All Over Albany

NXIVM founder arrested, Nixon calls Cuomo a bully, crime numbers trending downward, cash still accounts for many CDTA fares

NXIVM founder arrested
The Department of Justice announced that Keith Raniere -- the founder of Nxivm, the secretive org based in Colonie -- is facing charges for alleged sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy. US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York says Raniere was arrested in Mexico Sunday and deported to the United States where he's scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Fort Worth. The feds allege that Raniere was part of an effort to form a secret slave-master sex club within NXIVM. The group is alleged to have branded women with a cauterizing device and required them to submit compromising material about themselves. [US DOJ] [TU x2] [NYT]

Race for governor
+ Cynthia Nixon appeared at an Alliance for Quality Education press conference about school funding in Albany Monday and went after Andrew Cuomo, calling him a bully and accusing of him acting like "a progressive Democrat leading the resistance" while handing over power to Republicans. She also the criticized what she described as the "the old boys' club" arrangement in state government. [TU] [Politico NY] [Spectrum] [NYT]
+ Chris Churchill on Nixon and Cuomo: "She's punching the bully in the nose." [TU]
+ A look at the behind-the-scenes efforts by the Cuomo and Nixon campaigns to win support from influential African-American figures around New York City. [NYT]

State budget
What's thought to be in -- and out -- for the state budget in the final week ahead of the April 1 deadline. [TU]

Schenectady excessive force settlement
The Schenectady City Council unanimously approved a $65k settlement in a case in which a man alleged city police used excessive force during a 2014 arrest. [Daily Gazette]

Crime numbers
Preliminary data from the state indicate that the overall number of reported crimes continues to decline in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy. [TU]

Schenectady County landlord rules
There's a push to shorten the amount of time landlords in Schenectady County will have store tenants' property after an eviction. [TU]

CDTA
With CDTA making the full switch to the Navigator fare system at the end of this week, about half of riders are still paying cash when they board a bus. [Daily Gazette]

Huge warehouse project
What company would want to build a million-square-foot warehouse in Schodack? [TU]

Troy apartment project
There's a proposal to turn the former St. Augustine's School in Troy into 27 apartments, a project that would require variances. [TU]

Arts Center
The Arts Center of the Capital Region is seeking proposals for developing the upper floors of the buildings it owns near Monument Square. [TU]

Halfmoon growth
The town of Halfmoon is looking at changing zoning to manage the steady growth there in new development (and traffic). [Biz Review]

Niskayuna Holocaust Memorial
A look at the disagreement over whether to allow a Holocaust memorial along Route 7 in Niskayuna. [WNYT]

New World Home Cooking
Ric Orlando and Liz Corrado are closing the New World Home Cooking in Saugerties -- New World Bistro Bar in Albany will continue to operate. [TU]

Stuck
Students at a Cohoes elementary school got to duct tape their principal and a kindergartner to a wall. (For charity.) [Troy Record]

Stuff going on today

Tyler Oakley
Tuesday: YouTuber/LGBTQ+ activist Tyler Oakley will be at UAlbany's SEFCU Arena for a talk as part of the university's speaker series. "With more than 7.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 23 million across his social media platforms, Oakley has been established as one of the nation's most influential LGBTQ+ vloggers. Among his many accomplishments, Oakley has been a consultant for President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama on using digital platforms to connect with youth; raised more than $1 million for The Trevor Project; and has been nominated - and won - numerous awards." Tuesday 7:30 pm -- free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required

Mystery, science, and crime
Tuesday: The NYS Writers Institute has a conversation -- "Corpses, Blow Flies, and Post-Mortem Forensics" -- between bestselling mystery author Archer Mayor and UAlbany chemist Rabi Musah. Mayor is the author of the Joe Gunther detective series, and Musah "is pioneering a process to pinpoint a corpse's time-of-death based on a chemical analysis of blow fly eggs." Tuesday 7:30 pm, Life Sciences Research Building D'Ambra Auditorium -- free

Kate Stoneman Day
Tuesday: Albany Law's annual Kate Stoneman Day has Emory University law professor Martha Albertson Fineman as its keynote speaker. "An internationally recognized law and society scholar, Fineman is a leading authority on vulnerability theory and feminist jurisprudence." Tuesday 5 pm, Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom -- free (registration required)

Here's more on the life of Kate Stoneman, and Albany resident who became the first woman admitted to practice law in New York State.

Making Democracy Work: The First Amendment
Tuesday: The League of Women Voters of Saratoga County "Making Democracy Work" series continues at Skidmore with an event focused on the First Amendment featuring Justin Harrison, an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union. Tuesday 6:30 pm, Palamountain Hall -- free

Wealth inequality
Tuesday: The Conversations to Build An Inclusive Community series at Caffe Lena has an evening of conversation about wealth inequality featuring Ron Deutsch of the Fiscal Policy Institute, Amani Olugbala of Soul Fire Farm, and Bonnie Nelson of CAPTAIN Community Human Services. Tuesday 6:30 music, 7 pm discussion -- free

Point and Shoot
Tuesday: The Opalka Gallery on the Sage Albany campus is screening the documentary Point and Shoot. "Matt VanDyke was a recent grad with a love of videogames and action movies when he decided to embark on a 'crash course in manhood.' As VanDyke worked to reshape himself, he also helped create a stunning portrait of how the ever-present cameras in our 'selfie society' not only record our lives, but also craft who we become." Tuesday 6:30 pm -- free

Bolshoi on film
Tuesday: Proctors is screening a filmed Bolshoi Ballet production of The Flames of Paris. Tuesday 2 pm and 6:30 pm -- $15