Fumigate the Capitol? You wish

History will record that on June 22, at the ungodly hour of 6:46 a.m., the New York State Legislature wrapped up its regular session having done exactly bupkis to end runaway corruption in Albany. Lawmakers stunningly did nothing despite watching two more of their colleagues - Queens Sen. Malcolm Sm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDaily news (New York, N.Y. : 1920)
Main Author Hammond, Bill
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, N.Y Tribune Publishing Company, LLC 25.06.2013
Subjects
Cuomo, Mario M
Lopez, Vito
Skelos, Dean
Smith, Malcolm
Stevenson, Eric
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Summary:History will record that on June 22, at the ungodly hour of 6:46 a.m., the New York State Legislature wrapped up its regular session having done exactly bupkis to end runaway corruption in Albany. Lawmakers stunningly did nothing despite watching two more of their colleagues - Queens Sen. Malcolm Smith and Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson - hit with federal corruption charges. Despite seeing former Queens Sen. Shirley Huntley and former Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. sentenced to jail. Despite bidding farewell to Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro, who quit after being outed as a mole who was cooperating with prosecutors - and sometimes wearing a wire - during most of his four years at the Capitol. Despite also watching former Brooklyn Democratic boss and Assemblyman Vito Lopez quit under pressure for sexually harassing women on his staff - and seeing Speaker Sheldon Silver pilloried for covering up Lopez's behavior. A rash of scandals that ugly and intense should have been enough to persuade even ethically challenged Albany to take action. And virtually everyone at the Capitol claimed to support reform, from Gov. Cuomo on down. Yet legislators slunk home for the summer empty-handed - unable or unwilling to agree on a cleanup plan. No fix for bribery statutes that make it easier to convict a basketball player for fixing a game than a state lawmaker for selling his office.