Results tagged “alanhevesi”

The Attorney General's office, already investigating the state pension fund, is now looking at the NYC pension fund. The NY Times reports, "Investigators have long been examining why a tiny firm operated by Daniel Hevesi, a former state senator and the son of a former state comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi, was paid more than $1 million in fees for his role as an intermediary in deals with pension funds in New York City and for deals in New Mexico." (Two of Hevesi's cronies have already been indicted in the state pension fund corruption probe.) NYC Comptroller William Thompson already announced his office was investigating the use of placement agents (aka the middlemen who collect fees to match funds with investment firms) but the AG's investigation would reportedly be broader. On the state side, the Daily News says that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver arranged meetings between investors—such as former Rangers goalie Mike Richter— and the state comptroller's office. While none of those investors were selected, watchdog group Common Cause says, "It's very inappropriate because it looks as if the speaker is using his office as the most powerful elected official in the Assembly to try and influence the controller."

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced charges against former Liberal Party boss Raymond Harding; NY1 reports that Harding allegedly "received $800,000 in illegal fees on state pension deals as a reward for opening an Assembly seat for former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's son, Andrew."

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Even though he's serving a jail sentence, cleaning prison bathrooms, for stealing millions from the Roslyn schools district, it's certainly nice to be Frank Tassone, knowing that he still gets his $173,495 annual NY State pension. Newsday reports that he and other former Roslyn officials still get their considerable pensions, even while serving jail time.

For the past few years, the officials have been warning that NYC's Off-Track Betting, or OTB, has been on the verge of going broke, whether it's former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi or City Comptroller William Thompson. OTB doesn't give the city any revenues and recently pinned its hopes on attracting more customers by making over OTB parlors and allowing bets to be placed online and by cell phone or Blackberry.

State Ethics Commission, long time no see! It's been about eight months since you found State Comptroller Alan Hevesi had violated state law, and now you're back on the radar with an investigation into Governor Spitzer's administration's conduct regarding use of the state police to track State Senate Majority Joseph Bruno.

Alan Hevesi recently hired a new lawyer and adopted an aggressive stance to battle accusations that he misused his position as New York State Comptroller, who oversees the state's $157 billion pension fund, for personal financial benefit. Last week, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was investigating whether Hevesi used his tenure as Comptroller to financially benefit from the many financial firms that vie to profitably manage a slice of the enormous pension fund.

The fight between Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Joseph Bruno gets more and more unbelievable. Yesterday, Bruno claimed that the Times Union, the Albany newspaper, tried to shake him down for money and today the Post says Spitzer had Bruno tailed by the state police! Hopefully the next news will be that the Legislature is selling tickets to a fight in the boxing ring.

New York magazine has a great examination of the Greenpoint pollution problem lurking beneath the neighborhood's surface, and floating along the surface of Newtown Creek. It describes a ten million gallon reservoir of industrial pollution that includes, fuel oil, naptha, gasoline, parrafin wax and likely many more materials that were used along the industrial area of the waterway that separates Brooklyn and Queens.

Hours ago, former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was fined $5,000 and sentenced to probation for "unlawful use of a state vehicle and driver" when he used his employees to drive his ill wife. The Times Union has an 18-minute video of the sentencing; reporter Rick Karlin noted that Albany County Court Judge Stephen Herrick said to the Queens Democrat, "Your fall from grace has been total and from a very great height…You are now the symbol, the icon, used by local and state reformers... Hopefully, your failure will serve as a deterrent." (See mugshot here)

Yesterday, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that the State will sue ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Keyspan and Phelps Dodge over a 17-million-gallon oil spill in Newtown Creek that has spread underneath Greenpoint over 100 acres. The spill was detected in 1978, when a Coast Guard pilot noticed an oil plume; oil seeped underground from ExxonMobil refinery and storage operations since the 1950s. Attorney General Cuomo said:

This is one of the worst environmental disasters in the nation, larger than the Exxon Valdez and slower in the cleanup. ExxonMobil must and will be held accountable. The toxic footprint of ExxonMobil is found all over this area. It is ExxonMobil’s oil that remains under the homes and businesses. And it is ExxonMobil that has dragged its feet and done as little as possible to address the dangers that it created.”

There's nothing like a State Comptroller -using- state- employees- to- chauffeur- his- wife scandal to make our own Police Commissioner stop having the po-po drive his wife around. Oh, yes: NYPD Confidential spoke with a few detectives about "Driving Mrs. Kelly", a practice that ended right when State Comptroller Alan Hevesi came under fire:

One detective said the detail drove Mrs. Kelly as many as three or four times a week.

Continue reading "Grand Theft Auto: Commissioner Kelly's Wife Edition"

We couldn't even get through Governor Spitzer's first month before a "showdown with Assembly Speaker Silver." State Democrats have been saying they feel betrayed - or, in the words of Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright to NY1, "totally, totally disrespected" - because the panel formed by Spitzer to select State Comptroller candidates didn't select any of their choices. State Democrats claim the panel was supposed to pick five candidates, including a Democratic Assemblyman interested in the job, but when the panel recommended three non-lawmaker candidates, all hell has broken loose. Spitzer claims the panel would choose up to five candidates, but now it looks like the Democrats will reject those Spitzer-approved candidates. We bet Alan Hevesi is smiling somewhere over this.

Here is part two of our semi-chronological look back at the top stories this past year (here is part one):

NYC from the ESB Looking North, by SupremeKnight1.

Freedom Tunnel 10, from Pro-Zak's amazing set.

We'd describe recently resigned State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's expression (and posture) as "Worst Day Ever."

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi pleaded guilty to charges and resigned from office today. From the AP:

The plea ends an investigation by Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who had been presenting evidence against the Queens Democrat to a grand jury. Hevesi will serve no jail time, but will pay a $5,000 fine and agreed not to file any appeal. He also agreed not to take office on Jan. 1. Friday's agreement also heads off a process that could have ended in the Legislature removing Hevesi from office.

Yesterday, Joseph Bruno, the NY State Senate's majority leader, revealed that the FBI was investigating him for his "outside business interests." Wow, is being investigated by the feds the new black for Republicans? Or is being investigation something most politicians need to go through (we're talking to you, Alan Hevesi!)? Republican Bruno called a press conference and told reporters, "I have nothing to hide. They are going into background over the past five or six years."

- The NY Times reports that the Democratic party will decide on where the 2008 convention will be held either tomorrow or Monday. New York and Denver are the finalist cities; while Denver is attractive for its swing-state quality, NYC can guarantee better "financing, hotel rooms, entertainment space, logistical support and labor union cooperation."

The NY Post uses its cover to claim Attorney General - and Governor-elect - Eliot Spitzer will release a damning report about State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's actions. Hevesi was re-elected this past November in spite of admitting that he use a state driver to chauffeur his wife, but Spitzer, who withdrew his support of Hevesi after a State Ethics Commission's report suggested that Hevesi did violate laws, has been leaning towards getting rid of Hevesi some way, somehow. Hevesi has repeatedly stated that he won't resign, but the Post says the AG's report will be "explosive" and a "'devastating indictment' of Hevesi's misuse of office," which could then lead the Albany Country DA to indict Hevesi on criminal charges.

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi released a report about the city's economy, noting that we had been benefiting from "a growing economy and sound management decisions made by the Mayor and the City Council over the past five years." Well, isn't that a little post-election political butt kissing? But the Mayor's budget was pretty cautious for the year.

1. Uh-oh, missing City Council members, if you miss a meeting, you need a note from your doctor (or other documentation)
2. Curbed's monitoring of Gehry's IAC Building pays off: The windows are properly lined up.
3. Park Slopers are scared of raccoons, possibly to the point of not crossing the street for a non-fat latte
4. The Goya stolen as it was being transported from Ohio to NYC was recovered in NJ! No word if it's going to continue its journey to the Guggenheim
5. Julian Casablancas, Mets fan! On the post-season: "Can I just ask you: as a Mets fan, do you think leaving Heilman in there for the 9th inning was the right move?"
6. The FDNY rescued a 73 year old man from the 50-degree Hudson River water - he was "found in old pilings" near a Holland Tunnel ventilator tower
7. Kottke picks out his favorite of Chris Ware's four Thanksgiving-themed New Yorker covers (we like this one)
8. The probe into State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's actions is getting more power, but it's still unlikely a decision will be made before Pataki leaves office

Maybe the new badge of infamy is how quickly your story gets co-opted by a Law & Order show. Apparently the antics of former Attorney General candidate Jeanine Pirro and trouble-making husband Al will be dramatized for an episode of Criminal Intent that will air next year. The Post has details:

In the episode, a very Pirro-like politician has her eyes on becoming the first female mayor of New York. But her husband, who's described as "very charming with a checkered past," throws a monkey wrench into her hopes when he's suspected of murdering his wife's mentor, a respected judge.

Continue reading "Jeanine Pirro Gets the Law & Order Treatment"

Despite of a record victory, Governor-elect Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has to face a big problem: What do to with State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who was found guilty of violating state law by the State Ethics Commission. The NY Times speaks with people involved with Spitzer's discussions (they are anonymous, of course) about the matter:

“While a personally painful decision, it’s an easy decision because the facts are clear,” said one person with knowledge of the governor’s thinking on the issue. “What would the drive for greater accountability and a higher ethical standard mean if you tolerated that level of abuse? He will move swiftly and aggressively to remove him.

On Election Day, Alan Hevesi won re-election for State Comptroller, in spite of news that he used a state driver to chauffeur his wife for many years. This tidbit, offered by Republican challenger Christopher Callaghan, prompted: 1) A State Ethics Commission report that found Hevesi did violate state law; 2) For many Democrats, including Eliot Spitzer, to drop their endorsements; and 3) Governor Pataki to request an investigation on whether Hevesi should be removed. But now Hevesi says he plans to serve his full four-year term because he was voted by such a large margin of voters. Now what?

To no one's surprise, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was elected the next Governor, Senator Hillary Clinton was re-elected, and Andrew Cuomo was elected Attorney General. (Democrat Alan Hevesi was re-elected Comptroller, but more on that later.) But the dynamics are interesting: Spitzer won in a "historic landslide" and Clinton managed to take votes of 20-25% of Republican voters. After a victory speech that included a reference to Ali G, Spitzer will have to make good on his mandate for sweeping change - and he'll need to figure out how to work with Mayor Bloomberg on a number of issues, from development to school financing.

The polls in New York close in a half hour, so the media won't be reporting returns until then. But it's still exciting and heartbreaking to watch the other states' elections returns. For starters, Bob Casey ousting Rick Santorum for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania? That's exciting. Heartbreaking would be reports of bugs and intimidation at the polls.

Hilarious: The NY Times' election blog, The Empire Zone, reports that Chelsea Clinton's name wasn't found in the book of registered voters at the West 20th Street polling place: "The book containing her name was apparently forwarded to the wrong district, denying her the ability to enter a polling booth." D'oh! So she - and probably the other people in that book - had to fill out an "affidavit vote," ensuring that she would be able to participate in the democratic process. The Daily Politics found out that some Manhattan voters got old 2005 affidavit ballots - one for last year's Mayoral race. There's nothing like voting day in NYC! But at least potential voters aren't being threatened with arrest.