Jimmy Vielkind reports in Politico that Gov. Andrew Cuomo sort-of held a press conference Dec. 7. Cuomo has not held a full-fledged, actual press conference since June, six months ago. He did not hold one this week either, instead taking four questions by phone rather than in person after planting what questions he wanted asked with several reporters. Cuomo was just down the street from the Albany media at the Executive Mansion, but insisted he answer questions on a phone, which makes follow-up questions more difficult for reporters. "To show their dissatisfaction with the arrangement, Albany reporters from several outlets, including Politico, phoned in to the conference from outside Cuomo’s Capitol suite," Vielkind wrote. "Gubernatorial press aides then contacted several reporters, three of them said, hoping to have them ask if the governor was inclined to give state lawmakers a pay raise this year. They refused and were not called on during the conference call." The Daily News reported that, "at least twice in recent weeks the governor’s staff has suggested a question the Daily News might want to ask Cuomo. When The News passed, the paper’s reporters were not picked to ask anything on the phone conference. Reporters who asked the questions that were floated to The News, however, were picked." Ken Lovett, the Daily News Albany bureau chief, wrote on Twitter, “We are a step away from Cuomo having his staff interview him on phone conferences.” Read the full story in Politico.