Friday, February 1, 2008

Last-minute donations


The real estate industry, racing to beat strict new limits on campaign contributions, has been flooding New York City candidates with donations for the 2009 campaign at a rate three and four times that in previous election cycles.


Candidates of New York Are Awash in Real Estate Cash

The industry, which looks to City Hall for everything from zoning changes to tax breaks, is traditionally a dependable source of cash for city election candidates. But with new regulations set to take effect starting on Saturday, donations have soared.

The New York Times examined contributions from executives and others affiliated with 25 of the city’s most prominent property management, brokerage and real estate development firms.

The companies together had given more than $1 million by Jan. 15, the most recent reporting deadline for the 2009 election. Those same firms had given $239,000 by the same point in January 2004 and $348,000 by January 2000.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the old days they used to call these bribes. Now they're called campaign donations.

Anonymous said...

Democratic Dictionary:

Bribe: a campaign donation.

Anonymous said...

And who's at the head of the line
Liu, Katz, Stavisky h-m-m-m ?