POMONA, N.Y. AP – Big political names abound in New York: Mario Cuomo. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Rudy Giuliani. And for political climbers seeking a stage in the media, a platform to join or displace the powerhouses, the man to go through for years was Dominic Carter – until last month.

Carter, a longtime political anchor for New York City’s cable news channel with influence that spread well beyond the nation’s largest city, recently took a far, fast fall in a bizarre cascade of events that began last month when charges that he beat his wife became public.