“Inside City Hall,” an hour-long look at New York politics, can be seen on NY1 News weekdays at 7 and 10 p.m.

Last night, we hosted a lively debate on the merits of re-opening a waste transfer station on the Upper East Side with two supporters of the plan and two opponents.

Watch a clip of the segment above.

Tonight’s guests include: two civic leaders who will help us break down the city budget process; Curtis Sliwa and Gerson Borrero with our Political Rundown.

Watch this morning’s Political Buzz with NY1 Political Director Bob Hardt below:

The New York Times

Kaplan & Eligon report: “The Democrats who control the State Assembly, many of them black or Latino residents of New York City, saw a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small amounts of marijuana as a simple matter of justice: too many black and Latino men were being arrested because, after being stopped by the police, they were forced to empty their pockets. But the Republicans who run the State Senate, all of them white and most of them from suburban or rural districts, saw decriminalization differently: as an invitation for young people to use drugs and as a declaration that Albany was soft on crime.”

David Chen previews next week’s primary for a new Congressional seat in Queens.

Forget about red light cameras -- Matt Flegenheimer reports about proposed cameras that would catch motorists who are speeding.

Danny Hakim writes: “A coalition of environmental groups plans to campaign against a proposal that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is weighing to approve limited drilling for natural gas, the groups said Tuesday.

Gina Bellafante reports: “Political opportunism, at its most benign, gives us bemusement and exasperation; at the more extreme end of things it inspires a wish for high-grade exfoliants to scrub away all the contact grease and grime. It was toward this end of the scale that Representative Bob Turner, who is seeking the Republican nomination to oppose Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a Democrat, showed up at a public elementary school in Brooklyn on Monday to lead a group of flag-waving children in a defiant rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” a song for which the school’s principal had voiced by now well-known disapproval.”

New York Post

Erik Kriss notes: “The public be damned! The state Legislature is likely to pass a last ditch bill that would prevent the release of teacher evaluations, while letting parents see the ratings only of their kids’ instructors.
The measure, introduced by Gov. Cuomo just before midnight Monday, could pass before lawmakers head home for the year tomorrow, sources said yesterday.

Don Kaplan reports: “Even Gov. Cuomo has a man cave.
The state’s chief executive and girlfriend Sandra Lee have settled nicely into their Westchester dream mansion — which has all the trappings he needs to blow off steam and she needs to play the perfect hostess.
Cuomo’s exercise room has everything from boxing gloves to a weight bench — with a giant poster of rock legend Jim Morrison hanging on a floor-to-ceiling mirror.

Gerry Shields writes: “Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who delivered the censure to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) for 11 ethics violations two years ago, endorsed his re-election to a 22nd term yesterday. ‘He’s been a person who has been here for the working people of our country,’ Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, told The Post.”

A Post trio writes: “Crime is rising at an alarming pace across the city — with increases in every borough for the first time in nearly 20 years, The Post has learned.
Major felonies are up 4.2 percent citywide, fueled by a frightening uptick in shootings, sex crimes and street robberies, according to NYPD statistics for the year to date compared with the same period in 2011.”

New York Daily News

Tina Moore notes: “Mayor Bloomberg got a big thumbs up from Bill Clinton on Tuesday at a world mayors’ summit in Rio de Janeiro. ‘I see firsthand what Mayor Bloomberg has done to make our city more energy-efficient,’ said the former President, whose message was broadcast to the meeting. Bloomberg was at the Megacity Mayors Taking Action on Climate Change Summit to discuss the efforts of cities to quell greenhouse gases.”

Rachel Monahan writes: “The city Education Department is violating civil rights laws, parents and advocates charge in a complaint to be filed with the federal Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights on Wednesday.”

Wall Street Journal

Gardiner & Saul report: “New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has begun meeting with a new community advisory panel to discuss police officer street tactics, such as the use of stop-and-frisk, that have renewed tensions between the police department and minority communities.”

Until tomorrow.

Bob Hardt