over $1 million, a liar who will say anything to avoid a prison term.

“The District Attorney has said that the Mayor did not break any law.

“And as the District Attorney made clear in today’s opening statement, the person accused of breaking the law in this trial is Mr. Haggerty, who the evidence will show stole money from Mayor Bloomberg through outright lies. Read More

New Jersey governor Chris Christie loudly proclaims his commitment to eliminating government waste. Now he's backing it up with a grave fiscal reform: he has cut government incentives for the production of Jersey Shore. Read More

The trial of a Queens political operative accused of bilking Mayor Michael Bloomberg for over $1 million kicked off this morning with the defense laying clear their strategy in their opening statement: the real wrongdoer is the mayor himself.

Attorneys for John Haggerty, the political operative, repeatedly told the jury that Bloomberg wanted to win his 2009 re-election bid “at all costs,” even if meant breaking campaign finance law and coordinating election day operations with the Independence Party, whom contracted Haggerty to provide ballot security. Read More

A report out today in The New York Times reveals that mega-retailer Walmart, along with corporations like Apple, Microsoft and Netflix, have an agreement with an Internet marketer that uses its proceeds to help fund Christian groups which some say have an anti-gay agenda.

The report has brought swift condemnation from the Stonewall Democrats, one of the city’s most active LGBT political clubs. Read More

Not one but two national news outlets came out with profiles of  Eric Schneiderman over the weekend, both making essentially the same point that The Observer made in our August profile of the attorney general: that he serves as a  progressive counterpoint to the Obama administration, particularly during the current negotiations over a mortgage-backed security settlement. Read More

Andrew Cuomo is threatening to lay 3,500 public employees if their union doesn’t accept the deal his administration struck with PEF leadership.

The Cuomo administration is launching a pilot program to try to curb the readmittance rate of the mentally-ill and drug users into area hospitals by increasing follow-up care.

More drivers are ditching their cars in favor of mass transit after the Port Authority’s toll hikes.

During an online chat on Saturday, Andrew Cuomo said he has no doubt that a replacement energy source to Indian Point could be found if the nuclear plant is closed. Read More