Graft

Glen Cove Councilwoman Marsha Silverman returns to the podcast to help us gawk at the shocking results of the NYS Comptroller's audit of one of the most wasteful agencies in the state. 

Follow us at @graftpodcast. 

Subscribe at graftpodcast.com. 

It's a special crossover episode with OldBull.tv, your insider's guide to political prediction markets. 

With scandals continuing to pile up, could covid prom king Andrew Cuomo's days in Albany be numbered? Traders on PredictIt have him at 60% to make it through the year. We think that might be generous... 

Follow us at @oldbulltv and @graftpodcast. 

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All content and opinions presented herein, whether by hosts and guests, are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment or other advice.

Back in October, 4-term Republican congressman Chris Collins resigned his seat representing New York's 27th District upon pleading guilty to insider trading, setting up a fierce competition to replace him, first in a special election this April, and again this November for a full term.

The 27th is one of those few deep red districts in New York, so the winner of the GOP primary is virtually guaranteed a seat in Congress. Today, we're talking with two of the leading candidates in that primary - first the outsider, attorney Beth Parlato, then the insider, State Senator Rob Ortt.

Beth Parlato's campaign site

Rob Ortt's campaign site

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)

Buckle up listeners, because we're going back to Cohoes, NY. This is our 4th episode on Cohoes and former mayor Shawn Morse.

And why can't we quit this tiny upstate city? Because it's simply the most fascinatingly dysfunctional political scene in New York and that's a high bar.

The recently ousted Morse, awaiting sentencing on a federal fraud charge, has long maintained he'd simply fallen prey to a coordinated political hit job. Now it appears he may have been (at least partly) right.

So is Morse a villain, a victim, or both?

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)

Yesterday was Election Day in New York. Joining us to gawk at the results of the biggest (downstate, non-NYC) races is Brad Schwartz, host of "The Big Fish" podcast (www.thebigfishpodcast.com), a fantastic new show focused on Long Island's biggest, fishiest political movers and shakers.

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)

Here's an uncontroversial statement: New York taxpayers shouldn't pay for lawmakers' sexual harassment settlements.

And yet we do, to the tune of millions of dollars.

With us today is Bob Confer, author of a recent op-ed exposing this dirty little secret and offering lawmakers a variety of proposals for them to ignore on how to fix it.

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)

Today we're joined by Diane Madden, animal advocate and an independent 2019 candidate running on the brand new Libertarian line for supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, NY, America's largest town.

Central to Madden's anti-corruption campaign is her ongoing exposé of the jaw-dropping waste and mismanagement at the Hempstead Animal Shelter.

Should the party-backed candidates be nervous? Let's find out.

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)

Last month, Governor Cuomo signed a new bill called the School Bus Camera Bill. A bill for the kids that no one can disagree with, which aims to stop people from bypassing stop sign arms on school buses.

But Chris Paolillo, a member of the West Babylon School Board, is joining us today to tell us why this bill may not be everything it's cracked up to be.

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)

A couple weeks ago, we aired the explosive episode On Your Left, featuring Michael Weinstock, a progressive primary challenger to the Democratic incumbent from NY's 3rd Congressional District, Tom Suozzi. But Weinstock's not alone in taking the self-styled centrist to task over his self-styled centrism.

Today we're joined by another 3rd District Democratic hopeful, Melanie D'Arrigo, who aims to prove that in the era of Trump and AOC, machine-backed moderate Democrats - even in purple, suburban districts - have vulnerable left flanks.

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)

If you remember our July 15 episode, The Supernumerary Mayors of Mount Vernon, you know that city just north of NYC was experiencing a remarkable power struggle between two men, Richard Thomas and Andre Wallace, both of whom claimed to be mayor. Department heads, city employees, and citizens didn't know quite what to make of it. At one point, the newly appointed (though naturally contested) chief of police was arrested when he arrived for work. After a few weeks, a judge's ruling seemed to quell the crisis. And then it got suddenly worse.

Today, actual mayor Andre Wallace joins us to discuss.

To subscribe or to contact the show, visit us at graftpodcast.com, email [email protected], or call (646) 450-4060.

Theme Music by Jay Lifton (www.jaylifton.com)