Cuomo's New York State Of Crime

A commenter on the Bill Mahoney Capital NY piece about Cuomo taking $250K from the guy in charge of land development in the Village of Kiryas Joel in return for vetoing a bill that passed the New York Legislature with wide bipartisan support in both the Assembly and the Senate that would have given Orange County some say in the annexation of some land next to Kiryas Joel:

Apologies to Billy Joel but;

"I'm in a New York State of Crime..."

As I posted last night, Cuomo's campaign got the $250K in eight checks from four different LLC's all linked to the same guy who's in charge of land development in Kiryas Joel and owns quite a bit of the land Kiryas Joel wants to annex into the village.

The checks came a few days after Cuomo vetoed legislation that would have allowed the county to review the controversial land annexation plans Kiryas Joel has for hundreds of acres adjacent to the village.

 

Here's how the Times-Record covered the story before it was revealed Cuomo's campaign was paid $250K from the land development guy in Kiryas Joel:

 

Cuomo, lobbied fiercely by both supporters and opponents of Kiryas Joel's potential expansion, waited until around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday - less than two hours before his deadline - to announce his veto. He said in his message that the measure would violate the state constitution by giving counties "control over local annexation petitions that would not impact a county's boundaries," an argument Kiryas Joel's attorneys also had made.

 

Skoufis, D-Woodbury, called Cuomo's reasoning "flat-out wrong" on Thursday, pointing out that the clause in the constitution about annexations specifically says that "the consent of the governing board of a county shall be required only where a boundary of the county is affected." He noted that his bill didn't involve the county's governing board - the Legislature - and didn't require consent, since county planners would only have made recommendations.

“Sadly, Governor Cuomo's veto message appears to be nothing more than fabricated reasoning to reach a predetermined outcome," he said in a statement. "It is extremely disappointing that the governor chose to ignore the voices of thousands of residents from every municipality in Orange County.”

"Fabricated reasoning to reach a predetermined outcome" - that's a statement that applies to much of Andrew Cuomo's record as governor of New York.

 

Here's how Kiryas Joel officials reacted to news of the veto:

 

Kiryas Joel officials applauded Cuomo on Thursday, contending the bills were intended to prevent Kiryas Joel's expansion and would have hindered other annexation efforts in New York.

“We appreciate that Governor Cuomo was able to see through the angry rhetoric being advanced by Assemblyman Skoufis and looked at these bills for what they really were, a thinly veiled attempt to stop the natural growth of the peaceful, family-oriented community of Kiryas Joel,” said Ari Felberman, the village's government relations coordinator.

That's right, Governor Cuomo was able to see through the angry rhetoric being advanced by Assemblyman Skoufis and understand that if he did the right thing and veto these bills, he would, you know, have God's light shine on him - as well as some cash.

Here's how Assemblyman Skoufis responded to news of the veto:

 

Skoufis lamented that Cuomo "decided to play politics with the Hudson Valley" by blocking the bills.

"This bipartisan legislation would have provided significantly increased scrutiny of the current Kiryas Joel-initiated bids as well as all future controversial annexation proposals throughout the state," he said.

Yes, but vetoing the bills would have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to Governor Cuomo as well as potential future votes from the citizens of Kiryas Joel (some of whom apparently vote early and often, sometimes in both Orange County and Brooklyn.)

Andrew Cuomo is definitely in a New York State of Crime these days, what with the hedge fundie donations and fundraisers in return for the pro-charter and pro-education reform agenda, the Glenwood and REBNY cash in return for the pro-real estate industry agenda, the Hollywood donations in return for the movie and TV tax credit program and now the Kiryas Joel donations in return for the veto that will help them expand and make money on the deal (since the guy who donated to Cuomo owns a lot of the land in question.

Cuomo Takes $250,000 In Bribes In Return For Veto

I know, I know - seems like a hyperbolic headline, but read on:

A group of entities located in or tied to Kiryas Joel deposited $250,000 in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign account on Monday and Tuesday, less than a week after the governor vetoed two bills spawned by the Kiryas Joel annexation controversy that leaders of that community strenuously opposed, according to the financial disclosure report Cuomo's campaign filed this week.

Cuomo's haul included eight $25,000 checks from four limited liability corporations that listed the same address in Brooklyn and that appear to be connected to Mayer Hirsch, a Kiryas Joel resident and former village trustee who oversees the land development arm of Kiryas Joel's main congregation. Three of the entities that made contributions listed Hirsch's home address in Kiryas Joel when they were incorporated in 2012 and 2013.

The remaining $50,000 came in a single check from a limited liability corporation that listed the home address in Kiryas Joel of Hirsch's son, Jacob.

The disclosure of the donations has further infuriated activists who supported the bills that Cuomo vetoed, one of which would have enabled Orange County planners to recommend approval or rejection of two pending proposals to annex 507 acres or 164 acres into Kiryas Joel from the Town of Monroe. Emily Convers, chairwoman of the United Monroe citizens group, called the sudden infusion of campaign cash an obvious payment for services rendered by the governor.


"For anyone to doubt for a second who Cuomo is working for and what motivated him to veto, look no further than this blatant purchase of an elected leader," Convers said on Friday. "When those opposed to an environmental oversight bill are screaming 'anti-Semitism' and paying off the governor, it's hard not to make that assumption. It's despicable." 

... 

Reached on his cell phone Friday afternoon, Mayer Hirsch said he would have to look into the contributions and couldn't discuss them until Monday. Vaad Hakiryah, the landholding entity he oversees, owns almost a third of the 285 undeveloped acres included in the larger annexation request.

Can't get more blatant quid pro quo than this - Cuomo vetoes legislation that Kiryas Joel residents want vetoed because it might curtail the village's expansion, then the fellow who oversees land development for the village sends Cuomo $250,000 via eight checks from four different LLC's.

If you're like me, you don't know much about Kiryas Joel - you can read more about the village here.

Let's just say that land acquisition is a big thing for the Village of Kiryas Joel and Cuomo did them a big favor when he killed legislation that might have kept the village from expanding.

Bill Mahoney from Capital NY reported on this first and you can read his story here.

There often aren't many comments on Capital NY stories, but this one got a bunch:

This can't possibly be true. If it were Cuomo would be a real crook......... he would have accepted a bribe..... it would not be ethical......... it would actually be criminal!!! How is that even possible??

...

Why isn't there an investigation into this? It's not coincidence that the Governor received money after his veto on what is probably the wrong reason or a reason the Governor thought wouldn't be noticed. It's illegal to buy votes.

...

 KJ should not get the annexation and Gov. Cuomo should be arrested if this is infact true.

...

A village with 93% Medicaid and welfare dependency able to buy and annex land from neighboring towns and our honorable Gov. gets 250K + for veto signature?

...

Corruption at its finest!

I'd say this is unbelievable except, having watched Cuomo closely for the last five years, I know it's absolutely not.

He took $250K in bribes from the Kiryas Joel land development guy in return for the veto that helps the Village of Kiryas Joel expand.

Preet, where are you?

More Damning Details In Cuomo Pay-To-Play Scandal

David Sirota and Matthew Cunningham-Cook follow up on their pay-to-play piece on Andrew Cuomo last night with this:

The Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have over the past 2 1/2 years received taxpayer-financed contracts to help manage the sale of more than $3 billion worth of bonds for New York state, according to a review of state records by International Business Times. The three banking companies secured this lucrative line of business during the same period they delivered more than $132,000 in campaign contributions to Gov. Andrew Cuomo through political action committees under their corporate control.

...

• JPMorgan’s PAC gave Cuomo $15,000 April 10, 2013, and the Cuomo administration announced the firm would serve as an underwriter on a $46 million bond issue May 30, 2013.
• Citigroup's PAC gave Cuomo $15,000 May 1, 2013, and Cuomo officials named the firm an underwriter on a $61 million bond June 19, 2013.
• JPMorgan’s PAC gave Cuomo another $10,000 July 2, 2013, and the Cuomo administration named the firm an underwriter on another $36 million bond in August 2013.
• Bank of America’s PAC gave Cuomo $15,500 July 2, 2014, just after the firm had been named an underwriter on a June 2014 bond. Cuomo’s administration would subsequently name the firm an underwriter on a separate $185 million bond in March 2015.

The contracts to the banks went through a non-competive bidding process.

Can you say cha-chinggg!!!

Sony, News Corporation, REBNY, now the banks - who doesn't Cuomo hit up in the Quid Pro Cuomo game?

I dunno if the feds are looking into any of this stuff, but to be honest, the amount of money Cuomo's taking makes the Skelos stuff look small.

Families For Excellent Schools Ponies Up Cash For Ruben Diaz Sr.'s Christmas Party

This story is behind a paywall, but here some of it from the Capital NY morning education update:

CHARTER GROUP TO SPONSOR DIAZ XMAS PARTY—Capital’s Eliza Shapiro: Families for Excellent Schools is co-sponsoring State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.'s Christmas party, according to an invite sent Friday by Diaz's office. The party, which will take place Dec. 19 at a steakhouse in the Bronx, is also sponsored by the food delivery company Fresh Direct. A spokesman for F.E.S. declined to say how much the group is paying to co-sponsor the event. Diaz, a Bronx Democrat, has been a longtime supporter of charter schools. In a brief interview on Friday, Diaz initially said of F.E.S., "I don't even know who they are," but then said he had worked with "every single group" in support of charter schools, including F.E.S. No children are allowed at the party. F.E.S. spent nearly $9 million in the first ten months of 2014. http://bit.ly/1BEuNqt

Eliza Shapiro and Bill Mahoney at Capital NY had reported last week that Families For Excellent Schools was on track for 2014 to spend the most on lobbying for any lobbying group ever.

It now seems that the "lobbying" from Families For Excellent Schools is taking the form of bribes to Ruben Diaz Sr. (the only one of the criminal group the Four Amigos who managed to skip prison time) for his entertainment expenses.

I'm sure both F.E.S. and Diaz would say "co-sponsoring" Diaz's Christmas Party is actually a legitimate "lobbying" expense.

But to anybody outside the corrupt political game, "co-sponsoring" Diaz's party looks like a bribe.

Diaz is already deform-friendly, but you can be sure he'll be even more friendly after the F.E.S. largesse.

Cuomo Goes To Hollywood To Receive Bribes, Er, Donations

Governor Cuomo's schedule today:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s press office has not released a public schedule for him. He’s scheduled to be in Los Angeles, CA tonight to attend a high-dollar fund-raiser being hosted in his honor by Hollywood bigwigs.

Gee, that wouldn't be payback for this, would it?

ALBANY—New York's tax rebates for movie and TV studios are so generous that the state is actually paying them to film here, according to an analysis prepared for—but not published by—one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tax commissions.

The 137-page addendum to the commission's formal report asserts the Film and Television Tax Credit—which Cuomo has expanded to $420 million a year—now accounts for nearly a quarter of all business tax subsidies the state offers, and should be rolled back.

The analysis was funded by Blackstone founder Peter G. Peterson and commission co-chair Peter Solomon, an investment banker and former deputy to New York City mayor Ed Koch.

...

 “The film production credit, now generally 30 percent of qualifying costs, is large relative to industry profits and tax liability,” the addendum says. “Because the credit exceeds tax liability many times over and is refundable, in effect it is a program of cash payments by the state to credit recipients.”

“It is not clear from our analysis that there is sufficient justification for the size of the film credits. The state should consider scaling back the credits and monitoring the film industry closely to determine the impact on its activities of such a cutback,” the addendum concludes, suggesting a reduction of $50 million per year.

Paying an industry to do business here can be effective, the addendum acknowledges. But why target Hollywood?

The addendum says a similarly tailored credit for manufacturing would offer factories 40 times what they would otherwise owe in state taxes. While film has blossomed in New York—especially since the opening of Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard—the addendum notes that “the industry accounts for less than one percent of the state’s employment” and “many of the film industry jobs are temporary.”

The addendum also questions whether movies or projects, including Steiner Studios, wouldn't have come anyway.

I wrote earlier about this:

Given how Cuomo handed out million in tax breaks to the real estate industry in return for campaign donations and took a couple of million from the gambling industry in return for legalizing casinos and expanding gambling across the state, it behooves some independent entity not connected to Cuomo to look and see just what Sheriff Andy is getting in return for his Hollywood largesse.

We don't need an independent entity to see what Cuomo is getting in return for the Hollywood tax give away.

He's getting bribes in return.