{"id":22139,"date":"2026-05-01T22:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/bruce-blakemans-kafkaesque-albany-sojourn\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T22:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:02:17","slug":"bruce-blakemans-kafkaesque-albany-sojourn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/bruce-blakemans-kafkaesque-albany-sojourn\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Blakeman\u2019s Kafkaesque Albany sojourn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"GOP<\/p>\n

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 31<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

BLAKEMAN\u2019S DAY IN COURT: <\/b>Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman\u2019s battle to access the state\u2019s new public campaign finance program made its way to an Albany County courthouse this afternoon.<\/p>\n

The legal fight is over hypertechnical matters like whether duplicate copies of a \u201cPCF-22\u201d form submitted separately should be considered as a joint submission.<\/p>\n

But the repercussions are significant. Blakeman is seeking to build momentum for his underdog campaign in a blue state, and a win would provide a $3.5 million boost to his effort, guaranteeing he\u2019d be one of the better-funded state Republican candidates in recent decades. It would also give him bragging rights over the Democrats who call all the shots in Albany.<\/p>\n

The GOP case rests on the idea that Democrats made the rules for joining the program impossible to follow. Blakeman lawyer Adam Fusco noted that none of the gubernatorial candidates who applied are likely to receive any money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a hidden ball trick,\u201d Fusco said. \u201cAnd everyone who tried to do this failed to do it correctly: 0-7. It sounds like my high school baseball career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blakeman was booted from the program<\/a> in March. During the same week in December, he received a letter saying he was accepted into the program and the Public Campaign Finance Board approved a new rule that gubernatorial candidates and their running mates must apply jointly.<\/p>\n

The board never published the form they\u2019d need to submit and never mentioned the need for a signature from Blakeman\u2019s running mate, lieutenant governor hopeful Todd Hood. The requirement was also absent from a training Blakeman sat through in January and wasn\u2019t mentioned in a recent update to the campaign finance handbook. But since the nonexistent form was never received, the board\u2019s Democratic majority deemed Blakeman no longer eligible.<\/p>\n

Democratic lawyer Chris Massaroni rejected the idea that the decision stemmed from partisan gamesmanship. Any serious campaign for governor should stay abreast of changing rules, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a sort of casual, quick determination,\u201d Massaroni said. \u201cIt was a careful consideration that we have to apply the rules carefully, and we can\u2019t appear to be giving exceptions. \u2026 If we start bending these election rules once, we don\u2019t know where that\u2019s going to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Denise Hartman, who was first nominated to the bench by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seemed perturbed by the board\u2019s failure to produce the form Blakeman was expected to file.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very problematic that there was no joint form,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the board\u2019s own regulation, the board shall \u2014 it\u2019s a shall <\/i>\u2014 produce a joint form for the candidates. Why hasn\u2019t that happened?\u201d she later asked.<\/p>\n

She also noted, however, that the fact Hood never even attempted to file anything at all was a \u201cconcern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fusco is requesting the court to require the board to produce a form that Blakeman and Hood can jointly fill out and allow for a new \u201cwindow for filing that form.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hartman promised to \u201churry this along\u201d and issue a decision in the next week or two. That will allow for arguments in a mid-level appellate court before the end of May, making it more likely the matter will be resolved before judges start taking summer vacations. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

From the Capitol<\/h3>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

THE END IS NEAR:<\/b> Gov. Kathy Hochul is bullish that a state budget agreement is on the verge of completion in the coming weeks, telling reporters today that a compact is close.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur teams are going to continue working day and night for the entire weekend,\u201d she said in an impromptu gaggle.<\/p>\n

The governor acknowledged, though, that sticking points remain over devising the structure of a pied-\u00e0-terre surcharge for high-value non-primary homes in New York City. She also indicated that more education aid is being discussed for the Big Apple as Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin push for additional revenue from Albany. And she said a potential rebate check program is \u201con the table\u201d in negotiations with the Legislature.<\/p>\n

The budget is now more than a month past its March 31 due date. The month-long impasse between Hochul and the Legislature stemmed from her push to weaken a 2019 climate law and to overhaul the state\u2019s car insurance laws. \u2014 Nick Reisman<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

THE RINGS:<\/b> In the same gaggle, Hochul teased a potential push for New York to get an Olympic games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a very productive meeting today to launch our exploratory committee for the Olympics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But the governor quickly clammed up after that and wouldn\u2019t go into detail. Her news, though, comes as New York officials have made various efforts over the years to bring the Olympics back to the Empire State. Lake Placid last hosted the winter games in 1980.<\/p>\n

Democratic Assemblymember Bobby Carroll earlier this year pitched a potential Lake Placid-New York City winter games, similar to how Italy spread its Olympics between Milan and Cortina. \u2014 Nick Reisman\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

FROM CITY HALL<\/h3>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

ZO GO GO:<\/b> In a speech this afternoon to the Regional Plan Association\u2019s annual assembly \u2014 which has been described as a sort of Oscars for urbanists \u2014 Mamdani once again delved into faster buses.<\/p>\n

With free buses not happening this year<\/a>, the mayor said he\u2019s focusing on delivering faster bus service through street redesign projects and a plan to speed up buses along dozens of corridors. The aim is to cut commutes by six minutes each way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say that as someone who, when I went to Bronx Science and I got off the 1 train and I knew that I\u2019d missed the bus, if I ran fast enough, I could catch up to it three stops later,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n

He also used the speech to suggest he would work often with the RPA, the same way as the group and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia did decades ago. \u201cTogether, they turned ideas into action, delivering on transitways, parks and a more livable New York City,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cA century later, let us do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RPA gave an award to Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill also delivered remarks and said that lack of investment in New Jersey Transit has \u201cpushed it into really hard times.\u201d \u2014<\/i> Ry Rivard<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

CONGESTION PRICING APPEALED: <\/b>The Trump administration is appealing a court ruling blocking its attempts to end New York City\u2019s congestion pricing program.<\/p>\n

\u201cAppealing congestion pricing once again is just a waste of everyone\u2019s time,\u201d said Sean Butler, a spokesperson for Hochul. \u201cSean Duffy can keep trying, but traffic will stay down, business will stay up, and the cameras will stay on.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Southern District of New York judge ruled against the Department of Transportation in March, finding that the federal government could not unilaterally terminate an agreement with state and city agencies that gave the go-ahead for the tolling program.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s social media posts did not help the federal government\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

\u201cCONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!\u201d he posted in February 2025, on the same day that the MTA filed its lawsuit against the DOT.<\/p>\n

Justice Department lawyers filed an appeal Friday<\/a> to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. \u2014 Mona Zhang<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n

\u2014 BILLIONAIRE BOOST: <\/b>Crypto billionaire Chris Larsen is pouring $3.5 million into a super PAC backing Alex Bores, escalating a high-stakes primary fight with AI regulations emerging as a key issue. (POLITICO<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 ACROSS THE AISLE: <\/b>New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler\u2019s wife, Anna Poe-Kest, is taking a senior role at the Mayor\u2019s Office of Management and Budget has drawn scrutiny as it places them on opposite sides of budget negotiations. (City & State<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 WASTE WARS: <\/b>The Council has introduced a package of bills to curb dog waste after a winter surge, aiming to expand bag access, composting and outreach to pet owners. (THE CITY<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. <\/b>Read it here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 31 BLAKEMAN\u2019S DAY IN COURT: Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman\u2019s battle to access the state\u2019s new public campaign finance program made its way to an Albany County courthouse this afternoon. The legal fight is over hypertechnical matters like whether duplicate copies of a \u201cPCF-22\u201d form submitted separately should be considered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}