It is Time for A Seabury Commission to Look At How Pay to Play has Infected Government and Politics in NYC
Nothing in Papers About the 2017 Campaign?
The NY Post Arzt's is Still Trying to Protect the Hynes Candidates Running for DA By Blaming A Cop for the DA's Many Illegal Convictions
Why is the Post trying the blame the cop for the Hynes
Illegal arrests? Is Arzt trying to protect the Hines prosecutors like Ann Swean
who Seddio George boss wants to win YOU GUYS ARE MORE CORRUPT WITH THE NEWS AND
ARZT THAN I THOUGHT
NYT Pushing to Connect Cuomo Harder to the Buffalo Billion Corruption Trial
Cuomo’s Office Ordered to Release Records Sought by Timesin Graft Inquiry (NYT) A New York judge has ordered Gov. Andrew
M. Cuomo’s office to turn over to The New York Times documents
related to a corruption investigation of former state officials and upstate
contractors that it has withheld for the last year. The decision, issued last week but filed with
the Albany County Clerk’s office on Thursday, compels the governor’s office to
release, within 45 days, schedules, email and other records requested by The
Times under New York’s Freedom of Information law. The Cuomo administration had
fought to keep the documents secret on multiple grounds, including that
disclosing them might compromise the criminal investigation.
APNewsBreak: SUNY Poly Laying off 38 in Wake of Scandal A New York state research institute is laying
off 38 employees, a shakeup that comes after its former leader was charged in a
bribery and bid-rigging case that rattled Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's
administration.
Now
That the Prosecutors and Courts Have Failed to End the NY's Culture of
Political Corruption Only A 2018 Constitution Convention Will
De Blasio has ‘nothing’ to say about Silver’s overturned conviction
(NYP) Mayor de Blasio, who once
called Sheldon Silver a “man of integrity,” had nothing to say
publicly about the former state Assembly speaker’s
The CFB Catches Up With Liu for His Straw Donors Campaign Corruption That Sent His 25 Year Old Treasurer to Jail Small Fine
John Liu fined $26,000 for straw donors (PoliticoNY) Former comptroller and mayoral candidate John
Liu more than $26,000 for campaign finance violations related to a straw-donor
scandal that landed one of his aides and one of his top fundraisers in jail. Liu’s mayoral candidacy was derailed in 2013
by a federal investigation into his fundraising, which began after the New York Times published a
series of reportsrevealing the campaign used straw donors and failed
to disclose some of its bundlers. Formal wire fraud charges related to illegal
donations were brought against his campaign treasurer Jenny Hou and one of his
fundraisers, Oliver Pan, and both were convicted. Charges were never brought
against Liu himself.*
After 3 Years Wills Trial States What A Joke
Disgraced councilman laughs off fraud allegations in court (NYP) Queens Councilman Ruben Wills literally
laughed off allegations that he defrauded the city and state out of $30,000 at
the start of his closely watched corruption trial on Wednesday.
de Blasio Hides the Homeless and the press Helps
(NYP)
Cuomo Albany Special Session Pay to Play Racetrack
Developer with ties to Cuomo gets $2M tax break amid
bailout (NYP) A New York City developer who is a major campaign
donor placed a losing bet on an upstate racetrack — but still came out a winner
when Albany granted him a $2 million tax break. Developer Jeff Gural threatened
to shut down money-losing Vernon Downs, a harness track and racino in central
New York, unless the state gave him a better deal. In the special legislative
session called last week to extend
mayoral control of New York City schools, Gural’s horse came in. In a
separate bill, the state Senate and Assembly slashed the taxes and fees paid by
Vernon Downs by $2 million. Records show that Gural, who runs other
tracks and casinos, has made more than $400,000 in campaign contributions to
Cuomo, and legislators in both major parties over the past seven years.
The donations include $91,000 to Cuomo, $50,000 to the Democratic Assembly
Campaign Committee and $17,500 to the Senate Republican Campaign
Committee. One watchdog questioned why the government came to the rescue
of a money-losing gambling joint. “It’s absurd for the taxpayers to be
bailing out gambling operations,” said John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany. “There’s
sleaze factor, on top of everything else, when you have a major political donor
running it. It’s the triple jackpot of bad policy and sleaze.”
Paying de Blasio's Legal Fees Paying Off his Lobbyists Lawyers While Getting Away With Pay to Play Crimes
De Blasio to make taxpayers pay for his campaign probe's legal fees
(nyp) In a sudden reversal, Mayor de
Blasio said Friday that he plans to stick taxpayers with nearly $2 million
legal bill for lawyers defending him against multiple federal and state...* Mayoral hopeful blasts de Blasio for making
taxpayers pay his legal bills (NYP) * De Blasio’s laughable ‘moral’ case for handing you
his legal bill (NYP Ed) Predictably, Mayor de Blasio chose the eve of
a holiday weekend to pull a 180 and stick the taxpayers with his huge legal
bills. Even more predictably, he tried to claim the moral high ground as he did
it. In an online statement, the mayor
disclosed that after “a great deal of thought,” he’s having the city cover $2
million worth of bills for the lawyers who helped him face those multi-year
state and federal investigations. Taxpayers are already shelling out some $13 million to pay the legal tab for mayoral aides
caught up in the same probes — which ended with no criminal
charges filed.
De Blasio has always been
legally entitled to take that route for his own tab at a white- shoe law firm.
In fact, we predicted he’d wind up doing so as far back as last March. City Hall repeatedly vowed that “no taxpayer
funds will be used” to fund the mayor’s legal team. But that got harder to
believe after the Conflicts of Interest Board ruled that any legal-defense fund
couldn’t accept donations larger than $50.
And the delay in paying was starting to raise its own ethical issues.
The mayor, after all, owes seven figures to a law firm that lobbies city
agencies on behalf of clients that do city business. If he were a normal
client, wouldn’t the firm have at least put a lien on his Brooklyn properties
by now? He’s making a point of not
billing the city for $300,000 in legal help regarding what he considers his
“non-governmental work.”
But de Blasio
claims the $2 million is for aspects of the investigation that “relate directly
to my public service and decision-making in government.” That is, the city has a “legal and moral
responsibility” to pay because those darn prosecutors went after him for doing
his job! Only Bill de Blasio would claim
that there’s a moral imperative for the public to pay the high-priced lawyers
who helped him avoid charges for alleged pay-to-play and favor-trading. On the other hand, maybe selling City Hall
really is his idea of public service.
Special Parking for A Political Class of Pols
Secret parking perks for pols (NYP
Ed) If New York City is going to grant special parking privileges to select insiders,
is it really too much to ask that the perk be publicly reported? Politico this week exposed the fact that City
Hall won’t reveal which elected officials get placards with what extra parking
rights. “It’s the greatest perk in the
world,” one former assemblyman confessed to the site. Mayor de Blasio’s office hands out placards
to City Hall staffers, City Council members and city marshals — along with at
least 47 assembly members and seven state senators. But City Hall won’t say how many placards each pol gets. And some placards are apparently
extra-special. Most are supposed to be used only with a specific vehicle, but
Carl Heastie, before becoming speaker, reportedly looked into getting a
“universal” placard that he could switch between his personal car and one
provided to him as Bronx head of the Democratic Party.
Feds Want Two Trials In Buffalo Billion Corruption Caper
Federalprosecutors call for two upstate corruption trials (TU) Federal prosecutors
have asked a judge to sever the wide-ranging pay-to-play case against eight
defendants involved in upstate development projects into two trials. In court papers files Friday, prosecutors
with the Manhattan-based U.S. attorney's office recommended that the complex
case should be split between what have been termed the "Buffalo
Billion" defendants and those involving allegedly illicit business
conducted with Joseph Percoco, a former top aide and
2014 campaign manager for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Broadly, the probe involves alleged cash
payments or other gifts made by executives with three development firms in
exchange for government favors or business advantage.
A Fake Constitutional Convention is Possible
On Thursday, Cuomo said at a news conference he thinks
“the devil’s going to be in the details” when it comes to the structure of the
convention. “Who are the delegates? Who
would control it? What are the issues? I think that’s what New Yorkers want to
know,” he said. “If the convention is
going to be run by the people who currently run the government, then I would
say the purpose of the convention is basically defeated.”To be fair, Cuomo had
sought to change the structure of the convention before, proposing a plan to
study how to change the delegate-selection process, spending $1 million to
“create an expert, non-partisan commission to develop a blueprint for a
convention,” according to his 2016 agenda book. *
2017 Mayoral Race Update
De Blasio Is in Unfamiliar Territory in 2nd Run: Way Out Front (NYT) * Faith leaders furious after big names skip mayoral candidate forum (NYP)
Mayoral candidate wants to fix your hellish commute (NYP) “His neglect of our city infrastructure is a travesty and it is making life a nightmare for New Yorkers.” One element of the plan would create a G train loop that extends the current Brooklyn and Queens route to Manhattan. The G line currently runs from Court Square in Long Island City to Church Avenue in southern Brooklyn. Connecting to Manhattan would improve access and reduce travel time for residents of northern Brooklyn, who must navigate closure of the L train beginning in April 2019. Massey
also proposes a PATH Expansion that would connect the west shore of
Staten Island to New Jersey via light rail over the Bayonne Bridge, to
help relieve traffic congestion on the island’s roads and bridges and
provide another mass transit option into Manhattan. The
MTA recently set aside $4 million in its budget to study the
feasibility of light rail between Staten Island and New Jersey. The
borough has no direct rail connection to the rest of the city or Jersey.
Most borough residents commute to Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry
or express bus service and drive to Jersey over tolled bridges.
Deal As de Blasio Allows Charter Schools to Expand
Mayoral Control of Schools A Game of Albany Chicken With Charter Schools As A Chip and Block
De Blasio still jostling for control of city schools (NYP)
ALBANY — Mayoral control of New York City’s schools is no closer to a
resolution with just five days of the legislative session remaining.
NY spends more money per-student than any other US state (NYP)
*
The state Senate voted to give New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio five
more years of control over city schools, but with conditions the
Assembly refused to back, leaving the fate of mayoral control uncertain
as the end of the session nears, the Post reports. *
New York’s school-spending insanity
(NYP Ed) Empire State public schools (not counting charters) spent a
whopping $21,206 per student in the 2014-15 school year, the latest
Census figures show. That’s the highest of any state — and nearly twice
the $11,392 national average.
And the city’s even more extreme: It spent $21,980 per kid.
Notably,
70 percent ($14,769 per child) of New York’s $64.8 billion total went
to salaries and benefits for the adults running the schools. That’s a
revealing $6,903 (or 114 percent) more than the nation’s average. Heck, Utah spent less per kid on all school costs than New York did on just staff. Don’t
blame New York’s high prices, either. As fiscal expert E.J. McMahon
notes, the per-pupil outlay here topped that in other high
cost-of-living states, exceeding New Jersey by 16 percent, Connecticut
by 15 percent and Massachusetts by 36 percent.
Eva Moskowitz’s urgent lessons (NYDN)
Eva Moskowitz is on a nice little roll. On Friday, a state appeals
court handed her network of Success Academy charter schools a victory —
and $720,000 — in ruling that New York City overstepped its authority
trying to impose its pre-K contract on the network.
State
Senate Republicans are prepared to end the legislative session next
week without extending the law giving New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
control over the city school system if the Assembly won’t negotiate
State
pols must negotiate for Mayor de Blasio to get extended control of city
schools (NYDN) State Senate Republicans are prepared to end the
legislative session next week without extending the law giving Mayor de
Blasio control over the city school system if the Assembly won’t
negotiate, one insider warns.
The
Assembly, over Senate GOP opposition, included a two-year extension of
the expiring mayoral control law in a bill that also contained dozens of
local taxes in counties across the state.
While
the Senate Republicans, who have been warring with de Blasio, have
sought to link mayoral control to pro-charter school initiatives and
other issues, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie insists he will not
wheel-and-deal on the issue.
“If
the Assembly refuses to come to the table, they run the risk that
nothing gets done,” said a source close to Senate Majority Leader John
Flanagan (R-Suffolk County).
The high-stakes political game of chicken comes as the legislative session is scheduled to wrap up on June 21.
One
bill would extend the law five years but also enact a controversial
education investment tax credit that’s vehemently opposed by Assembly
Democrats and the state teachers union.
The
other two would extend mayoral control by one and two years,
respectively. All three bills would also loosen restrictions on charter
schools — a move opposed by Assembly Democrats and the teachers union.*
De Blasio needs to compromise if he wants to keep control of schools
(NYP) Do Mayor de Blasio and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie want to save
City Hall’s control of the schools — or do they want to keep standing
in the way of a deal?
Last
week — with mayoral control set to expire this month, absent an
agreement by the June 21 close of the legislative session — the mayor
finally spoke about it with Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan. He reached out again Monday.
Yet
de Blasio shows no willingness to compromise: “We are all for a clean
extension of mayoral control that doesn’t play politics or horse-trade
off of the backs of our kids,” mayoral spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein told
The Post.*
Protestersargue DOE lacks budget transparency (NYP)
State Lawmakers Leverage Their Power Over de Blasio’s Schools Role (NYT)
Panic as Albany Sausage Factory Back for A Day for Mayor School Control but Anything Can Be Passed
A Political Stunt by Albanese and Eisenbach Forced deB Into An Overcrowded Subway Yesterday
Mayoral hopeful Sal Albanese tries to get an elusive deBlasio to ditch SUVs and ride subway for once (NYDN)
Mayoral candidate Sal Albanese headed for Mayor de Blasio’s Park Slope
gym Wednesday to try to goad Hizzoner into finally taking the subway. But
de Blasio — who often works out in the late morning at the YMCA after
being driven in city SUVs the 12 miles there from Gracie Mansion, a routine that has drawn mockery — opted instead to rise early and give Albanese the slip, driving off from the gym before he arrived. His
primary challenger nonetheless brandished a MetroCard he had brought
for the mayor and said de Blasio should try getting around like regular
New Yorkers — noting it’s just a 25 minute ride from the gym to City
Hall. “It
may be cheap symbolism in his eyes but basically, I think if he got onto
the system, he would find out that people are packed in like sardines,
there are delays on a regular basis,” he said, calling it hypocritical
“for a guy who claims he's a progressive not to take the subway, even
just once in a while to share the experience.”
NYT: A Rare Underground Appearance By de Blasio in 2013 the Mayor's Political Prop Was the LICH Hospital
Welcome to our hell, de Blasio (NYP)
de
Blasio decided to ditch his SUV Wednesday and get some first-hand
experience of just how dreadful the city’s hot and crowded subway system
has become. The mayor was accompanied by his entourage on the C
train platform at 33rd Street in Manhattan Wednesday afternoon and was
forced to let two jam-packed subway cars pass him by — before finding
some room on the third attempt. *
De Blasio Makes a Rare Underground Appearance (NYT) *
South Ferry station finally reopening nearly 5 years
after Sandy
(NYP)
Democratic rival finds a way to get de Blasio out of bed early (NYP) Someone finally got Mayor de Blasio to wake up early. Democratic
mayoral candidate Sal Albanese boasted Wednesday that he forced de
Blasio to work out before his usual late-morning start time by
threatening to confront him outside the Park Slope YMCA about the
deteriorating subway system. While
Hizzoner is known to regularly leave the gym in his old neighborhood at
10 am or later, he was spotted pulling away around 8:40 am Wednesday by
a photographer — 20 minutes before Albanese’s scheduled press
conference.“We’ve already achieved a major milestone. Bill de Blasio had
the earliest workout – I’m convinced – in the history of his workouts,”
said Albanese.“What I wanted to do was ask Bill to take the subway: On
behalf of all New Yorkers, he should experience what I’ve experienced
many times. The system is in disarray and the mayor should take the
subway once in a while. So we’re here to spur him on.”*
Every Elected Official Campaigns On Improving the City's Infrastructure . . . Yet Our Trains Are Held Together With Twist-Ties
5 steps the city must take if its serious about fixing the subways (NYP)*
Joe Lhota Returns as M.T.A. Chairman to Fix Subway Mess (NYT)
