The Week That Was/TW2 Minority Review

Brooklyn Assemblyman Karim Camara spoke with “Inside City Hall”on Tuesday about his new position as chairman of New York State’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. (NY1)

Ex-Governor David Paterson and NAACP president Hazel Duke made City Hall’s weekly Winners & Losers list, respectively. Paterson for laying the groundwork for Cuomo’s signature accomplishments through his pioneering use of budget extenders to force cuts and pushing for gay marriage.
Assemblyman Camara had busy media week. He shared his thoughts with Politico on the progressive/liberal backlash against Governor Cuomo’s first term legislative agenda.
Adam Lisberg notes that the City Council’s Schedule C list of member items holds a few surprises. Nicole Paultre-Bell, who lost to Ruben Wills in a special election for a Queens Council seat, got $16,000 from Wills for her nonprofit baseball league, “When It’s Real It’s Forever.” The league was inspired by her late fiancée, Sean Bell, but has come under scrutiny by the Post for its spending. (City & State First Read)
The NY Post reports: “The state inspector general is reopening its probe of a politically connected lobbyist who was a key figure in the rigged selection of gaming company AEG to run a multibillion dollar slots casino at Aqueduct race track… Investigators are looking to grill Carl Andrews — who has deep ties to state Senate Democratic leadership — after an appellate court ruled that Andrews must comply with a subpoena from the IG.” (NY Post)
The Daily News is reporting that Queens Councilman Ruben Wills is facing jail time over a 14 year old larcency charge. (DN)
Queens Assemblywoman Barbara is accused in a NY Post report of giving away state land at Creedmor hospital to a Floral Park Indian cultural center for political donations. (NYP)
On Sunday, Crain’s NY Business reported that three Brooklyn legislators are seeking to wrest control of black politics from the Harlem establishment. For two decades now, black Brooklyn politicians have long sought to claim leadership of city’s black community as Brooklyn has become the nation’s large black county. Despite being home to the black diaspora, Harlem remains the Mount Olympus of black politics in NY.
Also, the Sunday Daily News reported that architect Hugo Subotovsky says he did not bill ex-White House urban policy adviser Adolfo Carrion for work on his home as a gift to the former Bronx Beep.The architect’s assertion now contradicts the statement Carrion made when The News first revealed the arrangement in March 2009.

At the time, Carrion said he hadn’t paid Subotovsky because the architect had yet to finish a “final survey.” The Bronx D.A. closed his investigation because there was “no evidence of wrong-doing.” The matter remains an open case for the city’s Inspector General.
 
Apparently, the State Senate rigged its debate rules prior to the vote on same-sex marriage. In the process, many supporters, such as Brooklyn Senator Kevin Parker, were denied an opportunity to explain their vote. Said Parker, who was visibly upset, “The first mistake was not standing up when Diaz wanted the bill laid aside.” (GG)
Liz Benjamin blogged that black and latino lawmakers were at odds with Cuomo
over the property tax cap and expansion of the rent control regulation. She reported that Assemblyman Karim Camara, “the newly-minted chair of the Black, Puerto Rican Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus, had called an “emergency” meeting to discuss the deal Cuomo cut with the Senate Republicans. Camara later met with Cuomo to discuss the issues that upset the caucus members. (SOP)
The Gotham Gazette asked, “Is Cuomo losing Democratic legislators?” The Gazette reported that “[w]ith major deals in Albany still pending, some remain unclear exactly how they feel, but black and Latino lawmakers from New York City increasingly believe that Cuomo misled them — or at least they didn’t get what they were expecting. Although no one would go on the record to voice their concerns–behind the scenes their frustration is boiling over.” (GG)
A bill by Brooklyn Assembly Nick Perry which would weaken the penalties for “sexting” – i.e. sending text messages with explicit photos among minors – has passed both houses of the legislature. Under Perry’s bill, a first time youthful offender who did not have the intent to commit a criminal offense could be diverted to an education program and given a chance to have the charge dismissed.
City Hall News says that Former City Comptroller and Democratic Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson is back in the mayoral game 2013. Thompson seemed to be the biggest winner with Rep. Weiner’s embarassing withdrawal from politics. (CH)
Brooklyn Assemblyman Karim Camara was a big winner in his showdown with State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson over leadership of the Black, PR, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus in Albany. (NYO)
Assemblyman Nelson Castro claimed that “religious exemptions” in Governor Cuomo’s same-sex marriage bill enabled him and fellow Assemblymen Nick Perry and Karim Camara to support the measure after being opponents in 2009.
City Council Member James Sanders reportedly had a hard time hailing a yellow cab in Manhattan despite repeated calls to the TLC.
Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright took Senate Democrats to task for defeating a temporary extension of the state’s rent control laws.