Post reader starts petition to stop lawmakers’ 47 percent raise (NYP) A Post reader, spurred to action by a report about state lawmakers possibly getting a 47 percent raise, has started an online petition opposing the hike that has drawn more than 7,000 signatures in less than a week.
Pay Raises for His Staff to Keep Them From Walking? Keep Them Quiet?
de Blasio's Public School Report Card Grade F and Lying About Charter Success
Mayor de Blasio’s lame excuses for charter schools’ success (NYP) harters did better, de Blasio said, only because they focus on “test-prep.” He also (falsely) claimed charters have a “history” of “excluding” lower-performing kids. The mayor insisted his approach is outperforming charters in terms of “actually teaching kids.” And that union-run schools are “doing better” — despite their lower scores. (The proof? There isn’t any.) Note the hypocrisy: Even as he downplayed the value of test scores at charters, he emphasized it for district schools. The results “represent important progress” and “real improvements,” he said, noting an eight-point jump in the percentage of English-proficient kids at the districts, and a one-point uptick in math.
De Blasio fires back at Success Academy boss over school's rising test scores, claims they're based on ineffective 'prep-heavy' models (NYDN)
De
Blasio's agreement with teachers and principals doesn't ax enough bad educators
'to help kids' (NYDN)
Letter
to Cuomo Reveals State Senate’s Plan to Help Success Academy (NYT) In the letter, John J. Flanagan,
the Senate majority leader, urged the governor to do something about the
“regulatory burden imposed” by the city’s universal pre-K program.
Fariña must tell judge why computer failed special-education students (NYP) D epartment of Education Chancellor Carmen Fariña will have to tell a judge why the city’s school system has failed special-education students, a new ruling says. Manhattan Judge Lynn Kotler ordered the special tribunal in response to a suit filed by Public Advocate Letitia James in February. James had found that a $130 million computer program that monitors the city’s 200,000 special-education students is “incapable of providing citywide data.” As a result, disabled students have missed out on services and the city has had to pay $38 million in overtime, according to James’ lawsuit. Fariña has resisted an inquiry into the $130 million program, known as the Special Education Student Information System, or SESIS.
Fariña must tell judge why computer failed special-education students (NYP) D epartment of Education Chancellor Carmen Fariña will have to tell a judge why the city’s school system has failed special-education students, a new ruling says. Manhattan Judge Lynn Kotler ordered the special tribunal in response to a suit filed by Public Advocate Letitia James in February. James had found that a $130 million computer program that monitors the city’s 200,000 special-education students is “incapable of providing citywide data.” As a result, disabled students have missed out on services and the city has had to pay $38 million in overtime, according to James’ lawsuit. Fariña has resisted an inquiry into the $130 million program, known as the Special Education Student Information System, or SESIS.
de Blasio to "Take A Look At" Another City Deal With the Rivington Nursing Home $72 Million Owners
Schumer Hillary Not Clear on Political Corruption Fighter Bharara's Future
Chuck Schumer says Preet Bharara is doing a great job,but won’t reveal if he wants the prosecutor back under next President (NYDN) *
Time For Preet to Clear His Plate (Manhattan Institute) The multiplying investigations of the de Blasio administration need resolution.
Hillary Clinton won’t commit to reappointing U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (NYDN) b Clinton during an appearance before the Daily News Editorial Board on Saturday would not commit to re-appointing Bharara should she win "I will take all that into account if I'm lucky enough to be elected President," Clinton said when asked about Bharara's performance in cracking down on government corruption. "I obviously want the very best people to be U.S. attorneys," she said. "I want them to give no favor to anybody. If there are cases to be investigated and made, they should do it." But she quickly added that "I'm not going to comment on any particular personnel decision."
Time For Preet to Clear His Plate (Manhattan Institute) The multiplying investigations of the de Blasio administration need resolution.
Hillary Clinton won’t commit to reappointing U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (NYDN) b Clinton during an appearance before the Daily News Editorial Board on Saturday would not commit to re-appointing Bharara should she win "I will take all that into account if I'm lucky enough to be elected President," Clinton said when asked about Bharara's performance in cracking down on government corruption. "I obviously want the very best people to be U.S. attorneys," she said. "I want them to give no favor to anybody. If there are cases to be investigated and made, they should do it." But she quickly added that "I'm not going to comment on any particular personnel decision."
How the Rivington Nursing Home Owners Played the State's Economic Development Corp for Another Development
City urged to scuttle project over developer’s ties to nursing home scandal (NYP) The city should scuttle a project on publicly owned land in Crown Heights because one of the developers was involved in the Lower East Side nursing-home fiasco, community advocates said Monday Groups including New York Communities for Change and the Crown Heights Tenant Union plan a protest Wednesday to try to block the Slate Property Group. Slate bought the Rivington House nursing home for $116 million in February with plans to turn it into luxury housing — but only after the seller got the city to remove a deed restriction in place for decades. The deal has embroiled Mayor de Blasio in a storm of criticism. Slate founder Matt Nussbaum warned company officials in a May 2015 e-mail to keep silent until the restriction was removed and then “we can do whatever we want. Seven months later, the city’s Economic Development Corp. awarded Slate and BFC Partners a lease to develop the building. “Slate has proven they cannot be trusted — they’re a deceitful developer,” said Renata Pumerol, a spokeswoman for NYCC, whose protest was first reported by Crain’s.
When Will the Media and Pols Blame Airbnb and Gentrification for Loss of Affordable Housing and Increase In Homelessness?
We Will Have to Wait for the Indictments to Find Out About the Real Deal to Close LICH
LICH: Everything you want to know (almost) about the deal toclose Long Island College Hospital (Brooklyn Eagle)
Groundhog Day: Rivington Nursing Home, Special Agent Cover-Up At City Hall Continues
One Brooklyn PAC is Brooklyn BP Adams One NY Slush Fund
Feds probe Eric Adams’ non-profit over donor favor claims (NYP)A nonprofit created by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams to advance his pet projects is being probed by both federal authorities and the city’s Department of Investigation, The Post has learned. The feds are scrutinizing the fund-raising of Adams’ One Brooklyn Fund, to see if it is being used to dish out pay-to-play favors, sources briefed on the matter said. One source said the investigation is “similar” to a probe by Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara into Mayor de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York nonprofit. Like CONY, One Brooklyn has solicited cash from entities under review by authorities and that have business before the city. The DOI is investigating whether Adams violated any city laws by routinely asking outside groups to cut checks directly to his nonprofit to rent space at Borough Hall, rather than have payments go into the city coffers, sources said. Those payments slip under the radar because city-affiliated organizations like One Brooklyn aren’t required to report donations and other types of revenue under $5,000 with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board. Since its formation two years ago, One Brooklyn has reported $315,000 to $860,000 in donations, disclosure forms show. It has pulled in another $344,000 in City Council funds.
Brooklyn BP Lobbyists Capalino and Another Slush Fund PAC
 |
| Capalino Buying Silence |
As Airbnb Warehouse Apts Driving Up
Prices Media and Pols Support them
A bill that would make advertising short-term rentals illegal is the latest example of New York officials trying to strangle the “sharing economy” when it should be embraced, since these companies satisfy a demand, the Cato Institute’s Matthew Feeney writes in the Post.* Airbnb and the Battle of Suitcase Alley (NYT) In New York and other cities with steep housing costs, a longstanding objection to home-sharing sites is that some listings remove units from the residential market.
Lobbyist Howe Turns Federal Rat On Percoco and Cuomo
Cuomo cronie spills for leniency deal in corruption probe (NYP) The corruption probe of Gov. Cuomo’s two longtime associates has taken a critical turn with Todd Howe, onetime lobbyist and longtime Cuomo family confidant, signing a “cooperation agreement’’ with US Attorney Preet Bharara, a source close to the investigation told The Post. The agreement promises Howe, whose ties to Cuomo go back three decades, “favorable treatment’’ and “leniency’’ in the event that he’s criminally charged, in exchange for full details of his lobbying activities on behalf of several major state contractors with senior Cuomo administration officials. Those officials include Joseph Percoco, Cuomo’s closest friend and top aide who is currently senior vice president at Madison Square Garden, the source said.
Howe, who as a lobbyist had access to the highest levels of the Cuomo administration, and Percoco, who Cuomo has described as being like “my father’s third son,’’ were cut off from access to the administration after Bharara served a sweeping subpoena related to the activities of both men on the governor’s office in late April. The subpoena, which was followed by a state attorney general’s raid on Howe’s Albany office — located at the SUNY’s Polytechnic Institute, which he once represented — and a federal raid on Percoco’s Westchester home, was part of Bharara’s ongoing probe of Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion project, contractors for which hired Howe and at various times paid Percoco and Percoco’s wife “consulting” fees.*Comptroller rips Cuomo’s jobs program for its ‘lowered goals’(NYP)
A New President Could End the Era of Bharara Corruption Fighting in NY
There's a reason Preet Bharara may feel pressure to finish politician investigations (NYDN)With time possibly running out on crusading U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's term, many in New York's political and legal circles are bracing for a frenzy of activity as his office works to finish up ongoing cases into the Cuomo and de Blasio administrations before the next President takes office. "When a U.S. Attorney is about to leave office, there's a lot of pressure on the assistants to finalize cases and indictments and bring them to fruition," former federal prosecutor Bradley Simon said. "In this case, he's concerned about his legacy and he's going to want all unfinished business completed." Simon said there's always a concern the next U.S. attorney may not place the same emphasis on particular cases. "The existing U.S. attorney doesn't want to take chances or see all their hard work going out the window," he said. "Once there is an indictment, a new US attorney can't go and pull it."
More SUNY Hospital Wasted $$$
Struggling hospital spends thousands on lavish travel, dinners(NYP) Struggling SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn allowed a top “restructuring” consultant to bill the state for $83,000 in lavish travel, lodging and dining expenses, a scathing audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reveals. The expenditures included pricey rooms at the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side, a booze-infused “team dinner” at the Docks Oyster Bar in Midtown, and sticker-shock limo bills, the audit found. Baton Rouge, La.-based Pitts Management Associates was hired in 2011 to find ways to cut costs at the financially ailing state university-run hospital. But the consultants themselves were living large, with SUNY Downstate staffers approving eye-popping reimbursements for expenses, according to the audit of expenses from March through August 2014.
So, Again Rivington Deed Change Whodunit? Shorris?, Capalino", Wolfe? and Why? Politico $upport For Reelection
City Hall mystery: Burning questions on the Rivington deed swap
Silver Thinks Skelos McDonnell Will Keep Him Out of Jail Also
Skelos to Stay Out of Jail Until Appeal Ruling Thanks to SC's McDonnell Ruling
Not One Elected Officials Has Demanded That de Blasio Release Lobbyists "Agents of the City" Emails
A City Where Its Leaders Ignore Health Care at Its Hospitals and Ignoring Closing Hospitals for Developers
An NYPD Banks Shot?
Bratton Turn Over the NYPD to Outsiders Not Touched By the GiftGate Scandal
Tightrope Walk Awaits New York’s New Police Commissioner, and de Blasio (NYT) * A cop’s cop to the top: Meet Jimmy O’Neill (NYDN)
Bratton, 68, will be replaced by Chief of Department James O’Neill.(WSJ)More on the resignation of @CommissBratton: (NY1) * NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton resigns (NYP) * HE'S
OFF DUTY: NYPD Commissioner Bratton resigns, will be replaced by Chief
of Dept. James O'Neill — abrupt departure comes amid reports of private
sector job offer, friction with Mayor de Blasio (NYDN)
NYC’s leaders have mixed feelings about Bratton’s exit (NYP) *Colleagues praise Bill Bratton’s fight against crime (NYP) * NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s departure was caused by insane policing regulations (NYDN) * SHARPTON: NYPD Chief James O'Neill must abandon broken windows policy, hold bad cops accountable (NYDN) * De Blasio Draws Ire From Police Union Outside His Park Slope Gym and Cafe (DNAINFO)* * The Times writes that
Bratton’s appointment to NYPD commissioner was one of the best
decisions de Blasio made, but now it will be up to O’Neill to finish
transforming the department by overcoming communities’ wariness under
court supervision.* Eugene O’Donnell, a former NYPD cop now teaching at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, writes in the Daily News that
Bratton stepped aside because he was no longer able to proactively
police with so many new protocols, overseers and the City Council at his
throat.
Albany Lawmakers to Get A Pay Hike for Not Passing An Ethics Bill
NYS' Jobless Economic Development? New York’s chief economic development official, Howard Zemsky, faced sharp questioning from lawmakers who pressed him on the wisdom and effectiveness of Start-Up New York, a Cuomo’s economic development initiative that has created just 408 jobs, The New York Times writes.* The personal and professional ties connecting Cuomo and the two men at the center of an ongoing federal investigation of upstate development projects, Joe Percoco and Todd Howe, reach back over many years, the Times Union writes.
Lots of agita over START-UP NY, but don't overlook bigger costs & risks in other NY economic development programs.
de Blasio Victory Lap Cheat Sheets Charter Schools
Although de Blasio is taking a victory lap over new student test scores, there are reasons to doubt the gains, and while district schools aren't improving, charter schools are, Success Academies' Eva Moskowitz writes in the Daily News.
Why Was LICH Losing Money? Why Did SUNY Buy A Money Losing Hospital?
Why Was LICH Drained of Money? And By Who? Was It Done to Clear the Land for the Developer?
From the Brooklyn Eagle “The closing of LICH, which was indefensible on public health grounds, was Cuomo's decision,” says Jeff Strabone, former spokesperson for the Cobble Hill Association (CHA). “The US Attorney ought to focus his attention on Cuomo and on SUNY's pilfering of the $140 million Othmer fund,” Strabone said. Brooklyn Heights resident Barbara Gartner has been actively looking into the disappearance of the $140 million endowment donated to LICH by Brooklyn Heights residents Donald and Mildred Othmer. The entire principal of the permanently restricted endowment was "borrowed" in 2011 to effect the no-cash transfer of LICH from Continuum Health Partners to SUNY. SUNY assumed the liability to repay the entire endowment, but now says it cannot. According to court papers and documents obtained via FOIL, the transfer of LICH to SUNY would preserve a full-service hospital at LICH. Just 20 months later, however, SUNY announced it was closing LICH. “I was happy to read that the U.S. attorney is looking into the sale of LICH,” Gartner said. “I know that he has been focusing on Mayor de Blasio's various deals, but I hope that the investigation will prove to be just the first step in a wider probe into the web of NYS corruption that brought about the demise of LICH.” Gartner listed the no-cash sale to SUNY by Continuum as one of the areas needing to be investigated, along with SUNY's 2013 creeping closure of LICH, which appeared to violate court orders. Gartner and other advocates also want the state’s RFPs for the sale investigated, along with the mechanism by which the sale to Fortis was pushed through by SUNY. They also want an investigation into SUNY’s failure to bill patients and insurance companies for treatment at LICH. SUNY has repeatedly claimed it was forced to shut down LICH and sell the property to a developer because the hospital was losing millions of dollars a month. An August 2014 investigation by the Eagle showed, however, that after taking over LICH in May 2011, SUNY Downstate’s failure to file standard paperwork with insurance companies cost LICH at least $106 million -- and likely more. (See “Shocker: How SUNY lost more than $100M mismanaging LICH” at brooklyneagle.com.)
Progress de Blasio Channels Reagan Plausible Deniability His Staff Knew and He Did Not?
Campaign Manager de Blasio Would be Negligent If He Did Not Do the Rivington Deal - Real Estate $$$ and Support From Leaders of A Powerful Voting Block
De Blasio should stop blaming others for his incompetence (NYP ED) Consider this a “teachable moment,” Mr. Mayor: City Comptroller Scott Stringer has just put the lie to your claim that your administration’s indefensible OK of the Rivington nursing-home flip was just an innocent “mistake.” Not to mention your equally lame insistence that the real problem was procedures inherited from the Bloomberg team — not incompetence, or worse.
NYT Covers the Closing of A Bridge for A Couple of Hours and A Nursing Home For Ever A Little Different
Poll No Leadership to Replace de Blasio or His Corruption Fighting
A Quinnipiac poll found most New York City voters say de Blasio does not deserve to be re-elected in 2017, but that they also do not believe two potential challengers would be any better, The Wall Street Journal reports. * For de Blasio, Another Grim Poll Offers Better News About 2017 Race (NYT) Voters’ perceptions of New York’s mayor are split on racial lines and on his handling of contentious issues, but the survey also found he would defeat two potential Democratic primary rivals. * New Yorkers say de Blasio stinks at handling corruption: poll (NYP) Fighting corruption is not Mayor de Blasio’s strong suit, according to more than half of the New Yorkers who responded to a recent poll on the subject. By a 2-to-1 margin, voters said they don’t like how de Blasio is dealing with the issue. The Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday found 56 percent said they disapproved of his handling of political corruption, while 28 percent approved.* * A Quinnipiac University poll found 56 percent of voters disapproved of how de Blasio is handling political corruption while 28 percent approved, and a vast majority said corruption is a very or somewhat serious problem, the Post reports.
The Election System Controlled by Lobbyists and PACs No Long Elected Leaders Who Will Fight for the People's Interests
It’s
ridiculous that de Blasio appointed Peters to serve as the supposedly
independent head of DOI after Peters had served as his campaign
treasurer. It’s ridiculous that, having served as campaign treasurer,
Peters was forced to step aside from burgeoning investigations into the
mayor’s aggressively transactional fundraising. It’s ridiculous that
lobbyist James Capalino, a giver to de Blasio’s Campaign for One New
York and one-time mentor to First Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris, asked city
government to remove — for free — deed restrictions that permitted land
once owned by the city to be used only for a nursing home. It’s
ridiculous that Capalino’s involvement drew City Hall officials,
including Shorris, into deliberating over lifting the deed restriction —
a type of transaction never before of interest to the mayor’s office.
It’s ridiculous that, in an apparent favor to the health care workers
union — another big de Blasio giver — Shorris says he decreed that the
land should remain limited to a nursing home, has no paperwork to
support the statement, can’t remember to whom he spoke and could not be
corroborated by anyone. It is ridiculous that Shorris issued his phantom
decree after top administration aides, including another deputy mayor,
concluded that the city should devote the land to housing. It is
ridiculous that, after issuing the phantom decree, Shorris dropped the
issue completely. It is ridiculous that, while serving as the mayor’s
top manager, Shorris said he had stopped reading regular status memos
from the responsible city commissioner. It is ridiculous that city
bureaucrats lifted the deed restrictions for a payment of $16 million
only to see a condo developer sell the land for $116 million. It is
ridiculous for the mayor to say, as he did on Friday that, “in the
context of an $82 billion budget, in the context of all the issues we
deal with everyday — $16 million. I care deeply about $16 million, as do
the taxpayers. But compared to everything else we deal with, it is on
the smaller side of the equation.” Finally, it is ridiculous that de
Blasio pooh-poohs attention to his ongoing mayoral management botch as
ridiculous.* Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Aides Recount Outbursts and Condescending Tone (WSJ)
Daily News Calls de Blasio Ridiculous Over His Administration's Cover-Up of the Rivington Nursing Home Cover-Up Why Not Just Call Him a Liar
de Blasio Who is in Trouble for Going Around the Election Law Also Goes Around the Intent of the Law to Pay His lawyers
Bharara Asks For de Blasio Public Advocate Records: How Long Has This Plot to Kill LICH Been Going On? and By Who?
Who Closed LICH? 'T Was All of Them and More for A Pay to Play Luxury Real Estate Developer
What the Daily News Left Out the Brooklyn Eagle Included
The investigation may also be looking into whether the mayor was involved in a large payment delivered to health care workers’ union 1199 SEIU in return for the union dropping a lawsuit against SUNY, a source told the Eagle. “Once they got that [payment], they pushed the other parties to settle,” a person present during the negotiations told the Eagle. Other parties to the lawsuit included SUNY, LICH Holding Company, seven community organizations, the New York State Nurses Association and others. Or perhaps the U.S. attorney is interested in investigating how City Hall came to favor the Fortis-NYU proposal when they had previously opposed Fortis. De Blasio appointed Anthony Shorris — vice dean, senior VP and chief of staff of NYU Langone Medical Center from 2010 to 2013 — as his deputy. After that, NYU became Fortis's health partner (providing a “standalone” ER on site). That’s when City Hall began lobbying community people to support Fortis, says a former advocate and member of the Cobble Hill Association.
The Daily News Left Out That Cuomo Has Also Been Subpoenaed by Bharara On the LICH Closing
Not long after taking office as mayor in 2014, de Blasio changed his tune and struck a deal with SUNY and Gov. Cuomo that guaranteed health-care services at the site — but stopped short of meeting community demands for a full-service hospital. The property was ultimately sold to the Fortis Property Group, which was going to develop it into housing with a freestanding emergency department, but the project has stalled.
de Blasio Subpoenaed: Did He Murder LICH Hospital for A Developer?
The Daily News Says de Blasio Lies Again and Again About Info Kept From DOI Investigators by His Own Corp Council
Feds Probe SUNY Relationship With de Blasio and A Pay to Play Developer in the Closing of LICH Hospital
Brezenoff the Mayor's Labor Advisor, Continuum Health Partners Gets Rid of A Failing LICH Hospital With Not Blame
A Developer Who Wanted to Keep LICH Hospital Open Lost Out in A Bidding Proscess Controlled by the Mayor
The two connected a month later as Peebles was finalizing what turned out to be a losing bid for LICH. De Blasio then called him a month later and Peebles instructed his staff to send a check on March 6, DNA Info had reported. De Blasio called a month later, Peebles said. He instructed his staff to send a check on March 6. The subpoena involving LICH is the latest in a series of investigations into de Blasio and his team.Fortis was represented since May 2014 by powerful lobbyist James Capalino, who records show lobbied Wolfe, Williams and then-Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli. Around the same time, de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York sent out a letter from local community board chairman Gary Reilly supporting the Fortis plan, though he never mentioned Fortis by name.
Two Years Ago the Media Knew How de Blasio's Campaign for One NY PAC Help Closed LICH Hospital And Covered It Up
The Media Cover-Up Started At A debate That Almost Never Happened
Carroll Gardens Association - Cover-Up of Members' Dark Money LICH Mailing * Hamill: Long Island College Hospital merged to death - NY Daily News(2013)
* Alarm raised about 'dark money' in de Blasio's LICH - Fortis letter ..(Brooklyn Eagle).
* Alarm raised about 'dark money' in de Blasio's LICH - Fortis letter ..(Brooklyn Eagle).
de
Blasio Campaign Manager Bill Hires' Hilltop Now Works for Developer on
the Hospital Site - Hyers is a Special Agent Whose Emails are Protected
1. Hires: de Blasio Campaign Manager Who Uses Candidate Fake Arrest to Protest A Closing Hospital As A Prop
2. Once the Hospital is Closed Hires Who
Works for the Mayor Slush Fund PAC One NY Uses It to Tell the Community
That the Band Aid ER the Developer Agreed to Build is As Good As the
Closed Hospital
3. Hires: Sell A Large Development to Replace te Closed to A Community Who Opposes It*
Airbnb Accuses NYC Lawmakers Of "An Attack On TheMiddle Class": At a contentious City Council hearing earlier… * Airbnb is not happy with the
NYC Council, which today will hear legislation that would further
penalize hosts for renting out their homes illegally. In advance of the
hearing, the apartment-rental platform delivered a letter to Council
members signed by Airbnb hosts imploring them to back off. * Airbnb agrees to discuss sharing data with officials to crack down on illegal operators (NYDN) * City Council Members Clash with Airbnb Officials at Hearing (NY1) * Councilman threatens $100K fines onAirbnb’s ‘illegal hotels’ (NYP)
Team de Blasio No More Email New Communication System Cone of Silence
de Blasio's Shadow Govt Lobbyists Secret Agent Men
De Blasio defies his own call to make City Hall more transparent (NYP)
Mayor de Blasio has turned his back on his own call for open public
records — defying recommendations he made as public advocate, when he
harshly graded agencies in the Bloomberg administration for their slow
responses to disclosure requests. “The city is inviting waste and
corruption by blocking information that belongs to the public,”
concluded a report released in April 2013 by then-Public Advocate de
Blasio. “We have to start holding government accountable when it refuses
to turn over public records to citizens and taxpayers.” But that was
then.This week, the mayor invoked an unheard-of confidentiality privilege to shield his communications with a handful of longtime advisers,
saying their input is exempt from public disclosure. Those deemed
“agents of the city” by de Blasio’s counsel include BerlinRosen
co-founder Jonathan Rosen, Hilltop Public Relations partners Nick
Baldick and Bill Hyers, AKPD Media partner Jon Del Cecato and US
Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard. As public advocate,
de Blasio recommended agencies be fined for ignoring Freedom of
Information Law requests and be required file monthly reports to the
public advocate and City Council.
King Wilhelm de Blasio: I am the Law Because I Rule by Divine Right
He
also called for the mayor’s annual report on city services to reveal
how many FOIL requests each city agency has answered. De Blasio’s public
schedule shows he got a considerable amount of unpaid input. Del Cecato
took part in 95 meetings or calls with the mayor through March 2016;
Rosen in 48; and Baldick in 26. While officials say the advisers’ firms
weren’t paid by the city, they have been paid for work on de Blasio’s
campaigns, his political fund-raising and his nonprofit Campaign for One
New York. Those efforts are now the subject of state and federal
probes. Hilltop was getting paid tens of thousands of dollars by de
Blasio’s 2013 campaign well into 2015.* Chill, People: De Blasio Just Needs To Have Secret TalksWith Lobbyists (Gothamist) We’ve all been there: you’re the mayor of the biggest city in America and you need to have secret conversations with lobbyists and public relations specialists who you also really trust. Basic mayor stuff! But there’s this dumb law that
says you’re supposed to disclose these emails and whatever. Do you
release the communications? Or do you brandish the hundreds of lawyers
and near-limitless resources at your disposal to show everyone who’s
boss? For Mayor de Blasio, the choice is simple.
King Wilhelm de Blasio: I am the Law Because I Rule by Divine Right
AG 180 On Rivington Nursing Home Owners and Allure's Lawyers Go After Schneiderman
Not One Councilmember has Called for Corp Council Commissioner Carter to Be Fired for Covering Up Evidence
The Cuomo GOP Senate Contradiction Hide and Dance From Weak Press and Public
New Yorkers up and down the line have used this week’s convention to emphasize the importance of re-taking control of the state Senate in November, but Cuomo continues to keep quiet on the issue, Politico New York writes.
The NY Times Wants to Make Voting In NY Easier But Does Not Look At the State's Corrupt Election System
With just over one quarter of New York voters turning out for elections in the fall of 2014, the state needs to take measures to make the process easier, the Times writes, offering a list of suggestions on moves they might make to boost participation.
For Weeks True News Has Been Calling the Rivington Nursing Home Scandal de Blasio's Watergate Now the Post Copies Us Again
Man in Charge
Richard Nixon, 37th president. Only US president to quit the job (Aug. 9, 1974), which he did to avoid impeachment over the Watergate scandal. Later received a full pardon from successor, Gerald Ford. Tag line: “I am not a crook.” Died in 1994.
Bill de Blasio, 109th New York City mayor. Facing several corruption investigations by US Attorney Preet Bharara and other authorities over his fund-raising operations and suspected “pay to play” practices. Tag line: “We are very, very careful about doing things in a legal and appropriate manner.”
Legal Eagle
John Mitchell, attorney general. Former Nixon law partner who resigned from the Justice Department to run the Committee to Re-Elect the President. Imprisoned for 19 months for approving the Watergate break-in and payoffs to keep it quiet. Died in 1988.
Zachary Carter, corporation counsel. Accused of stonewalling a Department of Investigation probe into the Rivington House deal and of turning over records only after being threatened with a DOI lawsuit.
Right-hand Man
H.R. “Bob” Halderman, White House chief of staff. Fearsome former ad exec-turned-White House gatekeeper who once boasted that he was “the president’s son-of-a-bitch.” Imprisoned for 18 months for conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Died in 1993.
Anthony Shorris, first deputy mayor. De Blasio’s second-in-command. Leaked memos revealed that Shorris knew about the lifting of the Rivington House deed restriction in May 2015, despite City Hall claims that officials didn’t find out until the building was sold in February.
Strategist
Emma Wolfe, director of intergovernmental affairs. Former student activist and political organizer who was de Blasio’s chief of staff when he was public advocate and helped run his campaign for mayor. Slapped with subpoenas tied to the mayor’s fund-raising operation.
Bag man
G. Gordon Liddy, general counsel to CREEP. Ex-FBI agent-turned-political dirty trickster who paid the gang of “plumbers” and conspired in the Ellsberg case. Served about 4 ¹/₂ years in the slammer.
Ross Offinger, ex-finance director of New Yorkers for de Blasio and treasurer of Hizzoner’s since-shuttered Campaign for One New York, at the center of his probe. Subpoenaed over de Blasio’s fund-raising operations, including an alleged scheme to evade contribution limits in a failed bid to have Democrats seize control of the state Senate.
Whistleblower
Mark Peters, city Dept. of Investigation commissioner. Named the city’s official corruption watchdog after serving as de Blasio’s campaign treasurer. Recused himself from corruption probes involving the mayor to avoid a conflict of interest, but authorized a suit against the Law Department if it failed to assist in the Rivington House probe.
The NY Times At Last Reports on the Email Scandal But No Editorial On Withholding Evidence
City Agencies Engage in Public Feud Over de Blasio Investigation (NYT) A behind-the-scenes dispute between New York City lawyers and investigators over documents in a Manhattan nursing home deal burst into public view on Wednesday, as two agencies in the de Blasio administration traded barbed statements and questioned each other’s good faith and truthfulness.The dispute erupted last week after the Investigation Department, which is conducting an inquiry into the deal, released its report and chided the Law Department for withholding or redacting reams of documents potentially related to the Rivington House. The report found fault but no wrongdoing in City Hall’s handling of the deed restriction removal, but suggested that the full scope of the city’s involvement in the deal could not be known because of the redacted documents. But investigators threatened to take the city lawyers to court to force the disclosure and, in a letter released on Thursday, they highlighted two documents that had initially been redacted by the Law Department, but that were later obtained no longer redacted by investigators, and contained information pertinent to the inquiry. They included a chart, shared with City Hall officials, detailing the pros and cons for various approaches to Rivington House. “I am pleased that the Law Department decided to comply with the law,” Mark G. Peters, the department’s commissioner, said in a statement. (Mr. Peters recused himself from personal involvement in the inquiry because of his former role as the mayor’s 2013 campaign treasurer.) But on Wednesday, the two agencies exchanged bitterly worded statements and appeared to be at odds over what they had agreed to the day before regarding access to City Hall computers. The Law Department accused the Investigation Department of making “false” statements about the documents it described in the letter, and of pushing for “unprecedented access” to City Hall computers. Hours later, the Investigation Department fired back saying that the statement by the Law Department “asserting an alternate agreement is not true and in variance with its written commitment to D.O.I.” “I’ve been very clear; I take responsibility; I’m very unhappy with the outcome,” Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, said at a breakfast in Philadelphia. “But in terms of the flow of information and how we’ve handled investigations, I’m perfectly comfortable.” Mr. de Blasio, who said earlier in the week that the back-and-forth between the city’s Investigation Department and its Law Department was “totally normal,” scoffed at any notion on Wednesday that city lawyers were hiding evidence of wrongdoing. “This is probably bigger than Watergate,” he said sarcastically during the breakfast at the convention. “It’s ridiculous.”
Dean Skelos formally disbarred after corruption conviction (NYP)
When DOI Followed the Trail to Top Aides, de Blasio Took Unprecedented Step of Denying Investigators Access to City Hall Records
Is DOI's Mark Peters the New Watergate John Dean?
What Did the Mayor Know About the Rivington City Hall Cover-Up and When Did He Know It?
Update: de Blasio Defends Carter
The mayor defended Carter and backed up his decision. (NYP) “I have tremendous respect for him,” de Blasio said of Carter. “He made a set of decisions [on] what was the right way to handle that. And I thought he was right. I didn’t get into the weeds of it. But I thought his essential approach was right.”
Covered Up Memo Released Reveals de Blasio Oficials Weighed Pros and Cons of Selling Rivington Nursing Home for Condos
The NY Times is Covering Up the Nursing Home Email Story Have You Lost Your Sense of Decency
How Can City Hall or Not One Elected Official Not Demand Corp Council Head Carter Not Be Fired . . . .Why Did SUNY Buy LICH That Was Losing 20 Million A Month and Close It Down In 6 Months?ed for Withholding Evidence ?
The PACS and Lobbyists Who Elected the Council and Lawmakers in Albany Have Elected A Political Class Who Are Afraid to Speak Out Against A Corrupt Mayor
Feds McDonnell Case Does Not Apply Send Silver and Skelos to Jail Now
Skelos, Silver should be sent straight to prison: prosecutors (NYP) Disgraced pols Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver will not get their corruption convictions overturned and should be sent straight to prison as they go through the appeal process, prosecutors with Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said Monday. In separate memos, Bharara’s prosecutors blasted arguments by former state Senator Skelos and ex-Assembly speaker Silver that their convictions will be tossed — thanks to ex-Virginia gover Bob McDonnell — and therefore they should remain free on bail as they seek appeal.
The NYPD GiftGate Connects From de Blasio to Westchester's Astorino Driving Matero
Pinocchio Lying de Blasio Claims His Legal Team didn't Cooperate With Nursing Home Probe
Cook Still Tops In the Travel Expenses and Getting Away With It Even After the Speakers Reforms to the Assembly's Travel Policy
Albany's Vouchers Corruption and Work Load
Speaker Mark-Viverito Trying to Have It Both Ways Canceled Council Hearing On the Rivington Nursing Home Deed Change As She Squawks Over City Hall Cover Up
heChiefLeader @RichardSteier usually fans of DEB have done best reporting on the ineptitude & possible corruption of administration
Why Where the City Council Hearing On the Rivington Nursing Home Canceled?
@unitedNYblogs @TheChiefLeader ask chair of "investigations" committee, @VGentile43
Seabrook Hedge Fund Liquidating As He Pleas Not Guilty
The hedge fund caught up in a New York City municipal union kickback scandal is now liquidating two of its funds (NYP). Up to now it was believed that Platinum Partners, which allegedly paid the union president $60,000 in return for getting a $20 million investment, was liquidating just one of its funds.* Ex-head of corrections union pleads not guilty to corruption charges (NYP)
Puppet Speaker Attacks de Blasio on Nursing Home Emails
City council speaker blasts mayor’s office for impeding nursing home probe (NYP) City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a close ally of Mayor Bill de Blasio, said Wednesday it’s “very troubling” that the mayor’s office impeded a city investigation of a botched Lower East Side real estate deal. The city Department of Investigation issued a scathing report last week on the administration’s handling of the deal — which allowed for the conversion of a formerly protected nursing home into luxury apartments — and highlighted a lack of access to requested documents and computer terminals. “It’s very clear what the authority of DOI is. The Department of Investigation is to have full access to documents — so that is a concern,” Mark-Viverito said at a press conference calling for similar deals to become part of the more transparent land use review process.
New Q poll: Gov. Cuomo part of NY corruption problem: 48%. Part of solution: 36%
2nd Cuomo Aid Caught Up in Mortgate Scandal With Percoco
Former Cuomo aide caught up in mortgage scandal (NYP) A former aide to Gov. Cuomo received a home loan from the same businessman who gave a near-100 percent mortgage to Joseph Percoco, a second Cuomo aide who’s now the subject of a federal probe, according to a new report. The Albany Times Union reported Thursday that Howard Glaser, a former Cuomo senior policy advisor and director of state operations, received a $200,000 mortgage on a $1.2 million home in Bedford, N.Y., from a company run by Abe Eisner, Cuomo’s unofficial liaison to the Jewish community. Percoco was the governor’s closest aide before he left late last year to become an executive at Madison Square Garden. He was later named in a federal subpoena seeking records from Cuomo’s executive chamber about potential “improper lobbying” and “conflicts of interest” in the Buffalo Billion economic development program.
Why is a Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Being Attacked? By NYP and Brooklyn Democratic Party Judicial Screening Committee? Is There A Bigger Game Being Played Here?
Will the NY Times Attack Brooklyn Boss Seddio Like They Attacked Friedman in 1983 for Doing the Same
Brooklyn judge blows off work amid being deemed 'unqualified' (NYP)* Nurses’ court order throws wrench into NYU’s LICH plans in Brooklyn (Brooklyn Eagle)The nurses' union has delayed SUNY’s transfer of the walk-in emergency department at Long Island College Hospital (LICH) to NYU-Langone Medical Center.State Supreme Court Justice Laura L. Jacobson on Wednesday granted nurses at LICH a temporary restraining order to “maintain the status quo” there for two weeks, stalling SUNY’s attempts to wash its hands of the Cobble Hill hospital for a while longer. The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) says that Fortis Property Group and its partner NYU-Langone Medical Center violated a promise to rehire LICH nurses after SUNY shut down the hospital. Nurses called the TRO a victory.* Frank Seddio picks up George Arzt for his push for Brooklyn Democratic leader (POLITICONY)*Judge Rejects Long Island College Hospital’s Ownership Deal (NYT) * 2 JUDGES FACE POLITICAL OUSTER (NYT 1983) In a break with tradition, two State Supreme Court justices with 20 years on the bench were denied renomination last night at a Bronx Democratic judicial district convention controlled by Stanley M. Friedman, the Bronx Democratic chairman. The justices, William Kapelman and Donald J. Sullivan, were overwhelmingly rejected for renomination to 14- year terms despite their pleas to the 82 judicial district delegates for support. In New York City, the party's county leader usually has the power to decide who will be a judge because he controls the choice of delegates to the convention that nominates them.
Lobbyists Arzt Has Made The NYP Part of Brooklyn Dems Attack Machine
Debbie Medina, a candidate for state Senate in Brooklyn, admitted she repeatedly beat her troubled son with a belt as a child, a confession she first made in a Pennsylvania court to save him from execution after he was convicted of brutally killing a 3-year-old boy, the Post reports.
Team de Blasio Owned by Developers Shocking That A Developer and House Lobbyists Capalino Won With the Rivington Nursing Home Deed Change
The AG Joins the Probe of the Rivington Nursing Home Deed Change
Schneiderman probes building sale linked to de Blasio nonprofit (NYP) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is examining Mayor de Blasio’s controversial Campaign for One New York nonprofit in connection with its ongoing probe of a nursing-home deal on the Lower East Side, The Post has learned. On July 6, the same day the city Campaign Finance Board cleared de Blasio and the group of wrongdoing, Schneiderman’s office sent a subpoena seeking information about the nonprofit, a source close to the investigation told The Post. The Campaign for One New York, which de Blasio set up in 2013 to push his policy agenda, is linked to many of the scandals surrounding the mayor. And it raised millions of dollars.
Two Mayor's Leave Town During Corruption Scandals That Can Lead to Their Arrests
The Buck Does Not Stop Nowhere for Team de Blasio Anyone Responsible for Nursing Home Deed Change
True News for Over Two Years Has Exposed de Blasio Shadow Govt
True News: de Blasio's Campaign Lobbyists Control A Secret Shadow Government
Why is Wills Investigation by the AG Taking So Long? Is It Connected to Another Investigation?
Now Cuomo Won't Release Emails Related to Bufflao Billion Bidding Process
Cuomo aide refuses to release emails related to economic development contracts (Buffalo News) Buffalo News sought records on bidding process
The Daily News Yesterday Called for de Blasio to Fire Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris and Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters for Covering-Up Rivington Nursing Home Scandal Today de Blasio Says No
Daily News Joins True News In Calling Rivington Nursing Home A de Blasio City Hall Cover-Up
Big Bill’s big coverup on Rivington nursing home sale (NYDN) A stunning first in the annals of City Hall: Mayor de Blasio sanctioned stonewalling a Department of Investigation probe into maneuverings that enabled a real estate developer to make a nearly $100 million killing on land formerly owned by the city. Releasing a report on the affair (damning especially for First Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris), DOI revealed that city lawyers refused to turn over a substantial number of documents in City Hall files and denied access to City Hall computers. De Blasio top attorney Zachary Carter shut down the information flow despite a City Charter provision authorizing the DOI commissioner to conduct “any study or investigation which in his opinion may be in the best interests of the city.” Carter’s order also ran counter to a mayoral executive order, endorsed by de Blasio, stating that the city investigation commissioner “shall have authority to examine, copy or remove any document prepared, maintained or held by any agency,” except specifically barred by law. Carter said DOI — led after a fashion by Commissioner Mark Peters — could not be allowed to rummage indiscriminately in City Hall files and computers. Carter also said City Hall provided DOI with all relevant documents. Apparently backed by the mayor, Carter’s stance has ended DOI’s unfettered access to City Hall records.
Winds of Larger Scandal As Two Former
NYPD Commanders Pleaded Not Guilty
At an arraignment Wednesday, two former NYPD commanders and a Brooklyn businessman pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges stemming from allegations of illegal gifts made in return for police favors, The New York Times reports. * 3 Plead Not Guilty in New York Police Corruption Case (NYT) Two former police leaders and a businessman were arrested last month on charges prosecutors say stem from gifts made in return for favors.
Good Govt Fakes Meet Team de Blasio Fakes on Secret Agents Lobbyists Email Cover Up
Groups talk with de Blasio staffers on outside advisers e-mail block (NYP) Good-government groups went to City Hall on Tuesday to protest Mayor de Blasio’s refusal to release e-mails between his office and outside advisers he calls “agents of the city.” Hizzoner’s legal adviser Maya Wiley and a contingent of de Blasio staffers met for about an hour with Citizens Union director Dick Dadey, NYPIRG’s Blair Horner, Common Cause director Susan Lerner and others. “Nothing was resolved except we agreed to keep talking,” Dadey told The Post. The advocates asked for the meeting because they believe that the correspondence between the administration and the so-called agents should be public under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. The agents — key de Blasio advisers who are not city employees — are AKPD Media’s John Del Cecato; BerlinRosen principal Jonathan Rosen; US Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard and Hilltop’s Bill Hyers and Nicholas Baldick. The mayor argues that their e-mails are exempt from the law because they are not city employees, a position disputed by Bob Freeman, chair of the NYS Committee on Open Government.
Who is Who in de Blasio Corruption Probe
Here's What We Know About the Probe Into Mayor Bill de Blasio's Fundraising (DNAINFO) UPDATE: Who’s Who in the Federal NYPD/City Hall Corruption Probe
de Blasio Distracted by the Investigation Ruling From the Bunker, Hanging By His City Agents Lawyers
According
to documents and people familiar with the matter, large gaps in Mayor
Bill de Blasio’s schedule are now filled with private meetings and calls
away from City Hall since multiple investigations into his fundraising
and administration began
de Blasio's Kitchen Cabinet Includes Lobbyists With Clients Who Do Business With the City
Vito Lopez's Judge Dawn Jiminez-Salta Kills A Library in Brooklyn
Local Prosecutors, Even the FBI Knew Vito Lopez Used His Govt Funded Charity to Help His Political Career
Vito Lopez’s charity aided his political career: FBI probe (NYP) Boosting serial sex groper Vito Lopez’s political career was a key job requirement at the government-funded nonprofit he founded and controlled, an FBI investigation found. Political work by employees of the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council was rated under the euphemistic heading “community participation” in annual performance reviews, FBI probers learned. The feds’ investigation of the then-Brooklyn assemblyman and Democratic power broker stretched for more than five years from 2007, but resulted in no charges. Lopez died of cancer in November at age 74. A Ridgewood Bushwick employee told the feds that he believed some of the council’s executives were “sometimes more interested in campaigning for Lopez” than in the group’s social-services work. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.
NYT Putnam de Blasio's Protect Cuomo Lundered Senate $$$ Also Gray Lady Says Percoco Was Involved
After the Silver and Skelos Conviction the Times Down Played Bharara the Prosecutor That is Cleaning Up NY
NYT in the Tank for the Mayor
Albany Plays the Schoolyard Bully (NYT) State lawmakers need to stop playing games and let Mayor Bill de Blasio keep control over city schools.
Subpoenas Fly At City Hall Laundering $$$
True
News Has Been A Service to Every New Yorker Exposing Wide Spread
Corruption in A Time Newspapers Have Stopped Covering Real News Now It is Time For You to Help Us Continue and Do Better Donate Today
The Dying Media Has Stop Covering the Mayor's Corruption Story and Has Refused to Expose NYC's Corrupt Elections System
Putnam Money Laundry
The Dying Media Has Stop Covering the Mayor's Corruption Story and Has Refused to Expose NYC's Corrupt Elections System
Putnam Money Laundry
NYC Is Still For Sale II the Remake All News Cast of Elected Crooks Who Created A Fixed Election System
The Daily News is on Crack if They Think the Council Will Go After the Mayor's Slush Fund PAC Paper Quiet Abou the CFB Giving de Blasio A Pass On His Campaign for One NY Slush PAC
A tale of two campaigns: Political money board raps De Blasio dodge (NYDN) Mayor de Blasio galloped through a gaping loophole in New York City’s political fundraising rules when he pulled in $4 million via a non-profit group, much of it from donors seeking favors from his administration. Although the mayor used the funds for political advantage, his money hunt fell beyond the reach of the Campaign Finance Board because the City Council never imagined a mayor would do business so transactionally. With withering words for de Blasio’s end run and “the possibility and perception that favor-seeking wealthy interests may influence government decision-makers,” the board last week called on the Council to bring such fundraising under close watch. Candidates for mayor are limited to $4,950 from each contributor, and just $400 from those doing business with the city — caps crafted to blunt influence peddling. De Blasio left those standards in tatters . Most Campaign for One New York donors — ranging from the teachers and health care unions to developers — gave far higher amounts than they could donate to an election committee. The money then enabled de Blasio to blow through spending limits while remaining eligible for public campaign financing in 2017. The good-government group Citizens Union urges the Council to bring such non-profit committees under the campaign finance system’s restrictions and public disclosures. Were that to happen, a mayor like de Blasio would surely stop spending excessive time fundraising and repaying favors, and start doing the job for which the taxpayers foot the bill.
How the CFB Empowers de Blasio Shadow Govt Control Over Elections
de Blasio's Tammany Hall
Bill de Blasio's badold days: The return of City Hall for sale (NYDN Ed) Then came de Blasio and a return to the bad old days. As public advocate he backed a suit to halt green taxi medallions,
and then in his mayoral run collected at least $300,000 from investors
in rival yellow medallions. Meanwhile, though de Blasio abided by
campaign finance limits, donors to supposedly independent committees —
including a union that had been run by his cousin and the animal rights
group NYCLASS —
hit rival Christine Quinn with costly attack ads. A sudden convert to
the NYCLASS dream of eliminating horse carriages, de Blasio vowed to ban
carriages “on day one,” swore he knew nothing of the funding scheme
that torpedoed Quinn, and then fought like hell to make the ban happen.
After Election Day, de Blasio’s campaign manager established the Campaign for One New York to
promote the mayor’s causes, and the city’s pliant ethics board
permitted the new mayor to raise funds — except from those with matters
that were pending before the city or about to be pending. An early
check, for $175,000, came from the hotel workers union (affiliated with
de Blasio’s cousin), whose political director served as the Campaign for One New York’s lobbyist. Jona Rechnitz, now
a hub of an FBI investigation into possible NYPD bribery, sent his
$50,000 contribution the same day. Followed by $350,000 from the
teachers union, poised to cash in on a contract deal and the universal
pre-K program sought by the Campaign for One New York. Followed by
$125,000 combined from Wendy Neu and Stephen Nislick of
NYCLASS, coinciding with de Blasio’s relentless, failed anti-carriage
horse drive. Followed by $500,000 from a health care union on whose
behalf de Blasio and the Campaign for One New York lobbied to salvage a
failed hospital. Followed by $100,000 from a peddler of
rodent-repellent garbage bags, who secured a mayoral meeting and then a
piece of a $6 million city contract. All along, de Blasio pitched for
donations from individuals whose real estate and
other interests rely on City Hall decisions. Come the fall of 2014, de
Blasio urged contributions to his effort to gain Democratic control of the Senate. In came more checks: From a Houston school bus magnate,
who contributed $100,000 to the Senate effort after de Blasio granted
an unusual $42 million wage supplement to drivers for private firms.
From former Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, a
$50,000 donor who could make a windfall from the city’s push for
biofuels — for which he runs the city’s largest refining facility. From
developers competing for projects, unions with stakes in development and
health care, and many more. While saying he did everything legally, de
Blasio refuses to make public emails to and from consultants who drew
paydays from that money. He has called them “agents of the city.” The
mayor has also said he will release the names of donors who gave and did
not get, meaningless in proving innocence but evidence that people
believe that you have to pay to have a shot at playing in de Blasio’s
New York.* New
York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took an unusually personal role in
raising money for a nonprofit group backing his political agenda, according to several people who received fundraising appeals from the mayor. * De Blasio took unusually personal role in fundraising for nonprofit (PoliticoNY)
Pay to Play Campaign for One NY's Invade Brooklyn Bridge Park
De Blasio donor didn't follow rules to build Pier 6 towers (NYDN) The city’s selection of a big donor to Mayor de Blasio to build huge towers in Brooklyn Bridge Park had a “taint” from the start, a new lawsuit alleges. The Brooklyn Heights Association sued to stop two towers set to be built in the park by RAL Development Group. The suit notes that RAL and its lobbyist, James Capalino, each wrote $10,000 checks to de Blasio’s fund, Campaign for One New York in May 2015. That was shortly before the public announcement that RAL had been picked by a de Blasio-controlled panel to construct two towers totaling more than 400,000 square feet at Pier 6. At the time, the panel, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., had said developers vying to build the towers must be registered as doing business with the city. Records show RAL didn’t register until March 1, 2016, nearly a year after being picked and long after making the donation to de Blasio’s cause. “The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp.’s failure to abide by its own ... procedures and the city’s procedures has created the appearance of impropriety for the Pier 6 Project," the suit states. The suit noted that in May, “the taint created by RAL’s contribution” led the Empire State Development Corp., a state panel, to decline to approve the towers.
Team de Blasio's Campaign for One NY Refuses JCOPE Ethics Subpoena
The CFB Treats Incumbents Who Appoint Them With Kid Gloves While Destroying Challenger Campaigns
Berlin Rosen Flack Levitan Who Worked for the Campaign for One NY is the Spokesman for the Mayor in the CFB Cover-Up?
More de Blasio Straw Bundlers
De Blasio donors had no idea they gave to his campaign (NYP) Mayor de Blasio’s largest bundler this year reported raising $68,750 from 16 donors — but one says he has no idea how his name got on the list, another couldn’t recall the contribution and a third refused to discuss it. The donations were rounded up by Arana Hankin, a senior vice president at WeWork, an office-space-sharing company that has been lobbying the city on a project in the Financial District. The $68,750 rounded up by Hankin is the largest bundle received by de Blasio’s 2017 campaign to date. One of the donors, Shlomo Khodara, told The Post he has “no idea” how his name ended up in official records as giving $4,950 — the maximum allowable under city law. “Maybe my company donated for me,” he said of the Jan. 11 donation. Then, when pressed, he added: “Yes, they donated for me, probably one of my associates did.” Records show that Khodara has made only one other contribution to a city political campaign — $2,000 to Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. in 2009. Another one of Hankin’s bundled donors, Mariano Castro, confirmed he gave $4,950 to de Blasio on Jan. 11, but said he doesn’t know Hankin. “I made the donation through the Web site,” he said. De Blasio’s campaign announced in May that it would return $32,200 to several contributors tied to a Queens-based beauty-products company.* The New York City Campaign Finance Board found that Mayor Bill de Blasio did not break fundraising rules by raising unlimited contributions through his Campaign for One New York, but immediately issued a de facto rebuke of the tactic, the Daily News reports. * Representatives of De Blasio’s political nonprofit group Campaign for One New York sought to convince an Albany judge that it should not be compelled to respond to a subpoena from the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, The New York Times reports.
It's No Sin if you commit it in service of the Divine. NYC Mayor Transcendent His New Style Money Machine:
de Blasio Plan to Turn Around Failing Schools Has Failed Daily News Says Improvment Needs?
Improvement needed in de Blasio’s Renewal Schools (NYDN) De Blasio’s turnaround plan needs a turnaround itself. Apparently desperate to find better opportunities for children faster than the mayor and Chancellor Carmen Fariña are delivering them, parents have been pulling their kids out of the so-called Renewal Schools. Fully 81 of the 94 schools enroll fewer students than they did when the program launched, according to an analysis by the education news website Chalkbeat. In sum total, enrollment in the schools dropped 14%, from 45,140 in the fall of 2014 to 38,870 by the end of the 2015-16 academic year. (The education department says the trend appears to be looking up.) Department of Education school-by-school report cards show that parents have made rational choices — because achievement has stayed constantly low or has fallen in two-thirds of the Renewal Schools.o gauge the preliminary results of de Blasio’s program, the Daily News Editorial Board tracked English and math test scores from 2014 to 2015 at elementary and middle schools, and graduation rates at high schools. We looked at trend lines to see whether they were flat, modestly or steeply up, or modestly or steeply down from year to year. Performance at 32 of the schools fell, with nine showing strong downward movement. (Example: Math proficiency in Manhattan’s J.H.S. Lola Rodriguez de Tio slipped from the 26th to the 7th percentile citywide, while English proficiency fell from the 11th to the 4th percentile.) Twenty-nine schools essentially marched in place, either because English and math scores moved in different directions or because performance was essentially unchanged. Thirty-three schools moved up, with 21 registering strong improvement. (Example: English proficiency at the Academy for Personal Leadership and Excellence in the Bronx jumped from the 23rd to the 29th percentile, and math proficiency rose from the 6th to the 23rd percentile). This is an early assessment of a budding program that rolled out slowly. The picture will become clearer as time passes and the data grow, including the 2016 test scores and graduation rates. Still, it was de Blasio who promised that “we will demand fast and intense improvement.” The kids are waiting, Mr. Mayor. Although multiple studies show that the children benefited, de Blasio said that the approach “wrote off” students and staff “with neglect” and that the closures “added insult to injury.”The mayor saw a better way in replacing school leaders, training teachers, adding instructional time and providing mental health and other services.* With cuts made during the recession now restored, education policymakers and stakeholders are focusing on how school aid is distributed, a review that could lead to the revamping of the state’s nearly decade-old funding formula, Politico New York reports.* Just protect the kids, Bill: de Blasio's daycare debacle (NYDN)
de Blasio Surrounds Himself With Scam Artists Cooks
Tammany Hall Not Landmarked? - 100 Years of History Wiped Out As Building Changed Into Offices
At A Time When the Feds Are Investigating de Blasio's Senate Slush Fund the IDC and the Independence Party Today Create Another One
Five Senate Democrats creating their own campaign committee to help protect members (NYDN) A group of five breakaway Senate Democrats is creating its own party campaign committee to help protect its members from challenges and possibly support other candidates. The Senate Independent Democratic Conference, also known as the IDC, is doing it through an unusual agreement with the minor state Independence Party. Under the deal, the Independence Party will create the Senate Independence Campaign Committee that Sen. Jeffrey Klein will control. The IDC head will get to appoint the committee’s treasurer and other members Klein, who has headed the IDC since its inception in 2011, said one reason for the move was that two years ago he and one of his members, Tony Avella of Queens, faced Democratic primaries. And this year, he said, Avella and IDC member David Carlucci (D-Rockland) are facing possible GOP opposition. “I want to have the ability to protect my members,” Klein said. This is the first time a minor party has created a committee to help a specific legislative conference. A source said the Independence Party is expected to formally vote to create the committee in coming weeks. Flangen's Law Firm Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan earned more than $100G from his old law firm, but provided no ‘direct services’ (NYDN)
'THERE COULD BE MORE (BOMBS) HERE':
Cuomo's Start-Up NY Report No Jobs 4th of July Bad News Dump
Start-Up NY Great Commercials
Good Help for Cuomo Re-Election and Poll Numbers Not As Good At Creating Jobs
As many predicted... StartUp NY is a failure, spends tax$ to promote @nygovcuomo but creates few jobs -
* The Daily News asks Cuomo “what now?” after revealing disappointing job-creation numbers for his Start-Up New York program, noting that he did not have a backup plan in 2014 and assumed it would work.
Cuomo's Pigeon Operative Faces
Charges for
Bribing A Judge and More . . .
"Twice, the operative was paid $10,000 stuffed in Tops Supermarket grocery bags, Sacha said."
Start-Up NY Report No Jobs 4th of July Dump
That brings the total number of jobs for Start-Up NY to 408. Taxpayers have spent $55 million marketing * State claims 'success' as Start-Up NY created 332 jobs in 2015 (CapitalNY) Cuomo administration releases report three months lateit. (PolicioNY)
Rats Jumping Ship
Two more top aides quit de Blasio administration (NYP) More top aides to Mayor de Blasio headed for the exit doors Thursday — soon after his counsel disclosed that she was quitting and his social media director fled after just eight weeks on the job. Environmental Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd announced she was retiring, while Nilda Mesa, who heads the mayor’s Office of Sustainability, said she wanted to “spend time with her family and explore new opportunities,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office. The departures were the third and fourth over the past two days.*
Hours After True News Wrote de Blasio's Rats Jumping Ship The NYP Copied Us
Why the rats are fleeing de Blasio’s City Hall (NYP) Rats didn’t desert the Titanic as quickly as Mayor de Blasio’s top aides have started fleeing City Hall. But they likely had the same reason. In just the past two days, de Blasio has lost his chief counsel, his social-media director (after just eight weeks) and now two of his top environmental officials, Emily Lloyd and Nilda Mesa. Last month also saw the exit of his press secretary, Karen Hinton. Maya Willey, the mayor’s chief lawyer, reportedly had been looking to leave for months, despite heated denials from the mayor’s office. She’s the one who came up with that notorious “agents of the city” designation to justify withholding de Blasio’s e-mails with certain key lobbyists and consultants. Now she’ll replace Richard Emery, who quit under pressure as head of the Civilian Complaint Review Board — raising new questions about the board’s independence and impartiality. ut she’s not the first mayoral aide to pull up stakes, only to land a cushy post elsewhere. Homeless Services chief Gilbert Taylor got the ax last December in the wake of the seen-on-every-street-corner failure of the mayor’s homeless policies — but got to keep his $220k salary as a “consultant” and later scored a job as a Family Court judge. Stacy Cumberbatch, whose agency OK’d the dubious deal that let a Lower East Side nursing home be flipped for luxury condos, escaped to a high-paying hospitals job. Maybe the mayor’s now-departed Web czar, Scott Kleinberg, was on to something when he quit with a Facebook rant about “political hacks” and “a boss who just didn’t get it.” Because what we’re seeing is an administration awash in mismanagement, micro-management and just plain chaos. So much so that even Bill de Blasio’s loyalists are throwing in the towel.
de Blasio's Top Media Guy Quits Too Many Political Hacks
More de Blasio Rats Jumping Ship
Mayor de Blasio’s Counsel to Leave Next Month to Lead Police Review Board (MYT) Maya Wiley, chief legal adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio, will resign to become chairwoman of New York City’s independent oversight agency for the Police Department.
Why Does de Blasio Campaign Manger Lobby for Airbnb Which is Destroying Illegal Rentals in NYC?
Airbnb blasted for illegal rentals in NYC (NYP) More than half the Airbnb rentals in New York City last year were illegal, according to a report released Monday by two housing-advocacy groups. The report, commissioned by MFY Legal Service and Housing Conservation Coordinators, found that 28,765 of the short-term rental site’s 51,397 city listings for 2015 — or 56 percent — illegally offered to book an entire apartment or home for fewer than 30 days. The report singled out 8,058 units as “impact listings” where homes are rented out for brief periods for more than a third of a year, making them virtual hotels. The advocates argued that if the apartments were on the market instead, the city’s vacant rental stock would increase by 10 percent. State law prohibits renting apartments for less than 30 days if the lease holder isn’t present. The state Legislature this month passed a bill imposing fines for those who advertise their entire apartments on Airbnb and similar sites for less than 30 days. Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to sign the bill.Lobbyists for Airbnb Former de Blasio campaign manager Bill Hyers joins Airbnbpayroll (NYDN)
After Black Harlem After It Loses Its Congressman
If the Center of Black Politics is Now Brooklyn What About Gentrification?
Four corners of Myrtle and Broadway evolves from horror show to hipster haven (NYDN)
FBI Visits Mateo's Illegal Straw
FBI questions woman involved in de Blasio fundraising scandal (NYP) A Brooklyn woman was questioned by a city corruption-busting FBI agent on Tuesday — just hours after high-profile cabby advocate Fernando Mateo admitted to The Post that he had used her as a front to funnel campaign contributions to Mayor de Blasio. At about 8:45 a.m., Ahlam Jaoui, 31, got a surprise visit from two federal agents at the Bay Ridge house she shares with her parents. One was FBI Special Agent Blaire Toleman, who’s currently working with Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara’s public-corruption unit and recently swore out criminal complaints against two high-ranking NYPD officers and the since-ousted head of the correction-officers union, Norman Seabrook.
Mateo Admits He Did Illegal Straw Bundling for de Blasio
De Blasio fundraiser admits to pay-for-play bundling scheme (NYP) A high-profile cabby advocate whose wife needs the city’s OK for a women-only livery service admitted to The Post on Monday that he raised campaign cash for Mayor de Blasio and funneled it through an unemployed Brooklyn woman. Fernando Mateo, founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, came clean about the blatant violation of election law after The Post learned he had personally solicited a donation for Hizzoner and then had Ahlam Jaoui take credit for it. The 31-year-old Bay Ridge woman, who has no political or fund-raising experience, claims in campaign-finance records to have collected 15 donations totaling $18,800 that were given to the de Blasio campaign in January. One of those contributions came from Oscar Herasme, a Florida lawyer, who confirmed he gave $2,500 to the mayor’s 2017 re-election bid — but when asked about Jaoui said, “It wasn’t through her.” “I find it odd that the bundler for any donations is someone I never met,” said Herasme, who declined to say who solicited his contribution. Another $2,500 donor, Damian Rodriguez of First Class Car & Limo, noted he has no particular loyalty to de Blasio. “Fernando Mateo called me and asked me to give some money to that woman,” he said. “I’ve known him for a long time, since 1997, so I help him when I can.” The revelations come as de Blasio’s fund-raising operations are being probed by both New York US Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Mateo, a well-known Republican supporter, told The Post that he “called my people” to give money to Democrat de Blasio’s campaign and had Jaoui take credit for the donations. Mateo’s name does not appear on Jaoui’s January campaign-finance report. He claims that his motive was to help Jaoui land a city job. “That’s the way politics works,” Mateo said. “If Ahlam worked hard for his candidacy, you’d think [the mayor] would say, ‘I employ thousands of people, why not at least bring her in for an interview?’ * Fernando Mateo, founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, admitted that he raised campaign cash for Mayor Bill de Blasio and funneled it through an unemployed Brooklyn woman, the Post writes
de Blasio Cuomo Bharara is Coming?
LOVETT: Hillary Clinton won’t commit to reappointing U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (NYDN)
He also said it was “doubtful” he would wind up in Albany, noting: “I’m not sure I could get out of there alive.” A de Blasio spokesman said: “The US attorney is an aggressive prosecutor who’s smartly looking into all aspects of government. The Mayor’s Office supports that mission.”* .@PreetBharara: "To an extent, people are right about the system being rigged." (ABC) * The state’s economic development authority is tripling the amount of money it’s spending to deal with a federal probe of the Cuomo administration’s Buffalo Billion initiative, with the Empire State Development board approving a change to the agreement with its lawyers, Politico New York reports.* Corruption 'rife' in New York politics, top prosecutor warns (Washington Examiner) * @WSJ on our hardworking Mayor in recent weeks " he has shown up at City Hall after 11am".* Cuomo’s administration says no formal paperwork is required for the governor to grant private investigator Bart Schwartz the power to issue civil subpoenas according to Section 6 of state Executive Law, otherwise known as the Moreland Act, the Times Union writes.* Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs to lay out in writing the purpose of his independent investigation into possible wrongdoing surrounding money awarded for upstate economic development initiatives in order to guarantee transparency in the process, the Times Union writes.
Crown Heights Gentrifiers White Guilt on Changing A Black Neighborhood?
Illegal Airbnb listings are hogging NYC's available apartments, report says
de Blasio Dumps on Charters to Protect His 2017 Reelection Machine the UFT
The Post writes that de Blasio, who has said that he supports charter schools, could show that support by allowing them to use unoccupied space in public schools and questions whether he needs to keep adding an expense to the city budget out of ideological spite.
Daily News Shocking No Endorsement of Congressman Nadler
No to Nadler: Rep. Jerrold Nadler undermined global security by supporting President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, shouldn't be reelected (NYDN Ed)
Why is the NY Times Covering Up de Blasio's Corruption Investigation
NY Times Ignores That NY's Falling Voting Rates is Caused by Loss of Faith in NY's Political Process
The ultimate cost of elections overrun by hidden interests may be the loss of voters’ faith in the political process and governing institutions.
Bratton Comments On Broken Windows and Defends Giving Pensions But No Comment On NYPD Corruption
Bill Bratton still believes in ‘broken windows’ policing (NYP)* Cop, repeatedly accused of forcing minority cops to arrest more blacks and Hispanics, gets promotion (NYDN) *NYPD's Bill Bratton calls Department of Investigation’s ‘broken windows’ policing report ‘not necessary’ (NYDN)* De Blasio said he disagreed with a report that challenges “broken windows” policing, highlighting the fine line he has tried to walk between his popular police commissioner and a political base that elected him to reform the NYPD, The Wall Street Journal writes. * De Blasio said he “absolutely” supports a federal monitor to oversee the “broken” New York City Board of Elections in the upcoming congressional primaries and wishes he could “tear down” the board and start over, the Daily News writes. * After a series of corruption arrests and scandals, New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton defended the practice of giving out pensions to scandal-scarred NYPD officers and insisted it would be unfair to their families to take them away, the Post reports.* The NYPD inspector general’s report that claims the “broken windows” style of policing does not work only serves de Blasio’s political agenda, as decreases in crime in New York City since the 1990s prove the controversial policing style works, the Post writes. * Businessman demanded kosher meals after mile-high hooker romp (NYP) * 'I HAD NO OTHER WAY TO PAY MY RENT': Former call girl 'embarrassed' about mile-high tryst with 2 NYPD cops on private jet * NYPD hooker: The cops I serviced should be fired (NYP) * Beyond NYPD corruption charges lie some troubling notions (crainsNY) The allegations suggest the police want businesses to pay for service* Gov. Cuomo asked to intervene in police union fight with Mayor de Blasio over disability benefits (NYDN)* Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch sent a letter to Cuomo asking that he intervene in a fight with de Blasio over a union push to provide newer cops the same disability benefits as older ones, the Daily News’ Lovett writes.
de Blasio's Contributor Said He Had to Power to Make An NYPD Commissioner
I have the power to make you police commissioner, businessman told NYPD pal: (DNAINFO) The two Brooklyn businessmen accused of bribing police officials for favors believed they wielded enough power at the NYPD and in City Hall to make one of their pals the next police commissioner, DNAinfo New York has learned. Jeremy Reichberg and Jona Rechnitz, who were also campaign fundraisers for Mayor Bill de Blasio, claimed they had the political muscle to not only help get their friends promotions and cozy assignments inside the NYPD, but to install them atop the nation’s largest police force, according to sources familiar with their secretly recorded conversations.
In Progressive NY A Serious Voting Right Issues Has Almost Disappeared
Velazquez Wants Justice Department to Step In After Thousands of NY Voters Were Denied Access to Polls (NY1) * Bungling NYC Board of Elections hopes to avoid another disaster with Tuesday’s federal primaries involving races in seven districts (NYDN)
de Blasio Calls for Federal Monitor of the BOE And Nobody, Media and Pols, Notices the Threat to Our Democracy
The FBI Investigations Makes de Blasio More Like Jimmy Walker That Laguardia He Like to Compare Himself too
The Spin de Blasio Laguardia "In 1934, “thegreatest mayor we ever had, Fiorello LaGuardia,” created
the New York City Housing Authority, de Blasio said. LaGuardia
“believed that something bold and ambitious and transcendent had to
happen to protect the interests of working New Yorkers,” said the mayor,
and his administration is, “humbly, humbly presenting Next Generation
NYCHA in that same spirit.”
The Real de Blasio is Jimmy Walker Increasing corruption within his administration, forced Walker to testify before the investigative committee of Judge Samuel Seabury, the Seabury Commission (also known as the Hofstadter Committee). Walker caused his own downfall by accepting large sums of money from businessmen looking for municipal contracts. Facing pressure from Governor Roosevelt, Walker eluded
questions about his personal bank accounts, stating instead that the
money he received were “beneficences” and not bribes. He delayed any personal appearances until after Roosevelt’s nomination for President of the U.S. was secured. It was at that time that the embattled mayor could fight no longer. Months from his national election, Roosevelt decided that he must remove Walker from office. Walker agreed and resigned on September 1, 1932, and went on a grand tour of Europe with Betty Compton, his Ziegfeld girl. * Cuomo screws w/ de Blasio because he can't screw w/ Bharara-
True News Flash Back
Where is the Criminal Investigations of the de Blasio PACs?
CM
Leffler. Liu Treasurer Liu, District Leader Baldeo and Silver Pal
Rapfogel, All Found Guilty of Campaign Fraud Scheme With the CFB
NYPD Two NYPD Chiefs Fined For Dining On Former Queens Library Boss Galante
EATING AWAY AT ETHICS: Two NYPD chiefs face huge fines for dining on credit card tab of disgraced former Queens library boss Thomas Galante (NYP)
As Feds Investigate Buffalo Billion So Does Cuomo? To Find Out What the Feds Know?
Cuomo gives investigator Moreland Act powers (TU) But other questions remain about Bart Schwartz's probe into upstate deals
Corrupt Albany Rearranging Chairs On the Titanic
Not worth the wait: A pathetic end to Albany's legislative session (NYDN) Prudence demanded patience in evaluating the blowout of behind-the-scenes deal-making that closed the annual session of the New York Legislature. Having sorted through the detritus, we can only hope for far better performances by Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, who took over for Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos. They produced half-measures, foolish measures and measures that only lobbyists could love, while significantly repudiating the public interest. Gov. Cuomo went along for the ride. Despite convictions of Silver and Skelos, Flanagan refused to close the LLC loophole, which allows unlimited money in New York politics. But the leaders did agree on a Cuomo proposal to crack down on evasions of the campaign finance laws. All too conveniently, Flanagan and Heastie failed to agree on terms for stripping the pensions of convicted public officials. On education, Flanagan continued to make a plaything out of mayoral control of the city schools, out of anger at Bill de Blasio’s attempt to dethrone him — but both houses conspired with the mayor and well-connected union lobbyists to boost the cost of city school bus services. In January, Cuomo proposed a $2 billion investment to finance affordable and supportive housing. The governor, Flanagan and Heastie put the money in the budget, but couldn’t agree on how to spend the cash. So only $150 million was freed up, potentially slowing necessary construction. Meanwhile, the Legislature showed downright hostility toward the tech economy, enacting a law that would essentially kill the Airbnb home sharing service and blocking expansion of call-a-car services like Uber. To restore popular fantasy sports betting — after the attorney general shut it down as illegal gambling — the Legislature fatuously relabled the games as something else while placing them under the gambling commission, all but ensuring a legal challenge. And, notoriously, Cuomo, Heastie and Flanagan turned their backs on childhood victims of sexual abuse at the unfortunate behest of the Catholic Church.* De Blasio’s recently departed press secretary Karen Hinton in the Daily Newsoffers advice to the mayor about how to survive his love-hate relationship with the news media and emerge stronger by adjusting to new media without forgetting lessons from the old.
Bratton's Weak Answer to NYPD GiftGate Corruption Give Them Pensions
So much for Bratton’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach to NYPD corruption (NYP Ed)So much for the idea that Police Commissioner Bill Bratton would take a “zero tolerance” approach to the NYPD corruption scandals. As The Post’s Shawn Cohen and Bruce Golding reported Wednesday, Bratton has opted to let two high-ranking cops ensnared in the scandal retire with full benefits. That makes sense if you accept that it was the only way to get tainted brass who’d been stripped of their guns and badges off the force with a minimum of public attention. The deal lets both Deputy Chief John Sprague and Inspector Peter DeBlasio keep their pensions and receive so-called “Good Guy” letters that enable them to easily obtain a full-carry pistol permit. And these two aren’t the only implicated top cops who have been allowed to leave quietly. This may help rid the NYPD of its bad apples, but it’s a weak answer to corruption. Especially corruption involving so many high-ranking officials — many of whom had been promoted by Bratton himself. Including Chief of Department Philip Banks, who was about to be named Bratton’s No. 2 until he abruptly quit the force. Remember, this investigation has been under way since shortly before Bratton took office. But according to the federal indictment unveiled this week, much of the cash-for-favors corruption occurred on his watch. Indeed, the indictment alleges that one of the two businessmen — and Bill de Blasio pals — who plied top cops with cash, free trips and prostitutes even was able to arrange for one of his buddies to be promoted to a top assignment. The commissioner has taken pains to claim that this scandal isn’t systemic. But no previous corruption scandals involved so many high-ranking brass. All New Yorkers want the NYPD cleaned up as quickly as possible. But quiet sweetheart deals aren’t the answer.
NYT Lawmakers Failed to Act On Ethics Refroms
The Old Albany Hustle (NYTED) After a lackluster legislative season, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared on Sunday that he and state lawmakers had managed to finish “probably the most successful session in modern history.” That is not only wrong, but ridiculous. The most urgent and important item on the Legislature’s to-do list this year should have been reforming a debased political culture that most recently resulted in the convictions of New York’s top two legislative leaders — the former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the former Senate leader Dean Skelos. Mr. Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison for receiving kickbacks, honest services fraud and extortion. Mr. Skelos earned five years in prison for bribery, extortion and conspiracy. Instead of seizing the moment to enact reforms, New York’s politicians left intact one of the state’s great campaign financing scams — the so-called L.L.C. loophole. Limited liability companies can allow donors, hidden behind several shell companies, to contribute almost unlimited amounts to campaigns. Mr. Cuomo gave lip service to eliminating this loophole, but little of his political muscle. Worse, he seemed willing to excuse the refusal of lawmakers to act, telling The Times that closing the loophole would be “tantamount to political suicide for the Republican Party in this state because they believe it ends corporate money.” Left unsaid was that Democrats, including Mr. Cuomo, have feasted on L.L.C. money as well.
Someone Needs to Ask de Blasio Why His Fundraisers Are Getting Arrested
No Albany Ethics Income Restrictions But A Shot At Team de Blasio's Lobbyists and PACs
Cuomo Goes After de Blasio's Lobbyists PAC Run Shadow Govt
With Legislature's ethics crisis, disappointing @nysenategop's ethics bill equivalent to an aspirin for a broken arm
de Blasio's Won the Mayor's Office and Governs By Going Around the Election Law With Lobbyists and PACs
Here Comes the FBI NYCASS Investigation By the FBI That True News Has Been Investigating for Two Years
Coordinated
federal and state investigations into Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
fundraising operations are examining efforts by a politically connected
group to ban horse carriages in New York City, sources tell The Wall Street Journal: * De Blasio fundraising probe increases scrutiny of campaignfinance tactic
NYC’s campaign cops hand down champ-change fines (NYP) Stop
the presses: The City Campaign Finance Board slapped a consultant with a
$15,000 fine for breaking the rules. Finally, the world is safe for
democracy. Or so you might think from Thursday’s big-noise announcement.
If only. In fact, the fine — plus a $10,800 one from state Attorney
General Eric Schneiderman — merely highlights the lunacy of the city’s
campaign-finance scheme. In 2013, the consultants at The Advance Group
repped four Democratic candidates while also working with two
“independent” groups: the teachers union and the anti-horse-carriage
folks, NYCLASS. The two special interests shelled out tens of thousands
to promote TAG’s candidates, but failed to build a “firewall” between
themselves and the campaigns. The board says TAG’s dual roles amounted
to “coordination” — a no-no under the rules. “Today’s agreement sends a
clear message that campaign coordination is unacceptable in New York,” huffed the AG.* Mayor
de Blasio said he behaved 'legally' in dealings with animal rights
group NYCLASS and will 'cooperate with any investigation' (NYDN)
Gary Tilzer (@unitedNYblogs) warned that BdB circle of friends, lobbyists & PACs were up to no good. Like #Cassandra, he was ignored.
Airbnb is Being Stopped by the Hotel Lobby Not the Bigger Problem of Fueling Gentrification Pushing Blacks Out of Their Neighborhoods
Airbnb’s burden to end any racial bias in its rentals (NYDN Ed) The online lodging service Airbnb has a race problem that the tech giant has a moral, if not legal, duty to expunge from its self-described “trusted community marketplace.” But, in a striking commentary on the true level of hidden racism in America, there is substantial evidence that the Airbnb “community” is less inclusive to African-Americans than to others. The Twitter hashtag #airbnbwhileblack, posted alongside screenshots of curt rejections by prospective hosts, sums up the experiences of users who suspect that their race played a role in denying them accommodations. They’re not paranoid. Harvard Business School researchers ran tests in Baltimore, Dallas, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. They found that potential renters with black-sounding first names were 16% more likely to be rejected than those with white-sounding names, for that reason alone * Airbnb fights bill to ban advertising of illegal units (NYP) * * A political organization funded by a top hotel-trades union has helped develop the Share Better campaign – a multifaceted lobbying effort to persuade New York City politicians to curtail Airbnb, according to emails and records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.*Airbnb moved in, and there went my neighborhood * Let Airbnb be, governor: Permitting short-term rentals is good for all New Yorkers (NYDN Ed)
Manhattan
landlord Steve Croman surrenders to face charges he threatened, sued
rent-protected tenants to force them out for high-rent units (NYDN)
Ted Hamm @HammerDaily NYC landlord Steve Croman arrested for threatening rent-stabilized tenants--"secret weapon" is former NYPD cop
Airbnb Bad Neighbors, Warehouses Apartments -- Rising Rents and Increasing Gen
THE MAYOR WHO WANTS TO TELL REPORTERS WHAT QUESTIONS HE’LL PERMIT THEM TO ASK By Gabe Pressman
de Blasio Bad Story About His Administration - ATTACK THE PRESS
Media "Nattering Nabobs of Negativism"
De Blasio thinks homeless crisis is a case of ‘fear-mongering’ (NYP) Mayor de Blasio on Monday ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis — and touted an estimated drop in the vagrant population based on a single-day census conducted in sub-freezing temperatures. * The Agnew de Blame the Press "Fear-Mongering" Edition * De Blasio 12/3/14: I had 2 “train” son "how 2 takespecial care w police." Today: “media...likes 2 look backwards” (Capital)
Council $655,000 Member Items Slush Fund Went to Federal Rat Rechunitz
De Blasio donor funneled $655K from City Council to fund law-enforcement seminar (NYP) A Mayor de Blasio donor under federal investigation for lavishing cops with gifts also helped pry taxpayer money from the City Council for a police training program he supported, The Post has learned. Real-estate investor Jona Rechnitz used his connections to siphon $655,000 over the past two years from the City Council to fund a law-enforcement sensitivity seminar at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, a source familiar with Rechnitz said. “Rechnitz was able to secure funding from the council for a program he had an affinity for, based on his status as a heavy political contributor,” the source said.The spokesman said Rechnitz has been a benefactor and volunteer at the Midtown museum since 2012. The Upper West Side macher gave the museum thousands of dollars in 2014 after winning $25,000 on a $500 Super Bowl prop bet. But Rechnitz’s primary role was recruiting scores of high-ranking cops and corrections officers to attend the center’s sensitivity-training program, called “Perspectives in Profiling.” “Jona helped introduce us to people at Corrections and the Police Department,” the museum source said. “He helped bring people to events and helped raise money for [the museum].” Two attendees included correction-union president Norman Seabrook and then-NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks, sources said. The top cops are under federal investigation for receiving gifts and travel fees from Rechnitz, sources have told The Post. Rechnitz allegedly funded several other jaunts for top brass to the Super Bowl, China, London, Brazil and Rome and golfing trips to the Dominican Republic, sources told The Post. He also bundled $41,650 for de Blasio’s 2013 campaign and wrote $50,000 in checks to the Campaign for One New York, a nonprofit promoting the mayor’s agenda, state campaign-finance records show. But Rechnitz needed help getting the City Council to fund his pet project, so he turned to the museum’s director, Rabbi Steven Burg, and its politically connected lobbyist then, Michael Cohen, a source said. “Cohen arranged for tours of the Wiesenthal Center for different lawmakers and arranged for funding as well,” the source said. “He introduced Rechnitz to other elected officials.” Burg declined comment. Cohen, hired as the museum’s director in October, did not return a call seeking comment. * Judge doubts hedge fund tied to kickback probe can pay debt (NYDN) A New York judge cast doubt Wednesday on whether Platinum Partners, the hedge fund holding $20 million in NYC corrections officers’ retirement funds, has enough money to pay back a measly $30 million debt. “Are they financially sound and capable of paying this debt?” Judge Salinann Scarpulla asked at a Manhattan state court hearing on Wednesday. “I haven’t seen evidence that the fund is worth a billion dollars. For all I know the fund is worth five cents,” an exacerbated Scarpulla said after failing to get satisfactory answers to her questions about the hedge fund’s financial status.Platinum claims to have $1.3 billion in assets on its web site. But it was in court Wednesday over $30 million owed to private equity firm New Mountain Finance, which claims the hedge fund has defaulted on its loan.
Last week, Platinum hedge fund manager Murray Huberfeld was arrested and accused of paying $60,000 in bribes to Norman Seabrook, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, in return for a $20 million investment in Platinum in 2014.
Mark-Viverito Member Item Slush Fund Goes to Her Lobbyists Clients
Groups tied to Mark-Viverito to get nice chunk of city’s discretionary funds (NYP) ity Council spending on pet causes will spike to nearly $60 million in the coming fiscal year – about $3 million more than this year’s outlay, records show. The five percent increase is part of an $82.1 billion budget deal hammered out by Mayor de Blasio and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito last week. Some of the biggest winners in the discretionary cash dole-out include the Hispanic Federation, Communilife Inc. and the Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation, all of which are represented by lobbying firms tied to the Mark-Viverito, who controls much of that spending. Hispanic Federation and Communilife are both represented by the MirRam Group, which consulted on Mark-Viverito’s 2013 campaign. Communilife will take in $308,500 to provide “academic support and creative arts therapy” to at-risk Latina teens. The Hispanic Federation got $600,000 to “continue strengthening New York City’s growing Latino community.” Brooklyn Legal Services, which retains the lobbying firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, raked in $300,000 to provide legal support for tenant organizers. Mark-Viverito paid Pitta Bishop $61,000 in consulting fees to help her become Council Speaker. The Bronx non-profit Regional Aid for Interim Needs also made out well, getting an earmark of $171,000, despite Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s finding last year that the group’s management used taxpayer dollars as a personal “piggy bank.” His office found the group diverted $800,000 in taxpayer funds for elderly services to pay off a mortgage on a vacant building and that its former director charged thousands of dollars of personal expenses to a company credit card.
Senate Dems Keep Fed Rat Rechnitz $$$ They Say They Do Not Have the Money Lobbyist Parkside Who Got Paid Over $6 Million By DSCC Should Folk Over the Hundred Thousand Rechnitz Donated
N.Y. Senate Dems won’t give back donation money from bigwig linked to NYPD scandal (NYDN)State Senate Democrats, who received a massive donation from a businessman at the center of a federal probe into the NYPD, won't refund the cash — even as others have said they'll give back similar contributions. Developer Jona Rechnitz, through a limited liability company he created, had donated the maximum $102,300 to the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee in October 2014 at a time when Mayor de Blasio was helping the Dems raise money in their unsuccessful quest to win control of the chamber. "It's from the previous election cycle," a Senate Democratic official said. "It's been spent. We can't return the money because we don't have it." But De Blasio has said he is returning the $9,000 he received for his mayoral run in 2013 from Rechnitz and his wife. And Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who received $15,000 from Rechnitz's company in 2013, reportedly decided to make a donation from his campaign account in that amount to charity after it became public last week that the developer had pleaded guilty and is a cooperating witness in a case against Norman Seabrook, the now former head of the New York City corrections officers union. State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, who is running in a congressional primary this month, has already returned the $13,000 he received for his Senate reelection campaign from Rechnitz and his wife in 2014, a spokesman said. A spokesman for Assemblyman Walter Mosley, who received $4,100 from Rechnitz's company in 2014, could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Cuomo Who Used the Committee to Save NY PAC and Other PACs to Win Elections Is Now During A Federal Investigation of de Blasio Campaign for One NY PAC is Cracking Down on Citizen United PACs
Up to Feds to Go After de Blasio's Straw Donors CFB Whick Low Fined the Speaker and Advance is a Puppet Joke
Will de Blasio pay for his straw-donor scandals? (NYP) The city Campaign Finance Board this week finished its audit of Joe Lhota’s 2013 campaign for mayor, imposing a small $2,800 fine for various minor irregularities. Here’s betting the fine for the de Blasio campaign winds up a lot larger.
Of course, the CFB may have to wait for the various federal and state criminal probes of de Blasio’s fund-raising to wind up first. But Post reporting has already tracked down some major areas of concern — including at least two straw-donor scandals. Straw donations are a classic (and illegal) way to end-run donation limits: Once you’ve maxed out under your own name, you pay third parties to “donate” under theirs. This week, The Post uncovered signs that this explains 2013 giving from some two dozen donors employed or affiliated with the Brooklyn-based Broadway Stages. Gina Argento, president of Broadway Stages, bundled $111,805 for de Blasio’s campaign and transition team in 2013. But many of the donors of record didn’t seem to recall making the contribution. One referred a reporter to his lawyer. Last month, The Post pointed to similar issues with gifts to de Blasio from drivers in the beauty-supply business, several of whom were seemingly so appreciative of his politics (and so well compensated) that they forked over thousands of dollars. All but one of the donations occurred on the same date in October 2013. Sm-Ali Amanollahi, owner of Queens-based Primary One, gave $5,000, as did two of his drivers and three of his associates. Days later, another Primary One worker added $2,500 more. All this, of course, is separate from the larger scandal: Too many of the mayor’s top donors do business with the city, and too many have received favorable treatment for their clients or their projects. What of the Campaign Finance Board? Because members’ terms are staggered, the mayor and his close ally, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, haven’t yet chosen the entire board, just a majority. We can hope that the holdovers from the Bloomberg-Quinn era will ensure an honest audit of de Blasio’s fund-raising — but it’s nice to have Preet Bharara and Cy Vance on the case, too.
Feds Real Target de Blasio Gets A Road Map
Cooperating Witness in Corruption Case May Assist in de Blasio Inquiries (NYR) An individual, referred to in a criminal complaint as “CW-1,” for Cooperating Witness 1, has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Of all the charges and the allegations in a 17-page criminal complaint accusing a powerful New York City union leader of corruption, perhaps the most far-reaching development was woven into the legal boilerplate, essentially hiding in plain sight. A person, referred to as “CW-1,” for Cooperating Witness 1, had agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Mr. Rechnitz, who has generously supported several of Mr. de Blasio’s interests and served on the mayor’s inaugural committee, has pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges in connection with the corruption case against Norman Seabrook, the influential leader of the union that represents the city’s correction officers, and another defendant, according to the complaint. But the significance of his decision to join the roster of government witnesses could go far beyond the case against the union leader, and have wide-ranging consequences for Mr. de Blasio. The complaint in the corruption case, along with statements by Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York (whose office brought it), and interviews with people with knowledge of the fund-raising inquiries, strongly suggest that Mr. Rechnitz could serve as an important witness in at least one of the fund-raising matters.At a news conference on Wednesday announcing the charges against Mr. Seabrook, Mr. Bharara declined to answer questions about the identity of CW-1 and the degree to which the witness could be helpful in other cases. But he noted that “the complaint does say that he is assisting other investigations as well; that’s all I’ll say.”
Cuomo Sticks It To de Blasio With New Campaign Finance Rules That Go After Campaign for OneNY
Cuomo unveils strict campaign finance rules amid de Blasio probe (NYP) Cuomo issued stricter guidelines Wednesday for campaign spending by independent committees — which would include those used by Mayor de Blasio.
In a speech at Fordham Law School, Cuomo unveiled the rules state agencies will follow to determine if committees like de Blasio’s the Campaign for One New York are truly independent. They’re not, he said, if “they share an office space, the candidate is appearing at their events.”Cuomo also proposed spending limits on such groups.* With the state legislative session wrapping up without movement on state ethics laws, Cuomo is attempting, via a legal memo and new legislation, to tighten restrictions on money given to candidates through independent expenditure committees, the Times reports. * * Cuomo’s multibillion-dollar upstate economic-development plans, including the massive Buffalo Billion project, may be derailed by growing nervousness from IBM and other companies over the continuing corruption probes, the Post’s Fred Dicker writes.
The Post Uncovers More 2013 de Blasio Straw Donors and Berlin Rosen Flack Levitan Flacks for Mayor Capalino Lobbyies
Questions surround film company’s massive de Blasio donations (NYP) Donors affiliated with a major TV and film production company who never gave more than $250 to any city office donated thousands to Mayor de Blasio in 2013 — and are now dodging questions about the big-money contributions. Of some two dozen donors employed or affiliated with Brooklyn-based Broadway Stages who were contacted by The Post, only the husband of company President Gina Argento said the $4,000 he gave came from his own pocket. Argento rounded up $111,805 for Mayor de Blasio’s campaign and transition committee in 2013, making her one of his biggest financial backers. Most of the generous donors didn’t respond to calls, but four told The Post they either couldn’t recall giving, had no knowledge of the donations or referred questions to their lawyers. “I don’t know anything about it,” said Bianca Netto, listed as giving $9,450 to de Blasio’s campaign and transition committee in October and December 2013. Two other donors listed as part of Argento’s bundling efforts weren’t able to confirm the accuracy of donation records. Monica Holowacz gave $4,000 through Argento while working as an office assistant at Lights on Brooklyn, records show. But when asked about the donation, she said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about” before hanging up. Joshua Huffman, a production coordinator for Woodridge Productions who gave $3,050 according to records, said he couldn’t remember the donation. “I don’t recall, but I’d have to talk to my lawyer about it,” he said. Last month, de Blasio’s campaign returned $32,200 to seven donors tied to a Queens beauty-supply company when questions were raised if the money they gave was their own. It is illegal to make a donation with someone else’s money. Dan Levitan, a spokesman for the mayor’s campaign, said it is “reviewing these donations and will take any appropriate action.” * Film company behind de Blasio donations also spent over $230K on lobbyists (NYP) Gina Argento, president of the film and TV production company that rounded up $111,805 for the mayor’s 2013 campaign and transition, has also spent $233,214 on lobbyists over the last two years. Argento, president of Brooklyn-based Broadway Stages, paid lobbyist James Capalino $53,214 in 2014 alone for an “introduction” to the mayor’s office, records show. Capalino, the city’s highest-earning lobbyist, has separately raised nearly $30,000 for de Blasio’s re-election.
Bill to Force de Blasio to Release Agent of the City Emails
Proposed bill would force Mayor de Blasio to release correspondences with his designated ‘agents of the city’ (NYT) Mayor de Blasio would be forced to publicly release correspondences with his designated "agents of the city" under a bill quietly introduced by Senate Republicans. The bill by Sen. Terrence Murphy (R-Westchester) would clarify who would be exempted from the state Freedom of Information Law. The bill is the latest shot from the Senate GOP at de Blasio. De Blasio recently created the term “agents of the city” to keep correspondence between five outside political advisers and City Hall exempt from being made publicly available.
Howe Law Firm Directed Payment to Him
People familiar with matter said federal investigators are examining whether Todd Howe, a longtime associate of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, defrauded his former employer, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, by diverting client payments to himself, The Wall Street Journal reports.
JCOPE Told Percoco Not to File Financial Disclosure Statement
Talk About Lessons Unlearned: Uber Lobbyists Tusk Wants to Pick de Blasio's Challenger
Ex-Bloomberg campaign aide on hunt for de Blasio challenger (NYP) Mike Bloomberg’s former campaign manager is so hellbent on dumping Mayor de Blasio that he launched a site Monday to recruit a challenger. “It’s an embarrassment that we have a mayor under massive federal investigation,” said Bradley Tusk, who helped orchestrate former Mayor Bloomberg’s 2009 third-term victory. “I’m going to put together an effort to find the best possible opponent. I’ll do whatever I can to help them,” he said.
NYP Pours On the Mayor Troubles While the Daily News Attacks GOP Senate
Scandals hurt de Blasio’s bid for extended school control(NYP) *
Our kids, mayor and control: State senate Republicans use kids for payback against de BlasioNYDN
De Blasio Shifts Away From His Re-election Message of ‘One City’ (NYT)
As investigations have swamped City Hall, the notion that Mayor Bill de Blasio has brought about a unified New York appears to have all but vanished as an argument for his winning a second term.
After the Corruption is Exposed the Comptroller Looks into Buffalo Billions
New York State comptroller looking into tax breaks given for Buffalo Billion program (Buffalo News) Part of larger N.Y. audit of economic programs* GOP state lawmakers urge more economic development oversight (TU) Republicans call for Buffalo Billion scrutiny
The de Blasio Years When Developers Ran the City
The people have spoken on Mayor de Blasio’s creative political fund-raising, now under the microscope of federal and state investigations. More than half of voters in a recent Quinnipiac poll say yes to the proposition “Do you think Mayor de Blasio does favors for developers who make political contributions to campaigns in which he is involved or don’t you think so?” Of those, all but a handful deem that conduct either unethical or outright illegal. Between the probes and the frequency with which his generous political donors also end up with blessings from the city for real estate projects, it’s no wonder New Yorkers turn a withering gaze on what sure looks like dirty business. Where de Blasio’s theory of civic transformation fell apart was on his own administration’s competence to swim with the real estate sharks who own New York . One donor gobbled the Lower East Side nursing home where apparently clueless city administrators lifted a deed restriction based on the buyer’s pinky promise to keep it a health facility — then flipped it for condominiums. Another blotted out the Upper East Side sky with a luxury tower many stories taller than zoning allows because the Department of Buildings got outfoxed by a wily developer who bent the rules. Another clue that de Blasio’s real estate bureaucracy is no match for the sharks: The stunning cancellation last week of Flushing West, one of seven much-heralded new housing development zones. And developers privately say that in outer-borough neighborhoods, de Blasio’s updated version of the 421-a tax break, which went belly-up in Albany, would have padded their profits far more than under the expired program — while counting as affordable apartments units renting for at or close to market rate. We can call all of these bargains with the sharks win-wins — and de Blasio does. We can call them giveaways to wealthy developers. Perhaps the corruption label will ultimately stick — but far likelier we’ll remember the de Blasio years as the era when real estate ran the city.
What About the Super Talls Building That Are killing New York City's Neighborhoods?A de Blasio-backed bill aimed at boosting the city’s affordable-housing stock by lifting a state cap on the size of residential projects has suddenly gained steam in Albany and could be approved later this month, the Post writes.
Both Came to Light Because of A Federal Investigation Not Pols Who Look the Other Way
Both of those fails came to light only because community boards and City Council members Margaret Chin and Ben Kallos sprang into action at the behest of constituents who had gotten the cold shoulder from the mayor’s side of City Hall.
Cuomo Moves State Police Into NYC
Cuomo
has chosen the location for his costly new State Police headquarters
in Manhattan just steps from City Hall, where about 150 state troopers
will take over about four floors of office space, yet another clear jab
at de Blasio, the Post writes.
Control of City Schools Up In the Air
State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan has continued to torment Mayor Bill de Blasio as the mayor lobbies to have mayoral control of schools extended, introducing a one-year extension with new oversight that drew swift criticism, the Times writes. * The fate of mayoral control over New York City schools could come down to a political game of chicken, with the Assembly Democrats in the position to force the Senate GOP into a take it-or-leave it three-year extension of the expiring law, the Daily News’ Ken Lovett reports.
New York's Latest Pork Push Is Shady, Even by Albany Standards (Manhatten Institute)
LeBrun: Taxpayers pay for Buffalo Billion project | Albany Times-Union
With Not Real Follow Up Questions WNYC's Lehrer Allow de Blasio to Groundhog Day Answer "I Know Nothing"
A deBlasio Administration That Governs By Incompetence and Obstruction
Destroying HHC
Coney Island Hospital hit with wrongful death lawsuit after 'careless, negligent' staff misdiagnosed woman (NYDN)
No Leadership of NYPD
de Blasio's Lawyers Say the State Senate $$ Laundry Was OK With Lobbyists
De Blasio’s 2014 memo laid out rules for Senate fundraising
(TU) In an Oct. 8, 2014 confidential memo, the campaign finance attorney for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio laid out his interpretation of what was allowed and not allowed under state election law in the mayor’s efforts that year to swing the state Senate to Democratic control. The memo, obtained by the Times Union, could well be an important piece of evidence in the unfolding investigation of Southern District U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance into whether de Blasio’s team crossed the line and illegally circumvented campaign fundraising limits in the 2014 elections. Late in that campaign season, fundraisers for de Blasio raised copious dollars that were then transferred into several largely dormant upstate Democratic county committees that could accept six-figure checks from each donor.The committees then quickly transferred funds into the accounts of four Democratic state Senate candidates, which could take unlimited sums from the Democratic county committees. If the donors had given directly to the candidates, they would have been limited to gifts of about $10,000. Then, de Blasio’s own campaign consultants were often on the receiving end of the spending by the Senate committees. The Oct. 8 memo was written by Laurence Laufer, a top campaign finance lawyer in New York who once wrote the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s regulations. It went to Emma Wolfe, a top de Blasio political aide, and Josh Gold, then the head of the Hotel Trades Council, who were both involve in Team De Blasio’s 2014 efforts. The election law issue at hand is “Earmarking,” the memo’s title: Whether a donation has been passed through one campaign committee to another with the intent to circumvent campaign contribution limits. If so, that would be a violation of state election law resulting in up to a Class E felony charge. In essence, Laufer’s argument in 2014 was that earmarking cannot occur without the contributor itself making such an arrangement, and that under certain restrictions, political consultants can be involved in various steps along the way as the funds are passed.This January, the state Board of Elections enforcement counsel, Risa Sugarman, issued a confidential report finding reasonable cause exists to believe “a violation warranting criminal prosecution has taken place” up to a Class E felony in the course of de Blasio’s 2014 campaign efforts. As was revealed this week, the report was then leaked by a Republican state Board of Elections spokesman. Perhaps the most damning evidence in Sugarman’s report was an Oct. 16 email from Democratic state Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk’s campaign manager to the treasurer of one of the upstate Democratic committees, the Ulster County Democratic Committee, asking if a $60,000 check from the committee to the candidate had cleared. According to Sugarman’s report, the email indicated that the Tzaczyk campaign was aware of a $60,000 donation that the Ulster Democrats had received from a de Blasio-friendly union, the New York State Nurses Association, which would then be passed along from the committee to the candidate. According to Laufer’s memo eight days before that email, however, that would not necessarily be earmarking. According to Laufer’s 2014 memo, “Earmarking occurs only when the contributor gives some kind of direction to an intermediate recipient regarding the ultimate use of the contributor’s contribution. For example, if the contributor, either directly or through his agent, places restrictions on how the intermediate recipient may use his contribution that may be seen as earmarking.” In other words, according to Laufer, NYSNA or its agent would have to have directed the Ulster Democrats to steer the contribution to Tzaczyk.Sugarman’s memo also cited the fact that Team de Blasio, which consisted of a number of political operatives, had coordinated its activities with county committees and candidates, while also raising the funds. Laufer added in the 2014 memo to Wolfe and Gold, however, that “There is no provision of the Election Law that would preclude a campaign consultant or volunteer from both raising funds and providing advice to the funds-recipient regarding the optimal campaign use of the funds raised. I daresay this happens in every political campaign.” Laufer added, “The only caveats are (i) the fundraiser/consultant/volunteer should not convey any direction from the contributor to the county committee regarding the use of that contributor’s contribution, and (ii) the person providing advice to the county committee should not be an agent of the contributor.” Here is Laufer’s 2014 memo, with Sugarman’s 2016 report critiquing de Blasio’s fundraising efforts below that. * @BilldeBlasio attorney memo offered narrow definition of 'earmarking'(PoliticoNY)Even the Conviction of the Two Albany Leaders Does Not Stop Pols of Memeber Item Pork in Albany Budget
New York’s latest pork push is shady, even by Albany standards(NYP) Call it pig in a blanket. Gov. Cuomo and state legislative leaders have brought pork back bigtime, wrapped in a dense layer of bureaucracy and with a side of alphabetsoup misdirection. Last week, the state Public Authorities Control Board approved nearly $500 million in taxpayerbacked borrowing for a solarpanel factory that’s at the heart of a federal probe into Gov. Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative. It wasn’t the only dubious item rubberstamped by the board’s three members, who are standins for Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan. At the same meeting, the board cleared $210 million in new state bonding for the State and Municipal Facilities Program, also known as SAM. The bonds will be issued by the state Dormitory Authority (an allpurpose, offbudget borrowing machine for which the financing of actual college dorms is now a minor sideline). SAM first appeared in the fiscal 2014 budget as a $385 million program to support local government and school capital needs, with no clear criteria for project selection. Since then, its lumpsum appropriation has been steadily increased to $1.5 billion — and the description of eligible purposes has been expanded to cover “economic development” projects that “create or retain jobs.” In Albany terms, just about anything.
Editor's Note: True News Will Soon Be Up to Full Speed Showing How the Media is Covering Up New York's Corrupt Election System
Heastie Cool With Federal Prob
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is ‘comfortable’ with federal probe, says it comes with the territory (NYDN) Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Thursday downplayed a federal probe into him, saying it comes with the territory of holding a powerful position. "For me when I took on this job as speaker, I knew that anything that I've done or will do into the future will be scrutinized," Heastie told reporters. "I'm comfortable with it. I accept it." Heastie was responding to a Daily News story that Michael Benedetto, the treasurer of the Bronx Democratic Committee, was recently subpoenaed and interviewed by federal investigators looking into reimbursements paid to Heastie when he headed the organization before becoming speaker. "I am not concerned about any transaction that ever happened while I was county chair," Heastie said. Records show Heastie spent tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash on repairs to his personal car while at the same time billing taxpayers $72,512 for mileage reimbursements, records show. He also rang up vehicle costs as Bronx Democratic leader. “Remember the per diem reimbursements only reimburses you for your travel from Albany back home,” he said. “You don't get per diems for travel in the city, while you’re doing your job or campaign purposes. So you are perfectly able to use campaign funds if you use your car for campaign purposes — and that's what I did.”
Anthony Bonomo, a big BdB bundler on this listto get city appointment, played starring role in Skelos & son trial
“The campaign holds itself to the highest legal and ethical standards, and in light of the questions raised about these contributions has elected to return them,” Levitan said. Rafael Zepeda referred calls to his attorney.
de Blasio Has A Payoff Spreadsheet of Big Donors Just Like Tammany Hall Did
Who Leaked the BOE Report to the Mayor and Common Cause?
But
it sure seems like it had a pay-to-play system in place — whether
technically in violation of the Conflict Board’s directive or not. And,
by the way, it’d be pretty hard for City Hall to anger the five-member
board; the mayor, after all, picked its chairman and another member,
Fernando Bohorquez Jr. — a de Blasio donor and fund-raiser. On Hot 97
radio this week, de Blasio tried to justify his shady practices. He
really, really wants “private money, in general, out of politics,” you
see. But “until we get there,” he shouldn’t be attacked for playing by
the same rules as others. (And just ignore the fact that “others” never
stooped to selling City Hall.) The mayor has no qualms, in short, about
operating in ways he himself finds sleazy. No wonder he’s facing five
separate probes by federal, state and local authorities.* Mayor de Blasioinsists campaign lawyers serve him well throughout fund-raising probe (NYDN)
The mayor said he doesn’t want to “conjecture” why City Hall has been
on the receiving end of a federal subpoena — along with his top aide and
a fund-raiser — but again stated he was unfairly singled out as a
target by the state Board of Elections. De Blasio also defended his
now-disbanded Campaign for One New York after NY1 reported that the
Conflicts of Interest Board warned him to avoid soliciting “anyone with a
matter pending or about to be pending.” He insisted he hadn’t, despite
the fact that many union, real estate and lobbyist donors had business
before the city.* De Blasio Asked Mefor $20K And it Was Hard to Say No, Developer Says )DNAINFO)
— A real estate developer said Bill de Blasio personally called him him
to donate $20,000 to a nonprofit to promote universal pre-K while he
had business before the city — and that it was hard "to tell the mayor
no." Don Peebles, whose real estate company owned a building they later
got city approval to turn into condos, told DNAinfo New York that
in March 2014 he received a call from the mayor asking him to
contribute the money to the nonprofit, now called the Campaign for One
New York. Federal and state investigators are probing whether the
nonprofit illegally raised funds and if contributors got favors from the
city in exchange for their donation
de Blasio Has A Payoff Spreadsheet of Big Donors Just Like Tammany Hall Did
De Blasio doled out city appointments from shady spreadsheet of big campaign donors (NYDN)
When Mayor de Blasio began handing out prestigious appointments to obscure boards and committees in his first months in City Hall, he turned to a system of cash for cachet. His team assembled an elite spreadsheet of major campaign donors, powerful lobbyists and celebrities as candidates for the coveted slots doled out by de Blasio. This internal spreadsheet — obtained by the Daily News — reveals a blatant and highly choreographed effort to reward donors and New York power players with high-profile VIP appointments. The 2014 list even goes so far as to suggest that de Blasio appoint lobbyists who were and are actively lobbying his administration on behalf of their wealthy clients. At least 14 of the mayor’s top “bundlers” who used a legal loophole to collect big bucks far in excess of donation restrictions made the list. So did four early donors to de Blasio’s nowdefunct lobbying group, the Campaign for One New York. “Confidential notes” on the list reveal the candidate’s business ties, but do not highlight actual qualifications for specific appointments. They do, however, reference support for the mayor, sometimes in financial terms. Candidates are described as “with us early on,” “did a lot,” “real deal” and “showed up early.” One states “decent amount,” an apparent reference to the candidate’s fundraising for the mayor. De Blasio, has for years criticized the effect of money on politics. When he ran in 2013, he railed against “the rich and powerful having their voices heard above the rest of us because of weak laws and loopholes that allow money to permeate our elections.” The appointee list harkens to his earlier life as a political operative and shows how the mayor uses the power of his office to reward those who had sent checks his way. The list might be of interest to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., both of whom are now investigating allegations that big donors received favorable treatment from City Hall. All told the elite list includes 97 names. It’s not clear how many were offered positions, but at least 43 accepted at least one appointment. Several got more than one.The list includes the wellknown such as actors Steve Buscemi, Cynthia Nixon and Anna Deavere Smith. Most are lesser knowns who regularly do business with the city.
All told 28 candidates wound up on the board of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, the nonprofit run by his wife, Chirlane McCray. Some also got slots on the mayor’s committee that unsuccessfully sought to bring the Democratic National Convention to Brooklyn. Others won appointments to the city’s Economic Development Corp. board, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a mayoral Workforce Development Board and the boards of Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp., the Fund for Public Schools and the Queens Library.
Sometimes City Hall consulted with de Blasio’s campaign on candidates. With one of de Blasio’s biggest bundlers, businessman Anthony Bonomo, the list states City Hall was to “ask Elana Leopold before we go any further.” Leopold is a longtime de Blasio campaign worker. Bonomo — who bundled $44,550 for de Blasio — was put on the Mayor’s Fund and got a personal sitdown with the mayor at City Hall on April 23, 2015. He could not be reached for comment. The list also reveals coordination between the mayor's lobbying fund, Campaign for One New York, and his administration. The mayor, who formed the group to support his causes, has been criticized for using it to evade the $4,950 donation limit. Campaign for One New York donors gave unlimited amounts as high as $350,000. The list obtained by The News shows that Campaign for One New York Director Ross Offinger recommended several candidates for appointments, including philanthropist Lorna Brett Howard, who’d just given the organization a $10,000 check. De Blasio then put her on the Mayor’s Fund board. Offinger has received a subpoena from investigators looking into de Blasio’s fundraising. Nearly all the candidates appeared to need approval from Emma Wolfe, a top de Blasio deputy who deals with lobbyists. Wolfe has also received a subpoena in the ongoing fundraising probes. Twice Wolfe gave her approval — “EW approves” — for the mayor to appoint lobbyists who records show were actively lobbying her on behalf of their clients. Lobbyist James Capalino and another lobbyist in his firm, George Fontas, got an “EW approves” while both were seeking her support for a client’s proposed condo tower at the former Long Island College Hospital site in Brooklyn. Neither got appointments, but Capalino and Fontas’ lobbying of Wolfe apparently paid off. The Campaign for One New York sent out a mailer in support of the apartment tower Capalino’s client was pushing for the hospital site. Veteran lobbyist Sid Davidoff made it on the list with the caveat “look up client list.” The mayor gave him a position on the Wildlife Conservation Commission. The list also notes public relations rep Steve Aiello was recommended for a slot on the Jazz at Lincoln Center board “per Sid Davidoff.” Aiello, a big jazz fan, got it.* An internal spreadsheet created by the de Blasio administration and obtained by the New York Daily News reveals a blatant and highly choreographed effort to reward donors and power players with highprofile VIP appointments. The list even goes so far as to suggest that the mayor appoint lobbyists who were and are actively lobbying his administration on behalf of their wealthy clients.
Sheinkopf and Other Lobbyists Blocking Child Sex Law Reforms
Catholic Church spent $2M on major N.Y. lobbying firms to block childsex law reform (NYDN) The Catholic Conference, headed by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, has used Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, Patricia Lynch & Associates, Hank Sheinkopf, and Mark Behan Communications to lobby against the Child Victims Act as well as for or against other measures. All told, the conference spent more than $2.1 million on lobbying from 2007 through the end of 2015, state records show. That does not include the conference’s own internal lobbying team. Wilson Elser has long been Albany’s biggest lobbying firm. The firm represented the Catholic Conference from at least 2007 through the end of 2015 and was paid more than $1 million during that time, according to online filings with the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics. In its place, state records show, the Catholic Conference hired another prominent firm, Greenberg Traurig, which it is paying $6,000-amonth. The lobbyist from the firm representing the Church is Michael Murphy, who used to be an assistant counsel for the Senate Republicans. Another top firm, Patricia Lynch & Associates, whose namesake had close ties to now disgraced Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was hired by the Catholic Conference in 2009. Lynch’s firm for many years was ranked in the top 3 of wellpaid lobbyists. Lynch’s hiring by the Catholic Conference came after the Assembly passed different versions of the Child Victims Act four times from 2006 to 2008. The measure never came up again for a vote after Lynch was hired. State lobbying records show the firm’s contract with the Catholic Conference was terminated earlier this year, not long after Lynch was outed in court papers as having had an affair with Silver. Hank Sheinkopf runs a firm hired by the church to lobby in Albany. Sheinkopf has close ties to Albany pols, including Gov. Cuomo.
Park Commissioner de Blasio Did Not Tell Him About the Rat Bags NYP Reporter Never Asked Silver Who Did? Can We See Park Commissioner and Team de Blasio's Emails on the Bags?
Bharara to Cuomo Investigator: Stay Away from Buffalo Billions
Is Cuomo's Investigator Bart Schwartz Trying to Mess Up Bharara's Investigation?
Daily News Agrees With Beth Israel Hospitals Plan to Kill People By Becoming Smaller
Another Hospital to Close for Condos In deBlassioVille
Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan Will Close to Rebuild Smaller (NYT)
The hospital, which has served the downtown area for more than 125
years, is now on a growing list of city hospitals to either close or
change its services significantly since 2000.* De Blasio 'pleased' with Mount Sinai's initial plansfor Beth Israel (PoliticoNY) *Prescription forBill: What de Blasio must learn from Mount Sinai's reorganization plan for BethIsrael (NYDN
Ed) The leadership of Mount Sinai medical network, one of the city’s
largest employers and private medical systems, has given Mayor de Blasio
a master class on rescuing the public hospitals from failure. With its
Beth Israel division in lower Manhattan bleeding $100 million annually
and entire floors of its 825 beds closed for want of patients, Mount
Sinai on Thursday unveiled a plan to bring patient services into line
with modern practices and economics. Mount Sinai President Dr. Kenneth
Davis said shortening hospital stays and radical changes in how insurers
pay hospitals forced a redesign that will serve the area with a
state-of the-art emergency facility and a hospital with 220 beds, the
majority devoted to psychiatric patients.
Hospital After Hospital Close in de Blasio's NYC
Manhattan Subpoenas DA Team de Blasio Monrow Campaign for 1 NY Senate $$ Laundry
Friday Spin: de Blasio Special Agents Demoted to Just Advisors Still Keeping Their Emails Secret
Probe into Mayor deBlasio’s fund-raising operation expands, with subpoena delivered to MonroeCounty (NYDN)
Vance’s office has been investigating whether de Blasio’s 2014 effort
to elect a Democratic majority in the state Senate violated campaign
finance laws by funneling money to the candidates via local party
committees. The probe was sparked by a referral from state Board of
Elections Chief Enforcement Officer Risa Sugarman, who found evidence of
“willful and flagrant” violations of the law. The latest subpoena comes
after Monroe County GOP Chairman Bill Reilich complained in an April
letter to Sugarman that the same de Blasio-pattern of funneling
big-dollar contributions to local party committees was evident in the
2014 re-election campaign of then Sen. Ted O’Brien, a Monroe County
Democrat and one of the candidates backed by the mayor. Reilich cited
three contributions from city-based unions: a $100,000 donation from CWA
District 1's political action committee, a $100,000 donation from the
United Federation of Teachers' PAC, and $25,000 from building workers
union 32BJ's PAC. The US Attorney’s Office and the Manhattan District
Attorney’s Office have launched overlapping probes into his fund-raising
and other law enforcement agencies — including the state Attorney
General — are looking at a city-approved land deal that netted a
developer a $72 million profit to build luxury housing.
The mayor has repeatedly said that his fund-raising was above board,
and that the land deal — which was pushed by a lobbyist who has donated
heavily to his campaigns —was handled poorly. Last week, the de Blasio
administration revealed it had appointed five private citizens who are
close with the mayor as “agents of the city” — and exempted them from
transparency laws when they were giving advice to the mayor. Usually,
correspondence between the mayor and members of the public are released
if someone requests under Freedom of Information laws. Some of the
agents, most of whom are private sector political consultants with long
ties to de Blasio, have clients with city business. De Blasio said they
don’t talk business, but if they did that correspondence would be
available. He appears to be rethinking the term “agent of the city,” a
widely derided designation coined by his top lawyer. “I call them
advisors,” he said. “I think that’s the right phrase.”
Brewer and Chin Who Allowed Rivington Nursing Home Deed Change, Blame de Blasio and Want More Govt Cross-Checks
Lawmakers want to cross-check de Blasio after bungled land deal (NYP) The bungled Lower East Side land deal that
has led to at least four investigations has prompted legislators to
look for ways to cross-check the de Blasio administration. Manhattan
Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilwoman Margaret Chin
(D-Manhattan) plan to propose a bill Wednesday that would change the
City Charter and require the city to maintain a public database when
deed restrictions on properties are lifted.
de Blasio Sinking Hoisted on His Own Petard
De Blasio should blame himself for the sorry mess he’s in (NYP Ed) Facing seven (yep, seven) pay-to-play probes, Mayor de Blasio can’t find a whole lot of love these days. Not from his erstwhile allies on the City Council — and especially not from everyday New Yorkers. A devastating Quinnipiac poll Tuesday showed city voters give his performance a big thumbs-down, 52-41 percent. That’s a stunning 20-point flip since January, when they approved of it 50-42 percent, and the worst ratings since he took office. Plus, a majority say he doesn’t deserve reelection. Council members, too, are resisting a behind-the-scenes push from Team de Blasio begging them to publicly support the beleaguered mayor — even supplying them with helpful talking points. Lawmakers, for the most part, are in “a holding pattern,” as one puts it, watching as the shoes drop. Here’s the latest shoe: As The Post reported, US Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan DA Cy Vance are now looking into a $52 million deal to redevelop the Brooklyn Heights public library as a luxury condo tower. The bid was awarded to a de Blasio donor and fund-raiser, even though two other developers made higher offers. The deal also requires the Department of Education to lease the basement and build a huge science lab — even though DOE never asked for the space.
de Blasio Sinking Hoisted on His Own Petard
De Blasio should blame himself for the sorry mess he’s in (NYP Ed) Facing seven (yep, seven) pay-to-play probes, Mayor de Blasio can’t find a whole lot of love these days. Not from his erstwhile allies on the City Council — and especially not from everyday New Yorkers. A devastating Quinnipiac poll Tuesday showed city voters give his performance a big thumbs-down, 52-41 percent. That’s a stunning 20-point flip since January, when they approved of it 50-42 percent, and the worst ratings since he took office. Plus, a majority say he doesn’t deserve reelection. Council members, too, are resisting a behind-the-scenes push from Team de Blasio begging them to publicly support the beleaguered mayor — even supplying them with helpful talking points. Lawmakers, for the most part, are in “a holding pattern,” as one puts it, watching as the shoes drop. Here’s the latest shoe: As The Post reported, US Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan DA Cy Vance are now looking into a $52 million deal to redevelop the Brooklyn Heights public library as a luxury condo tower. The bid was awarded to a de Blasio donor and fund-raiser, even though two other developers made higher offers. The deal also requires the Department of Education to lease the basement and build a huge science lab — even though DOE never asked for the space.
NYT It Is Time to Stand Up for New Yorkers
Transparency Bill
De Blasio Pushed for More Transparency in GovernmentBefore He Became Mayor, but is Now Changing His Tune (NY1) 2010 de Blasio used transparency as a political cudgel. 2016 de Blasio creates FOIL exemptions out of thin air:
State Corruption Investigation
Amid high-stakes court battles, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics has hired two attorneys. * A report detailing how many jobs were created in 2015 under the START-UP NY program is nearly eight weeks late and some are questioning why. * Cuomo Admin: Up To Investigator To Release Buffalo Billion Report (Updated) * Cuomo Plans To Unveil More Reform Measures * Challenging Legislature, Cuomo Unveils 8 LLC Closure Bills *Cuomo Offers 8 Bills to Cap Contributions From L.L.C.s
(NYT)Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is seeking to close a loophole that allows
almost unlimited amounts of money to flow to political candidates.* *
Cuomo has pointed to his hiring of an internal investigator as evidence
of taking a federal probe seriously, but former prosecutors said an
internal probe amid a federal inquiry could be challenging and questions
have been raised about Cuomo’s tolerance for an independent probe, The Wall Street Journal reports. *
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics has authorized the hiring of two
new attorneys after several PR firms sued the state lobbying regulator
over its plan to have PR professionals disclose dealings with editorial
boards, Politico New York reports. * The Times Union writes
that, faced with a lawsuit from public relations professionals, JCOPE
is doubling down on its wrongheaded plan to have PR professionals report
contact with editorial boards and hiring a law firm at a cost of up to
$300,000 annually.* Sources: Federal (Bharara's) probe into (Cuomo-controlled) DPS, energy projects broadening * Cuomo throws Percoco,Howe, and Kaloyeros under the bus - but will he fool the feds?
* Cuomo says he had no input into his top CNY contributorgetting state contracts * AG Investigators Searches SUNY Poly Office (YNN) * Cuomo: Closing Loopholes In Election Law ‘Top’ Issue (YNN) * CLOSE THE ALBANY BROTHEL: Heastie and Flanagan must join Cuomo to shut the LLC loophole (NYDN Ed)
* Cuomo says he had no input into his top CNY contributorgetting state contracts * AG Investigators Searches SUNY Poly Office (YNN) * Cuomo: Closing Loopholes In Election Law ‘Top’ Issue (YNN) * CLOSE THE ALBANY BROTHEL: Heastie and Flanagan must join Cuomo to shut the LLC loophole (NYDN Ed)
The Post Copies Political NY Story On de Blasio Asking For His Council Friends to Support the Mayor
Scandal-plagued de Blasio begs City Council for public support
(NYP) With its back to the wall, the de Blasio administration is
soliciting City Council members to issue public statements of support
for the mayor. “I’ve heard from a couple of council members that
[mayoral aides] reached out and asked them to amplify positive policy
successes,” said a City Hall source. “The language is, ‘In moments like
this we rely on. Another source said de Blasio staffers are
“obsessively following everyone’s Twitter feed” and are “suggesting
helpful topics for social media.” “Every time someone retweets something
positive they retweet it or favorite it,” the insider said. The
initiative — which comes with the hashtag #ProtectProgress — started
last week amid a slew of stories highlighting de Blasio’s alleged
pay-to-play culture with donors. The push, which was first reported by Politico New York, also comes after The Post reported that Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) launched a blistering attack on
the mayor, urging that he “man up” and accept responsibility for
actions that led to the investigations, instead of blaming others.
The Interlocking-Directoriates of the NYPD GiftGate Scandal
The federal investigation into alleged corruption in the NYPD and possible improper fundraising practices in City Hall has
led to 11 police officers being stripped of their guns and badges and
placed on modified duty. Mayoral aides have also been hit with
subpoenas.In the interactive below, we've mapped out the major names in
the probe and shown how they are linked. City Hall officials are
represented by blue circles, NYPD officials are red circles, and other
individuals are yellow. Click on any circle to read details about the
individuals and see their direct connections.
Even de Blasio's NYCHA is Lawyering Up
The
New York City Housing Authority plans to seek proposals from law firms
to represent the authority in an ongoing federal Justice Department
probe into whether NYCHA lied about its claims regarding toxic mold and
lead paint, the Daily News reports.
Flashback True News: The Interlocking-Directorates of CM Levin, LobbyistsBerlin Rosen and the Sale of a library That the Community Did Not Want Sold
The Fed Investigation
Feds, DA probe de Blasio’s $52M deal to turn library into condo (NYP) The $52 million deal to redevelop the Brooklyn Heights library into a luxury condo tower,
which City Hall awarded to a de Blasio pal who offered less money for
the city-owned land than two other bidders, has attracted the attention
of federal and city prosecutors, The Post has learned. Mayor de Blasio’s
latest imbroglio has investigators questioning why the city chose
Hudson Cos. to buy the Brooklyn Public Library branch on Clinton Street
and build a 36-story condo on top of it despite submitting a bid that
was $6 million less than a competitor’s. The offices of US Attorney
Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance sent subpoenas
to several of the 14 developers that bid on the project, sources
familiar with the investigation said.
The NYP Left Out the Role the Mayor's Protected Special City Agent Lobbyists Berlin Rosen Played in the Corrupt Library Deal True News
The Federal Case Against Cuomo
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Buffalo Billion independent investigator Bart Schwartz insists he’ll be independent, but others remain skeptical.
Feds, others looking at public-private partnerships (TU) Investigations examine complex interactions across New York The lobbyist who did work for the state university while representing the companies vying for tens of millions of dollars in business with its development arm. The manager of the governor's re-election campaign who took consulting fees from two of the same companies. Those are just a few of the connections in the tangled skein of personal and business relationships now under the gaze of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara. In late April, Bharara served Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration with a wide-ranging subpoena seeking information about actions taken by six administration officials for the potential benefit of almost two dozen companies. The list ranges from large developers to a previously invisible consulting firm, stretching across the map from Buffalo to Washington, D.C.* Some worry new NY big-projects agency is Cuomo power grab (Post Star) * East Syracuse-based Pyramid Network Services, the general contractor for the Mesonet Initiative, a $23.6 million UAlbany project supported by Cuomo to enable better planning for extreme weather events, is one of the nearly two-dozen companies mentioned in the federal subpoena issued to the Cuomo administration in late April. As part of a probe into former top Cuomo aide and friend Joseph Percoco and others close to the governor, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara issued a subpoena to the administration for records and communications pertaining to various economic development and nano-tech projects. But in some cases, material being sought might have already been deleted — or never been retained in the first place.* Company in Cuomosubpoena is contractor on UAlbany initiative (TU) Pyramid Network Services was contractor for $23.6M weather system supported by governor Company in Cuomo subpoena is contractor on UAlbany initiative Pyramid Network Services was contractor for $23.6M weather system supported by governor Deleted Emails Cuomo email-deletion policy could hinder federal probeinto former top aide Joseph Percoco (NYDN) * Another Monday, Three More Cuomo Corruption Stories: The"Never Leave A Trail" Cuomo administration strikes a... (RBE)
The Percoco-Howe Investigation The
office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara has
spent much of the past year investigating Upstate New York economic
development projects, including those that fall under the umbrella of
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" initiative. A federal subpoena given to New York's Executive Chamber in late April made
it clear that federal investigators are now seeking information about
companies and transactions connected to lobbyist Todd Howe and former
Cuomo aide Joe Percoco. In response, the governor has ordered a
separate investigation of these issues, to be conducted by outside
investigator Bart Schwartz, who worked for the same U.S. Attorney's
office under Rudy Giuliani.
TODD HOWE The lobbyist was fired in early May by the large Capital Region law firm Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, where he ran a Washington, D.C.-based subsidiary called WOH Government Solutions.
Howe also ran the consulting firm called Potomac Strategies — one of
the companies of interest in the federal subpoena given to the Cuomo
administration — out of his suburban Washington home, though its clients
remain unknown. An advance man for the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, Howe went
on to work with Andrew Cuomo at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development
during the 1990s. More recently, Howe did much work for SUNY Poly as
well as several companies that have secured work on its projects.
Politico New York reported that Howe served as a prodigious fundraiser
for the governor's 2014 re-election effort. The New York Times has reported that Howe's personal finances have been in disarray for years.
COR DEVELOPMENT This
development company based outside of Syracuse secured contracts for
several large projects, including SUNY Poly's Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries
in DeWitt. The company also develops affordable housing. Joe Percoco's
2014 financial disclosure form shows consulting fees of between $50,000
and $75,000 from COR, though the company insists it never paid him. The
firm, its leaders and their family members have donated at least
$250,000 to Cuomo's campaign since the beginning of 2010. COR is
currently listed as a lobbying client of Whiteman Osterman &
Hanna. COR and several of its project-specific subsidiaries are
mentioned in the federal subpoena received by the administration.
CHA An Albany-based engineering firm, formerly known as Clough Harbour & Associates,
that has secured work on upstate development projects. Joe Percoco's
2014 financial disclosure form shows between $20,000 and $50,000 in
income from CHA Consulting, a subsidiary. The company donated at least
$200,000 to Cuomo's campaign between 2013 and 2015. It has offices in
the former Union Station in downtown Albany, a SUNY Poly facility, as
well as at the school's main campus. Mentioned in the subpoena.
LPCIMINELLI A
Buffalo-based construction firm that has also done considerable state
development business, including work on the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
and the RiverBend solar panel manufacturing facility. A 2015 federal
subpoena reportedly sought information about a 2013 request for
proposals issued for the RiverBend project by Fort Schuyler Management, a
development arm of SUNY Poly, that seemed to be tailored to
LPCiminelli's specifications — including the requirement that the
winning firm have "over 50 years of proven experience." Fort Schuyler
later said that detail was a typo, and changed the requirement to 15
years. The company is currently listed as a lobbying client of Whiteman
Osterman & Hanna. Mentioned in the subpoena.
COLUMBIA DEVELOPMENT Albany-based
company that has handled projects for SUNY Poly. The company's
initially winning 2015 bid to build a dorm adjacent to the Albany campus
is now the subject of a probe by state attorney general's office.
Columbia's various entities have given the governor's campaign at least
$200,000 since the beginning of 2012. The wife of founder and CEO Joe Nicolla used her maiden name and a Muncie, Ind., address to donate $50,000 to Cuomo in June 2014. Mentioned in the subpoena.
STV GROUP A
Manhattan-based engineering and architectural consulting and design
firm, and a Howe client. In July 2013, Milo Riverso, an official from
the company, met with Gil Quiniones, the president and CEO of the New York Power Authority
— one of the six Cuomo administration officials on whose actions the
Bharara subpoena sought information. Howe was also present at the
meeting, though he did not register STV as his lobbying client. A
spokesman for NYPA would not discuss the topic of the meeting. The
company has given Cuomo's campaign at least $32,000 since the beginning
of 2010. Mentioned in the subpoena.
COMPETITIVE POWER VENTURES The
Maryland-based power generation and asset management firm is
constructing a controversial natural gas-fired plant in Orange County
through a subsidiary, CPV Valley. In early May, the Cuomo administration
ordered a host of state agencies to cease communications with both
entities and temporarily halt all regulatory proceedings involving them.
CPV, which
has donated at least $80,000 to Cuomo's campaign, has been linked to
Chris Pitts LLC, a Connecticut business that according to disclosure
forms paid salary to Joe Percoco's wife, Lisa Toscano-Percoco,
in 2012 and 2014. CPV, another Howe client, is mentioned in the
subpoena sent to the Cuomo administration. Whiteman Osterman &
Hanna currently lists CPV as a lobbying client.
3GI TERMINALS Syracuse intermodal infrastructure company that sought to create an "inland port" in the area. 3Gi principal Eckhard Beck
said Howe pulled a "bait-and-switch" in his work for 3GI after last
year's budget negotiations, when a rival project offered by the Port of Oswego Authority ended up receiving $40 million in state funding. Mentioned in the subpoena.
CENTER ARMORY Another
Syracuse-based Howe client, according to a person with knowledge of the
matter. Howe was hired at least in part to lobby the Empire State
Development Corp., the state economic development office, concerning the
end of the Empire Zone
tax credit program, a change that hurt Center Armory's finances,
according to the person with knowledge of the matter. The result of the
lobbying is not clear. Mentioned in the subpoena.
PEMCO GROUP and CARNEGIE MANAGEMENT Howe
represented both of these companies as they battled for control of the
long-vacant, 10-story Nynex office building in Syracuse. Howe initially
represented Pemco, which landed $2.5 million from Empire State
Development during the 2013 Regional Economic Development Council
competition round. But when it became clear that the company had lost
the battle to acquire the building, Howe began representing a Brooklyn
investor who runs Carnegie, which has now secured access to the $2.5
million grant and owns the building. Both firms are mentioned in the
subpoena.
NORSTAR A
Canadian-based development company with extensive U.S. operations,
including a significant presence in Buffalo. Norstar and its related
entities have given Cuomo's campaign at least $157,000 since January
2010 — the bulk of it donated by companies based in Texas. Norstar has
also worked on affordable housing projects that have received tax
credits and other benefits from executive agencies. Norstar was the
developer of an Albany affordable housing development tied to Swan
Street Lofts LP. Both are mentioned in the subpoena.
ALSO MENTIONED The
federal subpoena also seeks information on actions taken for the
possible benefit of Conifer Realty, a Rochester-based developer of
affordable housing; Pyramid Network Services, a Syracuse company that
builds cell towers; and Hueber-Breuer Construction of Syracuse. It
remains unclear what connection these firms have to other individuals or
companies of interest in the probe.
1. Councilman
Steven Levin paid Berlin Rosen over $100,000 to run his re-elected
campaign in 2013. Levin ties to the unregistered lobbyist Berlin Rosen
go back to his 2009 campaign when he spent $8,000 on WFP's Data and
Field, that former county leader the late Vito Lopez ran. 2. Berlin
Rosen also represents the Brooklyn Public Library that is selling the
library with almost no community support to developers, Hudson
Companies, in partnership with Marvel Architects. 3. Berlin Rosen also represents Hudson and
has many connections to Marvel Architects. It is impossible to tell who
are the Berlin Clients are since the firm does not registered as a
lobbyist. 4. Hudson Companies and Marvel Architects are putting up the strongly opposed Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park, the hotel and condominium complex that the same Brooklyn Heights community failed in court to stop
de
Blasio and Berlin Rosen Joined At the Hip Their
Interlocking-Directorates of Unregistered Lobbyists and PACs Are A
Cancer to Our Democracy
5. That
is not the end of Berlin Rosen Interlocking-Directorates with the sell
of the library. Citizens Defending Libraries White pointed out that
Forest City Ratner owned zoning rights connected to the library, Noticing New York Berlin Rosen is also work for Ratner. White called Forest City Ratner, as it's a gatekeeper to the transaction. Mayor To Back Library Sale Because of Ties to Condo Developer, Critics Say (DNAINFO)
"Mayor de Blasio has been taking money from the developer and his team
while their application to acquire and shrink the library was pending,"
White's group said in a press release issued early Tuesday. David
Kramer, a principal of Hudson, donated
$4,725 to the mayor in 2011. Berlin Rosen work for the de Blasio's 2013
campaign for mayor and now work for his slush fund PAC Campaign for One
NY 6. (All Blue) In the space of 6 years Berlin Rosen has
taken the lead in electing puppets to mostly the city council that
follow the needs of their clients over the needs of the voters who
elected them. 7. (All Black) Besides working for de Blasio
campaign Berlin Rosen the councilman Steve Levin who had the power in
the council to stop the deal. True News has reported that lobbyists have
taken over most of the old Tammany Hall to run a shadow govt that cuts
out the public. Citizens Defending Libraries in their press release
after the sale of the library said it has been clear that with this
library sale we have been witness to the exercise of an enormous amount
of power. What we did not see today was the exercise by the City
Council of the power that it has to protect the public.
The New Tammany Hall Bosses are The City Real Estate Robber Barons and Their Mini Me Lobbyists
Brooklyn Heights Library Redevelopment Gains Pivotal Ally [Curbed] * City Planning Greenlights Controversial Brooklyn Library Project [Curbed] * Controversial Brooklyn Library Plan Gets City Council Approval via @CurbedNY * Brooklyn Heights Library deal overwhelmingly approved by fullCity Council (Brooklyn Eagle)
More on Dark Pool Corrupt Consultant Who Will Have to Register As Lobbyists
@RaviBatra Silly Frivolous. Imagine City Agents Who Seek Favors. Worse Than Nepotism. This is Criminally Deranged
The Weakness of the de Blasio Cover-Up
Stonewall deBlasio shields big-money secrets (NYDN
Ed) Never in memory has a mayor engaged in a coverup as blatant as the
legal stonewall Bill de Blasio has built to keep secret the details of
his money-in and money-and-favors-out deal-making. Hoping to prevent
release of his communications with five political advisers, de Blasio
deems each of them to be an “agent of the city,” a made-up status that,
he claims, puts emails to and from them beyond the reach of the Freedom
of Information Law. First crack in the stonewall: A mayor can disseminate almost any document . Second crack in
the stonewall: FOIL allows — but does not require — officials to keep
confidential some communications with staff and with some hired
consultants. De Blasio’s five advisers were never hired. So he concocted
a term that does not appear in the law and has never been used by any
court to claim he can hide public records. Third crack in the stonewall: Four of the five were enmeshed in de Blasio’s big-moneyCampaign for One New York
or his big-money, failed attempt to pour money into upstate campaigns
in hope of tipping the state Senate Democratic. Manhattan U.S. Attorney
Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance are conducting
criminal investigations, with Bharara reportedly looking for
quid-pro-quos and Vance studying possible election law violations. Fourth crack in
the stonewall: The firms of four of de Blasio’s so-called city agents
reaped sizeable fees out of the money raised for the Campaign for One
New York and the Senate races. Fifth crack in
the stonewall: City Hall took actions that aided donors to the Campaign
for One New York, and the state Board of Election’s enforcement counsel
concluded de Blasio’s team criminally broke the law in the upstate
races. Sixth stone in
the wall: A judge and de Blasio himself once deemed his position
absurd. When Michael Bloomberg claimed similar protection for Cathie
Black’s emails as he tried to make her schools chancellor, Justice Alice
Schlesinger called Bloomberg’s argument “particularly specious.” The
judge noted that then-Public Advocate de Blasio was probing Bloomberg’s
failure to comply with FOIL. The city ethics board greenlighted the
fundraising, preposterously finding that it would advance the city’s
interests, rather than de Blasio’s political standing. The board forbid
him from fundraising from anyone with pending city business.
Contributions poured in from donors seeking benefits — including real
estate developers with looming projects, animal rights advocates and a
vendor peddling supposedly rodent-repellent trash bags. Some scored. De
Blasio tried to ban carriage horses. The teachers union got a generous
contract. The trash bag vendor got a meeting with the mayor and
ultimately a piece of a city contract. In the Senate drive, de Blasio’s
cadre secured outsized contributions and poured roughly $1 million into
upstate Democratic county committees — giving potentially illegal
instructions on spending the money, with large sums going to de Blasio’s
agents. After Hyers went to work for Hilltop , the firm billed the
Campaign for One New York $150,000 for their services. Rosen’s firm
billed more than $200,000 between the Campaign for One New York and de
Blasio’s Senate push. Del Cecato, creator of de Blasio’s “Dante”
campaign ad, reaped for his firm upwards of $300,000 from the Senate
races, pre-K and more. Only Gaspard merely advises de Blasio as a
friend. With de Blasio at the top — at least once stepping out of a room
so someone else could put the arm on donors — the mayor’s team was
engaged in soliciting money from interests that coveted, and got, the
mayor’s favor. No wonder he’s stonewalling their emails.
de Blasio Claims Lobbyists are Part of His Government - Admits to A Shadow Govt
They also worked on the mayor’s fund-raising efforts on behalf of state Senate Democrats in late 2014. That, too, is being probed.
“Their communications to the Mayor’s Office, along with those of their
support staff working at the principal’s direction on those particular
matters, are exempt from disclosure when related solely to city business
and not on behalf of any client,” said de Blasio counsel Maya Wiley.
Hilltop and BerlinRosen communications with the mayor on behalf of their
clients are subject to public disclosure, officials added. None of the
five advisers has been paid by the city. The list of exemptions was
announced after the administration rejected Freedom of Information
requests for the mayor’s e-mail exchanges with Rosen on the grounds that
he was an “agent of the city.” Elected officials and advocates
condemned the mayor’s move. “[If the mayor] really has nothing to hide
as he says, just lay it all out for everyone to see,” said City
Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Brooklyn). Robert Freeman, director of
the state Committee on Open Government, questioned the city’s legal
analysis, given that e-mails between the government and private citizens
are almost always subject to disclosure.
“Anyone
whose advice is sought could be characterized as an agent or a
consultant, and the communication could be withheld,” he said. “I
believe that it is an unjustifiable stretch that is inconsistent with
the law.” * De Blasio Pressed to Clarify New Adviser Role: ‘Agent of the City’
(NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio described the designation amid mounting
scrutiny over City Hall’s shielding of communications with one of his
closest advisers.* With the exception of Gaspard, a former 1199
political director who is now the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, each
man on that list represents a firm that
got large payments from de Blasio’s political nonprofit, the Campaign
for One New York, now at the center of several inquiries into the
mayor’s fund-raising efforts. * “Their communications to the Mayor’s
Office, along with those of their support staff working at the
principal’s direction on those particular matters, are exempt from
disclosure when related solely to city business and not on behalf of any
client,” said de Blasio counsel Maya Wiley.* 'Agents of The City' Mayor de Blasio's LAWYERED-UP Presser:Defends Fundraising 5/18/16 (Video)
de Blasio Says Lobbyists Are Part of His Govt and Their Emails are Protected
City Hall Releases Names of Outside Advisers BeingTreated Like City Employees When it Comes to Email Exchanges with Mayor
(NY1) Mayor Bill de Blasio's inner circle at City Hall is bigger than
you might expect. In addition to his top government aides, he relies on
the help of five outside advisers. They aren't paid by your tax dollars,
they are said to have no formal relationship with the city, yet the
mayor wants them treated like city employees when it comes to his email
exchanges with them. Emails between government officials and people
outside government are supposed to be accessible under open-records law.
But in the case of his outside advisers, de Blasio is saying no way.
The advisers on the mayor's protected list are former campaign aides
Jonathan Rosen of the communications firm BerlinRosen, Nicholas Baldick
and Bill Hyers of the firm Hilltop Public Solutions, and John Del Cecato
of AKPD Message and Media. Patrick Gaspard, a longtime de Blasio
friend, is also included in the group. He is the U.S. ambassador to
South Africa. In a statement, the counsel to the mayor, Maya Wiley,
said,
From Two Years Ago
"As
personal advisors to the Mayor, their communications to the Mayor’s
Office, along with those of their support staff working at the
principal’s direction on those particular matters, are exempt from
disclosure when related solely to City business and not on behalf of any
client.” Some elected officials and government insiders are privately
saying they are shocked by the arrangement and by the legal argument the
city is making. Most of the mayor's outside advisers also work for
clients who have business before the city, companies like AirBNB and
real estate developers like Forest City Ratner. The email issue was
first reported by NY1 earlier this week after the city refused to turn
over emails from Chill,People: De Blasio Just Needs To Have Secret Talks With Lobbyists (Gothamist)
Michael Benjamin @SquarePegDem Not surprisingly @unitedNYblogs NYT omits it was Bloomberg's money, not developers & others w/ pending city business
de Blasio Says Lobbyists Are Part of His Govt and Their Emails are Protected
From Two Years Ago
Thursday
True News Asked the Howard Backer WaterGate Questions About de Blasio Two Months Before the NYP
When Did de Blasio Know About the Riverington Nursing Home Deal and When Did He Know?
Team de Blasio Putnam Spending Records Disappeared From Nassau 4 Days Before BOE Issued Criminal Referral
What is Good de Blasio is Good for the Public Interests
Bridge over theriver deny: Mayor de Blasio just can't justify his money deals (NYDN
Ed) Delivering an infomercial for a product that no one is buying,
Mayor de Blasio held himself aghast that anyone might question his habit
of raising big money from firms with business before the city. “There
will be in a democratic process people who give donations. The question
is . . . were decisions made in the public interest?” he declared
Wednesday in an hour-long attempt to dispel the notion that he has put
City Hall up for rent.Actually,
the question driving investigations by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara and District Attorney Cy Vance is whether anyone in de Blasio’s
circle broke the law. Regardless, de Blasio haughtily lectured on, in
the end cluelessly confirming why he faces suspicions. Unwilling to give
a straight answer about whether he had personally requested funds from
executives with pending business before city government, far in excess
of allowable campaign contributions, he said that lawyers had approved
whatever he had done. He relied on lawyers also to refuse a Freedom of
Information request to release emails to and from Jonathan Rosen, a
media adviser who represents numerous firms with major city business.
De Blasio said previous mayors had similarly close advisers, ignoring
the part about Rosen’s clients. Mayoral counsel Maya Wiley amazingly
said that Rosen, who was on the payroll of de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York fundraising operation, was an “agent of the city.” * On
Monday, the state economic development agency told City Hall that it
would not approve their plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park because of
potential conflicts of interest — regardless of de Blasio aides’
assertions that Levine won the development rights fair and square with
the best bid. For the moment, then, a development project crucial to
the survival of Brooklyn Bridge Park is on hold — which actually may not
be so bad.
de Blasio: My Berlin Rosen Emails Are Shadow Govt Protected
Mayor Keeps Emails with Outside Consultants Secret,Fueling Accusations of a 'Shadow Government' (NY1) Critics accuse Mayor de Blasio of setting up a shadow government — comprised of consultants who are not paid by City Hall, but pocket cash from clients, many of whom have business before the city. The arrangement has long drawn complaints but it is generating a new wave of condemnation, because City Hall is refusing to release emails the consultants exchanged with the mayor and his top aides. "It's disappointing to see the mayor, whose whole persona in government is about doing it for the people and being transparent about it, and to be relying on a legal analysis from some lawyer about whether this consultant's communications are protected is ridiculous," said Dick Dadey with good government group, Citizens Union. "Just disclose." In a letter to NY1, a city lawyer referred to Rosen as a consultant to the Mayoralty. He argued the emails were protected by the same exemption that keeps us from seeing many of the e-mails the mayor sends to his City Hall staff only. A spokesman for de Blasio says: "The Mayor has worked with a number of people over the years who he continues to seek advice on a variety of political and communications issues. When these advisors consult with the Mayor in the interest of the Mayor’s Office and not on behalf of clients, those communications are not subject to disclosure." Rosen declined to comment. The open-records denial comes as federal and state investigators are examining the mayor's fundraising and political activities. The investigations have put a spotlight on the mayor and his consultants. However, when it comes to their emails, de Blasio seems determined to keep New Yorkers in the dark.
de Blasio: My Berlin Rosen Emails Are Shadow Govt Protected
Mayor Keeps Emails with Outside Consultants Secret,Fueling Accusations of a 'Shadow Government' (NY1) Critics accuse Mayor de Blasio of setting up a shadow government — comprised of consultants who are not paid by City Hall, but pocket cash from clients, many of whom have business before the city. The arrangement has long drawn complaints but it is generating a new wave of condemnation, because City Hall is refusing to release emails the consultants exchanged with the mayor and his top aides. "It's disappointing to see the mayor, whose whole persona in government is about doing it for the people and being transparent about it, and to be relying on a legal analysis from some lawyer about whether this consultant's communications are protected is ridiculous," said Dick Dadey with good government group, Citizens Union. "Just disclose." In a letter to NY1, a city lawyer referred to Rosen as a consultant to the Mayoralty. He argued the emails were protected by the same exemption that keeps us from seeing many of the e-mails the mayor sends to his City Hall staff only. A spokesman for de Blasio says: "The Mayor has worked with a number of people over the years who he continues to seek advice on a variety of political and communications issues. When these advisors consult with the Mayor in the interest of the Mayor’s Office and not on behalf of clients, those communications are not subject to disclosure." Rosen declined to comment. The open-records denial comes as federal and state investigators are examining the mayor's fundraising and political activities. The investigations have put a spotlight on the mayor and his consultants. However, when it comes to their emails, de Blasio seems determined to keep New Yorkers in the dark.
de Blasio Set Up A Campaign for 1NY PAC Toll Booth to Do Business With City Hall
And More Albany Probes + Cuomo + de Blasio
Sheldon Silver, Dean Skelos head to prison, but state corruption probes aren’t over (Daily Freedman)
What Happens After Golden Pick Rudiano is Accused of Wiping Out 120,000 Brooklyn Voters ? Her Court Testimony May Help Him Take Over the Brooklyn GOP
Team Cuomo Blasts de Blasio Blame Game Smokescreen
Democratic leader slams de Blasio for ‘political smokescreen’(NYP) The executive director of the state Democratic Party slammed Mayor de Blasio in an interview Friday for creating a “political smokescreen” to distract from probes of his fund-raising. Basil Smikle disputed efforts by the mayor and his allies to pin the leaks about the investigations on political rivals including Gov. Cuomo, The New York Times reported. “To the extent that the mayor is asserting that the current investigation is politically motivated, that would imply that actions of the Manhattan DA and the US attorney are politically motivated,” Smikle Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. and Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara are looking into whether de Blasio’s aides played fast and loose with campaign finance rules.
De Blasio’s Accusations Over Inquiry Draw Retort From Cuomo’s Side (NYT)The
State Democratic Party swatted back after Mayor Bill de Blasio said he
believed details of a fund-raising investigation were leaked in an
effort to undercut him. In the first statements from the New York State
Democratic Party since Mr. de Blasio began describing the episode as
politically motivated, the state party’s head, Basil A. Smikle Jr.,
suggested that Mr. de Blasio’s allegations were “nothing more than a
political smoke screen created by the mayor,” arguing that there was
good reason for various agencies to investigate the mayor’s
fund-raising without an extra prod from state officials. “To the extent
that the mayor is asserting that the current investigation is
politically motivated, that would imply that actions of the Manhattan
D.A. and the U.S. attorney are politically motivated,” said Mr. Smikle,
the executive director of the state party, which was involved in the
2014 election effort and which Mr. Cuomo controls. “It would also imply
that the newspapers, editorial boards and good government groups that
raised these very issues prior to any investigations are all
politically motivated.”Mr. Vance opened his investigation after
receiving a report from the State Board of Elections that questioned
Mr. de Blasio’s activities. The board had made its own inquiries and
voted to refer the matter to Mr. Vance. The official who wrote the
report, Risa S. Sugarman, the board’s chief enforcement counsel, was
appointed by Mr. Cuomo. In addition to questioning the leak of the
board’s inquiry, Mr. de Blasio has also suggested that the inquiry
itself, as well as another investigation by the State Joint Commission
on Public Ethics, are politically motivated. * New York energy project faces scrutiny in federal probe involving former Cuomo aide (Percoco) via @WSJ
de Blasio's Lawyer Interconnected With the State Dem Party Lawyers
De Blasio lawyer did event for group with ties to state Dem party (NYDN) At the same time allies to Gov. Cuomo hammer Mayor de Blasio and his campaign lawyer Laurence Laufer for branding probes by state entities into the mayor and his associates as politically motivated, Laufer last week helped lead an event by a group aligned with the state party designed to teach lawyers about state and city campaign finance laws. “The (state party) seems happy to rely on Mr. Laufer's expertise when it suits them but questions it when politically expedient,” said one Democratic aide. Laufer, a former counsel to the city Campaign Finance Board, and Doug Kellner, co-chairman of the state Board of Elections, led the May 12 event sponsored by the New York Democratic Lawyers Council, which is a joint voting rights project of the state and national Democratic committees Laufer last week released a scathing letter saying that the Committee For One New York, a non-profit created to push de Blasio’s agenda, would no longer cooperate with a probe by the state ethics commission. Laufer claimed called the probe a political witch hunt undertaken by allies of the governor. He also recently released a letter trashing as political criminal referral made by Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Officer Risa Sugarman, a Cuomo appointee, regarding the de Blasio fundraising operation's help for Senate Democrats in 2014. In that letter, he said the legal points Sugarman made in her referral letter were not accurate and also raised the issue of possible political hijinks. Former state Sen. Martin Connor, a lawyer who does campaign work, attended the May 12 event as part of a requirement in New York that attorneys every two years get a certain amount of continuing legal education. He said Laufer focused on the rules pertaining to the city Campaign Finance Board and did not bring up any of the investigations or hostilities between the governor and mayor.
de Blasio's Lawyer Interconnected With the State Dem Party Lawyers
De Blasio lawyer did event for group with ties to state Dem party (NYDN) At the same time allies to Gov. Cuomo hammer Mayor de Blasio and his campaign lawyer Laurence Laufer for branding probes by state entities into the mayor and his associates as politically motivated, Laufer last week helped lead an event by a group aligned with the state party designed to teach lawyers about state and city campaign finance laws. “The (state party) seems happy to rely on Mr. Laufer's expertise when it suits them but questions it when politically expedient,” said one Democratic aide. Laufer, a former counsel to the city Campaign Finance Board, and Doug Kellner, co-chairman of the state Board of Elections, led the May 12 event sponsored by the New York Democratic Lawyers Council, which is a joint voting rights project of the state and national Democratic committees Laufer last week released a scathing letter saying that the Committee For One New York, a non-profit created to push de Blasio’s agenda, would no longer cooperate with a probe by the state ethics commission. Laufer claimed called the probe a political witch hunt undertaken by allies of the governor. He also recently released a letter trashing as political criminal referral made by Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Officer Risa Sugarman, a Cuomo appointee, regarding the de Blasio fundraising operation's help for Senate Democrats in 2014. In that letter, he said the legal points Sugarman made in her referral letter were not accurate and also raised the issue of possible political hijinks. Former state Sen. Martin Connor, a lawyer who does campaign work, attended the May 12 event as part of a requirement in New York that attorneys every two years get a certain amount of continuing legal education. He said Laufer focused on the rules pertaining to the city Campaign Finance Board and did not bring up any of the investigations or hostilities between the governor and mayor.
Yesterday True News Wrote:
Does the Press Understand How Unconstitutional It is When the Mayor Says He Does Not Want His Lobbyists to Follow the State Law? And How Dumb
AS Feds and Manhattan DA Zero In ON Same Crimes as JCOPE?
de Blasio campaign 2017
Team de Blasio Creating A NYS Constitutional Crisis As They Defy Subpoenas By the JCOPE Which Regulates Election and Lobbyists
Campaign for One New York won’t cooperate further with JCOPE investigation (PolicicoNY) Agata, responding to the letter, told POLITICO New York Friday afternoon that the letter "is in the context of Mr. Laufer’s client refusing to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena. Typically this is resolved in court, not by a letter."
When Lawyer Ravi Batra A JCOPE Commissioner Tried to Expose the Illegality of the None Profit CSNY Campaign-Lobbying Coordinating in 2012 He Had No Idea That He Would Also Be On Point for A Tax Exempt None Proft de Blasio Would Form A Year Latter the Campaign for One NY
RaviBatra@RaviBatra C41NY, as CSNY, is tax-exempt issue-advocacy. No tax-exempt body can Candidate-Coordinate OR lobby & remain such. JCOPE is Lobbyists'Cop * I protested in7/12 as JCOPE Commissioner when #JCOPE, w/o Pwr, alteredDisclosure Date to cloak #CSNY & Cuomo-admitted 2Coordinating-CSNY * AsJCOPE Commish I notified Feds in 8/12 & resigned 9/7/12 from JCOPE. Now, C41NY has BdB-Coordination, lobbying, QuidProQuo Donor-BdB? JCOPEsubpoena must be complied w/ by C41NY, Donors disclosed, Tax-Exempt lost, look4QPQs, conspiracy & state & federal (tax)crimes nailed. * Goodbye, Committee to Save New York! (Met Council on Housing) * "A guide to political corruption probes in New York State" (Because there are a lot of them and it's confusing)
-Thx to Cuomo feeling bitten by @PreetBharara, he cut de Blasio to distract; but Preet & Cy can take both out
Both Nixon and Now de Blasio Refused to Answer Subpoenas From Investigates
Acorn's Bertha Lewis sold out Atlantic Yards to developers. She'll do it w/Scott Stringer
Bertha Lewis, a black activist with deep ties to de Blasio, is giving a civic award
to NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, raising eyebrows in political
circles because Stringer is being mentioned as a possible challenger to
the mayor’s 2017 re-election.
This is What JCOPE Said Team de Blasio, CONY and the Consultants Did
Who Is Watching the Lobbyists? The City’s Top Law Enforcement Officials Must Recuse Themselves Because They Depend on the Same Consultants Under Investigation for Their Own Re-Elections
Federal Authorities Interview John Catsimatidis as Partof De Blasio Probe (WSJ) Supermarket mogul donated $50,000 to upstate Senate campaign* De Blasio: I’m being attacked for being such a great guy(NYP) * De Blasio flip-flops controversial stance on BlackRock (NYP) Mayor
de Blasio accepted a $100,000 donation to his official City Hall
charity from a financial firm he once blasted for investing in the gun
industry — then gave the company a pass when he called on the city’s
pension funds to unload their own firearms-related assets. While serving
as the city’s public advocate and eyeing the Mayor’s Office in 2013, de
Blasio loudly condemned BlackRock Inc. as No. 2 on a list of “Dirty
Dozen” investment firms for holding a $345 million stake in various
weapons manufacturers.* Mayor Defends Fundraising on Hot 97, Says Federal and State Probes Apply a 'Double Standard' Against Him (NY1) * Two Companies Under Scrutiny Increased Donations to Cuomo (WSJ) Former gubernatorial aide Joseph Percoco reported receiving payments from firms
Who Watchers the Watchman, Lobbyists, Grand Jury, AG - DAs Conflict of Interests With NYPD and Elected Officials
Horse-Carriage Fight Politics
Media Cover-Up of NYCLASS, Other Citizens United PACs, Mayor One NY PAC
Horse-Carriage Fight Politics
Media Cover-Up of NYCLASS, Other Citizens United PACs, Mayor One NY PAC
How the Advance Group Conspired to Steal the 2009 and 2013 Election
CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping
CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping
Team de Blasio Wanted Its Money to Pay Its Consultants
Team de Blasio is accused of campaigncrimes far beyond ordinary politics (NYP) One huge difference is the state Board of Elections charge that Team de Blasio’s involvement stretched all the way to telling campaigns how to spend the money — namely, to hire the mayor’s favored consultants, such as BerlinRosen and AKPD Message and Media. If that holds up, then Team de Blasio wasn’t just using upstate Democratic committees as cutouts to fund its favored candidates’ campaigns. It was also using the campaigns as cutouts to pay its own cronies. Such micro-management is light years beyond what state law envisions in letting party committees help fund local campaigns. Of course, the allegations also run to crossing the line in dumping funds on those party committees. The Board of Elex memo notes, “Team de Blasio held discussions with the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee concerning who would be paying for what aspect of the campaign” and how to identify the de Blasio-raised money. Having the cash from “independent” donors flagged as really coming from you isn’t “usual,” either. Beyond all that is the question of what if any favors were promised to the city-based donors for their upstate donations. *NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York was accepting thousands of dollars in donations from people who do business with the city, potentially violating a directive from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.
Team de Blasio is accused of campaigncrimes far beyond ordinary politics (NYP) One huge difference is the state Board of Elections charge that Team de Blasio’s involvement stretched all the way to telling campaigns how to spend the money — namely, to hire the mayor’s favored consultants, such as BerlinRosen and AKPD Message and Media. If that holds up, then Team de Blasio wasn’t just using upstate Democratic committees as cutouts to fund its favored candidates’ campaigns. It was also using the campaigns as cutouts to pay its own cronies. Such micro-management is light years beyond what state law envisions in letting party committees help fund local campaigns. Of course, the allegations also run to crossing the line in dumping funds on those party committees. The Board of Elex memo notes, “Team de Blasio held discussions with the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee concerning who would be paying for what aspect of the campaign” and how to identify the de Blasio-raised money. Having the cash from “independent” donors flagged as really coming from you isn’t “usual,” either. Beyond all that is the question of what if any favors were promised to the city-based donors for their upstate donations. *NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York was accepting thousands of dollars in donations from people who do business with the city, potentially violating a directive from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.
In An Era When Super Talls Are Destroying NYC's Neighbors the Daily News Honors Jane Jacobs for Saving the City
Voter's Protest: New York's Decreasing Voter Turnout
The Great NYP Robbery of True News Part 1 On How de Blasio Learned to Go Around the Election Law
The WFP and BerlinRosen Has Played Fast and Lose With the Election Law, Data and Field Arrests(True News)
NYP Rips Off True News's Story On de Blasio on Data and Field And Leaves Out Two Players Being Investigated By the FBI DUMB
Emma Wolfe Refused to Speak to A Special Prosecutor About Data and Fields
Two Charged in Campaign Finance Case(WSJ) De
Blasio Aide Backs Out of Speaking With Special Prosecutor. Emma Wolfe,
director of intergovernmental affairs in the de Blasio administration,
was tentatively scheduled to speak with the special prosecutor on the
case, Robert Bennet Adler, next week, the person said. Emma Wolfe,
director of intergovernmental affairs in the de Blasio administration,
was tentatively scheduled to speak with the special prosecutor on the
case, Robert Bennet Adler, next week, the person said. But in recent
days, Ms. Wolfe’s attorney informed Mr. Adler’s office that she wouldn’t
voluntarily speak with the prosecutor, the person said. The session was
to be part of an agreement in which Ms. Wolfe would speak to the
special prosecutor with the assurance that the information couldn’t be
used against her, the person said.
NYP Rips Off True News's Story On de Blasio on Data and Field And Leaves Out Two Players Being Investigated By the FBI DUMB
Emma Wolfe Refused to Speak to A Special Prosecutor About Data and Fields
Berlin Rosen Ran All the Campaigns in 2009 That Received Funding from the WFP's Data and Field
Mayor
de Blasio's 2009 campaign for public advocate campaign paid WFP's Data
and Field $225,000 and Berlin Rosen $6,000. Councilman Lander's
campaign paid Data and Field $55,000 and paid Berlin Rosen $85,000.
Speaker Mark-Viverito's campaign paid Data and Field $1000 and Berlin
Rosen $75,000. Councilman Dromm's campaign paid Data and Field $55,000
and Berlin Rosen $20,000. Councilman Van Bramer's campaign paid Data
and Field $35,000 and Berlin Rosen $80,000. Councilman Williams'
campaign paid Data and Field $55,000 and Berlin Rosen $125,000. Securing
the WFP nomination comes with important perks. The candidates that
Berlin Rosen worked for in 2009 received $466,000 from Data and Field.
Perhaps chief among them is a formidable ground game, courtesy of the
party’s political-consulting arm, Data and Field Services (DFS), created
in 2007. DFS works only for candidates whom the WFP endorses. The two
entities are supposed to be legally separate to comply with election and
campaign-finance laws, but they share office space on the third floor
of the building at 2-4 Nevins Street in Brooklyn.
In 2013 Berlin Rosen work with the Advance Group for two council
candidates Mark Levine and Laurie Cumbo fined for receiving mailings
controlled by the NYCLASS PAC under investigation controlled by the
Advance Group. Berlin Rosen's candidate Corey Johnson also received
funding from another PAC the Advance Group was working for the UFT's
United for the Future PAC. The Advance PAC funded Johnson despite the
fact that Advance Was working for his opponent Yetta Krukland.
How the NYT Tried to Stop the Investigation of Data and Fields For One Staten IslandCampaign, a Special Prosecutor Instead of an Auditor (Dwyer NYT)
\
How the NYT Tried to Stop the Investigation of Data and Fields For One Staten IslandCampaign, a Special Prosecutor Instead of an Auditor (Dwyer NYT)
\
Almost 40,000 a-Ballots in Brooklyn 121,056 City Widewide
Friday Update Manhattan lawyer Mark Warren Moody, in a class action suit, wants the current voter eligibility regulations for primaries tossed out after he lost a chance to pull the lever in New York's April 19 presidential primary, the Daily News writes:
BOE boss finally apologizes for 126,000vanished voters (NYP) The head of the city’s Board of Elections issued an apology Tuesday for the mysterious purge of 126,000 voters from the rolls that wreaked havoc on last week’s presidential primaries. “I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the public for any actions that might have been taken by our staff that may have caused any amount of the public trust in New York City to erode,” executive director Michael Ryan told a crowd of nearly 100 who packed the board’s weekly meeting. That was a reversal from his position last week, when he told Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” he was “proud” of his staff. Ryan claimed his remarks were taken out of context and that he was specifically praising workers for tallying the results in an “unprecedented” short time. There were 121,056 affidavit tallies citywide, 37,214 of which were in Brooklyn. Board commissioners later ratified Ryan’s recent suspension without pay of Republican Diane Haslett-Rudiano as chief clerk of the Brooklyn office. When asked why the Brooklyn office’s deputy clerk, Democrat Betty Ann Canizio-Aqil, wasn’t disciplined, considering most of the purged voters were Democrats, Ryan said, “Perhaps when more information becomes available to the commissioners, they’ll take appropriate action.” * There was no purge at the Board of Election of those responsible for purging 125,000 eligible voters, the Daily News writes, because it’s a patronage fiefdom dedicated to protecting nincompoops who have the right political connections:* Class-action suit takes on New York’s closed primaries (NYP)
Kellner Who Supported Sending de Blasio's Campaign Contributions to the Prosecutors Turns Against Ms. Sugarman to Protect the Mayor
Friday Update Manhattan lawyer Mark Warren Moody, in a class action suit, wants the current voter eligibility regulations for primaries tossed out after he lost a chance to pull the lever in New York's April 19 presidential primary, the Daily News writes:
BOE boss finally apologizes for 126,000vanished voters (NYP) The head of the city’s Board of Elections issued an apology Tuesday for the mysterious purge of 126,000 voters from the rolls that wreaked havoc on last week’s presidential primaries. “I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the public for any actions that might have been taken by our staff that may have caused any amount of the public trust in New York City to erode,” executive director Michael Ryan told a crowd of nearly 100 who packed the board’s weekly meeting. That was a reversal from his position last week, when he told Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” he was “proud” of his staff. Ryan claimed his remarks were taken out of context and that he was specifically praising workers for tallying the results in an “unprecedented” short time. There were 121,056 affidavit tallies citywide, 37,214 of which were in Brooklyn. Board commissioners later ratified Ryan’s recent suspension without pay of Republican Diane Haslett-Rudiano as chief clerk of the Brooklyn office. When asked why the Brooklyn office’s deputy clerk, Democrat Betty Ann Canizio-Aqil, wasn’t disciplined, considering most of the purged voters were Democrats, Ryan said, “Perhaps when more information becomes available to the commissioners, they’ll take appropriate action.” * There was no purge at the Board of Election of those responsible for purging 125,000 eligible voters, the Daily News writes, because it’s a patronage fiefdom dedicated to protecting nincompoops who have the right political connections:* Class-action suit takes on New York’s closed primaries (NYP)
Kellner Who Supported Sending de Blasio's Campaign Contributions to the Prosecutors Turns Against Ms. Sugarman to Protect the Mayor
Douglas Kellner, one of the board’s four commissioners,
said on Sunday that he could not comment on or acknowledge
investigations or criminal referrals. But he agreed with some of Mr.
Laufer’s concerns about the impact of the leak and about “how
prejudicial the public comments have been” in its wake. Mr. Kellner, a
Democrat, added that he and other commissioners had consistently
criticized Ms. Sugarman for “what appears to be arbitrary selection of
those who she determines to investigate.” “We have repeatedly expressed
concerns that the independent enforcement counsel has not explained how
she chooses which investigations to pursue,” he said. Ms. Sugarman has
denied any influence from Mr. Cuomo — who nominated her to the board post and had previously employed her during his time as attorney general — or any other entity.-NYT
While the CFB and Conflict of Interests Board Were Investigating the Advance Group for Illegal Campaign Work (NYCLASS) The Firms Lobbyists Client Got A Play to Play Deal From de Blasio and Nislick Almost Got His Westside Horse Barns
Firm lobbying for permits donated $68K tode Blasio
(NYP) A top exec at an “incubator” office-space firm bundled the
largest contribution to Mayor de Blasio’s re-election bid from her
bosses and others — while the company was lobbying the city over a
Financial District conversion project, The Post has learned. De Blasio
took in $68,750 collected by Arana Hankin, senior vice president of
WeWork, which is adding residences to a building at 110 Wall St.,
where it rents communal and private offices, records show. The campaign
cash that Hankin handed over to the mayor’s campaign Jan. 11 included
the maximum $4,950 each from WeWork co-founders Adam Neumann and Miquel
McKelvey, and both of their wives. Meanwhile, WeWork spent $150,000
lobbying the de Blasio administration between April 2015 and February
2016, records show. Scott Levenson of the Advance Group said he was
paid $100,000 by WeWork to lobby officials over 110 Wall St.,
where permits were issued in July to begin turning it into a mixed-use
space. In addition to WeWork, Levenson’s clients have included the
NYCLASS anti-carriage horse group, which last week was slapped with
subpoenas by both the feds and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office
as part of the ever-widening corruption scandal swirling around de Blasio. The 27-story building at 110 Wall St.
is owned by Rudin Management, whose chief executive, Bill Rudin, is No.
5 on the list of de Blasio’s big-money bundlers, having collected
$25,150 for the mayor’s planned 2017 re-election campaign.* A
top executive at an office-space firm bundled the largest contribution
to de Blasio’s re-election bid from her bosses and others while the
company was lobbying the city over a Financial District conversion
project
Before Bharara Move Daily News Covered Up de Blasio's CFB Conflict of Ethics Board Cover Up of His Illegal PAC Activity
The Daily News Which Investigated the Advance Group Ducks Comment the CFB AG Parking Ticket Fine
The Daily News Which Investigated the Advance Group Ducks Comment the CFB AG Parking Ticket Fine
In
2014 the Daily News repored that the FBI was investigating donations to
NYCLASS from men closeto Mayor de Blasio that may have been used toward
anti-Christine Quinncampaigners
On May 21, lawyer Jay Eisenhofer gave $50,000 to NYCLASS, the animal
rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. Ten days later,
on May 31, NYCLASS gave an equal amount — $50,000, to the anti-Quinn
group. On June 1, NYCLASS received another large donation, this time for
$175,000. It came from UNITE HERE! — a labor union headed by John
Wilhelm. Two days after that, on June 3, NYCLASS sent the same amount,
$175,000, to the anti-Quinn campaign. The issue? Both Wilhelm and
Eisenhofer have long-standing ties to Bill de Blasio, one of Quinn’s
Democratic rivals in the mayoral campaign. Wilhelm is de Blasio’s cousin
— and a prolific fund-raiser for him. Wilhelm raised $6,950 for de
Blasio’s 2009 race for public advocate and $80,000 for de Blasio’s
successful campaign for mayor. * EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigating claim Christine Quinn was threatened for refusing to support carriage horse ban during the mayoral race (NYDN) *Consulting firm head hired by de Blasio for Central Parkcarriage industry review was early supporter of NYCLASS (NYDN)
The Daily News and Good Govt Groups Who Said UFT PAC Illegally Funding Advance Now are Silent
Getting Away With Fixing Elections
UFT under fire for apparently trying to hide identity of consulting firm(NYDN)The
city’s powerful teachers union is under fire from good-government
groups for apparently trying to hide the identity of a consulting firm
it was using to boost union-backed candidates. "The listing of the
phony firm, 'Strategic Consultants, Inc.,' in campaign filings, obscured
that Advance Group was being paid both to promote candidates for the
United Federation of Teachers' independent political action committee,
and working as the main campaign consultant for several of those same
candidates."
The Daily News is Ducking the Low Advance Fine and No Criminal Investigation Means Nobody is Watching the Watchmen
The Daily News Reported That People Close to de Basio Sent Cash to Advance Run NYCLASS
Bill at the trough (NYDN
Ed) De Blasio's conversion on horse carriages coincided with a rush of
campaign cash. This is the curious story of how a self-described skeptic
of the ban in 2007 became, by March 2013, a man who pledged to “ban the
horse carriages in Central Park within
the first week on the job.” In 2007, then-City Councilman de Blasio
declared himself “skeptical” of a bill seeking to ban the carriages. In
January 2008, the checks began arriving — and, presumably, the
reeducation of the politician got underway. Wendy Neu, a longtime animal
rights advocate who would later become a NYCLASS board member, gave
$1,000 to de Blasio’s campaign for public advocate.Before long, more
checks from Neu, NYCLASS co-founder Stephen Nislick and others started
rolling in.Conversion complete? Not quite.
The Daily News Broke the Story That Advance Illegally Worked On Mark-Viverito Speakers Race Says Nothing Today
EXCLUSIVE: City Council Speaker candidate Melissa Mark-Viverito may have violated city ethics rules(NYDN)
Mark-Viverito, an East Harlem councilwoman, accepted unpaid assistance
from the Advance Group, a prominent lobbying firm working to further
her candidacy (Daily News 11/27/2013) * New
York City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito’s ties to the consulting
firm Advance Group may be hurting her candidacy for speaker
From the Daily News After Bharara Moves: "And
never could the city’s top ethics watchdog and anti-corruption cop,
Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters, say boo because Peters had
served as de Blasio’s campaign treasurer." On
Friday, Peters announced that he would play no role in the burgeoning
probes, which is to say that Peters is disqualified from fulfilling the
highest responsibility of the job. Letter of resignation to follow.
What About Red Horse?
Red
Horse Consultant works for the mayor’s PAC Campaign for One NY and for 4
of the 5 Das Election Campaigns Including the Manhattan DA Now
Investigating the Putnam slush fund that Red Horse that was
interconnected with DSCC that Red Horse was paid from. Another
consultant that got funds from DSCC and worked for both the Manhattan
DAs campaign and Quinn's mayoral election Mark Guma also forgave a bill
to the DA which then became other unenforced illegal inkind campaign
contribution.
What About Berlin Rosen?
Berlin Rosen Worked for all the recent campaigns of AG Eric Schneiderman
NYCLASS Hit With Subpoenas By Feds and Manhattan DA
NYCLASS, a key deBlasio donor, hit with subpoena in mayor fund-raising probe
(NYDN) A key donor to Mayor de Blasio’s fund-raising was subpoenaed
Thursday, as it became clear the growing investigation is zeroing in on
whether his campaign broke rules pursuing checks from powerful interests
seeking favors from City Hall, the Daily News has learned. The
Manhattan U.S. Attorney and the Manhattan District Attorney both
demanded documents from an anti-horse carriage group that has steered
hundreds of thousands of dollars to de Blasio in its effort to ban
carriages from Central Park,
according to a source familiar with the probe. Supporters of that
group, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, NYCLASS, have
written checks totaling $125,000 to Campaign for One New York, a
so-called “independent spending” organization de Blasio formed to
support his pet causes. Late Thursday, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. demanded
documents from the group, which steered $100,000 to Campaign for One New
York in March 2015. By then, de Blasio’s promise to end the carriages
“on day one” of his administration was a distant memory, and the effort
has since been resolved to the satisfaction of no one. In
May and June 2013, a union run by de Blasio’s cousin, John Wilhelm, and
a top de Blasio donor, attorney Jay Eisenhoffer, wrote two checks
totaling $225,000 to NYCLASS. Within days, NYCLASS wrote duplicate
checks to New York City Not for Sale,
a rabidly anti-Quinn group. At the time, the anti-Quinn group had to
disclose its contributions, but NYCLASS didn’t. The two donations
weren’t revealed until days after de Blasio won the primary. Key tools
in the de Blasio woodshed include raising unrestricted donations via
so-called “independent spending” groups and relying on donors who bundle
multiple individual checks. Records show de Blasio has been a
consistent beneficiary of bundling — for example, pocketing $1.4 million
this way in 2013 and $467,370 more for his reelection bid through
mid-January.
How the Advance Group Conspired to Steal the 2009 and 2013 Election
CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping
CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping
Horse-Carriage Fight Politics
Media Cover-Up of NYCLASS, Other Citizens United PACs, Mayor One NY PAC
Media Cover-Up of NYCLASS, Other Citizens United PACs, Mayor One NY PAC
The
Keys to the Intelocking Directorates of the Mayor’s Fund Raising Pay to
Play Governing Campaigning Scam Bharara & FBI Investigating
Chart
1. Reichberg raised
money for the mayor in 2013, held a fund raiser for his Campaign for
One NY PAC $9,900 to the in addition, Rechnitz was one of the biggest
bundlers for de Blasio’s campaign, raking in more than $40,000 from
contributors. ***2. Reichberg donated $50,000 to de Blasio’sCampaign for One New York— Hizzoner made his first visit to Borough Park after
taking office in 2014 to Reichberg’s million-dollar-plus home for a
Campaign for One New York fund-raiser Hizzoner also does not plan to
return the $50,000 that went to the Campaign for One New York. *** 3. Election lawyerLawrence Mandelker works for the mayor;s Campaign for One NY PAC 4. Mandelker works for the mayor campaign committee5. Mandelker represented the Advance Group on its Illegal work in the race that made Mark-Viverito the council speaker before the AG, CFB and Conflict Board
6.
The the CFB, AG and Conflict of Interest Board made the Council Speaker
and Advance paid a small fine for the illegal work done by Advance
Group 7,8.9,10 The mayor and Council Speaker pick all the members on the CFB and Conflict of Interest Board 11.Nislick & Neu had meeting w/ mayor 3 days after $100K donation to CONY #CarriageGate12.Neu and Nislick donated
hundreds of thousands of dollars to NYCLASS PAC that destroyed Quinns
mayoral campaign Anti-horse-carriage lobbyists Steve Nislick and Wendy
Neu have donated $125,000 combined to de Blasio’s nonprofit CONY — which
doesn’t fall under campaign-finance law restrictions — and landed three
meetings with Hizzoner through August. The huddles included a March 2
meeting that occurred three days after the lobbyists gave the nonprofit
$50,000 each.
13. The Advance Group Scott Levinson ran the NYCLASS PAC. Levinson took a Job with Nislick company Edison Parking 6 days after de Blasio was elected as mayor 14. The leaders Berlin Rosen state off working for AG Schneiderman and
have worked as political consultants for all of his recent campaigns
These public affairs firms, such as BerlinRosen, are not obligated to
register as lobbyists — even though critics say they could be perceived
as doing lobbying work because they have clients with business before
City Hall while also having easy access to deBlasio. BerlinRosen, for
instance, has overseen communications strategies for One New York, while
also counting real estate developers — Forest City Ratner Companies, SL
Green Realty and Two Trees Management — among its clients. Two Trees
Management, the developer behind the Domino Sugar redevelopment project, donated $100,000 to One New York
15. Red Horse works for the Campaign for One NY 16. Red Horse Works for the followDAs Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan 17. John Wilhelm, labor leader and cousin of Mayor de Blasio, avoids questions about role in $175K donation to NYCLASS that funded anti-Christine Quinn campaigners 18. de Blasio Appointed His Campaign Treasure Mark Peters Commission of DOI 19. GiftGate’s
Jona Rechnitz, was a bundler for the mayor’s 2013 election campaign,
collecting checks from others that totaled $41,650 and, with his wife,
personally contributing another $9,900 in October 2013. At the time, Peters was de Blasio’s treasurer.
20. Lobbyists
James Capalino is a target of an federal investigation of the sale of
Riverington Nursing Home that had its deed changes by City Hall.
Capalino – who records show had at least two other private meetings with
the mayor through May of last year – led all city lobbyists in 2014,
collecting $8.2 million in client fees. City records for the first nine
months of last year show he’s on pace to topple that number, amassing
nearly $8.3 million in fees — or nearly double the $4.6 million his firm
amassed all of 2013 during the last year of the Bloomberg
administration. His dozens of new clients include Uber, which wants to
avoid further city-imposed regulations as it competes with the
yellow-cab industry. It paid Capalino $150,000 the past two years to
push its agenda.
21. Capalino’s
firm gave de Blasio’s nonprofit Campaign for One New York $10,000 in
May — and the next day was granted face-time with the mayor at City Hall
to discuss a City Council bill to eliminate chopper tours at the
Downtown Manhattan heliport. Lobbyist who steered$50,000 to Mayor de Blasio turned Lower East Sidenursing home into luxury condos
(NYDN) A powerful lobbyist steered $50,000 in donations to Mayor de
Blasio after pressing the city for a deed change that allows one of his
clients to turn a building restricted for use as a nursing home into
luxury condos. Since October lobbyist James Capalino has collected
$40,000 in checks for de Blasio's 2017 re-election bid and personally
wrote a $10,000 check in May to Campaign for One New York, the
non-profit de Blasio uses to promote his causes. 22. Allure's Landau Contributed $5000 to de Blasio's 2013 Campaign Allure
Group official Joel Landau reportedly donated nearly $5,000 to de
Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign; the Mayor says he’ll return the
donation. [AMNY]
Jona Reichberg donated $50,000 to de Blasio’s Campaign for One New
York — and he and his wife shelled out the maximum of $9,900 to the
mayor’s 2013 campaign, records show. Rechnitz handed $102,000 to the
Dems, records show. The party’s effort ultimately failed.
23 Capalino
has rounded up $29,260 for the mayor’s re-election in 2017 and donated
$10,000 to the Campaign for One New York, the non-profit that’s raised
more than $4.3 million to back de Blasio’s agenda.” 24 Capalino clients Two Trees, Toll Brothers, Asphalt Green, Brookfield Properties and Douglaston Development also contributed to the Campaign for One New York. 25. Jona Rechnitz,
who sources said was “always bragging” about his political connections,
attended the Gracie Gala Dinner, a fund-raiser, last October. He
donated $50,000 to de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York —
and he and his wife shelled out the maximum of $9,900 to the mayor’s
2013 campaign, records show. The duo served together on the mayor’s
inauguration committee. Hizzoner made his first visit to Borough Park after
taking office in 2014 to Reichberg’s million-dollar-plus home. There,
Reichberg hosted a Campaign for One New York fund-raiser. Filings show
the group took in $35,000 that day.
26.. Bill Hyer HillTop de Blasio;s Campaign Consultant in 2013 RepresentsFortisthe
Developer of the LICH Hospital Site that de Blasio got arrested for as a
campaign prop promising to keep the hospital open during the 2013
campaign. Hyers also worked for Campaign for One NY 27Red Horse work for the Campaign for One NY and 4 Out of 5 of the City’s Das 28.Berlin Rosen who worked for Campaign for One NY Stated Out Working for the AG and has run all of his recent campaigns 29.Sid Davidoff, another
longtime de Blasio pal and fundraiser, got a face-to-face meeting with
deBlasio in September 2014 to discuss his client, Hunts Point Terminal
Market. Six months later, the mayor announced plans for a $150 million
infrastructure upgrade there. Besides seeing his company’s City Hall
work jump from $2.1 million during the last two years of the Bloomberg
administration to $4.2 million 1 ¾ years into the de Blasio
administration, Davidoff scored another private business session last
May with de Blasio to discuss a “civil rights museum,” records show. He
even convinced Hizzoner in April 2014 to perform his first City Hall
wedding and marry him and his bride, Daily News columnist Linda Stasi \
30. On Jan.11, de Blasio’s longtime mentor, Ickes, helped client AEG Live score a controversial permit to host a Coachella-style major music festival on Randall’s Island — on the same day he bundled $13,000 in donations for
the mayor’s re-election campaign. Besides AEG Live, which shelled out
$150,000 in fees, Ickes’ other clients include Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 1181-1061, which spent $42,000 before Ickes delivered $42 million
in taxpayer funds to boost private bus driver salaries.31Teachers union paid $370K to fake consultant The United Federation of Teachers' payments to an apparently fictitious consulting firm raises new questions about the Advance Group's actions in the 2013 elections.32. The Advance Group was Fined by the CFB for working for Councilmembers Levine and Cumbo at the same time they were working for the UFT PAC United for the Future 33.All
the council candidate that Red Horse worked for got mailing from the
UFT’s United for the Future PAC that Red Horse Also Worked for 34Berlin Rosen worked for the UFT the same time that they ran several candidates funding by the UFT’s PAC United for the Future. In
2009 Berlin Rosen worked for several candidates that got campaign help
from Data and Field that the CFB ruled was a illegal campaign arm of the
WFP not a private company. de Blasio also got funded by Data and
Field.
35. de Blasio after he was elected mayor work to elect Mark-Viverito as speaker of the City Counci 36 Rechnitz and his wife each donated the maximum $4,950 to de Blasio’s campaign, which the mayor has said he would return.37De Blasio’S Astoria Cove Deal Looks ALot Like Bloomberg 38. de Blasio campaign treasurer Richard Offinger was also once treasurer of Campaign for One New York 39. Two Trees gave $100,000 to the Campaign for One New York
More on Dark Pool Corrupt Consultant Who Will Have to Register As Lobbyists
Berlin Rosen and de Blasio One NY PAC Slush Fund
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
More About Pitta Bishop and the Other Shadow Government Lobbyists
More About Pitta Bishop and the Other Shadow Government Lobbyists
Daily News Says de Blasio Admits Campaign for 1NY PAC is Political
Which
raises more of the questions that the mayor refuses to answer: Why did
his people tell the conflicts board, in seeking clearance for de Blasio
to fundraise for the Campaignfor One New York, that the organization
would merely be “informing the public and policymakers about legislative
and public policy options”? And
how can de Blasio boast that he’s better than the wealthy conservative
Koch brothers, when he follows their playbook in doing a do-gooder end
run around campaign finance rules to boost his political fortunes? His
silence speaks volumes. NY Times Ignores the Bharara Investigation Today As It Tries to Distract
The Times writes that de Blasio, who often talks about the gap between rich and poor in New York City
and beyond, should take a hard look at a nonprofit’s proposal for a
universal summer jobs program, which would help kids get a full-time job
later: http://goo.gl/NEsqrr * The Daily News writes that
de Blasio’s refusal to take continuing questions from journalists on
several reported probes into his campaign finance dealings speaks
volumes, especially for a politician who has criticized others on
political money: *De Blasio Continues to FaceQuestions About Federal Probe, Controversial Joke (NY1)
The Mayor's Berlin Rosen Flack Said the Mayor's Fund Raising Which Included the PACs Was Legal and Part of the Campaign
The mayor's PACs “has created a perpetual campaign, confusing the role of government and politics, to the detriment of the public interest,” the letter said. It was sent to the Campaign Finance Board and the Conflicts of Interest Board. Both are stuffed with mayoral appointees, and neither responded. In fact the CFB and Conflict Board both gave small fines to the Council Speaker from getting illegal help form the Advance Group who ran the NYCLASS PAC that was so helpful to electing de Blasio by blasting Quinn. The lawyer for the Advance Group in the illegal help for the speaker investigation was Lawrence Mandelker. Mandelker is also the lawyer for the de Blasio's campaign fund and for the PAC Campaign for One NY
The Campaign for One NY is the Epicenter of the Mayor's Campaign Fund Raising
de Blasio Berlin Rosen Spokesperson About the FBI Investigation Is At the Center of the Mayor's Contributions From Real Estate
The Mayor's Other Two PACs
Politico reported that the group used “at least $727,937 to seed the newer nonprofit Progressive Agenda Committee” that de Blasio created. That
group, formed last May, helped the mayor raise his national profile and
reportedly funded his many trips out of town. So far, he has not
disclosed any of its donors or how the money was spent. He formed the
third group, United for AffordableNYC, early this year and focused it on getting his controversial rezoning measure through community boards and the City Council. Tenant
organizations denounced the group, calling it an “unconscionable” front
for developers who would benefit from the zoning changes. Like the
Progressive Agenda group, United for AffordableNYC was seeded with money
transferred from the Campaign for One New York, most of which came from
developers and others with business before the city. It remains a
mystery how much money the new group got and who its other donors are.
Already the probes are forcing sunlight into the shadowy world de Blasio
created and exposing his sham defense. Even as he condemned others for
using nonprofits for political aims, he insisted his were different
because he provided some disclosure and because he was using the money
for noble purposes. Hypocrisy is now the least of his problems.
Why Was the Campaign for One NY Closed Before the CFB and Conflict Board Was Able to Vote? Will They Still Rule?
When
he closed the Campaign for One New York, de Blasio claimed it had
finished its work, citing the universal pre-K program he started. That
seemed a fishy answer at the time for two reasons. First, the group’s
existence had never been tied to a single issue, and second, the fact
that it came so soon after the Common Cause complaint suggested de
Blasio was concerned about an ethical or legal issue.
looking forward 2 court date challenging @NYCCFB fine 4 lending my mayoralty campaign $ despite receiving 0 public $ & O $ from lobbyists
How the Lobbyists Shadow Govt Runs NY
The high price ofinfluence: The lobbyists are taking New York'slax ethics rules to the bank (NYDN Ed) Oh to be a New York
lobbyist in 2015, a record-busting year for the influence industry —
raining down an eye-popping $243 million in fees. Whether their clients
are hospitals or charter schools, casinos or environmentalists,
lobbyists trade on the promise of special access from little burgs to
the Big Apple to Albany
. Leadership of the state Assembly and Senate very much included —
which, shockingly, continues to operate under the same broken ethics
regime that gave corrupt former leaders free rein to wring cash from
those seeking funds and favors. At the start of that banner year,
Speaker Sheldon Silver still held the Assembly and the keys to state
grants he doled out in exchange for business leads. Majority Leader Dean
Skelos used his Senate control to turn a real estate lobbyist into a
jobs program for his son. Their subsequent arrests and convictions
changed little but the nameplates on the doors the lobbyists knock — now
bearing Carl Heastie in the Assembly and John Flanagan in the Senate.
Among the throngs who come calling is Silver’s former counsel, who now
counts among his clients a pro-pesticide group by the name of NY
Alliance for Environmental Concerns. With the state budget now put to
bed and two months ticking before the close of Albany’s legislative
session, these two leaders must act swiftly and surely on substantial
ethics reforms that wall off lawmakers from conflicts of interest
embedded too often embedded in cozy relationships with lobbyists.
Bharara 3rd Anniversary of Smith's Arrest and Standing By for Silver and Skelos Sentences While Albany Ducks Ethics Bill
Another Mismanaged Real Estate Deal By the City
‘Drug dealing’ docs scored $1M real estate deal from city (NYP) The
de Blasio administration approved a deal that netted an Upper West Side
couple nearly $1 million for a vacant lot last summer — even as they
were under investigation by city drug prosecutors, records show. Two
months after the city waived restrictions on the property owned by Dr.
Rogelio and Lydia Lucas and their family, the couple as busted for
allegedly running a massive oxycodone “pill mill” out of their medical
practice. Two weeks before the arrests were announced by the city’s
special narcotics prosecutor, the NYPD and the US Drug Enforcement
Agency last July 9, the family sold the land for $900,000. They
had paid $75,000 for the property in 1985, and gave the city $100,000
on April 2, 2015, for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services
to lift a restriction limiting the land’s use to nonprofit community
services. City officials said they had no way of knowing the duo was
under investigation at the time — the second instance uncovered in as
many weeks of a case that benefited a property owner while robbing a
community of guaranteed nonprofit services. The city Department of
Investigation and Comptroller Scott Stringer are probing a separate deal
that netted Brooklyn health- care operator Allure Group $72 million by turning a nursing home into luxury condos — with the city’s help.* Feds eye rabbi who tried to sell synagogue for $13 million (NYP) A Queens rabbi who is being sued by the congregants of a Lower East Side synagogue for trying to sell their $13 million building out
from under them and allegedly make off with the profits, is now under
investigation by federal as well as state officials, The Post has
learned. Rabbi Samuel Aschkenazi, leader of the right-wing Hasidic sect,
Ger, was served with papers by two FBI agents as soon as he stepped off
the witness stand in Manhattan Supreme Court in the civil case Monday.
Aschkenazi was set to sell the House of Sages of Israel at 25 Bialystoker Place to developer Todd Fine before the state attorney general stepped in last fall and put hold on the transaction. Aschkenazi’s attorney, Michael Bachner, confirmed to The Post that the rabbi is being probed by US Attorney Preet Bharara.
NY Potamkin Political Parties Only Serve the Political Class Disconnected From the Voters
Time to Look At NY's Undemocratic Party System
Political Parties Survive Despite Much of Its Power Being Eaten Away By NY Lobbyists Class Because of New York's Falling Political and Voting Participation
NY's Political Class in Both Parties Which Using the Election Law to Control Judgeship, Special Elections and Run An Incumbent Protection for Elected Officials and Party Leaders Not is Trying to Influence the Voters Who They Disconnected A Generation Ago
Political Parties Survive Despite Much of Its Power Being Eaten Away By NY Lobbyists Class Because of New York's Falling Political and Voting Participation
NY's Political Class in Both Parties Which Using the Election Law to Control Judgeship, Special Elections and Run An Incumbent Protection for Elected Officials and Party Leaders Not is Trying to Influence the Voters Who They Disconnected A Generation Ago
If Bernie Sanderswins the New YorkDemocratic primary, some superdelegates vow to back Hillary Clinton anyway(NYDN) Maybe the system really is rigged. At least a half-dozen Democratic superdelegates in New York State
who have already decided to support Hillary Clinton said Tuesday they
would maintain their allegiance to her — regardless of the results of
the Empire State’s primary. Even if Sanders were to win the April 19 New York presidential contest, when a whopping 247 delegates are at stake, every single New York superdelegate reached by the Daily News said they would never support the Vermont senator. Among New York’s
superdelegates this year are Hillary’s husband, former President Bill
Clinton, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, and most of the
state’s House members. n spite of Sanders winning 15 states — including
some by an 80%-20% margin — over 94% of the 498 superdelegates have said
they are backing Clinton. * Hillary, Bernie ready to kick off for battle for New York (NYP)
Albany Pigs Cannot Sing ETHICS After Silver and Skelos' Convictions
Same old Albany (NIP) Albany is being Albany
again. Despite the conviction on federal corruption charges of two of
the three men in a room, the notorious practice of leaders making all
the state’s major decisions in secrecy continues. Democratic former
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Republican ex-Senate Majority Leader
Dean Skelos are headed to the pokey, but Gov. Cuomo, who emerged
unindicted from a separate probe, is carving up the budget and other
items with their replacements. Like made men finally getting a seat at
the table, Democrat Carl Heastie and Republican John Flanagan slipped
comfortably into the habits of their felonious predecessors. It is a
measure of public numbness that there is little objection. Perhaps
silence is wise and efficient, as Mark Twain advised in a similar
situation. “Never try to teach a pig to sing,” he said. “It wastes your
time and annoys the pig.”* "Heastie and Flanagan slipped comfortably into thehabits of their felonious predecessors. * Albany’s ethics watchmice get a new Big Cheese (NYP) New York’s
anti-corruption watchmice — the members of the Joint Commission on
Public Ethics — are remarkably consistent. Consistently servile, that
is. After a nine-month nationwide search, the commission has finally
tapped a new executive director, its third since its 2011 founding. By a
remarkable coincidence, for the third straight time, it’s a top aide to
Gov. Cuomo. The same Cuomo who’s notorious for exerting tight personal
control over every investigative effort into state corruption — even as
ineffective a body as JCOPE. The choice of another ethics pointman
firmly in the governor’s pocket comes despite last year’s public warning
from four of the 14 commissioners that unless the next executive
director came from outside state government, “the public trust will be
inexorably destroyed.”Well, destruction complete. The new executive
director, Seth Agata, may be up to the job. But as a longtime deputy
counsel to Cuomo, he’s bound to inspire deep doubts about JCOPE’s
independence. Especially
when the Legislature refuses to take any kind of substantive
ethics-reform action after the Silver-Skelos convictions. JCOPE
says it received 200 resumes from job applicants. Remarkable that, of
all those, it couldn’t find a single qualified person who hasn’t worked
for Andrew Cuomo. * Leaders of prominent good government groups gathered at the state Capitol to
decry not only the inability of Cuomo and legislative leaders to
achieve ethics reform in the budget process, but also the lack of
transparency in the ongoing three-men-in-a-room negotiations.* Prominent
good-government group leaders have decried the inability of Cuomo and
legislative leaders to achieve ethics reform in the budget process and
the lack of transparency in the negotiations, the TimesUnion reports: * Good-government watchdogs on Monday continued to criticize Cuomo and the top legislative leaders for keeping ethics reforms out of the state budget this month.
Albany's ethics watchmice get a new Big Cheese @nypost - Preet, not Jcope, already found 2of3 in room were criminals
After Council Passes 32% Pay Increase and Become Full Time They Duck Hearings
Everyone
Saw the Conflict of Interests In the Mayor Slush PAC Taking $$$ From
Lobbyists and People Doing Business With the City, But the Mayor's
Conflict of Interests Board
JCOPE Run By Cuomo Ex-Aide Again
JJOKE resignations coming in after Seth Agata's selection http://bit.ly/nvxQUf Heastie wants his lobbyist Patrick Jenkins to be on JJOKE
NYP Goo Goos Ignore Slush PAC NYCLASS and UFT's United for the Future That Elected the Mayor and Council
Good government, tenant and labor groups said the mayor was violating campaign finance laws.
NYP: Mahattan DA Or U.S. Attorney Bharara Should Investigate de Blasio Horse Deals
De Blasio’s suspicious obsession with killing the carriage trade (NYP
Ed) Mayor de Blasio says the transit union’s demand for an
investigation into his secretive deals to kill the city’s horse-carriage
trade is “just foolish.”Sorry, Bill — the union has a good idea. Well,
basically: Transport Workers Union President John Samuelson wants
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to head the probe. Likely better
choices? Manhattan DA Cy Vance, who has no apparent political ambition
at the moment, or US Attorney Preet Bharara, a proven
corruption-fighter. But someone should be looking into the
mayor’s obsession with ridding the city of horse carriages — and whether
some special obligation to reward special-interest donors is behind
it.Granted, the mayor and Samuelson have had their differences on other
issues. * The Growing Call for An Investigation of de Blasio HorseGate
Corruption All the Way Back to the 2013 NYCLASS Election
And the union has been cozying up to de Blasio’s rival, Gov. Cuomo. But
the TWU’s charges have plain merit. After all, this was never about
animal rights, for all the claims to the contrary. Those who sank money
into de Blasio’s 2013 campaign — and worked to sink his chief rival,
Christine Quinn — were real-estate developers with eyes on the West Side
parcels that house the horse stables. Asked about that link Monday, the mayor insisted he doesn’t “think it’s an issue.”Sorry:
Lots of New Yorkers don’t buy it. Why is he so reluctant to say he just
can’t deliver on this promise? De Blasio also claims the press is
making too much of his anti-horse-carriage crusade, telling reporters to
“really think about what’s important.”But it was Bill de Blasio who
called the issue so urgent that he vowed to ban the horse carriages on
“Day One” of his mayoralty. And it’s de Blasio who won’t take no for an
answer — coming back this year to a fight that humiliated him last year.
And then, the moment his latest “deal” collapsed in flames, immediately
setting out to find an alternative. Something strange is going on here —
so strange the issue deserves a closer look.
More Winds of A Corrupt Bomb Going Off On LI Inside the GOP Base of Leader Flanagan
A high-ranked source in Rockland County with inside knowledge of two far-reaching corruption probes by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office says the investigations will impact some
of the most recognizable faces in the county – as many as 50 people are
involved, most of whom are elected officials.* Former U.S. Sen. Al
D’Amato, who has endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich, is going afterMitt
Romney for trying to take down GOP presidential front-runner Trump,
claiming Romney’s acting like a “spoiled rich kid” who is trying to
revive his political career at the expense of Republican Party.* Federal
investigators subpoenaed the
Suffolk DA’s office, seeking all records related to its 2008
prosecution of criminal defense attorney Robert Macedonio, whose drug
possession case remains shrouded in secrecy and involved unusual legal
maneuvering.
JACOPE power CORRUPTS;City's campaign finance rule favors entrenched pols & special interests = CORRUPTION.
Assembly Dems Try to Protect the Lobbyists
Assembly Dem bill requires more disclosure by groups wholobby in NY; exempts talks with edit brds as lobbying The bill, according to officials, would also specifically exempt from the definition of lobbying any communications with news outlets, including editorial boards. The bill, officials said, would require organizations registered to lobby in New York and that spend more than $5,000 to disclose the names of all donors who gave them more than $1,000. They would also have to disclose the exact amount donated and how the funding was used. Under federal law, donations to nonprofits cannot be tax deductible if the money is used for lobbying, Assembly officials said. The bill would make it easier to figure that out. The legislation would not only impact groups like the National Rifle Association or environmental organizations, but also some of the leading groups that have been pushing for ethics reforms, such as the New York Public Interest Research Group, the League of Women Voters, and Common Cause/New York. Some of those reform groups have come under fire from Gov. Cuomo and others for taking money from organizations with interests before the state. While saying his group would comply with any law, NYPIRG’s Blair Horner said requiring more disclosure by nonprofits “doesn’t seem to get to the root of the problem at hand, and that’s unethical behavior by elected officials.” “I think that’s where the problem solving should start,” Horner said. “For a house whose leader was convicted of corruption, to want more disclosure from not-for-profits doesn’t seem to solve the problem.” Cuomo in January proposed a wide-ranging ethics package that includes banning most outside income for lawmakers, increasing disclosure requirements, campaign finance reform, and a provision allowing for the forfeiture of pensions of public officials convicted of felony crimes related to their office. While saying his group would comply with any law, NYPIRG’s Blair Horner said requiring more disclosure by nonprofits “doesn’t seem to get to the root of the problem at hand, and that’s unethical behavior by elected officials.” “I think that’s where the problem solving should start,” Horner said. “For a house whose leader was convicted of corruption, to want more disclosure from not-for-profits doesn’t seem to solve the problem.” Cuomo in January proposed a wide-ranging ethics package that includes banning most outside income for lawmakers, increasing disclosure requirements, campaign finance reform, and a provision allowing for the forfeiture of pensions of public officials convicted of felony crimes related to their office. While saying his group would comply with any law, Ethics reform is expected to be tied up with the upcoming state budget negotiations.
Daily News and NYP Protect the Lobbyists As Usually
Oust the JCOPE bureaucrats for their speech-suppressing power grab (NYP) * N.Y.’s free-speech impediment (NYDN)* * A group of public relations firms filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to stop the state’s top ethics panel from implementing a rule that would require the firms to disclose their efforts to influence editorial boards, The New York Times reports: * * The Daily News writes that it looks forward to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics’ day in court because the body displayed ignorance while attempting to classify PR professionals’ communications with editorial boards as lobbying: * The Post writes that it hopes the courts “slap” the Joint Commission on Public Ethics “fast and hard” for trying to treat public relations firms as lobbyists and that the commission’s members lose their jobs:
The perks of donating to de Blasio’s nonprofit
(NYP) Some $3.2 million of the $4.3 million donated to the Campaign for
One New York came from just 30 people or entities, and 16 of them gave
$50,000 or more, records show. In one case, Joseph Dussich, CEO of Manhattan-based janitor-supply company JAD Corporation,
forked over $100,000 to the mayor’s pet charity, and was granted a
one-hour sit-down with him in February 2015. A month later, the city
bought $15,000 worth of rodent-repelling trash bags from him — a product
Dussich had previously tried to peddle to the city without success for
nearly a decade. De Blasio participated in at least 31 work meetings or
phone calls through September with 16 of these 30 major CONY donors — or
those directly linked to these donors, records show. He
also attended 23 conferences and other gatherings with CONY
contributors – plenty of whom shelled out six-figure donations and
regularly do business with the city – and many times publicly showered
them with compliments at events. De Blasio also featured these top CONY
donors – which include developers, entrepreneurs and labor unions – in
at least 17 of his office’s press releases, often praising them and
providing them a free platform to gain positive media attention.
de Blasio One NY PAC Interlocking-directorates Slush Fund, Berlin Rosen, Bill Hyers, Red Horse
Why Did the NYP Leave Out the Fact That Berlin Rosen Work for the Mayor the Developer and for the Campaign for One NY?
Meanwhile, father-and-son developers David and Jed Walentas of Two Trees Management
also gave CONY $100,000. A mayoral press release cheered affordable
housing in the developers’ $2 billion project at the former Domino Sugar
Refinery in Williamsburg, and they are now potential benefactors of de Blasio’s streetcar plan connecting the Queens and Brooklyn waterfronts.
A City Union and Soros Are the Biggest Contributors to the Mayor Slush PAC
SEIU
1199, the powerful health-care-workers union, gave $500,000 to CONY,
and in 2014, it received a nine-year contract with raises retroactive to
2009, records show. Leading the donor pack were 1199 SEIU, and left-leaning hedge fund tycoon George Soros’s nonprofit Fund for Policy Reform Inc.,
which gave $500,000 each. De Blasio met with Soros’ son, Alexander,
for lunch in Southhampton in August 2015, even taking time to pose for
photos the scion later posted on social media websites. He also met with
Soros’ son, Jonathan, six months earlier, and the Soros family helped
arrange for de Blasio to be keynote speaker at the April 2014 Democratic
Alliance Conference in Chicago. George Gresham, president of 1199 SEIU,
met privately with De Blasio at Gracie Mansion
in December 2014, attended three events with him and was also featured
on two press releases. During a June 2015 union event, de Blasio praised
Gresham before a crowd of supporters, saying, “God bless you and thank you” for his leadership.
Why Does the Media Ignore That the de Blasio's Lobbyist Feeding Frenzy Fueled By An Controlled Cover-Up Conflict of Interested and CFB Boards
A lobbyist feeding frenzy thanks to Mayor de Blasio
(NYP Ed) Pay-to-play is the order of the day at Bill de Blasio’s City
Hall. And the mayor’s lobbyist buddies are cashing in — big time. The
Wall Street Journal reports that overall lobbying receipts in New York
have jumped 15 percent since de Blasio took office, to an all-time high
of $71.9 million. Indeed, the ease with which lobbyists access the
mayor is so notorious that the top 10 firms’ client list has grown by
more than 40 percent since de Blasio took office. Let’s face it: Under
the mayor who vowed to drive the special interests from power, lobbyists
have not only taken up residence at City Hall, they’re running the
place. That’s especially true for three of de Blasio’s closest lobbyist
pals — James Capalino, Harold Ickes and Sid Davidoff — and his PR
buddy, Jonathan Rosen. Ickes hadn’t even been a lobbyist here in the 12
years before de Blasio became mayor, save for one client. Since then,
he’s collected almost $1 million in City Hall lobbying fees. Capalino, New York’s
top lobbyist, has boasted to clients of his frequent access to the
mayor and City Hall, the Journal reported. And the access he and others
enjoy also appear closely linked to donations to the mayor’s re-election
campaign or his slush fund, the Campaign for One New York. Ickes, for
example, won a major music festival contract deal for AEG Live on the
same day he forked over $13,000 in bundled gifts to the mayor’s
re-election campaign. They’re not alone — other fat cats with a
special-interest agenda also make it a point to kick in to CONY or the
campaign. Looks like there are still “two New Yorks” under Bill de Blasio: a profitable one for those who pay and another for everyone else.
