663 Search Results for lead

Mar 26

2012

Handicapping a Hochul-Collins race

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There’s the matter of an almost certain GOP primary, but the announcement over the weekend by Chris Collins that he is running for the 27th Congressional District leads to inevitable speculation about a general election showdown with Kathy Hochul. Conventional wisdom holds that the Republican holds a distinct advantage because of party enrollment figures.  While precise numbers are hard to pin down, it appears enrolled Republican will outnumber Democrats by about 7 percent in a district that spans portions of eight counties. Two Republicans have announced for the seat, Collins and decorated war veteran David Bellavia of Batavia. A third[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 23

2012

Weekend News Cafe

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The NYPD, people of color and the Buffalo connection Reports that New York City police have been spying on Muslims in the Buffalo area – without notifying the feds – fits a pattern that is coming under increasing criticism. The NYPA has an aggressive stop-and-frisk policy in NYC that targets men of color. Reports The New York Times: The Police Department has said that it conducted a record 684,330 stops last year, and that 87 percent of those stopped were black or Hispanic. One target wrote about his experience of being stopped five times by the police: These experiences changed[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 22

2012

Same as the Old Boss

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Ossified. Webster defines it as “hardened or conventional and opposed to change.” As in government in New York State. A cursory reading of the headlines might lead one to believe that governance in New York is starting to move in the right direction since Andrew Cuomo took up residence in the governor’s mansion. The state budget got passed on time, the income tax code was revised, gay marriage was approved. Indeed, by one measure—passing major legislation and spending packages—there has been progress. Paralysis has been eased. But the manner in which many key measures have been passed underscores just how[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 17

2012

Weekend News Cafe

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Only tweaking the status quo Gov. Andrew Cuomo talked the talk – on pensions and redistricting, in particular – but pulled a St. Bonaventure and came up short at crunch time this past week. The New York Times provides a good analysis. What’s most striking: State employees can still pad their pensions by working a lot of overtime during the homestretch of their careers. Gerrymandered Senate and Assembly districts were accepted for a proposed bipartisan commission in 10 years that, The Times notes “would operate under the purview of the Legislature, unlike more independent redistricting commissions in Arizona and California.”[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 14

2012

NY’s political dysfunction runs deep

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When it comes right down to it, state legislators only have to do a handful of things to earn their $79,500 salaries. Pass a budget. Vote on bills and appointments. And, once every 10 years, redraw election district boundaries for the U.S. House of Representatives and the state Senate and Assembly. It appears likely that lawmakers are going to let a federal judicial panel draw the lines for Congressional seats.  They continue to haggle over the lines for Senate and Assembly seats. The standoff is a stark reminder that Albany is still dysfunctional at a basic level. Politics is the[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 7

2012

A new tack for Central Terminal

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One billion dollars opens the door to all sorts of possibilities. Consider the Central Terminal. Despite its scars, the Central Terminal might be the neatest space in Buffalo. The city’s proverbial diamond in the rough, even if the emphasis is on “rough.” Plans to revive the hulking structure have been kicked around for years, to no avail. Now comes a pitch from Larry Quinn, conveyed in an interview published Tuesday at investigativepost.org  to restore the Central Terminal and relocate the Albright-Knox Art Gallery there. I asked Quinn how he would spend the $1 billion in cash and incentives that Gov.[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 5

2012

Quinn: How to spend Cuomo’s $1B

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Larry Quinn, a developer and former managing partner of the Buffalo Sabres, weighed in yesterday with his thoughts on the team, Canalside and the future of HSBC bank in downtown Buffalo. Today, Quinn fields questions posed via-e-mail from Jim Heaney of Investigative Post on what ails local economic development efforts and what he thinks of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to invest $1 billion in state incentives to revitalize the region’s economy. You’ve been very critical of economic development efforts in Western New York. What’s the problem? Too many organizations and little chiefs and not much capital.  There should be one[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 4

2012

Larry Quinn on Sabres, Canalside, HSBC

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To quote Frank Sinatra, Larry Quinn has “been up and down and over and out,” perhaps moreso than any public figure in Buffalo over the past generation. He’s been a boy wonder city development whiz under Jimmy Griffin and a Manhattan developer. Managing partner of the Buffalo Sabres not once but twice and now involved in an effort to build an Irish Olympic hockey program. Hailed for building the downtown arena and later working with Tom Golisano to save the team from bankruptcy. Lambasted for the departures of Pat LaFontaine and Chris Drury. Lauded as a visionary planner and reviled[...]

Posted 12 years ago