NEW THIS MORNING

NEW THIS MORNING: * Gov. Andrew Cuomo defended his Aqueduct convention center plan by telling the New York Times it would "cost the state of New York bubkes," but refused to commit to backing Senate Democrats in the fall election: http://nyti.ms/wDeUZs * Top counsel for the CIA did not approve sending an agency veteran to New York to set up a domestic spying program, which would have been required by the presidential order Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said allowed the program, the Associated Press reports: http://apne.ws/x8lRvr * A 130-word paragraph repeated hundreds of times in Cuomo's proposed budget would allow him to move money between agencies without legislative oversight even after the budget is approved, the Times reports: http://nyti.ms/x7XmKH * While property tax bills on New York City homes will rise between 2 and 5 percent in July, Google's new Manhattan headquarters will see its bill shoot up 17 percent, more than any other building in the city, the Wall Street Journal says: http://on.wsj.com/wzDDzV * Opponents of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's livery cab plan gave $43,800 to public advocate Bill de Blasio, one of the bill's vocal critics, while Bloomberg gave $4,100 each to the bill's sponsors Guillermo Linares, Karim Camara and Carl Heastie, the Post writes: http://nyp.st/xbXuNl * President Barack Obama won his way back into Mayor Ed Koch's good graces last fall during a secret half-hour meeting during the United Nations General Assembly, BuzzFeed reports: http://bit.ly/xZ2FFk