As New York's legislative session draws to a close, there's one piece of unfinished business bugging transit watchers: the nagging lack of a confirmation hearing for the new head of Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But that could be changing.

Governor Cuomo released his long-awaited women's equality bill Tuesday. The bill, which includes an abortion rights provision, is a key part of Cuomo’s agenda, but he said he can’t guarantee the legislature will pass it. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver aren't ruling out a plan to bring back the lever voting machines for the September New York City elections, since the Board of Elections says the new scanners can't accommodate a run-off within two weeks of a primary.

Governor Cuomo asked local government leaders from around upstate New York to help him convince the legislature to approve his tax free zone plan.

A key component of Governor Cuomo's 20-13 agenda appears in jeopardy. The governor said Wednesday he does not have enough votes in the state senate to bring an abortion bill he has championed to the floor.

Consolidated Edison executives are returning $614,400 in bonuses they got apiece for leading the utility during a tumultuous 2012 that including Sandy when Lower Manhattan was plunged into darkness for days.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has rolled out the second portion of his anti-corruption agenda. 

The New York State Senate finished up voting on the state budget in a middle-of-the-night session that ended at 4:30 AM Wednesday. It's part of a long standing Albany tradition of closed door negotiations and overnight voting on budgets and other issues.

When Governor Andrew Cuomo and his staff huddled with lawmakers earlier this year to craft the toughest gun control law in the country, he wanted to limit the capacity of magazines from 10 bullets down to five.

The New York State Assembly has approved, by a 95 to 40 vote, a two-year moratorium on hydrofracking in New York. While it’s unlikely to be passed in the Senate, the action reflects state lawmakers’ growing worries about potential health impacts from the natural gas drilling process. 

Senate Republicans are pushing for middle class tax breaks in the new state budget, including a return to the STAR property tax rebate checks curtailed in 2009.

After Sandy plunged most Long Island residents into a prolonged darkness, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office began meeting with a global investment bank, Lazard Frères and Co., to figure out a way to restructure the Long Island Power Authority.

New York Times reporter Thomas Kaplan discusses the likely offers forthcoming from the state to buy your home if it's in the 100-year flood plain.

"What do you do if nine of your neighbors took the buyout and you didn't? This is complicated." @thomaskaplan on flood zone buyback program.

— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 5, 2013

Gun groups plan to sue the state of New York over a new gun control law.

Governor Cuomo has proposed raising the minimum wage as part of his budget plan. That tactic might make it easier for the proposal to become law.

Gov. Cuomo assessing flood damage after Sandy. (Image courtesy of the Office of the Governor)

Governor Andrew Cuomo is offering more details on how he'd like to spend federal Sandy recovery funds -- even though Congress hasn't yet passed the legislation. When he unveiled his $142 billion budget Tuesday, Cuomo laid out how the state will allocate a hoped-for $30 billion in aid, including:

• $2 billion for replacement or mitigation of 2,000 miles of highway

• $6 billion for mitigation for MTA and Port Authority, including vent covers, tunnel bladders and pumping capacity to protect transit tunnels.

• $159 million for coastal mitigation – $34 million to repair Fire Island inlet and $125 for “soft barriers” like dunes on beaches

• $2 billion to harden energy utilities

Read Anna Sale's story at WNYC.

Related:
NY’s South Ferry Station Closed for Foreseeable Future (link)
As PATH Resumes after Sandy, Questions Remain about Agency, Flood Plans (link)
Totaling Sandy Losses: How New York’s MTA Got to $5 Billion (link)
Transit in NYC Suffers “Worst Devastation Ever” (link)

The New York state comptroller's office on Wednesday released a list of contracts and payments the state made in the two months after Sandy hit.

Despite the widespread warnings, New Yorkers are taking this latest health scare in stride going about their daily activities.

Weeks after The Journal News made the controversial decision to publish the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties, a celebrity and entertainment website has released the names of people licensed to own a gun in New York City.

A commission Governor Andrew Cuomo formed after Sandy is calling for the privatization of the Long Island Power Authority — the embattled authority his father, then-Governor Mario Cuomo, formed more than a quarter-century ago. That would be a dramatic reform to a state-run power company that has been troubled since its inception. But while many have cheered the march toward action, some have also questioned why it took so long.