Did the NYT and Bloomberg Attempt to Bum Rush Cuomo?
Yesterday NYT Says Rattner Deal with the SEC "Done"
No Correction of That Story Today
When the NYT released this story yesterday Financier (Rattner) Is Said to Accept a Ban in Pension Case (NYT) an attempt to get Cuomo to go alone with the SEC settlement. We know they got the info from the publisher pal Rattner.*4PM Update What It Means to Manage the Mayor’s Money (NYT)
Today's WSJ Seems to Think So
WSJ said the staff of the SEC rebelled. When your dealing with powerful people who call Washington it is easy to see how the big wigs at the SEC were part of the NYT plan.
"The SEC staff alerted the office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, which is conducting a parallel probe, about their deal with Mr. Rattner prior to Thursday. This prompted a negative reaction from Mr. Cuomo's office, according to people familiar with the matter, though the reasons were unclear. One of the people said Mr. Cuomo's office expressed the view that it wouldn't resolve its case with Mr. Rattner based on the terms being offered by the SEC." SEC Vote On Rattner Settlement Postponed (WSJ) * Inside the SEC’s Postponed Rattner Settlement (WSJ)
Village Voice Robbins Think So Also
Steve Rattner Still Has a "Chooch" Problem Sources in the AG's office say the proposed deal with the SEC --a $5-$6 million fine and a two-year ban from market trading --falls far short of an adequate penalty for Rattner's financial escapades. "It's not enough," says one source.
Rattner and His Friends Try to Game the Legal System
Mr. Rattner arranged for one of Quadrangle’s company’s to distribute the film Chooch, and notified Mr. Morris by e-mail which was the opposite of his grand jury testimony which gave him immunity.To grease the skids for his Morris pension deal, Rattner also invested in a slapstick movie, Chooch, produced by the brothers of former pension fund investment manager, David Loglisci, who has also pled guilty in the case. Anyone without the friends of Rattner would be facing perjury.ssssss afgfdsgfdjghhghkhjkjhjhgkhjkjhgkhjkjhkhjgkhjgkdsfsfdsafsdfds
It's one thing to be a loyal friend, but Bloomberg is showing major chutzpah as an elected official. His friend, in this case, may tacitly accept blame in a pay-to-play scheme that involved both the state pension fund and the New York City pension fund. If so, how can the mayor of New York City continue to pretend as if nothing's wrong? Dan Primack, Fortune
Mike Stand Up for His Man Rattner
Rattner finds pal in Mike "Steve Rattner's my friend. Of course I would keep him on," Bloomberg said yesterday at a news conference about the financial guru of his charitable foundation. (NYP) * The NYT says nothing about the delay in the SEC Rattner settlement and takes a shot at Cuomo (for you fans of the movie the Conspiracy Theory Bond With Past Foe Is Fodder for Attack on Cuomo Andrew L. Farkas. (NYT)
A source familiar with the investigation said that the notion of the AG's office clearing someone for a White House-appointed position in the midst of an investigation was "absurd." Rattner was on WNYC with Leonard Lopate to promote his book on his time as "car czar," and said he'd spent roughly $400,000 of his own money on lawyers related to his vetting for his White House appointment. Lopate asked if the vetting "was complicated because of your involvement in the New York State Attorney General's investigation into the pay-to-play pension fund scandal that recenly got Alan Hevesi sent to prison?"
Rattner replied, "That actually had nothing to do with my vetting. My involvement in it was fully disclosed to the people who hired me. And at that point in time it was not a problem. Nobody thought it was a problem, including the New York State Attorney General, and that only came up later." Matthew Broderick Accepts Mayor Bloomberg's Offer to Play Steve ... - New York Magazine
More Bad News for the City and State's Growing Budget Deficit Wall Street $hortfalls slam banker bonuses * Gov. David Paterson’s early retirement incentive might have the unintended consequence of hefty promotions and higher salaries for a select group of state employees. * A judge has blocked to block the Paterson administration’s effort to collect sales tax on cigarettes sold to non-native Americans on Indian land.* Green Party Wants To Know: "Where Are The F-ing Jobs?"
Good News City gets payday every time Yankees host ALCS (DN)
New York Economic Meltdown Merger Will Save Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, Officials Say (NYT) * Brooklyn Hospital Agrees To State Brokered Merger (NY1) * It’s Official: No Social Security Increase Next Year
Off the Tax Roll?
City's attempt to raise more funds from Tavern on the Green with no owners failed
Tavern on the Green opening as visitors center
Pols Have Their Blue Wall of Silence
Their silence is deafening (Queens Crap)
From the Times Ledger:Hevesi, who faces up to four years in prison plus fines for securities fraud, was released on his own recognizance after turning in his passport earlier in the day.
City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) and Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) refused to comment on the Hevesi plea, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) did not return phone calls and city Comptroller John Liu was traveling on a plane.
Wow, not one tweeder had anything critical to say?
GOP Chairman: Send Hevesi to Jail (WNBC)
Quinn Joins the Establishment
"[Christine Quinn] was liberal and radical when it was chic, and now she's become kind of the button-down Brooks Brother player because that's in fashion and helpful to her now," a former government official tells the WSJ. * Quinn Moves to Center * Council Speaker Shelves a Sick-Leave Bill (NYT) * Quinn Sinks Sick-Leave Plan * Gonzalez: Don't get sick New York; Quinn kills bill (DN) * Quinn's sound cure: Council speaker rightly diagnoses sick-pay bill as bad medicine (DN) * Quinn is under fire from progressive and labor interests, but got support for her decision from both the DN and the Post.* Quinn says “I haven’t turned my back on anything,” as she scuttled the paid-sick day legislation. (Wall Street Journal) * Quinn does right on sick leave; what's the price? (Crains NY)
In Waterfront Hearings, Accounts of a Union’s Kickbacks and a Mafia Tie
Court: Ed. Dept. rushed to judgment in firing teacher accused of hitting student (NYP)
Feds Agree To Reimburse City For Tornado Damages (NY1)
There’s a mosque fight in Brooklyn.
Terrorism Judge Says Key Figure in Embassies Bombing Case Isn’t Credible * Ground Zero Rescue Workers to Get Aid (WSJ)
Sherr-Una will testify The woman who claimed she had been pressured by Gov. Paterson not to testify against her allegedly abusive ex-boyfriend, gubernatorial aide David Johnson, is vowing not to back down.
Law and Order Staten Island man accused of killing parents arrested in Israel (NYP)* 11th suspect arrested in anti-gay gang attack in Bronx (NYP) *One of 10 Accused in Bronx Beatings Is Released on Bail * Gang bloodies Brooklyn buddies (NYP) * Petit killer's execution-cost argument to$$ed (NYP) * Diplo death a 'suicide' (NYP) * Ex-Convict Is Shot After Failed Holdup (NYT) * Police Seek Staten Island Man in Parents’ Slayings (NYT) * Would-Be Bank Robber Foiled by ATMs, Shot by Police (WSJ) * Police Make 11th Arrest In Bronx Gay Attacks (NY1) * Mentally ill fugitive son accused in stab slay of parents caught (DN) * Ex-con botches robbery after completing 22-year sentence (DN) * Suspect in Staten Island murders may be expelled from Israel; NYPD struggles to obtain arrest warrant * Staten Island man arrested at Tel Aviv airport buying ticket to China (NYP) * Arrest in Staten Island Double Murder * Rap mogul involved in drug bust: feds (NYP)* Teen busted in connection with stray bullet that hit 10-year-old (NYP) * Sources: Nicaraguan Diplomat Committed Suicide (NY1) * Geriatric bank robber has committed crimes since he was a teen: documents (NYP)
Media and New Tech Cablevision-Fox Dispute Could Hurt Baseball Fans
jeffjarvis Odd that NYTimes ombudsman is acting as editor second guessing @carr2n's lede http://journ.us/deEw2T (Twitter)
The Mortgage Morass An epic housing bust has led to an epidemic of foreclosures. The situation is much worse than you think.(Krugman, NYT) * How Wall Street Hid Its Mortgage Mess More evidence shows that investment banks kept the shaky nature of many mortgage-backed securities from their clients.(NYT) * Mortgage Mess May Cost Big Banks Billions
