Best Served Cold

Before Most of You Were Born,

Big Fish Swam in State Politics

NOTE: A few of you already know most of this history, but the majority will pick up some information which is no longer widely disseminated in 2011. It helps us to know what happened years ago, and how history sometimes repeats itself and sometimes does not. The dispositive rule in some cases is 25-W: What goes around, comes around, or, put more briefly and crudely, 15-P: Payback is a bitch.



New York City politics has changed considerably in the last half century. For one thing, the characters are of diminished stature. For another, more have been unseated by prosecutors than by electoral rivals.

Perhaps the most important mayoral election in the post-World War II period came in 1961. There was a full-dress, take no prisoners contest between the five Democratic county leaders, and the reform wing of the Democratic Party, whose candidate for Mayor was the two-term incumbent, Robert F. Wagner. Mayor Wagner was the son of the illustrious senator from New York, who as a committee chair, gave his name to the National Labor Relations Act (the Wagner Act) and played a pivotal role in the passage of the Social Security Act, adopted in 1935 in Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term. The Social Security Act of 1965, passed under President Lyndon B. Johnson, created the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Manhattan Borough President Wagner was first elected mayor in 1953, with the support of two Democratic county leaders, Carmine DeSapio of Manhattan and Congressman Charles Buckley of the Bronx. The other three leaders, in Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond, supported the incumbent mayor, Vincent R. Impellitteri, candidate of the Lucchese family, for re-election. Impy lost, by a 2-1 margin.

In 1957 all five leaders supported Wagner for re-election, which he won easily over the New York City postmaster, but by 1961, he had fallen out with DeSapio in particular over a Senate nomination, and had sorely disappointed the other four by not appointing their followers to jobs and judgeships.

The five counties united with a slate for the top three offices in city government. The respected State Comptroller, Arthur Levitt, a Brooklynite, ran for mayor; State Senator (and later Queens District Attorney) Thomas Mackell ran for City Council President, and Joseph DiFede of the Bronx vied for comptroller. The ticket followed the time-honored tradition of recognizing three boroughs and the three most prominent ethnic groups of the era: the Jews, Italians and Irish.

Mayor Wagner, who lived in the Yorkville section of Manhattan and whose ancestry was German and Irish, responded to DeSapio's challenge by building his own ticket, relying on career civil servants, although they did have political ties. For Comptroller, he chose city Budget Director Abe Beame of Brooklyn, and for Council President, Deputy Mayor and former Sanitation Commissioner Paul Screvane of Queens. As luck would have it, the Wagner slate covered three major boroughs and the same three ethnic groups as the DeSapio ticket represented.

The reformers' campaign featured Eleanor Roosevelt and former Governor and Senator Herbert H. Lehman, who attacked DeSapio and his fellow leaders as bosses. DeSapio was also a crook, and was convicted and served two years in Federal prison for bribery of Mayor John Lindsay's Water Commissioner.

In 1992, Mayor Ed Koch, who had defeated DeSapio three times in races for Greenwich Village district leader, said: "He is a crook, but I like him... He always gets the most applause when he is introduced at Democratic dinners."

In 1955, at the peak of his power, DeSapio was on the cover of Time magazine, was appointed Secretary of State of New York State by his governor, Averell Harriman, and was pushing Harriman, whose family owned the Union Pacific railroad, for President of the United States in 1956. In supporting Harriman for governor, DeSapio pushed aside Congressman Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., whose mother took the slight with extreme prejudice to DeSapio.

Why, we ask, were those political figures who strode the state a half century ago, so much more memorable than what we have today? The Republican Party has descended into nominating nonentities for governor, such as Pierre Rinfret in 1990 and Carl Paladino in 2010, who dragged down their running mates. The Democratic Party had an unfortunate seizure during the Spitzer and Patterson years, and now appears to be on the road to recovery.

The weakness of governors has led to the relative empowerment of the state legislature, called by the Brennan Center for Justice the "most dysfunctional" in the United States. That was in 2004, before a parade of felons and misdemeanants brought the Senate and Assembly into even further disrepute.

The political history of New York State is not taught, except at the college level. We believe it is important for people to know what went on in the middle of the twentieth century. Were things better then? There was more corruption in the old days, but less of it was discovered. We don't know that for a certainty, but it is a rule of human nature that people in general and politicians in particular are attracted to money. It requires constant effort to clean out the Augean stables. There is an ebb and flow of wrongdoing. We believe that, in 2011, integrity, even if it is not liked, is more likely to be respected.

The United States Attorneys for the Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of New York State are doing the job that many local district attorneys have not carried out. Their latest trophy, Brooklyn Senator Carl Kruger's taped phone calls, appear to justify the thousands of hours of listening. There is no reason to believe that Kruger and Assemblyman William Boyland, whose prosecutions follow the cases of Bruno, Seminerio, McLaughlin, Gordon, Velella, Hevesi, et al., are the last alleged thieves in Albany. Former Senator Pedro Espada, Kruger, and Boyland are awaiting trial, and have pleaded not guilty. This is sometimes, but not always, a prelude to plea bargaining by the defendant, but it is difficult to see how a bargain can be reached without requiring jail time.

Big Fish Is Hooked

Out of the Closet

And Into the Cooler

The forces of good scored a major victory in the indictment of State Senator Carl Kruger, Assemblyman William Boyland and six accomplices in a bribery ring that goes back five years.

Until now, corrupt legislators had been picked off by the authorities one at a time, and their venality, although felonious, was relatively limited in its scope. This time a big fish has been nabbed, along with his bottom feeder associates.

The investigation was helped over the years by co-operating public officials seeking lighter sentences. Brian McLaughlin was the first to go; he gave up the late Anthony Seminerio, who was taped in expletive-laced conversations with Kruger's confederates.

We wonder how many more legislators, particularly from Brooklyn and Queens, are shivering at the prospect of future undesired contact with law enforcement agencies. The Aqueduct casino conspiracy of 2010, although well publicized, has not yet led to indictments. Since the plot was foiled, there may be insufficient grounds to send the plotters upstate. If they should be incarcerated, however, they will be counted as residents of their home districts downstate, thanks to their Democratic colleagues in the legislature who wanted to minimize Republican districts upstate.

The daily press gave substantial and well-merited attention to the arrests, which we do not need to retreat. We will, however, provide links which will inform you of the accusations, and articles about the case:

First is the 53-page criminal complaint, obtained by Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a position formerly held by Robert Morgenthau and Rudy Giuliani. Note the intercepted telephone conversations (p22 et seq.) between the alleged conspirators, including an Assemblymember who died in prison.

Among the other published accounts of the defendants' activities, both criminal and extra-curricular, are:

GAY POL'S $1 MIL "BRIBE" OUT-RAGE by Bruce Golding, Rich Calder and Dan Mangan (Post)

STATE SEN. CARL KRUGER AND ASSEMBLYMAN WILLIAM BOYLAND SURRENDER TO FEDS TO FACE BRIBE RAP by Scott Shifrel and Greg B. Smith (Daily News)


GRAFT CHARGES DEPICT KRUGER'S LAVISH LIFESTYLE by Nicholas Confessore and Michael Barbaro (New York Times)


ABOUT THAT CARL KRUGER CASH by Celeste Katz (Daily News)

THE ALBANY RACKETS (Editorial - Post)

INDICTED STATE SEN. KRUGER IS THE POSTER BOY FOR SLEAZE THAT AFFLICTS NEW YORK'S LEGISLATURE (Editorial - Daily News)

For nine years, we have railed against public corruption, starting with former Councilman Angel Rodriguez in our first column (3/21/02). Whenever one wrongdoer is found out, however, it seems that another rises to take his or her place. The system is remarkably enduring.

We believe that most public officials are honest and decent. Unfortunately, many are held in low regard because of the derelictions of their colleagues. It is also true that very few officials are concerned with the misconduct of their fellow legislators, they are much more comfortable ignoring fraud or corruption by their next door neighbors and running mates. These don't commit crimes themselves, but they are quite tolerant of those who do. There is no honor code in Albany.

Most New Yorkers are relatively satisfied with the people who represent them. This is in part because over the years they have received publicly-funded mailings or relied on constituent services. They may have met their local representative in the park.on the street, or in a church or synagogue. Voters may identify by gender, orientation or ethnicity with the name they see on election posters.

In addition, challengers to politicians are usually even less well known than the incumbents. That is why the re-election rate is so high, and why legislators have more to fear from prosecutors than from electoral rivals.

Nonetheless, the indictments are good news. We are aware that an indictment is merely an accusation, and a jury must be convinced of the defendants' guilt. Kruger has hired a fine lawyer in Benjamin Brafman, who while representing him will no doubt divest his client of a good portion of his allegedly ill-gotten gains.

We suggest you read as much as you care to of the US Attorney's complaint, and particularly the transcripts of the defendants' telephone conversations. A reasonable person would be hard pressed to develop a scenario under which the alleged conspirators would not be at fault.

It will probably take over a year before this matter is disposed of. We have on occasion quoted an old Greek saying, which was rendered in English in 1640 by George Herbert: "The mills of the gods grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine."

Let justice be done.

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

Budget Deadlock -Day 98



Buffalonian Senator

Stachowski Objects

To Paying Sales Tax

On Cheap Clothing



The state budget - or the lack of it - is as unpleasant a subject as the heat wave, and we had hoped that by now both issues would have been resolved.

Unfortunately, the parties in Albany are still far apart. Today we are 98 days behind the legal deadline, which means the new state fiscal year, 2011, is now more than one-quarter over. During the Pataki era (1995-2006) a couple of budgets were not approved until August, but we were promised that when the governorship and both houses of the legislature come under one party (the Democrats) that issues would be settled promptly and amicably.

Though there are many disputes simmering in Albany, the current deadlock is about adopting the budget. Whatever else the executive and legislative branches are supposed to accomplish this year remains in limbo, partly because there is a lame-duck governor, partly because the Democrats have a bare majority of 32 senators, which means every one of them must vote for a bill to pass it, for if any member objects, the bill is lost. A senator may raise objections because of unrelated grievances against the leadership or concerns over other legislation.

In the current standoff, both houses have passed bills specifying appropriations. As might be expected, they differ. However, only the Assembly has passed a revenue bill, which is needed to pay for the expenditures, or at least some of them. The Senate cannot muster 32 votes to pass a tax bill because Senator William Stachowski of Buffalo will not approve any measure which does not provide increased status and authority for the State University at Buffalo. To insist on this expansion of SUNY-Buffalo, Stachowski is withholding support for an agreed upon re-instatement of the state's portion of sales tax on clothing under $110, which the Assembly and Senate are depending upon to balance the budget. The Democrats oppose the expansion of power for SUNY-Buffalo (and Stony Brook) because potentially all 64 state colleges could seek independence and operate autonomously, raising tuition at will and leaving some institutions far stronger than others. We have no idea at this time how or when this issue will be resolved.

Senator Stachowski is also reported to be displeased because, as a leading Democrat on the Finance Committee, he expected to chair the committee when the Democrats regained control of the Senate (after 43 years in the wilderness). However, that plum went to Senator Carl Kruger, who with the 'three amigos', Espada, Monserrate and Diaz, Sr., effectively controlled the organization of the DINO (Democratic in name only) senate.

In fact, it was former Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's refusal of Espada's demand for millions of state dollars to subsidize the Soundview Health Center that he and his three sons operate, that triggered the Espada-Monserrate revolt that led to Smith's unseating as majority leader and Sampson's installation as conference chair, with benefits.

Public confidence in the State Senate was not enhanced by the resulting June 8 coup, in which Senator Pedro Espada and former Senator Hiram Monserrate voted with the 30 Republicans to displace the Democratic leaders and form a new Republican majority. After a month of anarchy, Espada returned to the fold, and was rewarded with the majority leadership, formerly held by Malcolm Smith, who was kicked upstairs to president pro tempore of the senate, making him third in line to become governor, if the worst should happen.

As a by-product of this successful piracy, Richard Ravitch was appointed Lieutenant Governor by Governor Paterson and Judge Jonathan Lippman persuaded three judges on the Court of Appeals to join him in finding the appointment constitutional, although it was historically unprecedented in the 233-year history of the State of New York. Paterson now says he regrets the appointment because he feels Ravitch is too close to Speaker Silver and to establishment figures in New York City.

Much of what remains of authority in Albany is concentrated in the Assembly Speaker, who is clearly master of his own house. However, prospective governor Andrew Cuomo is already making his own judgments on issues in which the speaker may have an interest, professional or personal. The de facto Democratic senate leader, John Sampson of Brooklyn, does not have enough votes to override a governor's veto. (Silver does, but both houses must concur in order to override.)

The result so far is deadlock, which can theoretically continue until the State runs out of money. Since its finances have been so manipulated, no one can predict with certainty when that will be. But as with Bernie Madoff, the day is certain to come.



UPDATE ON THE AQUEDUCT GAMING SCANDAL:

MALAYSIAN IS LAST MAN STANDING (AS OF TODAY)

Senator Sampson was criticized last month for leaking the details of a bid, including two internal Senate documents, on the Aqueduct racino to a lobbyist (former Senator Carl Andrews) for the Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG), the firm that won the contract, which has since been cancelled after the State Lottery Division deemed the Aqueduct Entertainment Group to be "unlicensable". Sampson denied any wrongdoing in connection with furnishing the documents to AEG, one of whose investors was former Congressman Floyd Flake, who has since withdrawn from participation in the group.

Yesterday's Post reported, in a story by Brendan Scott, headlined "2 OF 3 AQUEDUCT BIDDERS SCRATCHED" that "Now there's only one horse in the race for the multibillion-dollar casino contract at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"The state Lottery Division yesterday abruptly tossed two of the three bids it received last week to build and run a video slots parlor at the faded Queens track, leaving only Malaysian gaming giant Genting in the running.

"The cash-strapped state is counting on the winner to pay a $300 million licensing fee.

"Lottery officials decided that the two disqualified bidders - Penn National Gaming and the powerful SL Green-Hard Rock partnership - 'did not conform with the requirements of the competition.'"

The Acqueduct situation has been a public embarrassment since Governor Paterson first attempted to award the sole-source contract to the politically wired Aqueduct Entertainment Group on January 29th. This took place close to the time that he was soliciting the support of Reverend (and former Congressman) Floyd Flake's support in his projected gubernatorial race against Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Flake was a minor participant in AEG.

Six months later, no final decision has been made. There has been no independent review of whether the racino is a good idea, or simply a desperate attempt to pump $300 million into a chasmic state budget hole that now exceeds $9 billion.

Why would any rational person seek to govern this state at this time, unless it were the family business?



STARQUEST IN THE NEWS

"The architecture of Central Park, like the United States Constitution, must evolve with the times." StarQuest weighs in on the future of Tavern on the Green in yesterday's New York Times. Read all about it here.

StarQuest reminisces about Parks Department alum, Bradley Tusk (a.k.a. Ivory), in this week's Observer profile of Tusk entitled "Mayor Bloomberg's Secret Weapon". Click here to read the entire article.