Free Republic

Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the cash-strapped MTA to waste as much as $30 million on his latest vanity project — retiling two city tunnels in the state’s blue-and-gold color scheme — instead of using the dough for desperately needed subway repairs, The Post has learned. The boondoggle began soon after the taxpayer-funded agency ordered white tiles to reline the Brooklyn-Battery and Queens-Midtown tunnels after Superstorm Sandy, documents show. The governor got wind of the plan — and insisted that the cash-strapped transit agency add stripes of blue and gold, thinking nothing of the additional $20 million to $30 million cost,...

“At a time when President Trump and the federal government are waging a war on our immigrant communities, New York stands firm in our belief that our diversity is our greatest strength. While President Trump engages in politics that rip children out of the arms of their mothers and tries to ramp up the deportation of New Yorkers to advance his political agenda of hate and division, we will protect our immigrant communities,” Cuomo said, according to ABC News. Said ex-criminals have allegedly led crime-free lives over the last seven years, at a minimum, which was the base requirement of...

Posting Bloomberg stuff is verboten on FR, so here is a link to the article

<p>But promoting socialism, sky-high taxes, and open borders is probably not going to help them trounce the GOP in November. The activist base of the Democratic party is lurching left fast enough that everyone should pay attention. Activists matter because their turnout in low-turnout primaries and caucuses almost propelled leftist Bernie Sanders to victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Last month, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unseated New York congressman Joe Crowley, the No. 4 ranking House Democrat in a low-turnout primary. She benefited from organizing support from the Democratic Socialists of America. Leftists have also upset establishment Democrats in statewide primaries for governor in Colorado and Maryland.</p>

Like you’re surprised? Planned Parenthood of New York City — claiming Big Apple residents “have more sex than anyone else in America. (Woo! We did it!)” — wants to “make sure that everyone has access to the sexual and reproductive health care services they need.” To that end, the organization launched a fundraising campaign this week aimed at millennials — and it broadcasts its intent in no uncertain terms: “Protect our freedom to f***.” ‘Proud to provide abortion services’ Planned Parenthood of New York City noted that in addition to being “proud to provide abortion services,” donations “will go toward...

Are we going to have immigration limits or not? That's the question underlying the calls for the abolition of Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE), the bureau within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for upholding our immigration rules away from the borders. The push to #AbolishICE is threatening to become a litmus test for Democratic politicians. It has been embraced by presidential hopefuls like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as other far-left figures such as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, actress-turned-New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, and a number of House members. Despite...

A leaked memo obtained by the Daily Caller has suggested billionaire activist Tom Steyer was more deeply involved in the anti-Exxon campaign that was launched by New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman back in 2015. The memo, which the Daily Caller cites in full, includes agenda items such as, “Weaken the political influence of the oil industry by leveraging the Exxon investigation by Inside Climate News and the New York Attorney General” and “Identify message and messengers to contrast climate denial and other oppositional activities of Exxon and other U.S. oil companies with the pro-Paris positioning of European companies and...

Conservative activist Dinesh D’Souza faced political persecution after he directed and released anti-Obama film, “2016: Obama’s America”. He was indicted over illegal campaign contributions. It was an obvious witch hunt. On Thursday, President Trump announced publicly he would be issuing a full pardon to Dinesh D’Souza. The New York Attorney General is so angry over the presidential pardon of Dinesh that she wants to get rid of double jeopardy to go after him again. Dinesh D’Souza celebrated on his Twitter account with an epic smack down of the Obama hack who made his life hell, former US Attorney Preet Bharara....

New York interim Attorney General Barbara Underwood said on Thursday that President Trump's pardoning of conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza shows his willingness to thwart justice and adds urgency to the state's double jeopardy loophole.“President Trump’s latest pardon makes crystal clear his willingness to use his pardon power to thwart the cause of justice, rather than advance it," Underwood said in a statement. "By pardoning Dinesh D’Souza, President Trump is undermining the rule of law by pardoning a political supporter who is an unapologetic convicted felon. First, it was Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Then it was Scooter Libby. Now it’s Dinesh D’Souza,"...

New York Republicans just made history by pick their first ever black Attorney General nominee. The candidate, Manhattan attorney Keith Wofford, is seeking to fill the vacant post after Democrat Eric Schneiderman resigned over domestic violence reports. "Voters are going to recognize that any machine candidate will lack credibility to clean up collusion and corruption in the government,” Wofford told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s not about party affiliation. It’s about who can do the job.”Wofford, who was raised in Buffalo, is a Harvard Law School graduate and currently the co-managing partner of the New York City office of the law...

HEMPSTEAD — Hillary Clinton backed Gov. Andrew Cuomo for a third term at the Democratic state convention Wednesday, praising the incumbent’s record in one of her first political appearances of this cycle. "People in every corner of this state are mounting a massive resistance,” Clinton said, noting Cuomo’s work to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria and his push to raise the minimum wage. “We need leaders who believe in producing results, and getting things done. Leaders like Andrew Cuomo and [Lt. Gov.] Kathy Hochul.” (snip) Clinton’s speech focused mostly on broad party principles, including quality health care, combating...

State Democrats came out overwhelmingly for Gov. Cuomo at the party's nominating convention Wednesday, as New York Republicans gathered to back Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro for the state's top job. The incumbent governor, who faces a challenge from the left by actress Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City Fame, looked like the odds-on favorite, winning more than 95% of the party members' votes. Since announcing her candidacy in March, Nixon has been positioning herself as the progressive alternative to the party machine. The Dems' convention at Hofstra University in Hempstead, L.I., however, was Cuomo's show. Two ministers who...

The leader of the New York arm of the Black Lives Matter movement is calling out New York gubernatorial candidate and actress/activist Cynthia Nixon for her comments on legalizing marijuana over the weekend, in which she said that the industry could provide a form of “reparations” for communities of color. While he supports cannabis legalization, Black Lives Matter of Greater New York president Hawk Newsome told the Times Union on Monday that candidates for office should not use words like “reparations” lightly, a topic on which there is a growing body of serious scholarship. “Cynthia Nixon’s comments that the legalization...

Hillary Clinton had a choice between endorsing incumbent Gov. Mario Cuomo (D-NY) or his upstart rival for the Democrat nomination, Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon, who would not only be the first woman governor of the Empire State, but the first gay governor. Hillary chose the old white guy. It was former Secretary of State Madeline Albright who famously said in support of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign, “It’s not done, and you have to help. Hillary Clinton will always be there for you. And just remember, there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t...

When Eric Schneiderman resigned as New York’s attorney general on May 7 amid revelations he engaged in a pattern of alleged physical abuse of women he dated over the years, one of the Democrat’s first defenders was his ex-wife, a New York-based lobbyist named Jennifer Cunningham. Schneiderman is “someone of the highest character,” said ex-wife Cunningham, who asserted it was “impossible to believe” the allegations in a New Yorker report that Schneiderman abused multiple girlfriends over a period of several years. Cunningham’s defense of her ex-husband drew some attention because of her position as a partner at SKDKnickerbocker, a Democrat-aligned...

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was the leader of the #Resistance legal strategy, focused seemingly more on litigating against President Donald Trump’s policies than representing the interest of his state. He was using the job to build a national platform. And why not? Two of the last three Democratic governors—Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo—were high profile attorneys general, using it as a springboard for bigger ambitions. Schneiderman, after resigning last week in disgrace, will never reach those ambitions. Four women accused him of physical abuse. Schneiderman resigned just hours after the allegations he denied were made.The massive scandal that represents much of what...

RUSH: We go to Bakersfield, California. This is Kim, and it’s great to have you. I’m glad you called. CALLER: Hey. Greetings from Bakersfield, Rush! It’s a pleasure to speak with you. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: I was driving down the road and almost ran off into an almond orchard this morning when I heard Cynthia Nixon wants African-Americans to run the pot industry. So my question is: Is this because in her opinion African-American culture is like a drug culture and that they would be a natural fit and be experts in this field? And isn’t this racist, and...

Cynthia Nixon's answer to a question that has perplexed New Yorkers for generations is turning heads on social media. Nixon, the Sex and the City actor challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was asked by The New York Times Magazine where she believes upstate New York begins, a query that regularly sparks fierce debate — and a wide-ranging array of responses — on Twitter and Facebook. Her answer? Somewhere near Ithaca. "I don't think the Hudson Valley is upstate," Nixon said, according to the Times. "Once you get to Ithaca, by around there, you're starting to get upstate."

Cynthia Nixon took heat Monday from black leaders over her comments that creating a legalized pot industry in New York could serve as a form of reparations in black communities. Nixon on Saturday told Forbes magazine "now that cannabis is exploding as an industry, we have to make sure that those communities that have been harmed and devastated by marijuana arrests get the first shot at this industry." "We (must) prioritize them in terms of licenses. It's a form of reparations." The comments came under fire from some community leaders.

After Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders’s strong showing in the primary, many in the Democratic Party are able to read the writing on the wall: They need to move left. But who wants to step in? Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York. In the past two years, Mr. Cuomo - with an eye on national office - has rebranded himself from conservative insider to left-wing populist. Last year, he even held a news conference with Mr. Sanders to announce a “free college” plan. The truth is, the governor wears his new identity like a cheap...