Mixed martial arts supporters declared victory on the floor of the state Senate floor on Wednesday when the chamber overwhelmingly voted to legalize the popular but controversial sport. “It’s long past time that we officially sanction this sport in the state,” said state Sen. Joseph Griffo, who sponsored the bill. “For five years, I’ve been making the case that the numbers don’t lie; bringing MMA events to New York State will have a tremendously positive impact through the jobs that can [...]

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  I had a friend was a big baseball player back in MLB, he could hit that speedball by you, saw him the other night in the State Capitol, I was walking in, he was walking out, all he kept talking about was … DMAA, will the Senate pass that ban, DMAA, in the blink of Jeff Klein’s tan, DMAA. Now I think I’m going down to the well tonight, to hear a press conference about restoring budget cuts, and I [...]

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with Democratic Assembly members over breakfast at the executive mansion on Tuesday and Wednesday morning to address legislative goals. Lawmakers described the meeting as “friendly” and a “pep talk,” and said they discussed minimum wage, hydrofracking, Hurricane Sandy relief, hospitals and campaign finance reform. Assemblyman Alan Maisel asked Cuomo about aid to downstate hospitals. “He did say he wanted to work with us and that it was a real problem that needs to be fixed, but we’re broke,” Maisel said. [...]

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Four of New York City’s Republican candidates for mayor and one Independence Party candidate touched on a wide range of issues Wednesday morning at a breakfast forum hosted by Crain’s New York Business, the first panel this election cycle to not include a single Democratic candidate. The candidates began the debate by assigning Mayor Michael Bloomberg a numeric grade, on a scale of 1 to 10, and despite Bloomberg’s moderate politics, most gave the mayor high marks, with Independence Party [...]

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The Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation yesterday to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour, but it may not gain traction in the Senate. “With approximately half of minimum wage earners between the ages of 16 and 24, I worry that the Assembly’s legislation would hurt those young workers most,” Senate Majority Co-Leader Dean Skelos said in a statement. Senate Majority Co-Leader Jeff Klein “strongly supports a minimum wage increase,” a spokesman said, and he expects it to be included in the budget. State [...]

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