Prominent litigator Randy Mastro, who most recently served as former Mayor Eric Adams' top deputy, is returning to private practice with a partnership at global law firm Dechert. Mastro, a former aide to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani who is known for employing an aggressive style in both City Hall and the courtroom, joins the roughly 900-lawyer Dechert as co-chair of the firm's securities and complex litigation practice.
Representative Jerry Nadler's September announcement that he planned to retire at the end of his term sparked a frenetic race to find his successor, with a raft of legislators, commentators, and miscellaneous politicos joining the field in New York's 12th Congressional District. Now, the longtime congressman finds himself at odds with his longtime ally former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on who should replace him.
An energetic, innovative leader and advocate for equity and inclusion, her expertise, unwavering commitment to equal justice, and problem-solving approach will greatly benefit the Third Judicial District and Capital Region residents.
Age has long been a point of debate in American politics, but it becomes especially controversial when lawmakers remain in office well beyond traditional retirement years. As the nation grapples with issues like healthcare, technology, and economic change, questions naturally arise about how age, generation status, and experience influence leadership at the highest levels of government. For some voters, longevity in office represents wisdom; for others, it raises concerns about representation and outdated reasoning.
Hamilton, who also led a congressional probe of the Reagan administration's Iran-Contra affair while representing a rural southern Indiana district, died peacefully in his home in Bloomington, Indiana, said his son Doug Hamilton, who did not cite a specific cause. Hamilton was at the forefront of congressional opposition to the 1991 Persian Gulf War waged by President George H.W. Bush and advocated continued economic sanctions against Iraq before military action over its invasion of Kuwait.
The district, which straddles Western Queens and North Brooklyn, is one of the most liberal districts in the country and has been dubbed the "Commie Corridor" after the 2025 mayoral election, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by over 40 points in the district during the Democratic primary. Velázquez, who announced late last year that she would not seek re-election
Although New Yorker politicians consider themselves the national leader in civil rights, New York still ranks third in the nation for wrongful convictions and New York City has the third-highest number of exonerations nationwide. Each case represents a life derailed: families broken, years stolen, careers destroyed, childhoods lived without a parent. Behind many of these injustices is a familiar culprit: law-enforcement misconduct.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's pick to head the city's Law Department was confirmed by the New York City Council after promising to be a lawyer for the entire city, not just the mayor, at his confirmation hearing last week. Steven Banks, who served as the city's homelessness czar at the city's Department of Homeless Services under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, is set to return to City Hall after being confirmed Thursday via a 42-6 City Council vote, with one abstention.
Through the generations, hundreds of thousands of public servants have spent the best years of their lives delivering for New York whether on the beat as a cop, on the job as a firefighter, picking up trash for the Sanitation Department, pruning trees for the Parks Department, assisting seniors at the Department for the Aging, and so on.