Free Republic

When Gov. George E. Pataki left office last January, he was the dominant Republican politician in New York. Over three terms, he had shattered fund-raising records and had racked up double-digit victory margins in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, becoming a national political figure in the process. Mr. Pataki ruled Albany for so long that even now some swatches of state bureaucracy are still run by his political appointees. Yet as the Feb. 5 New York presidential primary draws near — a contest that Mr. Pataki once envisioned as central to his own White House ambitions — the former governor is...

In his final months in office, Gov. George E. Pataki has appointed or reappointed hundreds of officials to state boards, commissions and authorities, assuring his imprint on state government for years after his term expires on Dec. 31. The appointments include Peter S. Kalikow, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to a new six-year term and overseers of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, who could play a role in the redevelopment of the West Side. Many are Pataki contributors, political allies or their relatives. Mr. Pataki has submitted dozens more nominees to the Republican-controlled Senate for confirmation today,...

ALBANY, Aug. 18 — Gov. George E. Pataki nominated an upstate Republican on Friday to be his fifth appointee on the seven-member Court of Appeals, moving to assure that his imprint on the state’s highest court will last long into the next governor’s term. The governor appointed Eugene F. Pigott Jr., the presiding justice of the appellate division in Buffalo, to fill the seat that is being vacated by Judge George Bundy Smith, whose 14-year term ends next month. Judge Smith had applied to be reappointed to a second term, but several legal experts said that his prospects were harmed...

A push to require all convicted criminals in New York to submit their DNA to a central database is gaining crucial support in Albany, where officials say it could create the most comprehensive DNA collection system in the nation. If the proposal becomes law, it would make New York the only state to require collecting DNA from everyone convicted of felonies and misdemeanors, including youthful offenders convicted in criminal court, officials said. Currently, 43 states require that people convicted of all felonies submit DNA, but none require samples from those convicted of all misdemeanors, and New York has required those...

ALBANY, April 4 — New York State and local governments and their public authorities are circumventing the voters in amassing debt that now amounts to nearly a quarter-trillion dollars, according to a report issued on Tuesday examining public borrowing in New York. The report by the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed policy group, presents an exhaustive overview of the extent of borrowing by New York State, its 583 public authorities and its local governments. Legislators have come under withering criticism for passing a budget last week that would more than double the new debt proposed over the next two years...

One day after critical talks on the rebuilding effort at ground zero collapsed, the Pataki administration said yesterday that it would not reopen negotiations with the developer Larry A. Silverstein. It challenged him to start building the $2.3 billion Freedom Tower next month or "move out of the way." The challenge came 12 hours after the abrupt breakdown of talks that had sought to resolve issues hindering the development of ground zero, where the sputtering efforts to develop the site of the Sept. 11 attack have become a glaring embarrassment for the city and state. Facing a self-imposed midnight deadline,...

ALBANY, Jan. 6 - Some 200,000 New Yorkers own vehicles that can run on corn-based ethanol instead of gasoline. But many have no idea that their Ford Explorers, Chevy Impalas or Nissan Titans can use this type of fuel, which some view as a way to liberate Americans from Middle Eastern oil. In any case, the closest station carrying ethanol is in Ottawa, as the Northeast is the one region of the United States that uniformly does not offer ethanol to the public. But Gov. George E. Pataki wants to change that and make ethanol and biodiesel, two controversial alternative...

ALBANY, July 26 - Gov. George E. Pataki told a group of supporters and aides Tuesday night that he would not seek a fourth term as governor after abruptly summoning them to the governor's mansion, according to two people who attended the meeting. Mr. Pataki's announcement came as polls showed him trailing Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democrat who hopes to succeed him as governor. But it sets the stage for Mr. Pataki to explore a possible run for president in 2008. Mr. Pataki's decision marks the beginning of the end of his three-term reign, which began when he toppled...

ALBANY, June 24 - State lawmakers on Friday passed a plan to intensify oversight of New York's scandal-plagued public authorities, whose multibillion-dollar operations have long operated with little scrutiny. Their move to shine more light on the authorities, which have emerged as a shadow government in the state and have faced allegations of favoritism and corruption, capped the last day of a session dominated by efforts to overhaul the workings of Albany in response to growing outcries about a dysfunctional state government. The plan calls for creating an inspector general's post as well as an outside budget office. The first...

As Gov. George E. Pataki prepares to reveal his political plans for 2006, New York State's Republican Party is riven by conflicts in finding formidable candidates for three key races next year: for governor, attorney general and the United States Senate seat held by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Some potential Republican candidates have accused the state party of taking a top-down approach to picking their electoral prospects. Several Republican hopefuls and their supporters are sniping at rivals and trying to undercut them, with some even playing up chats with White House officials to bolster their candidates. Several county Republican leaders, meanwhile,...

ALBANY, April 6 - With Gov. George E. Pataki and his closely guarded political aspirations headed off to Rome for the papal funeral, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer dropped a political bomb in Albany today, calling the budget document that state lawmakers passed last week full of holes that failed to solve the state's long-term problems in education, health care or economic development. "Maybe we have a budget, maybe it's on time, and the ambiguity arises from the fact that I think this budget deferred many, if not most, of the difficult issues that are confronting state government," Mr. Spitzer said....

THE PATAKI PROBLEM It took 14 weeks of recounts and litigation before Nicholas A. Spano finally won re-election to the New York State Senate this month. By carrying his district in the Westchester suburbs of New York City - by all of 18 votes - Mr. Spano, now known as Landslide Nick, helped maintain the embattled Republican majority in the State Senate. But he also achieved a more curious distinction: He broke a nationwide dead heat in state legislative seats. Counting Mr. Spano, the 2004 election made the count 3,657 Republicans and 3,656 Democrats; before last November, Republicans led by...

The head of New York State's Conservative Party said yesterday that it may withhold its endorsement from Gov. George E. Pataki if the governor seeks re-election in 2006, creating a new problem for Mr. Pataki even as he works to calm a feuding Republican Party. A Conservative Party endorsement could prove pivotal if the governor were to find himself in a race against the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat who has said he plans to run in two years and who has broad support throughout his party. In each of his last two elections, Mr. Pataki could have...