True News Has Been Reporting On de Lobbyists Blasio Shadow Govt Three Years Later the Post Has Discovered de Blasio's Shadow Govt, While It Rest of Media Lives in Denial
Now We Wait for the Only Person Who Can Close Down de Blasio's Shadow Govt U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara
De Blasio’s fishy arrangements with ‘outsider’ advisers (NYP) As The Post reported Tuesday, the e-mails show how Hizzoner turned p.r./fixer firm BerlinRosen into a virtual shadow government — for example, having it ghostwrite letters to the editor and quotes for press releases. And he didn’t just consult with firm co-founder Jonathan Rosen; the mayor had Rosen drum up backers for key initiatives, like his pre-K expansion. De Blasio tried to keep all his communciations with Rosen (and select others) secret from the public on the grounds that, as his advisers, they had become “agents of the city” — making that back-and-forth as confidential as what you tell your lawyer or your priest. Convenient, no?
Michael Benjamin @SquarePegDem @PrimeNewYork Sh!t!, they delivered his Council Speaker. He validates @unitedNYblogs rants about a shadow govt. BdB thinks of #BerlinRosen as a "power center" on par w/ '80s county bosses. His thinking validates @unitedNYblogs.
Private bus company gets $22 million in no bid routes. DeBlasio illegally bypasses Franchise Review Committee. Hanley to play buddy buddy this Saturday.
By Jim Callaghan
Here's how bad labor is: ATU president Larry Hanley, the patronage challenged president of the union, will be sharing a stage with Mayor Wilhelm this Saturday the 27th in Staten Island to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Local 726. Wilhelm and Hanley are best buddies, but why? Consider: 1- Wilhelm let out bids to mobbed up school bus companies that resulted in the layoffs of over 2000 ATU members, many of them Haitians. You never read one word of criticism from Hanley. 2- Hanley had me investigate how a politically connected new jersey bus companies was given $22 million by Bloomberg in the last 11 days of the Bloomberg administration to run express routes between Staten Island and manhattan. we FOILED city documents and were given 400 plus emails with every single word redacted, something I have never seen in 36 years of reporting. Hanley sued his best bud Wilhelm and told him about It at Gracie Mansion Albany New Jersey Times Square .. 5-when Wilhelm worked for ATU -supported Dinkins, he said no, maybe, yes to a bus only express lane over the Verrazanno Bridge
A History of School Bus Ownership
The Goons, The Mob and the School-Bus Strike (1979 New York Mag) In 1979 the cost of the school bus system was $100 million today $1.1 Billion * The school-bus union's mob ties—Editorial ... - New York Post * Mayoral Candidates on the Bus StrikeAs yellow school bus drivers strike today, many of the candidates for mayor have taken sides. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, both Democrats vying for labor support, have backed the union and slammed City Hall, while the more cautious Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson have avoided categorical positions thus far. Republican George McDonald, on the other side of the partisan aisle, said striking drivers should simply be fired.
True News Wags the NYP On Lobbyists Ickes Other NYC Clients But Left Out Bus Contract Connection to de Blasio Senate Funding
The Post's Writer Richard Calder Even Started to Follow True News On Twitter Yesterday Afternoon
De Blasio’s lobbyistpal has collected $862K since 2014 (NYP) A longtime pal of Mayor de Blasio has collected $862,550 as a lobbyist for 14 clients since the mayor took office in 2014 — compared to $61,305 off a single client the previous 12 years, according to city records. Harold Ickes operated out of Washington , DC , and didn’t even have a New York office until after de Blasio ascended to power. They include the American Beverage Association, which has shelled out $180,000 trying to limit Health Department restrictions on sugary drinks; JPMorganChase, which paid $172,500 in a failed bid to win subsidies to build new headquarters on the Far West Side; AEG Live, which shelled out $150,000 before scoring a permit to host a music festival on Randalls Island; and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181-1061, which spent $42,000 before Ickes delivered $42 million in taxpayer funds to boost private-bus driver salaries. When asked about Ickes’ influence at City Hall, mayoral spokesman Peter Kardushin said: “Every day, individuals lobby New York City on a broad range of issues. All decisions by the de Blasio administration are made on the merits.” * West Side carriage-horse stables on a parcel he longs to develop. The mayor’s failed to shut down the carriage industry — and his new deal to bribe the horse-cabbies into taxpayer-paid Central Park stables is already falling apart. The proposal’s under fire from the carriage drivers, the animal-rights nuts, Central Park stewards and good-government types. If de Blasio still manages to push it through, it deserves attention from US Attorney Preet Bharara — who’s pretty good at exposing corrupt quid pro quos.
From True News Yesterday
The NYP Ickes de Blasio's School Bus Pay to Play $40,000 for Campaign for 1NY and $100,000 for Senate Dems
Mayor de Blasio’s secret cash gifts (NYP July 23, 2014) On Tuesday, The Post’s Carl Campanile reported that several school-bus operators funneled $40,000 to the Campaign for One New York. This is the nonprofit founded by de Blasio allies after his election as mayor and devoted to promoting his agenda. * What's driving political donations(CrainsNY)Last month, a man named Alexis Lodde made a $100,000 donation to a Hudson Valley Democratic Party account. It was an exceptional gift from a Texan who until recently had never made a political contribution in New York . The donation came less than two months after employees at certain bus companies, including one owned by Mr. Lodde's firm, were given a $42 million grant pushed through by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Employees at Mr. Lodde's company are expected to be among the largest beneficiaries. The Daily News reported that Mr. de Blasio and associates raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the obscure campaign account—the Putnam County Democratic Committee, whose chairman quickly transferred $433,000 to help two Democratic state Senate candidates. The $42 million allows them to pay competitive salaries after having won the contracts with low bids. "It makes it possible for the companies to have labor peace," said Ms. Kellermann. MV Transportation had been a target of vandalism during a 2013 school-bus strike over its labor contracts.
Head of de Blasio Fund Raise Lobbyist Capalino Makes Deal With the Mayor to Save Tourist Helicopters
City nears deal to cut helicopter tours in half (NYP) The de Blasio administration is close to a deal that would allow the helicopter tourist industry to keep operating – but with flights cut in half and eliminated entirely on Sundays, sources told The Post. The pared-down flight schedule is intended as a response to noise complaints from residents living near the Downtown Manhattan Heliport and on the other side of the East River in Brooklyn Heights, who persuaded the City Council to draft measures that would ground all tourist fligh “It’s unclear whether the smaller operators will survive, but this, at least, will keep the major operators functioning and keep in the helicopter tourist industry alive in the city,” said one source, adding he expects the mayor to announce an agreement “very soon.” An EDC spokesman declined comment.Sources said that powerhouse lobbyist James Capalino, a longtime friend and fund-raiser of de Blasio, played a key role in the negotiations. Among the meetings he arranged was a rare face-to-face session with the mayor at City Hall last May – a day after Capalino’s firm gave de Blasio’s nonprofit fundraising arm, Campaign for One New York, a donation of $10,000, records show. Capalino’s firm has received $120,000 in lobbying fees from the industry since de Blasio took office in 2014, including $85,000 from the Helicopter Tourism & Jobs Council. Pending bills in the council to ban the tourist flights would not affect private charter services, which cater to corporate clients. * The de Blasio administration is close to a deal that would allow the helicopter tourist industry to keep operating – but with flights cut in half and eliminated entirely on Sundays, in responding to noise complaints
City nears deal to cut helicopter tours in half (NYP) The de Blasio administration is close to a deal that would allow the helicopter tourist industry to keep operating – but with flights cut in half and eliminated entirely on Sundays, sources told The Post. The pared-down flight schedule is intended as a response to noise complaints from residents living near the Downtown Manhattan Heliport and on the other side of the East River in Brooklyn Heights, who persuaded the City Council to draft measures that would ground all tourist fligh “It’s unclear whether the smaller operators will survive, but this, at least, will keep the major operators functioning and keep in the helicopter tourist industry alive in the city,” said one source, adding he expects the mayor to announce an agreement “very soon.” An EDC spokesman declined comment.Sources said that powerhouse lobbyist James Capalino, a longtime friend and fund-raiser of de Blasio, played a key role in the negotiations. Among the meetings he arranged was a rare face-to-face session with the mayor at City Hall last May – a day after Capalino’s firm gave de Blasio’s nonprofit fundraising arm, Campaign for One New York, a donation of $10,000, records show. Capalino’s firm has received $120,000 in lobbying fees from the industry since de Blasio took office in 2014, including $85,000 from the Helicopter Tourism & Jobs Council. Pending bills in the council to ban the tourist flights would not affect private charter services, which cater to corporate clients. * The de Blasio administration is close to a deal that would allow the helicopter tourist industry to keep operating – but with flights cut in half and eliminated entirely on Sundays, in responding to noise complaints
De Blasio fund-raisers are big time lobbyists - NY Daily News The host committee included James Capalino, who has lobbied for Rudin Management, developers of high-end condos near the old St. Vincent’s Hospital, and lobbyist Suri Kasirer, who met with de Blasio on Brooklyn ’s contentious Atlantic Yards project. Others on the host committee included Stan Natapoff and Alexandra Stanton of Empire Global Ventures, Rachel Amar of Waste Management of New York, and Michael Woloz of Connelly McLaughlin & Woloz. SHAWN INGLIMA FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS James Capalino lobbied for Rudin Management, developers of high-end condos near the old St. Vincent’s Hospital, and Suri Kasirer who met with Bill de Blasio on Brooklyn ’s contentious Atlantic Yards project, are part of de Blasio's host committee for $1 million fund-raiser. * De Blasio’s door is open to lobbyists | New York Post Leading the pack was last year’s highest-earning city lobbyist, James Capalino, who met with Hizzoner three times in the last three months. Capalino hosted two fund-raisers for de Blasio’s successful mayoral run in 2013. Clients who accompanied him to the meetings included Chinese real-estate and movie-theater mogul Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, and Janno Lieber, a top Silverstein Properties exec who bundled $11,100 for de Blasio two years ago. Capalino most recently met with the mayor on May 28 on behalf of helicopter-tour operators in lower Manhattan — an opportunity that critics of the noisy flights say they haven’t gotten. “It’s very discouraging but not surprising,” said Delia Von Neuschatz, a resident of Battery Park City who founded an advocacy group to halt the tours.*De Blasio raises $1.5M for political nonprofit - NY Daily News
How Lobbyists and Campaign Contributors Run A Pay to Play Shadow Govt HQ @ City Hall
City’s top lobbyists living the high life thanks to de Blasio (NYP) Many of the city’s top-earning lobbyists are longtime allies of Mayor de Blasio and have significantly helped bolster his campaign coffers and the nonprofit fundraising arm that he uses to... James Capalino, Harold Ickes, Sid Davidoff and other politically connected lobbyists have seen their city-related business over the past two years skyrocket while scoring sweetheart deals and other positive results for clients after private sit-downs with the mayor, records show. For example, 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. 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.
Anti-horse-carriage lobbyists Steve Nislick and Wendy Neu have donated $125,000 combined to de Blasio’s nonprofit — 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. 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
Davidoff Lobbyied for Astoria Cove Development OK Which Fell Short of the Mayor's Affordable Housing Goals
Daily News Join NYP In Branding de Blasio's City Hall As Shadow Govt Pay2Play HQ
Daily News Includes Nislick's NYCLASS Attacks On Quinn As Part of the Payoff For de Blasio Horse Stable Plan
Jan. 17: De Blasio announced that he had reached a supposed compromise in his drive to banish carriage horses from the city with a plan that includes spending as much as $25 million to build horse stables in Central Park . Before taking office, de Blasio vowed to destroy the carriage horse industry, only to be forced into surrender in the face of overwhelming public opposition and resistance from the City Council. But the mayor wasn’t done trying to help animal-rights activists who had hammered election rival Christine Quinn with nearly $1 million in attack ads during the mayoral campaign — and have followed up with donations to de Blasio’s advocacy fund, the Campaign for One New York. De Blasio spins his maneuverings as attempts at enlightened compromises for public benefit. Please.
Wag the NYT Stenographer Dwyer
True News Published A Picture Editorial 3 Day Before Dwyer That Stable Money Can Better Be Spent On the Homeless
The Times’ Jim Dwyer writes that de Blasio’s horsecarriage plan solves a problem that doesn’t exist and will cost the city millions of dollars that could otherwise be spent on other issues, like homelessness
True News Wags the NYP On Lobbyists Ickes Other NYC Clients But Left Out Bus Contract Connection to de Blasio Senate Funding
The Post's Writer Richard Calder Even Started to Follow True News On Twitter Yesterday Afternoon
From True News Yesterday
The NYP Ickes de Blasio's School Bus Pay to Play $40,000 for Campaign for 1NY and $100,000 for Senate Dems
Mayor de Blasio’s secret cash gifts (NYP July 23, 2014) On Tuesday, The Post’s Carl Campanile reported that several school-bus operators funneled $40,000 to the Campaign for One New York. This is the nonprofit founded by de Blasio allies after his election as mayor and devoted to promoting his agenda. * What's driving political donations(CrainsNY)Last month, a man named Alexis Lodde made a $100,000 donation to a Hudson Valley Democratic Party account. It was an exceptional gift from a Texan who until recently had never made a political contribution in New York . The donation came less than two months after employees at certain bus companies, including one owned by Mr. Lodde's firm, were given a $42 million grant pushed through by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Employees at Mr. Lodde's company are expected to be among the largest beneficiaries. The Daily News reported that Mr. de Blasio and associates raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the obscure campaign account—the Putnam County Democratic Committee, whose chairman quickly transferred $433,000 to help two Democratic state Senate candidates. The $42 million allows them to pay competitive salaries after having won the contracts with low bids. "It makes it possible for the companies to have labor peace," said Ms. Kellermann. MV Transportation had been a target of vandalism during a 2013 school-bus strike over its labor contracts.
Lobbyist Ickes Other NY City Clients
Mayor's old pal wins new biz as lobbyist (CrainsNY) For a City Hall 'in,' clients turn to DC power Harold Ickes. A few months ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio rushed a union-backed bill through the City Council that handed $42 million in public funds to privately employed school-bus workers. Even some labor-friendly lawmakers questioned the precedent set by taxpayer-funded raises for workers at the low-wage bus companies. Harold Ickes, a former top Clinton administration official, had long been a fixture in the center of the lobbying universe: Washington , D.C. New York branch of his lobbying firm, the Ickes & Enright Group. He and his employees have since lobbied a dozen de Blasio administration officials for a rapidly growing number of clients. Mr. Ickes also separately pushed legislation that led to the bus drivers' $42 million windfall. In recent months, the Ickes & Enright Group has signed a number of clients seeking to influence local government, such as the American Beverage Association, JPMorgan Chase, MasterCard, North Shore-LIJ Health System, entertainment company AEG Live, office supplier Canon Solutions America and prekindergarten advocacy group Los Angeles Universal Preschool. At the same time, the 75-year-old Mr. Ickes remains a key de Blasio political adviser. Both men worked for David Dinkins' 1989 mayoral campaign, and drew closer when they worked for the Clinton* De Blasio’s lobbyist friend was the Clinton administration’s ‘Garbage Man’ (NYP) Lobbyist and longtime Mayor de Blasio pal Harold Ickes earned an infamous nickname during his years as a highly partisan political operative in President Bill Clinton’s White House: The Garbage Man. “Ickes has been caught up in so many of Clinton’s scandals and crises that he came to describe his function in the White House as ‘director of the sanitation department,’” author Michael Lewis wrote in a 1997 profile of the key Clinton aide. Ickes’ main job was to get people together in a room and figure out what to tell the public and congressional investigators about the “garbage” — also known as the scandals over Bubba’s fund-raising, sexual dalliances and other tawdry episodes. These days, Ickes is earning his keep as a lobbyist who spends a lot of time with de Blasio — and rakes in the dough doing so. “Bill has referred to Harold as his ‘political surrogate father,’ ” the source said. “He clearly is a mentor in every way.” The son of the late Harold L. Ickes, who was secretary of the interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he has kept a high profile as a powerful lawyer, lobbyist and political advisor.
de Blasio Supporter Lobbyists Ickes Gets OK for Massive Music Fest
Ickes Donates $13,000 to de Blasio and the Mayor Delivers the Lobbyists Client An Island
De Blasio OKs massive music fest for cronies’ pal after denying others (NYP) Mayor de Blasio has quietly cut a deal allowing a concert promoter linked to one his cronies to host a multi-day major music festival on Randall’s Island — only after city officials simultaneously nixed similar proposals in Queens. AEG Live — which runs the Coachella concert series in California — will now host its “Panorama Festival” on Randall’s Island July 24 to 26 through a deal confirmed by the Parks Department Monday. Madison Square Garden , Founders Entertainment and AEG had previously submitted similar applications to shut down Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens for large for-profit mega festivals. However, Borough President Melinda Katz and community leaders argued for more transparency in the city’s permit process, ultimately leading to all of the Flushing Meadows’ applications being tossed. Unlike its competitors, which were left empty handed, AEG had a politically connected ace in the hole in lobbyist Harold Ickes and that led to the Randall’s Island deal being ironed out behind closed doors, sources said. AEG Live since 2014 has shelled out $150,000 to Ickes, a longtime mentor to the mayor, to help garner support to put on a major New York show. Ickes also served on de Blasio’s transition team, so he played a role in the March 2014 hiring of Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, who signs off on all park permits.
Only the Daily News Did A Story Today About the Silver Trial Starting Monday
Bharara is unpacking 421a as the taxpayer-funded golden road of corruption to Albany Behold, the ShellySilver trial
The stunning arrest capped a secret grand-jury probe that began in June 2013, court papers said, and marked the latest in a string of public-corruption cases spearheaded by crusading Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara. Asked how the case stacked up against the many other public-corruption cases he’s brought, Bharara summed it up. “Any time you have an allegation — especially when it’s proven — against a public official, that is disturbing. And when you have an allegation against someone who is a public official — not just in a random file capacity, but a leader of an entire body who is known in the politics of Albany to be one of the ‘three men in a room’ — that is especially disturbing,” Bharara said.* Skelos’ attorney cited a @PolHudson post to try to discredit Preet Bharara. It didn’t work * Bharara blasted for Libous prosecution: (LoHud)
@unitedNYblogs Preet is doing more than ThomasJefferson. He demands that people in power be honest fiduciaries or go to jail. And he warns!
@unitedNYblogs -Society had a choice: register lobbyists and have them self-report, or let them brown bag democracy into private property.
Millions Poured In Campaigns by Real Estate, Unions Run By Consultant Lobbyists has Weakend Voters Control Over Pols
The Progressive Caucus, a group of 19 liberal council members, will endorse a new congestion pricing plan tomorrow, sources say. They will be joined by “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz, the former city traffic commissioner who is the architect of the initiative, known as the Move NY Fair Plan. Mr. Schwartz is a listed speaker on a press release sent from the office of Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Manhattan Democrat and chairman of the Transportation Committee. A press conference to announce the decision will be held at City Hall.East River bridges and lessen the cost to cross other bridges, theDaily News writes: * New York City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer of Queens is supporting the congestion pricing plan that would toll free East River bridges and raise money to cut down on traffic and repair the subway system, the Daily News reports:
Lobbyists Consultant Murder, Inc Run NY Govt and Campaigns Just As Much As Murder, Inc Ran NY in the 40's
The NYP and CFB Look At Gray Areas of Election Law While Covering-Up Illegal Coordination Between Lobbying Consultant, PACS and Candidates
The worst part of the city campaign-finance system is what’s legal (NYP Ed) News of a probe into Mayor de Blasio’s 2013 campaign finances might offer some great comic relief — if it didn’t also raise troubling questions about the city’s rules. As The Post’s Yoav Gonen reported this week, the Campaign Finance Board began looking into possible Team de Blasio no-nos in 2013, after a magazine reported that the 1199 SEIU union “coordinated with the [then-candidate’s] campaign.” Under the city’s rules, candidates must cover the costs of any “coordinated” activities or list them as donations, which are subject to strict limits. It seems the board focused on whether de Blasio’s folks complied. Thing is, the rules themselves are laughable — as is the entire system. For one thing, if de Blasio did break the rules, then he had an edge in the mayoral race.
NY's Walmartiation Politics Drains Power Out of Communities and from Voters
WFP & DACC; Lobbyists Campaign Consultants Have Caused the Walmartization of NY's Politics . . . Using the Wal-Mart Business Model to Win Campaigns and Drive Out Candidates Loyal to Their District's Voters and Not the PACS Who Fund Them
NYC does not have a single Walmart because of the WFP and their friends in the progressive movement protesting the company unfair business practices. The protesters accuse Wal-mart of bulk purchasing and corporate financing to sell merchandise at low costs in order to drive competitors out of the market. WFP says the Wal-Mart's business model pushes mom and pop business out of the market creating an economic monopoly. It is now clear that less than a dozen lobbyists political consultants has use the Wal-Mart unfair business model to take over NY's politics by using unfir 2009 the WFP Data and Field model to give them and their candidates a competitive advantages in campaigns
After the AG and CFB Takes A Dive At Going After the Advance Group and other Lobbyists JCOPE Gives Them Amnesty
Tuesday Update
Although there is a need for confidentiality on investigations, the nondisclosure language in JCOPE’s statute is so broad that commissioners and spokespeople have acted as if any information about the commission amounts to a state secret, the Times Union writes:
The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics is offering lobbyists six months of amnesty starting Jan. 1 to “encourage lobbyists and clients of lobbyists” to file with the watchdog group, Gannett Albany writes:
JCOPE to lobbyists: Tell us about yourselves, please (LOHud) The much-maligned state agency said Tuesday it would offer six months of amnesty starting Jan. 1 to “encourage lobbyists and clients of lobbyists” to file with the watchdog group. A series this year by Gannett’s Albany Bureau called “Power in Money” has detailed the intersection of money and public policy in New York government, including on education. Last month, an installment in the series showed that the public-relations firms have raked in more than $3 million since 2010 from political campaigns and then worked on efforts to promote key issues before the Legislature through coordinated lobbying efforts. And the firms don’t have to register as lobbyists — even as lobbying spending soared 56 percent over the past decade. JCOPE’s request may include those groups who straddle the line between lobbying and public relations. JCOPE has been criticized for lax oversight of state government amid a series of corruption scandals in recent years since the agency was established by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature in 2011. The corruption cases have been brought against legislative leaders, as well as other lawmakers, mainly by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Power in Money: When is lobbying in NY not lobbying? (LoHud) SKDKnickerbocker - The firms that provide the services to lawmakers and their causes said they are providing key strategic help. BerlinRosen, for example, was the top consultant that helped New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio get elected in 2013. It also has helped environmental groups in their anti-hydraulic fracturing campaign in Albany , aided some firms looking to win medical-marijuana licenses and collected $300,000 in campaign funds from candidates since 2010, a review of state records showed. In 2014, the firm received $10,000 from the campaign for former Sen. Ted O’Brien, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County York campaign funded by New York City business interests to aid Republican state Senate candidates, including upstate and in the Hudson Valley
When Pols Move Up So Do Their Lobbyists
How Real Estate $$$ Corruption Government and Politics Silver Skelos Indictment
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
Corrupt lobbyist: Arzt, Mercury, Advance Group, BerlinRosen, Parkside, Schlein. Kasirer, Bolton-St. Johns, D'Amato, Sheinkopf
Influential lobbyistPatricia Lynch selling her firm: sources (NYDN) Patricia Lynch, a former top aide to indicted ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, is selling the influential lobbying firm she founded in 2001, sources say. MWW, a powerful public relations firm, is in the process of buying Patricia Lynch Associates, which for years was among the state’s three biggest lobbying firms, the sources say. The deal's closing is said to be imminent. Lynch, who is highly respected by Democrats and Republicans in Albany , will stay on in an executive role, a source said. She is said to have already moved into MWW’s Park Avenue South offices in New York City . “MWW has a huge national communications and strategy practice but had no New York . Lynch's firm in recent years suffered from reduced billings, layoffs, and federal tax liens. Though PLA fell to 10th among top lobbyists in 2014, the firm still managed to take in a hefty $4.2 million. Lynch's tax woes began after she shelled out more than $2 million fending off a probe by Gov. Cuomo, who at the time was attorney general. Cuomo in 2009 subpoenaed the names of companies that used Lynch's firm to help win pension fund business from the controller's office. Her firm agreed to pay $500,000 to settle the matter, though it did not admit any wrongdoing.*
When Pols Get Arrested Their Lobbyists Go Out of Business Or Become Federal Witnesses
New FBI Tapes of Albany Pols and Their Lobbyists
New Targets for Bharara Stay Tuned
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Sheldon Silver Probe Prompts Wiretaps on New Targets,Sources Say (DNAINFO) Albany , where dozens of lawmakers have been convicted on corruption charges, many of them secretly caught on tape. In recent years, secret recordings and wiretaps have helped nail lawmakers on corruption-related charges including state Sen. Malcolm Smith, Councilman Daniel Halloran, Assemblyman Eric Stevenson and Assemblyman Nelson Castro. “Stay tuned,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara warned state legislators after announcing Silver’s indictment in February. * Federal investigators reportedly have begun wiretapping a new set of potential targets as a result of the probe that led to the indictment off former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
The Mayor's Door Wide Open to Lobbyists
De Blasio’s door is open to lobbyists (NYP) Mayor de Blasio has met personally with a dozen lobbyists so far this year — most of them campaign supporters and just two shy of the 14 he huddled with in all of 2014, records show. Leading the pack was last year’s highest-earning city lobbyist, James Capalino, who met with Hizzoner three times in the last three months. Capalino hosted two fund-raisers for de Blasio’s successful mayoral run in 2013. Clients who accompanied him to the meetings included Chinese real-estate and movie-theater mogul Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, and Janno Lieber, a top Silverstein Properties exec who bundled $11,100 for de Blasio two years ago. Capalino most recently met with the mayor on May 28 on behalf of helicopter-tour operators in lower Manhattan — an opportunity that critics of the noisy flights say they haven’t gotten. “It’s very discouraging but not surprising,” said Delia Von Neuschatz, a resident of Battery Park City who founded an advocacy group to halt the tours. Other lobbyists/campaign supporters who met Hizzoner privately included Michael Woloz, who bundled nearly $237,000 for his campaign on behalf of the yellow-cab industry but who met with him on a doctors-union labor issue on Feb. 2. * The mayor has met personally with a dozen lobbyists so far this year — most of them campaign supporters and just two shy of the 14 he huddled with in all of 2014, records show.
The Lobbyist's Shadow GovernmentNY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
Foreign Ownership of NYC Real Estate and the Lobbyists Who Work for Them
A Secret Civil War Has Broken Out Inside The Secret Lobbyists Consultant Shadow Govt
Over a year ago before the NYT moved him to sports Michael Power wrote that "lobbyists and consultants have formed a growing shadow government and the pols were trying to cover it up." A generation ago Jack Newfield called the shadow government the permanent government. Recent developments in the secret shadow government have not only exposed its existence, but has also shown the winds of a civil war between the old guard lobbyists and the new kids on the block. It looks like the new guard lobbyist power grab and the feds Albany arrests have cut into the profits and caused panic among the old guard. The old gang also fear that Litwin's lobbyists and Silver pal Brian Meara is not only ratting on pols but can also be sending fellow pay to play lobbyists to jail also. The new guard consultant lobbyists who were swept into power with the victory of de Blasio and Mark-Viverito are led by Berlin Rosen for the mayor and Pitta Bishop Giorno for the council speaker. Voice reporter Wayne Barrett wrote that consultant lobbyists elect kings so they can feast like kings. Campaign consultants success as lobbyist are linked at how well their candidates do. Berlin Rosen and Pitta Bishop have done well.
The Lobbyist's Shadow Government
The Internet is Beginning to Connect the Dots of the Corrupt Shadow Govt That the Media Covered-Up
With their wins in the 2013 election, Berlin Rosen and Pitta Bishop Giorno hit the big bucks jack pot. Since 2013 Pitta Bishop has gain over 100 new clients and $3 million in new business. It is harder to read what Berlin Rosen winnings have been because like the indicted Adam Skelos, Jonathan Rosen and his partner have decided not to register as a lobbyists. The millions both firms are taking in as lobbyists are coming right out of the hands of old guard lobbyist like Al D'Amato and George Artz. There are many other member of the old lobbyists consultant gang but these two are the most visible. The Albany arrests by U.S, Attorney Bharara has caused the old guard to attempt to win back some of the millions lost to the new lobbyists gang. It is interesting to watch how the old guard is using their control of the media to attack the new gang. Last month NY1 from out of the blue used the reporting in True News to expose new guard Berlin Rosen. Who is Jonathan Rosen? The Most Powerful Man in Politics –Outside City Hall (NY1) Over the weekend the NYP blasted Pitta Bishop also from out of the blue, with information already published in True News Lobbying firm makes millions on political, union ties (NYP) In the almost two months since the NY1 hit on Berlin Rosen the only follow up has been the mayor reaction that he see no problem with his relationship with Berlin Rosen; and the faint hope of for a bill back by Sen Tony Avella who was challenged by Berlin Rosen's WFP, to force campaign consultants to register as lobbyists. The difference between today/s shadow and Newfield;s permanent governments are the creation of lobbyists who were invented by the permanent govt to handle the pay to play bribery of elected officials while protecting the swells in the permanent govt out of harm way (legal trouble)
Mercury's Lobbyist McKeon Speaking for Rat Silver Real Estate Lobbyists Meara to Protect Skelos Form Lobbyists Avella the Rats Parter?
Meara Avella Dickinson, one of the state's most successful lobbying firms, has dozens of other clients. Though its employees didn't return phone calls, Mike McKeon of Mercury Public Affairs responded to the Times Union on behalf of his friend Meara. In an October 2013 news release, Abtech Holdings — the parent company of AbTech Industries — announced the $12 million contract to construct a stormwater management project for Nassau County Albany lobbying firm, Capitol Group LLC, which had sought Avella's services. McKeon said the work only lasted two months. * How the Lobbyists Who Make Up the Shadow Government Cover for Each Other and Are Interconnected
Anyone Who Understand Bharara Knows That Silver Rat Meara Has Become Not Only Skelos's Rat But Others
The press office for Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano didn't return a request for comment about the scope of work performed as part of that lobbying contract. (The acting Nassau district attorney launched a probe into the county's process for awarding contracts.) Meara "didn't represent AbTech and never did" in any aspect of the $12 million deal, McKeon said. "He had no involvement in the (stormwater) contract. He stopped representing Nassau County Nassau though June 2013, but McKeon said his work on behalf of Nassau stopped in 2012. Top Albany lobbyist Brian Meara is denying any involvement in the ongoing investigation into Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son despite having several clients reportedly involved, theTimes Union reports: Though Meara didn't respond to requests for comment, a friend authorized to speak on his behalf said he has nothing to do with the Skelos investigation.The Skelos probe, described by the New York Times last week, has ties to three current or recent Meara lobbying clients, including a North Carolina subsidiary of a company calledAbTech Holdings.Investigators are reportedly looking into whether Skelos sought to exert influence in AbTech's pursuit of a $12 million stormwater management contract with Nassau County, Skelos' power base.Senate Republicans are reportedly nervous because Meara is a business partner with fellow lobbyist Mike Avella, a former counsel to the Senate GOP and Skelos. The two are principals in the Albany-based firm Meara Avella Dickinson. Records show Meara Avella Dickinson also recently represented Nassau County, as well as another business mentioned in the Times report: real estate developer Glenwood Management.Run by the state's most generous political donor, Leonard Litwin, Glenwood was Meara's link to the Silver case: A longtime friend of Silver, Meara has reportedly received a non-prosecution agreement in exchange for helping prosecutors link payments made by the prominent Manhattan developer to the Assembly speaker, who was ousted from his leadership position in January following his arrest.* Mercury reopens for business in Albany, with Pat Lynch’s people (Capital)
As Spending On Lobbyists Increases New York Burns In Corruption and Arrested Pols
The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics released itsannual report, which reveals that total spending on lobbying in New York State reached $226 million in 2014—a new record: Kill Halt to Tax Payer Reimbursing Public Officials’ Legal Fees A bill that would have halted the practice of taxpayers reimbursing public officials’ legal fees following exoneration was killed in the state Senate Investigation and Government Operations Committee, State of Politics reports: * Sheldon Silver Pleads Not Guilty to Newest Charge (NYT) The former New York State Assembly speaker was arraigned on a charge that he hid more than $287,000 of illegal gains in investments. His trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 2. * Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who describes himself as a “democratic socialist,” will announce his plans to seek the Democratic nomination for president tomorrow, presenting a liberal challenge to Clinton . He’ll be the second major Democrat in the 2016 race
JCOPE: A ‘Record’ Year For Lobbying(YNN) Topping the list: Families for Excellent Schools, a group that backs education reform measures as well as strengthening charter schools. The group spent $9.6 million on advertising and events. In second place, the New York state United Teachers union spent $3.2 million — a figure that does not include the millions of dollars the labor group spent on campaign contributions and related advertising. Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP remained the top lobbying shop in New York , reporting $11.2 million in reimbursed expenses and compensation. The firm also boasts the largest number of clients in the state, 181. They were following by Park Strategies, the firm co-founded by former U.S. Sen. Al D’Amato, which reported $7.8 million in compensation and expenses. A record amount of money was spent on in-house and retained lobbyists, $194.2 million. Advertising money for lobbying campaigns hit a three-year high of $16 million. * What scandals? Albany lobbyists rake in $226 million (NYP) Continuing scandals in Albany haven’t stopped the flow of big money to lobbyists, who reported they raked in $226 million last year. * In exchange for a pay raise, state legislators should endtheir pensions—or at least the promise of defined-benefit pensions—for all elected state government officials, the Manhattan Institute’s Stephen Eide writes in the Post: * this is how the pro-charter $9.6 million lobbying spenderavoided disclosing donors (Capital)
Real Estate Developers, Tax Breakes and Politics, 421-a
Heastie Spent Heavily On Shadow Government Consultants
Heastie spent heavily on consultants (Capital) Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie reported $351,745 in contributions over the past six months, a significant increase from the $97,350 he raised during the same filing period two years ago. The campaign finance disclosure report he submitted to the New York State Board of Elections shows he made payments to multiple consulting groups soon after winning the speakership. In February alone, he paid Bedford Grove LLC $6,000, Marathon Strategies $9,750 and The Mirram Group $13,412. Later in the year, he made payments to Risa Heller Communications ($10,739) and Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates ($4,000), as well as additional payments to Bedford Grove and Mirram.
Earlier this year, he sought the approval of the B.O.E. to spend campaign money on a trip to Cuba . Heastie’s filing show $8,157 in expenses from this trip. The Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee’s housekeeping account also appeared on the B.O.E.’s website Thursday morning. It raised $167,779, down from $387,743 two years ago. Heastie’s fellow legislative leader, John Flanagan, reported $276,290 in contributions and $501,890 in the bank. Bedford Grove LLC is the consulting firm sending out Thompson's public schedule and statements. It's home to former public advocate Betsy Gotbaum and her former aide, Ian MacDonald. Others members of the firm, Michael Giaccio, Kristie Stiles, worked on Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson's statewide campaigns
A Shadow Govt Team With the Reach From D'Amato to Sharpton's Noerdlinger
McKeon Long Island D'Amato Jointed At the Hip A Meara Panic
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The D’Amato firm’s stable of prominent Republicans includes the son of Congressman Peter King (a potential formidable Cuomo opponent), the ex- Erie County St. John’s , to the staff a couple of years ago. He’d already established a strong D’Amato relationship by recruiting Armand D’Amato, the senator’s brother, as Bolton ’s general counsel years earlier. Armand left Bolton to join Park Strategies in 2004, and now the D’Amatos have returned the favor. Who cares that the Senate Ethics Committee found in 1991 that Al D’Amato had allowed his lobbyist brother to use his office stationery to solicit multimillion- dollar Navy contracts for a client? Who cares that Miller and Armand were convicted in unrelated federal trials in the 1990s, only to have their convictions overturned on appeal? In Albany , overturned convictions can be selling points. In the days immediately following Miller’s 1991 conviction and automatic expulsion from the assembly, he told reporters that he was moving on to a new phase in his life and didn’t expect to do jail time for stealing $300,000 from his law clients. “Maybe I’ll make some real money now,” the then 52-year-old Miller said. Having spent a lifetime watching other lobbyists at the Albany trough, Miller’s on-the-mark prediction hardly made him a prophet.
The Media Has Stayed Silent About the Lobbyist Shadow Govt Exposed by the Silver Arrest
1. Lobbyists Working for Litwin's Glenwood Management Led By Meara Now A Fed Rat
Friend, lobbyist helped feds take down Sheldon Silver (NYP) Manhattan and Albany . His relationship with Silver dates back to the 1970s, when they met in the Manhattan courthouse where Silver worked as a law clerk for Civil Court Judge Francis Pecora and Meara was a young court officer. In addition to the state court officers union and other labor groups, Meara represents a host of big-bucks industries, including casino operators, insurance companies and soft-drink makers. His clients also include the Yankees owners and the Silvercup Studios production facility in Queens .
The Bayside resident is also close to Queens Democratic boss and US Rep. Joe Crowley, while his brother, Chuck, was chief of staff to former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. A nephew, Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside), also formerly worked as one of Silver’s legislative aides. According to Thursday’s criminal complaint against Silver, Meara got a non-prosecution deal from the feds in exchange for agreeing to serve as a “fact witness” against the Manhattan Democrat.* Nephew of lobbyist who turned on Sheldon Silver supportedkeeping Silver as speaker (NYP)
Kruger Lipsky On FBI Tape: Lobbyist Richard Lipsky would ask Kruger if he got the memo yet? According to the FBI that question was asked by Lipsky to make sure Krugrer got the bribe pay off.
Days before his arrest, agents executing asearch warrant found more than $100,000 stashed in a safe in his apartment, and another $4,000 in "crisp, large denominational bills" stuffed into a suit jacket. During the raid, he also spoke on the phone to an unidentified "political operative" to spread the word that the feds had closed in, according to court papers. Lipsky was caught on FBI wiretaps allegedly paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Kruger, who is charged with directing state cash to Forest City
EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigating claim Christine Quinn was threatened for refusing to support carriage horse ban during the mayoral race (NYDN) In the past few weeks, FBI agents have been asking questions about the campaign by the animal rights group NYCLASS to get Christine Quinn to support a ban on the iconic carriages, two sources familiar with the matter told The Daily News. The FBI wants to know if the nature of the threat became extortion. When Quinn refused to support a ban on the carriages, an ad blitz began, and she later lost the race. A political consultant hired by NYCLASS, Scott Levenson, twice approached aides to Quinn and allegedly told them that if she didn’t back the proposed ban on carriage horses, they would spend big money on a political campaign attacking her
Other Shadow Government Lobbyists That Help Mark-Viverito Become Speaker
The MirRam Group
The Advance Group was not the only lobbying firm to help. Early in Ms. Mark-Viverito's speaker bid, an employee from another lobby firm close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, the MirRam Group, handled an inquiry from Crain's for a story about her past refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. MirRam also was not paid for work on the speaker race. But MirRam maintains the work was merely related to Ms. Mark-Viverito's 2013 City Council bid—for which MirRam was paid—though that campaign had ended weeks before the Crain's inquiry. MirRam has since successfully lobbied Ms. Mark-Viverito on behalf of other clients.
Lobbyists Campaign Consultants Pitta Bishop Works Both for the I Can't Breathe and Pitta Bishop Which Represents the Detectives Endowment Assoc.
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Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin is paid $40,000 a year to represent the PBA's Detectives' Endowment Association, Inc. After the split with the Advance Group, Ms. Mark-Viverito indeed made hefty payments to a number of other consultants (including lobbying and compliance firm Pitta Bishop) that aided her speaker bid. In a novel move, Pitta Bishop set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified city office, and Ms. Mark-Viverito raised more than $100,000, despite only needing the votes of 26 council colleagues to win the early 2014 leadership race. That led another good-government group, Common Cause/NY, to charge that she had exploited loopholes in state election law. Ms. Mark-Viverito's opponents in the speaker race did not similarly set up campaign funds to hire staff. But officials from Pitta Bishop say the move was fully vetted by the city Campaign Finance Board and state Board of Elections.Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin Has Hit the Jack Pot With Over A 100 New Lobbying Clients Since She Took the Speakers Office .One Wonders How the lobbying Firm Explains the Speakers Views to Their PBA Client. Council speaker puts connected lobbyist on payroll(CrainsNY) Melissa Mark-Viverito quietly handed a $130,000-a-year staff position to a lobbyist from the firm that helped propel her to the City Council speakership, payroll records show. In late March, Carlos Beato, who was a lobbyist at the firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, joined the City Council payroll as a deputy general counsel. The move came not long after the lobbying shop.
A Tale of Two Albany
Lobbyists ready to get to work now that state budget is completed (Buffalo News)
Fake Public Albany
The list of end-of-session priorities for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders reads like a song verse stuck in your head: campaign finance law changes, job creation incentives, minimum wage increase, special protections for women in the workplace, and state aid for children of illegal immigrants.
Real LobbyistsAlbany
But behind the scenes, most ofAlbany ’s special-interest groups pay little attention to such matters. Hospitals, unions, car dealers, energy firms, pharmaceutical conglomerates and others spend their time caring about the likes of complex civil liability laws, tort insurance, regulatory rules and other issues that the public pays little attention to but can be of great financial value to these special interests. Doing their bidding are 6,383 registered lobbyists in Albany , retained for a record $191 million, according to a state ethics agency report.Just don't call these consultants lobbyists(CrainsNY) They move government without having to disclose their activities. Call them clever, call them stealthy.Like Ms. Cunningham, Mr. Rosen is not a registered lobbyist. Yet he regularly meets with government officials. The mayor's schedule from his first five months in office shows Mr. Rosen was in at least nine meetings and on two calls.BerlinRosen understands how issues play out in the public sphere, its clients say.
Fake Public Albany
The list of end-of-session priorities for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders reads like a song verse stuck in your head: campaign finance law changes, job creation incentives, minimum wage increase, special protections for women in the workplace, and state aid for children of illegal immigrants.
Real Lobbyists
But behind the scenes, most of
A Lobbyists Guides Mayor, Has the Mayor Marry Him and New Wife and Gets His Massive Housing Project
“[De Blasio’s] very interested in the history of the Lindsay administration. He has been quite clear in asking very pointed questions about what happened in that era.” -- SidDavidoff, via NYO’s Ross Barkan:
Lobbyist For the Astoria Cove Project Davidoff Spotted At City Hall
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO) between lobbyists Sid Davidoff. and Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News.Sid Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Has gotten the following contracts in 2014 to lobby the mayor: 
Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
Real Estate Developers, Tax Breakes and Politics
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Silver's Shadow Government Lobbyists to Rat On Him In His Fed Corruption Indictment
Close friend, top lobbyist helped feds take down Sheldon Silver(NYP) Brian Meara, 63, is the person referred to in court papers as “the Lobbyist” who revealed that Silver told him “there was nothing to worry about” regarding the speaker secretly sharing in legal fees paid by Meara’s client, billionaire developer Leonard Litwin, the sources said. * Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's arrest aided by closefriend, Albanylobbyist(NYDN) Brian Meara has been cooperating as a 'fact witness' as part of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's investigation, sources told The News. The criminal complaint against Silver references an unnamed lobbyist who the sources say was Meara. According to the criminal complaint, the lobbyist represented a developer who was using a law firm that paid Silver for bringing in business. The developer, sources say, was politically connected Leonard Litwin, who Meara repped at the time. “The fact that Meara is the witness is not a good sign for Shelly,” said one Albany insider, alluding to how much Meara knows about his pal. In addition to the state court officers union and other labor groups, Meara represents a host of big-bucks industries, including casino operators, insurance companies and soft-drink makers. His clients also include the Yankees owners and the Silvercup Studios production facility in Queens .
Lobbyist For the Astoria Cove Project Davidoff Spotted At City Hall
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO) between lobbyists Sid Davidoff. and Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News.Sid Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Has gotten the following contracts in 2014 to lobby the mayor: Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
Real Estate Developers, Tax Breakes and Politics
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Silver's Shadow Government Lobbyists to Rat On Him In His Fed Corruption Indictment
Close friend, top lobbyist helped feds take down Sheldon Silver(NYP) Brian Meara, 63, is the person referred to in court papers as “the Lobbyist” who revealed that Silver told him “there was nothing to worry about” regarding the speaker secretly sharing in legal fees paid by Meara’s client, billionaire developer Leonard Litwin, the sources said. * Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's arrest aided by closefriend, Albanylobbyist(NYDN) Brian Meara has been cooperating as a 'fact witness' as part of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's investigation, sources told The News. The criminal complaint against Silver references an unnamed lobbyist who the sources say was Meara. According to the criminal complaint, the lobbyist represented a developer who was using a law firm that paid Silver for bringing in business. The developer, sources say, was politically connected Leonard Litwin, who Meara repped at the time. “The fact that Meara is the witness is not a good sign for Shelly,” said one Albany insider, alluding to how much Meara knows about his pal. In addition to the state court officers union and other labor groups, Meara represents a host of big-bucks industries, including casino operators, insurance companies and soft-drink makers. His clients also include the Yankees owners and the Silvercup Studios production facility in Queens .
Berlin Rosen who is not for some reason not listed as registered lobbyist work for a lot of real estate developers. Berlin Rosen’s current and recent clients include Two Trees Management Negotiations between Mr. de Blasio’s team and two trees' Walentas’s firm took place over a few days. The two men share a mutual adviser: Jonathan Rosen, one of the mayor’s top political hands and the chief executive of a public affairs firm, Berlin Rosen that counts Mr. Walentas’s company as a client. Berlin Rosen served as a consultant to de Blasio campaign and runs he slush fund PAC NY1 which pushes the mayor’s agenda. The NYT Michael Powell – “A couple last year; "I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the “it” P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor.” Berlin Rosen worked all the candidates that hired the WFP’s Data and Field in 2009. One of their clients is still being investigated by a SI special prosecutor. Both partners in Berlin Rosen, Jonathan Rosen and Valerie Berlin worked for Schneiderman. Berlin was his chief of staff when he was a NYS Senator.
Lobbyists Behind Developers Named By de Blasio in Public Housing Sell-Off Are On the Mayor's Staff
Do the Residents in Public Housing Have Human Rights? Mercury Greenspun Part of the City's Shadow Government Was Appointed By de Blasio to the Human Rights Commission
Greensun's Mercury Public Affairs, LLC Work for BFC Parnters A Company Name to Take Over Public Housing Apartments
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Campaign 2017: de Blasio Pull GOP Lobbyists Who Opposed Him in 2013 to His Team (Pulling A Cuomo)
As a managing director at Mercury, Mr. Greenspun lobbied New York City government on behalf of the technology company, Intergraph Corporation, which was a contractor on the city's troubled Emergency Communications Transformation Program, or ECTP, outsourcing technology contract to upgrade the city's unwieldy 911 emergency call system. The primary contractor on the ECTP contract, Hewlett-Packard, initially resisted efforts to work with Intergraph on a solution to the New York Police Department's upgrade of its Computer Aided Dispatch system, according to a draft 2007 memorandum between Bloomberg administration officials. The ECTP project has been faulted by government reform advocates for having ballooned by about $1 billion over budget, for falling several years behind schedule, and for still failing to properly work. The troubled ECTP project has led to several deaths, raising questions of possible criminal negligence by ECTP consultants.
Media Never Names the Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System . . . Will the Investigators?
What role did 911 lobbyists play in giving Verzon gifts to NYPD Assistant Chief Charles (Chuck) Dowd? The Death of Ariel Russo Did Not Even Stop the Corruption and Incompetence of the 911 System
Daily News the What Happen But Not the How and Why
Daily News Today Says 911 System Failed Ariel Russo But Do Not Name the Lobbyist for the Contractors or the reasons for NYPD's communication director Dowd being forced out and his aides jumping ship. Former Comptroller Liu said HP overbilled the city for $163 million and didn't properly deliver for years. In 2012 Liu callled for a review of the HP contract by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “because of the possibility of fraud in the solicitation and billing process.” Liu’s audit said that Hewlett Packard shouldn’t have been hired for the 911 work because it failed to meet the city’s technical requirements. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors wLiu also claimed that the city and HP hired unqualified project consultants and overbilled the city by another $50 million.as George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists
de Blasio's Deputy Mayor Has Ties to L+M Development Partners Inc the Other Company Picked to Take Over Public Housing Apartments
http://truenewsthebund.blogspot.com/2015/12/lobbyists-corruption-were-at-center-at.html
The Silver Lobbyists Rat's Assemblyman Nephew Supports Silver
Nephew of lobbyist who turned on Sheldon Silver supportedkeeping Silver as speaker (NYP) Queens ,attended a news conference of Assembly Democrats supporting Silver.
Lobbyists Behind Developers Named By de Blasio in Public Housing Sell-Off Are On the Mayor's Staff
Do the Residents in Public Housing Have Human Rights? Mercury Greenspun Part of the City's Shadow Government Was Appointed By de Blasio to the Human Rights Commission
Greensun's Mercury Public Affairs, LLC Work for BFC Parnters A Company Name to Take Over Public Housing Apartments
As a managing director at Mercury, Mr. Greenspun lobbied
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de Blasio Fund Raising Chair Lobbyist Capaino Works for Developers That Closed LICH Hospital and St Vincent's
Capalino, Advance and Bertha Lewis All Are Working to Stop the East 91st Marine Transfer Station
Lobbyist shoots to #1 in NYC after backing de Blasio for mayor (NYP) A veteran lobbyist who was a major supporter of Bill de Blasio’s run for mayor in 2013 saw his business nearly double in 2014 after his pal was elected, records show. Jim Capalino reported hauling in $8.2 million from 237 clients last year — up from the $4.6 million earned by his downtown Manhattan firm during the last year of the Bloomberg administration in 2013. The firm also signed 69 new clients, according to records released Monday by the City Clerk. Capalino’s surge was enough to dethrone the city’s perennial No. 1 lobbyist — Suri Kasirer, of Kasirer Consulting, whose billings also rose, from $6.6 million to $7.7 million.Among the new clients that swarmed to Capalino + Co. were a number trying to change the mayor’s position on public projects, including Asphalt Green. The group has been engaged in a protracted fight over the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station that is under construction near Gracie Mansion
“Picking the mayor has helped his business explode, but he’s always been very competent,” fellow lobbyist Hank Sheinkopf said of Capalino. Capalino hosted two fund-raisers for de Blasio’s successful campaign — including a Roosevelt Hotel bash featuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in October 2013 — where he was listed as a co-chair expected to bring in at least $25,000. Kasirer was also a $25,000 co-chair at the event, which pulled in over $1 million for de Blasio.He has since donated to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit arm of City Hall chaired by de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray. Among other top lobbying firms, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin — which consulted on Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s campaign for the top council spot — also boosted its billings after backing a winner. The firm climbed from seventh place in 2013 — with $2.1 million in business — to fourth place in 2014, with $3.3 million in billings. * Lobbying Report
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Media Never Names the Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System . . . Will the Investigators?
What role did 911 lobbyists play in giving Verzon gifts to NYPD Assistant Chief Charles (Chuck) Dowd? The Death of Ariel Russo Did Not Even Stop the Corruption and Incompetence of the 911 System
Daily News the What Happen But Not the How and Why
Daily News Today Says 911 System Failed Ariel Russo But Do Not Name the Lobbyist for the Contractors or the reasons for NYPD's communication director Dowd being forced out and his aides jumping ship. Former Comptroller Liu said HP overbilled the city for $163 million and didn't properly deliver for years. In 2012 Liu callled for a review of the HP contract by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “because of the possibility of fraud in the solicitation and billing process.” Liu’s audit said that Hewlett Packard shouldn’t have been hired for the 911 work because it failed to meet the city’s technical requirements. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors wLiu also claimed that the city and HP hired unqualified project consultants and overbilled the city by another $50 million.as George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists
More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists
de Blasio's Deputy Mayor Has Ties to L+M Development Partners Inc the Other Company Picked to Take Over Public Housing Apartments
Lobbyists Secret Government Cover Up By Pols and the Media
True News Has Been Reporting About the Lobbyist's Shadow Secret Government . . . And Mr. Power the Media is Enabling the Pols to Cover It Up
Why Did the NYT Make Powell A Sports Reporter? All His Friends Have Conspiracy Theories About Why the Times Would Remove (with no replacement) A Reporters Who Understands the World Outside the Kingdoms' Bubble
Michael Consultants and favored PR firms form a powerful and growing shadow government in NYS. Pols trying to cover that up
Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
Poor Door and Lobbyists George Arzt
Everyone Been Was Asking Why the Reporters Were off Twitter or not Covering the Election
Now They Have Ebola and the Endless News Conferences As A Distraction to Ignore Doing Analysis of the Candidates Campaign Spin Commercials Dominate
Media Not Protecting Public From the Campaign Sharks
Gov. Cuomo's reelection campaign, despite spending binge,heads into home stretch with nearly $15.8 million (NYDN) Cuomo’s campaign reported $8.6 million in total expenses during the past three weeks, according to a just-filed financial statement. The expenses included more than $2.3 million spent on television ads and another $4.4 million transferred to the state Democratic Party. Despite the heavy spending, the governor still has plenty of money left over as the races heads into the final week and a half. The campaign reported a balance of nearly $15.8 million, dwarfing the $1 million that Republican challenger Rob Astorino has on hand in his campaign account.
Shadow Government Deal of the Day
Astoria Cover
Even the NYT is Pushing
A New Model for Affordable Housing (NYT) Astoria Cove on the East River in Queens is an example of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commitment to create or save 200,000 affordable apartments in 10 years.
Queens clergy members push city on Astoria Cove New York Daily News
Council's Land Use Committee Approves 'Astoria Cove' Mega-Project New York Observer
Astoria Cove developers: We'll hire union workers The Real Deal Magazine
New York Daily News* The New York City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the massive Astoria Cove project, making it and a long-proposed ferry boat service for the Queens waterfront a step closer to launching, the Observerreports: * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing policy cleared its first significant hurdle Wednesday when the City Council’s land use committee voted to require that 27 percent of the apartments in a hotly debated residential project in Queens be classified as affordable, the Journal writes: * #AstoriaCove wins City Council committee support after last minute deal
Astoria Cover
Even the NYT is Pushing
A New Model for Affordable Housing (NYT) Astoria Cove on the East River in Queens is an example of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commitment to create or save 200,000 affordable apartments in 10 years.
Queens clergy members push city on Astoria Cove New York Daily News
Council's Land Use Committee Approves 'Astoria Cove' Mega-Project New York Observer
Astoria Cove developers: We'll hire union workers The Real Deal Magazine
Astoria Cove Passes Big Test Wall Street Journal
Astoria Cove site developer comes to labor union agreement for project's ...New York Daily News* The New York City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the massive Astoria Cove project, making it and a long-proposed ferry boat service for the Queens waterfront a step closer to launching, the Observerreports: * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing policy cleared its first significant hurdle Wednesday when the City Council’s land use committee voted to require that 27 percent of the apartments in a hotly debated residential project in Queens be classified as affordable, the Journal writes: * #AstoriaCove wins City Council committee support after last minute deal
Does Lobbyists Bertha Lewis and Pat Lynch Bag Daily News Editorial
Daily News Editorial: New York ’s dime bags (NYDN Ed) The blowback against a scheme in the City Council to impose a 10-cent-a-bag fee on New York shoppers casts its sponsors as imperial know-it-alls on the order of their one-time nemesis, the allegedly out-of-touch and dictatorial Michael Bloomberg. Count Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander and Manhattan Councilwoman Margaret Chin them crazy for proposing to alter the universally shared experience of shopping in a way that smacks of piling one more hassle on top of all the others, including the mandatory recycling of paper, plastic, metals and, increasingly, food waste.
The Shadow Government "Permanent Government" Changes the Guard and Remains in Control
Lobbyists Political Consultants Cut Themselves Into Permanent Government Since Jack Newfield Wrote the Book 1977
New Kings Makers Eat the Kings Meat and the Media Does Not Notice
Former Borough President Molinaro joins high-powered consulting firm with strong Staten Island ties(SI Advancew) Molinaro has joined the Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin LLC government relations and consulting firm, a company with strong ties to the Island. In his role as senior managing director, Molinaro will oversee the firm's new satellite office in St. George, close to many of the economic development projects that Molinaro helped become a reality during his time in office. Pitta said that the Wheel development as well as other Island projects, including the development of the Stapleton home port and the re-development of the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Charleston, "are sure to spur further growth, opportunity and investment across all of Staten Island." Jon Del Giorno of the politically-prominent law firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin LLC (which manages Melissa Mark-Viverito campaign finance filings) also helped pave the way for the councilwoman's deal with Brooklyn Boss Seddio.Feds charge Senate Dems' operative (CrainsNY) Michael Cohen, who now works for the New York lobbying firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin, did not return a request for comment made through a firm spokesman. Pitta Bishop lists crisis management among its specialties, and is affiliated with the law firm Pitta & Giblin. Ms. Mark-Viverito was escorted around Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club recently by Michael Cohen
Lobbyists Secret Government Cover Up
True News Has Been Reporting About the Lobbyist's Shadow Secret Government . . . And Mr. Power the Media is Enabling the Pols to Cover It Up
Why Did the NYT Make Powell A Sports Reporter? All His Friends Have Conspiracy Theories About Why the Times Would Remove (with no replacement) A Reporters Who Understands the World Outside the Kingdoms' Bubble
Chris Bragg @ChrisBragg1 Threat to open government posed Worth noting: Unlike AG, de Blasio admin did NOT cite consultant exemption on emails
Michael Consultants and favored PR firms form a powerful and growing shadow government in NYS. Pols trying to cover that up
Lobbyists Berlin Rosen Takes Over NYC Government
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Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
Poor Door and Lobbyists George Arzt
CrainsNY Goes After the Secret World of Political Consultants
NYT Refuses to Look At Big Money in NY Elections Esp Consultant Lobbyists Controlled PACs
An Amendment to Cut Political Cash(NYT Ed) A proposal to amend the Constitution would restore fairness to American politics by reducing the influence of big money.* The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics held its first-ever hearings on specific alleged violations of state lobbying law, the Times Union reports: * The state of political consulting(Politico)
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Bertha Lewis Bags Plastic $$$
The Plastic Bag Fight imposing a 10-cent fee on paper and plastic grocery bags, is a regressive tax upon the poor and working class Its About the Bag Company Owners Funding Lobbyists To Stop An Ideology Over Reality Driven Council.jpg)
In a tough new ad campaign, neighborhood activists plan to take direct aim at de Blasio, accusing him of endangering children and turning his back on a pledge to make the city safer for pedestrians with plans to place a truck ramp on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the Times reports:
* The New York City bag tax, which would impose a 10-cent fee on paper and plastic grocery bags, is a regressive tax upon the poor and working class and should be rejected by the New York City Council, the Post writes:
The dispute centers on an unused garbage transfer station on the shore of the East River , which is set to be reopened soon, over residents’ objections. Bag lobby pays anti-fee advocate(Capital)
Lobbyists Patricia Lynch Is Being Paid 50,000 by the American Progressive Bag Alliance to Work With Bertha Lewis to Kill the Could Bill
She vehemently denied that she was acting in exchange for payment. Earlier this year Crain's reported that another group run by Lewis, the Black Institute, also received payment from a group of Upper East Side residents opposed to the 91st Street marine transfer facility. Lewis spoke out against that plan as well.* Mayor's ally being paid to fight him(Crains) When Bill de Blasio took the stage upon winning his mayoral primary last fall, community organizer Bertha Lewis stood beside him, crowing about liberalism's ascendancy in New York City . Yet last month, hours before Mr. de Blasio gave his first budget address, the outspoken Ms. Lewis was trashing a de Blasio-backed waste-management plan on the steps of City Hall. Ms. Lewis and Mr. de Blasio are longtime allies. They helped found the Working Families Party in 1998 and supported the controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn . Ms. Lewis' connection with Atlantic Yards developer Forest City
Bertha Lewis Has Made Her Own Niche in Campaign Lobbyists Shadow Government
Lewis Who Work With Advance in ACORN Now Works With Advance as Lobbyists Trying to Stop the Westside Waste Transfer Station
As her nonprofit Acorn was facing dire financial problems in 2008 because of an embezzlement scandal, the developer lent it $1 million and promised $500,000 in grants. Last spring, Pledge 2 Protect raised nearly $429,000 between April and October and spent more than $131,000 on mailers telling Upper East Side voters which 2013 candidates supported and opposed the transfer station. After Mr. de Blasio won the Democratic primary despite being targeted by the group, leaders of Pledge 2 Protect met with a consulting firm, Mercury Public Affairs, which was running an independent spending campaign funded by billionaire David Koch and others boosting Mr. de Blasio's general-election opponent, Republican Joseph Lhota. Instead of opposing the heavily favored Mr. de Blasio in the general election, however, Pledge 2 Protect hired the Advance Group, a Manhattan-based Democratic consulting firm that had just run a $1 million campaign to sink de Blasio rival Christine Quinn. Pledge 2 Protect also hired Ms. Lewis, who shares an office with the Advance Group and whose nonprofit is a client of it.* City to shut down part of Asphalt Green — used by 100,000 children a year on Upper East Side — during construction of controversial waste-transfer station ramp(NYDN)
Less Than Six Degrees of Bertha Lewis Separation: de Blasio Teachout Edition
Less Than Six Degrees of Bertha Lewis Separation: de Blasio Teachout Edition
"The Working Families Party is urging people to vote for Andrew Cuomo by using a picture of NYC mayor Bill de Blasio"
W.F.P. mailer features Bill de Blasio(Capital) The Working Families Party is urging people to vote for Governor Andrew Cuomo by using a picture of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. The labor-backed party has faced persistent criticism since it backed Cuomo over Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout after de Blasio brokered a deal for Cuomo to endorse a Democratic takeover of the State Senate. The W.F.P. is hoping to bolster its vote total, lest it slip behind the Green Party (led by Howie Hawkins) or the Women's Equality Party (created by Cuomo.)* Giuliani: Obama SaidSame Thing about Black Crime as I Did, But I Was Called a Racist(NYO
Lobbyists the New Kings of NY Have Free Rein on Runny Government
They move government without having to disclose their activities. Call them clever, call them stealthy.Like Ms. Cunningham, Mr. Rosen is not a registered lobbyist. Yet he regularly meets with government officials. The mayor's schedule from his first five months in office shows Mr. Rosen was in at least nine meetings and on two calls.BerlinRosen understands how issues play out in the public sphere, its clients say.
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Bob Master, a political director of the Communications Workers of America District 1, a BerlinRosen client, said the firm's value for his union is its public-relations prowess. "They know how things are going to play in the media, or how to find the leverage points in a particular situation," Mr. Master said. "It has nothing to do with lobbying."
Council speaker puts connected lobbyist on payroll(CrainsNY) Melissa Mark-Viverito quietly handed a $130,000-a-year staff position to a lobbyist from the firm that helped propel her to the City Council speakership, payroll records show. In late March, Carlos Beato, who was a lobbyist at the firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, joined the City Council payroll as a deputy general counsel. The move came not long after the lobbying shop—which has long served as Ms. Mark-Viverito’s campaign compliance consultant—quarterbacked her council speaker bid. The firm’s Jon Del Giorno set up an “appointments committee” for Ms. Mark-Viverito to vet applicants for the council staff. The firm lobbied Ms. Mark-Viverito as her speaker bid was ongoing, and has continued to do so since her ascension to the city's second-most powerful post. The close ties have drawn scrutiny and a call from the Daily News for Ms. Mark-Viverito to sever ties with the firm and its clients. In an unprecedented and clever move, the Pitta Bishop set up a 2017 campaign accountto facilitate Ms. Mark-Viverito’s speaker run. That allowed her to raise $100,000, with more than $20,000 coming from the lobbying firm’s clients. The good-government group Common Cause accused Ms. Mark-Viverito of exploiting loopholes in state election law. Pitta Bishop's clients also reportedly funded much of her $27,000 inauguration party. * NY lobbying grows another 4%, spent $109 M in first sixmonths of this year; now 32 lobbyists for every legislator
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Puppet Council Speaker Controlled By New Private Tammany Hall
Top Speaker Lobbyists Puts A Man Inside
The Privatization of the Tammany Hall Machine
The Old Tammany Hall Machine was corrupt as corrupt as the lobbyists who have run today's New York's political system. But the machine of the Boss Tweed era was far more responsive to voters and the communities that it served. Terry Golway recent book explained how Tammany Hall depended on voter turnout for power. To get votes the old machine offered services, provided jobs and protected the neighborhood where their votes came from. Tammany Hall governing style was responsible for creating New York's strong Neighborhoods of old. Tammany leader George Washington Plunkitt — the man who coined the phrase “honest graft” — met with constituents and lesser Tammany officials in his district several times a week to find out who was happy with Tammany’s services and who required some special attention. Today's lobbyist's controlled private machine gain power by getting electing candidates and feeding them with campaign contributions from their clients who are looking for city contracts or zoning changes, they never meet the voters.
The Privatization of the Tammany Hall Machine
Dark Money For A Dark Money Fund
The Creation of A Secret Govt to Rule NYC
School bus firms try to hide $40K in donations to mayoral nonprofit(NYP) School bus operators who need Mayor de Blasio’s help to retain lucrative city contracts contributed nearly $40,000 to a mayoral nonprofit — but took steps to hide the donations from public view, a Post review found. The school bus owners were among a number of special-interest groups that helped de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York raise $1.7 million in the first six months of 2014. But, unlike the yellow-cab firms and the teachers union, the bus owners tried to mask their involvement. Careful Bus Co. — which has $90 million in contracts set to expire in 2015 — gave nearly $10,000 through a number of LLC’s, including 88th Street Self Storage Inc. and First Investors Equipment Leasing Corp. Another donation is listed solely as coming from Richard Caparella, who is the brother-in-law of Careful Bus co-owner Marty Hoffman.
TRANSITIONS -- “De Blasio press aide leaves for DKC,” by Azi: “Rachel Martin, an assistant press secretary for Mayor Bill de Blasio is leaving to work for DKC, the public relations and public affairs firm. She starts there [today], as an account supervisor for political, nonprofit and public affairs clients. At DKC, Martin [@Rachel0Martin] will rejoin Jeffrey Lerner and John Falcicchio with whom she worked in Washington. Martin was an assistant to Lerner when he was the national political director of the Democratic National Committee, and an intern in the White House when Lerner served as southern political director there.
“Falcicchio was the northeast regional political director at the DNC and the national liaison for Democratic mayors at that time. Martin worked on de Blasio's 2013 mayoral campaign, where she often worked in the background, handling logistics for press conferences and public events … Martin worked in a similar capacity at City Hall.” For Capital Pro subscribers: http://bit.ly/1AqvikK
Albany Upset With Molinaro Not Because He Is A Corrupt Lobbyist, But Because He Called Lady Gaga A Slut
Molinaro appointment sinks over Lady Gaga ‘slut’ remark(NYP) Lady Gaga got her revenge. Gov. Cuomo’s appointment of Staten Island conservative, anti-Gaga basher James Molinaro to CUNY’s Board of Trustees got torpedoed by the state Senate Friday night. Among Molinaro’s Senate-confirmation woes: calling Gaga a “slut,” which rankled women’s-rights advocates, sources said. The former Staten Island borough president’s views on cutting funding for unwed teen moms also drew fire from liberals. Molinaro has joined the Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin LLC government relations and consulting firm, a company with strong ties to the Island. * City Hall's new 'in' crowd of lobbyists | Crain's New York ...
To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Since the 2013 elections Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin has picked up of 70 clients to lobby for. 51 clients to lobby the city council, 17 to lobby the office of the mayor
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Lobby for the City Council Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: MedReview, Inc., Meadows Office Supply Co., Inc., National Lighthouse Museum, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Inc., Knickerbocker Plaza LLC, Local 420 AFSCME AFL-CIO, Vera Institute of Justice, Inc., Hotel, Restaurant & Club Employees & Bartenders Union Local 6, New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council AFL-CIO, Detectives Endowment Association Police Department, City of New York Inc., Lakeside Manor Home For Adults Inc., Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc,, Grasmere and Cameron Lakes Bluebelt Conservancy, Inc., Plumbers and Gasfitters Local Union No. 1 of the United Association, New York State Conference of IUOE, Richmond Uni Home Care, Inc., Adco Electrical Corp, BIO-REFERENCE LABORATORIES, INC., New York Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Assoc. of NYC, Inc. Health Benefits Fund, LOCAL 372 NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION EMPLOYEES, UNITE HERE, MagnaCare Administrative Services, LLC, District Council No. 4, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO, A.T.U.-Division 1181-1061 AFL-CIO, OFFICE &PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION LOCAL 153, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades DC 9 , RICHMOND UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., International Union of Operating Engineers Local 14-14B, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, Glenwood Management Corp., LOCAL UNION NO. 94-94A-94B, I.U.O.E., AFL-CIO, NYSARC, INC., NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER, New York Black Operator's Injury Compensation Fund, Inc., UNIFORMED SANITATIONMEN'S ASS'N LOCAL 831 - I.B.T, Associated Brick Mason Contractors of Greater New York, Inc., East Side Alliance Against Overdevelopment, Inc., Urgent-MD Hewlett Management LLC , SOSH Architects, P.A.,, Lobby for the City Council and office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: New York Wheel LLC, WellPoint, Inc., Pier A Battery Park Associates, LLC, Garage Employees Local Union No. 272, Staten Island Marine Development, LLC, The Francis School, Chef's Choice Cash & Carry Food Distributor, Inc., THE WITKOFF GROUP LLC, Il Commandatore Restaurant Inc., RJ LEE GROUP, INC., Cameron Club of Staten island, Inc., Milrose Consultants, Inc., Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, Inc, UNIFORMED FIRE ALARM DISPATCHERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, INC. , Lobby for the office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: Gardeners/Growers/Landscapers Association of New York, Inc., Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, SOSH Architects, P.A.
Lobbyists Puppet Council Speaker
Top Speaker Lobbyists Puts A Man Inside
Council speaker puts connected lobbyist on payroll(CrainsNY) Melissa Mark-Viverito quietly handed a $130,000-a-year staff position to a lobbyist from the firm that helped propel her to the City Council speakership, payroll records show. In late March, Carlos Beato, who was a lobbyist at the firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, joined the City Council payroll as a deputy general counsel. The move came not long after the lobbying shop—which has long served as Ms. Mark-Viverito’s campaign compliance consultant—quarterbacked her council speaker bid. The firm’s Jon Del Giorno set up an “appointments committee” for Ms. Mark-Viverito to vet applicants for the council staff. The firm lobbied Ms. Mark-Viverito as her speaker bid was ongoing, and has continued to do so since her ascension to the city's second-most powerful post. The close ties have drawn scrutiny and a call from the Daily News for Ms. Mark-Viverito to sever ties with the firm and its clients. In an unprecedented and clever move, the Pitta Bishop set up a 2017 campaign accountto facilitate Ms. Mark-Viverito’s speaker run. That allowed her to raise $100,000, with more than $20,000 coming from the lobbying firm’s clients. The good-government group Common Cause accused Ms. Mark-Viverito of exploiting loopholes in state election law. Pitta Bishop's clients also reportedly funded much of her $27,000 inauguration party.
'Weaknesses' remain in city’s handling of computer contracts, nearly four years after explosive CityTime scandal: investigators(NYDN) The report found that CityTime contractors hired sub-contractors who in turn hired their own sub-contractors, some of whom were unknown to the city. Peterson says all sub-contractors should undergo exhaustive review. The city paid an outside consultant, Mark Mazer, to oversee CityTime, but he wound up masterminding the $500 million fraud. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. DOI says the city must assign a qualified city employee to that role for all future projects. The upgrade started in 2004 and was supposed to take three years and cost $1.3 billion. By 2012 it had grown to $2 billion — and wasn’t complete. Mayor de Blasio halted it in May after dispatchers complained of glitches that regularly delayed emergency response times. And Controller Scott Stringer held up a $6 million settlement with the project’s contractor, Hewlett Packard, due to an earlier audit that found $160 million in possible overbilling. DOI is now trying to determine what went wrong and whether fraud occurred. Peters’ recommendations will likely apply to the ongoing effort to upgrade the 911 system. CityTime Scandal Time Line
The Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System
A Play Budget Written By the Lobbyist That Run the Council and Mayoral Staff
Mayor Shoot Down Council More Cop Plan
De Blasio shoots down bid to expand NYPD by 1,000 cops(NYDN) * Both NYPD Commissioner William Bratton and de Blasio pushed back against a City Council proposal to hire 1,000 police officers, the Daily News writes: * SHOT DOWN: NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, Mayor de Blasio reject City Council's proposal to hire 1,000 officers(NYDN)
The New York City Council’s proposed budget, which will be unveiled today, will push for $24 million for free lunches for all public school children and $94 million to add 1,000 new police officers to the NYPD’s force, the Daily News writes: * The New York City Council will also unveil a proposal for a commission to overhaul the city’s property-tax system to make it more equitable, The Wall Street Journal reports: *Free Lunch for All Public school kids may get free lunch regardless of family income as part as $24M program in proposed City Council budget(NYDN) .@deBlasioNYC said there is a "wrinkle" in @NYCCouncil proposal for universal free lunch because it could reduce federal funding
Update Mayor No Bill de Blasio Throws Cold Water on Key Council Budget Asks(NYO) But speaking in Albany today, the mayor questioned the logistics of offering free lunches to every public school kid in the city, regardless of economic need. Though he said he believes “the goal is the right one,” he pointed to “a couple of wrinkles” in the plan, including fears that “it may have a boomerang effect in terms of denying us a certain amount of federal funding.” “I give tremendous respect to the men and women of the NYPD and of course to Commissioner Bratton. They’re doing an extraordinary job. Crime remains low. And let me give them additional credit for continuing the healing process between police and community. So the resources we have now are getting the job done,” insisted the mayor.* De Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton rejected the NYC Council’s call to hire another 1,000 police officers.* New York City Council Seeks Bigger Police Dept. and Free School Meals * The New York City Council’s response to de Blasio’s preliminary budget includes a call for the formation of a property tax commission to address inequalities in the system, City & State writes:
PC Bratton not only couldn't pick his top deputies now he's forced to say he doesn't need more cops despite patrol strength depletion
Lobbyist Davidoff Spotted At City Hall
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO) between lobbyists Sid Davidoff. and Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News.Sid Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Has gotten the following contracts in 2014 to lobby the mayor:Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Since the 2013 elections Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin has picked up of 70 clients to lobby for. 51 clients to lobby the city council, 17 to lobby the office of the mayor
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Lobby for the City Council Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: MedReview, Inc., Meadows Office Supply Co., Inc., National Lighthouse Museum, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Inc., Knickerbocker Plaza LLC, Local 420 AFSCME AFL-CIO, Vera Institute of Justice, Inc., Hotel, Restaurant & Club Employees & Bartenders Union Local 6, New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council AFL-CIO, Detectives Endowment Association Police Department, City of New York Inc., Lakeside Manor Home For Adults Inc., Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc,, Grasmere and Cameron Lakes Bluebelt Conservancy, Inc., Plumbers and Gasfitters Local Union No. 1 of the United Association, New York State Conference of IUOE, Richmond Uni Home Care, Inc., Adco Electrical Corp, BIO-REFERENCE LABORATORIES, INC., New York Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Assoc. of NYC, Inc. Health Benefits Fund, LOCAL 372 NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION EMPLOYEES, UNITE HERE, MagnaCare Administrative Services, LLC, District Council No. 4, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO, A.T.U.-Division 1181-1061 AFL-CIO, OFFICE &PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION LOCAL 153, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades DC 9 , RICHMOND UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., International Union of Operating Engineers Local 14-14B, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, Glenwood Management Corp., LOCAL UNION NO. 94-94A-94B, I.U.O.E., AFL-CIO, NYSARC, INC., NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER, New York Black Operator's Injury Compensation Fund, Inc., UNIFORMED SANITATIONMEN'S ASS'N LOCAL 831 - I.B.T, Associated Brick Mason Contractors of Greater New York, Inc., East Side Alliance Against Overdevelopment, Inc., Urgent-MD Hewlett Management LLC , SOSH Architects, P.A.,, Lobby for the City Council and office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: New York Wheel LLC, WellPoint, Inc., Pier A Battery Park Associates, LLC, Garage Employees Local Union No. 272, Staten Island Marine Development, LLC, The Francis School, Chef's Choice Cash & Carry Food Distributor, Inc., THE WITKOFF GROUP LLC, Il Commandatore Restaurant Inc., RJ LEE GROUP, INC., Cameron Club of Staten island, Inc., Milrose Consultants, Inc., Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, Inc, UNIFORMED FIRE ALARM DISPATCHERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, INC. , Lobby for the office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: Gardeners/Growers/Landscapers Association of New York, Inc., Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, SOSH Architects, P.A.
Public Financing, Hospitals And Teachers Top Lobbying In 2014 So Far(YNN
Parents and children of charter schools are caught between two well-funded interests. (NYDN) As of last week, the political action committees of the United Federation of Teachers and the four major charter backers were fairly evenly matched financially, a Daily News review found.* .* Mayor's ally being paid to fight him (CrainsNY) Instead of opposing the heavily favored Mr. de Blasio in the general election, however, Pledge 2 Protect hired the Advance Group, a Manhattan-based Democratic consulting firm that had just run a $1 million campaign to sink de Blasio rival Christine Quinn. Pledge 2 Protect also hired Ms. Lewis, who shares an office with the Advance Group and whose nonprofit is a client of it.
How Political Consultant Lobbyists Don't Have to Register With the City As Lobbyists
Nonprofit that organized charter school rally in Albany insists it did not count as lobbying (CrainsNY)
n early March, charter school supporters held a huge rally at the state Capitol featuring Gov. Andrew Cuomo and hundreds of students it had bused to Albany for the protest. But the nonprofit that organized the charter rally is declining to disclose any of its spending on the event, maintaining none of it was actually lobbying—a view that doesn't fly with good-government group Citizens Union. In an initial email to Crain’s, Stu Loeser, the spokesman for Families For Excellent Schools, said that at the time of the March 4 rally, “there was no resolution, legislation, executive order, or bill to lobby the state Legislature on,” and therefore the rally was not lobbying. Nine days after the rally, the state Senate passed a budget resolution containing several pro-charter provisions.
A day after that, Families For Excellent Schools submitted a lobbying disclosure with the state ethics panel, JCOPE, stating that it was now in fact lobbying, specifically on the “state Senate budget.” Yet in 2011, an ethics reform package pushed by Mr. Cuomo expanded the definition of lobbying to include not just “any attempt to influence” bills, but also any attempt to influence “the introduction or intended introduction of such legislation.” In a follow-up statement Tuesday after Crain's pointed out that aspect of the law, Mr. Loeser argued further that lobbying is defined as not "merely intending to influence general government policy" but rather intending to influence specific legislation. He added, "There were a variety of things Albany could do. At the time of the rally—before the Senate budget was introduced—we were not trying to get legislation introduced, or an executive order or regulation adopted." Capital New York reported on Feb. 24, well before the rally was held, that charter supporters were "looking to Assembly members from [New York City] districts to push for state funding to help co-located charters."
Lobbyists Rise and Fall As Their Political Pimps Careers Rise and Fall
Corruption is growning by Lobbyists and elected official tag teams raking in gov $
Elected LobbyPimps
Behind every lobbyists is an elected official
Among the firms with the biggest growth in business was Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which helped Melissa Mark-Viverito in her race for City Council speaker and then began lobbying her on behalf of clients. The firm’s business jumped 30.4% in 2013 over 2012. * On the flip side, Patricia Lynch, a one-time top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was hit by a 17.5% drop in her business in 2013.Patricia Lynch Associates, which in recent years faced tax problems and downsizing, sank from being the second biggest lobbying firm to the sixth as its compensation dropped to $5.54 million in 2013 from $6.7 million in 2012.*
A Tale of Two Albany's
Lobbyists ready to get to work now that state budget is completed(Buffalo News)
Fake Public Albany
The list of end-of-session priorities for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders reads like a song verse stuck in your head: campaign finance law changes, job creation incentives, minimum wage increase, special protections for women in the workplace, and state aid for children of illegal immigrants.
Real Lobbyists Albany
But behind the scenes, most of Albany’s special-interest groups pay little attention to such matters. Hospitals, unions, car dealers, energy firms, pharmaceutical conglomerates and others spend their time caring about the likes of complex civil liability laws, tort insurance, regulatory rules and other issues that the public pays little attention to but can be of great financial value to these special interests. Doing their bidding are 6,383 registered lobbyists in Albany, retained for a record $191 million, according to a state ethics agency report.
Lobbyists Kill NY's Democracy to Make $
Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin Makes the Speaker and Cashes In
Meet the New Progressive City Council, Sock Puppets for Lobbyists
A consulting firm—Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin—that helped Melissa Mark-Viverito in her runs for City Council and Council speaker has lobbied her on behalf of four clients, the Daily News reports: Disclosure reports show an advocacy group, the East Side Alliance Against Overdevelopment, paid Pitta Bishop $15,000 in November to fight a plan by Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital to build two towers on city-owned land on E. 73rd St. Pitta Bishop lobbied Council members from Manhattan, including Mark-Viverito — who represents East Harlem — to vote against the project when it came before the 12-member Manhattan Borough Board on Nov. 21. Mark-Viverito voted no, but the project was approved 6 to 4. Mark-Viverito’s spokesman said her vote had no connection to the lobbying by her consultant. In January and February, Pitta Bishop lobbyists also met with Mark-Viverito’s staff on behalf of another client, the Vera Institute. The goal? Vera’s request for additional Council funding of a pilot program providing legal aid to immigrants. Vera received $500,000 in funding last year and wants $5 million more this year. Pitta Bishop also lobbied Mark-Viverito in January and February seeking “support for museum programming related to anti-bullying” run by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Manhattan. She was asked to speak at an anti-bullying event targeted to children, which she agreed to do, her spokesman said. And Luis Miranda of the MirRam Group enjoys a close relationship with Ms. Mark-Viverito.
Lobbyists Political Consultants Cut Themselves Into Permanent Government Since Jack Newfield Wrote the Book 1977
Kings Makers Eat the Kings Meat
Former Borough President Molinaro joins high-powered consulting firm with strong Staten Island ties(SI Advancew) Molinaro has joined the Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin LLC government relations and consulting firm, a company with strong ties to the Island. In his role as senior managing director, Molinaro will oversee the firm's new satellite office in St. George, close to many of the economic development projects that Molinaro helped become a reality during his time in office. Pitta said that the Wheel development as well as other Island projects, including the development of the Stapleton home port and the re-development of the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Charleston, "are sure to spur further growth, opportunity and investment across all of Staten Island." Jon Del Giorno of the politically-prominent law firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin LLC (which manages Melissa Mark-Viverito campaign finance filings) also helped pave the way for the councilwoman's deal with Brooklyn Boss Seddio.Feds charge Senate Dems' operative (CrainsNY) Michael Cohen, who now works for the New York lobbying firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin, did not return a request for comment made through a firm spokesman. Pitta Bishop lists crisis management among its specialties, and is affiliated with the law firm Pitta & Giblin. Ms. Mark-Viverito was escorted around Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club recently by Michael Cohen
True News Wags the DN on Lobbyists Controlling the the Council
Village Voice Reporter Wayne Barrett Said in 2010, Lobbyists Political Consultant " Hank Sheinkopf makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings he’s made."Familiar Consultants Hired by de Blasio’s Pre-K Drive(NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio’s privately financed campaign to offer prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds in New York City paid consultants in his election run much of the money it spent in recent months. Those consultants, who were paid not by the city but by a new nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York, included BerlinRosen, a public affairs firm that took in $43,950 in fees and expenses, and an affiliate of Hilltop Public Solutions, which was paid a $16,500 “management fee,” according to a filing with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics. Hilltop hired Bill Hyers, the manager of Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, in December, the same month Mr. Hyers established the Campaign for One New York, which quickly branded itself as UPKNYC. Genova Burns Giantomasi Webster, a law firm that worked on Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral run, was paid $23,467 in fees.
Acres, the media production firm that helped mold Mr. de Blasio’s campaign commercials — including a pivotal advertisement featuring his son, Dante — was paid $16,900, according to the filing. Jessica Singleton, who was digital director of the de Blasio campaign and now works for the mayor, received $2,500 in fees for “brand design” and “digital strategy” before she joined the administration. The nonprofit also paid $40,000 to the North Star Fund, a foundation that supports grass-roots organizations, which added money of its own and spent it promoting “the need for high-quality, universal pre-K and after-school and the UPKNYC plan to pay for these critical investments” within “grass-roots communities,” Dan Levitan, a vice president at BerlinRosen, said by email. Mr. Levitan, who was also the spokesman for Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, said.* Group Lobbying for Pre-K Plan Closely Associated With Unions, Mayor's Campaign Staff(NY1) The group is run, in part, by the mayor's former campaign aides. Its lobbyist works for the city's massive hotel workers' union, JOSHUA GOLD and his contract allows him to work for both groups at the same time. Others poised to prosper in the wake of the mayoral and speaker elections include BerlinRosen, a liberal shop that helped run Mr. de Blasio's campaign, although the public-relations firm does not directly lobby lawmakers and does not publicly disclose its activities.(CrainsNY)
More on Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
What the Mayor Never Meet With Lobbyists Berlin Rosen Who Responded to NYT's Powell Question to the Mayor's Office?
Lobbyists who backed de Blasio for mayor have access(NYP)Mayor de Blasio personally met with six registered lobbyists in his first three months in office — half of whom were his supporters in last year’s mayoral race, The Post has learned. Records provided by the Mayor’s Office show that de Blasio huddled with Vincent Pitta — who was representing Long Island College Hospital and health-care workers in Local 1199 of SEIU — the same day he declared the rescue of the struggling hospital as “truly historic.” A series of subsequent setbacks for the hospital have risked making the Feb. 22 celebration Hizzoner’s “Mission Accomplished” moment.Pitta had given $400 to de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, and his firm — Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin — was a paid adviser for Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s election campaign. The mayor strongly backed Mark-Viverito’s campaign to become council speaker. De Blasio also met with the Real Estate Board’s Steve Spinola in mid-February, at a session with other board members that was on the mayor’s public schedule but was closed to the media.It was at that meeting that de Blasio expressed a willingness to build taller buildings in exchange for more affordable housing units. Other registered lobbyists on the mayor’s list included teachers-union chief Michael Mulgrew, who was in the middle of contract talks; Bob Master and Chris Shelton of the Communications Workers of America; and Tony Marx of the New York Public Library, which was mulling a major renovation of its 42nd Street main location.*Flashback Lobbyists Lined Up To Help Host Million-Dollar Bill de Blasio/Hillary Clinton Fundraiser
How Come Berlin Rosen Is Not Registered As A NYC Lobbyist?
Berlin Rosen Operates In the Dark Pools of Power and NYC Lobbyist
NYT Michael Powell - A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the “it” P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. He advised that I should study the mayor’s proposals carefully if I presumed to take “a skeptical look” at prekindergarten. I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the “campaign” for pre-K. Lobbyists Search for Berlin Rosen * When Campaign Aides Are Lobbyists, Questions Mount - City Limits(City Limits) * 8 Lobbyists Consultants and Citizen United * True News (The Bund): Dark Pools * City Hall's new 'in' crowd of lobbyists (CrainsNY) Lobbyists behind the campaigns of ascendant power brokers are now poised to cash in.* The Perma-Campaign: For Bill de Blasio, the Race Never Ends(NYO)
Twitter / BerlinRosen: Congratulations to whole team ...
Who Spent on Lobbying This Year
Records show the Public Campaign Action Fund spent $464,823 on lobbying efforts, including a $450,000 ad campaign in the first two months of the year. The pro-public financing group’s spending outpaced the more traditional groups that lobbying state government, including the Greater New York Hospital Association and its affiliates, which spent the second-highest amount of money, $317,884. The hospitals group was followed by the state’s largest teachers unions, the New York State United Teachers and the city-based United Federation of Teachers. The Campaign for One New York, a group that was created late last year to support New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s pre-K expansion, spent $235,948 during those months.* NY reaches lobbying spending record $210 million, most from top interest groups(WSKD)
# 7. Genting's Lobbyists Genting’s lobbyists in New York, according to state lobbying records, include Patricia Lynch, a former top aide to the Democratic Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and Nicholas A. Spano, a former Republican state senator.The company has also hired Jennifer Cunningham, a close friend of Mr. Cuomo’s, to do public relations work and Bradley Tusk, who was Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaign manager in 2009, to assist with planning. Genting even created an advocacy group called the New York Gaming Association, which is led by another prominent lobbyist, James Featherstonhaugh. More About Gambling and Lobbyists
# 2. Greater New York Hospital Association
Lobbyists Tonio Burgos & Associates, Inc.
Top Lobbying Spenders and Lobbyists
Teachers And Tobacco Topped Lobbying In 2013(YNN) The United Federation of Teachers, based in the city, spent $2.5 million.Also spending big in 2013: the Greater Hospital Association of New York at $2.1 million and The Public Employees Federation, a union of white-collar public workers that spent $1.4 million.Park Strategies, the firm led by former Sen. Al D’Amato who has close ties to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, saw the largest surge in business, with reimbursed expenses and compensation jumping nearly 62 percent.Another big winner in 2013 was Mercury Public Affairs, where partner Michael McKeon is leading a Republicans for Cuomo group. Mercury saw a jump of 25 percent in business over last year.Meanwhile, compensation for in-house and retained lobbyists totaled a record $191 million last year, JCOPE found. The top lobbying shop in New York remains Wilson Elser Moskotwitz Edelman & Dicker, which reported $10.3 million in 2013, following by Kasierer Consulting at $6.45 million. Greenberg Trauri came in third at $6.2 million. The $210 million spent though did not reach the record of $220 million, set in 2011 when the Committee to Save New York, a coalition of businesses and private-sector labor groups that supported Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s fiscal agenda, spent heavily on an ad campaign on his behalf.* NY teachers unions spent $4.8M on lobbying in 2013(NYP)
Cuomo's GOP Lobbyists
Special interest groups spend $210M lobbying state, local governments(NYDN) Cigarette giant Alria Client Services spend the most- $3 million- in 2013 to fight a tobacco display ban in New York City. At least two Republican-dominated firms with close ties to Democratic Gov. Cuomo experienced booming business in 2013, the lobbying report showed.Park Strategies — headed by former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato — saw its total compensation grew by 61.9% in 2013 over 2012. Mercury Public Affairs, whose partner, Michael McKeon, is a former communications director for ex-Gov. George Pataki and a prominent figure in Republicans for Cuomo, saw a compensation jump of 25% in 2013.
Corrupt lobbyist
What Does A Connected Lobbyists Do After He Loses the Charter Tax War to Cuomo
Jonathan Rosen @JonathanRosenBR Pre-k agreement is proof of power of advancing big bold ideas, ignoring chorus who say it's dead on arrival and fighting until you win.
Mark-Viverito's Council is Really A Lobbyists Pay to Play Dream, What About the Rest of City Hall?
The Daily News writes that in continuing to deal with Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito has brought pay-to-play to the Council, and she must cut ties with the firm or its clients: http://goo.gl/u9Rtmg Campaigning for appointment as the Council’s leader, Mark-Viverito accepted freebie services from a political consultant and lobbying firm — until, in November, the Blogs and Daily News caught her at it. Then she dipped into her campaign treasury to hire a different lobbyist to boost her fortunes. Having relied on this second firm during her reelection, Mark-Viverito retained its help in persuading her colleagues to name her speaker and then in raising money for her inauguration. Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin reciprocated by raising more than 20% of the $100,000 that Mark-Viverito spent on her speakership drive, as well as most of the $27,000 tab for her bash. Now, the Daily News’ Greg Smith reports, Pitta Bishop has lobbied Mark-Viverito on behalf of four clients — who will surely be the first of many unless Mark-Viverito either recuses herself from voting on matters involving Pitta Bishop clients or bars Pitta Bishop representatives from her office. A Manhattan community group hired Pitta Bishop to oppose a development plan by Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital. Pitta Bishop lobbied Mark-Viverito. Wonder of wonders, she has turned thumbs down on the project. The criminal justice non-profit Vera Institute retained Pitta Bishop to seek a boost in city grants from $500,000 to $5 million. Pitta Bishop lobbied Mark-Viverito. She’s making up her mind. And so on and so forth ad nausea. Mark-Viverito has brought pay-to-play into bloom in the Council. She must sever ties with Pitta Bishop or its clients.
Parkside Going Down
Meanwhile, firms close to the Queens Democratic Party—such as the ninth-ranked Parkside Group, which runs the campaigns of many Queens-backed candidates and earned $1.7 million from city lobbying in 2012—could find the speaker's office less friendly than when it was ruled by Ms. Quinn, who owed her position in large part to Queens Democrats. Last year was the first time a speaker race was decided without the organization supplying votes, and spoils of victory—key staff positions and committee chairmanships—mostly went elsewhere.
Parkside also ran a controversial $8 million campaign funded by the real estate industry last year targeting City Council races. The negativity of some of its mailers rankled officials who have since emerged as power brokers, such as Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander.
Giske What Could Have Been
One well-known lobbyist and active supporter of Ms. Quinn was Emily Giske of Bolton-St. John's, the city's fourth-ranked lobbying firm in 2012 with $2.4 million in fees. Still, industry veterans don't expect major firms on the losing side of the 2013 races to take up collection plates just yet. The top tier still has scores of important clients whom power brokers must heed.
From Those Wonderful Folks Who Elected A Mayor, Most NYers Disagree With His Policies
Village Voice Reporter Wayne Barrett Said in 2010, Lobbyists Political Consultant " Hank Sheinkopf makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings he’s made."
Conflict of Interests
UPKNYC is run, in part, by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s former campaign aides, and its lobbyist also works for the city’s hotel workers’ union, raising questions about a conflict for the administration, NY1 reports: UPKNYC is run, in part, by the mayor's former campaign aides. Its lobbyist works for the city's massive hotel workers' union, JOSHUA GOLD and his contract allows him to work for both groups at the same time.
Acres, the media production firm that helped mold Mr. de Blasio’s campaign commercials — including a pivotal advertisement featuring his son, Dante — was paid $16,900, according to the filing. Jessica Singleton, who was digital director of the de Blasio campaign and now works for the mayor, received $2,500 in fees for “brand design” and “digital strategy” before she joined the administration. The nonprofit also paid $40,000 to the North Star Fund, a foundation that supports grass-roots organizations, which added money of its own and spent it promoting “the need for high-quality, universal pre-K and after-school and the UPKNYC plan to pay for these critical investments” within “grass-roots communities,” Dan Levitan, a vice president at BerlinRosen, said by email. Mr. Levitan, who was also the spokesman for Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, said.* Group Lobbying for Pre-K Plan Closely Associated With Unions, Mayor's Campaign Staff(NY1) The group is run, in part, by the mayor's former campaign aides. Its lobbyist works for the city's massive hotel workers' union, JOSHUA GOLD and his contract allows him to work for both groups at the same time.
de Blasio's Sugar Fix Will the Council Demand Its Cut? What Role Did Berlin Rosen Play?
City Hall's Inhouse Lobbyist Political Consultant
Real Estate developers now understand if you want to get an OK for your housing plan hire Berlin Rosen
City Hall Gatekeeper
BerlinRosen's current and recent clients include Two Trees Management Negotiations between Mr. de Blasio’s team and Mr. Walentas’s firm took place over the last few days. The two men share a mutual adviser: Jonathan Rosen, one of the mayor’s top political hands and the chief executive of a public affairs firm, Berlin Rosen, that counts Mr. Walentas’s company as a client. SPIN CITY -- Times’ Michael Powell: “A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the ‘it’ P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. … I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the ‘campaign’ for pre-K.”
Team de Blasio Spins Win on Pre-K
Lobbyists Political Consultants Have Cut Themselves Into the Permanent Government Since Jack Newfield Wrote the Book in 1977
Though more than $125,000 went to pay consultants and staff members, including $14,000 in compensation for Joshua Gold, a labor organizer Mr. de Blasio put in charge of the school campaign, the drive has also spent money demonstrating grass-roots support. Though Mr. de Blasio’s team said weeks ago that it would voluntarily release a list of donors in the coming weeks, Mr. Levitan would not reveal how much money had been raised, or from whom.* NYC Firm Helps De Blasio Go From Obscurity to Frontrunner(Bloomberg News) BerlinRosen Public Affairs, the eight-year-old firm founded by Valerie Berlin and Jonathan Rosen, has built a reputation working behind the scenes for Democratic candidates and causes such as paid sick leave, limiting police stop-and-frisk tactics and universal preschool -- issues that dominated de Blasio’s message and helped take the 52-year-old Mayor. “They are of the long-term vision that you really need to have with progressive politics, but they’re also completely grounded in the reality of getting votes and sowing messages,” said Eric Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general. BerlinRosen helped him win election in 2010 by a margin of almost 450,000 votes. Clients include New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan, the top Democratic lawmaker in Albany since 1994; 16 current and aspiring New York City Council members and several unions.
Among them was Davidoff, another fine tennis player whose deep interest in city government began with his days in the John Lindsay administration and continued as head of a prosperous firm of lobbyists and lawyers.
Davidoff made an excellent living making sure that contracts, leases and variances for his clients won approvals. In those years, he was a regular fixture in the west wing of City Hall, where he was also close with the first deputy mayor, Norman Steisel, and closer still with Steisel’s chief of staff.
These ties served Davidoff well. With clients ranging from Donald Trump to water meter suppliers, his firm was the league champion among city lobbyists throughout the Dinkins years . It helped that every time the press reported that one of Davidoff’s clients had scored an unseemly gain from the public coffers, more clients appeared at his door. Davidoff is now an honored senior citizen in the lobbying ranks. And he is also among the excited army of advocates-for-hire who, thanks to de Blasio’s rise, are already beating on the doors of City Hall, somewhat like those ravenous tribes of the undead that populate all the best television shows.
Earlier this month, the lobbyists-for-de Blasio crew turned out in strength at the Roosevelt Hotel to celebrate the presumptive mayor-elect and his friend, Hillary Rodham Clinton, helping to raise about $1 million for the populist candidate’s mayoral campaign. Among those listed as hosts of the event were two top executives of the city’s current ranking lobbying champ, Kasirer Consulting, which took in $6 million in fees last year. Among the event’s chairs was James Capalino, a lobbying veteran whose company made $3.3 million in 2012, good enough for a second place finish in the year’s lobbying season. Also hosting was Alan Sclar, a transportation lawyer who gathered contributions for de Blasio from some of the city’s biggest school-bus contractors, one of whom pulled out a loaded pistol in the middle of city contract talks in 2010. He meant no harm, his lawyers insisted .
Back in the Rudy Giuliani administration, where Lhota was a key deputy, the most successful lobbyists were from the law firm of a man named Raymond Harding. This was something of an embarrassment since Harding had practically invented Giuliani as a political candidate, and he guided his electoral campaigns .As soon as Giuliani took office, clients began pouring through Harding’s door and his firm soon displaced Davidoff as the city’s top ranked lobbyist. Things got so out of hand, that eventually Giuliani threatened to ban lobbying altogether.
Lobbyist Campaign Consultants the New Universal Soldier
SKDK for Charters Berlin Rosen for Pre-K
In 2013 Both SKDK and Berlin Rosen Worked Together to Defeat Spitzer and Elect Controller Stringer
Kerry Lyons, a SKDKnickerbocker consultant who works for Moskowitz's schools, sent reporters a snapshot of the three schools, saying the displaced students are "left homeless next year." The loss of space for the two new schools, she said, will mean 420 kids in the kindergarten and first grades lose their enrollment.* Ross Barkan @RossBarkan I still find it a bit funny when @BerlinRosen group sends out release praising @BilldeBlasio, who of course is a @BerlinRosen client.
The group, UPKNYC, is a coalition of citizens asking Albany to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to fund the mayor’s education initiatives. The group was established by Bill Hyers, the mayor’s former campaign manager. Its treasurer, Ross Offinger, is the mayor’s former campaign-finance director. De Blasio’s former campaign consultant Stephanie Yazgi serves as its secretary. Hilltop Public Solutions, the p.r. firm that formerly employed de Blasio senior adviser Rebecca Katz, is doing strategy for the UPKNYC campaign out of its Brooklyn office. Dan Levitan, a spokesman at p.r. firm BerlinRosen, which is handling press, said, “UPKNYC is supported by thousands of grass-roots New Yorkers.“Dozens of leaders from business, civil rights, academia, advocacy and the arts have joined our growing campaign committee.” BerlinRosen is also handled communications for de Blasio’s campaign.
True News Wags the NYT on Team de Blasio Lobbyists Political Consultants
Lobbyist Campaign Consultants the New Universal Soldier
How Does Stu Loeser Get Away With Not Registering As A Lobbyist in NYC?
de Blasio's Sugar Fix/ Will the Council Demand Its Cut? What Role Did Berlin Rosen Play?
City Hall's Inhouse Lobbyist Political Consultant
Real Estate developers now understand if you want to get an OK for your housing plan hire Berlin Rosen
City Hall Gatekeeper
BerlinRosen's current and recent clients include Two Trees Management Negotiations between Mr. de Blasio’s team and Mr. Walentas’s firm took place over the last few days. The two men share a mutual adviser: Jonathan Rosen, one of the mayor’s top political hands and the chief executive of a public affairs firm, Berlin Rosen, that counts Mr. Walentas’s company as a client. SPIN CITY -- Times’ Michael Powell: “A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the ‘it’ P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. … I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the ‘campaign’ for pre-K.”
Setting Up a Better Domino Plan(NYT) In a good start, Mayor Bill de Blasio closed a deal with developers that would add more affordable housing in Brooklyn.* Affordable Housing Advocates Demand More from Mayor * Politicians, unions leave ‘Domino’ deal far from done(NYP Ed) The touted “compromise” to build apartment towers, offices, stores and a park at the Domino Sugar site in Brooklyn is anything but a done deal, despite absurd claims the city has “approved” it. Far from it: The City Council, not the Planning Commission, which OK’d it Wednesday, will have the final say. And construction unions and “affordable housing” agitators are ganging up on the agreement Mayor de Blasio reached this week with developer Two Trees Management. They could easily derail it in the council, which stands even farther to the left than de Blasio.** A coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, which includes some of de Blasio’s liberal allies, is poised to begin a campaign to call for more homes for the city’s poorest residents, the Journal writes * Meanwhile, Mr. de Blasio is about to face his first major lobbying effort from the left. “Real Affordability for All,” a new coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, is set to launch a campaign today to create more affordable housing for very low-income residents, “posing an additional challenge for the administration as it develops its own housing plan,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The group “could make it more difficult for the mayor to meet his target of building or preserving 200,000 units of low-cost housing,” the paper reports.
Lobbyist Berlin Rosen Works for Domino's Developer and the Mayor
Labor unions are demanding that the redevelopment project at the Domino Sugar factory in Brooklyn be done using union construction workers, with leaders arguing that City Council members should withhold approval of the project unless workers receive union wagesUnions demand all workers at Domino factory be organized(NYDN) * VIDEO: Inside the Williamsburg Domino Sugar project's affordable housing plan *Mayor de Blasio's plans to go big on housing is building worries over quality of life(NYDN) * BerlinRosen founders say "mission-driven company" turns away clients who don't share ideals (so, what about Ratner?)
A Lobbyist and a Columnist Get Married At City Hall, 1st Marriage By the Mayor
Lobbyists Reporter Joined
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO)“Yup. i got married yesterday to sid davidoff. the mayor presided at city hall and it was his first wedding,” tweeted Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News. Mr. Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Davidoff is also the lobbyists for the The Queens Borough Public Library
de Blasio Fund Raiser Lobbyists Get City's Largest Residential Building
City’s largest residential building gets green light(NYP) The green light for development at 606 W. 57th St. was tied to the developer’s commitment to maximize affordable housing at the site and reveals Mayor de Blasio’s housing-policy priorities. The complex will sit on 1.9 acres. Developer TF Cornerstone agreed to create 237 units of affordable housing out of 1,189 units total. James Capalino (left), lobbied for Rudin Management, developers of high-end condos near the old St. Vincent’s Hospital, and Suri Kasirer (right), who met with Bill de Blasio on Brooklyn’s contentious Atlantic Yards project, are part of de Blasio's host committee for $1 million fund-raiser. Bill de Blasio fund-raisers are big time lobbyists(NYDN) The host committee included James Capalino, who has lobbied for Rudin Management, developers of high-end condos near the old St. Vincent’s Hospital, and lobbyist Suri Kasirer, who met with de Blasio on Brooklyn’s contentious Atlantic Yards project. * * An expert warns that a super PAC trying to repeal the state’s $150,000 annual contribution limit for individuals poses a big risk of corruption and could lead to “an explosion” of large contributions by wealthy donors, the Daily News writes:
Another early backer of Mr. de Blasio was James Capalino, of the second-ranked firm Capalino+Co., whose senior vice president, George Fontas, did extensive volunteer field organizing for the de Blasio campaign. The firm earned $3.3 million in fees from city lobbying in 2012.(CrainsNY)
Michael Woloz, of the firm Connelly McLaughlin & Woloz, who represents the taxi industry, bundled nearly $235,000 in campaign contributions for Mr. de Blasio, more than double anyone else's haul..(CrainsNY)
Update 2 Deal on Domino between @BilldeBlasio and @TwoTreesNY - developer will build 700 affordable units, 40 more than in previous plan. * Deal Is Reached on Redevelopment of Brooklyn Sugar Refinery(NYT)The compromise on the redevelopment of the former Domino Sugar plant includes more units of affordable housing and taller buildings. From 660 to 700 Affordable Units.
Monday Update The developer of the apartment project at the Domino Sugar refinery in Brooklyn is threatening to sell if the de Blasio administration keeps pushing for bigger affordable housing units than originally proposed, the Daily News reports * The Domino effect(NYP Ed) Now the city has announced a deal that will produce 700 of the units de Blasio wants. That may be good news for those who end up in these apartments. What the mayor doesn’t seem to appreciate is that building by threats and decree only makes it more expensive for people to build housing non-millionaires can afford. * de Blasio notches an early real-estate win(Capital) Mayor Affordable Housing Goals* Key members of de Blasio’s administration charged with implementing his plan to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing met with advocates behind closed doors for a strategy session, Crain’s reports:
Plan to Redevelop Brooklyn Sugar Factory Hits Snag: De Blasio(NYT) A $1.5 billion proposal to redevelop Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar plant is in jeopardy as officials ask for a higher quota of affordable housing units.de Blasio administration, which wants him to add additional affordable housing units in exchange for the required zoning changes* Bill’s sugar rush(NYDN Ed) A dangerous approach to a laudable ideal.
In an attempt to squeeze out more affordable housing, Mayor de Blasio has touched off a tug-of-war over a 3-million square foot development at the old Domino sugar refinery on the Williamsburg waterfront. While the mayor’s goals are laudable, his timing is bad — and the eleventh-hour action risks upending a delicate deal struck, after exhaustive negotiations, during the previous administration. The iconic Domino site, which has been vacant since 1994, has attracted potentially sweet development schemes, only to see them go sour with turns of the economy and the screws of the city’s arduous community approval process.News * New York Post lies about Greater Harlem Housing Development Corp (Amasterdam News)
Lobbying Spending in NYC
Kasirer's prominence
Kasirer Consulting far outranked other lobbying firms, with $6.6 million in total compensation.
It had 109 clients.
"Robert Sanna" on board
I was surprised to read, in both the article/supplement and advertisement in City & State, that the city's leading lobbying firm by revenue, Kasirer Consulting, had "Robert Sanna" on its staff.
It seems unlikely, but Forest City does spend its single largest amount of lobbying bucks at Kasirer, so they do have a relationship.
OK, a check of the firm's web site, and LinkedIn, shows that Kasirer government relations associate Robert J. Sanna is a 2012 college grad, having attended high school in Millburn, NJ.
Which was where Robert P. Sanna, whose firm got a state override of local zoning for Atlantic Yards, led a citizen effort to oppose a variance that would allow what locals considered overdevelopment.
More on Corrupt Lobbyists
Mercury Public Affairs Works for the Right Wing Koch Brothers PAC and For Progressive Council Member Margaret Chin And they Bag Millions from City Contracts
Chin Campaign paid Mercury over 100,000
In 2013 Mercury Public Affairs, which was running an independent spending campaign funded by billionaire David Koch and others boosting Mr. de Blasio's general-election opponent, Republican Joseph Lhota.
The Mayor's Lobbyist
Crain’s New York Business looked at how Bertha Lewis, an early de Blasio endorser, was hired to pressure the mayor on the Upper East Side waste transfer station, noting “a person with knowledge of the hiring said Ms. Lewis’ connection with him was ‘a huge part’ of the decision. It’s an example of how those in the new mayor’s orbit can benefit from proximity to him.”* De Blasio ally paid to fight him over Upper East Side trash station plan(NYDN) The Daily News reported last fall that Lewis, the former head of ACORN, a community-organizing group, had jumped onboard the anti-garbage station campaign. She said at the time she wanted to fight the perception that only rich white people would be hurt by the project, which is near a public housing project and a recreation facility. She and the mayor have long been allies and helped to form the Working Families Party. Both supported developer Bruce Ratner’s controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.
Lobbyist Campaign Consultants the New Universal Soldier
SKDK for Charters Berlin Rosen for Pre-K
In 2013 Both SKDK and Berlin Rosen Worked Together to Defeat Spitzer and Elect Controller Stringer
Kerry Lyons, a SKDKnickerbocker consultant who works for Moskowitz's schools, sent reporters a snapshot of the three schools, saying the displaced students are "left homeless next year." The loss of space for the two new schools, she said, will mean 420 kids in the kindergarten and first grades lose their enrollment.* Ross Barkan @RossBarkan I still find it a bit funny when @BerlinRosen group sends out release praising @BilldeBlasio, who of course is a @BerlinRosen client.
The group, UPKNYC, is a coalition of citizens asking Albany to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to fund the mayor’s education initiatives. The group was established by Bill Hyers, the mayor’s former campaign manager. Its treasurer, Ross Offinger, is the mayor’s former campaign-finance director. De Blasio’s former campaign consultant Stephanie Yazgi serves as its secretary. Hilltop Public Solutions, the p.r. firm that formerly employed de Blasio senior adviser Rebecca Katz, is doing strategy for the UPKNYC campaign out of its Brooklyn office. Dan Levitan, a spokesman at p.r. firm BerlinRosen, which is handling press, said, “UPKNYC is supported by thousands of grass-roots New Yorkers.“Dozens of leaders from business, civil rights, academia, advocacy and the arts have joined our growing campaign committee.” BerlinRosen is also handled communications for de Blasio’s campaign.
de Blasio's Sugar Fix/ Will the Council Demand Its Cut? What Role Did Berlin Rosen Play?
City Hall's Inhouse Lobbyist Political Consultant
Real Estate developers now understand if you want to get an OK for your housing plan hire Berlin Rosen
City Hall Gatekeeper
BerlinRosen's current and recent clients include Two Trees Management Negotiations between Mr. de Blasio’s team and Mr. Walentas’s firm took place over the last few days. The two men share a mutual adviser: Jonathan Rosen, one of the mayor’s top political hands and the chief executive of a public affairs firm, Berlin Rosen, that counts Mr. Walentas’s company as a client. SPIN CITY -- Times’ Michael Powell: “A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the ‘it’ P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. … I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the ‘campaign’ for pre-K.”
Setting Up a Better Domino Plan(NYT) In a good start, Mayor Bill de Blasio closed a deal with developers that would add more affordable housing in Brooklyn.* Affordable Housing Advocates Demand More from Mayor * Politicians, unions leave ‘Domino’ deal far from done(NYP Ed) The touted “compromise” to build apartment towers, offices, stores and a park at the Domino Sugar site in Brooklyn is anything but a done deal, despite absurd claims the city has “approved” it. Far from it: The City Council, not the Planning Commission, which OK’d it Wednesday, will have the final say. And construction unions and “affordable housing” agitators are ganging up on the agreement Mayor de Blasio reached this week with developer Two Trees Management. They could easily derail it in the council, which stands even farther to the left than de Blasio.** A coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, which includes some of de Blasio’s liberal allies, is poised to begin a campaign to call for more homes for the city’s poorest residents, the Journal writes * Meanwhile, Mr. de Blasio is about to face his first major lobbying effort from the left. “Real Affordability for All,” a new coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, is set to launch a campaign today to create more affordable housing for very low-income residents, “posing an additional challenge for the administration as it develops its own housing plan,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The group “could make it more difficult for the mayor to meet his target of building or preserving 200,000 units of low-cost housing,” the paper reports.
Lobbyist Berlin Rosen Works for Domino's Developer and the Mayor
Labor unions are demanding that the redevelopment project at the Domino Sugar factory in Brooklyn be done using union construction workers, with leaders arguing that City Council members should withhold approval of the project unless workers receive union wagesUnions demand all workers at Domino factory be organized(NYDN) * VIDEO: Inside the Williamsburg Domino Sugar project's affordable housing plan *Mayor de Blasio's plans to go big on housing is building worries over quality of life(NYDN) * BerlinRosen founders say "mission-driven company" turns away clients who don't share ideals (so, what about Ratner?)
Update 2 Deal on Domino between @BilldeBlasio and @TwoTreesNY - developer will build 700 affordable units, 40 more than in previous plan. * Deal Is Reached on Redevelopment of Brooklyn Sugar Refinery(NYT)The compromise on the redevelopment of the former Domino Sugar plant includes more units of affordable housing and taller buildings. From 660 to 700 Affordable Units.
Monday Update The developer of the apartment project at the Domino Sugar refinery in Brooklyn is threatening to sell if the de Blasio administration keeps pushing for bigger affordable housing units than originally proposed, the Daily News reports * The Domino effect(NYP Ed) Now the city has announced a deal that will produce 700 of the units de Blasio wants. That may be good news for those who end up in these apartments. What the mayor doesn’t seem to appreciate is that building by threats and decree only makes it more expensive for people to build housing non-millionaires can afford. * de Blasio notches an early real-estate win(Capital) Mayor Affordable Housing Goals* Key members of de Blasio’s administration charged with implementing his plan to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing met with advocates behind closed doors for a strategy session, Crain’s reports:
Plan to Redevelop Brooklyn Sugar Factory Hits Snag: De Blasio(NYT) A $1.5 billion proposal to redevelop Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar plant is in jeopardy as officials ask for a higher quota of affordable housing units.de Blasio administration, which wants him to add additional affordable housing units in exchange for the required zoning changes* Bill’s sugar rush(NYDN Ed) A dangerous approach to a laudable ideal.
In an attempt to squeeze out more affordable housing, Mayor de Blasio has touched off a tug-of-war over a 3-million square foot development at the old Domino sugar refinery on the Williamsburg waterfront. While the mayor’s goals are laudable, his timing is bad — and the eleventh-hour action risks upending a delicate deal struck, after exhaustive negotiations, during the previous administration. The iconic Domino site, which has been vacant since 1994, has attracted potentially sweet development schemes, only to see them go sour with turns of the economy and the screws of the city’s arduous community approval process.News * New York Post lies about Greater Harlem Housing Development Corp (Amasterdam News)
Former TV journalist Michelle Smith Hook (wife of SKD Knickerbocker's Morgan Hook) is now working in Schneiderman's press office. ....
Michael Blake’s run for a corruption-plagued South Bronx seat in the state Assembly may be turning out to be “historic” for the wrong reasons, former state Assemblyman Michael Benjamin writes in the Post
A state assembly candidate’s ‘ragged’ efforts for ‘hope and change’(NYP) Michael Blake’s run for a corruption-plagued South Bronx seat in the state Assembly may be turning out to be “historic” for the wrong reasons.A former top operative for Barack Obama going back to the 2008 Democratic primaries, Blake is running for the seat that Eric Stevenson vacated after being convicted of bribery in January.
But his own efforts to stand for “hope and change” — and for the people of the district — are looking a little ragged. Blake recently bragged on Facebook about the “record-setting and historic” $160,000 he’d raised. But he’s rumored to be getting help some odd places. Is Johannesburg, not Jersey City, the sixth borough? Why Johannesburg? Well, that’s where US Ambassador Patrick Gaspard calls home.
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And Blake is a protégé of Gaspard, who once headed the Democratic National Committee and the political-action arm of powerhouse union 1199 SEIU. Some Bronx Democrats are accusing Gaspard of calling his pals at 1199 SEIU urging their support of Blake — and, indeed, the union endorsed him Friday.
Jenkins Who Started His Lobbying Career at the Firm Kasirer Consulting is the Bronx Bosses Enforcer?
Correction: Jenkins Left Kasirer in 2008 and is Off On His Own Lobbying Now
Bronx Democratic bosses learned that he had assembled a slate of community leaders to challenge their district leaders and state committee members. He quickly got a disapproving call from party adviser Patrick Jenkins. Blake says Jenkins told him that running for the Assembly was one thing, but running an opposing slate was a declaration of war. Blake said he was shocked at the audacity of the Jenkins upbraiding. But shock soon turned into compliance, as the Blake campaign severed ties with his reform slate and filed nominating petitions for his candidacy alone.
Jenkins Lobbying Clients Families for Excellent Schools - Advocacy, Inc., Bank Street College of Education, EZ Festivals, LLC, New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Inc., Midtown Trackage Ventures LLC,
Kasirer Consulting is the Highest Paid City Lobbyists
Not surprisingly, meanwhile, this year's highest-paid firm was Kasirer Consulting, the firm founded by Suri Kasirer. Her firm raked in about $6 million—about a tenth of all of the city lobbying dollars spent in 2012. The firm also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor.
The top ten lobbyists by compensation were: Kasirer Consulting ($6,059,486), James F. Capalino & Associates ($3,317,406), Constantinople & Vallone Consulting ($2,507,500), Bolton-St. Johns ($ 2,390,266), Greenberg Traurig ($2,334,294), Manatt, Phelps & Phillips ($2,067,481) Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson ($1,971,509), Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel ($1,889,915), Parkside Group ($1,729,036), and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron ($1,629,390).
Forest City's 2013 Spending, by Lobbying Firm
Other Lobbyists Clients of Kasirer
WNET, Vornado Realty L.P., Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty, Black Diamond Commercial Finance, L.L.C. on behalf of Black Diamond Commercial Finance, L.L.C. and Spectrum Commercial Finance LLC, Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, Inc, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation, SL Green Realty Corp., Atlantic Yards Development Company, LLC., The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, South Street Seaport Limited Partnership, MSG Holdings, L.P., MGM Resorts International, Brookfield Financial Properties LLC, The Naftali Group on behalf of 234-238 E 23rd Property Owner, LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, New Visions for Public Schools, Inc., NBC Universal, Inc., Red Hook 300 LLC on behalf of Red Hook 100 LLC, Red Hook 212 LLC, and Red Hook 300 LLC, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc, Amsterdam Apartments LLC, Queens Portfolio I Owner LLC, American Suntanning Association, Greenpoint Landing Associates, LLC, Cornell University, Extell Development, CBS, Cablevision, Time Warner, INC, Viacom, Walgreens, The Riese Organization, American International Group (AIG), Proskauer Rose, National Grid/Keyspan, Taxi Technology Corporation, Cemusa Inc.a;
True News Had the Whole MirRam Member Item Story June 25th . . . CrainsNY and the Clueless NYP Followed
Council Speaker Campaign Gives the Most Member Items $$ to Her Campaign Consultants Lobbyists MirRam
After a Bad Night for Their Client Espaillat MirRam Still Made Money Today
Melissa Mark-Viverito Paid MirRam $35,000 for Her Campaign
Hispanic Federation gets biggest @NYCCouncil member item:$400K out of speaker's pot. (Capital)The federation has ties to almost every Hispanic lawmaker in The Bronx, including Rivera, but primarily benefits two men: political strategist Luis Miranda, who co-founded it and once served as its president, and Roberto Ramirez, a former Bronx Democratic Party boss. The men run a private political consulting firm, the MirRam Group. It’s paid by the Hispanic Federation and is hired by politicians who steer taxpayer money to the nonprofit.Flashback Twi$ted web of political nonprofits in Bx.(NYP)
EXCLUSIVE: City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito paid $28G to lobbying firm for consulting, while they lobbied her on behalf of clients(NYDN) During the period that she was paying Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, the firm lobbied her office and members of the City Council on behalf of at least a half-dozen clients, according to lobbying reports filed with the city clerk’s office. Simultaneously paying and being lobbied by the same firm is legal, but the practice has been criticized by good-government groups worried that such a cozy relationship can give lobbyists special access to a politician. The Daily News between Dec. 1 and July 11, her campaign, Viverito NY, wrote six checks ranging from $722 to $6,630 to the firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, the campaign finance statements show.On 11/27/2013 the Daily News wrote a story that forced the speakers hand.
Daily News Dumb Crook Reporters?
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The Daily News Does Not Even Understand That It Was Them Who Forced the Speaker to Pay Lobbyists Pitta Bishop Del Giorno When They Wrote A Story Attacking the Advance Groups Free Help to Mark-Viverito to Make Her Council Speaker. A Violation of the City Ethics Rules for Lobbyists. 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)
If the Daily News Wants to Keep the Horses They Should Work On Exposing the Advance Groups Corruption Before Their Friends Cover It Up
A kick in the teeth (NYDN Ed) The Daily News delivers nearly 40,000 carriage horse petitions to City Hall, but Mayor de Blasio has blinders on
As Reported in True News for Months
Mark-Viverito spent significant amounts on campaign consultants - paying $22,352 to consultants Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin. She also owes that firm another $6250.She paid $8295 to Amelia Adams from New York Communities for Change, now a top staffer on her city payroll, $10,000 to H Strategies, where her now-communications director Eric Koch then worked, and $10,000 to Jon Paul Lupo, who worked on her speaker campaign and is now a top aide to Mayor de Blasio. She also donated $8500 to the Working Families Party. Mark-Viverito collected donations from unions 1199 SEIU, CWA Local 1180, and 32BJ. An opponent of the proposed big soda ban, she also got $1000 from Coca Cola’s PAC.* Mark-Viverito spent $106K on bid to become speaker(Capital)
Flashback Why Did the Daily News Keep Out Its Own Story About the Advance Group Illegally Working for Speaker Mark-Viverito?
Daily News Charges Against Mark-Viverto
To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Lobby for the City Council Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: MedReview, Inc., Meadows Office Supply Co., Inc., National Lighthouse Museum, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Inc., Knickerbocker Plaza LLC, Local 420 AFSCME AFL-CIO, Vera Institute of Justice, Inc., Hotel, Restaurant & Club Employees & Bartenders Union Local 6, New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council AFL-CIO, Detectives Endowment Association Police Department, City of New York Inc., Lakeside Manor Home For Adults Inc., Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc,, Grasmere and Cameron Lakes Bluebelt Conservancy, Inc., Plumbers and Gasfitters Local Union No. 1 of the United Association, New York State Conference of IUOE, Richmond Uni Home Care, Inc., Adco Electrical Corp, BIO-REFERENCE LABORATORIES, INC., New York Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Assoc. of NYC, Inc. Health Benefits Fund, LOCAL 372 NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION EMPLOYEES, UNITE HERE, MagnaCare Administrative Services, LLC, District Council No. 4, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO, A.T.U.-Division 1181-1061 AFL-CIO, OFFICE &PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION LOCAL 153, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades DC 9 , RICHMOND UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., International Union of Operating Engineers Local 14-14B, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, Glenwood Management Corp., LOCAL UNION NO. 94-94A-94B, I.U.O.E., AFL-CIO, NYSARC, INC., NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER, New York Black Operator's Injury Compensation Fund, Inc., UNIFORMED SANITATIONMEN'S ASS'N LOCAL 831 - I.B.T, Associated Brick Mason Contractors of Greater New York, Inc., East Side Alliance Against Overdevelopment, Inc., Urgent-MD Hewlett Management LLC , SOSH Architects, P.A.,, Lobby for the City Council and office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: New York Wheel LLC, WellPoint, Inc., Pier A Battery Park Associates, LLC, Garage Employees Local Union No. 272, Staten Island Marine Development, LLC, The Francis School, Chef's Choice Cash & Carry Food Distributor, Inc., THE WITKOFF GROUP LLC, Il Commandatore Restaurant Inc., RJ LEE GROUP, INC., Cameron Club of Staten island, Inc., Milrose Consultants, Inc., Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, Inc, UNIFORMED FIRE ALARM DISPATCHERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, INC. , Lobby for the office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: Gardeners/Growers/Landscapers Association of New York, Inc., Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, SOSH Architects, P.A.
What the NYP left out was that MirRam that group that profited from the graft was illegally working on the the campaign to make Melissa Mark Viverito Speaker. The lines that the NYP did not copy from the CrainsNY piece was the most important to point out how MirRam acted illegally. CrainsNY - "Last November, during the heart of the City Council speaker race, an employee of the MirRam group fielded a press request from Crain's on Ms. Mark-Viverito's behalf for an article about her past refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. But on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for MirRam said any work done for Ms. Mark-Viverito was only related work for her 2013 City Council campaign, though it had ended weeks before the press request was fielded by MirRam. The firm was not paid to assist her speaker campaign." Another lobbying firm close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, the Advance Group, landed in hot water for providing free consulting services during Ms. Mark-Viverito's speaker campaign.
Advance Got In Hot Wate, WTF
WHERE ARE THE PROSECUTORS?
As the Daily News Reported
Daily News Charges Against Mark-Viverto 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) Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid(NYO) Ms. Mark-Viverito insisted today that this was not the case but out of an “abundance of caution,” the relationship would end. Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid - Blogs(TU)
Pathetic NYP: Said "someone should cry foul" First They Should Study the City's Ethic Law
One Week After True News and 3 Days After CrainsNY Pick Up Our Story the Post Discovers Their Own Story About Hispanic Federation and MirRam
Wednesday Honest graft(NYP Ed) Crain’s is reporting that more than $1.31 million is headed to a powerful, politically connected Bronx nonprofit called the Hispanic Federation. To put that in perspective, this is more than a four-fold jump over what the same group got last year. And $833,333 of it will come from a fund controlled by Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito . In 2012, The Post reported the Hispanic Federation had received $24 million in taxpayer funds since 1998. And between 1998 and 2008, the federation in turn paid MirRam and another firm tied to Miranda $681,644.Now MirRam has lobbied its client, Speaker Mark-Viverito, to hand $1.31 million in new taxpayer money to a group that pays it handsomely in return.The real crime here is that, so far as we know, none of this is illegal. We’re not saying the federation, which funds other Bronx nonprofits, never does any good work. But when taxpayer dollars are steered to politically connected groups through a process that doesn’t even require a council vote, someone should cry foul.
A nonprofit organization founded and represented by NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s top political consultant saw its pork-barrel funding quadruple in the first budget deal she brokered.
A nonprofit organization founded and represented by the chief political consultant of Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito saw its pork-barrel funding quadruple in the speaker's first budget, Crain’s reports:
Of the $1.3 million windfall allocated to the nonprofit Hispanic Federation in the city budget passed last Wednesday, more than $830,000 came from a newly created program funded by monies directly under Ms. Mark-Viverito's control. The lobbying firm that serves as her campaign consultant, the Manhattan-based MirRam Group, specifically lobbied lawmakers including Ms. Mark-Viverito to create the fund. Luis Miranda, a founding partner of the MirRam Group, who is close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, founded the influential Hispanic Federation in 1990 and now serves as its paid lobbyist. The Hispanic Federation has also paid more than $680,000 for "consulting" to MirRam and a firm registered to Mr. Miranda and his wife, the New York Post reported in 2012. he Hispanic Federation, an umbrella group that provides grants to Latino nonprofits and advocates on issues such as immigration, employs MirRam on an $8,500 monthly retainer, according to state lobbying records. Besides serving as Ms. Mark-Viverito's main City Council campaign consultant, MirRam quietly provided assistance in the midst of Ms. Mark-Viverito's council speaker campaign last fall, though it denies the work was related to the speaker race. The firm has become a force in the city's political landscape, especially among minority elected officials in Manhattan and the Bronx. The firm's other founding partner is Roberto Ramirez, the former Bronx Democratic Party leader. he Hispanic Federation, an umbrella group that provides grants to Latino nonprofits and advocates on issues such as immigration, employs MirRam on an $8,500 monthly retainer, according to state lobbying records. Besides serving as Ms. Mark-Viverito's main City Council campaign consultant, MirRam quietly provided assistance in the midst of Ms. Mark-Viverito's council speaker campaign last fall, though it denies the work was related to the speaker race. The firm has become a force in the city's political landscape, especially among minority elected officials in Manhattan and the Bronx. The firm's other founding partner is Roberto Ramirez, the former Bronx Democratic Party leader. MirRam also lobbied Queens Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, the council's finance committee chairwoman. Another lobbying firm close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, the Advance Group, landed in hot water for providing free consulting services during Ms. Mark-Viverito's speaker campaign.
After a Bad Night for Their Client Espaillat MirRam Still Made Money Today
Melissa Mark-Viverito Paid MirRam $35,000 for Her Campaign
Hispanic Federation gets biggest @NYCCouncil member item:$400K out of speaker's pot. (Capital)The federation has ties to almost every Hispanic lawmaker in The Bronx, including Rivera, but primarily benefits two men: political strategist Luis Miranda, who co-founded it and once served as its president, and Roberto Ramirez, a former Bronx Democratic Party boss. The men run a private political consulting firm, the MirRam Group. It’s paid by the Hispanic Federation and is hired by politicians who steer taxpayer money to the nonprofit.Flashback Twi$ted web of political nonprofits in Bx.(NYP)
For Six Months True News Has Been Reporting That the Council Speaker Paid A Lobbyists Who Was Lobbying Her . . . Today the Daily News Reports the Same Info As Exclusive
The UPKNYC event was hosted by the lobbying firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. Sid Davidoff, one of the firm’s partners — who was married at City Hall earlier this year in a ceremony officiated by the mayor
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO) between lobbyists Sid Davidoff. and Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News.Sid Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Has gotten the following contracts in 2014 to lobby the mayor: Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ,Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ,Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
How de Blasio Historic 421-a Astoria Cove Deal Does Not Have Enough Affordable Housing 4 Tax Break
A de Blasio 'game changer' falls short of 421-a requirements (Capital) Astoria Cove, the premier mandatory affordable housing project of the de Blasio administration, will not qualify for a 421-a tax break under the newly passed version of the law. The Queens development, which the City Council approved with much fanfare in November, is obligated to set aside 27 percent of its units for affordable housing. But the specifics of the plan do not meet the new requirements under the revised state law, leaving its future uncertain. The deal that developer Alma Realty struck with the Council requires that it provide 5 percent of the units at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income; 15 percent at 80 percent of the A.M.I. and 7 percent at 125 percent of the A.M.I.
The city then agreed to subsidize another 34 affordable units—2 percent of the total—by giving the developer a extra $4.8 million. None of the affordability requirements laid out under the 421-a deal struck in Albany last month match that model. To meet that threshold, Alma would have to offer more deeply affordable units at lower rents. It would likely lose its city subsidy. * Recent strike raises issue about 421a program extension (NYDN) * The recently changed 421-a tax break will cost New York City $3.3 billion over 10 years in foregone revenue, in addition to current lost revenue, according to a new estimate from the city’s Independent Budget Office, Capital New York writes:
How de Blasio Historic 421-a Astoria Cove Deal Does Not Have Enough Affordable Housing 4 Tax Break
Lobbyist For the Astoria
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park
Daily News Dumb Crook Reporters?
A kick in the teeth (NYDN Ed) The Daily News delivers nearly 40,000 carriage horse petitions to City Hall, but Mayor de Blasio has blinders on
As Reported in True News for Months
Lobbyists Are the New Party Bosses
Melissa Mark-Viverito spent big bucks on speaker's race, campaign filings show
Flashback Why Did the Daily News Keep Out Its Own Story About the Advance Group Illegally Working for Speaker Mark-Viverito?
Daily News Charges Against Mark-Viverto
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)
Mark-Viverito Drops Advance
Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid(NYO) Ms. Mark-Viverito insisted today that this was not the case but out of an “abundance of caution,” the relationship would end. Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid - Blogs(TU)
To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Since the 2013 elections Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin has picked up of 70 clients to lobby for. 51 clients to lobby the city council, 17 to lobby the office of the mayor
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
The NYP is Wrong About Honest Graft . . . If They Are Going to Copy That Should at Least Understand What they Copy
Memo to NYP Political Director: David Seifman: MirRam Violated the City's Ethics Law
What the NYP left out was that MirRam that group that profited from the graft was illegally working on the the campaign to make Melissa Mark Viverito Speaker. The lines that the NYP did not copy from the CrainsNY piece was the most important to point out how MirRam acted illegally. CrainsNY - "Last November, during the heart of the City Council speaker race, an employee of the MirRam group fielded a press request from Crain's on Ms. Mark-Viverito's behalf for an article about her past refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. But on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for MirRam said any work done for Ms. Mark-Viverito was only related work for her 2013 City Council campaign, though it had ended weeks before the press request was fielded by MirRam. The firm was not paid to assist her speaker campaign." Another lobbying firm close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, the Advance Group, landed in hot water for providing free consulting services during Ms. Mark-Viverito's speaker campaign.
Advance Got In Hot Wate, WTF
WHERE ARE THE PROSECUTORS?
As the Daily News Reported
Pathetic NYP: Said "someone should cry foul" First They Should Study the City's Ethic Law
One Week After True News and 3 Days After CrainsNY Pick Up Our Story the Post Discovers Their Own Story About Hispanic Federation and MirRam
A nonprofit organization founded and represented by NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s top political consultant saw its pork-barrel funding quadruple in the first budget deal she brokered.
Of the $1.3 million windfall allocated to the nonprofit Hispanic Federation in the city budget passed last Wednesday, more than $830,000 came from a newly created program funded by monies directly under Ms. Mark-Viverito's control. The lobbying firm that serves as her campaign consultant, the Manhattan-based MirRam Group, specifically lobbied lawmakers including Ms. Mark-Viverito to create the fund. Luis Miranda, a founding partner of the MirRam Group, who is close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, founded the influential Hispanic Federation in 1990 and now serves as its paid lobbyist. The Hispanic Federation has also paid more than $680,000 for "consulting" to MirRam and a firm registered to Mr. Miranda and his wife, the New York Post reported in 2012. he Hispanic Federation, an umbrella group that provides grants to Latino nonprofits and advocates on issues such as immigration, employs MirRam on an $8,500 monthly retainer, according to state lobbying records. Besides serving as Ms. Mark-Viverito's main City Council campaign consultant, MirRam quietly provided assistance in the midst of Ms. Mark-Viverito's council speaker campaign last fall, though it denies the work was related to the speaker race. The firm has become a force in the city's political landscape, especially among minority elected officials in Manhattan and the Bronx. The firm's other founding partner is Roberto Ramirez, the former Bronx Democratic Party leader. he Hispanic Federation, an umbrella group that provides grants to Latino nonprofits and advocates on issues such as immigration, employs MirRam on an $8,500 monthly retainer, according to state lobbying records. Besides serving as Ms. Mark-Viverito's main City Council campaign consultant, MirRam quietly provided assistance in the midst of Ms. Mark-Viverito's council speaker campaign last fall, though it denies the work was related to the speaker race. The firm has become a force in the city's political landscape, especially among minority elected officials in Manhattan and the Bronx. The firm's other founding partner is Roberto Ramirez, the former Bronx Democratic Party leader. MirRam also lobbied Queens Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, the council's finance committee chairwoman. Another lobbying firm close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, the Advance Group, landed in hot water for providing free consulting services during Ms. Mark-Viverito's speaker campaign.
TRANSITIONS -- “De Blasio press aide leaves for DKC,” by Azi: “Rachel Martin, an assistant press secretary for Mayor Bill de Blasio is leaving to work for DKC, the public relations and public affairs firm. She starts there [today], as an account supervisor for political, nonprofit and public affairs clients. At DKC, Martin [@Rachel0Martin] will rejoin Jeffrey Lerner and John Falcicchio with whom she worked in Washington. Martin was an assistant to Lerner when he was the national political director of the Democratic National Committee, and an intern in the White House when Lerner served as southern political director there.
“Falcicchio was the northeast regional political director at the DNC and the national liaison for Democratic mayors at that time. Martin worked on de Blasio's 2013 mayoral campaign, where she often worked in the background, handling logistics for press conferences and public events … Martin worked in a similar capacity at City Hall.” For Capital Pro subscribers: http://bit.ly/1AqvikK
Albany Upset With Molinaro Not Because He Is A Corrupt Lobbyist, But Because He Called Lady Gaga A Slut
Molinaro appointment sinks over Lady Gaga ‘slut’ remark(NYP) Lady Gaga got her revenge. Gov. Cuomo’s appointment of Staten Island conservative, anti-Gaga basher James Molinaro to CUNY’s Board of Trustees got torpedoed by the state Senate Friday night. Among Molinaro’s Senate-confirmation woes: calling Gaga a “slut,” which rankled women’s-rights advocates, sources said. The former Staten Island borough president’s views on cutting funding for unwed teen moms also drew fire from liberals. Molinaro has joined the Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin LLC government relations and consulting firm, a company with strong ties to the Island. * City Hall's new 'in' crowd of lobbyists | Crain's New York ...
To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Since the 2013 elections Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin has picked up of 70 clients to lobby for. 51 clients to lobby the city council, 17 to lobby the office of the mayor
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Lobbyists Puppet Council Speaker
Top Speaker Lobbyists Puts A Man Inside
Do Lobbyists Have Anything to Do With the City Not Cleaning Up Its Corrupt Commputer Contract System? YOU BET
Astoria Cove Ramps Up Queens Gentrification
City Council Approves AstoriaCove Project in Queens(NYO)* Council Approves Controversial Astoria Cove Development(NY1)
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
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As Lobbyists Shadow Government Getting Bigger Media Still Ignores Their Work
- Lobbyists brought in a record $71.9 million—up roughly 15 percent from last year—targeting the
New York City government in 2014, with James Capalino & Associates taking the top spotRecord $71.9M spent on lobbying city officials in 2014 (NYDN) The biggest spenders were real estate developers Albee Development, which paid $1.27 million to two lobbying firms, and Hallets A Development Company, which spent $740,474 at three firms. The lobbyist bringing in the biggest bucks was James F. Capalino & Associates, which earned $8.2 million. It took over the top spot from Kasirer Consulting, which dropped to No. 2.* Lobbyists brought in $71.9 million to target NYC government in 2014, a record high, according to the report by the city clerk’s office covering the first year since de Blasio and the new City Council took office.
City Council Approves AstoriaCove Project in Queens(NYO)* Council Approves Controversial Astoria Cove Development(NY1)
Lobbyist For the Astoria Cove Project Davidoff Spotted At City Hall
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO) between lobbyists Sid Davidoff. and Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News.Sid Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Has gotten the following contracts in 2014 to lobby the mayor: Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
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Who were NYC’s top 10 lobbyists in 2014? Find out here.
As Lobbyists Shadow Government Getting Bigger Media Still Ignores Their Work
As Lobbyists Shadow Government Getting Bigger Media Still Ignores Their Work
- Lobbyists brought in a record $71.9 million—up roughly 15 percent from last year—targeting the
The Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System
Both Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hewlett-Packard which was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors was George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists
SHOCKING The City's Largest Lobbying Firm Kasirrer Was Deep Into the Corrupt of the Citytime Scandal
The city’s top lobbyist has been retained to restore the battered reputation of a national company at the center of the CityTime scandal, one of the biggest rip-offs in municipal history. Records show that Suri Kasirer, who consistently reports earning more than any lobbyist working in city government, was hired Feb. 15 to work on behalf of Spherion Atlantic Enterprises. The company hired the two computer consultants whom prosecutors charged with pulling off one of the biggest heists ever by embezzling $80 million of the $722 million in spending to build a new timekeeping system. Kasirer Consulting, the firm founded by Suri Kasirer. Her firm raked in about $6 million—about a tenth of all of the city lobbying dollars spent in 2012. The firm also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor. Lobbyists Lined Up To Help Host Million-Dollar Bill de ...(NYDN)Oct 22, 2013 - The host committee of Bill de Blasio's million-dollar Monday-night ... Hospital, and A-list lobbyist Suri Kasirer, who has met with de Blasio on ...
SHOCKING The City's Largest Lobbying Firm Kasirrer Was Deep Into the Corrupt of the Citytime Scandal
The city’s top lobbyist has been retained to restore the battered reputation of a national company at the center of the CityTime scandal, one of the biggest rip-offs in municipal history. Records show that Suri Kasirer, who consistently reports earning more than any lobbyist working in city government, was hired Feb. 15 to work on behalf of Spherion Atlantic Enterprises. The company hired the two computer consultants whom prosecutors charged with pulling off one of the biggest heists ever by embezzling $80 million of the $722 million in spending to build a new timekeeping system. Kasirer Consulting, the firm founded by Suri Kasirer. Her firm raked in about $6 million—about a tenth of all of the city lobbying dollars spent in 2012. The firm also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor. Lobbyists Lined Up To Help Host Million-Dollar Bill de ...(NYDN)Oct 22, 2013 - The host committee of Bill de Blasio's million-dollar Monday-night ... Hospital, and A-list lobbyist Suri Kasirer, who has met with de Blasio on ...
Holtzman Should Give the City Her Lobbying Fees From From the Corrupt Citytime Project
Ms. Holtzman's lobbying firm was paid $120,000 in 2009, $90,000 in 2010, and $200,000 in 2011 by SAIC, the maker of CityTime, to lobby New York City politicians in order to keep NYC.gov paying CityTime's huge cost overruns. Eventually, it was estimated that SAIC over-billed New York City by $600 million, and Ms. Holtzman was one of the principal lobbyist being paid to keep that gravy train rolling. Her lobbying firm was paid $410,000 to keep the CityTime gravy train rolling into Ms. Holtzman's station. Holzman lobbied Borough President - Queens, NYC Council Members. Comptroller's Office, Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of The Mayor (OTM), Office of the Contract Services
A Play Budget Written By the Lobbyist That Run the Council and Mayoral Staff
Mayor Shoot Down Council More Cop Plan
De Blasio shoots down bid to expand NYPD by 1,000 cops(NYDN) * Both NYPD Commissioner William Bratton and de Blasio pushed back against a City Council proposal to hire 1,000 police officers, the Daily News writes: * SHOT DOWN: NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, Mayor de Blasio reject City Council's proposal to hire 1,000 officers(NYDN)
The New York City Council’s proposed budget, which will be unveiled today, will push for $24 million for free lunches for all public school children and $94 million to add 1,000 new police officers to the NYPD’s force, the Daily News writes: * The New York City Council will also unveil a proposal for a commission to overhaul the city’s property-tax system to make it more equitable, The Wall Street Journal reports: *Free Lunch for All Public school kids may get free lunch regardless of family income as part as $24M program in proposed City Council budget(NYDN) .
PC Bratton not only couldn't pick his top deputies now he's forced to say he doesn't need more cops despite patrol strength depletion
Sal Albanese Lobbyist Davidoff Spotted At City Hall
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO) between lobbyists Sid Davidoff. and Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News.Sid Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Has gotten the following contracts in 2014 to lobby the mayor:
Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OKTo the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Since the 2013 elections Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin has picked up of 70 clients to lobby for. 51 clients to lobby the city council, 17 to lobby the office of the mayor
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Public Financing, Hospitals And Teachers Top Lobbying In 2014 So Far(YNN
How Political Consultant Lobbyists Don't Have to Register With the City As Lobbyists
n early March, charter school supporters held a huge rally at the state Capitol featuring Gov. Andrew Cuomo and hundreds of students it had bused to Albany for the protest. But the nonprofit that organized the charter rally is declining to disclose any of its spending on the event, maintaining none of it was actually lobbying—a view that doesn't fly with good-government group Citizens Union. In an initial email to Crain’s, Stu Loeser, the spokesman for Families For Excellent Schools, said that at the time of the March 4 rally, “there was no resolution, legislation, executive order, or bill to lobby the state Legislature on,” and therefore the rally was not lobbying. Nine days after the rally, the state Senate passed a budget resolution containing several pro-charter provisions.
Corruption is growning by Lobbyists and elected official tag teams raking in gov $
Elected LobbyPimps
Behind every lobbyists is an elected official
Among the firms with the biggest growth in business was Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which helped Melissa Mark-Viverito in her race for City Council speaker and then began lobbying her on behalf of clients. The firm’s business jumped 30.4% in 2013 over 2012. * On the flip side, Patricia Lynch, a one-time top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was hit by a 17.5% drop in her business in 2013.Patricia Lynch Associates, which in recent years faced tax problems and downsizing, sank from being the second biggest lobbying firm to the sixth as its compensation dropped to $5.54 million in 2013 from $6.7 million in 2012.*
Albany Dysfunction is A Cover for Extortion
Lobbyist = Elected Officials Bagmen
Was the Empire State Beer Distributors Association asked by Kruger to hire Lipsky the lobbyist? Or did Lipsky tell the Beer company that he can get Kruger on board. 10 days after Lipsky was hired by Empire Mr. Kruger co-sponsor a bill on beer pricing that the company wanted. Medisys the health care company that operated troubled hospitals and payed off Seminerio, Kruger and Boyland increased increased their spending on lobbyists from about $30,000 a year to more than $200,000 a year over the last three years. While talking about the state’s fiscal woes, former Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders borrowed money to pay for pet projects.
A Tale of Two Albany's
Lobbyists ready to get to work now that state budget is completed(Buffalo News)
Fake Public Albany
The list of end-of-session priorities for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders reads like a song verse stuck in your head: campaign finance law changes, job creation incentives, minimum wage increase, special protections for women in the workplace, and state aid for children of illegal immigrants.
Real Lobbyists Albany
But behind the scenes, most of Albany’s special-interest groups pay little attention to such matters. Hospitals, unions, car dealers, energy firms, pharmaceutical conglomerates and others spend their time caring about the likes of complex civil liability laws, tort insurance, regulatory rules and other issues that the public pays little attention to but can be of great financial value to these special interests. Doing their bidding are 6,383 registered lobbyists in Albany, retained for a record $191 million, according to a state ethics agency report.
Lobbyists Kill NY's Democracy to Make $
The Big Lobbyists Has Have Taken Over NY's Campaign Consultating to Ensure Future Business with Government
Organized Crime Lobbyists Run Candidate to Own Them
Parkside working for The Real Estate Board of New York's PAC Jobs4NY worked for and against 35 candidates in the 20 competitive council races. The Advance Group working through 4 PACs NYCLASS, United for the Future, Citizen Action and Hotel Workers for A Strong Middle Class worked for 27 of candidates in the 20 competitive council campaigns. Of the 21 candidates supported by Parkside Jobs4NY 17 were run by the big 8. Another candidate Dickens who had no race is running for speaker and some Jobs4NY money went to a republican candidate. Of the 44 council candidates supported by PAC in which Advance worked for or had a relationship with 34 when to candidates run by the Big 8. Half of the other 10 went to incumbent candidates who had no races. The big 8 worked for council candidates who may be running for speaker, who had no races. Berlin Rosen Daniel Garodnick, Red Horse and Hudson TDG James Vacca, Hudson TG Mark Weprin. Multi-Media run by newspaper publisher Michael Nussbaum have been doing printing for the Parkside Group for years in the dark pools because state election law does not require subcontractors are reported. Red Horse worked alongside Parkside for DSCC where Melvin Lowe was indicted this week for fake printing invoices. Red Horse has at least 20 interest group clients. This summer the New York World reported Hudson TG LLC – offer lobbying services to represent special interests with the officials they have sometimes helped to get elected. The only campaign consultant that does not directly lobby is Brandford Communications. But Brandford's Ernie Lendler did pull a Melvin Lowe when he gave convicted Brooklyn Boss Norman fake invoices. Lendler did not get indicted in exchanged for testifying against Norman Background on the Big 8 Consultants as Lobbyists * CrainsNY on The Advance Groups Double Dipping (CrainsNY)* 8 Lobbyists Consultants and Citizen United * Campaign Reform and Media Cover Up of Citizens United On Local 2013 Election
* CFB PAC Investigation of the 2013 Election * Dark Pool Politics * Organized Crime Politics: IE PACs * Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
* CFB PAC Investigation of the 2013 Election * Dark Pool Politics * Organized Crime Politics: IE PACs * Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
Gelman Sexual Abuse Friend is No Problem for Ratner Flack SKD Knickerbocker
SKDKnickerbocker back in the news; chief-of-staff in NYC office was FCR flack; firm produced misleading Atlantic Yards brochures(AYR)
Photo Gelman and Terry Richardson
Audrey Gelman, real-life best friend to Lena Dunham and ex-girlfriend of infamous fashion photographer Terry Richardson, has officially weighed in on the recent debate over whether female celebrities should vow not to work with men who are known to mistreat women. On December 21st, Gelman, who is a political consultant and spokesperson for incoming Comptroller Scott Stringer, and the real-life inspiration for "Girls" character Marnie Michaels, took to Twitter to address the criticism Dunham had received for her 2013 V Magazine shoot with Richardson. In addition to working with some of today's biggest female stars -- Dunham and Beyoncé included -- the photographer has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault over the years.
News that Audrey Gelman, spokesperson for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (and occasional actress on Girls) is going to the consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker reminded me to take a look at the firm (previously known as Knickerbocker SKD) and its multiple Atlantic Yards connections, producing propaganda on behalf of the project and hiring a former Forest City Ratner flack..The Chief-of-Staff in the New York City office is Loren Riegelhaupt, famously known for saying:, on behalf of Forest City, "When it comes to sharing information with the public and governmental bodies, there’s no such thing as too much, as far as we are concerned." DDDB went to town on the developer's consistent violation of that pledge.
The NYT Pimps for SKD and Ratner Who Built Their HQ
There was no attempt by the Times to evaluate the content of those mailings, though the first one, especially, was deeply deceptive. For example, theflier (right) quoted gushing praise for the plan attributed to the New York Times, as if it were the newspaper's editorial voice, rather than identifying it as a statement from then-architectural critic Herbert Muschamp.
Firm history
In a 1/7/02 New York Observer article headlined "Cuomo Gets Young Turks For 2002," WNYC's Andrea Bernstein reported that Josh Isay had formed a firm with Dan Klores--founder of the dkc firm handlings p.r. for Forest City Ratner.
KnickerbockerSKD emerged later, and an April 201 merger produced the new firm.
Photo Gelman and Terry Richardson
Audrey Gelman, real-life best friend to Lena Dunham and ex-girlfriend of infamous fashion photographer Terry Richardson, has officially weighed in on the recent debate over whether female celebrities should vow not to work with men who are known to mistreat women. On December 21st, Gelman, who is a political consultant and spokesperson for incoming Comptroller Scott Stringer, and the real-life inspiration for "Girls" character Marnie Michaels, took to Twitter to address the criticism Dunham had received for her 2013 V Magazine shoot with Richardson. In addition to working with some of today's biggest female stars -- Dunham and Beyoncé included -- the photographer has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault over the years.
News that Audrey Gelman, spokesperson for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (and occasional actress on Girls) is going to the consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker reminded me to take a look at the firm (previously known as Knickerbocker SKD) and its multiple Atlantic Yards connections, producing propaganda on behalf of the project and hiring a former Forest City Ratner flack..The Chief-of-Staff in the New York City office is Loren Riegelhaupt, famously known for saying:, on behalf of Forest City, "When it comes to sharing information with the public and governmental bodies, there’s no such thing as too much, as far as we are concerned." DDDB went to town on the developer's consistent violation of that pledge.
SKD Creates Fiction for Ratner and NYT
Previous coverage
As I wrote 5/10/06, Forest City Ratner's recent reality-bending brochure was the equivalent ofs a political campaign, produced by Knickerbocker SKD, which has worked on political campaigns and strategic communciations for major players, including Mayor Bloomberg. After all, why would the third page of the flier (right) offer a distorted fisheye photo, implying that the 8.5 acres of railyards constitute the majority of the 22-acre site.* More about SKD Knickbocker
And just as newspapers like the Times regularly evaluate political commercials (including those by this firm) for accuracy, they should do the same for such developer p.r.. They didn't, and they haven't.
The only previous acknowledgement of the consultant's role was a 10/14/05 article by the New York Times, headlined To Build Arena, Developer First Builds Bridges, which stated:
Previous coverage
As I wrote 5/10/06, Forest City Ratner's recent reality-bending brochure was the equivalent ofs a political campaign, produced by Knickerbocker SKD, which has worked on political campaigns and strategic communciations for major players, including Mayor Bloomberg. After all, why would the third page of the flier (right) offer a distorted fisheye photo, implying that the 8.5 acres of railyards constitute the majority of the 22-acre site.* More about SKD KnickbockerAnd just as newspapers like the Times regularly evaluate political commercials (including those by this firm) for accuracy, they should do the same for such developer p.r.. They didn't, and they haven't.
The only previous acknowledgement of the consultant's role was a 10/14/05 article by the New York Times, headlined To Build Arena, Developer First Builds Bridges, which stated:
Forest City Ratner also contracted with Knickerbocker SKD, a media consultant, to produce two promotional mailings, each going to more than 300,000 households in Brooklyn.That's strategy, not analysis.
The NYT Pimps for SKD and Ratner Who Built Their HQ
There was no attempt by the Times to evaluate the content of those mailings, though the first one, especially, was deeply deceptive. For example, theflier (right) quoted gushing praise for the plan attributed to the New York Times, as if it were the newspaper's editorial voice, rather than identifying it as a statement from then-architectural critic Herbert Muschamp.Firm history
In a 1/7/02 New York Observer article headlined "Cuomo Gets Young Turks For 2002," WNYC's Andrea Bernstein reported that Josh Isay had formed a firm with Dan Klores--founder of the dkc firm handlings p.r. for Forest City Ratner.
KnickerbockerSKD emerged later, and an April 201 merger produced the new firm.
The 2/22/11 profile in Capital NY, How former liberal operative Josh Isay became the default paid-media guy to the New York establishment,stated:
Both the corporate and the political clients ostensibly benefit from the same essential asset: Isay’s knowledge of how reporters, politicians and regulators process information.Here's the bottom line regarding Isay's choice of political clients, which likely applies to corporate clients, as well: Certainly, he will not feel constrained by any sense of partisan duty. (As one of Isay's consultant friends put it, "Josh is highly motivated by making profit, which is fine.")
SKD Ratner Used A Boyland to Go After A Political Opponent
Atlantic Yards wrote 10/16/06, there was another connection: Belated Boyland filings show she outraised Montgomery, used same firm as Ratner.
Overdue campaign finance filings from 18th Senatorial District candidate Tracy Boyland, who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent (and Atlantic Yards opponent) Velmanette Montgomery, show that the former City Council member, despite a candidacy launched two months before the September primary, indeed raised more than the $100 she reported at election time. Was Boyland, in fact, the "Ratner candidate," as some charged? Not exactly, but there were some signficant intersections. As predicted by a source in the Crain's Insider, Boyland indeed used the same consulting firm--Knickerbocker SKD--that FCR uses for its deceptiveAtlantic Yards mailers. (As noted, Boyland told the Brooklyn Papers that she's friends with FCR's Bruce Bender, a former top City Council aide.) Boyland spent $37,000 on Knickerbocker SKD's services. The candidate, who made virtually no publicly scheduled campaign appearances and avoided questions from reporters and newspaper editorial boards, inundated voters with mailings and also had campaign workers put up numerous posters and hand out literature outside polling places.* SKD has never registered as a lobbying firm. The New York Times reported that, despite SKD's claims that it engages only in public relations, the firm has contacted Obama administration officials on behalf of its clients.
More on How Bruce Ratner Wins Approval for his Projects
Overdue campaign finance filings from 18th Senatorial District candidate Tracy Boyland, who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent (and Atlantic Yards opponent) Velmanette Montgomery, show that the former City Council member, despite a candidacy launched two months before the September primary, indeed raised more than the $100 she reported at election time. Was Boyland, in fact, the "Ratner candidate," as some charged? Not exactly, but there were some signficant intersections. As predicted by a source in the Crain's Insider, Boyland indeed used the same consulting firm--Knickerbocker SKD--that FCR uses for its deceptiveAtlantic Yards mailers. (As noted, Boyland told the Brooklyn Papers that she's friends with FCR's Bruce Bender, a former top City Council aide.) Boyland spent $37,000 on Knickerbocker SKD's services. The candidate, who made virtually no publicly scheduled campaign appearances and avoided questions from reporters and newspaper editorial boards, inundated voters with mailings and also had campaign workers put up numerous posters and hand out literature outside polling places.* SKD has never registered as a lobbying firm. The New York Times reported that, despite SKD's claims that it engages only in public relations, the firm has contacted Obama administration officials on behalf of its clients.More on How Bruce Ratner Wins Approval for his Projects
Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin Makes the Speaker and Cashes In
Meet the New Progressive City Council, Sock Puppets for Lobbyists
A consulting firm—Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin—that helped Melissa Mark-Viverito in her runs for City Council and Council speaker has lobbied her on behalf of four clients, the Daily News reports: Disclosure reports show an advocacy group, the East Side Alliance Against Overdevelopment, paid Pitta Bishop $15,000 in November to fight a plan by Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital to build two towers on city-owned land on E. 73rd St. Pitta Bishop lobbied Council members from Manhattan, including Mark-Viverito — who represents East Harlem — to vote against the project when it came before the 12-member Manhattan Borough Board on Nov. 21. Mark-Viverito voted no, but the project was approved 6 to 4. Mark-Viverito’s spokesman said her vote had no connection to the lobbying by her consultant. In January and February, Pitta Bishop lobbyists also met with Mark-Viverito’s staff on behalf of another client, the Vera Institute. The goal? Vera’s request for additional Council funding of a pilot program providing legal aid to immigrants. Vera received $500,000 in funding last year and wants $5 million more this year. Pitta Bishop also lobbied Mark-Viverito in January and February seeking “support for museum programming related to anti-bullying” run by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Manhattan. She was asked to speak at an anti-bullying event targeted to children, which she agreed to do, her spokesman said. And Luis Miranda of the MirRam Group enjoys a close relationship with Ms. Mark-Viverito.
Lobbyists Political Consultants Cut Themselves Into Permanent Government Since Jack Newfield Wrote the Book 1977
Kings Makers Eat the Kings Meat
Former Borough President Molinaro joins high-powered consulting firm with strong Staten Island ties(SI Advancew) Molinaro has joined the Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin LLC government relations and consulting firm, a company with strong ties to the Island. In his role as senior managing director, Molinaro will oversee the firm's new satellite office in St. George, close to many of the economic development projects that Molinaro helped become a reality during his time in office. Pitta said that the Wheel development as well as other Island projects, including the development of the Stapleton home port and the re-development of the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Charleston, "are sure to spur further growth, opportunity and investment across all of Staten Island." Jon Del Giorno of the politically-prominent law firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin LLC (which manages Melissa Mark-Viverito campaign finance filings) also helped pave the way for the councilwoman's deal with Brooklyn Boss Seddio.Feds charge Senate Dems' operative (CrainsNY) Michael Cohen, who now works for the New York lobbying firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin, did not return a request for comment made through a firm spokesman. Pitta Bishop lists crisis management among its specialties, and is affiliated with the law firm Pitta & Giblin. Ms. Mark-Viverito was escorted around Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club recently by Michael Cohen
True News Wags the DN on Lobbyists Controlling the the Council
Village Voice Reporter Wayne Barrett Said in 2010, Lobbyists Political Consultant " Hank Sheinkopf makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings he’s made."Familiar Consultants Hired by de Blasio’s Pre-K Drive(NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio’s privately financed campaign to offer prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds in New York City paid consultants in his election run much of the money it spent in recent months. Those consultants, who were paid not by the city but by a new nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York, included BerlinRosen, a public affairs firm that took in $43,950 in fees and expenses, and an affiliate of Hilltop Public Solutions, which was paid a $16,500 “management fee,” according to a filing with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics. Hilltop hired Bill Hyers, the manager of Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, in December, the same month Mr. Hyers established the Campaign for One New York, which quickly branded itself as UPKNYC. Genova Burns Giantomasi Webster, a law firm that worked on Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral run, was paid $23,467 in fees.
More on Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
What the Mayor Never Meet With Lobbyists Berlin Rosen Who Responded to NYT's Powell Question to the Mayor's Office?
Lobbyists who backed de Blasio for mayor have access(NYP)Mayor de Blasio personally met with six registered lobbyists in his first three months in office — half of whom were his supporters in last year’s mayoral race, The Post has learned. Records provided by the Mayor’s Office show that de Blasio huddled with Vincent Pitta — who was representing Long Island College Hospital and health-care workers in Local 1199 of SEIU — the same day he declared the rescue of the struggling hospital as “truly historic.” A series of subsequent setbacks for the hospital have risked making the Feb. 22 celebration Hizzoner’s “Mission Accomplished” moment.Pitta had given $400 to de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, and his firm — Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin — was a paid adviser for Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s election campaign. The mayor strongly backed Mark-Viverito’s campaign to become council speaker. De Blasio also met with the Real Estate Board’s Steve Spinola in mid-February, at a session with other board members that was on the mayor’s public schedule but was closed to the media.It was at that meeting that de Blasio expressed a willingness to build taller buildings in exchange for more affordable housing units. Other registered lobbyists on the mayor’s list included teachers-union chief Michael Mulgrew, who was in the middle of contract talks; Bob Master and Chris Shelton of the Communications Workers of America; and Tony Marx of the New York Public Library, which was mulling a major renovation of its 42nd Street main location.*Flashback Lobbyists Lined Up To Help Host Million-Dollar Bill de Blasio/Hillary Clinton Fundraiser
How Come Berlin Rosen Is Not Registered As A NYC Lobbyist?
Berlin Rosen Operates In the Dark Pools of Power and NYC Lobbyist
NYT Michael Powell - A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the “it” P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. He advised that I should study the mayor’s proposals carefully if I presumed to take “a skeptical look” at prekindergarten. I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the “campaign” for pre-K. Lobbyists Search for Berlin Rosen * When Campaign Aides Are Lobbyists, Questions Mount - City Limits(City Limits) * 8 Lobbyists Consultants and Citizen United * True News (The Bund): Dark Pools * City Hall's new 'in' crowd of lobbyists (CrainsNY) Lobbyists behind the campaigns of ascendant power brokers are now poised to cash in.* The Perma-Campaign: For Bill de Blasio, the Race Never Ends(NYO)
Twitter / BerlinRosen: Congratulations to whole team ...
Apr 24, 2014 - Congratulations to whole team @TwoTreesNY on the approval of Domino Sugar Refinery. Amazing project for NYC. Proud to be a part of it. Two Trees Cedes to de Blasio’s Demands, Agrees to Build More Affordable Housing at Domino Site
Secret Budget Negotiations, are Lobbyist the Reason for the Closed Doors?
Secret Budget Negotiations, are Lobbyist the Reason for the Closed Doors?
Disputes Over City Budget Not Yet Spilling Into Public View(NY1)
Who Spent on Lobbying This Year
Records show the Public Campaign Action Fund spent $464,823 on lobbying efforts, including a $450,000 ad campaign in the first two months of the year. The pro-public financing group’s spending outpaced the more traditional groups that lobbying state government, including the Greater New York Hospital Association and its affiliates, which spent the second-highest amount of money, $317,884. The hospitals group was followed by the state’s largest teachers unions, the New York State United Teachers and the city-based United Federation of Teachers. The Campaign for One New York, a group that was created late last year to support New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s pre-K expansion, spent $235,948 during those months.* NY reaches lobbying spending record $210 million, most from top interest groups(WSKD)
# 7. Genting's Lobbyists Genting’s lobbyists in New York, according to state lobbying records, include Patricia Lynch, a former top aide to the Democratic Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and Nicholas A. Spano, a former Republican state senator.The company has also hired Jennifer Cunningham, a close friend of Mr. Cuomo’s, to do public relations work and Bradley Tusk, who was Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaign manager in 2009, to assist with planning. Genting even created an advocacy group called the New York Gaming Association, which is led by another prominent lobbyist, James Featherstonhaugh. More About Gambling and Lobbyists
# 2. Greater New York Hospital Association
Lobbyists Tonio Burgos & Associates, Inc.
Lobbyists Rise and Fall As Their Campaign Clients Careers Rise and Fall / Notice Silver's Lobbyist Tag Teams Raking In Govt $$$ Until His Arrest
Michael @powellnyt Consultants and favored PR firms form a powerful and growing shadow government in NYS. Pols trying to cover that up
Just don't call these consultants lobbyists(CrainsNY) They move government without having to disclose their activities. Call them clever, call them stealthy.Like Ms. Cunningham, Mr. Rosen is not a registered lobbyist. Yet he regularly meets with government officials. The mayor's schedule from his first five months in office shows Mr. Rosen was in at least nine meetings and on two calls.BerlinRosen understands how issues play out in the public sphere, its clients say.
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Top Lobbying Spenders and Lobbyists
On NY1 Lobbyist Pretend Journalist D'Amato . . . Shill for Himself and His Clients
Cuomo's GOP Lobbyists
Corrupt lobbyist
What Does A Connected Lobbyists Do After He Loses the Charter Tax War to Cuomo
Jonathan Rosen Mark-Viverito's Council is Really A Lobbyists Pay to Play Dream, What About the Rest of City Hall?
The Daily News writes that in continuing to deal with Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito has brought pay-to-play to the Council, and she must cut ties with the firm or its clients: http://goo.gl/u9Rtmg Campaigning for appointment as the Council’s leader, Mark-Viverito accepted freebie services from a political consultant and lobbying firm — until, in November, the Blogs and Daily News caught her at it. Then she dipped into her campaign treasury to hire a different lobbyist to boost her fortunes. Having relied on this second firm during her reelection, Mark-Viverito retained its help in persuading her colleagues to name her speaker and then in raising money for her inauguration. Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin reciprocated by raising more than 20% of the $100,000 that Mark-Viverito spent on her speakership drive, as well as most of the $27,000 tab for her bash. Now, the Daily News’ Greg Smith reports, Pitta Bishop has lobbied Mark-Viverito on behalf of four clients — who will surely be the first of many unless Mark-Viverito either recuses herself from voting on matters involving Pitta Bishop clients or bars Pitta Bishop representatives from her office. A Manhattan community group hired Pitta Bishop to oppose a development plan by Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital. Pitta Bishop lobbied Mark-Viverito. Wonder of wonders, she has turned thumbs down on the project. The criminal justice non-profit Vera Institute retained Pitta Bishop to seek a boost in city grants from $500,000 to $5 million. Pitta Bishop lobbied Mark-Viverito. She’s making up her mind. And so on and so forth ad nausea. Mark-Viverito has brought pay-to-play into bloom in the Council. She must sever ties with Pitta Bishop or its clients.
Parkside Going Down
Meanwhile, firms close to the Queens Democratic Party—such as the ninth-ranked Parkside Group, which runs the campaigns of many Queens-backed candidates and earned $1.7 million from city lobbying in 2012—could find the speaker's office less friendly than when it was ruled by Ms. Quinn, who owed her position in large part to Queens Democrats. Last year was the first time a speaker race was decided without the organization supplying votes, and spoils of victory—key staff positions and committee chairmanships—mostly went elsewhere.
Parkside also ran a controversial $8 million campaign funded by the real estate industry last year targeting City Council races. The negativity of some of its mailers rankled officials who have since emerged as power brokers, such as Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander.
Giske What Could Have Been
One well-known lobbyist and active supporter of Ms. Quinn was Emily Giske of Bolton-St. John's, the city's fourth-ranked lobbying firm in 2012 with $2.4 million in fees. Still, industry veterans don't expect major firms on the losing side of the 2013 races to take up collection plates just yet. The top tier still has scores of important clients whom power brokers must heed.
From Those Wonderful Folks Who Elected A Mayor, Most NYers Disagree With His Policies
Village Voice Reporter Wayne Barrett Said in 2010, Lobbyists Political Consultant " Hank Sheinkopf makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings he’s made."
Conflict of Interests
UPKNYC is run, in part, by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s former campaign aides, and its lobbyist also works for the city’s hotel workers’ union, raising questions about a conflict for the administration, NY1 reports: UPKNYC is run, in part, by the mayor's former campaign aides. Its lobbyist works for the city's massive hotel workers' union, JOSHUA GOLD and his contract allows him to work for both groups at the same time.
Lobbyists the New
Permanent Government
Familiar Consultants Hired by de Blasio’s Pre-K Drive(NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio’s privately financed campaign to offer prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds in New York City paid consultants in his election run much of the money it spent in recent months. Those consultants, who were paid not by the city but by a new nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York, included BerlinRosen, a public affairs firm that took in $43,950 in fees and expenses, and an affiliate of Hilltop Public Solutions, which was paid a $16,500 “management fee,” according to a filing with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics. Hilltop hired Bill Hyers, the manager of Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, in December, the same month Mr. Hyers established the Campaign for One New York, which quickly branded itself as UPKNYC. Genova Burns Giantomasi Webster, a law firm that worked on Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral run, was paid $23,467 in fees. de Blasio's Sugar Fix Will the Council Demand Its Cut? What Role Did Berlin Rosen Play?
City Hall's Inhouse Lobbyist Political Consultant
Real Estate developers now understand if you want to get an OK for your housing plan hire Berlin Rosen
BerlinRosen's current and recent clients include Two Trees Management Negotiations between Mr. de Blasio’s team and Mr. Walentas’s firm took place over the last few days. The two men share a mutual adviser: Jonathan Rosen, one of the mayor’s top political hands and the chief executive of a public affairs firm, Berlin Rosen, that counts Mr. Walentas’s company as a client. SPIN CITY -- Times’ Michael Powell: “A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the ‘it’ P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. … I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the ‘campaign’ for pre-K.”
Team de Blasio Spins Win on Pre-K
READ --> Daily News: "giant step forward for Mayor de Blasio's pre-k plan": #AlmostThere
The New York Post editorial board “thanked” Mayor Bill de Blasio for working against charter schools, which the paper says only emboldened Albany charter advocates to save them: “New York owes Bill de Blasio a thank you. In trying to squash charter schools, he might just have made them stronger.”
The New York Post editorial board “thanked” Mayor Bill de Blasio for working against charter schools, which the paper says only emboldened Albany charter advocates to save them: “New York owes Bill de Blasio a thank you. In trying to squash charter schools, he might just have made them stronger.”
Lobbyists Political Consultants Have Cut Themselves Into the Permanent Government Since Jack Newfield Wrote the Book in 1977
Return of the zombie lobbyists (Robbins, NYDN)
Get ready: Lobbyists who once had the run of City Hall are itching to get back in the fray
Dinkins was a tennis fanatic. He played many mornings and had a good backhand. Naturally, there were many people looking to bounce a ball back and forth with the mayor.Among them was Davidoff, another fine tennis player whose deep interest in city government began with his days in the John Lindsay administration and continued as head of a prosperous firm of lobbyists and lawyers.
Davidoff made an excellent living making sure that contracts, leases and variances for his clients won approvals. In those years, he was a regular fixture in the west wing of City Hall, where he was also close with the first deputy mayor, Norman Steisel, and closer still with Steisel’s chief of staff.
These ties served Davidoff well. With clients ranging from Donald Trump to water meter suppliers, his firm was the league champion among city lobbyists throughout the Dinkins years . It helped that every time the press reported that one of Davidoff’s clients had scored an unseemly gain from the public coffers, more clients appeared at his door. Davidoff is now an honored senior citizen in the lobbying ranks. And he is also among the excited army of advocates-for-hire who, thanks to de Blasio’s rise, are already beating on the doors of City Hall, somewhat like those ravenous tribes of the undead that populate all the best television shows.
Earlier this month, the lobbyists-for-de Blasio crew turned out in strength at the Roosevelt Hotel to celebrate the presumptive mayor-elect and his friend, Hillary Rodham Clinton, helping to raise about $1 million for the populist candidate’s mayoral campaign. Among those listed as hosts of the event were two top executives of the city’s current ranking lobbying champ, Kasirer Consulting, which took in $6 million in fees last year. Among the event’s chairs was James Capalino, a lobbying veteran whose company made $3.3 million in 2012, good enough for a second place finish in the year’s lobbying season. Also hosting was Alan Sclar, a transportation lawyer who gathered contributions for de Blasio from some of the city’s biggest school-bus contractors, one of whom pulled out a loaded pistol in the middle of city contract talks in 2010. He meant no harm, his lawyers insisted .
Back in the Rudy Giuliani administration, where Lhota was a key deputy, the most successful lobbyists were from the law firm of a man named Raymond Harding. This was something of an embarrassment since Harding had practically invented Giuliani as a political candidate, and he guided his electoral campaigns .As soon as Giuliani took office, clients began pouring through Harding’s door and his firm soon displaced Davidoff as the city’s top ranked lobbyist. Things got so out of hand, that eventually Giuliani threatened to ban lobbying altogether.
Lobbyist Campaign Consultants the New Universal Soldier
SKDK for Charters Berlin Rosen for Pre-K
In 2013 Both SKDK and Berlin Rosen Worked Together to Defeat Spitzer and Elect Controller Stringer
Kerry Lyons, a SKDKnickerbocker consultant who works for Moskowitz's schools, sent reporters a snapshot of the three schools, saying the displaced students are "left homeless next year." The loss of space for the two new schools, she said, will mean 420 kids in the kindergarten and first grades lose their enrollment.* Ross Barkan
True News Wags the NYT on Team de Blasio Lobbyists Political Consultants
Lobbyist Campaign Consultants the New Universal Soldier
SKDK for Charters Berlin Rosen for Pre-K
In 2013 Both SKDK and Berlin Rosen Worked Together to Defeat Spitzer and Elect Controller Stringer
Kerry Lyons, a SKDKnickerbocker consultant who works for Moskowitz's schools, sent reporters a snapshot of the three schools, saying the displaced students are "left homeless next year." The loss of space for the two new schools, she said, will mean 420 kids in the kindergarten and first grades lose their enrollment.* Ross Barkan@RossBarkan I still find it a bit funny when @BerlinRosen group sends out release praising @BilldeBlasio, who of course is a @BerlinRosen client. The group, UPKNYC, is a coalition of citizens asking Albany to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to fund the mayor’s education initiatives.
The group was established by Bill Hyers, the mayor’s former campaign manager. Its treasurer, Ross Offinger, is the mayor’s former campaign-finance director. De Blasio’s former campaign consultant Stephanie Yazgi serves as its secretary. Hilltop Public Solutions, the p.r. firm that formerly employed de Blasio senior adviser Rebecca Katz, is doing strategy for the UPKNYC campaign out of its Brooklyn office. Dan Levitan, a spokesman at p.r. firm BerlinRosen, which is handling press, said, “UPKNYC is supported by thousands of grass-roots New Yorkers.“Dozens of leaders from business, civil rights, academia, advocacy and the arts have joined our growing campaign committee.” BerlinRosen is also handled communications for de Blasio’s campaign.
In 2013 Both SKDK and Berlin Rosen Worked Together to Defeat Spitzer and Elect Controller Stringer
Kerry Lyons, a SKDKnickerbocker consultant who works for Moskowitz's schools, sent reporters a snapshot of the three schools, saying the displaced students are "left homeless next year." The loss of space for the two new schools, she said, will mean 420 kids in the kindergarten and first grades lose their enrollment.* Ross Barkan
The group was established by Bill Hyers, the mayor’s former campaign manager. Its treasurer, Ross Offinger, is the mayor’s former campaign-finance director. De Blasio’s former campaign consultant Stephanie Yazgi serves as its secretary. Hilltop Public Solutions, the p.r. firm that formerly employed de Blasio senior adviser Rebecca Katz, is doing strategy for the UPKNYC campaign out of its Brooklyn office. Dan Levitan, a spokesman at p.r. firm BerlinRosen, which is handling press, said, “UPKNYC is supported by thousands of grass-roots New Yorkers.“Dozens of leaders from business, civil rights, academia, advocacy and the arts have joined our growing campaign committee.” BerlinRosen is also handled communications for de Blasio’s campaign.How Does Stu Loeser Get Away With Not Registering As A Lobbyist in NYC?
Charter school group spends $3.6m on TV ads attacking de Blasio(NYDN) For the last three weeks, Families for Excellent Schools has run ads to blast Mayor de Blasio over his decision to stop three Success schools from using space inside public school buildings. The teachers union has given millions to groups that oppose charters, said Stu Loeser, spokesman for Families for Excellent Schools.* Bloomberg’s former chief spokesman, Stu Loeser, is now representing Uber as well. * Loeser is also the spokesman for NY Jobs Now, the coalition set up to push for passage of the casino-expansion amendment.
de Blasio's Sugar Fix/ Will the Council Demand Its Cut? What Role Did Berlin Rosen Play?
City Hall's Inhouse Lobbyist Political Consultant
Real Estate developers now understand if you want to get an OK for your housing plan hire Berlin Rosen
BerlinRosen's current and recent clients include Two Trees Management Negotiations between Mr. de Blasio’s team and Mr. Walentas’s firm took place over the last few days. The two men share a mutual adviser: Jonathan Rosen, one of the mayor’s top political hands and the chief executive of a public affairs firm, Berlin Rosen, that counts Mr. Walentas’s company as a client. SPIN CITY -- Times’ Michael Powell: “A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the ‘it’ P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. … I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the ‘campaign’ for pre-K.”
Setting Up a Better Domino Plan(NYT) In a good start, Mayor Bill de Blasio closed a deal with developers that would add more affordable housing in Brooklyn.* Affordable Housing Advocates Demand More from Mayor * Politicians, unions leave ‘Domino’ deal far from done(NYP Ed) The touted “compromise” to build apartment towers, offices, stores and a park at the Domino Sugar site in Brooklyn is anything but a done deal, despite absurd claims the city has “approved” it. Far from it: The City Council, not the Planning Commission, which OK’d it Wednesday, will have the final say. And construction unions and “affordable housing” agitators are ganging up on the agreement Mayor de Blasio reached this week with developer Two Trees Management. They could easily derail it in the council, which stands even farther to the left than de Blasio.** A coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, which includes some of de Blasio’s liberal allies, is poised to begin a campaign to call for more homes for the city’s poorest residents, the Journal writes * Meanwhile, Mr. de Blasio is about to face his first major lobbying effort from the left. “Real Affordability for All,” a new coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, is set to launch a campaign today to create more affordable housing for very low-income residents, “posing an additional challenge for the administration as it develops its own housing plan,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The group “could make it more difficult for the mayor to meet his target of building or preserving 200,000 units of low-cost housing,” the paper reports.
Lobbyist Berlin Rosen Works for Domino's Developer and the Mayor
Labor unions are demanding that the redevelopment project at the Domino Sugar factory in Brooklyn be done using union construction workers, with leaders arguing that City Council members should withhold approval of the project unless workers receive union wagesUnions demand all workers at Domino factory be organized(NYDN) * VIDEO: Inside the Williamsburg Domino Sugar project's affordable housing plan *Mayor de Blasio's plans to go big on housing is building worries over quality of life(NYDN) * BerlinRosen founders say "mission-driven company" turns away clients who don't share ideals (so, what about Ratner?)
A Lobbyist and a Columnist Get Married At City Hall, 1st Marriage By the Mayor
Lobbyists Reporter Joined
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO)“Yup. i got married yesterday to sid davidoff. the mayor presided at city hall and it was his first wedding,” tweeted Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News. Mr. Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Davidoff is also the lobbyists for the The Queens Borough Public Library
de Blasio Fund Raiser Lobbyists Get City's Largest Residential Building
City’s largest residential building gets green light(NYP) The green light for development at 606 W. 57th St. was tied to the developer’s commitment to maximize affordable housing at the site and reveals Mayor de Blasio’s housing-policy priorities. The complex will sit on 1.9 acres. Developer TF Cornerstone agreed to create 237 units of affordable housing out of 1,189 units total. James Capalino (left), lobbied for Rudin Management, developers of high-end condos near the old St. Vincent’s Hospital, and Suri Kasirer (right), who met with Bill de Blasio on Brooklyn’s contentious Atlantic Yards project, are part of de Blasio's host committee for $1 million fund-raiser. Bill de Blasio fund-raisers are big time lobbyists(NYDN) The host committee included James Capalino, who has lobbied for Rudin Management, developers of high-end condos near the old St. Vincent’s Hospital, and lobbyist Suri Kasirer, who met with de Blasio on Brooklyn’s contentious Atlantic Yards project. * * An expert warns that a super PAC trying to repeal the state’s $150,000 annual contribution limit for individuals poses a big risk of corruption and could lead to “an explosion” of large contributions by wealthy donors, the Daily News writes:
Another early backer of Mr. de Blasio was James Capalino, of the second-ranked firm Capalino+Co., whose senior vice president, George Fontas, did extensive volunteer field organizing for the de Blasio campaign. The firm earned $3.3 million in fees from city lobbying in 2012.(CrainsNY)
Michael Woloz, of the firm Connelly McLaughlin & Woloz, who represents the taxi industry, bundled nearly $235,000 in campaign contributions for Mr. de Blasio, more than double anyone else's haul..(CrainsNY)
Monday Update The developer of the apartment project at the Domino Sugar refinery in Brooklyn is threatening to sell if the de Blasio administration keeps pushing for bigger affordable housing units than originally proposed, the Daily News reports * The Domino effect(NYP Ed) Now the city has announced a deal that will produce 700 of the units de Blasio wants. That may be good news for those who end up in these apartments. What the mayor doesn’t seem to appreciate is that building by threats and decree only makes it more expensive for people to build housing non-millionaires can afford. * de Blasio notches an early real-estate win(Capital) Mayor Affordable Housing Goals* Key members of de Blasio’s administration charged with implementing his plan to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing met with advocates behind closed doors for a strategy session, Crain’s reports:
Plan to Redevelop Brooklyn Sugar Factory Hits Snag: De Blasio(NYT) A $1.5 billion proposal to redevelop Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar plant is in jeopardy as officials ask for a higher quota of affordable housing units.de Blasio administration, which wants him to add additional affordable housing units in exchange for the required zoning changes* Bill’s sugar rush(NYDN Ed) A dangerous approach to a laudable ideal.
Lobbying Spending in NYC
Last year, Forest City spent $287,000.
But it's still among the top clients in spreading the wealth. After MSG Holdings and SL Green Realty Corp., which had six lobbying firms on retainer, Atlantic Yards Development Company joined Altria Client Services (cigarettes!) and Major League Soccer in having five firms retained.
Brooklyn developer Two Trees Management Co. was among several clients retaining four firms, along with The Rector, Church-Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, which just happens to the spawning ground of Carl Weisbrod, Mayor de Blasio's appointee to head the City Planning Commission
But it's still among the top clients in spreading the wealth. After MSG Holdings and SL Green Realty Corp., which had six lobbying firms on retainer, Atlantic Yards Development Company joined Altria Client Services (cigarettes!) and Major League Soccer in having five firms retained.
Brooklyn developer Two Trees Management Co. was among several clients retaining four firms, along with The Rector, Church-Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, which just happens to the spawning ground of Carl Weisbrod, Mayor de Blasio's appointee to head the City Planning Commission
Forest City's 2013 spending, by Forest City
- Kasirer Consulting LLC $160,000 lobby target: Office of the Mayor
- Geto & de Milly Inc. $46,000 lobby target: Community Boards
- Park Strategies, $40,000 lobby target: City Council
- LoCicero & Tan, $32,000 lobby target: "Attaches of the Council"
- Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP $9,000 lobby target: City CouncilNote that this report deals only with city lobbying, not state lobbying.
As noted above, the list includes Chairman Bruce Ratner, CEO Maryanne Gilmartin, David Berliner, Ashley Cotton, and Katherine Welch. (Note the word "false" in bottom right corner is some artifact of the database, rather than any editorial comment.)
Kasirer's prominenceKasirer Consulting far outranked other lobbying firms, with $6.6 million in total compensation.
It had 109 clients.
"Robert Sanna" on board
I was surprised to read, in both the article/supplement and advertisement in City & State, that the city's leading lobbying firm by revenue, Kasirer Consulting, had "Robert Sanna" on its staff.
It seems unlikely, but Forest City does spend its single largest amount of lobbying bucks at Kasirer, so they do have a relationship.OK, a check of the firm's web site, and LinkedIn, shows that Kasirer government relations associate Robert J. Sanna is a 2012 college grad, having attended high school in Millburn, NJ.
Which was where Robert P. Sanna, whose firm got a state override of local zoning for Atlantic Yards, led a citizen effort to oppose a variance that would allow what locals considered overdevelopment.
More on Corrupt Lobbyists
Mercury Public Affairs Works for the Right Wing Koch Brothers PAC and For Progressive Council Member Margaret Chin And they Bag Millions from City Contracts
Chin Campaign paid Mercury over 100,000
In 2013 Mercury Public Affairs, which was running an independent spending campaign funded by billionaire David Koch and others boosting Mr. de Blasio's general-election opponent, Republican Joseph Lhota.
The Mayor's Lobbyist
Crain’s New York Business looked at how Bertha Lewis, an early de Blasio endorser, was hired to pressure the mayor on the Upper East Side waste transfer station, noting “a person with knowledge of the hiring said Ms. Lewis’ connection with him was ‘a huge part’ of the decision. It’s an example of how those in the new mayor’s orbit can benefit from proximity to him.”* De Blasio ally paid to fight him over Upper East Side trash station plan(NYDN) The Daily News reported last fall that Lewis, the former head of ACORN, a community-organizing group, had jumped onboard the anti-garbage station campaign. She said at the time she wanted to fight the perception that only rich white people would be hurt by the project, which is near a public housing project and a recreation facility. She and the mayor have long been allies and helped to form the Working Families Party. Both supported developer Bruce Ratner’s controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.
Lobbyist Campaign Consultants the New Universal Soldier
SKDK for Charters Berlin Rosen for Pre-K
In 2013 Both SKDK and Berlin Rosen Worked Together to Defeat Spitzer and Elect Controller Stringer
Kerry Lyons, a SKDKnickerbocker consultant who works for Moskowitz's schools, sent reporters a snapshot of the three schools, saying the displaced students are "left homeless next year." The loss of space for the two new schools, she said, will mean 420 kids in the kindergarten and first grades lose their enrollment.* Ross Barkan
de Blasio's Sugar Fix/ Will the Council Demand Its Cut? What Role Did Berlin Rosen Play?
City Hall's Inhouse Lobbyist Political Consultant
Real Estate developers now understand if you want to get an OK for your housing plan hire Berlin Rosen
BerlinRosen's current and recent clients include Two Trees Management Negotiations between Mr. de Blasio’s team and Mr. Walentas’s firm took place over the last few days. The two men share a mutual adviser: Jonathan Rosen, one of the mayor’s top political hands and the chief executive of a public affairs firm, Berlin Rosen, that counts Mr. Walentas’s company as a client. SPIN CITY -- Times’ Michael Powell: “A couple of weeks back, I called the mayor’s press office and asked about Mr. de Blasio’s perhaps too-optimistic cost projections for prekindergarten. Twenty minutes later, I heard from Dan Levitan of Berlin Rosen, which is the ‘it’ P.R. firm of the city’s left and a close adviser to the mayor. … I asked if Berlin Rosen had a contract to handle queries placed with the mayor’s office. He replied that he handled the ‘campaign’ for pre-K.”
Setting Up a Better Domino Plan(NYT) In a good start, Mayor Bill de Blasio closed a deal with developers that would add more affordable housing in Brooklyn.* Affordable Housing Advocates Demand More from Mayor * Politicians, unions leave ‘Domino’ deal far from done(NYP Ed) The touted “compromise” to build apartment towers, offices, stores and a park at the Domino Sugar site in Brooklyn is anything but a done deal, despite absurd claims the city has “approved” it. Far from it: The City Council, not the Planning Commission, which OK’d it Wednesday, will have the final say. And construction unions and “affordable housing” agitators are ganging up on the agreement Mayor de Blasio reached this week with developer Two Trees Management. They could easily derail it in the council, which stands even farther to the left than de Blasio.** A coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, which includes some of de Blasio’s liberal allies, is poised to begin a campaign to call for more homes for the city’s poorest residents, the Journal writes * Meanwhile, Mr. de Blasio is about to face his first major lobbying effort from the left. “Real Affordability for All,” a new coalition of tenant groups, anti-poverty advocates and unions, is set to launch a campaign today to create more affordable housing for very low-income residents, “posing an additional challenge for the administration as it develops its own housing plan,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The group “could make it more difficult for the mayor to meet his target of building or preserving 200,000 units of low-cost housing,” the paper reports.
Lobbyist Berlin Rosen Works for Domino's Developer and the Mayor
Labor unions are demanding that the redevelopment project at the Domino Sugar factory in Brooklyn be done using union construction workers, with leaders arguing that City Council members should withhold approval of the project unless workers receive union wagesUnions demand all workers at Domino factory be organized(NYDN) * VIDEO: Inside the Williamsburg Domino Sugar project's affordable housing plan *Mayor de Blasio's plans to go big on housing is building worries over quality of life(NYDN) * BerlinRosen founders say "mission-driven company" turns away clients who don't share ideals (so, what about Ratner?)
Monday Update The developer of the apartment project at the Domino Sugar refinery in Brooklyn is threatening to sell if the de Blasio administration keeps pushing for bigger affordable housing units than originally proposed, the Daily News reports * The Domino effect(NYP Ed) Now the city has announced a deal that will produce 700 of the units de Blasio wants. That may be good news for those who end up in these apartments. What the mayor doesn’t seem to appreciate is that building by threats and decree only makes it more expensive for people to build housing non-millionaires can afford. * de Blasio notches an early real-estate win(Capital) Mayor Affordable Housing Goals* Key members of de Blasio’s administration charged with implementing his plan to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing met with advocates behind closed doors for a strategy session, Crain’s reports:
Plan to Redevelop Brooklyn Sugar Factory Hits Snag: De Blasio(NYT) A $1.5 billion proposal to redevelop Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar plant is in jeopardy as officials ask for a higher quota of affordable housing units.de Blasio administration, which wants him to add additional affordable housing units in exchange for the required zoning changes* Bill’s sugar rush(NYDN Ed) A dangerous approach to a laudable ideal.
Gambling Follow the Money If You Can
A growing number of casino developers are scrutinizing locations and drafting proposals for upstate casinos, with state officials saying that bids would be due by mid-2014 and licenses awarded in the second half of the year, The New York Times writes: New York Jobs Now Committee took in $1.425,000 but only spent $360,000 according to the State Board of Elections filings. Stu Loeser: The former press secretary for Mayor Mike Bloomberg helped lead NY Jobs Now, a coalition of pro-casino interests, in advocating for the constitutional amendment that passed Tuesday, yet there is no record of him being paid. The State BOE is know for its poor campaign filing system and the fact that it has nobody investigating improper filings or fraud. We do know that gambling interests contributed to New York Jobs Now: Monticello' Empire Resorts $125,000, Genting New York $500,000, Saratoga Harness Racing $250,000, Yonkers Racing Corporation $500,000.* NY casinos poised to explode after 'yes' vote(NYDN) * A day after voters approved a New York state constitutional amendment allowing up to seven commercially operated casinos, investors were already placing their bets on where the gambling palaces might be located
Gambling and lobbyists Former TV journalist Michelle Smith Hook (wife of SKD Knickerbocker's Morgan Hook) is now working in Schneiderman's press office. ....
@GersonBorrero@BarrettNation I am always amused when lobbyists, ex pols who have economic interests with govt comment on issues of the day
Top Lobbyist Leaves Business to Avoid Conflicts - NYTimes.com
cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/.../top-lobbyist-leaves-business-to-a...Nov 30, 2010 - Ms. Cunningham's lobbying firm, Cordo & Company, has represented ... She will remain a partner at SKD Knickerbocker, a prominent political ...
Most likely, Isay was just being guarded. Though he has worked for Michael Bloomberg, Christine Quinn, Bruce Ratner, Scott Stringer, Joe Lieberman, Charlie Crist, Caroline Kennedy, the New York Stock Exchange and Benjamin Netanyahu—or maybe because he already moves in such powerful circles.In 2006, the firm hired Stefan Friedman, a former New York Post reporter and the son of former HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman. Since then, the firm’s corporate clientele has come to comprise between 30 and 40 percent of SKD Knickerbocker's business. In 2007, Isay brought on Jennifer Cunningham, a powerful union lobbyist who is the ex-wife of Attorney General Schneiderman and a close confidant of Governor Cuomo.
“This is the only place I considered,” said Cunningham, who was previously executive vice president of the most politically powerful union in New York, 1199 SEIU.
From 1994 to 1996, following a stint working in the public advocate's race for Mark Green, Isay joined then-congressman Chuck Schumer's office as press secretary. Then, in 1996, Isay went to Robert Toricelli’s campaign for U.S. Senate, working under Robert Shrum.
The following year, Isay had his first experience with client-list awkwardness, signing on as a spokesman for Schumer in his underdog campaign to unseat D’Amato. One of Schumer's primary opponents was Isay's former boss, Mark Green. Hank Morris, then considered something of a behind-the-scenes guru of New York political consultancy—a spot Isay seems to be growing into now—led Schumer’s political strategy. In 2002, Isay told The New York Observer, “Hank is my mentor and one of my closest friends, and will remain so," he said. "I consider him the smartest person in New York politics and maybe anywhere." By 2000, Isay’s star had risen so rapidly that he turned down offers from both Al Gore and Hillary Clinton to instead become a lobbyist for DoubleClick. But soon the dot-com bubble collapsed and Isay returned to politics, joining Hank Morris’ firm, Morris, Carrick & Guma. Isay worked as a spokesman for Hevesi, who was running for mayor in the 2001 Democratic primary against Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer and Mark Green. Following Hevesi’s loss, Isay set out on his own, joining forces with Dan Klores and Jonathan Prince to form Isay, Klores, Prince. Their first client was Andrew Cuomo, who was making his disastrous first attempt for the governorship, running in the primary against Carl McCall. It was an ugly race on many levels, including in the papers. Following Cuomo’s defeat, Isay’s firm disbanded, and he founded a new company called Knickerbocker Partners with a young prodigy named Micah Lasher, then a 20-year-old NYU student who worked against Isay's candidate, for Mark Green, in the 2001 mayoral campaign. Isay began building his firm in earnest. In 2005, Knickerbocker Partners merged with Squier Knapp Dunn in D.C., a group headed by three powerful political operators, including former White House communications director Anita Dunn. The same year, Isay scored Bloomberg as a client, in addition to Morgenthau and Stringer. In mid-2006, he joined other Bloomberg operatives to help embattled senator Joe Lieberman beat back Democratic nominee Ned Lamont in the Connecticut general election. in the 2009 election, Bloomberg's campaign paid Squier Knapp Dunn $61.4 million for mailings, TV ads and consulting. Assuming the standard 10 to 15 percent cut of a media buy applied here—and assuming every bit of the rest of that money actually went out the door in the form of salary and expenses, which it almost certainly didn't—SKD would have taken in well upward of $6 million.
The Growing, Corruptive Role of Money and Lobbyists In NYC ...
Schools fight dominates record spending on lobbying | The New York world
Lobbyists cash in on racinos' big bet | New York Post
Bradley Tusk - Newsle
StudentsFirst spent about $638,000 on Change.org petitions and paid $302,000 to lobbyist Bradley Tusk and $2 million to the public relations firm SKD ...
Andrew Cuomo Goes to Albany, Where Lobbyists Are Waiting(Village Voice)
Yankee Lobbyists on Taxpayers' Tab - Page 1 ... - Village Voice
Lobbying Albany: A Recession-Proof Industry - Village Voice(2008)
Village Voice Reporter Wayne Barrett on The Heavyweight Lobbyist James Featherstonhaugh, Known As "Feathers"
Lobbying City Hall is a significant business for Ms. Giske’s firm, Bolton-St. Johns. In recent years, the company has reported earnings of $2 million to $3 million annually while lobbying the city government, billing its clients nearly $15 million in the six years since Ms. Quinn was elected speaker. * Between Christine Quinn and Hilary Rosen, an unusually loud week for quiet SKD Knickerbocker(Capital)
What the Public Thinks Of Queens Machine Boss Nussbaum and His Honor Roll Buddies
Corrupt Campaign Lobbyist Consultants Does Not Stop At Meng's Door. . . The Anti Democracy Cancer Have Overtaken the Rory Lancman Campaign 2
The Teflon Media Darling Sheinkopf Game the System and Everyone
The Ever Loyal Sheinkopf Worked For Thompson For Years Before Bloomberg Picked him Off $$$ Right Before the 2009 Campaign
What the Public Thinks Of Queens Machine Boss Nussbaum and His Honor Roll Buddies
Public Comment #1
" NUSSBAUM...should have gone to jail back in the Manes days when he was caught red handed in ...wasn't it a Time Warner bribery scandal? And this is the man who is "representing" the RKO Keith's owner de jour...Patrick Thompson. . . Throw ALL THE BASTARDS out!!!
Public Comment #2
When are the feds going to do a full job of cleaning out the stable...of all those old shit piles left in the corners...from Donald Manes' crooked regime? Nussbaum should be the first to be swept out. But I wouldn't dare use that piece of manure to fertilize my tomato patch.
Public Comment #3
Political manipulation and Oriental "massage" parlor advertising.... anything that the "Queens Tribune/Multi Media" can make a buck off of.....eh "Nussie"?
Public Comment #4
I am shocked ... shocked ... to find campaigns using political dirty tricks during an election. And if Lancman had hired Nussbaum first, that campaign would have dug up a straw Asian candidate to siphon votes away from Meng.
... I’ve rarely worked with an effective political pro as Tyquana Henderson of Connective Strategies"- George Arzt, President of George Arzt Communications, Inc.
Corrupt Campaign Lobbyist Consultants Does Not Stop At Meng's Door. . . The Anti Democracy Cancer Have Overtaken the Rory Lancman Campaign 2
The Teflon Media Darling Sheinkopf Game the System and Everyone
Yesterday Lancman's Campaign Strategy was to Go Silent on the Ticket Splitting Issue. His Consultant Sheinkopf Has Experience of Losing and Yes Going Silent . . .
The NYP Fails to say that the lobbyist political consultant Sheinkopf took the 5th when asked questions by the NY former state Inspector General Joseph Fisch about the AEG scandal which is being investigated by the feds as part of the AEG investigation. The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election (the cesspool of political corruption) contract for new machines that Sheinkopf was a lobbyist for. Feds investigate switch by Board of Elections ... - New York Post
From the Village Voice (Barrett, 11/10/2010)
"Sheinkopf copped a memo, too, obtaining it from an aide to the top Senate staffer, Angelo Aponte, who Sheinkopf personally installed in the key spot. He had the power to do that because the skillful Sheinkopf doubles as a lobbyist and as a political consultant, and had advised Senate Democrats in the elections that led to the 2008 majority, helping to make Malcolm Smith majority leader. Sheinkopf collected $356,741 in consulting fees from the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee at the same time that he was representing AEG and its precursor with Senate Democrats. Having worked for Bill Thompson and Mike Bloomberg most recently, Sheinkopf makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings he’s made."
While He Worked for Thompson His Partner Norman Levy Did Well With the Pension Funds
"Norman Levy “received a half-million dollars” in 2006 payments from Bill Howell, a major pension fund placement agent, and “appeared sometimes to be Howell’s partner” in controversial deals with the fund, according to a source familiar with the transactions. Investigators concluded that they were splitting fees, and not disclosing it. The payments to Levy - whose conviction for running a parking-ticket-fixing-scam decades ago was also overturned on appeal - were allegedly tied to his introduction of Howell to a principal of Global Strategies, a consulting firm whose client, Intermedia, was seeking millions in city and state pension fund investments. Howell made the placements and shared the fees with Levy, who appeared to be listed as an employee of one Howell entity. Sheinkopf received payments from Levy shortly after Levy was paid by Howell." (Voice) * Matt Silverstein Had Other Political Plans Besides Running For Congress (C&S) * Dirty tricks trump democracy(Queens Chronicle ) * Jeff Klein held a rather timely presser on increasing penalties for robbing pharmacies.
A Son's Heartfelt Campaign - NYTimes.com
UFT Fights Back Hires New Progressive Machine for $2.5 Million
The United Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers unions gave a collective $2.5 million to education groups that have attacked Cuomo’s support for charter schools and opposition to tax hikes, the Post writes: The rebranded ACORN — New York Communities for Change — received a total of $1.3 million from the United Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers from 2010 to 2013. The unions also pumped $1.2 million into a group called Alliance for Quality Education. Both issued statements accusing the governor of “pay-to-play politics” for backing charter schools because of campaign contributions he received from charter-supporting “Wall Street billionaires.” They also supported tax hikes on the rich opposed by Cuomo. Cuomo blamed the attacks on “a big bureaucracy with a system that is entrenched.”* DN Education Tax Credits * The Daily News writes that the education tax credit being proposed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan—among others—is a promising way to boost charitable giving to public and private schools: * Leaders rush on Common Core adjustments, not teacher evaluations(Capital)
The UFT Advance Connection * 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."Teachers union paid $370K to fake consultant
More on the WFP, Acorn 2.0 and the New Progressive Machine
More on the Advance Group
de Blasio Flip Flops on A Restaurant Ploy?
Giving Restaurants Something Back After Sick Pay Law Passes
City to revamp Bloomberg’s restaurant grades(Capital) City Hall and Council to make system less punitive* New York City reportedly plans to revamp its restaurant grading system to ease fines on business owners who have long lamented the penalty structure.* De Blasio has ‘change of heart’ on health fines(Capital)Mayor Bill de Blasio, who last year accused Christine Quinn of a "cynical ploy" to lower restaurant fines, embraced those same changes after they were announced on Friday.
City to revamp restaurant grades(Capital) De Blasio and Council promise to make a Bloomberg system less punitive* In Reprieve for Restaurant Industry, City Is Proposing Changes to Grading System(NYT) * New restaurant grade guidelines to ease penalties(NYP) * In Reprieve for Restaurant Industry, New York Proposes Changes to Grading System(NYT) Officials proposed tweaks to the current rating system so that restaurants would have more chances to appeal — and in some cases, avoid — financial penalties for many violations.* New Rules Aim to Reduce Restaurant Fines(WSJ) * City will dish out lower fines for sanitary violations, keeping the letter-grade systems for restaurants(NYDN) * The Post writes that Mayor Bill de Blasio has taken a step in the right direction by overhauling New York City’s restaurant inspection rules:
Lobbyist JOSHUA GOLD Hotel, Restaurant & Club Employees & Bartenders Union Local 6 * UPKNYC is run, in part, by the mayor's former campaign aides. Its lobbyist works for the city's massive hotel workers' union, JOSHUA GOLD and his contract allows him to work for both groups at the same time * NYC.Hospitality Alliance Yoswein New York
UFT Fights Back Hires New Progressive Machine for $2.5 Million
The United Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers unions gave a collective $2.5 million to education groups that have attacked Cuomo’s support for charter schools and opposition to tax hikes, the Post writes: The rebranded ACORN — New York Communities for Change — received a total of $1.3 million from the United Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers from 2010 to 2013. The unions also pumped $1.2 million into a group called Alliance for Quality Education. Both issued statements accusing the governor of “pay-to-play politics” for backing charter schools because of campaign contributions he received from charter-supporting “Wall Street billionaires.” They also supported tax hikes on the rich opposed by Cuomo. Cuomo blamed the attacks on “a big bureaucracy with a system that is entrenched.”* DN Education Tax Credits * The Daily News writes that the education tax credit being proposed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan—among others—is a promising way to boost charitable giving to public and private schools: * Leaders rush on Common Core adjustments, not teacher evaluations(Capital)
The UFT Advance Connection * 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."Teachers union paid $370K to fake consultant
More on the WFP, Acorn 2.0 and the New Progressive Machine
More on the Advance Group
City Hall's new 'in' crowd of lobbyists | Crain's New York ...
de Blasio Flip Flops on A Restaurant Ploy?
Giving Restaurants Something Back After Sick Pay Law Passes
Lobbyist JOSHUA GOLD Hotel, Restaurant & Club Employees & Bartenders Union Local 6 * UPKNYC is run, in part, by the mayor's former campaign aides. Its lobbyist works for the city's massive hotel workers' union, JOSHUA GOLD and his contract allows him to work for both groups at the same time * NYC.Hospitality Alliance Yoswein New York
A Takeover Of Journalism by Lobbyist and Politicians
Pay to Play Yankee Stadium
Yankees Giveth Money, Get A Stadium(YNN) • The Yankees contributed $50,000 to the Bronx Democratic County Commit¬tee from 2005 to 2010. • Top Yankee officials contributed a total of $25,600 to the campaigns of city and state politicians key to the stadium’s development. They made these gifts from 2003 to 2006. • Assembly Member Jose Rivera, former head of the Bronx Democratic County Committee, and his children received $8,850 in campaign contributions from the Yankees between 2006 and 2008. • Republican Senator Joseph Bruno, then majority leader, received $18,000 from the Yankees between 2006 and 2008. • The Yankees paid more than $300,000 in the first quarter of 2006 to the Mirram Group, a firm run by Roberto Ramirez, a former Bronx As¬sembly member and chair of the Bronx Democratic Party who had long-term relationships with Bronx elected officials. This was the single largest lobbying fee registered in the city in 2006.
Lobbyist Is Expected to Plead Guilty in Corruption Case
www.nytimes.com/.../guilty-plea-by-richard-lipsky...
Jan 3, 2012 - Richard J. Lipsky, a prominent New York lobbyist who was charged in the bribery conspiracy case that also ensnared State Senator Carl ...
The New York Times
The field of consultants to go with the field of 2013 mayoral contenders
Yesterday, it was reported that two of Anthony Weiner's longtime consultants were hired by Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president who is running for mayor.
Stringer used to have as a consultant Josh Isay, who currently works for Christine Quinn, the establishment candidate in the current 2013 field.
Consultants are only part of the picture when it comes to the candidates' campaign organizations, and in many cases they're the focus of outsize attention from the media relative to their in-house counterparts—the staffers, interns, trackers, etc.
That said, here's an informal and not-comprehensive roundup of the mayoral candidates and some of their consultants. In some cases, I have included consultants who aren't formally contracted with the candidates, but are likely to be if and when the campaigns they're attached to are formally launched. Please let me know who else should be in here.
Christine Quinn:
Josh Isay is a former Schumer aide who founded Knickerbocker SKD along with Micah Lasher. Isay did print and radio ads for Obama's 2008 campaign and was a consultant on Michael Bloomberg's 2005 and 2009 races.
Jennifer Cunningham, a managing partner at Knickerbocker SKD, was a top adviser to Andrew Cuomo during his 2006 attorney general's race and was executive vice president of 1199 SEIU, a political powerhouse in New York.
Joel Benenson was the lead pollster for Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 and recently signed up with Quinn. He worked with Anthony Weiner in 2005 and 2009 (when he "was deeply involved in Mr. Weiner's decision not to challenge Mr. Bloomberg.") He also did a poll back in 2003 that gave Democrats hope they could defeat Bloomberg in 2005.
Scott Stringer:
Jim Margolis and Anson Kaye both worked on Weiner's 2005 and 2009 campaigns. They helped position Weiner as a scrappy outer-borough outsider and, later, as an outspoken progressive on national issues.
Bill Thompson:
Bedford Grove LLC is the consulting firm sending out Thompson's public schedule and statements. It's home to former public advocate Betsy Gotbaum and her former aide, Ian MacDonald. Others members of the firm, Michael Giaccio, Kristie Stiles, worked on Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson's statewide campaigns. Another member of the shop, Marius Muresano, was once Spitzer's photographer.
Bill de Blasio:
Berlin Rosen, the media consulting firm specializing in progressive Democratic causes, received one payment of $5,000 from the campaign, and were listed as "campaign Consuls. communications."
Tom Allon:
Cindy Darrison briefly helped the local-newspaper publisher raise money for his first campaign, but isn't personally helping anymore. Darrison has in the past raised money for Andrew Cuomo, Eliot Spitzer, Bill de Blasio (when he ran for public advocate) and Bill Thompson (when he ran for mayor in 2005).
Campaignology is working on Allon's website.
John Liu:
George Arzt, the veteran communications consultant who worked on the 2009 city comptroller campaign, is acting as a campaign spokesman, as Liu faces questions about his past and present fund-raising practices.
Chung Seto is a close aide to Liu who helped run his 2009 comptroller race, and was a former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party. She currently helps Liu with his campaign and political activities.
Jimmy Siegel is an experienced consultant who cut television ads for Eliot Spitzer's 2006 gubernatorial race, Hillary Clinton's presidential race and Liu's 2009 race. His specialty is making biopic spots that tell a story about a person's character. I once asked him if he could do an ad for the embattled Anthony Weiner. He's not currently doing anything for Liu, but probably will if Liu still follows through with a run for mayor.
Stringer used to have as a consultant Josh Isay, who currently works for Christine Quinn, the establishment candidate in the current 2013 field.
Consultants are only part of the picture when it comes to the candidates' campaign organizations, and in many cases they're the focus of outsize attention from the media relative to their in-house counterparts—the staffers, interns, trackers, etc.
That said, here's an informal and not-comprehensive roundup of the mayoral candidates and some of their consultants. In some cases, I have included consultants who aren't formally contracted with the candidates, but are likely to be if and when the campaigns they're attached to are formally launched. Please let me know who else should be in here.
Christine Quinn:
Josh Isay is a former Schumer aide who founded Knickerbocker SKD along with Micah Lasher. Isay did print and radio ads for Obama's 2008 campaign and was a consultant on Michael Bloomberg's 2005 and 2009 races.
Jennifer Cunningham, a managing partner at Knickerbocker SKD, was a top adviser to Andrew Cuomo during his 2006 attorney general's race and was executive vice president of 1199 SEIU, a political powerhouse in New York.
Joel Benenson was the lead pollster for Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 and recently signed up with Quinn. He worked with Anthony Weiner in 2005 and 2009 (when he "was deeply involved in Mr. Weiner's decision not to challenge Mr. Bloomberg.") He also did a poll back in 2003 that gave Democrats hope they could defeat Bloomberg in 2005.
Scott Stringer:
Jim Margolis and Anson Kaye both worked on Weiner's 2005 and 2009 campaigns. They helped position Weiner as a scrappy outer-borough outsider and, later, as an outspoken progressive on national issues.
Bill Thompson:
Bedford Grove LLC is the consulting firm sending out Thompson's public schedule and statements. It's home to former public advocate Betsy Gotbaum and her former aide, Ian MacDonald. Others members of the firm, Michael Giaccio, Kristie Stiles, worked on Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson's statewide campaigns. Another member of the shop, Marius Muresano, was once Spitzer's photographer.
Bill de Blasio:
Berlin Rosen, the media consulting firm specializing in progressive Democratic causes, received one payment of $5,000 from the campaign, and were listed as "campaign Consuls. communications."
Tom Allon:
Cindy Darrison briefly helped the local-newspaper publisher raise money for his first campaign, but isn't personally helping anymore. Darrison has in the past raised money for Andrew Cuomo, Eliot Spitzer, Bill de Blasio (when he ran for public advocate) and Bill Thompson (when he ran for mayor in 2005).
Campaignology is working on Allon's website.
John Liu:
George Arzt, the veteran communications consultant who worked on the 2009 city comptroller campaign, is acting as a campaign spokesman, as Liu faces questions about his past and present fund-raising practices.
Chung Seto is a close aide to Liu who helped run his 2009 comptroller race, and was a former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party. She currently helps Liu with his campaign and political activities.
Jimmy Siegel is an experienced consultant who cut television ads for Eliot Spitzer's 2006 gubernatorial race, Hillary Clinton's presidential race and Liu's 2009 race. His specialty is making biopic spots that tell a story about a person's character. I once asked him if he could do an ad for the embattled Anthony Weiner. He's not currently doing anything for Liu, but probably will if Liu still follows through with a run for mayor.
A state assembly candidate’s ‘ragged’ efforts for ‘hope and change’(NYP) Michael Blake’s run for a corruption-plagued South Bronx seat in the state Assembly may be turning out to be “historic” for the wrong reasons.A former top operative for Barack Obama going back to the 2008 Democratic primaries, Blake is running for the seat that Eric Stevenson vacated after being convicted of bribery in January.
Jenkins Who Started His Lobbying Career at the Firm Kasirer Consulting is the Bronx Bosses Enforcer?
Bronx Democratic bosses learned that he had assembled a slate of community leaders to challenge their district leaders and state committee members. He quickly got a disapproving call from party adviser Patrick Jenkins. Blake says Jenkins told him that running for the Assembly was one thing, but running an opposing slate was a declaration of war. Blake said he was shocked at the audacity of the Jenkins upbraiding. But shock soon turned into compliance, as the Blake campaign severed ties with his reform slate and filed nominating petitions for his candidacy alone.
Jenkins Lobbying Clients Families for Excellent Schools - Advocacy, Inc., Bank Street College of Education, EZ Festivals, LLC, New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Inc., Midtown Trackage Ventures LLC,
Kasirer Consulting is the Highest Paid City Lobbyists
Not surprisingly, meanwhile, this year's highest-paid firm was Kasirer Consulting, the firm founded by Suri Kasirer. Her firm raked in about $6 million—about a tenth of all of the city lobbying dollars spent in 2012. The firm also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor.
The top ten lobbyists by compensation were: Kasirer Consulting ($6,059,486), James F. Capalino & Associates ($3,317,406), Constantinople & Vallone Consulting ($2,507,500), Bolton-St. Johns ($ 2,390,266), Greenberg Traurig ($2,334,294), Manatt, Phelps & Phillips ($2,067,481) Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson ($1,971,509), Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel ($1,889,915), Parkside Group ($1,729,036), and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron ($1,629,390).
Forest City's 2013 Spending, by Lobbying Firm
- Kasirer Consulting LLC $160,000 lobby target: Office of the Mayor
- Geto & de Milly Inc. $46,000 lobby target: Community Boards
- Park Strategies, $40,000 lobby target: City Council
- LoCicero & Tan, $32,000 lobby target: "Attaches of the Council"
- Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP $9,000 lobby target: City Council
Other Lobbyists Clients of Kasirer
Lobbyist Kasirer Consulting Made Money on the Broken 911 System
Both Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hewlett-Packard which was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors was George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists More on Russo's Death and Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists
Host of de Blasio's One NY Slush Fund Fund Raiser is A Lobbyists for A Queens Developer Whose Project Will Destroy de Blasio Afforable Housing Goals
Davidoff and Malito Represents 2030 Astoria Developers Who Want to Build Astoria Cove Waterfront Development Which Will Raise Rents In Queens
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing ambitions are being tested by the Astoria Cove project, a 2.2-million-square-foot development on the Queens waterfront that is raising fears of skyrocketing rents, The Wall Street Journal writes:
Monday the NYT Was Wrong When They Said Lobbyists Davidoff Was Adopt de Blasio's Agenda
From the NYT Lobbying Group Adopts de Blasio’s Agenda(NYT)
The One New York event was hosted by the lobbying firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. Sid Davidoff, one of the firm’s partners — who was married at City Hall earlier this year in a ceremony officiated by the mayor* The One New York event was hosted by the lobbying firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. Sid Davidoff, one of the firm’s partners — who was married at City Hall earlier this year in a ceremony officiated by the mayor
de Blasio's One New York Lobbyist Works to Bring Brooklyn Gentrification and Rising Rents to Queens
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
This is What the Activists Are Upset About?
Lobbying Group Adopts de Blasio’s Agenda(NYT) Campaign for One New York began advocating universal prekindergarten, but it has moved on to other issues dear to Mayor Bill de Blasio. de Blasio has had his hands full in his first six months in office, with labor contracts, budgets and day-to-day crises to negotiate. But he made time last month to headline a fund-raiser for a new lobbying group: one seeking to promote his political agenda.
Mr. de Blasio, who has called himself a strong proponent of transparency, did not disclose the event on his schedule, and has not mentioned it since. But one New York City vendor subsequently posted a picture of himself on his company’s website talking with the mayor at the chummy event, which was sponsored by one of the city’s biggest lobbying firms and held at the Friars Club in Manhattan Asked about the photo, the vendor declined to discuss it with a reporter; it was taken off the website. But the mayor’s appearance at the June 10 fund-raiser provides a rare glimpse at Mr. de Blasio’s political operation as it continues to take shape outside the confines of City Hall. Created by his campaign strategists to promote his plans for universal prekindergarten, the lobbying entity, initially called UPKNYC but renamed the Campaign for One New York, has begun branching out to advocate other aspects of the mayor’s agenda. Campaign for One New York, a lobbying group that can accept contributions of unlimited size and has to disclose only large ones, has taken up de Blasio’s political agenda
Who is Funding the One New York PAC
Wendy Neu Who Funded NYCLASS Also Funding One NY
The group, which is called Campaign for One New York, was previously known as UPKNYC. It raised nearly $1.8 million, much of it from labor unions, including the American Federation of Teachers; 1199 S.E.I.U., the health care workers’ union; and Unite Here, the hotel workers’ union formerly headed by a cousin of Mr. de Blasio. The Rockefeller Family Fund, which publicly supported Mr. de Blasio’s prekindergarten plan, contributed $250,000. Among them were several real estate developers, including JSR Capital ($50,000), the Toll Brothers ($25,000), Argent Ventures ($10,000) and Donald Capoccia (10,000). Several taxi companies; a lawyer and former taxi commissioner, Matthew Daus; and Frias Transportation Infrastructure, a company that has developed technology to record taxis’ trips, also contributed. Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, gave $50,000; Alexander Levin, a real estate developer, contributed $20,000; and Wendy Neu, the chief executive of an electronics recycling firm who last year supported a political action committee devoted to defeating Christine C. Quinn in the mayoral race, contributed $25,000.* Mayor de Blasio's pre-k lobbying group took in $800K fromunions including #AFT, $1.76m total(WNYC)* Unions raised $1.7M for mayoral non-profit group(NYP)* An total $625,000 was donated by three union groups: SEIU Local 1199, the giant healthcare union that was first to back de Blasio’s 2013 campaign; Unite Here, formerly headed by de Blasio’s cousin John Wilhem; and New York Progress PAC, which spent $1 million fighting Joe Lhota in last year’s general election. “To have a newly elected mayor start a nonprofit organization to support his big initiative — and then go calling for dollars from those who are involved in the city’s business — is unseemly,” said Dick Dadey, director of the good government group Citizens Union.* De Blasio’s union rally at public school broke rules, critics say(NYP)* Before @UFT contract, teachers gave to Mayor @BilldeBlasiocharity(CrainsNY)* * The same day in April that a nonprofit lobbying group closely tied to de Blasio received a $350,000 donation from the American Federation of Teachers, the nonprofit group spent exactly $350,000 to continue running campaign-style television ads touting the mayor's accomplishments, Crain’s reports:
The NYT Left Out Two Other Attempts to Game the CFB NYCLASS and Data and Field
Host of de Blasio's One NY Slush Fund Fund Raiser is A Lobbyists for A Queens Developer Whose Project Will Destroy de Blasio Afforable Housing Goals
Davidoff and Malito Represents 2030 Astoria Developers Who Want to Build Astoria Cove Waterfront Development Which Will Raise Rents In Queens
Monday the NYT Was Wrong When They Said Lobbyists Davidoff Was Adopt de Blasio's Agenda
From the NYT Lobbying Group Adopts de Blasio’s Agenda(NYT)
The One New York event was hosted by the lobbying firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. Sid Davidoff, one of the firm’s partners — who was married at City Hall earlier this year in a ceremony officiated by the mayor* The One New York event was hosted by the lobbying firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. Sid Davidoff, one of the firm’s partners — who was married at City Hall earlier this year in a ceremony officiated by the mayor
Mayor de Blasio says donors to his lobbying group expect nothing in return(NYDN)
de Blasio's One New York Lobbyist Works to Bring Brooklyn Gentrification and Rising Rents to Queens
Who is Funding the One New York PAC
Wendy Neu Who Funded NYCLASS Also Funding One NY
The NYT Left Out Two Other Attempts to Game the CFB NYCLASS and Data and Field
“It makes it seem as if public policy and the people’s business is up for sale to the largest bidder,” Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a government watchdog group. “This is getting around New York City’s campaign finance system in an unseemly way,” she added.
Notice What the NYT Left Out
1. Jonathan Rosen Who Runs UPKNYC is Not A Registered Lobbyists
2. Johnathan Rosen was Representing the Developer in the Dominos Sugar Deal With the City
3. Johnathan Rosen in 2009 Worked for All the Candidates That Got Help from Data & Field
On Tuesday, the Campaign for One New York will file a list of contributors with the state. Lobbyists are required to disclose only donations exceeding $5,000, but a spokesman for the group, Jonathan Rosen, said in a statement that it would disclose “all of our fund-raising and spending, beyond what the law requires.” Mr. Parikh said in the post on his company’s website that the event was hosted by the lobbying firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. Sid Davidoff, one of the firm’s partners — who was married at City Hall earlier this year in a ceremony officiated by the mayor — referred questions about the event to Dan Levitan, who works for Mr. Rose
The City Council’s gift to thugs and terrorists(NYP) The City Council passed two bills last week to ensure that New York remains a sanctuary for illegal aliens — even if they’re violent, convicted felons, known gang members or on the terrorist watch list. Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito has spent years chipping away at the ability of the federal government to detain and deport illegals who wind up at Rikers Island Queens(NYDN)
Speaker Heastie Lobbyists Pals MirRam Groups Pushes Predatory Lending Targeted to Minorities
Top Lobbyists Caught In the Middle Of A Terror Fight Between Mark-Viverito Vs PBA
Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin Has Hit the Jack Pot With Over A 100 New Lobbying Clients Since She Took the Speakers Office .One Wonders How the lobbying Firm Explains the Speakers Views to Their PBA Client.
Speaker Heastie Lobbyists Pals MirRam Groups Pushes Predatory Lending Targeted to Minorities
Industry group cashes in with Heastie lobbyist(CrainsNY)New York , an industry group, for $10,000 a month to push check cashers' bill in Albany . Mr. Heastie, D-Bronx, then became speaker—a development that clients of MirRam may see as a stroke of luck. MirRam co-founder Roberto Ramirez, a former assemblyman and Bronx Democratic leader, is reportedlyhelping Mr. Heastie with his transition. Mr. Heastie had in 2013 sponsored the check cashers' legislation, which the Daily News called "horrendeous" and which was also opposed by Benjamin Lawsky, the Cuomo administration's chief banking regulator. MirRam is particularly influential among minority elected officials in Manhattan and the Bronx . Mr. Lawsky, who heads the Department of Financial Services, has said the check cashers' bill would legalize predatory lending, which he is trying to eradicate.* NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito's "HonestGraft"? (BoricuaVision.com)* Will Carl Heastie Be His Own Man or a SheldonSilver Clone? (NYO)
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a swaggering press conference at his offices in Manhattan slammed Silver with a five-count complaint that portrayed the Democratic lawmaker as greedy and secretive
Federal charges appear to cite state's top political donorThe 100-year-old Litwin spent the most money on political donations during that time, as The Real Deal reported. Crain’s also made a connection between Litwin and the $900,000 Developer 1 paid to eight lobbying firms. The complaint also calls out another developer,* An unnamed firm described in the federal charges against Silver appears to be Glenwood Management, a Manhattan apartment developer owned by Leonard Litwin—the state’s largest political donor in the past decade,Crain’s reports:
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“Developer 2,” though this developer’s identity was not immediately clear. Together, 19 buildings owned by the two developers brought in more than 31 percent of Goldberg & Iryami’s revenue in 2011, according to the complaint. - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/01/22/mystery-developer-1-in-silver-case-said-to-be-glenwoods-leonard-litwin/#sthash.abfhWLM3.dpuf * Skelos Won’t Weigh In On Whether Silver Should Resign(YNN) * Silver Charged On Five Counts(YNN) * Aubry: Conference Remains ‘Supportive’ Of Silver(YNN) * Successors Few And Far Between For Silver(YNN) * Silver Turns Himself In(YNN) * De Blasio: Sheldon Silver is a ‘man of integrity’(NYP)* * Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was arrested on federal corruption charges and accused of using his power to secure millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks for over a decade, The New York Times reports:
Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Lobbyists for Litwin "Develper 1" in the Silver Indictment
de Blasio Harder Albany Times The fallout of the Sheldon Silver arrest: a rougher time in Albany for @billdeblasio * * Silver’s arrest could potentially cause a seismic shift in power with reverberations felt from the speaker’s home district on the Lower East Side to the grounds of the State Capitol, the Times reports: * Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty may disband, hand offservices to other groups: sources (NYDN)
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
NYP Waits Almost 1 Year After True News Reported On Pitta Bishop Control of the Speaker and Ties to the Union
Lobbying firm makes millions on political, union ties(NYP) Staten Island firm into one of the city’s most powerful political forces. In 2012, Pitta Bishop wasn’t in the Top 10 of city lobbying firms. This year, with 90 clients, it’s No. 4. In just a year and a half, Pitta Bishop has lobbied for or against 40 bills in the council, plus assorted other state measures, budget proposals and as-yet unintroduced legislation. Its success rate is impressive. Of the 28 bills it favored, 12 passed and the other 16 are still before council committees. Some of Pitta’s successes include *True News Wags the NYP on Shadow Govt Lobbyists Pitta Biship Control of the Council Speaker and the Detectives Union
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To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Council speaker puts connected lobbyist on payroll(CrainsNY) Melissa Mark-Viverito quietly handed a $130,000-a-year staff position to a lobbyist from the firm that helped propel her to the City Council speakership, payroll records show. In late March, Carlos Beato, who was a lobbyist at the firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, joined the City Council payroll as a deputy general counsel. The move came not long after the lobbying shop—which has long served as Ms. Mark-Viverito’s campaign compliance consultant—quarterbacked her council speaker bid. The firm’s Jon Del Giorno set up an “appointments committee” for Ms. Mark-Viverito to vet applicants for the council staff. The firm lobbied Ms. Mark-Viverito as her speaker bid was ongoing, and has continued to do so since her ascension to the city's second-most powerful post. The close ties have drawn scrutiny and a call from the Daily News for Ms. Mark-Viverito to sever ties with the firm and its clients. In an unprecedented and clever move, the Pitta Bishop set up a 2017 campaign accountto facilitate Ms. Mark-Viverito’s speaker run. That allowed her to raise $100,000, with more than $20,000 coming from the lobbying firm’s clients. The good-government group Common Cause accused Ms. Mark-Viverito of exploiting loopholes in state election law. Pitta Bishop's clients also reportedly funded much of her $27,000 inauguration party. * NY lobbying grows another 4%, spent $109 M in first sixmonths of this year; now 32 lobbyists for every legislator
Who Are the Lobbyists Pitta Bishop and How Do They Control the Council
The unions — the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, the Detectives Endowment Association, the NYC Coalition of Operating Engineers, the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, plus local arms of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Teamsters Local 237, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Municipal Hospital Employees Union — paid a collective $218,000 to Pitta Bishop in the first four months of 2015. Pitta Bishop was founded in 2008 by four connected buddies who have known each other since the early 1980s: Vincent Pitta, a labor lawyer from Staten Island; Robert Bishop, a Republican from Queens who now runs the company’s Albany office; Jon Del Giorno, a Democratic Party bigwig and former Board of Elections official who once ran for the council; and Vincent Giblin, a former assistant US attorney in New Jersey whose father was the national president of the International Union of Operating Engineers. A few key hires in recent years — former Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano and former Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, came on board as senior managing directors in 2014 — helped cement its ties to City Hall.
How Does the Speaker Within Months Lead A Protests Against the NYPD and Ask for 1000 More Cops?
What Pitta Bishop Did for the TWU A $42 million deal for school-bus drivers, Mayor de Blasio’s reward to the transport unions after the previous administration opened up city contracts to non-union drivers. To help push the deal, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 paid Pitta Bishop $36,000 in 2014, keeping the firm on a monthly retainer of $3,000, which rolled over into 2015, while the Transport Workers Union paid $17,500 to Pitta Bishop to lobby.* In another TWU proposal — “Intro 663,” sponsored by Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D-Queens) and 24 co-sponsors — the TWU paid Pitta Bishop to push for a law letting MTA bus drivers off the hook if they maim a pedestrian. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Transportation. What Pitta Bishop Did for the Hotel Unions Two hotel-workers unions paid a combined $81,000 to push for a bill that restricts the rights of hotel owners who seek to turn their rooms into condos, a jobs-saving move that one critic called “an unprecedented intrusion in the private market.” The council passed that bill on May 14.
CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping
How the Advance Group Conspired to Steal the 2009 and 2013 Election
Lobbyists Berlin Rosen Takes Over NYC Government
Berlin Rosen and de Blasio One NY PAC Slush Fund
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
The WFP and Berlin Rosen Has Played Fast and Lose With the Election Law, Data and Field Arrests
Did Speaker Mark-Viverito Break the Law By Taking Money From NYCLASS?
Mark-Viverito Like the Mayor Won't Comment On Her Lobbyist Political Consultant
And They Both Won't Hold Town Hall Meeting to Explain the Role Pitta Bishop and Berlin Rosen Play in Their Administrations
Mark-Viverito won’t discuss lobbyist connections (NYP) City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito dodged questions Sunday about her cozy relationship with a powerful lobbying firm, arguing she’s “doing everything by the rules.” Mark-Viverito refused to discuss her conversations with Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin — even though she paid the company $61,000 during her run for City Council speaker. “As you guys reported, we follow and we’re doing everything by the rules and legal. That’s the bottom line,” she told The Post. Since Mark-Viverito was elected to the top post a year and a half ago, Pitta Bishop has raked in more than $3.3 million to lobby council members. The firm successfully lobbied the council on 12 bills since she won the job.
NYP Waits Almost 1 Year After True News Reported On Pitta Bishop Control of the Speaker and Ties to the Union
The Permanent (Shadow) Government Created Lobbyists As A Way to Control Who Gets Elected and A Way to Get Government to Do What They Want and Stay As Victims
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As the city's political machines weakened the permanent government created lobbyists to remain in control of New York City
Today lobbyist political consultants and favored PR firms that pour money into campaigns form a powerful and growing shadow government in New York. Pols trying to cover that up. They cut government contracts for their clients without media or prosecutors attention who sent Tammany Boss de Sapio to jail for a pay to play government contract for Con Ed. The Old Tammany Hall Machine was corrupt, but the only function of the new lobbyists consultant created after the de Sapio era to pay to play government contracts. Today's lobbyist's controlled private machine gain power by getting electing candidates, feeding them with campaign contributions from their clients who are looking for city contracts or zoning changes, they never meet the voters. They move government without having to disclose their activities. They elect candidates who will be helpful to the clients they lobby for. Call them clever, call them stealthy. Most are not a registered lobbyist. Yet he regularly meets with government officials.
A Lobbyistsl Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's arrest aided by closefriend, Albany lobbyist(NYDN) Brian Meara has been cooperating as a 'fact witness' as part of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's investigation, sources told The News. The criminal complaint against Silver references an unnamed lobbyist who the sources say was Meara. According to the criminal complaint, the lobbyist represented a developer who was using a law firm that paid Silver for bringing in business. The developer, sources say, was politically connected Leonard Litwin, who Meara repped at the time.
From True News During the Past Year
Lobbyists Campaign Consultants Pitta Bishop Works Both for the I Can't Breathe and Pitta Bishop Which Represents the Detectives Endowment Assoc.
Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin is paid $40,000 a year to represent the PBA's Detectives' Endowment Association, Inc. After the split with the Advance Group, Ms. Mark-Viverito indeed made hefty payments to a number of other consultants (including lobbying and compliance firm Pitta Bishop) that aided her speaker bid. In a novel move, Pitta Bishop set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified city office, and Ms. Mark-Viverito raised more than $100,000, despite only needing the votes of 26 council colleagues to win the early 2014 leadership race. That led another good-government group, Common Cause/NY, to charge that she had exploited loopholes in state election law. Ms. Mark-Viverito's opponents in the speaker race did not similarly set up campaign funds to hire staff. But officials from Pitta Bishop say the move was fully vetted by the city Campaign Finance Board and state Board of Elections.Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin Has Hit the Jack Pot With Over A 100 New Lobbying Clients Since She Took the Speakers Office .One Wonders How the lobbying Firm Explains the Speakers Views to Their PBA Client.
What Does the Council Speaker Really Believe?
Council speaker puts connected lobbyist on payroll(CrainsNY) Melissa Mark-Viverito quietly handed a $130,000-a-year staff position to a lobbyist from the firm that helped propel her to the City Council speakership, payroll records show. In late March, Carlos Beato, who was a lobbyist at the firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, joined the City Council payroll as a deputy general counsel. The move came not long after the lobbying shop. * Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute writes in the Post that New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s push to decriminalize “nuisance” offenses would lead to an increase in more serious crimes:
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito got help landing job from top lobby firm that reps unions and real estate doperevels(NYDN) Documents released Wednesday show that the councilwoman set up a fundraising committee called Viverito NYC on Nov. 5 and designated Vito Pitta of the lobbying firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin as its "liaison." About one-fifth of the contributions, $21,400, came from Pitta's clients, mostly municipal unions who pay him to press their causes before city government. On the other side of the ledger, Mark-Viverito’s committee spent $80,000 on her campaign for speaker — including “consultant” fees of $17,000 to Pitta’s firm, according to the campaign finance documents released by the state Board of Elections.
What Does the Council Speaker Really Believe?
To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Since the 2013 elections Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin has picked up of 70 clients to lobby for. 51 clients to lobby the city council, 17 to lobby the office of the mayor
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.
In an unseemly but legal case of double-dealing, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin helped Melissa Mark-Viverito become New York City Council speaker and is now lobbying Council members to pass mostly pro-union legislation
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Pitta Bishop is A Lobbyist for A Nunber of LLCs Including Litwin's Glenwood management
Lobby for the City Council Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: MedReview, Inc., Meadows Office Supply Co., Inc., National Lighthouse Museum, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Inc., Knickerbocker Plaza LLC, Local 420 AFSCME AFL-CIO, Vera Institute of Justice, Inc., Hotel, Restaurant & Club Employees & Bartenders Union Local 6, New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council AFL-CIO, Detectives Endowment Association Police Department, City of New York Inc., Lakeside Manor Home For Adults Inc., Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc,, Grasmere and Cameron Lakes Bluebelt Conservancy, Inc., Plumbers and Gasfitters Local Union No. 1 of the United Association, New York State Conference of IUOE, Richmond Uni Home Care, Inc., Adco Electrical Corp, BIO-REFERENCE LABORATORIES, INC., New York Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Assoc. of NYC, Inc. Health Benefits Fund, LOCAL 372 NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION EMPLOYEES, UNITE HERE, MagnaCare Administrative Services, LLC, District Council No. 4, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO, A.T.U.-Division 1181-1061 AFL-CIO, OFFICE &PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION LOCAL 153, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades DC 9 , RICHMOND UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., International Union of Operating Engineers Local 14-14B, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, Glenwood Management Corp., LOCAL UNION NO. 94-94A-94B, I.U.O.E., AFL-CIO, NYSARC, INC., NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER, New York Black Operator's Injury Compensation Fund, Inc., UNIFORMED SANITATIONMEN'S ASS'N LOCAL 831 - I.B.T, Associated Brick Mason Contractors of Greater New York, Inc., East Side Alliance Against Overdevelopment, Inc., Urgent-MD Hewlett Management LLC , SOSH Architects, P.A.,, Lobby for the City Council and office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: New York Wheel LLC, WellPoint, Inc., Pier A Battery Park Associates, LLC, Garage Employees Local Union No. 272, Staten Island Marine Development, LLC, The Francis School, Chef's Choice Cash & Carry Food Distributor, Inc., THE WITKOFF GROUP LLC, Il Commandatore Restaurant Inc., RJ LEE GROUP, INC., Cameron Club of Staten island, Inc., Milrose Consultants, Inc., Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, Inc, UNIFORMED FIRE ALARM DISPATCHERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, INC. , Lobby for the office of the mayor Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin,: Gardeners/Growers/Landscapers Association of New York, Inc., Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, SOSH Architects, P.A.
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Puppet Council Speaker Controlled By New Private Tammany Hall Shadow Govt
Top Speaker Lobbyist Pitta Bishop Puts A Man Inside Her Office
Who Are the Lobbyists Pitta Bishop and How Do They Control the Council
How Does the Speaker Within Months Lead A Protests Against the NYPD and Ask for 1000 More Cops?
The Detectives Endowment Association paid Pitta Bishop $66,000 in 2014, pushing for legislation on undercover detectives and 1,000 new police officers. Mark-Viverito announced last month that she supported the 1,000-new-cops initiative, in opposition to the mayor.* The New York City Council, led by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, voted to create a new “Office of Civil Justice” to better connect plaintiffs in housing and immigration court with attorneys, the Observer writes: * NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito will march in Manhattan on Saturday to demand the liberation of Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican nationalist currently held in federal prison for conspiracy.
True News Has Reported That the Lobbyists Campaign Consultants Have Destroyed the Election Process
The Shadow Govt Controls By Controlling the Elections Process
Campaign Consultant Lobbyists Work to Elect Kings So They Can Feast Like Kings
In another bit of coziness, Pitta Bishop donates to friendly lawmakers’ campaigns. Though the lobbying firm can give no more than $400 per candidate, the two founders also run Pitta and Giblin LLP, an affiliated law firm that has no donation restrictions. In 2014, that firm gave out $71,700, including $37,000 to Gov. Cuomo’s re-election campaign. Individual donations also sidestep the lobbying firm’s limits. Vincent Pitta’s wife, Antoinette, donated $4,500 to de Blasio’s 2013 race, campaign-finance records reveal. While there are no direct donations to Mark-Viverito, more than 20 percent of the $100,000 raised for her speaker campaign came from Pitta Bishop’s clients, mainly unions, as did much of the cost of her $27,000 inauguration. Critics say that allowing lobbying firms to donate to politicians, be paid by politicians as consultants, and then lobby those same politicians is troubling.
Why Did the NYP Keep Out the Lobbyists Advance Group Illegally Working for Speaker Mark-Viverito?
Daily News Charges Against Mark-Viverto
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)
Mark-Viverito Drops Advance
Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid(NYO) Ms. Mark-Viverito insisted today that this was not the case but out of an “abundance of caution,” the relationship would end. Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid - Blogs(TU)
Politicker Reports Than Advance Group Was A Crucial Player In the Brooklyn Deal to Make Mark-Viverito Speaker
An operative with the controversial Advance Group, Jonathan Yedin, who has been working in Brooklyn Democratic Party politics for more than a decade and belongs to Mr. Seddio’s political club. Though Ms. Mark-Viverito eventually stopped taking free advice from the Advance Group, Mr. Yedin remained a crucial player in the brokering of the deal, sources said. Inside Melissa Mark-Viverito’s Road to Victory(NYO) * Melissa Mark-Viverito Lobbyist Firm Never Quit, Continued Lobbying Despite Investigations * 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.
How the Advance Group Conspired to Steal the 2009 and 2013 Election
Berlin Rosen Work to Make Mark-Viverito Speaker But Was Never Paid
NY1 in Its Report Said the Speaker Has Close Ties to Berlin Rosen, But There is No Record Of Her Paying Them Since 2009 Berlin Rosen Was In the Room When Brookyn Boss Seddio Made His Deal With the Mayor to Back Mark-Viverito. In 2009 Berlin Rosen Was A Consultant for Berlin Rosen
Berlin Rosen and de Blasio One NY PAC Slush Fund
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
The WFP and Berlin Rosen Has Played Fast and Lose With the Election Law, Data and Field Arrests
Did Speaker Mark-Viverito Break the Law By Taking Money From NYCLASS?
At the Same Time Advance's Levinson Was
Why Did the NYP Leave Out the Work the Lobbyists MirRam Did to Make Mark-Viverito Speaker?
Memo to NYP Political Director: David Seifman: MirRam Violated the City's Ethics Law
What the NYP left out was that MirRam that group that profited from the graft was illegally working on the the campaign to make Melissa Mark Viverito Speaker. The lines that the NYP did not copy from the CrainsNY piece was the most important to point out how MirRam acted illegally. CrainsNY - "Last November, during the heart of the City Council speaker race, an employee of the MirRam group fielded a press request from Crain's on Ms. Mark-Viverito's behalf for an article about her past refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. But on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for MirRam said any work done for Ms. Mark-Viverito was only related work for her 2013 City Council campaign, though it had ended weeks before the press request was fielded by MirRam. The firm was not paid to assist her speaker campaign." Another lobbying firm close to Ms. Mark-Viverito, the Advance Group, landed in hot water for providing free consulting services during Ms. Mark-Viverito's speaker campaign. * Honest graft(NYP Ed) Crain’s is reporting that more than $1.31 million is headed to a powerful, politically connected Bronx nonprofit called the Hispanic Federation. To put that in perspective, this is more than a four-fold jump over what the same group got last year. And $833,333 of it will come from a fund controlled by Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito . In 2012, The Post reported the Hispanic Federation had received $24 million in taxpayer funds since 1998. And between 1998 and 2008, the federation in turn paid MirRam and another firm tied to Miranda $681,644.Now MirRam has lobbied its client, Speaker Mark-Viverito, to hand $1.31 million in new taxpayer money to a group that pays it handsomely in return.
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