Revealed! Vito’s $64,000 Pension by Aaron Short • The Brooklyn Paper

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“What is Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s annual state pension” — now has a $64,000 answer.

The scandal-plagued legislator is collecting a monthly pension of $5,386.16 — or $64,634 per year — on top of his $92,000 yearly salary, according to state records that were released to this newspaper under the Freedom of Information Law.

In other words, Lopez is earning time-and-a-half while on the job as the people’s representative in Albany.

He’ll close out 2011 with an income topping $156,000.

And it’s all legal.

Lopez, 69, is one of 10 lawmakers who filed his “retirement” papers on Dec. 31 in order to collect the extra moolah — thanks to a little-known state loophole that allows officeholders over the age of 64 to legally collect their pensions while still on the job.

The cancer-stricken lawmaker defended the practice in an exclusive interview with The Brooklyn Paper last year, explaining that he applied for his pension to take care of his family if his health rapidly declined.

“I’m very comfortable with my rationale and I’ve explained that to you,” said Lopez. “My obligation is to my family and to my health.”

Lopez has been combatting a recurrence of cancer since last summer— forcing him to take a brief leave of absence to treat the illness in October.

But he came back stronger than ever introducing more than 20 bills, fighting for affordable housing, and to stave off Gov. Cuomo’s threat to close scores of senior centers.

And he’s done it all in the shadow of two exhaustive federal probes and a widening city investigation into the finances and board of the nonprofit he founded

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Andy Disses Vito! Cuomo’s New Housing Czar is No Fan of Lopez • The Brooklyn Paper

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Gov. Cuomo slapped Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez, picking a longtime rival of the powerful Assemblyman to run the state’s housing agency.

Cuomo nominated Assemblyman Darryl Towns (D–Bedford-Stuyvesant) last week to run an agency in charge of affordable housing — Lopez’s passion — in an effort to antagonize him.

He also believes that the cancer-stricken Lopez’s career as a housing advocate and lawmaker, in its fifth decade, is winding down, sources familiar with the appointment said.

Once he takes over the agency next month, Towns will control the funding spigot for affordable housing projects — including Lopez’s political base, the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which received four contracts worth $811,000 last year.

Lopez (D–Bushwick) has exerted tremendous influence over the state’s Department of Housing and Community Renewal over the years — he orchestrated the appointment of a former staffer, Deborah Van Amerongen, as its commissioner in 2007.

Publicly, everyone is playing nice — but Cuomo is known to be wary of Lopez. As attorney general, Cuomo led the audits into the Lopez-founded Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, investigations that briefly caused the state to freeze funding to the nonprofit.

Lopez has called allies in Albany to complain about Cuomo’s appointment of Towns, said one source, and Towns recently told one public official that he “hated” Vito and was willing to work with insurgent political clubs who opposed him.

The bad blood stems from more than a decade of political brinkmanship between the Towns family and Lopez’s clique.

Lopez recruited and ran former Councilman, now state senator, Martin Dilan against Towns in an Assembly primary 1998 and 2000 — even though Dilan was once Towns’s campaign manager.

And about three years ago, Lopez demanded that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer fire its lobbyist, Karen Boykin-Towns, Towns’s wife, because the company did not set aside the property of its former headquarters for affordable housing.

Enraged, Towns confronted Lopez in Albany demanding an apology, according to several sources.

“They argued, they confronted each other in the hallways, and Towns said, ‘What’s up with that and my wife? You crossed a boundary. How dare you?’” said a source.

Towns later said that Lopez’s demand was “an attack on the corporation,” not on his wife. Boykin-Towns was later promoted.

Debra Feinberg, a Lopez spokeswoman, said that chatter over the appointment of Towns does not change the essential fact that “Assemblyman Vito Lopez has been an outspoken voice in Albany in advocating for restorations and increases in allocations for affordable housing programs in the budget. He looks forward to working closely with Assemblyman Towns … and hopes that by working together, well-established and vital programs continue to be able to be funded throughout the state of New York.”

It’s almost as if Towns put out the same statement.

“Assemblyman [Lopez] and I have a history of being very successful when we work together,” said Towns. “There have been times when we have differed on opinions.”

Glory Daze - The Mysteries of Nydia Velázquez and Her Powerless Ascension by Laura Nahmias - City Hall News

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Over the course of nine terms, Nydia Velazquez has quietly consolidated her power in New York City politics, both as a significant voice in the Latino community and as a counterweight and opponent to Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Vito Lopez.

When most politicians have the kind of year that she did, between her position with Andrew Cuomo's campaign and her role with a few key local reformer victories, people start chattering about what they want, and where they might be headed. With Velazquez, there are still a lot of people who are not even sure who she is.


In a world where politics is often about press hits and relationships, her underthe-radar maneuvering, in Congress and back in Brooklyn, may have clipped her effectiveness.


But her supporters say her role in the Brooklyn reform movement, which seeks to undermine Lopez's grip on the borough's political machine, cannot be underestimated.


"It's important to think about the landscape in north Brooklyn. Most of the other elected officials are linked intimately to Vito Lopez," said Lincoln Restler, an anti-Lopez state committee member whom Velazquez helped get elected this year. "She is one of a couple of independent leaders."


But because Velazquez makes few waves, others were less certain about her efficacy as a politician. 
Many elected throughout Brooklyn declined comment when asked for their thoughts on the congresswoman, each citing a lack of a working relationship with her.


Much of Velazquez's clout in the reform movement stems from her seniority in Washington and the respect she commands among the state's political leadership as the senior Latina official in New York. This year, Velazquez pushed for passage of the DREAM Act, legislation she sponsored to provide conditional legal status to undocumented students. She took quiet control of the House Committee on Small Businesses, passing the Small Business Lending Act, while earning a reputation for bipartisanship. And along with former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, she was a co-chair of Andrew Cuomo's campaign, taking a more active role than expected for someone in that ceremonial job and then as co-chair of Cuomo's transition team.


When she arrives back in Washington in January, though, her status in Congress will be much diminished, along with the rest of her Democratic colleagues. And as for building up more power in Brooklyn, Velazquez's is never among the names floating as potential successors if and when Lopez's troubles force him from the county leadership.


She wouldn't want the job, said one Brooklyn Democratic operative. "It's too much politics."


Because while most people in local politics know her as an icon for Latinos, few seem to actually know her, even though she has represented a district that is now split between slivers of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, as long or longer than nearly everyone else in the city's congressional delegation.


"I honestly have no idea about her style as a politician," said Lew Fidler, a one-time Lopez loyalist who has since broken off from the county chair. "You couldn't get farther away from my world."
Luis Garden Acosta, founder of El Puente, a community group within


Velazquez's district, said she is not a selfpromoting legislator like Anthony Weiner or Peter King.
"There aren't a lot of press releases from Nydia Velzquez," said Garden Acosta, who has known Velazquez since before her time on the City Council, when she worked for Rep. Edolphus Towns. "Frankly, [she's] too busy, too focused on the campaign at hand, to be putting much time into even publicizing the fact that she's doing it."


"I am physically and emotionally drained," she says, drawing out each syllable of the words. "You don't know what it took Oh my god, you don't know what it took."


Acosta described her passion about issues relating to reform and social justice, but not necessarily harboring any desire to be in charge.


"She's got one speed: intense," he said. "She's absolutely rare, an activist that just happens to be a politician."


That passion comes across the day after the passage of the DREAM Act, as she takes a moment before boarding a plane back to New York to discuss her career.


"I am physically and emotionally drained," she says, drawing out each syllable of the words. "You don't know what it took Oh my god, you don't know what it took."


Her genuine sense of relief, of exhaustion, of dire feeling, allows her to create relationships in Washington, she said. But in a few weeks, she will see much of her leverage disappear: her chairmanship of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as her two-year term expires, and her chairmanship of the Small Business Committee.


Her new responsibilities are within the stateas an advisor to Cuomo's transition team, and mentor to a new slate of reform candidates in Brooklyn politics. Her ideas for Cuomo's administration are not small-bore.


"He has to open the doors, and make government an institution that not only serves the different communities, but also that is willing to recognize that among other ethnic groups like Asian and Latino groups, that there is so much talent, and new blood, that can help him and serve him well," she said. 


"He needs to put together a government and administration that reflects New York."
Velazquez worked with Cuomo when she was on the housing subcommittee in Congress and he was the head of HUD. Her push against Lopez could benefit from a strong relationship with Cuomo, who has his own complicated relationship with the Brooklyn boss.


Meanwhile, Velazquez has also become the highest-ranking mentor of the anti-Lopez reform candidates trying to slowly seep into Brooklyn county politics. Velazquez took Lincoln Restler as her guest to a state dinner, and provides vocal support to Council Member Diana Reyna, another Lopez opponent.


"I think the burden for me is to know that a lot of people who didn't feel they have a voice, that they look up to me," she said. "That I have a role to play in people connecting the dots, that it is important to be engaged, important to believe that we cannot allow for cynicism and disillusion in the political process to take hold."


This is an important mission for her.


She was reportedly offered Hillary Clinton's Senate seat in 2008, but declined largely in order to prevent Lopez from installing a loyalist in her Congressional seat and to continue acting as a foil to Lopez's political machine.


When asked whether that was the case, the congresswoman laughed.


"I do not want to spend my time discussing Vito Lopez," she said. "I do want to use my time and my energy to address the dire needs of my community.

At Broadway Triangle Hearing, Some Lopez-Reyna Tensions by Azi Paybarah - NY Observer

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I poked my head into the Council Chambers a few minutes ago, where Dan Garodnick was presiding over a rather well-attended Council hearing about a proposed rezoning at the Broadway Triangle.

That's a 31-acre piece of property whose rezoning is supported by Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the Brooklyn County Democratic Leader.

Critics like City Councilwoman Diana Reyna said many residents in the area were left out of the public review process before the rezoning was drafted. Reyna, whom Lopez tried to oust in this year's Democratic primary and general election, is now helping lead the opposition to the rezoning.

I got to the hearing just before three women sat down to testify in favor of the rezoning, saying it will bring much-needed affordable housing to the area.

One of the women said the plans shouldn't be delayed "because of political interests," clearly a reference to Reyna.

Before the women left, City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez asked them a few questions, including their place of employment.

One by one, each of the three women said they worked for the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center. That's the one that was founded, and is run, by Lopez.

Big Egos and Ambitions Set To Collide in Prospective Race To Succeed Towns by David Freelander - City Hall News

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Ed Towns reached the pinnacle of a long career last month when he became chairman of the prestigious House Oversight Committee in Washington.

So, naturally, the jockeying to replace him began to heat up back in Brooklyn.

Most of the early speculation around who would replace the 74-year-old, 14-term Towns has centered around a pair of Assembly members from neighboring districts: Towns’ son Darryl, a 16-year veteran of the Legislature who has slowly been climbing the ranks in Albany, and Hakeem Jeffries, a 38-year-old former attorney at the outset of his second term whose future in politics has been the subject of intense speculation for years.

Beyond those of timing, and whether there might be a special election precipitated by early retirement, there are the questions about whether Darryl Towns even wants the seat. The power of dynasty politics being what it is, Towns would be at an advantage in a race to succeed his father, but so far he has not indicated that he prefers the life of a freshman Congressman to that of a senior member of the Assembly.

“The congressman wants his son in there, but Darryl is more of a reluctant warrior,” said Rock Hackshaw, a longtime area political operative. “I don’t think he’s ever been that gung-ho about Congress.”

Also at stake is a question of the state of local black politics, with Jeffries and Towns representing a study in contrasts. Jeffries was roommates with Washington, D.C., mayor Adrian Fenty while both were working towards graduate degrees at Georgetown, and is considered part of the next wave of “post-racial” black leadership, young elected leaders who are educated at top-tier schools and who consciously have distanced themselves from some of the old lions—and their children—of the Civil Rights Movement. Including Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and, of course, President-elect Barack Obama, the group is distinguished not just for glittering academic pedigrees, but for having the kind of crossover appeal that allows them to attract a broad swath of white support.

Jeffries is acutely aware of what sets these politicians apart.

“There is a distinction between legacy politicians and emerging leaders,” he said. “There are certain legacy politicians who come into office following their parents, either into an office specifically or into politics in general, and the door is open to them a little wider because of their parents. Then you have a group of emerging leaders who don’t have a familiar connection to politics and have challenged the existing Democratic machine and broke through the doors and have risen to leadership. A lot of the younger elected officials in Brooklyn, the ones who backed Barack Obama all the way back in the summer of 2007, were those who were elected without establishment support. We weren’t beholden to political figures like Charlie Rangel and others leading the way for Senator Hillary Clinton.”

The younger Towns, meanwhile, represents something of an in-between place within the media narrative of dueling generations of Civil Rights politics. A veteran of the Air Force, Towns graduated from North Carolina A&T, a historically black college. Though only 48, he has already served a decade and a half in Albany, gaining seniority that has made him chair of the powerful Banking committee as well as head of the state legislature’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian caucus.

He dismisses talk of a new, different generation of black political leaders.

“Why isn’t Jesse Jackson, Jr. included in that?” Towns asked. “Because he went to the same college I did, a historically black college? I don’t think we need to label people that you are an elite black, you are an ordinary black as long as we are working towards the same goal.”

The looming congressional race, however, could be shaped just as much by traditional party politics. Darryl Towns is a critic of Brooklyn county leader Vito Lopez, who happens to have taken an early interest in Jeffries.

“He represents a plurality of Democrats,” Towns said, criticizing Lopez’s approach to the job. “He could represent a majority, but I’m not sure he wants that.”

While Lopez did not pledge to back Jeffries should he decide to run for Congress, the county leader stressed that he was in Jeffries’ corner.

“I’ve been supportive of Hakeem on almost everything he’s done,” Lopez said. “If and when he runs, I have a responsibility to look at who he is running against. If it was a vacant seat for Congress, it would be very hard for me not to support him.”

But though Towns and Jeffries may have their differences, they have been united in supporting the elder Towns, despite the many who fault the congressman for what they see as a less-than-energetic tenure and for supporting CAFTA, the free trade agreement which opponents claim hits working class residents of areas like Brooklyn especially hard. Though he has survived both, the dissatisfaction with him in the district has attracted vigorous primary challengers for the past two cycles: in 2006, when he eked out 47 percent of the vote as fiery Council Member Charles Barron and then-Assembly Member Roger Green split the anti-incumbent; and in 2008, when he ultimately cruised to victory over former MTV star Kevin Powell.

Nonetheless, Towns’ vulnerability remains a hot topic in Brooklyn. With the right candidate, many expect, he would easily fall in a primary.

“If there was a halfway decent candidate like Hakeem Jeffries, then Towns would be in mortal danger,” said one veteran of several area campaigns.
Local political observers have been expecting Towns to retire for years now (and point to the fact that he has not as key evidence that his son is not interested in the seat). But with his new chairmanship in D.C., many now believe he will seek re-election in 2010. His office confirmed that he would.

That could put another wrinkle in a prospective congressional race: Jeffries has insisted he will not run against Towns, and if he and Darryl Towns continue to defer while the number of voters frustrated with Towns continues to grow, both could miss their chance.

Barron (D-Brooklyn) has already announced his plans to run for the seat in 2010. The current project, he said, is to work out a deal with Powell to prevent another split vote. But Barron’s candidacy could still be a long shot, given his inability so far to garner support outside of the black, working-class areas that put him in the Council. Middle-class whites have been moving into the area in droves in recent years and could make up as much as 25 percent of the electorate in the next cycle—enough that some have speculated that the right white candidate could in fact win the seat, especially if they are able to make inroads with Hispanic voters and the Hasidic Jews who live in the district’s northern end.

In the meantime, speculation has erupted about the Congressional ambitions of Council Member Letitia James, who would be the only woman in the race. One of the most vocal opponents of Atlantic Yards, her profile has continued to rise in recent months through her leadership of opponents to the term limit extension. However, she is thought to lack the depth of a base in the black community that Barron has, the middle-class base that Jeffries has, or the name recognition of Towns. Ironically, in yet another twist, if James and Barron are both in the race challenging Towns, Barron’s effort to dissuade Powell from entering could hurt him since many believe Powell and James would compete for the same votes in neighborhoods like Clinton Hill and Fort Greene. James herself denied any interest in the seat—which, notably, she could run for without giving up her current job, as Darryl Towns and Jeffries could not.

Regardless of what James decides, some of Jeffries’ supporters fret that Barron could be a thorn in Jeffries’ side, needling him for exactly the reason that so many find him attractive: his crossover appeal to both black and white voters.

In an interview, Barron was relentless in his criticism of Jeffries.

“I was hoping younger people like him would be a more refreshing, independent voice. He has taken some positive positions on the issues, but to me he is still a puppet for the Towns and Vito Lopez machine—and that’s what we need to break up. I lack a lot of respect for him.”

Barron also dismissed the notion that the future of the seat belongs to anyone.

“Heir apparent?” he said. “There ain’t no heir apparent as long as I’m in the race.”

Money Scandal Hits City Board of Elections Over Expenses and Raises by Tina Moore and Greg B. Smith With Benjamin Lesser

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Hudson Valley Resort & Spa New York, where Board of Elections Commissioner James Sampel put in for a "deep tissue massage" at taxpayer expense.

The city's elections commissioners won approval for a big fat pay raise last year, after swearing they needed extra cash because they're not reimbursed for board-related expenses.

One problem: It's not true.

All but one of eight sitting commissioners received thousands of dollars in reimbursements for air fare, luxury hotel accommodations and meals, a Daily News investigation has found.

The commissioners and agency employees appear to routinely get taxpayers to pick up expenses barred by city rules -- everything from a "deep tissue" massage to an $800 dinner.

Records show taxpayers often paid for Board of Elections workers-only pizza parties (usually from Grimaldi's in Brooklyn) and tickets to social events, including an agency official's attendance at a legislative dinner with her state Senator husband.

Though city rules limit employee attendance at conferences to two a year, commissioners and top agency officials often attended three. Some of these same top officials would sign off on their own expenses.

As a result of the News investigation, the agency last week announced it would tighten its procedures and audit all expenses back to Jan. 1, 2007. Employees will have to pay back any bogus reimbursements. Already one employee has written a $1,500 check.

The claim of non-reimbursement surfaced last year when Board of Elections commissioners went to Albany hat in hand. All are part-timers appointed by Republican and Democratic party leaders.

For years, they were paid $125 a meeting, capped at $12,500 a year. They tried and failed in 2006 to raise it to $300 per meeting with a $30,000 cap; they tried again in 2007.

In legislative documents, one of the key reasons given to justify the pay raise states, "City regulations prohibit reimbursement for tolls, parking and the cost of any conferences they attend."

Board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez-Rivera said the board did not write this language. Spokespersons for the bill's two co-sponsors, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, D-Brooklyn, and Sen. Serphin Maltese, R-Queens, denied writing the language.

Maltese's chief of staff, Vicki Vattimo, said, "They asked us to sponsor this. To the best of my recollection, they wrote it."

Whoever wrote it, it worked. The law passed and starting in September 2007 the commissioner's pay rate more than doubled to the $30,000 cap.

As the bill made its way to approval, most of the commissioners were reimbursed for thousands of dollars in hotel, transportation and meals for attending several conferences at resorts upstate.

In all, commissioners collected $10,342.88 in reimbursements. Brooklyn Republican Nancy Mottola-Schacher led the way with $2,594.85.

Only Commissioner Gregory Soumas, a Manhattan Democrat, didn't put in for expenses because he didn't attend any conferences. "I questioned their value," he said.

All told, seven commissioners and 25 top-level board employees pocketed $57,896 in expenses since Jan. 1, 2007, mostly for hotel bills, airfare and meals at conferences.

A review of hundreds of pages of expense reports and receipts filed by board employees since Jan. 1, 2007 found numerous examples of unjustifiable expenses.

Commissioner James Sampel, a Staten Island Democrat, must have been trying to work out the kinks during a weekend conference at the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa near Kingston in January 2007.

His expense report included a $50 charge for "spa massage" described as "50 min deep tissue/Alex."

Marks on the bill suggest the massage fee was subtracted from the $420 total, which should have reduced the bill to $370. But the check cut by the city shows Sampel received $400, indicating "deep tissue" was at least partly taxpayer-funded.

Sampel approved the expense form himself. In a brief interview, he insisted he wasn't reimbursed for the massage, and agency officials later produced a receipt for a $30 conference fee they say accounted for the difference.

Taxpayers also picked up a $500 deductible on an insurance payout Sampel received when fire damaged his Staten Island home in November 2007.

Details of the fire are unclear. Board spokeswoman Vazquez said police believe the fire was set by someone who'd made threats to Sampel in connection with his board position.

Vazquez-Rivera promised to produce a police report about the incident but never did.

Records also show Board of Elections employees ate well.

In one particularly memorable night out in June 2007, 13 board employees attending a conference at Lake Placid spent $800 on a lavish dinner at the four-star Mirror Lake Inn.

First, the group quaffed top-shelf liquor, ordering a Grey Goose martini, Stoli vodka and Absolut with cranberry, as well as a Cosmopolitan, an apricot sour and glasses of Pinot Noir, Chardonay and Reisling.

Appetizers included $109.50 for lobster gnocci. Entrees included $26.95 veal tenderloin and $28.50 for duck magret. They finished with exotic deserts including "death by chocolate" ($8.25), a peanut butter bomb ($7.95), and cappuccino all around.

All told they spent $99 on booze, $535 on food, plus tax and a $120 tip for a grand total of $803.91, split several ways. Supervisors approved reimbursement for this expense, although city rules specify city funds are not to pay for out-of-town meals involving only city employees.

In one case, a supervisor who approved a subordinate's dinner reimbursement benefitted from the arrangement.

In March 2007, board manager Pamela Green Perkins approved lawyer Steven Richman's $94 bill at Scrimshaw in Albany. The diners were Richman and Perkins.

Richman, a Brooklyn Democrat, returned the favor, getting taxpayers to pay for his mileage when he drove his personal vehicle to a tribute for Perkins' husband, Sen. Bill Perkins, D-Harlem.

Pamela Perkins, in turn, had taxpayers pay for her to go to the State Black and Puerto Rican Legislator's Conference in 2007 and 2008 in Albany. Total bill for hotels, transportation and meals was $836, including a $150 ticket to a scholarship dinner as her husband's "guest."

Last week Perkins was forced to write a $1,559 check to pay the city back for these unjustified expenses. She did so reluctantly, writing, "I have no doubt about the legitimacy of my participation on behalf of the Board at these events. I was quite taken aback by the response from you and others regarding this issue."

Her boss, George Gonzalez, a Bronx Democrat, approved that bill. Gonzalez often put in for his morning coffee, frequently demanding payment for purchases ranging from 95 cents to $1.73.

Grimaldi's pizza was extremely popular with Gonzalez and another top official, Lucille Grimaldi. Both spent $548.74 on pizzas at the high-end joint in Brooklyn for three staff meetings.

The reimbursement king at Board of Elections was Richman, the board's $113,170-a-year counsel.

Since Jan. 1, 2007, he's run up $11,792 in expenses by demanding mileage reimbursement for dozens of trips from his Brooklyn home to pretty much anywhere else.

His reimbursed trips included a wake, a funeral, the inauguration of Andrew Cuomo and state Sen. Malcolm Smith, and a ceremony for U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel -- all Democrats.

He said reimbursement of several trips from home to court was justified because of an exception that reimburses city workers who must carry "special equipment or materials which cannot feasibly be transported by public mass transit." The equipment, apparently, is his legal papers.

Richman even had taxpayers pay his membership in vocational groups such as the New York County and the New York State Bar Associations.

Twice Richman got reimbursed for an expense not allowed by city rules - staying at a hotel an extra night before attending a conference. Both upstate hotels featured spas.

Often the business purpose of the reimbursements wasn't clear.

Several employees were reimbursed for everything from window shades to trays to TV cables. None of these expenses spells out their specific Board of Election purpose.

Beth Fossella, coordinator of voter registration and mother of shamed Congressman Vito Fossella, charged taxpayers $268 for two plane tickets to Syracuse on April 30, 2007. She was paid without identifying her travel partner.

Commissioner Frederic Umane got $172.75 for a stay at the Desmond Hotel in Albany on March 5, 2007, and $168.00 for gas. No reason was given for that stay or an April 14 stay at an upstate Marriott that cost $148.30.

gsmith@nydailynews.com

With Benjamin Lesser