Talk Bronx New York

Embattled Gov. Paterson speaks to reporters on Thursday.

ALBANY - It’s another black eye for the state police.

A Bronx woman’s claim that state troopers pressed her to abandon a domestic violence complaint against a top aide to Gov. Paterson is just the latest allegation the department is doing political dirty work.

“This is just despicable,” said state Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan), one of several lawmakers to express outrage over the new allegation.

“I am unaware of any law or policy in the state of New York that authorizes this sort of conduct by the state police,” Schneiderman said.

It’s not the first time the state police has been accused of flexing its muscles inappropriately.

Back in the summer 2007, in a scandal that would come to be known as Troopergate, then-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno accused former Gov. Eliot Spitzer of using troopers to spy on him.

The ensuing investigation got so heated that a former state police inspector who once headed the governor’s personal security detail, Gary Berwick, committed suicide at his home in Orange County in May 2008.

Around that time, Paterson nominated Harry Corbitt, 62, to run the state police and clean up the department.

Now Corbitt admits that one of his troopers directly confronted Sherr-una Booker, who had filed abuse charges against Paterson aide David Johnson, even though the agency had no legal authority over the case. Read more..

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Gov. Paterson Thursday joined a growing chorus saying the upcoming trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be moved.

 As protests grow louder over holding the 9/11 trial in lower Manhattan, a Long Island congressman introduced a bill Thursday that would keep the prosecution out of civilian courts.

Republican Peter King’s bill would prohibit the use of Justice Department funds to try Guantanamo detainees in civilian courts.

“On top of having to provide security for three or four years, we’re talking about an area that is already congested and will have to be closed off,” King said. “It’s bad for traffic and business.”

The Obama administration announced last month that alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others would be tried in Manhattan Federal Court.

The move angered many business leaders, who argue it would cripple real estate and commerce in the area, and frightened downtown residents.

King called the plan “one of the worst decisions ever made by any president” and insisted Mohammed should be tried by the military.

Mayor Bloomberg, who first supported the plan, reversed himself Wednesday and said it would be glad to see it moved somewhere else.

Gov. Paterson said Thursday there needs to be “some suitable alternatives that would fall within the court’s jurisdiction but for the public at large would be a better place to hold the actual trial.” Read more..

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                        Bronx assemblyman Nelson Castro may face perjury charges

 A Bronx Assemblyman believed to have tripped himself up in an election fraud case is expected to be indicted on perjury charges, the Daily News has learned.

The charges against Assemblyman Nelson Castro are expected sometime this or next week, sources told The News.

Castro was accused in last September’s primary of electoral shenanigans after nine voters were found to be registered to his one-bedroom flat in the west Bronx.

A judge still cleared him to run - and he won the 86th Assembly District. Opponents complained later that he lied under oath when he said he was unaware of the registration situation.

It turned out some of the nine were his and his girlfriend’s relatives. The alleged lies under oath are what now have Castro in hot water and facing possible criminal charges, sources said.

A spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson had no comment.

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For whom the hike tolls: Drivers will have to pay 50 cents more to cross bridges and tunnels

Thank a driver today, straphangers.

More than 800,000 daily drivers have to dig deeper into their pockets and pay higher tolls to subsidize the bus, subway and commuter train system.

Tolls for most of the MTA’s major bridges and tunnels have been hiked 50 cents to $5.50 for those paying cash.

The E-ZPass toll is now $4.57, up from $4.15 for the major crossings: The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge, Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Queens Midtown Tunnel.

One-way tolls to use the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge are now $11 cash, up from $10. E-ZPass will set drivers back $9.14, up from $8.30.

“It’s outrageous,” said John Corlett, director of government affairs for Automobile Club of New York.

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 Ruben Diaz Jr. swears in as Bronx borough president today at Lehman College

Hard hit by a recession that has pushed Bronx jobless numbers into the double digits and painful budget cuts to city services and his own staff, Ruben Diaz Jr. was formally sworn in Thursday as 13th Bronx borough president.

In an inaugural speech at Lehman College, Diaz, 36, pledged to “work tirelessly and without compromise … for our seniors, our children and our hardworking families.”

Gov. Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and other elected state and city officials were on hand to extend their well-wishes.

Addressing a 10.5% local unemployment rate - the highest in the city - Diaz told the audience the most important goal on his agenda would be economic development - “and we will tackle the issue head-on.”

In particular, he cited developing training programs for “green” jobs - “building green roofs, retrofitting boilers and making our existing building stock more energy-efficient.”

He also cited the continuing need for improving local schools, including partnering “with community and faith-based organizations to develop after-school and arts programs in every neighborhood.”

With health care the borough’s single largest employer, Diaz said he would encourage the growth of new medical fields, such as bio-pharmaceuticals.

Proclaiming a theme of “One Bronx,” the new borough president said he also will charge local business improvement groups with developing a strategic plan to “ensure the strength of all our business districts.”

Diaz said that he will reach out to citywide leaders on issues “from business and labor to education and the environment.” Read more..

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