New York State Senator, Majority Leader, Sentenced To Five Years in Prison

New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean (left), and son Adam, Skelos

[From article]
Ex-state Senate majority leader Dean Skelos was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for using his political power to line the pockets of his do-nothing son Adam.
Adam Skelos — who once threatened to “smash” in the head of a supervisor at a job his dad got for him — landed six and a half years behind bars.
Along with the prison sentences, Manhattan federal Judge Kimba Wood imposed a $500,000 fine on Dean Skelos.
The father-son duo were convicted in December of bribery, corruption and conspiracy after prosecutors with Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office played tapes showing that the Long Island Republican strong-armed companies into paying his 33-year-old son more than $330,000.
“You sent a message that you, one of the three most powerful politicians in New York State, were in some measure corrupt,” Judge Wood said of Dean Skelos.
“Your crimes were more egregious than most, with the exception of Sheldon Silver,” she said referring to the corrupt former state assembly speaker, who landed a 12-year prison term just last week in a separate case.
[. . .]



“These cases show — and history teaches — that the most effective corruption investigations are those that are truly independent and not in danger of either interference or premature shutdown.”
The comment was a not-so-thinly-veiled jab at Gov. Cuomo’s Moreland Commissioner.
The governor set up the commission in 2013, saying it was needed to “root out corruption in politics and government.” He then abruptly pulled the plug on it less than a year later after strong opposition from lawmakers.
A smiling Dean Skelos strolled into the courtroom before his sentencing and waved to his wife, Gail. His brother, retired Nassau County state appellate-court Judge Peter Skelos, also was in court for the proceeding.
“You can’t argue that you robbed a bank repeatedly over a course of years and you did it for your family,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Masimore said of Dean Skelos in court. “I think the evidence was very clear that Dean Skelos was strong-arming these victims and forcing them to pay.
[. . .]
Shortly after his conviction, the Long Island Republican began receiving taxpayer-funded pension payments of $95,000 per year.
At trial prosecutors argued that the elder Skelos used his influence to help Adam get jobs he either wasn’t qualified for or that he barely showed up for, including AbTech, an environmental tech company seeking state-funded contracts.
At one point AbTech agreed to increase Adam’s monthly paycheck from $4,000 to $10,000 after Adam threatened to use his father’s influence to block a $12 million contract that would help the company, it emerged at trial.
In another cushy gig his dad got him, the younger Skelos ​threatened his supervisor for criticizing him about his repeated absences.
“Guys like you couldn’t shine my shoes. You’ll never amount to anything. If you talk to me like that again, I’ll smash your f—–g head in,” Adam told his former supervisor, Chris Curcio, at medical ​malpractice ​insurance firm PRI, Curcio testified.

http://nypost.com/2016/05/12/ex-ny-senator-dean-skelos-gets-five-years-in-prison-for-corruption/

Ex-NY senator Dean Skelos gets five years in prison for corruption
By Kaja Whitehouse, Jennifer Bain and Danika Fears
New York Post
May 12, 2016 | 12:07pm

New York Governor and Close Associates Under Scrutiny By U.S. Attorney

Joseph Percoco, VP Madison Square Garden

Photo: AP

[From article]
A former top Cuomo aide who is under criminal investigation for “consulting’’ with companies doing business with the state told potential clients he had the administration’s OK for the work — despite never receiving it, The Post has been told.
Madison Square Garden Executive Vice President Joseph Percoco, who until last January was Gov. Cuomo’s executive deputy secretary and one of his closest friends, “told various clients or potential clients that he had approval from the governor’s counsel’s office to work for them,’’ said a source close to the situation.
“It turned out the counsel’s office did no such thing. It didn’t give any approval,” the source said. “And Joe never gave the clients anything to prove what he said, so the clients didn’t get anything in writing.’’
Public records show that Percoco, who left the state payroll for several months in early 2014 to run Cuomo’s re-election campaign, said he received as much as $125,000 in still-unexplained “consulting’’ fees during that year from two companies, COR Development of Syracuse and Albany-based CHA Consulting, which have longstanding dealings and tens of millions of dollars in contracts with the state.
Percoco’s income from the companies didn’t become public until late last month, when US Attorney Preet Bharara served a subpoena on Cuomo’s office seeking records relating to Percoco’s work, as well as the work performed for those and other companies by influential lobbyist Todd Howe, a Percoco friend and longtime associate of both Andrew and former Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Howe, who sources said helped arrange the consulting work for Percoco, was fired last week by a longtime employer — Albany-based law/lobbying firm Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna — after being barred days earlier by Cuomo from having any contact with the state government.
[. . .]
The subpoena, excerpts of which were obtained by The Post, sought “phone logs, visitor logs, calendar entries between January 2012 and present that show meetings with any’’ entities on a list of 26 individuals and companies.
The subpoena also demanded information on “any actions taken by” Percoco, Secretary to the Governor William Mulrow, state Operations Director James Malatras, Buffalo-area Democratic operative Peter Cutler and other Cuomo aides related to the companies for which Percoco and Howe worked, as well as for several other companies connected to the governor’s high-profile “Buffalo Billion’’ economic-development efforts.
It also seeks “any documents concerning’’ two not-for-profit economic-development companies set up in conjunction with SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and its president, Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, a key “Buffalo Billion’’ adviser.
Sources in the Cuomo administration said the governor appears “increasingly nervous and anxious’’ about Bharara’s probe, and some noted that Cuomo has almost completely disappeared from public view during the past weeks as the scandal began to unfold

http://nypost.com/2016/05/08/cuomo-crony-lied-to-potential-clients-said-he-had-governors-ok-to-work/

Cuomo crony lied to potential clients — said he had governor’s OK to work
By Fredric U. Dicker
New York Post
May 8, 2016 | 11:57pm

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http://nypost.com/2016/05/09/fbi-raids-homes-of-two-cuomo-cronies-amid-corruption-probe/

FBI raids homes of two Cuomo cronies amid corruption probe
By Kaja Whitehouse, Kirstan Conley and Bruce Golding
New York Post
May 9, 2016 | 3:33am

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http://nypost.com/2016/05/02/investigation-of-confidant-could-be-a-career-killer-for-cuomo/

Investigation of confidant could be a career-killer for Cuomo
By Fredric U. Dicker
New York Post
May 2, 2016 | 12:08am

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http://nypost.com/2016/05/05/shady-cuomo-pal-received-nearly-100-financing-on-815k-home/

‘Shady’ Cuomo pal received nearly 100% financing on $815K home
By Kirstan Conley, Reuven Fenton and Bruce Golding
New York Post
May 5, 2016 | 12:55am

* * *

http://nypost.com/2016/05/06/cuomo-linked-lobbyist-fired-by-law-firm-amid-federal-probe/

Cuomo-linked lobbyist fired by law firm amid federal probe
By Kirstan Conley and Aaron Short
New York Post
May 6, 2016 | 4:11pm

* * *

Updated: Race Hoax At State University at Albany (NY); Three Black Women Students Arrested, Charged

Posted February 26, 2016 5:40 PM ET; Last updated May 4, 2016 9:11 PM ET



Updated May 4, 2016 9:11 PM ET
[From article]
Three Albany college students who claimed to be victims of a racially motivated attack have been indicted for assault and falsely reporting the incident.
Ariel Aguido, Asha Burwell and Alexis Briggs, all 20, had originally claimed they were assaulted - only for prosecutors to later claim they had been the aggressors.
They claimed they were attacked on a Capital District Transportation Authority bus on January 30, but prosecutors say they actually assaulted a 19-year-old woman early that Saturday.
Police later said: 'The evidence indicates they were actually the aggressors in the physical altercation, and that they continued to assault the victim despite the efforts of several passengers to stop them.'
Agudio's attorney Mark Mishler previously said in a statement that the charges were 'unwarranted'.
He said Agudio was 'an exemplary young woman and an excellent student' and that she asked people 'not rush to judgement in this matter'.
Police said during a three week investigation, they reviewed video from 12 security cameras and four cell phones, and also interviewed 35 people, according to WNYT.
University of Albany police released two surveillance videos of the incident.
The police statement issued last week states a 19-year-old woman was the victim, but footage appears to a show a man being assaulted at one point.
The women's initial report of the incident led to national outrage, a massive campus rally and even Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted about it, hitting out against violence on a college campus.
The three students claimed that on January 30, they were on the bus when at about 1am when around 12 white classmates called them racial slurs during a verbal argument before a physical altercation broke out.
Following the alleged attack, Burwell took to Twitter to recount the ordeal that same day writing: 'I just got jumped on a bus while people hit us and called us the 'n' word and NO ONE helped us.'
She then tweeted that she was in disbelief after experiencing 'what it's like to be beaten because of the color of my skin.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3571145/Three-New-York-college-students-indicted-faking-race-hate-attack-falsely-reporting-incident-sparked-protests.html

Three New York college students indicted for 'faking race hate attack' and falsely reporting incident which sparked protests
Ariel Aguido, Asha Burwell and Alexis Briggs, claimed they were attacked
The three students claimed their assault on a bus was racially motivated
Police pressed charges against them, saying they instigated the incident
By COREY CHARLTON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 07:28 EST, 3 May 2016 | UPDATED: 09:36 EST, 3 May 2016





* * *


The three SUNY Albany students claimed they were victims of a racial attack last month but prosecutors say they were actually the agressors. Footage from the attack was released last week.
Posted February 26, 2016 5:40 PM ET

[Extensive list of other hoaxes included with links]
[From article]
The Great Hoax of Albany started out straightforwardly enough: a dozen violent and racist white students harassed, threatened, tossed N-bombs and attacked three black coeds -- hurting them really, really, really badly.
For no reason what so ever.
It ended Wednesday when Albany police charged the three black women with assault, and charged two of them with filing a false police report about the racial violence.
[. . .]
Within a few hours, the black president at the University at Albany decried the racism and hate crime. Soon after that, CNN, the New York Daily News, and lots of other news sites joined in, following the local media.
Those damn white people were at it again. Attacking black people.
[. . .]
Black people are “sacrificed,” to white violence and white supremacy, she said to the bobbing head of the CBS news moderator. Later, Washington Post editor David Ignatius said stopping white on black violence should be the top priority of President Obama’s remaining time in office.
[. . .]
Soon after that, hundreds of students gathered to denounce the white on black violence and hate crimes in what was described as the largest gathering of its kind at the university.
[. . .]
No one pointed out -- or cared -- that in Albany, racial violence is a common and one-way thing: Black on white.
[. . .]
Then Burwell’s brother, Tyreek, got into the act. He is a 300-pound recent addition to the roster of the San Diego Chargers football team. He issued a tweet to one of the white devils who attacked his sister. [. . .] Hope the police get to you before I do.”
The student left the University at Albany soon after receiving that and other threats.
Soon after, Hillary Clinton tweeted: “There is no excuse for racism and violence on a college campus.”
And oh yeah, the entire story was a lie.
All of it.
The Great Hoax began to unravel even before the big rally. Twitter and Facebook were full of accounts from the big bad white people. They said it never happened. In fact, they said Asha Burwell and her friends were the ones tossing around racial epithets and causing violence.
No one really paid much attention. Not the university president, anyway.
He doubled down at a Martin Luther King/Black History Month Breakfast meeting: Again, decrying the hate. Again, not even hinting at the possibility none of it was true.
[. . .]
local media stayed on top of local law enforcement, asking to see the videos. Wednesday it broke: the ABC affiliate in Albany talked to law enforcement officials who had seen the videos from the bus. And they said the black coeds started the entire thing: They were the ones tossing around the racial epithets. They began the violence. And they lied their asses off about it.
“I am told by law enforcement sources that these three self-proclaimed victims are now going to be served with tickets to appear in court possibly next Monday to face charges,” said Anya Winter of Channel 10 News. “But we do know this is one sign that law enforcement is moving forward with making these women accountable for possibly making false accusations,” Winter said.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/the_great_racial_hoax_of_albany.html

February 26, 2016
The Great Racial Hoax of Albany
By Colin Flaherty

* * *

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/albany-students-claimed-racial-attack-charged-article-1.2543435

SUNY Albany students who claimed racial attack will be charged for assault and false reporting
BY JASON SILVERSTEIN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 

Updated: Thursday, February 25, 2016, 3:26 PM

New York State Exposing Substantial Corruption

State House of New York, Albany

Curious, isn't it, that this journalist does not mention journalists as part of the solution to corruption. Nor does he see them as a part of the problem. How are journalists not as corrupt as the politicians they fail to hold accountable? And what about all of the Inspectors General, high paid lawyers whose mission is to expose and to curb corruption? What are they doing? Is the New York system of overdue exposure of corruption better than how it is done in Massachusetts, where they never expose or investigate corruption? 

[From article]
From City Hall to Albany, the sewer runneth over. It is no longer adequate to talk of a few bad apples. We are suffering through a bumper crop of rottenness.
In normal times, the fall of Sheldon Silver, sentenced yesterday to 12 years in federal prison, would be drama enough. Yet the former Democratic leader of the Assembly is joined in infamy by Dean Skelos, the former Republican leader of the state Senate, whose sentencing comes up next week on the con- man calendar.
The comeuppance of the bosses of both legislative houses and both parties in the same year is, as far as I can tell, unprecedented in modern times. Even the legendary thieves of Tammany tended to leave space between dramatic downfalls.
[. . .]



Mayor Bill de Blasio is in a serious jam, as both state and federal prosecutors have hisfundraising-and-favors operation in their cross hairs. Another sordid chapter would be written if the mayor himself is hit with criminal charges.
Then there’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who looked as if he had escaped a federal probe only to see a close friend and former aide suddenly land in very hot water about money paid to him by companies with state business. There’s no telling where the case will lead.
How did all this happen? How did New York become such a swirling cesspool?
For answers, it is fitting that we turn to a cartoon character. It was Pogo who declared, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
[. . .]
First, we have developed the very bad habit of electing people of low moral character.
Having foolishly decided that integrity is not a necessary virtue in politics, we are reaping the results. If we don’t care about integrity, why should the pols?
The Legislature is especially a comfort zone for crooks. The dozens of lawmakers hauled out in handcuffs in recent years would make a bipartisan diversity specialist proud.
Democrats and Republicans, blacks, whites and Latinos, upstate and down, the Convicts Club doesn’t discriminate. Get caught stealing and you’re admitted.
Second, this deregulation of public morals is not the whole story. The other part is greed — ours.
[. . .]
Corruption is not cheap; it affects everybody and raises the cost of living and working in New York, not to mention the cost of cynicism.
How to clean up the stables? By all means, we should support tougher ethics laws and stiffer penalties for those who break them. Politicians who violate their offices must not be rewarded with taxpayer-funded pensions. And it’s time that Albany try term limits, which would prevent the accumulation of the vast power that Silver and Skelos abused.
Yet there already are sensible laws on the books, and they’re not proving to be much of a deterrent. So another, better law will not be a silver bullet.
Vigilance from voters, and self-discipline, is the answer. We have to make it clear that integrity is mandatory, and prove we mean it by demanding less from government by way of handouts.
Shrinking the size of government is the best way to shrink its power, and the corruption of that power. Instead of looking for endless favors, what if we focused on ending government’s favor bank?
What if we elected people who promised not only integrity, but also modesty about the offices they seek? What if we said we don’t expect bureaucrats to solve all of life’s problems?
In that case, less government would be more. More honest and more worthy of our trust.
Either way, we get the government we deserve.

http://nypost.com/2016/05/04/ny-is-a-corruption-filled-cesspool-and-we-have-ourselves-to-blame/

NY is a corruption-filled cesspool — and we have ourselves to blame
By Michael Goodwin
New York Post
May 4, 2016 | 12:02am

Ex-New York Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison For Corruption

[From article]

Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to 12 years in a federal penitentiary Tuesday by a Manhattan judge who called him “a scheming corrupt politician.”
The Manhattan Democrat — one of the most powerful politicians in the state before his arrest last year — also was ordered to fork over $5.3 in ill-gotten gains and another $1.75 million in fines.
The disgraced ex-pol was handed two prison terms by federal Judge Valerie Caproni: 12 years for the six criminal counts against him, including mail and wire fraud and extortion, and another 10 years on a seventh count involving money-laundering. The terms will run concurrently.
Silver must surrender to begin serving his sentence July 1.



The conviction and hefty sentence — the second highest for a state politician convicted of corruption in the past decade — has capped a stellar run of Albany and New York City corruption cases brought by Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara and federal authorities in Brooklyn.
Bharara stood in the back of the courtroom to watch Silver’s justice meted out.
“Today’s stiff sentence is a just and fitting end to Sheldon Silver’s long career of corruption,’’ Bharara later said in a statement.


Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara

In court, a humbled Silver told Judge Caproni, “I believe that my letter to the court probably captured it best — without question, I let down my family, let down my colleagues, let down my constituents, and I’m truly, truly sorry for that.”
The 72-year-old kept his head lowered as his sentence was rendered and then briefly closed his eyes.
Silver’s long-suffering wife, Rosa, remained stoic, even as Caproni lit into her husband for his politically-charged extramarital affairs which Bharara’s prosecutors detailed in filings — one with a lobbyist who had extensive business before the state and another with a former beauty-queen turned assemblywoman who landed two cushy public-service jobs.
“Did a lobbyist have preferred access because she was a better lobbyist than her competitors, or was it payback for a personal relationship?’’ Caproni said before sentencing the shamed ex-pol.
“Did Silver do things just to be nice — or did he do things because somewhere there was something in it for him?” she added.



Caproni also ordered Silver to fork over more than $7 million, including all of his ill-gotten gains and another $1.75 million in fines.
One of Silver’s lawyer’s asked the judge to recommend that he be sent to the Otisville minimum-security “camp’’ in upstate Orange County. Caproni said she would do so, although the final decision is up to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
[. . .]
A Manhattan federal jury found Silver guilty in November of abusing his power for more than a decade in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.
Silver faced as much as 27 years in prison for his crimes, but federal prosecutors told the judge they simply wanted Silver to serve out a longer sentence than any other New York legislator.
Ex-Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. has held that title since 2015, when he was sentenced to 14 years.
When it came to Silver, there were “no excuses, just pure greed — and then he tried to hide his crime proceeds by investing them,’’ Assistant US Attorney Carrie Cohen told Caproni before sentencing.
[. . .]
Silver’s son and three daughters told the judge about their modest upbringing, and his wife, a former schoolteacher, talked about her fear that he will be sick and alone in jail.
[. . .]


U.S. Judge Valerie E. Caproni

After three days of deliberation, the Manhattan federal jury found that Silver accepted $3 million in payments from the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, despite doing no legal work.
Instead, Silver was paid based off his cozy relationship with a Columbia University doctor, who received $500, 000 in state funds to finance his research into mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos. In exchange, the doctor referred asbestos patients to Weitz & Luxenberg, which then paid Silver.
The jury also found that the Lower East Side resident earned $700,000 from a separate law firm after hooking them up with a pair of lucrative real-estate-developer clients. While receiving money from the developers, Silver took state actions that benefited them.
The government has already blocked Silver from access to $3.8 million in assets spread across eight different bank and investment accounts.
The ex-Assemblyman also has another $2 million, including “readily liquid assets of more than $1 million,” the government said in a recent filing.
The judge said Silver’s $70,000 a year pension is currently worth $850,000.
Minutes before his sentencing, the judge issued a ruling denying Silver’s motion for a new trial.

http://nypost.com/2016/05/03/sheldon-silver-gets-12-years-in-prison-for-corruption/

Sheldon Silver gets 12 years in prison for corruption
By Kaja Whitehouse, Lia Eustachewich and Kate Sheehy
New York Post
May 3, 2016 | 3:38pm | Updated

Long Island, NY Rabbi, Married Five Times, Is Celebrated by Some

Toby Gotesman Schneier, one of the rabbi's extra curricular lovers

[From article]
The Hamptons’ “rabbi to the stars,” Marc Schneier, really loves thy neighbor — a little too much.
Schneier, 57, has been married — and divorced — five times. Now he’s flitting about the Jewish social circuit with Simi Teitelbaum, a 30-something blond Israeli party girl and former flight attendant who led to the demise of his fifth marriage. His congregation, which had shrugged off his indiscretions for years, has had enough.
[. . .]
“He is not fit to be the rabbi of our congregation,” Lloyd Landow, 76, a Long Island architect and longtime synagogue member who led the crusade, wrote in an e-mail to more than 100 synagogue members.
[. . .]
Schneier, the 18th generation of an esteemed rabbinic dynasty, [. . .] founded the tony synagogue in 1990 and was the recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. “Measure of a Man” award from the NAACP in the ’90s. “I will continue to be a part of our community, as you all have a very special place in my heart.”
[. . .]
In January 1981, while a 21-year-old rabbinic student at Yeshiva University, he married Brooklyn native and Barnard College student Elissa Shay, then just 20. The chief rabbis of Israel and Romania officiated, but the marriage lasted less than a year
[. . .]
Schneier explained away his unholy extramarital hookups by saying he was mentally ill and seeking treatment.
[. . .]
“People at shul accepted his adulterous affairs and outrageous behavior,” says the friend who wants to distance himself from Schneier. “It’s like, ‘Marc cheated on his wife again, what’s new?’ It became a running joke: the annual Marc Schneier wedding.”
Conveniently, Schneier had appointed his own board of mostly men who were apparently willing to look the other way — and to compensate him well. (In most synagogues, the congregation — not the rabbi — chooses the board.)
[. . .]
ex-wife Gotesman tells The Post. “When I left him, he was making $800,000.” She says that included a $500,000 salary, plus hundreds of thousands in additional compensation, including mortgage payments on his 5,000-square-foot Westhampton Beach home, said to be valued around $3 million.
Morality — or lack thereof — wasn’t a big concern for many synagogue-goers.
“The congregation was out to party. They come for the 3 F’s — fun, food, and f - - king,” says Esther Muller, a Columbus Circle resident who works in real estate and has known Schneier for decades.
[. . .]
“He’s not a George Clooney — I don’t know what they see in him,” says an Upper West Side friend of Leiner’s who asked to remain anonymous. She sympathizes with her friend, now a single mom to an almost-2-year-old girl, but concedes: “She’s not innocent. None of them are innocent.”
Schneier’s divorcing a wife with a young child seemed to be the final straw.
[. . .]
“It’s an abuse of power,” says Sara Shulevitz, a 30-something criminal-defense attorney who splits her time between Miami and New York and has been to services led by Schneier. “A lot of women admire and look up to rabbis, especially in [Orthodox Judaism], because there are no female rabbis. It’s horrible for a rabbi to abuse that trust, [but] a lot of people look the other way because he’s a powerful man.”
[. . .]

The Hampton Synagogue where Marc Schneier’ has served as the head rabbi.

Photo: VICTORALCORN.COM

“Look, he obviously has a weakness; his attention span for a mate is different from others’,” says Jeff Wiesenfeld, 58, who works in private-wealth management and has known the rabbi for 35 years. “But in terms of what he’s done [for the shul], he’s a phenomenon.”
“He’s the greatest — he built this from nothing,” says Graulich, the acolyte from New Rochelle, who praises the rabbi’s successful turnaround of the Jewish-averse Hamptons back in 1990, when there was scarcely any Semitic life there, let alone a haute spot for the monied class to mingle. “They wouldn’t allow Jews to join the country clubs.”
He happily drives the two hours each way every Saturday to hear his unimpeachable leader, who can do no wrong.
“He’s married, he’s divorced — big deal . . . King Solomon had 20 wives. Five is nothing,” says Graulich.
Plus, he says: “I like controversy. I don’t like a boring shul. I want Peyton Place as a shul; if I wanted a boring shul, I’d go to Westchester.”
http//nypost.com/2016/04/24/randy-rabbi-who-cheated-on-five-wives-finally-gets-booted-from-the-hamptons/

Rabbi with 5 ex-wives, and a new fling, finally gets Hamptons boot
By Doree Lewak
New York Post
April 24, 2016 | 5:49am

Long Island, NY Greedy Cousins Murder Uncle. Police Incompetenece, or Intentional Negligence

John Frankowski Jr. and Kim Delaney (left) claim their cousin Jonathan Roman (top right) killed their father, John S. Frankowski Sr. (bottom right), at the request of their aunts.Photo: Edmund J. Coppa ; AP

[From article]
A middle-aged momma’s boy who was sentenced to 18 years to life behind bars Monday for murdering his uncle was actually the puppet of a greedy family “cabal,” a Long Island lawsuit charges.
The children of victim John S. Frankowski, Sr. claim in the civil suit that their cousin, convicted killer Jonathan Roman, 44, was acting at the direction of his mom Sandra Roman and aunt Annmarie Porter.
The sisters wanted their brother Frankowski dead to land another $100,000 apiece on top of the $200,000 each they were already getting from their late mother’s estate, according to the documents.
[. . .]
Frankowski’s son, John Jr., added of his relatives, “Clearly they’re a bunch of bumbling buffoons.
“But obviously, had it not been for [our investigation], I truly believe that Jonathan and the rest of family, in their mind, thought they were going to get away with murder.”
Jonathan Roman was slapped with the hefty prison term Monday after reading a statement in a Nassau County court in which he said he was sorry for his crime.
“I was using cocaine and smoking pot, I definitely wasn’t thinking clearly that day. I was speaking to my uncle for a while, I brought up an issue with the house and my uncle, and I began to argue. My uncle started to fight with me. Next thing I know, my uncle is dead,” the killer said.
Judge David Sullivan said, “This obviously is a cowardly and heinous act.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s son,w ho traveled from Florida for the sentencing, lamented, ”My dad will only be stories to my children.
“I lost myself after my father was murdered,” he said.
[. . .]
After John Sr. went missing in early 2014, Sandra Roman left his son a voice mail asking him to call her. In the background of the March 2 call, her son Jonathan Roman can be heard saying “the f–king eyeballs are out” — an unsettling reference to the medical examiner’s testimony during Roman’s trial that the 71-year-old’s eyeballs bulged out when the killer choked him to death, court documents state.
That same night, surveillance video from across the street showed Roman lugging a body out of his uncle’s house in a tarp and stuffing it into the trunk of his mom’s car, the suit says.
The elderly man’s mangled corpse was found buried in a 6x6x4 shallow grave in the woods behind Sandra Roman’s house five days later.
The paper also charge retired Naussau County Detective Ronald Dandrea with helping to try cover up the murder, telling Sandra’s other son, Stanley, that “police would not look for John S. Frankowski Sr. because he was ‘old and white.’ ”
[. . .]
After John Sr. went missing in early 2014, Sandra Roman left his son a voice mail asking him to call her. In the background of the March 2 call, her son Jonathan Roman can be heard saying “the f–king eyeballs are out” — an unsettling reference to the medical examiner’s testimony during Roman’s trial that the 71-year-old’s eyeballs bulged out when the killer choked him to death, court documents state.
That same night, surveillance video from across the street showed Roman lugging a body out of his uncle’s house in a tarp and stuffing it into the trunk of his mom’s car, the suit says.
The elderly man’s mangled corpse was found buried in a 6x6x4 shallow grave in the woods behind Sandra Roman’s house five days later.
The paper also charge retired Naussau County Detective Ronald Dandrea with helping to try cover up the murder, telling Sandra’s other son, Stanley, that “police would not look for John S. Frankowski Sr. because he was ‘old and white.’ ”

http://nypost.com/2016/02/29/sisters-had-their-brother-killed-for-200k-inheritance-family/

Sisters had their brother killed for $200K inheritance: family
By Julia Marsh, Reuven Fenton and Emily Saul
New York Post
February 29, 2016 | 12:05am

Mayor Of Spring Valley, NY Accused During Public Comment Of Sleeping With Wife of Speaker

Demeza Delhomme, the mayor of Spring Valley, NY

Photo: AP

[video embedded]

[From article]
A Rockland County village meeting devolved into a scene out of Maury Povich on Tuesday night when a resident accused the mayor of using his “power” to have sex with his wife.
Reginald Alfred, a 48-year-old maintenance man, took the microphone at the meeting and began sharing details of how Spring Valley Mayor Demeza Delhomme was a homewrecker who ruined his 12-year marriage, according to video recorded by The Journal News.
“He destroyed my house. He destroyed my family. I have two daughters,” he said during a 15-minute shouting fest that riled up city officials and other residents in the audience.
When another resident in the audience asked Delhomme if he knew Alfred’s wife, the controversial mayor yelled, “I know everybody in this community. I don’t know the person.”
He vehemently denied the claims while holding his phone that was recording the confrontation, yelling, “I don’t know this man. I’ve never met this man.”
Alfred went back up to the mic at least one more time, calling the mayor a “liar.”

http://nypost.com/2016/02/24/the-mayor-slept-with-my-wife-man-claims-at-village-meeting/

Village meeting bombshell: The mayor slept with my wife
By Sophia Rosenbaum
New York Post
February 24, 2016 | 4:15pm

Scarsdale, New York Lawyer Arrested, Charged With Killing His Physician Wife

Dr. Robin Goldman

[From article]
A Scarsdale lawyer was charged early Thursday with murder after his wife was found dead inside their mansion, authorities said.
Julius Reich, 61, was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge early Thursday before Judge Joaquin Alemany in Scarsdale Village Court. He was held without bail at the Westchester Couny (sic) Jail.
Prominent pediatrician Dr. Robin Goldman, 58, was attacked about 10 a.m. Wednesday in the 5,700-square-foot, $3.4 million home on Lincoln Road in Scarsdale’s exclusive Heathcoate neighborhood, police said.Modal Trigger
Reich called 911 and ­arriving cops found his wife’s blood-soaked body in the shower, law enforcement sources have told The Post.
Reich, who sources said had sustained “defensive wounds,” was taken into custody at the scene, police said.
He is a lawyer and CPA for WeiserMazars in Hamilton Heights, where co-workers ­declined to comment on the case.
His wife worked at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx.
[. . .]
He earned a law degree from NYU, a juris doctorate from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a BA in accounting from Brooklyn College.
He is a certified public accountant and a member of the New York State Bar Association.
Reich had petitioned for divorce in August 2015 but the matter had not been resolved, the Journal News reported.

http://nypost.com/2016/01/20/cops-question-husband-over-wifes-gruesome-murder/

Husband arrested after pediatrician wife stabbed to death in shower
By Shawn Cohen, Frank Rosario and Bob Fredericks
New York Post
January 20, 2016 | 4:00pm | Updated

Upstate New York College Love Triangle Leaves Three Dead

[From article]
An upstate college basketball player and her boyfriend, who plays on the hockey team, were slaughtered by the young woman’s ex-lover when he found them in bed together at an off-campus home near SUNY Geneseo, authorities said on Monday.
Colin Kingston bought a “large knife” at a nearby store and arrived at the rented home of Kelsey Annese, 21, some time between 5:30 a.m. and 6:21 a.m. Sunday, Geneseo Police spokesman Jeffrey Szczesniak said Monday.
Kingtson, 24, let himself in through the back door and found Annese and Matthew Hutchinson, 24, in an upstairs bedroom and murdered them “quickly,” cops said. There were no signs of a struggle and the victims may have been sleeping, he said.
Kingston and Annese had been together for more than three years, and he took their recent breakup badly.

http://nypost.com/2016/01/18/students-found-dead-near-ny-college-campus/

Ex-boyfriend killed SUNY students in bedroom before suicide: police
By Fox News
New York Post
January 18, 2016 | 10:10am | Updated

* * *

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/18/murder-suicide-suspected-in-deaths-3-near-suny-geneseo-campus.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fmost-popular+%28Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content%29

Murder-suicide suspected in deaths of 3 near SUNY Geneseo campus
Published January 18, 2016 FoxNews.com

* * *

[From article]
Authorities are investigating the deaths of two college students and a former student at a house blocks from the SUNY Geneseo campus, about 35 miles south of Rochester.
The bodies were discovered after Geneseo police responded to the home around 6 a.m. Sunday following a 911 call from a family member of one of the victims,reports CBS Rochester affiliate WROC-TV.
They were identified as 21-year-old Kelsey Annese, of Webster, 24-year-old Matthew Hutchinson, of Vancouver, British Columbia, and 24-year-old Colin Kingston, of Geneseo.
Police said Annese and Hutchinson were students at Geneseo. They said Kingston was a former student.
Police said no firearm was used, but a knife was recovered. Police said they believe the perpetrator was one of the victims, but it was too soon to say which one.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/3-young-adults-found-dead-in-house-near-geneseo-college-campus-in-new-york/

January 17, 2016, 10:25 PM
3 young adults found dead in house near college campus in N.Y.

He Killed Them All, Book About Robert Durst's Notorious History

Debrah Lee Charatan, Durst's Current WifePhoto: Getty Images

[From review]
In this excerpt from Pirro’s new book — “He Killed Them All: Robert Durst and My Quest for Justice,” out Tuesday — she details meeting Durst’s current wife, Debrah Lee Charatan, who was seen briefly in “The Jinx” and became a source of fascination to viewers.
[. . .]
Robert gave her a $78,000 ring. It might sound like a lot. But consider that Durst received $3 million a year from his trust. If you used the one-month-salary rule, Durst should have spent $250,000.
The betrothed couple next went to a lawyer’s office, and he signed over power of attorney, giving her control of his vast fortune. Durst would himself describe the union to his sister, Wendy, as a “marriage of convenience. I had to have Debrah to write my checks. I was setting myself up to be a fugitive.”
I said to her, “You do realize that Robert Durst is a dangerous man.”
“He’s not dangerous at all. If he came home, I’d open the door.” He was on the lam at the time, having jumped bail in Galveston, Texas.

Morris Black
Photo: AP

At the time, Durst was a suspect in the murder and dismemberment of Morris Black. After being charged with the murder, he posted $300,000 bail and fled Texas. He was later caught in Pennsylvania shoplifting a sandwich from a Wegman’s grocery store.

http://nypost.com/2015/10/31/what-kind-of-woman-would-marry-robert-durst/

What kind of woman would marry Robert Durst?
By Mackenzie Dawson
New York Post
October 31, 2015 | 2:54pm

New York Governor Cuomo Resells World Series Tickets To Fund Campaign

[From article]

As The Post reported Tuesday, Gov. Cuomo is using the Mets’ home games in the World Series to raise himself some campaign cash.
His staff picked up a “very limited number” of tickets to this week’s Games 3 and 4 at Citi Field — and is selling the $125 tickets to supporters for as much as $5,500.
The campaign’s offer also includes a ­90-minute private reception with the gov. Cuomo’s not the only pol using the Fall Classic to raise campaign funds: Rep. Grace Meng has a similar scheme — for an only slightly more affordable $2,500 a head.
Now, scalping is perfectly legal in New York; a whole secondary market exists for that purpose. But Cuomo’s charging a major markup: The average Series ticket at Citifield is going for about $1,600 on StubHub.



Worse is the unseemly air of insider access here. It’s far easier for a high-ranking official (or his flunkies) to score seats than it is for the average Joe. Did Cuomo forget the anger when Gov. David Paterson scored Yankees tickets?
And to then milk the prized passes for campaign cash . . .
It’s particularly tacky when Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was so tough on scalpers. Back in 2010, he went after folks who sat in line for free Shakespeare In The Park tickets, then resold them on Craigslist.

http://nypost.com/2015/10/27/cuomos-world-series-scalping-scam-is-outrageous-and-hypocritical/

Cuomo’s World Series scalping scam is outrageous and hypocritical
By Post Editorial Board
New York Post
October 27, 2015 | 7:38pm

New York State Authority Official Claims He Was Fired For Exposing Fraud

Kirk Swanson, former vice president of administration at the Battery Park City Authority. Photo: Linkedin

[From article]

A former vice president of the Battery Park City Authority has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit, claiming he was fired for exposing corruption in the awarding of contracts, The Post has learned.
Kirk Swanson, a former VP and chief contracts officer at the state agency, alleges he “discovered that high-level BPCA employees were making false statements in an effort to bypass the BPCA’s contract approval process.”
Swanson sent a memo to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office outlining his accusations in May 2014 — just days after his ouster. The governor appoints the agency’s three-member board.
“It was Mr. Swanson’s job to ensure that the BPCA followed anti-corruption guidelines,” said Swanson’s lawyer, Jason Solotaroff. “It’s outrageous he was terminated for doing just that.”
Swanson alleges that agency president Shari Hyman selected a favored vendor, Revolver Studios, to redesign two online sites without aggressively seeking other bids.
“Work on the Web site projects had begun prior to the contract being approved, again in violation of BPCA procedures,” the suit said.
Swanson said he was told Hyman sought to bypass normal contracting procedures, which would have required three competitive bids. Instead, the agency labeled the contract a “discretionary procurement” and split it into two parts for less than $50,000 each — one for the BPCA and the other for the Battery Park Conservancy, its not-for-profit arm.
Swanson called the outcome “utterly bogus.”
He subsequently found out that agency officials in February 2014 had approved a new contract with a law firm, Liddle & Robinson, to handle $1 billion in bond transactions. But the legal work had not been presented to or approved by the BPCA’s contract selection committee.
The former executive said the contract was approved by his deputy behind his back, when he was on vacation.
Swanson was fired three days after he sent an email to legal counsel questioning the transaction.
http://nypost.com/2015/09/30/whistleblower-claims-he-was-fired-for-doing-his-job/

Whistleblower claims he was fired for doing his job
By Carl Campanile
New York Post
September 30, 2015 | 2:13am

Long Island, NY College Student Sues Police After Arrest for Showing Impeach Obama Sign

[From article]
A Long Island college student who was arrested for hanging an “Impeach Obama” banner from a Long Island Expressway overpass is suing the Nassau County Police Department for violating his right to free speech, according to a Long Island federal lawsuit.
Danny Martins, a senior at Hofstra University who says he’s a member of the school’s Libertarian Club, was charged with disorderly conduct in June 2014 after hanging up the message and the American flag from a pedestrian walkway in Jericho.
But a judge eventually tossed all charges against the libertarian activist after citing his right to free speech.

http://nypost.com/2015/09/05/student-arrested-for-impeach-obama-banner-sues-police/

Student arrested for ‘Impeach Obama’ banner sues police
By Selim Algar
New York Post
September 5, 2015 | 12:59am

Updated: Black Graduate of Harvard College, and Harvard Law School Dies After Being Shot at NYC Carnival, Aide To NY Governor, Who Offers Tribute

Posted September 23, 2015 8:37 PN ET; Last updated September 27, 2015 9:15 PM ET

[From article]
Gov. Andrew Cuomo likened Carey Gabay, his murdered aide, to Jesus Christ in his eulogy Saturday — and called for earthly action in response.
[. . .]
Gabay, 43, who died on Sept. 16, was an innocent bystander caught in a crossfire and shot in the head at an early-morning J’Ouvert celebration before the Sept. 7 West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn.
[. . .]
Gabay, a Harvard-educated lawyer who grew up in public housing, was first deputy counsel for Empire State Development.
“This was an extraordinary, extraordinary human being,” Cuomo said outside. “He could have been making a million dollars at any law firm. Instead he is in public service.”

http://nypost.com/2015/09/26/cuomo-mourns-carey-gabay-at-funeral-demands-gun-control/

Cuomo mourns Carey Gabay at funeral, demands gun control
By Georgett Roberts and Mary Kay Linge
New York Post
September 26, 2015 | 12:51pm

* * *

[From article]
Carey W. Gabay ’94, a former president of Harvard's Undergraduate Council, died last Wednesday, after he was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in New York City the previous week. He was 43.
Gabay was attending a celebration before the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn, N.Y., when the shooting began, according to The New York Times. He was declared brain-dead last Tuesday night and taken off a respirator.
Gabay’s classmates and co-representatives on the UC remember him as a dedicated and committed leader. Gabay’s devotion to public service did not end after his graduation—at the time of his death, Gabay worked as an administrative lawyer and aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He graduated from the College and also attended Harvard Law School.
During his time at Harvard, Gabay served as UC president at one of the most diverse periods the Council had seen. When Gabay took office, he did so as one of the Council's first top African-American leaders.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/23/gabay-obituary-former-uc/

Carey Gabay ’94 Remembered as Passionate Public Servant

By JALIN P. CUNNINGHAM
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
September 23, 2015

Updated: NY Assemblyman Convicted Of Fraud

Posted October 6, 2014 8:39 PM ET; Last updated September 14, 2015 8:06 PM ET


William Scarborough

Photo: Shannon DeCelle

[From article]
Another corrupt Albany pol bites the dust.
Former Queens Assemblyman William Scarborough was sentenced Monday to 13 months’ imprisonment and two years of probation for submitting more than $40,000 in bogus travel reimbursement for days he didn’t travel to Albany on legislative business.
[. . .]
He also must pay $54,355 in restitution.
The Post was the first to zero in on Scarborough’s shady practices, having caught him at a town hall meeting in Jamaica, Queens, on March 17, 2011, when he was claiming a $165 “per diem” expense payment for being in Albany that same day.
“I don’t think I have to give you proof,” the Democrat sniped in 2012.
[. . .]
Scarborough also pleaded guilty in state court this spring to grand larceny, admitting he took $38,000 in unauthorized cash withdrawals from his campaign fund.

http://nypost.com/2015/09/14/assemblyman-gets-13-months-in-jail-for-bogus-travel-expenses/

Assemblyman gets 13 months in jail for bogus travel expenses
By Kirstan Conley
New York Post
September 14, 2015 | 1:25pm

* * *

[From article]
In an October 2012 article, The Post said Scarborough submitted vouchers claiming $825 in reimbursements for spending five nights in a row in Albany, from March 13 through March 17, 2011.
But news accounts at the time said he was in Jamaica, Queens, from 6 to 9 p.m. on March 17, 2011 — a Sunday — for a town hall meeting.
Records compiled by the state comptroller’s office show Scarborough racked up some of the largest per diems in town, pulling in $30,006 in 2011, $25,038 in 2012 and $18,522 in 2013.
Scarborough is just the latest Queens pol to be hit with corruption charges.
Queens Sen. Malcolm Smith, defeated in last month’s Democratic primary, faces a trial in January for trying to bribe his way onto the Republican ballot for mayor last year.
Disgraced ex-Queens Sen. Shirley Huntley was convicted of looting $87,000 from an educational nonprofit she had founded by going on shopping sprees, among other things.

http://nypost.com/2014/10/01/assemblyman-william-scarborough-arrested/

Assemblyman William Scarborough arrested
By Carl Campanile
New York Post
October 1, 2014 | 8:28am

IRS, NY and CA Attorneys General, Target National Marriage Non Profit, Criminal Violations

[From article]
The National Organization for Marriage, whose donor names were leaked by the IRS to hostile blogs, and nationally recognized conservative nonprofit organizations such as Media Research Center, Concerned Women for America, Citizens United, Family Research Council, Faith & Freedom Coalition, the Weyrich Lunch, Leadership Institute, and Project Veritas are among the 58 organizations on the brief.



The brief describes how Ms. Harris is using extortionate demands to intimidate and censor nonprofit advocacy organizations and charities by requiring they file with her a confidential tax return schedule showing their top donors. Those demands are worse than what the Alabama attorney general tried because they violate federal law protecting confidential tax return information. The New York attorney general is doing the same as Ms. Harris.
[. . .]
Here is a clip from part IV of the brief describing Ms. Harris’ clear violations of federal law, which, by the way, is supposed to impose criminal penalties on government officials who intentionally violate this law. The entire brief may be read here.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/09/political_elites_violating_tax_return_confidentiality_laws_in_ways_that_would_land_citizens_in_jail.html

September 2, 2015
Political elites violating tax return confidentiality laws in ways that would land citizens in jail
By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

SEIU Hates Cops Too

Getty Images


[From article]
Officers Joshua Comitale and Chad Klein were both fired upon while responding to a gunpoint carjacking Saturday night. Klein was shot in the shoulder at point-blank range, while Comitale was shot multiple times in the legs. Both officers will undergo surgeries but are expected to recover from their injuries.
The suspect, 39-year-old Thaddeus Faison, was shot multiple times and continued to resist arrest. He would later succumb to his injuries.
While most in the community were praising the officers for their heroic actions in getting Faison, a career criminal who police Chief John Tedesco described as “very violent” off the streets, a local union organizer had a very different take.
[. . .]
Sean Collins, listed as an Albany organizer for SEIU Local 200 United, repeatedly posted support for the carjacker on social media, while simultaneously denouncing the police for their actions.
[. . .]
Under fire, Collins refused to back down from his controversial remarks, tweeting hours later, “While the reactionaries vie for who loves the cops the most, my thoughts lie with Thaddeus’ family – he is more than the sum of his mistakes.”
The local organizer and former intern for Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko explained that the police officers were actually to blame for the shooting incident, simply by virtue of showing up on the scene.
“Up until Klein and Comatile showed,” Collins wrote, “everyone was alive and unharmed.”

http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/24/union-organizer-tweets-support-for-dead-carjacker-who-shot-two-cops/

DailyCaller
Union Organizer Tweets Support For Dead Carjacker Who Shot Two Cops

Rusty WeissEditor, The Mental Recession
12:08 PM 08/24/2015

New York State Mother Drowns Trying To Rescue Daughter And Her Friend in Lake Erie

Hero: Creighton (photo above) rushed into the rough waters of Lake Erie when she realized the girls were having a tough time swimming. Officials recovered her body about a mile away.

[From article]
A heroic 51-year-old mother tragically drowned after trying to rescue two young girls, one of whom which was her daughter, from Lake Erie on Thursday evening.
Authorities identified the mother as Mary E. Creighton of Buffalo, New York.
The girls, ages 10 and 11, began struggling in the dangerous waters about 100 yards from shore when the woman rushed in to try and help them.
WGRZ reported the water was extremely rough with waves between five and seven feet high, making it difficult for rescuers to try and save all three of them.
[. . .]
A bystander helped the 10-year-old girl make it back to shore and told police that there were still two people in the water who needed help.
'My officers immediately started running and looking up and down the beach,' Evans Police Chief Ernie Masullo told WGRZ.
'They did notice a young girl bobbing in the water. One of my lieutenants stripped his uniform, stripped his firearm and ran into the water about a 100 yards out and grabbed the girl.
'He became in trouble and one of my other officers ran in and rescued both of them.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3181338/Brave-mother-tragically-drowned-trying-rescue-two-girls-including-daughter-rough-waters-Lake-Erie-no-swimming-allowed.html

Pictured: The brave mother who drowned trying to rescue two girls, including her ten-year-old daughter, from rough waters of Lake Erie
Two young girls were struggling to swim in the waters at Wendt Beach
The mother of one of the girls rushed into the water to try and save them
Authorities were able to rescue the two girls, but the mother drowned
Officials say there were no lifeguards on duty because swimming isn't allowed at that beach
By Regina F. Graham For Dailymail.com
Published: 08:56 EST, 31 July 2015 | Updated: 07:08 EST, 3 August 2015

Misguided New York State Politicians

Two Plus Two Is This Many

[From article]
“Invest in the future.” In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo follows in a long line of political leaders who, using some version of those words, said that they wanted to invest in jobs and growth—and then did little to follow through. If Cuomo and others really wanted to make such investments, they would have reduced taxes, both for individuals and businesses, and streamlined regulation.
[. . .]
For decades, New York has been one of the highest-tax states in the union.
[. . .]
Governor Cuomo’s “Global NY” initiative, targeting Mexican, Canadian, Israeli, Chinese, and Italian firms, while also paying for the governor to lead a trade mission to Cuba, does not appear to have lured any significant business to the Empire State.
[. . .]
Failure to invest in policies that actually grow the economy, then, demonstrates that the constant talk of investment is pure rhetoric.
More telling still is where the budgetary emphasis has gone. Without exception, spending has grown fastest in areas best described as current consumption.
[. . .]

if New York’s leadership won’t—or can’t—change course, the least it could do is spare voters the lip service.

http://www.city-journal.org/2015/eon0714me.html

MILTON EZRATI
Don’t Read Their Lips
New York State politicians promise to invest in the future but never do.
July 14, 2015