Another week of bad headlines followed Andrew Cuomo and his administration this week. The Governor was heavily criticized as the Alain Kaloyeros trial began; for his lack of leadership as the session ended; and for protests over his failure to push the renewal speed and red light cameras in school zones. Andrew Cuomo: Bad News Takes No Days Off
New York Daily News headline: “SUNY Poly chief's corruption trial will shine harsh light on Cuomo upstate development efforts” [6/17/2018]
New York Post headline: “Ex-SUNY Polytechnic president rigged bids to keep Cuomo happy: prosecutors” [6/18/2018]
Wall Street Journal headline: “New York Bid-Rigging Trial Embroils Gubernatorial Race” [6/17/2018]Newsday headline: “SUNY official’s email notes developer’s connections to Cuomo” [6/20/2018]
Politico headline: “As Kaloyeros goes on trial, so does Cuomo's economic strategy” [ 6/17/18]
Buffalo News headline: “Buffalo Billion lobbyist had close ties to Cuomo, witness says”"Todd Howe was a close friend of Andrew Cuomo's," Williams told the jury. "He also had a close relationship with all of Cuomo's top aides." [6/19/2018]
New York Post: “Earlier, the defense also tried to enter into evidence a 2013 Buffalo News article that showed Cuomo heaping praise on Kaloyeros in 2013 by calling him a “visionary” and a “real gift to the state.”[6/19/2018]
Democrat & Chronicle headline: "What scandals? New reforms, oversight languish at New York Capitol"“Gov. Andrew Cuomo's former top aide Joseph Percoco was convicted of bribery in April, and his former economic-development czar Alain Kaloyeros is on trial now in an alleged big-rigging scheme. So how is the state Legislature and Cuomo's office responding? With no deal on reforms to provide better oversight of the state's economic-development programs at the heart of the scandals.” [6/19/2018]
The New York Times headline: “Legislative Session in Albany Sputters to the Finish Line”“Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a second-term Democrat facing a phalanx of challengers in the fall, did not appear in public or in the halls of the state Capitol, instead conducting a series of television interviews on a hot-button issue of only tangential connection to the actual running of the state: the ongoing outcry about the separation of immigrant children from their parents at the Mexican border, which lies approximately 1,700 miles to the southwest of New York.” [6/21/18]
Gothamist: “Mother Of Toddler Killed By Driver Arrested At Protest For Speed Cameras Outside Cuomo's Office”“The 2018 legislative session in Albany ended "with a whimper" on Wednesday without action on a speed camera bill. 140 speed cameras are currently positioned around NYC schools, but they will be turned off in July because the State Senate failed to advance legislation to renew and expand the program. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the largest uniformed police union and a major source of campaign contribution for Albany politicians, opposes speed cameras because they say automating the enforcement of traffic laws costs NYPD jobs. Activists and some lawmakers, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, are calling on Cuomo to bring legislators back for a special session to renew the speed camera law. Critics say that although Cuomo has paid lip service to the bill, he did not apply enough pressure to get the Senate to take action. "Many, many lives have been saved, but last night, the leader of our state failed us,” said Amy Cohen, whose son was struck and killed by a driver five years ago, at last night's protest. "He got a bridge named after his father, he got a train, but he failed to pass the speed camera program."”[6/22/2018]