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From
Progress Queens:
A requirement that Democratic Party candidates running for the New York State Senate use The Parkside Group for campaign mailers reminds government reform activists of the years-long prosecutorial effort to bust the corrupt Brooklyn party machine.
The New York Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, or DSCC, headed by State Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), required that "DSCC-backed candidates must use Parkside to print their campaign mail, an arrangement some Democrats have long bristled at," according to a report published by The New York Observer.
The DSCC requirement is similar to requirements demanded of some candidates over a decade go by the Democratic Party of Brooklyn. In 2002, Karen Yellen ran as a candidate for a judgeship for Brooklyn Civil Court. When former Kings County Democratic Party chair Clarence Norman tried to shake down Ms. Yellen’s campaign for costs associated with the printing of campaign literature for a slate of candidates, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, led at that time by Charles Hynes, later brought criminal charges against Mr. Norman, alleging that forcing candidates to pay for the costs of campaign literature designed by Ernest Lendler was a way to funnel money to the party's favored political campaign vendors, one sign, according to the District Attorney's Office, that the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s endorsement in judicial races could be had -- for a price, according to various news reports at the time.
In due course, Mr. Norman was found guilty in a jury trial of "coercion, grand larceny by extortion and attempted grand larceny by extortion" stemming from charges of having "coerced two candidates for civil court judge to pay thousands of dollars to favored campaign consultants, or lose his organization’s support in the 2002 primary," according to a 2007 report published by The New York Times.
For years, former Brooklyn District Attorney Hynes had scrutinised the Brooklyn Democratic Party over persistent allegations of corruption. At the time of the 2007 conviction of Mr. Norman, then District Attorney Hynes said of the Brooklyn political machine : “We have exposed it for the evil that it is,” adding in his comments to The New York Times that, “Any political leader who engages in this kind of rank extortion, and think about it, any political leader who tries this, does so at her or his peril.”
A message left with a principal at The Parkside Group, seeking more information about the nature of the firm's work for the DSCC, was not answered.
Seven years after Mr. Norman's conviction, some government reform activists say that the Democratic Party may be back to its old tricks, this time in Queens, but, activists note, there no longer appears to be any prosecutorial appetite by the city's District Attorneys' offices to investigate political corruption as there was a decade ago by former Brooklyn District Attorney Hynes.
Efforts were unsuccessful to reach the Queens District Attorney's Office about the DSCC's requirement to likewise use party-favored political campaign vendors.
A request for an interview with Senator Gianaris went unanswered.
From the
Daily News:
Former Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes may have committed larceny by using funds seized from crooks to pay for his failed bid for reelection, a stunning investigation revealed Monday.
A scathing report by the city’s Department of Investigations said Hynes paid a consultant more than $200,000 — money that may have been seized from drug dealers and other felons — for political counsel.
He also allowed senior staffers to help in his reelection effort during their work hours, the report found.
The DOI probe revealed that Justice Barry Kamins — then Brooklyn’s administrative judge and now the state’s chief of policy and planning — gave Hynes improper advice about the campaign and pending criminal matters.
Kamins has been relieved of his duties, and the findings have been referred to several agencies, including the attorney general, officials said.
Since Hynes’s humiliating defeat in the election in the fall, his legacy was further tarnished with the release of multiple inmates who were wrongfully convicted of murder during his tenure and with revelations of alleged unlawful tactics employed by his office.
But the damning DOI report may be the most critical indictment to date.
From the
Daily News:
A Brooklyn bakery worker who sold cakes and pastries also ran a half-baked side business that offered forged ID cards, prosecutors charged Thursday.
Jose Mateo Castro, 56, who worked at Las Conchitas Bakery in Sunset Park, was recently indicted, along with Leonel Escamiilo, 43, who is accused of producing the phony IDs out of his basement. Authorities said they sold a bogus green card and Social Security card to an informant.
"According to the agents at Homeland Security, these documents looked so authentic that an ordinary lay person could not detect them to be phony," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. The feds were tipped off about a forged-ID-selling baker in summer 2011. A subsequent yearlong probe involved surveillance from cars and a helicopter, Hynes said.
The two suspects, who are being held on bail, face seven years in prison if convicted, followed by deportation to their native Mexico.
From the
NY Post:
A Queens lawmaker wants to legalize betting on professional sports in New York — and his proposed legislation has the backing of one of the state’s top prosecutors, Brooklyn DA Charles “Joe” Hynes, The Post has learned.
State Sen. Tony Avella’s bill would allow betting on baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer at the Aqueduct and Yonkers racinos and all casinos across the state, as well as off-track betting parlors outside the city.
Currently, only betting on horse racing is legal.
Such legalized betting in the sports-crazed Big Apple could become a cash cow for the state, where fans passionately follow — and often illegally bet on — the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets Knicks and Rangers.
Citing a study conducted by the New York City Partnership five years ago, Democrat Avella said betting on pro sports would generate more than $2 billion.
He said the state’s cut from the racino sports book would go to fund schools.
“We have to think out of the box. I’d rather come up with revenue this way rather than raising property taxes,” said Avella.
He claimed said studies show illegal sports betting generates more than $100 billion nationally and as much as $15 billion to $30 billion in New York City alone — much of it feeding organized crime.
And that’s why Hynes is supporting the measure. He said sports betting should be regulated by the government and benefit the public, not crooks.
From the
NY Post:
After spending 16 years in jail on a murder conviction that was overturned this week, Jabbar Collins arrived home this afternoon to a hero’s welcome — but took time to land a jab at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office that put him behind bars after withholding evidence.
"Simply because someone is named a district attorney does not mean that they’re incapable of mistakes or even intentional misconduct," said Collins, after being greeted by his family members who waited outside his mother’s Queens home for him to arrive.
"I’m thankful that justice was finally served," said Collins, 37, who rode home from prison in a midnight blue limo, wearing khaki slacks and a white tee shirt.
"I’m disgusted, to be honest, however today is a day of rejoicing. I had 16 years of misery and 16 years of sorrow. So today I just want to enjoy myself with my family. I don’t even want to think about it," he said.
Federal Judge Dora Irizarry on Tuesday overturned the conviction in connection with the murder and robbery of a Brooklyn man, and barred prosecutors in Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes’ office from ever retrying Collins on the charges.
Irizarry ruled that the DA’s office withheld key evidence from defense attorneys during the trial. Collins was accused of shooting Abraham Pollac, a Williamsburg rabbi in 1994.
Arriving at his mother’s home in Jamaica, Queens, Collins first hugged his 18-year-old daughter, who was there along with his two sons and his six brothers and two sisters and his step-father. He also met his four-month old grandson for the first time.
Asked about the first thing he plans to do now that he’s free, Collins said: "Go to church and pray and give thanks to Jesus."
