New York, Corruption | featured news

New York State Sen. Malcolm Smith and five other politicians pleaded not guilty Tuesday to corruption charges in connection with an alleged plot to buy a line on New York City's mayoral ballot. The allegations revived public concerns about a documented culture of exploitation in Albany that has prompted officials to seek legal recourse to induce change.

Feds busted a Bronx assemblyman today for allegedly pocketing envelopes of cash to push legislation in Albany — marking the second corruption case against a state lawmaker this week. Assemblyman Eric Stevenson [D-Bronx] got caught in a sting operation in which two co-defendants paid bribes to another, unidentified assemblyman who was cooperating with authorities, according to the Manhattan US Attorney's Office.

Nearly half of recently retired officers in a survey said they had “personal knowledge” of crime-report manipulation, but the Police Department questioned the study’s methodology.

Already caught up in a scandal involving a close aide, embattled New York Governor David Paterson was charged on Wednesday by the state's ethics watchdog for unlawfully taking free baseball tickets to the 2009 World Series.