Moya the enabler

 

NY Daily News

 Queens Councilman Francisco Moya is one of several members of the city’s legislative body vying to become its next speaker, but his record when it comes to sexual harassment could prove to be a non-starter for some — especially given the fact that the 51-member Council will include more than 30 women lawmakers next year.

 The harassment I went through at NYCFC was so bad that now the idea of professional sports terrifies me. Staying in the field of athletics terrifies me,” the intern, Skyler Badillo, tweeted on July 17, 2020. “I thought I was getting the opportunity of a life time when I got that internship. What I got was David Villa touching me every f---ing day and my bosses thinking it was great comedic material.”

Villa, who helped Spain to its only World Cup victory in 2010 and retired in 2019, denied the accusations, saying at the time that they were “entirely false.” But without mentioning Villa by name, NYCFC later found that such conduct did, in fact, take place.

One incoming Councilwoman said his silence does not inspire confidence.

“This is part of why there’s a renewed push to have a woman — and specifically a woman of color — at the helm,” she said.

Among those Moya is facing in the Speaker’s race are Council members Adrienne Adams, Carlina Rivera, Diana Ayala, Justin Brannan and Keith Powers.

When asked about his silence on Villa, Moya claimed on Monday that he barely knew the retired striker.

“I have not spoken to David Villa in years. And I intentionally ran against convicted sexual assaulter, Hiram Monserrate, to prevent him from serving my community,” Moya said, referring to the former lawmaker who was ejected from the state Senate in 2010 after being caught on tape dragging his then-girlfriend by the hair. “This is a transparent effort to take down a Latino frontrunner for speaker. I thought that we had moved beyond this kind of despicable politics in our city.”

But, as Moya tries to court the support of fellow Council members who’ll vote to choose their next Speaker after the New Year, his record from years earlier in the state Assembly could come back to haunt him as well.

In 2013, after the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics found that then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver attempted to cover up sexual harassment charges against the now-deceased and disgraced ex-Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Moya circulated a letter within the body’s powerful Black, Hispanic and Puerto Rican caucus defending Silver.

“He’s really pushed and pushed the progressive agenda when the Senate hasn’t done anything and the governor’s been silent,” Moya said at the time.

 

6-year old tweeding effort exposed

From the Daily News:

State Sen. Kevin Parker’s mother got a $32,150 taxpayer-funded grant to fix up the Flatbush home he owns with her — money that was funneled to her by a nonprofit group pervy pol Vito Lopez founded and controlled.

Georgie Parker got the money in 2012 to fix the roof and replace the windows and gutters in the four-bedroom home she co-owned with her son, who also lived there.

Records show the grant came from the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which in turn got the money from the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal’s Main Street Program.

Ridgewood was founded by Lopez, the longtime state assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic party boss who was accused of sexually harassing legislative employees. Lopez died in 2015. The nonprofit is now called RiseBoro Community Partnership.

Georgie Parker signed the paperwork for the $32,150 grant on Aug. 28, 2012, just a few days after the state Assembly voted to censure Lopez and strip him of his powerful housing committee chairmanship over the harassment allegations.

Lopez ultimately resigned in 2013 after reports surfaced that the state had paid confidential settlements to two of his accusers.

Lopez and Kevin Parker supported one another during their rocky political careers.

Vito Lopez is dead

From WPIX:

The disgraced former New York state assemblyman Vito Lopez has died.

Lopez's lawyer, Gerald Lefcourt, says Lopez died Monday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital. He was 74 and had been treated at Sloan-Kettering for cancer for several years.

Lopez resigned from the Assembly in 2013 over allegations of sexually harassing young women on his staff.

Lopez had been a member of the Assembly for 30 years and was the influential chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party organization.

Vito Lopez lawsuit settled

From Brooklyn Daily:

The state is shelling out $545,000 in taxpayer money to settle the sexual harassment lawsuit brought by two one-time aides of former assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer.

The settlement ends the court proceedings against Lopez, who an Assembly panel said groped, tried to kiss, and made lecherous comments to the two women, Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera. Lopez is on the hook for a mere $35,000 towards the settlement.

Vito has left the building

You may recall that back in June, the Bushwick United Democratic Club, founded by Vito Lopez, had moved into this space on St. Nicholas Ave.

Well, now they're gone.

Perhaps the NY Times' hipsters gentrified them out.

Adams picking up where Vito left off

From Brownstoner:

Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams wants to revive the affordable housing development on a 30-acre piece of land known as the Broadway Triangle. Sandwiched between Bed Stuy, Williamsburg and Bushwick along Broadway near Flushing, the controversial development was halted by a judge’s injunction following a lawsuit by community groups arguing the plans and a rezoning of the area favored Hasidic families and discriminated against blacks and Latinos. In a written review of an unrelated project at 695 Grand Street in Williamsburg, Adams called on the de Blasio administration to resolve the legal dispute so housing can be built, Crain’s reported.

One thing that has changed: Former State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the king of affordable housing in the area, was heavily involved in the Triangle project, but is no longer in office. The nonprofit group he created to deliver services to constituents, the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizen’s Council, which still exists and continues to be a big landlord and developer in Latino-heavy Bushwick, was one of two developers in the Triangle project, along with nonprofit partner United Jewish Organizations.

Vito defense costing us a pretty penny

From the Daily News:

Disgraced ex-Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s sexual harassment scandal is socking taxpayers with a soaring legal bill, the Daily News has learned.

The state already has forked over nearly $700,000 to two law firms hired by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the Assembly to defend them against lawsuits filed last year by two of Lopez’s accusers - and the trials are still months away.

The accusers, Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera, charged in their lawsuits that Silver was "deliberately indifferent" to Lopez's pervy ways, creating a hostile work environment.

The firm Proskauer Rose, hired by Silver to defend him against a federal lawsuit brought by the two women, received $367,443 as of July, according to data provided by the state controller's office.

And the firm Hogan Lovells, which is defending the Assembly in a similar suit brought in state court by Burhans and Rivera, has been paid $309,831.

Both firms are billing the state $500 an hour for their work.

This crap just won't stay flushed

From the Observer:

Vito Lopez, the former assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic boss who was forced from office after being accused of sexually harassing his staffers, filed petitions to run again for his position as a district leader and state committeeman, according to Board of Elections documents. And Assemblyman Micah Kellner, the Upper East Side pol who chose not to seek re-election after his own sexual harassment scandal, also moved forward with his state committee bid after the Observer first reported his intentions in May.

Despite his fall from the Assembly, Mr. Lopez is still a district leader and state committeeman in his old Williamsburg and Bushwick-based district. The unpaid posts have relatively little power–they play a role in nominating judges and, in the case of district leader, voting for the chair of the local party. In Brooklyn, unlike other boroughs, district leaders also serve simultaneously as state committeemen.

For Mr. Lopez, remaining a district leader is a way for him to still stay relevant in local politics after his precipitous fall last year, sources say. Mr. Lopez currently has no opponent and candidates have until Thursday night to file petitions.

Like Mr. Lopez, Mr. Kellner’s political career was derailed by sexual harassment allegations that emerged last year. A front-runner for a City Council seat, Mr. Kellner fell to now-Councilman Ben Kallos and announced this year he wouldn’t run for re-election in the Assembly.

Mr. Kellner has denied all wrongdoing but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver shuttered Mr. Kellner’s district offices and slashed all of his staff budget in June. Mr. Silver also said that Mr. Kellner hired an intern for his Manhattan office after being told he could no longer do that.

Still, sources say Mr. Kellner does not want to completely leave the Upper East Side political scene despite becoming a persona non grata there. He filed petitions to run as a state committeeman and a judicial delegate. (He is also a sitting district leader and will be up for re-election for that post next year.)

Well that explains the revitalization of Vito's club.

Making Vito pay

From the NY Times:

The office of Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said on Wednesday that it would seek payment of $330,000 from former State Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez after he failed to pay a fine from a sexual harassment scandal that doomed his political career.

Mr. Lopez, a Brooklyn Democrat, resigned in May 2013 after a state ethics report detailed allegations by female staff members that he sexually harassed them. He denied the allegations.

The state’s Legislative Ethics Commission later found that he had violated the Public Officers Law and fined him $330,000.

On Wednesday, Assemblyman Charles D. Lavine, a Long Island Democrat and a co-chairman of the ethics commission, said that Mr. Lopez had not yet paid the fine, and that the matter had been referred to the attorney general’s office.

Mr. Lopez’s lawyer, Gerald B. Lefcourt, declined to comment on Wednesday, saying he had not been notified of any new developments in the case.

Gropez is back in business

The location: 143 St. Nicholas Avenue at Stockholm Street, close to the Ridgewood border, but just about a block into Bushwick. This used to be a coffee shop. (It moved across the street.)

Now this is the clubhouse for the Bushwick United Democrats, founded by Vito Lopez.

They even have a photo of Dear Leader Gropez on the wall. I suppose this is an upgrade from its former location.

Ridgewood-Bushwick charity suddenly okay again

From Capital New York:

After Bill de Blasio's mayoral campaign attacked an opponent for funding a troubled nonprofit connected to a tainted former assemblyman, de Blasio's administration is now giving millions of dollars in city business to that same organization.

Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which was founded by embattled ex-assemblyman Vito Lopez, received a $3.6 million, three-year contract beginning July 1 for providing an "innovative senior center," according to a notice published last week in the City Record and additional information provided to Capital by a city official.

As public advocate and a contender for mayor last year, de Blasio admonished City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for allowing taxpayer-backed money controlled by the council to fund Ridgewood Bushwick. He lobbed his criticisms in light of ethical charges Lopez was facing for sexually harassing several of his female staffers, as well as previous investigations by law-enforcement agencies for allegations of corruption and fraud at the nonprofit.

"It's ridiculous after all we've learned about Vito Lopez and the way he manipulated the system. I have no doubt in the world that Chris Quinn could have stopped it if she wanted to," de Blasio told the Daily News last year, after it was revealed that Ridgewood Bushwick received $421,964 in so-called member items.

At the time, Quinn, who lost her mayoral bid to de Blasio in September, had said she did not support the allocation but deferred to two local Brooklyn councilmen who requested the funding.

"People should be outraged," de Blasio said last year.

He even said New Yorkers "should demand this money not go to this organization."

Ridgewood Bushwick, a sprawling social-services empire that Lopez started in 1973, responded to a solicitation issued on Oct. 16, 2013, before de Blasio became mayor, to provide expanded services for senior citizens. City Hall sent notification to providers who won the awards on Jan. 14, two weeks after de Blasio took office.

An administration official noted that Ridgewood Bushwick, which won its current contract through a competitive bid, entered into a "corrective action plan" on Jan. 17, 2012 to address "business integrity issues" so it could continue offering services to the city.

One last bill, thanks to Vito

From CBS New York:

The state Assembly has entered into two contracts worth $205,000 for an outside counsel to handle sexual harassment policy development and investigations after a high-profile scandal.

The state comptroller’s office says Tuesday the approval is for contracts with Rossein Associates. A spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says the firm was retained by the Ethics Committee as part of reforms announced in May.

Merrick Rossein is a law professor at the City University of New York Law School at Queens College.

2013 Primary election results

Good morning! I hope you all are happy waking up in a City that soundly rejected Christine Quinn last night. She came in with 15% of the vote. Bye-bye, Bloomberg lite!

The likely winner without a runoff is Bill DeBlasio. As of last night, he had 40.2% of the vote, with Bill Thompson coming in at 26%. Whether or not there is a runoff, however, let me point out once again that the political careers of Christine Quinn, John Liu and Anthony Weiner are DONE.

Scott Stringer bested Eliot Spitzer in the Comptroller's race and Letitia James and Daniel Squadron will go head to head in a runoff for Public Advocate.

Locally, Melinda Katz soundly defeated Peter Vallone, Jr. and even with the 9% or so of the vote that Tony Avella allegedly took away from Vallone, he still would not have beaten her. So much for Italian power.

In district 19, The latest numbers are Paul Vallone 2,723 votes to Austin Shafran's 2,579 votes with 98% of precincts reporting. Neither Huffington Post nor NY1 has called it for Vallone, although he claimed victory. So, in November, it MAY be Vallone and Republican Dennis Saffran. Will Saffran win because most Dems picked anybody but Vallone? Time will tell. (Apologies for previous mistake. Shafran got WFP endorsement, but NOT their line. He is challenging the election results.)

In the 22nd CD, Costa Constantinides handily beat John Ciafone.

In the 24th CD, Rory Lancman creamed Andrea Veras.

In the 27th CD, it's still a race between Daneek Miller (3,756) and Clyde Vanel (3,360) with 98% reporting.

In the 28th CD, Ruben Wills beat Hettie Powell.

In the 31st CD, Donovan Richards beat Michael Duncan.

And in the 32nd CD, Lew Simon beat William Ruiz.

Also, thankfully, in the 34th CD, which covers mostly Bushwick but half of Ridgewood, Antonio Reynoso sent Vito Lopez packing once and for all.

Sadly, because we are a one-party town run by a political machine, there were no primaries in the 20th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 26th, 29th or 30th districts and all incumbents ran unopposed.

In kind of a surprise, in Brooklyn, 23-year incumbent DA Charles Hynes was defeated by challenger Kenneth Thompson.

UPDATE:

Tony Nunziato and Phil Ragusa were also reelected as GOP state committeemen.

Lopez could represent Ridgewood on Council

From the NY Times:

A criminal investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed subordinates did not deter him. Nor did civil suits accusing him of groping and other unwanted intimacies. Nor censure by the State Assembly, nor the clamor of fellow Democrats that forced him to resign as the party’s chairman in Brooklyn and step down from the Legislature.

The former assemblyman, Vito J. Lopez, is running again, this time for City Council, and despite the lingering scandal, he has at least a fair chance of winning. He is campaigning in Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn, and in Ridgewood in Queens, working-class neighborhoods where many people have known him for four decades, since he arrived as an energetic young social worker, and where many are grateful for the thousands of apartments and the centers for the elderly and other social services that blossomed during his 28 years in the Assembly.

Frank Carone, a leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, which is supporting Mr. Lopez’s chief rival, Antonio Reynoso, admits that Mr. Lopez’s chances are “extremely strong” in an off-the-radar election in which he can, the old-fashioned way, turn out beneficiaries of his largess to cast ballots in the primary next Tuesday.

“He’s pulling out every trick in the book to hold onto some semblance of power,” said Lincoln Restler, a founder of the progressive New Kings Democrats, a group that is also focused on defeating Mr. Lopez.

As evidence, Mr. Restler points out that 6 of the district’s 34 polling places are in properties managed by Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a nonprofit organization which Mr. Lopez founded in 1973 and which sponsored many of his housing projects. One building has a bronze bust of Mr. Lopez and another a permanent sign over the entrance: “Thank You Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez.”

Mr. Restler and Mr. Reynoso said that when campaign workers tried to knock on doors at Lindsay Park, a 2,700-unit co-op complex and beneficiary of Lopez assistance, security guards warned them that only workers for Mr. Lopez could enter.

Vito Photoshop bust

How many differences can you spot between these 2 photos?


The top one comes from the Daily News.

The bottom one comes from a recent Vito Lopez mailer.

Miss Heather has the story and the rest of the mailer.

The Daily News goes in depth on what this is about.

This guy is either really stupid, or has cojones the size of cantaloupes.

Choose and lose

Been trying to come up with a good caption for this one other than "Four sourpusses and likable candidate."

Take a crack at it.

Vito getting taxpayer cash

From the NY Post:

Taxpayers may soon shell out more than $120,000 to Vito Lopez.

The disgraced former Assemblyman, who’s running for the City Council, has joined the public campaign-finance program, making him eligible for 6-to-1 matching funds, officials said yesterday.

Lopez claims he’s raised $20,135 in eligible funds.

Dromm defends Silver

From the Politicker:

At a Democratic club meeting in Queens last night, Councilman Danny Dromm said progressives should “thank God” for embattled Assembly Speaker Sheldon Speaker, not revile him.

“Thank God for Shelly Silver,” Mr. Dromm said to his group, the News Visions Democratic Club in Jackson Heights, when the discussion shifted to Albany politics. “A lot of conservative stuff that might have happened didn’t happen. I don’t know what his prospects are for the Assembly, but we’ll see.”

Mr. Silver has faced a barrage of criticism for his handling of sexual harassment allegations against ex-Assemblyman Vito Lopez. While Mr. Silver has since apologized for quietly settling several cases against Mr. Lopez with $100,000 in public money instead of flagging them for investigation, many editorial boards and two Democratic Assembly members have called for him to step down as reports continue to swirl that Mr. Silver, who has held his post since 1994, may be facing growing backlash from his typically loyal members.

Mr. Dromm, however, reiterated to Politicker that he believes Mr. Silver’s presence is crucial in Albany.

“Shelly has held the line on a lot of progressive issues and I’m appreciative of that,” he explained. “I don’t want to see a lot of things that have been passed or proposed by the Republican Senate be put into law.”

Well, that's certainly interesting. More than half of NYers want Silver gone.

Angela's out at City Planning

Photo from Daily News

From Crains:

While the giant nonprofit and alleged patronage mill founded by former Assemblyman Vito Lopez figures to survive his political demise, the same cannot be said of Angela Battaglia's post on the City Planning Commission. She is likely to be replaced before the end of the year, an insider said.

The longtime girlfriend of the disgraced politician has been a "holdover" on the commission for 11 months since her last term expired. She had been reappointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in February 2008 to the five-year term that began July 1, 2007. At the time, Mr. Lopez, who resigned May 20 because of a sexual harassment scandal, still had plenty of political currency. He generally supported Mr. Bloomberg's mayoralty and backed his controversial extension of term limits in 2008, even though Mr. Bloomberg had always run on the Republican line and Mr. Lopez was chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic organization.

But because of his lurid behavior toward his young female staff members, Mr. Lopez has now lost all vestiges of influence, except for his relatively unimportant Democratic district leader post (there are 42 such positions in Brooklyn alone). After the harassment allegations came to light last year, his Assembly Housing Committee chairmanship was the first to go, followed by the county Democratic chairmanship and finally his Assembly seat itself.

As for Mr. Bloomberg, he will be out of office in seven months. Politically, there is no reason for him to reappoint Ms. Battaglia. The insider reports being told by an administration member that the chances of Ms. Battaglia getting a new term are "zero to none."

The reason, said the source, is "guilt by association" with Mr. Lopez.

Lots more where they came from

From the NY Post:

Shady politicians and their backroom deals cost taxpayers at least $49,710,630.64 — enough cash to build two schools, bankroll the New York Islanders or pay for 100 new fire trucks — according to a Post analysis of documents relating to 15 city and state officials who’ve been jailed, indicted, censured or lost re-election bids under a cloud of suspicion since 2006.

The rogues gallery is led by former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who cost the state $36 million in pension-fund management fees after taking nearly $1 million in illegal gifts; ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada, who funneled $7 million to himself and family members through a Medicare-funded nonprofit; and Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who cost taxpayers $103,000 in secret settlements after staffers accused him of sexual harassment.

The nearly $50 million tally doesn’t include bribes accepted or money embezzled from private entities, such as the $440,000 that state Sen. John Sampson allegedly raided from foreclosure escrow accounts he was appointed to oversee. It also doesn’t count taxpayer money that was promised but never doled out, such as the $80,000 in discretionary funds City Councilman Dan Halloran allegedly said he’d allocate to a dummy company in exchange for a bribe.