Two of the most powerful men in New York state government are on trial for corruption at the same time. Voter turnout is lower than it’s been in decades. And polls show the public is as distrustful as it is apathetic.
Yet it’s business as usual in Albany, where top lawmakers shrug off questions about ethics and campaign finance reform while a crisis of corruption and confidence shakes one of America’s most powerful and important capitols.
“No one cares. No one votes. Everyone thinks everyone in government stinks,” said Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, a Long Island Democrat and former corruption prosecutor. “We are living the worst-case scenario.”