Income tax collections plunge 26 percent in early 2009, eroding state budgets

ALBANY, N.Y. — State personal income tax collections dropped 26 percent nationwide through first four months of this year compared with a year ago, putting many states’ already-shaky budgets into deeper trouble, a research institute reported.

Feds: Yonkers, NY, police dept. has confusing policies on force, sour relations with residents

YONKERS, N.Y. — The Justice Department says a New York police department has a skittish relationship with residents and confusing policies on the use of force.

Cornell student charged with killing wife in Ithaca returning to NY from Pa. hospital

ITHACA, N.Y. — A Cornell University student charged with killing his wife along a park trail in New York has waived extradition in Pennsylvania.

Packed stands give way to standing water at rainy Bethpage Black

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — About an hour after U.S. Open play was suspended Thursday, a course worker gingerly worked his way across Bethpage Black’s flooded 18th green to remove the flag, futilely trying to avoid leaving footprints.

Caught red-haired: NY police say fire-alarm-red dye job led to arrest of burglary suspect

PEEKSKILL, N.Y. — Hair the color of a clown’s wig has helped police just north of New York City capture a burglary suspect. Police said a resident of Peekskill was startled awake Tuesday by a burglar who escaped with camera and computer equipment. The victim’s description of the invader — including hair dyed a very bright red — was sent to neighboring police departments.

NY judge says he won’t rule on Senate takeover, urges legislators to resolve who’s in charge

ALBANY, N.Y. — A judge says he won’t rule on last week’s takeover of the New York Senate by a coalition of Republicans and dissident Democrats.

Mich. man comes forward, claims he was boy who vanished from outside NY store in 1955

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — More than 50 years ago, a mother left her stroller outside a Long Island bakery and returned minutes later to find her 2-year-son had vanished.

Mich. man comes forward, claims he was boy who vanished from outside NY store in 1950s

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — New York authorities have a lead in the mysterious disappearance of a 2-year-old boy outside a Long Island bakery 50 years ago.

Small plane’s wreckage, Indian TV actor’s dead brother pulled from NY river day after crash

GLENVILLE, N.Y. — Divers on Monday searching a river where a small plane went down recovered the body of the third person who died in the crash, the brother of an Indian television and film actor.

NY Senate splits 31-31 1 week after coup, leadership still uncertain, court gives more time

ALBANY, N.Y. — A dissident Democrat who helped Republicans seize power in the New York Senate a week ago has returned to the Democratic fold and declared that Democrats must retake the majority he cost them.

Small plane, 3rd body recovered from bottom of NY river; victim was brother of Indian TV actor

GLENVILLE, N.Y. — Police say divers searching an eastern New York river where a small plane went down have recovered the body of the third person who died, the brother of Indian actor Tom George Kolath (KOH’-laht).

Police: Body of 3rd upstate NY plane crash victim recovered; crashed into river after takeoff

SCOTIA, N.Y. — Police say divers have recovered the third person killed when a small plane crashed into a river in eastern New York.

Man o’ War, Secretariat … Bullwinkle? Moose wanders onto historic Saratoga Race Course

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — And it’s Bullwinkle by a nose — a really big nose — at Saratoga Race Course. A large moose wandered onto the grounds of the historic upstate New York racetrack where the likes of Man o’ War and Secretariat have run. Police said the moose was first reported walking through the city’s downtown business district shortly before 4 a.m. Monday.

NY’s Sen. Schumer prods MTA on wireless Internet access on rails

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — Sen. Charles Schumer contends the commuter railroads serving New York City have been slow to implement wireless Internet service.

Small plane recovered from bottom of upstate NY river; 2 dead, 1 still missing from crash

SCOTIA, N.Y. — Authorities have recovered the small plane that crashed into the Mohawk River in eastern New York, killing a man and a boy and leaving a second man missing.

FAA: Small plane plunges into upstate NY river with 3 aboard; 2 dead, 1 in unknown condition

SCOTIA, N.Y. — A small plane plunged into the Mohawk River in eastern New York with three people aboard Sunday, and at least two were found dead after the aircraft sank in 30 feet of water, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

First a hero, then a victim: NY pizzeria worker who subdued would-be robber shot in 2nd heist

TROY, N.Y. — A month after he fought off a knife-wielding man attempting robbery, a Troy pizza parlor worker has been shot in another apparent robbery attempt at the same restaurant.

5 NY family members accused of endangering 7 children living in ’squalor’

MASTIC BEACH, N.Y. — Two of five family members accused of keeping seven young children in a feces-strewn, filthy home on Long Island pleaded not guilty Friday to child endangerment charges.

5 NY family members accused of endangering 7 children by living in squalor

MASTIC BEACH, N.Y. — Five family members kept seven children and more than a dozen animals in a Long Island house that reeked of urine and was littered with rotting food and animal feces, authorities said Friday.

NY Senate leadership crisis lingers: Court doesn’t restore Democrats, but GOP session is brief

ALBANY, N.Y. — A leadership crisis in the New York Senate continues after a day of legal maneuvering and confusion in the Capitol.

NJ man gets 25 years to life in 12-year-old baby sitter’s murder, still claims it was accident

NORWICH, N.Y. — A New Jersey man who ran over and killed a 12-year-old baby sitter with his truck was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Thursday after a GPS system secretly installed by his suspicious wife helped convict him.

Prosecutors file charges against former budget chief in posh East Hampton, NY

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. — A former budget officer in New York’s exclusive Hamptons area pleaded not guilty Thursday to raiding a fund meant to buy land for conservation purposes and using $8 million to instead cover budget shortfalls.

Suburban NY school superintendent who subdued gunman calls incident ‘unfortunate distraction’

BLAUVELT, N.Y. — The school superintendent who tackled and disarmed a gunman at a suburban New York middle school says he’s embarrassed by all the attention he’s received, calling the incident “an unfortunate distraction.”

Moscow on the Hudson: Republicans stage a coup in the NY Senate; Democrats cry foul

ALBANY, N.Y. — Pandemonium erupted on the floor, the lights went out and the live television feed went black as the coup unfolded.

NY Senate Democrats seek temporary court order to keep bipartisan coalition from taking power

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state Democratic Senate leader Malcolm Smith is seeking a temporary court order to stop Senate Republicans and two dissident Democrats from taking power in a surprise move that’s left Albany reeling.

NY school superintendent wrestles gun from ex-policeman in campus office, lauded for ‘bravery’

BLAUVELT, N.Y. — A former New York City police officer walked into a suburban middle school with a handgun Tuesday but was wrestled to the floor by the district superintendent, who wrenched the weapon away and pinned him until police knocked down a door and arrested him.

Police: NY school superintendent wrestles gun away from armed ex-officer in office on campus

BLAUVELT, N.Y. — A former New York City police officer who was disarmed by a school superintendent at a suburban middle school is being held without bail.

Police: 2 teens plotting to flee NY group home killed supervisor, are arrested in Buffalo

LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Two teenage residents of a western New York group home threw a blanket over a supervisor, beat her to death and then fled in a stolen van after one of them fell under suspicion for stealing, police said Tuesday.

Officials say NY school superintendent wrestles gun away from armed man on campus

ORANGETOWN, N.Y. — Police in suburban New York say an armed man who was wrestled to the ground by a superintendent at a middle school is a former police officer and parent of a student.

NY’s attorney general targets firms charging fees for foreclosure rescues

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — New York’s attorney general says consumers do not have to pay upfront fees to companies that promise help in staving off home foreclosures.