Deadbeat Dad Andrew Cuomo Shirked Paying Fair Share For Family Upkeep

More evidence that Governor Cuomo's a deadbeat dad:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars into a fund as his share of the family's expenses while married to one of Robert F. Kennedy's daughters, Daily Mail Online has learned exclusively.

The result of his inaction is that ex-wife Kerry Kennedy is considerably worse off than her eight surviving siblings or other members of the Kennedy clan.

And that is why Kerry, 56, has been determined to battle the husband she divorced more than a decade ago for child support for their three daughters, who are all now at Ivy League universities.

'Kerry never thought to check to make sure Andrew was paying the money in while she was married, it was only after they split that she realized,' one inside Kennedy source tells Daily Mail Online.

Cuomo and Kennedy finally came to an agreement on the cash to fund their daughters' education late last week after The New York Post started digging into the matter. 

The Post said the dispute surrounded 'substantial amounts' of child support payments for the past two-and-a-half years.

The Post claimed Cuomo, who is seen as a likely future Democratic presidential candidate, only paid up a few hours after learning that the paper was preparing an article in a bid to avoid adverse publicity.

But sources tell Daily Mail Online this isn't the first time that Cuomo, 58, has tried to avoid paying money to his ex. He did the same when they were married.

'This fits the pattern,' the insider told Daily Mail Online.

Read the whole thing, then head on over and read Andrew Cuomo's 2012 statement about the importance of paying child support.

It's a hoot.

Deadbeat Dad Andrew Cuomo Declared August "Child Support Awareness Month"

Just as Tax Deadbeat Andrew Cuomo went after other tax deadbeats while barring the tax assessor from assessing improvements made to the home he shares with celebrity chef Sandra Lee, Deadbeat Dad Andrew Cuomo declared August "Child Support Awareness Month" while failing to pay child support to his ex-wife Kerry Kennedy:

Declares Aug. 2012 "Child Support Awareness Month"...then doesn't pay child support. @Fud31 https://t.co/bCLbZdP21m https://t.co/LMPW0vtbzT

— Steve McLaughlin (@SteveMcNY) December 7, 2015

Here was the governor's own press release from August 2012 on the importance of paying child support and going after deadbeats who don't:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that he has issued a Proclamation declaring August as Child Support Awareness Month in New York State. This was announced in partnership with The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).

OTDA, in conjunction with local departments of social services, administers New York's child support enforcement program. In addition, OTDA assists in obtaining financial assistance and health insurance coverage for children by locating non-custodial parents, establishing paternity and support orders, collecting, distributing, and enforcing payments of child support.

"By enforcing child support payments, OTDA is not only securing the financial benefits owed to custodial parents, but protecting the well-being and future of the children of our state," said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. "Child support is important for the economic stability of these families, and is especially crucial to those in low-income areas. We are dedicated to protecting the rights of vulnerable children in New York State by holding individuals accountable."

"Child support is a vital source of income for single-parent households in New York State, many of them low-income families," said OTDA Executive Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth Berlin. "Our successes in child support are critical to enhancing child well-being and the economic security of New York's families. Studies have shown that when both parents provide financial and emotional support, children are more likely to lead healthy and productive lives, do well in school and succeed later in life."

OTDA should have gone after Andrew Cuomo and forced him to make his child support payments.

Oh well - looks like the Fred Dicker column on Andy being a deadbeat daddy worked just as well.

Report: Andrew Cuomo's A Deadbeat Dad

Fred Dicker in the NY Post:

Gov. Cuomo has been privately battling ex-wife Kerry Kennedy for years over “substantial’’ child-support payments for their three children, The Post has been told.

Two sources close to the Kennedy family — both well-known individuals — told The Post that Cuomo, 58, and Kennedy, 56, have been involved in at-times-bitter, lawyer-assisted go-rounds over “substantial amounts’’ of child-support payments for the past 2¹/₂ years, and reached an agreement on some of the financial obligations only two weeks ago.

Since then, the sources said, a battle has continued over payments for “education costs and health care’’ for 20-year-old daughters Cara and Mariah, who attend Harvard and Brown universities, respectively, and Michaela, 18, who recently graduated from high school a few months after being taken to the Westchester County Medical Center after an unexplained incident in which she was found unconscious at her mother’s home.

The remaining dispute apparently was resolved Friday evening — just a few hours after The Post made inquiries about what is, for Cuomo, a politically embarrassing situation.

One of the sources said he had, in fact, hoped that knowledge that The Post was working on a report about the situation would convince the governor to quickly settle the dispute with Kennedy, daughter of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy — if only to avoid what was certain to be adverse publicity.

“Kerry has been at the end of her ropes over this because nothing seemed to convince him [Cuomo] to do the right thing,’’ said a source close to Kennedy.

“Andrew didn’t pay child support or alimony for the past 2¹/₂ years until a few weeks ago, and then he continued to leave out the payments for education and health care, which he’s required to pay.

Dicker writes that Kennedy and Cuomo released a joint statement this weekend that the Post report is completely unfounded but that one of his "sources" says Kennedy's signature on that statement comes as part of the deal to finally get Deadbeat Andy to pay his full share of child support, including education and health care payments.

This isn't the first time Cuomo's been caught being a deadbeat.

He's also a tax deadbeat, having barred the assessor from entering the house he shares with partner Sandra Lee to assess improvements she made to the property that were shown in newspapers and magazines.

So, quite frankly, I'm not surprised that this report of Cuomo as a deadbeat dad has surfaced.

Cuomo's the kind of guy who thinks rules and regulations are only for other people.

Otherwise how do you explain Tax Deadbeat Andy going after other tax deadbeats?

Tax Deadbeat Andrew Cuomo Vows To Go After Tax Deadbeats Like Himself

How's this for chutzpah?

Tax deadbeat Andrew Cuomo, the man who won't let the tax assessor into his house to assess the semi-homemade improvements Sandra Lee made to it that would raise his tax bill, is going to go after other tax deadbeats:

ALBANY— Tax scofflaws owing the state as little as $5,000 could have their driver’s licenses suspended if Gov. Cuomo gets his way.

Cuomo in 2013 successfully pushed a law to suspend the licenses of those owing the state at least $10,000 in back taxes.

Since going into effect, nearly 14,000 delinquent taxpayers have forked over more than $125 million to the state taxman to get their driving privileges reinstated, officials say.

Cuomo estimates that lowering the threshold to $5,000 would impact another 11,000 people and result in $9 million in new revenue and $3 million annually after that.

 “Those who fail to play by the same rules as everyone else place an undue burden on hardworking, law-abiding taxpayers,” he said. “These reforms send a simple message: either pay the taxes they owe, or face real consequences.”

Let's review the "Cuomo refuses to let the tax assessor into his house" story from last year:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed the controversy over whether he and his live-in girlfriend, Food Network star Sandra Lee, dodged property tax increases on their $1.2 million New Castle home for the first time Thursday but claimed not to know too much about the process.

The governor said he was unaware that New Castle assessor Phil Platz was barred last month from entering his 4 Bittersweet Lane home to determine the taxable value of its interior. He said he thought that exterior inspections were all that was necessary.

"I think that's how it works, isn't it?" Cuomo asked.

Platz paid a visit to the six-bedroom, five-bath home on three acres May 27 after a Tax Watch investigation found that Lee did extensive work there without building permits and without triggering any increase in the home's taxable value. Lee bought the house she calls Lily Pond for $1.2 million in 2008 but the assessed value had since dropped to $936,000. The renovations she undertook were widely reported in profiles of Lee in USA Today and Vogue, among other publications.

Platz followed up on the newspaper's reporting and increased the assessment by 29 percent, to $1.2 million, but had to guess what was inside the home because he was denied admittance.

Cuomo says he wants to go after “Those who fail to play by the same rules as everyone else" and send them a simple message: either pay taxes or face consequences.

Swell - he ought to start with himself and his girlfriend Sandra Lee.

Cuomo Says He'll Go After Tax Cheats - He Should Start With Himself

From the Poughkeepsie Journal News:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office on Thursday announced it will seek legislation to let the state recoup millions in school tax breaks paid to high-income New Yorkers who did not qualify to receive them.

The announcement came five days after an investigation by The Journal News found an estimated $28 million in school property-tax subsidies since 2011 were granted to households ineligible to receive them because they earned more than $500,000 a year. And it came 10 weeks after the administration said it was the responsibility of local assessors to recover the state's ill-spent STAR tax dollars.

Assessors had roundly panned that plan.

"We'll be pursuing legislation to empower tax and finance officials to directly recover STAR benefits previously granted to ineligible property owners and to increase penalties for STAR fraud," said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi.

Three candidates seeking to oust Cuomo — Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout and Green Party hopeful Howie Hawkins — last week had called on Cuomo to act.

"It's unfortunate that it took a newspaper expose to convince the governor to take action," said Astorino campaign spokesman Bill O'Reilly. "By doing nothing he was driving property taxes even higher for those least able to afford them. We are hopeful that the governor will have a real change of heart now and allow the tax assessor into his own home to determine how much he, himself, has been underpaying the Town of New Castle for the past four years."

O'Reilly was referring to another Journal News investigation in May, which found that extensive renovations had been done at Cuomo's $1.2 million home in 2008 and 2009 without building permits or an increase in its taxable value. In June, the New Castle assessor hiked the assessment by 29 percent but based that on an inspection of the outside of the house. Cuomo and his partner, Food Network star Sandra Lee, would not let the assessor inside.

Two things to say here.

First, is it a surprise that the Cuomo administration had to be shamed by public expose in a newspaper to collect taxes owed by people making more than $500,000?

Second, how hypocritical that Cuomo is going to go after these tax deadbeats while sparing himself and his consort, Sandra Lee, from paying the taxes they may rightfully owe on their Westchester home.

Alas, since Cuomo refuses to allow the tax assessors into his home to see what upgrades he and Sandra Lee made to it, we'll never know whether he owes those taxes or not.

Westchester Residents Demand Tax Deadbeat Governor Cuomo Submit To Tax Assessment

Tax deadbeat Governor Cuomo and his consort Sandra Lee have refused to let the tax assessor into their Westchester home in order to avoid a property tax increase.

That move is not playing well around Westchester - so fellow Westchester residents have decided to follow suit and refuse to let the assessor into their own properties:

Westchester County residents joined gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino outside New Castle Town Hall on Thursday, calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to open his home to the town assessor so he could better determine the taxable value of its interior.

New Castle Assessor Phil Platz was denied entrance to Cuomo's home on May 27 when he came for a scheduled inspection, which was sparked by The Journal News investigation of renovations done at 4 Bittersweet Lane since Cuomo's girlfriend, celebrity chef Sandra Lee, purchased it in 2008. The investigation found that the renovations, detailed in numerous national publications, were conducted in 2009 and 2010 without building permits, which would have alerted the assessor of taxable improvements.

The news conference followed the Astorino campaign's robo-call campaign to 1 million homes, accusing Cuomo of getting "caught cheating on his property taxes."

Yonkers homeowner Ralph Volino said he would refuse to let revaluation data collectors from Yonkers into his home until Cuomo opened his door to the New Castle assessor.
Yonkers is moving forward with a citywide revaluation, and data collection could begin later this year.

"I think Governor Cuomo is hiding something," Volino said. "If he's not opening his door, I'm not opening mine."

Yonkers Assessor David Jackson acknowledged that the decision by homeowners to bar data collectors will hurt efforts to obtain accurate assessments, which lead to a fairer property-tax system. Homeowners have the right, however, to deny access to assessors.

"We hope that resonates and those property owners appreciate that the foundation for attaining a fairer property tax in the City of Yonkers is accurate data," Jackson said.

The Cuomo campaign says this is all just about politics:

Cuomo campaign spokesman Peter Kauffmann dismissed the news conference as an Astorino political gambit.

"It's now totally clear what we said all along — this is Mr. Astorino's Republican small town politics and what every real Westchester homeowner is saying to Rob Astorino is stop playing politics and lower my taxes," Kauffmann said.

They don't seem to realize that Cuomo's refusal to let the tax assessor into his home is not going to play as "politics" and come back to bite GOP opponent Astorino.

Rather, it's the kind of thing that is going to build resentment against Cuomo - and not just for 2014.

He runs for president in 2016 or 2020, you can bet this tax deadbeat story will come back to haunt him.

People In Westchester Demand Tax Deadbeat Governor Cuomo Open His Home To The Tax Assessor

From State of Politics:

At 10:15 a.m., “irate” Westchester homeowners will announce a strike against opening their homes to tax assessors until Cuomo does the same, New Castle Town Hall, 200 South Greeley Ave., Chappaqua.

This tax issue is going to become a very big issue for Andrew M. Cuomo.

Astorino is using it against him already and whenever Cuomo decides to run for higher office, it will follow him.

Hard to see how the tax deadbeat issue plays well for Cuomo either in 2014 or going forward.

State Assessors Upset Governor Cuomo Refuses To Let Assessor Into His Home

From Lohud:

The Cuomo administration's manual for municipal assessors instructs them to ask each property owner to allow an interior inspection during the reassessment process.

Assessors say such an inspection provides the best opportunity to discern both the condition, quality and extent of a building's improvements, which add to a home's taxable value.

The refusal to allow the New Castle town assessor into the home of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Food Network star Sandra Lee in late May has troubled assessors statewide. The request came two weeks after The Journal News revealed that Lee, who owns the $1.2 million home, had carried out extensive renovations on the 4 Bittersweet Lane mansion, but had failed to obtain building permits, which would have sparked a review of the home's value by the town assessor.

Homeowners have the right to keep the assessor at bay. But many homeowners cooperate. During Scarsdale's 2014 revaluation, village assessor Nanette Albanese said Tyler Technologies reported that 95 percent of Scarsdale homeowners allowed the data collectors inside their homes.

New Castle assessor Phil Platz was given permission to inspect the exterior of the home Lee calls "Lily Pond," so he had to estimate what was inside the six-bedroom Lee-Cuomo home on three acres. He boosted the value by almost $300,000.

This spring, the towns of Ossining and Greenburgh launched their long-overdue revaluation projects and Yonkers is expected to begin data collection by year's end. Ossining Assessor Fernando Gonzalez fears that homeowners will emulate Lee and Cuomo and limit the assessor to guesswork on the value of their interiors.

"Assessors undergoing revaluation are concerned with this train of thought — that it will give people an excuse not to allow us in," said Ossining Assessor Fernando Gonzalez. "Most people are very fair and want to pay their fair share. But just because taxes are high — that's not unique to Westchester — that's no excuse not to have done the right thing. The right thing, unless you have something to hide, is to have that proper valuation established."

It seems Governor Cuomo has something to hide.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, the Mount Pleasant Republican seeking to oust Cuomo in November, said that New Castle assessor's inability to inspect the interior of the Lee-Cuomo home casts doubt on whether the governor and his girlfriend are paying their fair share.

"Everybody wants to know what he is hiding," Astorino said. "Nobody wants a tax cheat as governor."

What are you hiding, Governor?

Let Us Count The Ways Andrew Cuomo Is A Despicable Human Being

Yeah, I know - technically this is Sandra Lee that was hit with a lawsuit for being a deadbeat, but don't forget who shares that home with her:

Food Network star Sandra Lee has made good on an $800 overdue bill from a Putnam company that removed snow from the roof of her $1.2 million home earlier this year, a court clerk said Tuesday.

Lee had been scheduled to appear in Town Court last Thursday after The Honey Do Men Gutters and Roofing Corp. of Mahopac sued her for $800 plus interest, claiming she paid only part of a $4,000 bill after company workers spent two hours clearing snow from her roof in February.

But the matter was settled prior to Thursday evening's court date, which was then canceled, the clerk said. The company's attorney, Francis J. O'Reilly, confirmed Lee paid.

A message left through the website of Lee, 47, seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Lee is known for her "semi-homemade" cooking method in which she primarily uses prepackaged products along with fresh products. She shares the New Castle home with her boyfriend, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo,

In the lawsuit filed in Town Court, the company claimed a representative of Lee, a woman named Irma Martinez, called them Feb. 20 to remove snow from the roof of Lee's home at 4 Bittersweet Lane.

Honey Do Men said it did $4,294 worth of work but that Lee only paid them $3,494 after they contacted her three times for payment.

Now if only Deadbeat Cuomo would let the town assessor into his home to do a proper assessment of improvements he and Sandra Lee had done to it:

Lee's home has been in the news in recent weeks after lohud.com Tax Watchdog David McKay Wilson reported that Lee had made many improvements to the property without town approval.

By improving the home without proper permits, Lee likely had avoided paying higher taxes because town officials had not been aware of any changes that could potentially increase its value, Wilson concluded.

In the wake of Wilson's reporting, a town assessor visited the house and came up with a tentative reassessment raising its value by 29 percent. The value was based on an exterior inspection of the home because the assessor was not allowed inside. Cuomo later told Wilson he was not aware the assessor was not allowed inside.

Can you imagine what the Cuomo campaign would be doing if his GOP challenger, Rob Astorino, were as big a deadbeat as Sheriff Andy Cuomo and Sandra Lee are?

Hell, Cuomo sent David Paterson out after Astorino yesterday to dredge up some political corruption Astorino's father was involved in over 20 years ago.

I noted the following in a comment on State of Politics:

Wait, so Paterson calls the girlfriend of his aide who's filed domestic abuse charges to get her to drop the charges against his aide, but he's bringing up a 20 year old criminal conviction of Astorino's father?
 
Seriously?

I'm a Democrat, been one since I could first vote, but I have to tell you, the criminality and sheer gall that comes out of the Democratic Party leadership in this state makes me sick.

David Paterson should be in jail for witness tampering.

Had there been a real attorney general at the time and not Quid Pro Cuomo in that office, maybe there would have been a real investigation into Paterson.

Hey, you know what? Maybe you folks at State of Politics can ask Paterson where he gets the nerve to let these statements go out with his name attached after he barely got out of Albany without a perp walk?

There's just so much to despise about Andrew Cuomo and his consorts, both political and otherwise.

Sleazy, nasty, criminal deadbeats.

That's Cuomo and Company.

And yeah, I'm including Sandra Lee in that mix.

Tax Deadbeat Andrew Cuomo Offers Lame Excuse For Barring Tax Assessor From His Home

Keep an eye on this story - it's something opponents of Andrew Cuomo will hit again and again during his re-election campaign:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed the controversy over whether he and his live-in girlfriend, Food Network star Sandra Lee, dodged property tax increases on their $1.2 million New Castle home for the first time Thursday but claimed not to know too much about the process.

The governor said he was unaware that New Castle assessor Phil Platz was barred last month from entering his 4 Bittersweet Lane home to determine the taxable value of its interior. He said he thought that exterior inspections were all that was necessary.

"I think that's how it works, isn't it?" Cuomo asked.

Platz paid a visit to the six-bedroom, five-bath home on three acres May 27 after a Tax Watch investigation found that Lee did extensive work there without building permits and without triggering any increase in the home's taxable value. Lee bought the house she calls Lily Pond for $1.2 million in 2008 but the assessed value had since dropped to $936,000. The renovations she undertook were widely reported in profiles of Lee in USA Today and Vogue, among other publications.

Platz followed up on the newspaper's reporting and increased the assessment by 29 percent, to $1.2 million, but had to guess what was inside the home because he was denied admittance.

GOP opponent Rob Astorino is already hitting Cuomo over this outrage:

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who is challenging Cuomo for governor,  charged Thursday that his Democratic opponent had evaded his fair share of property taxes and attempted to cover up the improvements.

"We are directly suggesting that Andrew Cuomo hid renovations to his home in order to evade the higher property taxes he would have to pay if those renovations had been properly permitted, as is required of other citizens," campaign spokeswoman Jessica Proud said. "We are further suggesting that the governor is intentionally barring home access to his town assessor to conceal the amount of work that was done. We are also accusing Governor Cuomo and his government staff of not telling the truth in press reports about the extent of work done in the home."

If Zephyr Teachout is able to get the 15,000 signatures she needs to run in the Democratic Primary against Cuomo, she ought to hit the tax deadbeat charge over and over too - it points to just another example of their being two sets of rules for people in this state, one for the rich, powerful and connected and one for everybody else.

Andrew Cuomo clearly is ensconced in that first subset.

Cuomo: I Am Not A Tax Deadbeat

From Politics on the Hudson:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today he didn’t know that an assessor wasn’t allowed into the Westchester County home he shares with TV cooking star Sandra Lee.

“I don’t know how the town system works itself,” Cuomo told reporters this afternoon in Peekskill, Westchester County. “But generally the way it works is the town does an assessment, the homeowner then reviews the assessment, if the homeowner wants to question the assessment, they do, and that situation would apply here.”

Republican gubernatorial foe Rob Astorino today accused Cuomo of potential tax evasion after the Journal News reported yesterday Lee’s property taxes on their New Castle, Westchester County, are set to jump by 29 percent after the assessor increased the value of the Bittersweet Lane home from $936,000 to $1.2 million.

The re-assessment came after The Journal News reported Lee, the owner of the home, didn’t obtain building permits for renovations inside the home, which were detailed in USA Today and other outlets.

The Journal News reported that the assessor wasn’t allowed in the house to do a full accounting of the upgrades to determine the home’s value.

Cuomo said he was unaware that the assessor wasn’t allowed in.

“I don’t know that the assessor wasn’t allowed in,” Cuomo said. “I think that’s how it works, isn’t it?”

He later added that,”In terms of local rules, I’m not all that familiar with it.”

As for Astorino’s criticism, Cuomo said “I have no response.”

Cuomo was asked what’s in the home’s basement because it is believed to have been remodeled, but apparently is not on the assessment records.

“Last time I was there, nothing,” Cuomo responded.

Can you imagine what Cuomo would say to the media if one of his political enemies were pulling the same jive about tax assessments?

If I'm Astorino, I keep going at Cuomo over this, calling him a tax deadbeat, reminding voters that if they pulled the same jive Cuomo and his consort Sandra Lee pulled, they'd be in big trouble.

One set of rules for the rich and powerful in this state.

Another set of rules for everybody else.

And that's how Andrew Cuomo and Sandra Lee like it.

That would be the ad I ran over and over on Cuomo, tying it to Moreland, tying it to his campaign finance hypocrisy, tying it to all the other shady stuff Andy has done as governor.

You bet that would ring a bell for a lot of people out there.