NY Daily News
A
city-run tenant outreach program led by one of Mayor de Blasio’s top
political operatives is strongly believed to have doubled as an arm of
his 2017 reelection bid, according to sources who worked for the
program.
The Public Engagement Unit, which falls under the city’s Human Resources Administration, had workers knock on “thousands” of tenants’ doors to gather personal information, including names and addresses — in what former staffers described as an effort to lay the groundwork for 2017.
David Andrade, a former PEU tenant support specialist, described the unit as “very shady” and said he has no doubt the data it gathered was directed to de Blasio’s political operation.
"This wasn't kosher," he said. "It wasn't talked about ... but you could connect the dots. I knew it would be migrated."
Andrade said a connection to the campaign wasn’t spoken about openly, but was laid out to him by co-workers with ties to Rick Fromberg, who worked as de Blasio’s 2017 campaign manager and the PEU’s senior adviser from January 2015 to May 2016.
“It was wink wink, like this is going to be helpful in 2017 — that’s the way the senior adviser [Fromberg] would talk about it,” said another former PEU staffer. “Everybody could smell that it was sketchy.”
Public records confirm Fromberg was politically active at the time.
A March 2015 email obtained by the Daily News shows that while working at the unit, Fromberg wrote to former de Blasio adviser Peter Ragone about devising political strategy at the behest of City Hall.
“Emma/Boss
gave me point on putting together a suburbs/upstate political
strategy,” Fromberg wrote, referring to top de Blasio advisor Emma
Wolfe. “She lets me know you’ve (very generously, of course) offered
some guidance here. Got some time to connect on it?”
A month later, Fromberg followed up with Ragone about "suburban strategy."
“Boss is meeting with [former Nassau County Executive] Ed Mangano next week, and a couple other elements are in play for some regional partnerships,” he wrote. “Would love to wrap this all together. What do you think?”
Fromberg denied sending PEU data to the campaign.
“We unequivocally did not move data between the PEU and the de Blasio campaign,” he said.
“Anyone insinuating that we did is both misinformed and uninformed.”
Before working for the city, Fromberg worked for the Global Strategy Group, a public affairs firm that specializes in political campaigns.
6 comments:
This mayor is the worst thing that has happened to NY in a very long while.
The city while expanding development is the dirtiest I've seen since the early 90s.
Him and his wife are unaccountable for tax payer money and he acts as if he's the best thing that's happened. Who is paying for all his travel as he's not campaigning for president?
Lining pockets with the shelter expansion and prison shutdown.
hundreds of millions, you'd be better buying these people homes in other states.
shelters aren't going to save the homeless, he needs to work with develops for 100% new all affordable housing, the millions would be better spent.
He is disgraceful but most of all shame on NY for voting him back in. The blame lies with you all who put him back in.
PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU ARE NOT SHOCKED BY THIS NEWS .
"Nothing to see here just move on !" New York City Voters are the worst.
Hey it’s the machinery
While he and wifey smoke pot behind their Gracie Mansion "security" wall!
A mentally ill train wreck.....taking NYC back to the 1970s! How many mgs of Zoloft is he taking these days? 80?
I can bet anything that if he run for the 3rd term (I said "if"), he will wins again, because assholes are keep voting for him. My brother in-law voted for him twice because he is a "family man"....ugggrrrhhh
Post a Comment