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On last night’s program, the Chairman of the Municipal Labor Committee, Harry Nespoli, rejected calls from Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg to overhaul the pension system for public employees.

Watch a clip of the segment above.

Tonight’s program includes: A debate whether religious congregations should be allowed to worship off-hours in public schools; Queens State Assemblyman Rory Lancman; our political rundown with Curtis Sliwa and Gerson Borrero.

The New York Times

William Glaberson reports: “Nearly 30 years of court battles over illegal arrests for loitering in New York City came to an end this week as a federal judge approved a class-action settlement that will include a $15 million payment by the city and an unusual promise that officials will work to expunge thousands of convictions.”

Charlie Bagli notes: “The estimated cost of rebuilding the World Trade Center has grown to at least $14.8 billion, up from $11 billion in 2008, according to an audit commissioned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The audit, which also examined the authority’s debt, called the agency ‘dysfunctional’ and recommended changes in its management structure.”

Bagli also looks at the new push for casino gambling in New York state.

New York Post

Carl Campanile reports: “New York’s powerful AFL-CIO yesterday fired its opening salvo against Gov. Cuomo’s proposed pension overhaul for new government workers, with a statewide ad blitz calling the move an attack on the middle class.”

Dave Seifman notes : “You’d have thought City Comptroller John Liu had just scored the winning touchdown. Fists pumping in the air and decked out in a blue New York Giants sweatshirt, Liu barnstormed up the Canyon of Heroes yesterday as if he were a key player in the Giants’ Super Bowl win. And when it came to parading politicians, Liu had the field to himself. Mayor Bloomberg invited 10 elected officials to ride in the parade, but only Liu took him up. An aide later explained that Liu was simply getting into the spirit of the day with his exuberant behavior.”

New York Daily News

Ken Lovett reports: “State Controller Thomas DiNapoli issued a report Tuesday that accused Gov. Cuomo of using his budget proposal to make a transparency-killing power grab. Language buried in Cuomo’s $132.5-billion spending plan would expand the governor’s power while reducing ‘transparency, accountability and oversight,’ DiNapoli warned. But while the Controller’s review of Cuomo’s budget model amounted to a roundhouse punch, DiNapoli patted him on the back with his other hand, crediting the fellow Democrat for continuing the progress begun last year to improve the state’s fiscal footing.”

John Marzulli writes: “Federal prosecutors are trying to shut down several wacky escape routes ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada may try to use to weasel out of corruption charges at his trial next month. The feds are asking Brooklyn Judge Frederic Block to preclude Espada and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, from arguing that the case against them is part of a political vendetta.”

Parziale & Colangelo note: “Queens residents and lawmakers packed into a public hearing Tuesday to rail against proposed legislative districts they claim fractures neighborhoods and dilutes their political voice.”

Wall Street Journal

Michael Howard Saul reports: “City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on Tuesday issued her sharpest criticism of how the New York Police Department has carried out its stop-and-frisk policy, saying the tactic has sometimes ‘sown distrust’ in minority communities.”

Until tomorrow.

Bob Hardt