Investigative Post

As if we needed more evidence that New York’s “Three Men in a Room” way of governing doesn’t work, there is this year’s legislative session. First there was the wham-bam bill to toughen gun control laws. Among other things, it limited magazines to no more than seven rounds of ammunition. Turns out that few such […]

A state employee praises Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is threatened with termination, resigns, and gets raked over the coals anyway. His sin: talking to a reporter without permission. The New York Times details the lengths to which Cuomo and Co. micromanage the release of information.

Alain Kaloyeros works in Albany but is emerging as a key player in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s effort to revitalize the Western New York economy.  Kaloyeros is the senior vice president and CEO of the College of Nanoscience and Engineering at the University of Albany. Since 1988 he has lead the effort to develop a nanotechnology […]

I’ve been reporting on economic development in this town for more than a decade and the way Andrew Cuomo and Co. plan on spending the first installment of the $1 billion they’ve pledged to revitalize the Buffalo area economy is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I mean this in a good way. Gov. Cuomo in […]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to cap binding arbitration rulings involving public employee union contracts working for local governments deemed in “fiscal distress”. Localities would earn this dubious distinction if their reserves represent less than 5 percent of their operating budgets if their tax rates rank among the state’s top quartile. The Albany Times Union has a […]

New York State extended the Maid of Mist contract without seeking bids; Canadian competitor said Cuomo and Co. left $100 million on the table. A report by The Buffalo News, following dogged coverage by the Niagara Falls Reporter.

Governor Andrew Cuomo summoned hundreds of muckety-mucks to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center two weeks ago to make the kind of announcement that politicians live for: government aid to bring jobs to an economically struggling region. In this instance, Cuomo told the assembled that the first $50 million of his $1 billion in promised state […]

Howard Zemsky is one of the most influential people in Western New York. And certainly one of its busiest. He’s perhaps best known for his revitalization of the Larkin Building and the surrounding area into one of the hottest – and coolest –  commercial, residential and retail districts in the region. It’s only one of several […]