From the NY Times:
New York City has adopted some of the strictest rules in the nation to curb the influence of money in politics. Donors with business before it are all but barred from contributing to officials in the city’s campaign finance system.
Yet in recent years, Mr. Markowitz has found another way to tap into those donors. He has established a network of four charities that has reaped at least $20 million since 2003, and probably more, according to interviews and an analysis of city records.
That amount — remarkable for any local politician, let alone one who does not hold citywide office — is a testament to Mr. Markowitz’s stature as a Brooklyn power broker and to his intense focus on building these nonprofit groups. They have in turn played an important role in burnishing his public profile.
The donors to the nonprofit groups range from huge corporations like Wal-Mart and TD Bank to local entrepreneurs, but they usually have one thing in common: They have a stake in city legislation, real estate projects, zoning disputes and other Brooklyn issues.
Mr. Markowitz has often personally cajoled wealthy executives to give tens of thousands of dollars at a time to his nonprofit groups. Some recalled that he was relentless, seemingly unable to take no for an answer.
His nonprofit network is so intertwined with his office that anyone who wants to hold events in Brooklyn Borough Hall, a stately Greek Revival building on Joralemon Street, pays a fee to one of the charities, Best of Brooklyn, not to the city. Those fees in recent years have totaled nearly $200,000, records show.
8 comments:
New York City has adopted some of the strictest rules in the nation to curb the influence of money in politics. Donors with business before it are all but barred from contributing to officials in the city’s campaign finance system.
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Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
most of the queens donors to democrat candidates in the past 20 years, are liable if this law is on the books.
Beep Marty is in my opinion the poster boy for "Pay for Play.". The IRS, NYC DOI & the NY State Attorney General should look into this BUM of a Politican & his non-profits.
This must me just the tip of the iceberg.
Marty has come from of culture of corruption. He was brought through the ranks of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club of Brooklyn.
Some notables electeds are & were Meade Esposito , Carl Kruger, Frank Seddio, Anthony Weiner, & others.
Hey. You guys in Queens want to trade with us?
Nice to know that Marty encourages people to give to "charity." What a mensch.
At least Brooklyn
boasts a higher style of chikanery.
Their borough presidents
are proud boosters for their borough's heritage.
They know how to return a large portion of their "take" to improve things.
In Queens we have petty crooks.
They rob the till and return nothing!
They are joined at the hips to developers who destroy our potential landmarks....
replacing them with mega box structures.
And compare Marty Markowitz's impressive office with that of dumbkoff's Helen Marshal's which looks like a former Soviet bureau chief's.
In Queens the pols milk the cash through the not for profit orgs.
And how very profitable that is!
Consider the Stavisky "North Flushing Senior Center" and what it alone takes in.
The Staviskys have always made sure that the NFSC gets the lion's share of funding.
H-m-m-m....
and where does it all go....into (LOL) providing senior lunches which the seniors pay for themselves?
The Stavs have always maintained one of the largest political campaign coffers in NYC.
Where did all that $$$$$$$$$$ come from....robbing the elderly, perhaps?
A tale of two boroughs
"funny fund raising" practices:
#1.
In Brooklyn there's Marty's "charities".
#2.
In Queens there's the "Parkside Group".
I wonder what do they do
for campaign cash up in the Bronx?
We already know that in Staten Island the Mafia buys their borough president his office.
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