Politics on the Hudson

The new George Pataki-inspired museum and learning center in Peekskill is set to have a private cocktail party/opening Dec. 5 in Peekskill, Liz Benjamin reports over at The Daily Politics.

Our own Rob Marchant wrote about plans for the center back in August; I’ll re-post his story after the jump. (more…)

One other note on Comptroller Tom Dinapoli: He has hired the Benensen Strategy Group  for polling and research – the same one Barack Obama had pretty good luck with this year. The outfit is run by Joel Benenson, a former Journal News and Daily News reporter who was an adviser to Mario Cuomo when he lost his campaign for a fourth term in 1994 to George Pataki.

One other campaign note: if Gov. David Paterson appoints Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to the Senate seat Hillary Clinton is expected to soon vacate for the State Department, Cuomo’s successor will be  appointed by the Legislature. That will mean that none of the statewide officials (Gov. Paterson is the third) would have been elected by the people to their positions.

(editor’s note: post amended/condensed to avoid duplication)

   State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a Democrat, is gearing up his campaign for 2010. He announced today that Gov. David Paterson is hosting “An Evening in Support of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli” at the storied Roosevelt Hotel on Madison Avenue. It is DiNapoli 2010’s first major fund-raising event in New York City and second major fund-raiser. Cocktails will cost between $500 and $1,500 (to write or raise), and the dinner is for those who contribute or raise $5,000 or more.

   This will be DiNapoli’s first election campaign. A former state Assemblyman from Long Island, he was named by his colleagues (and against the wishes of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer) to replace disgraced Comptroller Alan Hevesi in 2007. Hevesi, also a Democrat, was re-elected in 2006, but he pleaded guilty to defrauding the government and resigned. He had used state employees to chauffeur his wife and help her with errands and chores.

   DiNapoli has hired the Benenson Strategy Group to conduct polling and research for his campaign. The group’s clients include now-President-elect Barack Obama, U.S. senators and representatives, international labor unions, Fortune 500 companies and others.

   DiNapoli had $312,054 in his campaign coffers as of October. His 32-day pre-general campaign-finance report said he had raised $351,269 that period and had spent $142,386. DiNapoli  said he has imposed a $10,000 per contributor per election limit on campaign contributions.

The Wall Street meltdown will cost New York 225,000 jobs and $6.5 billion in tax revenue, Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli estimated in a report to be released later today.

His assessment is the bleakest yet of the collapse of the state’s most important industry. Other observers have noted that what might make this downturn more serious than those in the last several decades is that it’s unclear the financial sector will snap back and climb to even greater heights, which has been the pattern since World War II.

In terms of tax revenues, the collapse is even more damaging to the state than to New York City, since the state depends more on income-tax revenue than the city does.

Gov. David Paterson is slated to spell out his plans to deal with the disaster when he presents his new budget plan to the Legislature on Dec. 16.

Senate Republicans are not done yet.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, announced that the Senate will return on Dec. 15 to pass their own plan to deal with the state’s budget gap.

“It’s important that we take action to close this year’s budget gap as we begin work on a new budget Governor Paterson has promised to submit early,” Skelos said in a statement. “The legislation that we will advance and act on will include significant spending reductions, recurring savings actions and important initiatives to maximize revenue.”

Senate Republicans, who face being in the minority in January, also called on the Democratic-controlled Assembly to put forward their own plan. So far, neither chamber has recommended ways to curb the state’s $1.5 billion budget gap for this year.

Timothy Geithner, a Larchmont resident who grew up in the village, may be in line to be the next Treasury Secretary. Here’s excerpts from the wire report:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as Treasury Secretary in a time of intense economic turmoil as he rounds out the upper echelon of his Cabinet, a senior Democratic official familiar with the deliberations said today….

If nominated and confirmed by the Senate, Geithner, 47, would assume chief responsibility for tackling an economic slowdown and a credit crunch that threaten to create the deepest recession in more than a generation. The president of the New York federal reserve, he has played a key role in the government’s response to the financial crisis and has worked closely with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

… It was not clear when Obama intended to make a formal announcement of any of his picks….

Geithner held posts in the Treasury Department under three administrations and five secretaries before moving to the New York Fed in 2003. He also held positions at the International Monetary Fund and was employed at the private firm of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The Dow Jones industrials soared by nearly 500 points late in the day, a sharp rise that coincided with first reports of Geithner’s possible appointment.

Here’s the story:

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

The apparent accord between perhaps the two leading figures in the Democratic Party climaxed a week-long drama that riveted the nation’s capital.

Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.

Mr. Obama’s office told reporters on Thursday that the nomination is “on track” but this is the first word from the Clinton camp that she has decided.

“She’s ready,” the confidant said, addding that Mrs. Clinton was reassured after talking again with Mr. Obama because their first meeting in Chicago last week “was so general.” The purpose of the follow-up talk, he noted, was not to extract particular concessions but “just getting comfortable” with the idea of working together.

The “Gang of Three” Democratic dissenters in the state Senate are meeting today in New York City to further consider whether they will defect and join the GOP in January, one of them said today.

“We’re meeting at 2:45 and we will decide what we are going to do,” said Sen. Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx, one of the Democratic holdouts.

Diaz wouldn’t disclose the nature of the meeting, but some Democratic officials said today that they expect Diaz to eventually separate himself from the group and back Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith for majority leader in January.

“I don’t think Diaz is going to be much of a problem,” one source said.

Yet the same sources said they are increasingly concerned about what the two other members of the group—Sen.-elect Pedro Espada of the Bronx and Carl Kruger of Queens may do.

And Democrats would need one of them to come on board if Smith wants to be majority leader as Democrats technically would hold a 32-30 seat edge in January.

Of course, Democrats are hoping for an easier way out and that is if Democrat James Gennaro can pull off the upset against Republican Sen. Frank Padavan of Queens, who leads Gennaro by about 500 votes as the recount continues.

   New Yorkers have just a week left to claim more than 19,000 economic-stimulus checks (with an average amount of $579) that were returned to the Internal Revenue Service because of incorrect addresses. Taxpayers have until next Friday to update their address. By law, stimulus checks must be sent out by Dec. 31.

   To check the status of a stimulus payment, use the “Where’s My Stimulus Payment?” tool on the IRS Web site or call the rebate hotline at 866-234-2942. 

   More than 8,500 regular refund checks have been returned to the IRS as undeliverable. Those checks are not subject to the Nov. 28 deadline for address updates and can be reissued at any time after a new address is provided.

The Working Families Party distributed a memo this morning from Executive Director Dan Cantor and Deputy Director Bill Lipton wrapping up the party’s performance in this month’s election.

Three of the facts they cited:

• “There are lots of votes still to be counted, but it’s already clear that we’ll easily surpass the 133,000 WFP/Row E votes we got for John Kerry in 2004. Current estimates put us north of 150,000, and maybe as high as 170,000.”

• 34 Congressional candidates ran with both Democrat and Working Families lines in New York and Connecticut; 31 won, including 26 in New York.

• D-WF candidates Brian Foley and Joe Addabbo defeated Republican incumbents, helping shift the balance of power in the New York state senate from Republican to Democrat.