The Crowley court suspension is over

From the Observer:

Relatives of Congressman Joseph Crowley, chairman of Queens Democratic Party, are once again picking up appointments and payments from the borough’s Supreme Court—six years after anti-nepotism rules banned members of the clan from profiting off the system.

A minor scandal broke out in 2011 when reports arose that jurists in the borough had handed out lucrative temporary work to Bernadette and Theresa Crowley, cousins of the party boss and sisters to Queens Councilman Elizabeth Crowley, at the same time that their other sister Margaret held a six-figure clerking gig under Supreme Court Justice Darrell Gavrin. State strictures forbid lawyers from getting court-ordered assignments in a judicial district where a member of their nuclear family holds any moderately well-compensated position.

And so began a four year hiatus for the Crowleys from Queens Supreme Court. But state payroll records indicate that Margaret Crowley left her job a few months into 2015, and her family members began scooping up appointments from Supreme Court judges almost immediately afterward.

Queens Library now involved in de Blasio woes

From Progress Queens:

Large campaign contributors, lobbyists doubling as bundlers, lawyers, and real estate developers were listed on a spreadsheet that totaled 97 names from which top officials in the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-New York City) were said to have selected key appointments during his first months in office.

Ultimately, at least 43 of the 97 individuals appearing on the spreadsheet accepted at least one appointment.

The existence of the spreadsheet and some of its details were revealed in a bombshell report published Tuesday by The New York Daily News.

The spreadsheet "shows how the mayor uses the power of his office to reward those who have sent checks his way," wrote the journalists Jennifer Fermino and Greg Smith, adding, in part, later in the report that, the spreadsheet "makes clear the very top of City Hall was involved in coordinating appointments for VIPs."

The news report noted that some individuals listed on the spreadsheet eventually were appointed to government agencies and quasi-government bodies, such as the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, and the Queens Borough Public Library.

...the office of Borough President Katz would not comment when asked by Progress Queens about the possibility that Mayor de Blasio was selecting political supporters to serve as Trustees of the Queens Borough Public Library during a time when the public has been demanding more accountability from the library system's leadership.