NY delegation doesn't recognize Joe Crowley

Not too many people in the NY delegation are listening to Virginia Joe’s speech. Maybe he should move back home?

DNC host committee hosts dirty Dem

From the NY Observer:

Leonard Litwin, whose company Glenwood Management is believed to be the unnamed Developer 1 in the complaint against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was on a list Mayor Bill de Blasio released today of members of his host committee seeking to bring the 2016 Democratic National Convention to New York City.

The 100-year-old Mr. Litwin—known for his massive donations to Mr. de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, among many others—is one of 119 committee members hailing from the upper echelons of the worlds of finance, real estate, organized labor and politics. Last week, Crain’s New York noted that Glenwood Management, a luxury real estate firm, fits the description of “Developer 1″ in U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara‘s corruption complaint against Mr. Silver.

Mr. de Blasio’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In his statement announcing the members of the host committee, Mr. de Blasio argued that his slate of organizers and fund-raisers represent a broad cross-section of New York’s best and brightest.

NYC may not be getting the DNC

From WPIX:

“New York, with Mayor de Blasio, and some of the people who’ve been around him and all the police controversies,” said Baruch College political science professor Thomas Halper, regarding the DNC coming here, “New York may be too hot to handle.”

He was commenting on newly released information about private investment in attracting the event that could pump up to $340 million into the area economy, according to some estimates. Bringing the DNC to New York requires the city to raise $100 million in pledges from private donors. A month ago, it had raised $15 million, according to the mayor’s office. Now, a month later, the figure has barely budged to only $16 million.

This is about as upsetting as not getting the Olympics.

It pays to be a friend of Bill

From the Daily News:

A key player in Mayor de Blasio's drive to lure the Democratic convention to Brooklyn is seeking $90 million in tax-free bonds to refinance one of his already-subsidized properties.

Bruce Ratner - who developed the Barclays Center where de Blasio hopes the convention would be held - requested the city-backed subsidy from a quasi-governmental agency controlled by the mayor.

If approved, the tax-break will cost the city general fund nearly $1 million in tax revenue and create not a single new job. A hearing is set for Thursday.

Ratner and Maryanne Gilmartin, CEO of his firm, Forest City Ratner, are both members of a committee of movers and shakers de Blasio formed two months ago to raise money for the Democratic convention bid.

Ratner and his associates have raised thousands of dollars for de Blasio's political campaigns in recent years. That includes $10,000 via a Ratner-sponsored 50th birthday party for de Blasio at the Waldorf in 2011. A top Ratner executive raised another $13,600 as a "bundler" for de Blasio in 2013, and Forest City Ratner lobbyists have raised thousands more.

Mayoral spokesman Marti Adams said the deal will be a wash for taxpayers because Ratner will pay a fee to handle the financing. Ratner officials put the fee at $963,000. The money goes to the quasi-governmental Economic Development Corp., not the city’s general fund.