Thursday, November 10, 2016

Former Queens Library president makes a pretty penny

From onrockaway:

Only in New York City would a man who used more than $250,000 in public funds on “inappropriate” expenses be rewarded with a $300,000 windfall and be protected from paying back the money he used.

City officials, have agreed to just that deal with Queens Library president Thomas Galante, who got canned for his actions and then sued the city for violating his contract. The city caved and paid out the money. The library has agreed to settle Galante’s severance suit for $1.5 million, most of which will go to legal fees, except for $300,000 that he will pocket.

An audit by the city Comptroller’s Office found that he racked up roughly $260,000 in “inappropriate” expenses on his library-issued credit cards over two years including for food, booze, casino trips and concert tickets.

Nevertheless, Galante filed suit last year in Brooklyn federal court after he was terminated in December 2014, claiming he was due severance pay under his contract because he was not fired for cause. But even though the library argued that he was indeed fired for cause, it decided not to fight Galante in court.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting how BP Katz is not mentioned here. Wasn't she the one who "went after him and forced him out"? Or maybe she wanted her sheeple to think so. It was all over the local media. But she has no comment on this crap???
What's the latest on the NYS Pavilion ?

Anonymous said...

Prediction: Galante will be wooed for another city agency position soon....just watch.

Kevin Walsh said...

When you have money you get more...

Anonymous said...

What a leech and scumbag.

JQ LLC said...

Well, now this swine has his city issued tech toys stripped from him he can just buy new ones can he?

This is some bizzaro world shit. Walcott now has to go. It's official, it's now legal to steal from the libraries. Will resources and hours be cut to make up for this unjust cash doling hemorrhage?

With this recent hustling and with the way this nation rewards charming sociopaths, expect this mooching pig to wind up in a immoral venture capital firm. He won't be working for the city, he'll just be working it.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Trump would have appointed Galante as the new Librarian of Congress had Obama not just appointed Carla Hayden, who is the first woman to hold the job (as well as an African American).

Loyal Queens Democrat said...

I'm so glad that the Democrats have almost total control over New York City!

Corruption is virtually non-existent!

If we could just get rid of those 3 Republicans in the city council, the City will be rainbows and unicorn rides EVERY DAY!!!

Anonymous said...

This City rolls over and plays dead far too often in settling lawsuits. If raiding the coffers for personal gain is not cause, I'm not sure what is.

Anonymous said...

Will resources and hours be cut to make up for this unjust cash doling hemorrhage?

I would hope that they have insurance to cover it.

Anonymous said...

They will do nothing because he has the dirt on the library board which are a good portion of the movers and shakers that made of mess of the library as well as this boro.

They want this over soon so they can make the library the official mouthpiece for all things cultural decided by boro hall.

Anonymous said...

You got THAT right, last Anonymous! These voracious, pathological thieves are the SAME SOCIOPATHS who CREATED the MASSIVE corruption, graft and systemic greed (from within) in the FIRST PLACE, and now they seriously expect our duped residents to belive that they will now finally remedy their OWN, monstrously self-serving corruption——especially after every insider criminal was paid off with our money??

THIS IS WHAT GOVERNMENT TYRANNY AND ANARCHY LOOK LIKE——STRAIGHT TO THE CROOKED PAPER TRAIL OF CZARINA MELINDA KATZ'S CRUMBLING BORO HALL EMPIRE OF EPIC, HUMANITARIAN FAIL (where the FIRST sign of depravity and mental defect from this anarchist should have been Katz's personal deficiencies regarding the choice for her sperm donor/baby daddy, Curtis Sliwa, whom she portends to have harvested his 'demon seed' from a repository more than a decade later)!

MEN (AND WOMEN) HAVE BEEN HANGED FOR LESS!

Anonymous said...

As Nero fiddles, the two closest libraries to my home will be closed for several months for roof replacement, which could have been funded by the money this a@@hole gets to keep.

Anonymous said...

How the hell does this guy get a severance pay larger then any city worker's salary?

Not even DiBlasio's best buddies at City Hall that he gave huge raises to get paid half of that. And I bet none of them have golden parachutes either.

Anonymous said...

Anon No. 11:

Name those men (and women).

Anonymous said...

As Nero fiddles, the two closest libraries to my home will be closed for several months for roof replacement, which could have been funded by the money this a@@hole gets to keep.

HEY, WITH ALL THE DEVELOPERS ON THE BOARD YOU THINK THEY WOULD GET A GOOD DEAL INSTEAD OF BUILDIND PRETENIOUS BLOATED MONSTROSITIES THAT TAKE FOREVER TO COMPLETE GLUTTED ON A BUDGET THAT IS A KING'S RANSOM ... WAIT IS THAT WHY THEIR ARE TRADITIONALLY PLENTY OF DEVELOPERS (AND ALMOST NO EDUCATORS) ON ITS BOARD?

Anonymous said...

What a shpos!

Anonymous said...

where was Galante's "DUE PROCESS"? this nation is a Constitutional Republic until the the World Marxists attempt to dictate to the Americans again.For the next 50 years ,U.S.citizens will be safe with a conservative mayority S.C.O.T.U.S. implamented by the Trump MOvement.
NYC will no longer be a"SANCTUARY" for illegal criminal aliens.I.C.E.will function once again. Trump will cut the ACTION NYC ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FUNDING.DeB & NYC COUNCIL gave them $30,0000,000 from your taxes so far. Against the fed. court ruling in 2016.

Anonymous said...

From the crazed rant planted by the hack a few entries above tells us that the preceeding post about the library board coverup, aided and abetted by Borough Hall, is right on the mark.

These people have such scorn for us they don't even try to hide stuff.

They are all a bunch of 'hillaries.'

Anonymous said...

I have been personally inconvenienced like crazy due to this Galante's greed. My local library branch was supposed to have a complete renovation which would take a year. It's been more than 3 years and it's still not finished---they didn't even progress beyond the front of the building being torn off for more than 2 years. That's 3 years, due to Galante stealing monies meant for construction, that I've had to run around the area to get library books because the postage stamp sized "temporary" library we have had to use had so few books to borrow that I've read most of them. Leave me alone with this puke for a few minutes and he'll never dream about stealing public monies again.

Anonymous said...

Why are all the Queens politicians mute?

WHY ARE ALL THE QUEENS POLITICIANS MUTE?

WHY ARE ALL THE QUEENS NEWSPAPERS MUTE?

EVEN WORSE, NO ONE IN QUEENS OUTSIDE OF CRAPPY IS OUTRAGED? WHAT DOES THIS TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THE HERMIT BOROUGH?

THERE SHOULD BE A CITIZEN'S LAWSUIT OVER THIS.

THAT LIBRARY IS A DEN OF CORRUPTION, A FINANCIAL SWAMP, AN LITTLE MORE THAN A BABY SITTING SERVICE AND A PARTY MOUTHPIECE DISGUISING AS A CIVIC ASSET.

WE ARE TIRED OF THE CONTEMPT THAT THE LEADERSHIP OF QUEENS HAS FOR US.

THIS SHOULD BE TAKEN OVER BY THE NYPL.

kapimap said...

Thats public srvice for you. City employees, teachers, cops, firemen, sanitation, etc.. get very good contracts in powerful unions, fine tuned to keep paying.

I tought the citys law department would have the brightest working for them, but this untouchable status tells a different story.

Anonymous said...

Whoa. Is this 'hush' money?

Is the money paid to him from public library monies originally earmarked for programming youth, immigrants, and seniors?

A million dollars being paid for the law firm? Are they keeping the money or funneling it somewhere else?

Why are not the former trustees not held responsible?

If any of these questions cannot be adequately answered then, yes, this library should be merged into the New York Public Library.

Preet?

Anonymous said...

Thats public srvice for you. City employees, teachers, cops, firemen, sanitation, etc.. get very good contracts in powerful unions, fine tuned to keep paying.

I tought the citys law department would have the brightest working for them, but this untouchable status tells a different story.
--------

Exhibit A as to why these people do these things. My friend, if that is the best you can say about this then it might be best if you keep your comments to yourself. They do not need defeatism fed to the public. This coverup can hang them with a public outcry.

Anonymous said...

Isn't Jimmy Van Bramer the head of the libraries --