The New York Observer » Kirsten Gillibrand

The Eight-Day Week: August 3-August 10

Wednesday, August 3 The Ultimate Art Machine Is the Guggenheim the Shake Shack of museums? Locations, locations, locations! Not content with outposts in the Basque Country and the United Arab Emirates (as well as the now-shuttered Las Vegas outpost, which seems in retrospect a bit of an overreach…to Read More

Both Senators, Nadler, King to Join Obama Tomorrow

President Obama will be at the World Trade Center site tomorrow and--while former President George W. Bush won't be joining him--a number of New York's congressional representatives will be making the trip back from Washington.

Senators Schumer and Gillibrand will both be in attendance. Congressman Nadler, who represents ground zero, will also be there. As Read More

Gillibrand Felt ‘Extraordinary Joy,’ Talks Pakistan Push-Pull

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she felt "extraordinary joy" at hearing the news about the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan yesterday.

"It's a moment of triumph and I think it's very important for New Yorkers," she said in an interview on CBS' Early Show this morning. She said she had spoken to some firefighters and Read More

Gillibrand Jabs Kyl With A ‘Factual Statement’

On the Senate floor today, Kirsten Gillibrand took a little swipe at her Republican colleague from Arizona, Jon Kyl.

Last week, Kyl told the C-SPAN cameras that providing abortions was "well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does," a statement his office later walked back as "not intended to be a factual statement."

Naturally, this Read More

Q Poll: Cuomo is Really Popular

This morning's Quinnipiac poll says Andrew Cuomo's job approval rating is "higher than the governors in any state polled by Quinnipiac University so far this year."

Here are the numbers:

Andrew Cuomo: 64-16 percent, last month, 56-15 percent.

Dem: 66-15 percent

GOP: 58-18 percent

Independent: 66-15 percent

Upstate: 62-16 percent

NYC: 66-14 percent

Suburbs: 64-19 percent

Union Household: 57-21 percent

Public School Parents: 61-20 Read More

Gillibrand Withholding Judgment on Budget Deal

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand isn't quite ready to endorse the tentative budget deal that averted a government shutdown late Friday evening.

"We still have a budget decision to be made," she said this morning, when asked about the impending battle over the debt ceiling, which looks to be the next front of fiscal warfare.

Gillibrand was referring to Read More

Gillibrand and Grimm: Two Views on Shutting It Down [Video]

As it stands, the federal government will grind to a halt at midnight tonight, and it's probably not an encouraging sign that House Republicans and Senate Democrats can't even agree on what the sticking point is.

Two of your local representatives--one from each of those bodies--were on MSNBC this afternoon, arguing that the budget impasse is: Read More

New York’s New Governor Leaves Bloomberg Begging

At the Somos el Futuro legislative conference in Albany this weekend, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli could be seen hugging Senator Charles Schumer-not because he was feeling particularly affectionate, but because Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, chairman of the conference, which gathers top Democratic officials to discuss issues of concern to Hispanic New Yorkers, had urged attendees to Read More

At Somos, A Promise on Language Access, A ‘Deported’ Joke About Steve Levy and Talk of Redistricting [Video]

Here are some of the highlights from the Somos conference in Albany this weekend.

Andrew Cuomo, 3:15:

"I never had any new immigrant come to me and say to me, you know what I want Andrew, I want help with Medicaid, I want help getting welfare. You know what they say they want help with? Get me Read More

Gillibrand Sets a Personal Best, Tops $3 M. in First Quarter

This morning, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand emailed supporters to celebrate her record-breaking first-quarter, in which she raised more than $3 million dollars.

"I couldn't wait to thank you," wrote Gillibrand, who is up for re-election again in 2012, before she resumes the usual six-year schedule. "Our campaign just closed its books for the FEC filing period and Read More

Paterson on His Legacy, Governing Blind, And Kirsten Gillibrand

In this morning's Observer, I wrote about David Paterson's budget extender brinksmanship and the lasting impact it might have on how business is conducted at the state Capitol.

While most Albany observers seem to consider the new tool to be his administration's lasting legacy, the former governor said he was most proud of his stewardship Read More

Schumer’s Partner

"If I could choose anyone to be my partner in fighting these battles, it would be Kirsten Gillibrand."

--Chuck Schumer in a fundraising email for Gillibrand, sent Tuesday, March 29, 2011.

On Libya, Gillibrand and Nadler Sound Different

How Obama's military action in Libya is splitting some of his support among Democrats was on display this morning, when Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Jerry Nadler were fielding questions outside City Hall.

"Well, obviously the president has made a limited engagement in Libya because of the humanitarian crisis," said Gillibrand, who noted the Read More

Nadler and Gillibrand Hope to Steer a Bloomberg Taxi Through Congress

Mayor Bloomberg's long-sought effort to require the city's taxi fleet to phase in hybrid automobiles is getting a boost today with the introduction of federal legislation that will grant local governments the right to set fuel-efficiency standards for their taxis.

~~An earlier effort was stripped out of omnibus transportation legislation stalled~~. It was included in the Read More

Remembering Geraldine Ferraro

New York Times:

Geraldine A. Ferraro, the former Queens congresswoman who in 1984 strode onto a podium to accept the Democratic nomination for vice president and to take her place in American history as the first woman nominated for national office by a major party, died on Saturday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She was Read More