Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (5)

Save Article

Albany, NY - Andrew Cuomo may soon have a new ally in the New York congressional delegation.

Last month, when the governor was aggressively pushing for expansion of the state’s DNA database to include information even on low-level offenders like turnstile-jumpers, he acceded to exactly one exception: first-time misdemeanor marijuana offenders.

It was a small but signficant nod to opponents of the city’s stop-and-frisk policy, and the legislator poised to claim the most credit for Cuomo’s concession was Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn.

Jeffries, who is running for Congress, and Cuomo have developed a mutually beneficial working relationship in their relatively short time together in the Capitol, with Cuomo often considering Jeffries’ legislative prerogatives, and Jeffries, in turn, providing Cuomo vocal support from within the legislature’s black and Latino caucus.

With longtime congressman Ed Towns dropping his bid for re-election, Jeffries has become the prohibitive front-runner to replace him.

More of today's headlines

“New York - A new report was released Tuesday on the extent of child abuse in New York state. According to the report from the organization Fight Crime: Invest in...” New York - 77,000 Children Victims Of Abuse, Neglect “Lafayette, NJ - Truck driver Myron Cowher sued his former employer Carson & Roberts Site Construction & Engineering Inc. and his former supervisors under the New Jersey...” Lafayette, NJ - Court: Even Erroneous Discrimination Is Discriminatory