Tea Baggers - Getting a Handjob Will Clean Your Garage - Real Time with Bill Maher

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Rep Weiner on Gov. Christie’s Statement on Natural Gas Terminal:

“Since This Means the Project Is Effectively Dead, Let’s Not Waste Our Time – Pull the Plug Now”

Today, after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced his opposition to offshore natural gas terminals, effectively vetoing a proposed 53-acre development off the coast of Rockaway, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Queens and Brooklyn) called for an end to the project.

“Governor Christie has signaled his opposition to this plan. Since this means the project is effectively dead, let’s not waste our time – pull the plug now,” Weiner said. “There’s no need to squander resources reviewing a proposal that is now dead on arrival.”

Rep Towns and Rep Weiner Lead Effort to Rehab Busy Park - Ideas Invited to Reopen Canarsie Pier Attraction...

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In what will be the first step towards transforming the historic Canarsie Pier, Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY-10 -Brooklyn), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D–NY9-Queens and Brooklyn) and Dave Taft, Coordinator of the Jamaica Bay Unit of the National Park Service, announced a plan to revitalize the Brooklyn landmark by attracting vendors to propose plans for the site’s use.

At the urging of both Towns and Weiner, NPS recently released a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) for applicants to submit plans for the creation of a new restaurant. The current dilapidated building, formerly a restaurant called Abbracciamento on the Pier, has been unused since 2002.

Earlier this month, National Parks Service formally announced it would host an open house in May for interested vendors, who will be touring the building as part of the process for revitalizing the 5,500-square foot space.

“This is an important first step in ensuring that Canarsie Pier becomes the cultural and recreational hub it once was,” Weiner said. “Rep. Towns and NPS have been crucial in moving this project forward, and I look forward to working with them to ensure that the pier is transformed into a destination spot for all New Yorkers. Brooklyn residents have been waiting far too long for this.”

“The development of Canarsie Pier is an important component in the revitalization of Brooklyn,” Towns said. “As a part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and the largest urban park in the country, this site is both significant as community recreational area, as well as a symbol of the nation’s attitude towards national parks. I am looking forward to continued progress in Canarsie Pier’s development.”

Originally built in the 1920s, Canarsie Pier was intended as a commercial pier but has mainly been used as a recreational fishing location since it opened. NPS acquired the pier in 1973 as part of the creation of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and the facility was a full-service restaurant from 1976 until 2002. The RFEI process is the first step in reopening this building to the public.

Teacher Accused of Molesting Female Students Got Slap on Wrist for 2005 Incident by John Lauinger and Rachel Monahan - NY Daily News

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The fourth-grade teacher arrested for molesting five female students roughed up a pupil years ago - but only got a slap on the wrist, the Daily News has learned.

School officials found that accused serial sicko Simon Watts used corporal punishment against a student in 2005 - one of three investigations into his conduct while he taught at Public School 115 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Since it was Watts' first infraction, the offense was noted in his file, but no further action was taken, said Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg.

She said another allegation of corporal punishment was investigated and not substantiated. A third allegation was investigated but not substantiated by the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation.

The city told parents at P.S. 15 in Springfield Gardens, Queens, in a letter Wednesday that Watts, 38, had been arrested for repeatedly fondling female students.

In a pattern of abuse at the school dating to 2007, the hulking Watts is accused of unzipping his pants in front of one pupil and forcing three others to grab his genitals as other students sat at their desks nearby.

Parents fumed they were just notified when prosecutors claim the abuse ended after Watts was reassigned away from children early last month.

Watts, arraigned on a host of felony charges, is the subject of an administrative hearing to yank him from the payroll, Feinberg said.

Feinberg said Watts was placed in a rubber room twice during the investigations at P.S. 115 in Brooklyn.

Describing Watts as an "oily snake," a source familiar with his tenure there, said Watts also was the subject of persistent rumors he'd abused female students.

"He was asked to leave," the source said. "It was strongly suggested he leave the school."

Leonie Haimson: At Charter School Hearings, Ravitch Faces Off Sen. Craig Johnson, Shill of the Charter School Industry - The Huffington Post

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New York State Senator Bill Perkins held oversight hearings on charter schools yesterday, and was vehemently criticized by the tabloids for daring to call for more accountability and transparency, despite numerous articles in the press, documenting repeated instances of conflicts of interest and excessive profit-making by the industry.

The Post has published more than eleven (!!!) articles and opeds in the last two days, attacking Perkins, and calling for him to be ousted from office.

I doubt the Post has ever expressed as much hostility against Osama Bin Laden himself.

The Daily News ran an editorial entitled "Lunacy let Loose," accusing the academics and advocates who testified against the potential for unregulated corruption and abuse by charter schools, and parents who told of how their own children had been pushed out of charters as making "unsubstantiated accusations, contradictory claims, canards and exaggerations."

The fact is that Sen. Perkins is not alone, and there is now not a single elected official from Harlem who supports the charter cap being lifted, after having witnessed the bulldozer tactics, lies and ways in which Joel Klein and the NYC Department of Education has allowed charter schools to undermine the district's public schools through the loss of resources, students, and space. (For more on DOE's dishonesty, see this video of NYC Councilmember Inez Dickens of Harlem at a recent hearing on the co-location of the charter school Harlem Success Academy at PS 123. Dickens tells how she had been falsely promised by DOE officials two years ago that PS 123 would be able to regain all its lost classrooms and cluster spaces.)

In fact, Joel Klein could not do more to promote failure at the district schools that he is responsible for running if he tried.

Even more outrageous is how the charter industry and the hedge fund managers who are supporting them insist on legally blocking the ability of the State Comptroller to audit their use of tax-payer funds; a rather inexcusable position, which the tabloids cannot admit or defend. If there is no corruption there, what have they got to hide?

Diane Ravitch was the lead-off witness yesterday; her entire testimony is posted here. Here is an excerpt:

As the number of charters grows, public authorities must ensure that charter operators are responsible. We have seen stories in the press, especially the New York Daily News, about charters that produce astonishing profits for entrepreneurs and investors, while storing children in trailers with meager facilities. This is not right. Just last month, on March 9, the New York Times described how public schools in Harlem now must market themselves to compete with charter schools for new students. The regular public schools have less than $500 each to create brochures and fliers; the charter firm with which they compete has a marketing budget of $325,000. That's not fair.

We have seen stories about non-profit entrepreneurs who are paid $400,000 a year or more to run charters for 1,000 children. That's more than the Chancellor of the New York City schools is paid, and more than the U.S. Secretary of Education. That's not right. The New York Daily News reports today that charter schools, unlike other public schools, are not subject to public audits or to rules prohibiting nepotism and conflicts of interest by their board members or staff. That's not right.

The Legislature must insist that charters act like public institutions and that they are fiscally transparent and accountable.

For Ravitch's gall in pushing for more oversight, she was bullied and berated by Sen. Craig Johnson, Democrat from Nassau County, who is the charter industry's main supporter in the Legislature, despite the fact that he has not one charter school in his district. Why?

Could it be because he receives $65,000 a year in contributions from the charter school lobby? Nah.

As it happens, Diane Ravitch is the keynote speaker at the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association at its 50th anniversary dinner on June 1.

Knowing Diane as I do, I would guess that Sen. Craig Johnson has not heard the last about his insistence on foisting more unregulated charter schools on New York City, which the parents and school boards in Nassau County would vehemently oppose if they were forcibly inserted into their own communities.

Yet as NY State taxpayers, his constituents should still object to having their hard-earned tax dollars put at risk in this way.

Follow Leonie Haimson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/leoniehaimson

Feds Want an Eight-year-plus Sentence for Bruno by Casey Seiler - Capitol Confidential

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Former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno should face more than eight years in prison for his conviction on two felony counts of theft of honest services fraud, according to a sentencing memorandum filed today by the U.S. Department of Justice.

A 14-page memorandum filed this afternoon by federal prosecutors outlines the government’s position regarding what punishment they believe is appropriate for Bruno, 81, who is scheduled to be sentenced May 6 in U.S. District Court in Albany.

Bruno’s attorneys, meanwhile, filed an opposition memorandum today asking for leniency for the fallen Republican leader and said that due to a variety of factors he should no time behind bars or at most only six months in prison.

Federal sentencing guidelines, the defense team said, call for Bruno to face a maximum of up to six months incarceration. They asked the judge to consider sentencing him to no time in prison.

Read Brendan Lyons’ story here.

View the memos from both sides after the jump.

Here’s the feds’ sentencing memo:

Usa Sentencing Memo

DEC Ruling is a Big Fracking Deal by Celeste Katz - The Daily Politics - NY Daily News

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The state Department of Environmental Conservation today made a big change in its protracted process to write new rules for "hydrofracking" (love the word!) -- the process of pumping chemical-laced water underground to break apart rock horizontally and force out the natural gas trapped inside.

DEC didn't outright ban fracking in the 2,000-square-mile area upstate where New York City draws its unfiltered water. But it will now require every single gas well drilled near a city reservoir to apply for its own separate permit and do its own environmental review -- which would be so costly and time-consuming that gas companies would probably rather drill elsewhere. (This also applies to the upstate reservoir where Syracuse gets its water.)

City politicians gushed that this was a huge protection for the 9 million people who drink the unfiltered water from New York's upstate reservoirs -- though some said they won't be satisfied until DEC simply bans fracking in the state. (Bloomberg & Holloway here, Quinn & Gennaro here, Stringer here, Silver here.)

But fracking has always been the subject of a big upstate-downstate divide. And some critics suspect DEC took the city's interests out of the picture so as to neutralize the biggest source of opposition. That's what Catskill Mountainkeeper is saying, and here's Sen. Tom Duane's take:

"While ostensibly this is a step in the right direction to protect the drinking water of many New Yorkers from this risky gas drilling technology, I fear it is a cynical move that will pit New Yorkers against each other. ... Residents in Manhattan and Syracuse, for example, will benefit from this decision while those living in Ithaca and Jamestown will not. This is unacceptable."

Could the Paterson administration really be that sneaky? Click through for more -- and to find out what's in store for the Southern Tier.

Gas companies want to drill deep into the Marcellus shale underlying much of central New York. Plenty of landowners and upstate residents want the jobs, money and taxes it would generate. But fracking has led to environmental problems elsewhere -- fish kills, flaming faucets -- and though the gas industry claims the process keeps getting better, environmentalists hate the idea.

So state government is in the middle. DEC put all Marcellus drilling on hold while it tries to write rules for New York fracking; it is now sifting through 14,000 comments about it, and hopes to have final rules in place by summer or fall.

But as the DN reported in January, DEC rushed out a draft plan last fall that seemed to give short shrift to environmental worries in the city watershed -- and insiders say it was rocketed through the process thanks to pressure from high up in the Paterson administration. DEC's mining division sent its 804-page draft to all the other divisions on a Thursday and Friday, and asked for comments by Monday.

For what it's worth, Paterson told the DN's Glenn Blain and others Monday that "we're not going to worry about time because we're talking about public safety." But it's already becoming a political issue. The DN had to file a FOIL request to get the 128-page opinion of the Watershed Inspector General who works in Andrew Cuomo's office, but once it was out, Cuomo's office agreed that fracking needs more study.

On the other hand, Steve Levy wants to start drilling already.

Chesapeake Energy, the dominant company in New York hydrofracking, has already said it won't drill in the city's watershed because the geological challenges are more difficult than in other parts of the state. On top of that, gas prices are relatively low at the moment, reduce pressure to drill. At an investors conference last week, CEO Aubrey McClendon said, "I can't say I'm disappointed with what's happening in New York because it's kept a lot of gas off the market."

So New York City's voice and money will be taken out of the equation this fall, when DEC announces its supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement for how to drill in the rest of the state -- and when hydrofracking may become an issue in the governor's race.

Goodbye New York City, and hello Southern Tier. Here's the statement that just came in from Chesapeake lawyer Henry Hood:

"We have a relatively minor leasehold position in both [New York City and Syracuse] watersheds and don't plan to drill horizontal wells in either because we don't believe they are prospective for good Marcellus Shale natural gas wells. There are additional details to know about today's announcement, but we are generally supportive of action that will expedite completion of the sGEIS and allow us to start drilling horizontal wells in the Southern Tier, bringing the economic, environmental and energy security benefits to this part of the state."

My Letter to the Editor Regarding the Tea Party...

Dear Editor:

I have been watching with interest on television and reading in the media about the Tea Party movement.

I am told that they are a group of patriotic Americans who espouse fiscal responsibility and want to take back their country (from whom, I don't quite understand).

As a group that stands on such lofty principles, I propose the following basic foundations for the Tea Party, which from what I am led to believe they ascribe to as their guiding fundamental philosophy.

With the recent passage of health care legislation, I (as a Republican or Tea Partier) will not do the following:

1) I will not partake in the Socialist health care system that is Obama-Care.

2) I will not be employed by a place that makes me pay a Socialist Social Security Tax. I will become an independent contractor, or live in the woods and support myself.

3) I will not join the Socialist Armed forces, which are funded by tax dollars in a Socialist-like manner.

4) (If I am over 65 years of age) I will not cash another Socialist Social Security check. I will live off of petty hand outs from churches and other religious organizations. I will also not use Socialist Medicare or Medicaid. I would much rather pay premiums that go up by 40% each year.

5) I will not run for public office, since I would be enticed to take advantage of a Socialist health care plan and a Socialist Retirement Program.

6) I will not drive on paved roads, which are funded in a Socialistic manner. Instead, I will drive my automobile off-road to get everywhere or just ride a horse. I will no longer purchase gasoline for my automobile, since a portion of the cost goes to the federal government to build and maintain the roads that I will not be driving on.

7) If I am the victim of a crime or circumstance, I will not call upon the Socialist Police Department or the Socialist Fire Department to help me. I would rather get robbed or watch my house burn to the ground than utilize a Socialist, Government-funded institution.

8) I will not send my children to Socialist public schools. I will either home school them or send them to a private school. Nor, will I seek vouchers from the government to send my child to a private or religious institution.

9) I will not let myself or anyone in my household use the Socialist Public Libraries. Since I will not be sending them to school to read Socialistic textbooks, they can get their history and news information from Fox News shows like Bill O'Reilly and Glen Beck.

10) If I go to college, I will not accept Socialist Government grants. I would rather pay my way through school virtually unassisted.

11) I will not mail letters from the Socialist United States Postal Service. Instead, I will enlist the help of the Pony Express or homing pigeons.

12) I will not answer the Socialistic, Government funded Census. I would rather have a minimal number of teachers, buses and traffic lights. In signing this, I won't be sending my kids to the Socialist schools and I'm riding a horse for the rest of my life instead of driving on the roads constructed by Socialist government funding. So why should I care about these things?

We will abide by these rules to ensure that Socialistic concepts and programs do not affect our lives.

I am sure that since this movement is not made of mostly angry white male sore losers who feel threatened by having a black president that they will wholeheartedly sign on to the above pledge, this is about principles with them, after all.

Very truly yours,

David M. Quintana

How Not to Publish a Campaign Website When Citing Your Experience in Education - 38th Assembly District Version - Part 2...

Click on image to enlarge...

As stated in my previous posting, I would think that if you are running on an education platform, you might want to spell things correctly on your campaign website..!

It's nice to see that the campaign must have seen my previous posting since they corrected the spelling error...but now an egregious grammatical error has appeared on the site...The following is directly from the web site (see screen grab above)...

"Our community has been experienced Overdevelopment that is destroying the character of our communities…"

Remember, this person is the President of Community Education Council 24, and is responsible for overseeing the Department of Education for the local community...I suggest that some remedial classes in basic English composition and spelling might be necessary...

I might add that if the campaign is in need of a proofreader, I might be available...

FBI, IRS Agents Raid Pedro Espada Jr.'s Soundview HealthCare Network One Day After Corruption Charge by Kenneth Lovett - NY Daily News

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Scene at the Soundview HealthCare Network, where FBI and IRS agents raided the offices of Pedro Espada, Jr. Schwartz for News

Federal agents swooped in on Pedro Espada Jr.'s Bronx health clinic Wednesday, a day after state lawmen accused him of looting $14 million in taxpayer money meant for the poor.

A team of FBI and IRS agents, along with investigators from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, began raiding the offices of Soundview HealthCare Network on White Plains Road about 7 a.m.

They used bolt cutters to get into two trailers behind the building and began toting out white file boxes, some marked "payroll" and others labeled "time sheets."

After sifting through the materials in a rear parking lot for eight hours, the agents loaded more than 30 boxes into a blue Ford Econoline minivan and left.

As the raid played out, passing motorists honked in celebration and yelled out, "Lock him up!" and "It's about time!"

"He's a crook," said patient Muriel Moreno, 48, who said she was appalled at Cuomo's accusation that Espada used clinic money for vacations, restaurant bills and campaign expenses - and padded the staff with relatives.

"These are poor people. He's using us to get away with illegal acts," she said.

Espada, who was excused for the day from the legislative session in Albany, called the charges against him "false and unfounded" and declared himself proud to have given his sons jobs.

He claimed Cuomo installed cameras outside his house and offices "to catch every movement of myself, my neighbors and family."

He called the clinic raid a "media show" and said Cuomo was "trying to create the impression of wrongdoing where there is no wrongdoing."

And while Espada has claimed the probe was payback for his involvement in a Senate leadership coup last summer, The News had reported a month earlier that Cuomo was preparing an investigation into the senator.

As the Daily News reported Wednesday, Cuomo's investigation is proceeding jointly with Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell. Possible charges include mail fraud, wire fraud, theft of government funds and conspiracy.

"This was not the private playground of Mr. Espada. These were public funds," Cuomo said. "These funds were to go to provide for needy people."

Espada's clinic, which opened 30 years ago to serve the indigent, remained open during the raid. Few patients mourned the state Senate majority leader's fall.

"He's a bottom feeder. I'm glad [federal agents] are here, because we need this place clean," said longtime patient Vernelle Jenkins, 69.

Fidel Calero, 59, who said the clinic treats his diabetes even when he can't always pay, was among those worried it might be shuttered.

"No matter what Espada's doing on his own, this place is good for the community," he said.

In Albany, a number of pols said Espada should step down as state Senate majority leader, a post that gives him little power but plenty of perks, including a large office suite and a big staff.

Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson of Brooklyn said he has has no intention of forcing Espada out over a civil matter.

Former Opponents Join Forces In Immigrant Primary Challenge To Mike Miller By Chris Bragg - City Hall News

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When Gov. David Paterson reversed course last summer and decided to call a special election to replace now-jailed Assembly Member Anthony Seminerio, three candidates who wanted to run in a Democratic primary for the seat were forced out of the race.

The special election instead allowed the Queens Democratic Party to get its favored candidate for the seat, Mike Miller, on the Democratic line and avoid a contested primary. Miller went on to easily win a special election victory in the southwest Queens district over a Republican opponent.

Now, two of the Democratic candidates who could not run last year are teaming up to try ousting Miller in the fall. And Miller is not the only person who has raised their ire: they claim that the circumstances surrounding the special election were all part of a political deal to help Council Member Elizabeth Crowley.

Nick Comaianni, president of Community Education Council District 24, will announce his primary challenge against Miller at a meeting of the newly-formed Southwest Queens Democratic Club on May 6, he said.

Comaianni said he would draw on support of the parents he has come to know as the local school board president, as well as the sizable Indian and Latino communities who he says felt disenfranchised by the special election maneuvering last year.

“They don’t like it when a few people out of 125,000 get to determine who represents them in Albany,” Comaianni said.

In January, Comaianni founded the Southwest Queens Democratic Club with Farouk Samaroo, a young Afghan war veteran who, like Comaianni, wanted to run to replace Seminerio. The club had some 45 people at their first meeting, a number they attributed to anger over the special election.

In fact, Samaroo said the club will try to run a candidate not only for Assembly this year, but for every district leader, state committee, judicial delegate and county committee seat in the 38^th Assembly district, which covers Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood and Woodhaven

Samaroo asserted that the minority populations who make up the majority of the primary electorate were left behind last year by a deal cut between the Queens Democratic Party and a small group of mostly white, conservative Democrats in Glendale, who wanted Miller to replace Seminerio.

In exchange, according to Samaroo, these conservative Democrats promised to support Council Member Elizabeth Crowley—who was running for re-election against Republican Tom Ognibene—and who is the cousin of Queens Democratic Party chair Joe Crowley.

“The Hispanic and Indian populations got sacrificed for a little political deal for Liz Crowley,” Samaroo said. “Frankly, we’re a little upset about it.”

A source close to the Miller’s campaign last year echoed the idea that the special election had been called in order to help Elizabeth Crowley.

But Miller said that the accusations were false and part of a personal vendetta Comaianni has against Crowley.

“Nick has a problem with Elizabeth Crowley and every waking moment seems to think Elizabeth is doing things against him,” Miller said.

Miller said that the leadership of the South Asian community was, in fact, backing him and that he had brought on a part-time staffer to serve as an envoy to the Hispanic community.

He also said that if Samaroo and Comaianni had truly wanted to run in the special election, they could have petitioned onto the ballot and run as independents.

“The only people who were upset about the special election were Mr. Comaianni and Mr. Samaroo,” he said.

Elizabeth Crowley and Miller recently formed their own club, the 38th Assembly Regular Democratic Club, in order to mobilize a base of grassroots support.

If Albert Baldeo, another candidate knocked out by the special election last year also decides to run against Miller, it could cut into Comaianni’s support. Samaroo, however, said he had privately gotten Baldeo’s assurance several weeks ago that he would not run. Samaroo said he expected Baldeo to instead run for a district leader spot.
Reached for comment, Baldeo said he was not sure if he would run for the Assembly district, and declined to elaborate on his thinking.

If Miller makes it through the primary, he will also face a general election challenge. Republicans are running Donna Caltabiano, a party state committee member and senior center director, for the seat. Caltabiano lost the 2009 special election to Miller by 30 points.

Comaianni acknowledged that beating Miller now would be more difficult than last year, when Miller was not an incumbent.

But at the least, voters will a choice this year, he said.

“What I’m looking for is a fair election,” Comaianni said. “You’re going to have to earn it this time.”

State Eyeing Ridgewood Reservoir for Wetlands Protection by Dan Bush - Queens Ledger

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The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is considering classifying the Ridgewood Reservoir a state-regulated freshwater wetlands, this paper has learned.

The designation would subject the city's planned redevelopment of the reservoir to a state review, and would set the stage for a possible confrontation over the site with the Bloomberg Administration.

The city is planning a $26 million project that would convert part of the three-basin reservoir into a recreation area, despite objections from residents who want the site protected as a natural preserve.

Thomas Panzone, a DEC spokesperson, confirmed the state is eyeing the 160-year-old reservoir, which was decommissioned in 1989 and has reverted back into unkempt parkland.

“DEC is reviewing whether or not the Ridgewood Reservoir should be classified as a state-regulated freshwater wetland,” Panzone said in an email. If that happens any planned changes to the site would be subject to review by the state, and could require a permit under the state's Freshwater Wetland regulations, he said.

The Parks Department was not immediately available for comment.

The full implications of a wetlands designation on the city's plans for the reservoir remain unclear. But someone with knowledge of the negotiations between the city and state said the DEC's interest has complicated the city's efforts to remake the reservoir.

It appears likely the city could proceed easily with its phase one plans - to upgrade lights and fencing around the reservoir and rebuild a pathway between the second and third basins - regardless of any state involvement.

But the thought of complex wetlands regulations has raised concerns inside the Parks Department over its phase two plans to replace part of the third basin with an active recreation area. The work could prove difficult if the site were protected.

The phase two plan is deeply unpopular with local preservationists and Community Board 5, which recommended improving the existing ball fields in adjacent Highland Park instead of building new ones inside the reservoir.

“We'd like to see it be a nature preserve,” said Gary Giordano, CB5's district manager. If the wetlands designation allows for passive recreation on the reservoir's pathways “that's a lot more palatable than any kind of recreation development inside the reservoir,” he said.

Assemblyman Mike Miller said a state-regulated wetlands would provide important protection for wildlife within the reservoir, home to over 100 bird species. “It would curtail some of the changes the parks department wants to make,” Miller said, “but it would protect the basins the community wants protected.”

Queens Woman, 78, Trips Up 'Empty Wallet' Grifters by Going to Cops by Thomas Zambito - NY Daily News

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Two con artists preying on the elderly with the age-old "found wallet" scam were nabbed with the help of a 78-year-old Queens woman, authorities said Wednesday.

Looking for marks on Queens Blvd., the grifters left a wallet that appeared to be stuffed with cash on the sidewalk last month.

The sharp-eyed senior was walking to a bookstore when she saw the wallet - and was accosted by two men who opened it and claimed it held $300,000.

Also inside was a note that read: "We hit it big in the third race. Give mom five or ten thousand. I'm going to Iraq."

"There appeared to be a lot of cash in there and a note that led me to believe it had something to do with terrorism," the woman told the Daily News.

"I said, 'Let's go to the police.'"

One of the suspects, Hiram Whitener, 69, of Spartanburg, S.C., claimed to be a lawyer and suggested they go to his boss' office to discuss what to do, officials said.

He and Charlet Merrit, 56, of Manhattan allegedly drove the woman there - apparently hoping to convince her they would split the cash if she gave them a "good faith" deposit.

"It's a frightening episode," the senior said. "The way he put it was that if we share the money, we'll have to put it in an escrow.... I told him I don't have any money."

The woman left and called cops, who picked up the duo a few hours later while they were trying to swindle another older woman, prosecutors said.

They are charged with just one con, but three others are accused of hoodwinking a dozen victims out of $62,500 with a similar scam.

Gullible immigrants and seniors turned over $1,000 to $11,000 in exchange for some of the proceeds from a bag or wallet stuffed with phony bills - but all they got was shredded newspaper.

Arrested in that scheme were Paula Sandy, 53, of the Bronx and Myles Riles, 62, and Etta Washington, 59, both of Birmingham, Ala.

"This case must serve as a warning to the public that people should always be suspicious of any financial scheme that requires them to turn over their money to a complete stranger on short notice," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Bloomberg’s Offshore Millions by Adam Roston The New York Observer (Additional reporting by Azi Paybarah and Reid Pillifant)

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Click on image to enlarge...

It was a dark time for the city. In 2008, and early into the next year, morale was low, Wall Street was sputtering and Mayor Michael Bloomberg was steeling New Yorkers for pain. Brace for service cuts and tax hikes, he warned—while also pledging to find a way to keep tax money, particularly from the city’s richest citizens, from fleeing.

“I’ve said this before, but the first rule of taxation is, you can’t tax too much those that can move,” Mr. Bloomberg intoned on a radio show late in the crisis. “You know, we’re yelling and screaming about the rich. We want the rich from around this county to move here. We love the rich people.”

And yet the richest New Yorker of them all—Mr. Bloomberg himself—had been ignoring his own advice.

According to an extensive review of the mayor’s financial records by The Observer, even as Mr. Bloomberg was trying to counter the loss of taxes and other income from the richest New Yorkers, the foundation he controls was in the process of shuttling hundreds of millions of dollars out of the city and into controversial offshore tax havens that would produce nothing at all for the city in terms of tax revenue.

By the end of 2008, the Bloomberg Family Foundation had transferred almost $300 million into various offshore destinations—some of them notorious tax-dodge hideouts. The Caymans and Cyprus. Bermuda and Brazil. Even Mauritius, a speck of an island in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Madagascar. Other investments were spread around disparate locations, from Japan to Luxembourg to Romania.

‘I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s about as opaque set of investments as you can find,’ said Rich Cohen, who covers foundations and charities for Nonprofit Quarterly.

Why was the mayor’s flagship foundation sending hundreds of millions of dollars offshore? Neither the charity nor the mayor will explain. What is clear is that the issue could get prickly for Mr. Bloomberg, in part because his investment strategies have been so closely associated with Steve Rattner, the onetime boy wonder financier who remains under investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for his involvement in a state pension controversy. Last week, Mr. Rattner’s former firm, Quadrangle Group, took the extraordinary step of excommunicating him, saying in a statement that it “wholly disavow[ed]” Mr. Rattner over his role in securing state pension contracts—conduct the company called “inappropriate, wrong, and unethical.”

On December 26, 2007—the same day that the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board opened the door for Mr. Rattner’s firm to manage the foundation’s money— the foundation immediately sent $210 million to a new fund—“QAM Select Investors (Offshore) Ltd.”—based in the Cayman Islands.

A month later, the foundation was given clearance to allow two city workers to use municipal time and resources on foundation work—on the assumption that the charity would “ultimately serve the city” and “further the interests and purposes of the city.”

And what of the benefit that was supposed to come New York’s way as a result of all of these millions? Mr. Bloomberg donated more than $1.8 billion to the foundation in its first three years of life, according to the foundation’s tax filings. About $67 million—$36 million in 2007 and $31 million in 2008—was given away. Much of it went to anti-smoking initiatives, including the World Lung Federation and an Indian anti-smoking group; other grants went to the government of Vietnam and the World Health Organization, for injury-prevention efforts. No grants went to organizations directly benefiting New York City.

Today, at a five-story Beaux Arts mansion on the corner of 78th Street and Madison, workers are putting the finishing touches on the foundation’s new headquarters, which Mr. Bloomberg purchased for $45 million. Flatbed trucks unload marble tiles for the building’s floors; electricians have installed subdued lighting and a heavy, automatic glass sliding door.

Several weeks ago, the foundation named a new 19-person board that reads like a who’s who of national politics and finance: Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, former Georgia senator Sam Nunn and former Treasury secretary Hank Paulson are among the members. It is all part of a push by Mr. Bloomberg to put the foundation on a par with other big charities and put his name on the list of America’s great philanthropists: Gates, Carnegie, Rockefeller and Ford have their foundations, and now so does Bloomberg.

BEYOND THE U.S. BORDER, in places like the Caymans, the climate for charities is much more inviting. Nonprofits like the Bloomberg Family Foundation are tax-exempt, but some investments that aren’t related to an organization’s core mission can be subject to a levy called the Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT, for short). So to avoid more than 40 percent in federal and local taxes on unrelated businesses, nonprofits use a legal loophole, routing investments through offshore tax havens.

“It cleanses the unrelated business taint from the total return,” Harvey Dale, of the N.Y.U. School of Law, told The Observer. “You invest in the same thing through an offshore entity. You are making the same investment; you are just putting an intermediary entity in the middle. Instead of investing directly in the hedge fund, you invest in the foreign entity, which, in turn, invests in the hedge fund.”

“Is (using the loophole) allowable under the law? Yes,” said tax expert Dean Zerbe, a former staffer at the Senate Finance Committee. “Is it something that is a best practice, particularly by an elected official? I think they should look very hard when they are engaging in this kind of activity. What does it say to the average New Yorker?”

The foundation’s tax returns indicate that Mr. Rattner’s team migrated much of its money to large hedge funds with ostensible island charters, including several in the Caymans, two of which list an address at P.O. Box 309 of the Ugland House, a building that “houses” an estimated 12,000 to 18,000 foreign businesses.

“Now, that’s either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world,” said Senator Barack Obama during his campaign for president. “And I think we know which one it is.”

But tax havens—despite the protestations of the president, a slew of senators and at least one district attorney—remain legal. “I made a lot of effort to shut down that loophole,” former district attorney Robert Morgenthau told The Observer.

Mr. Morgenthau said he’d spoken generally about offshore loopholes to four U.S. secretaries of the Treasury, twice to the commissioner of the general revenue and, as it happens, to Mr. Bloomberg himself. The mayor seemed uninterested in the offshore issue, he said. “I’ve talked to the mayor about it, and the budget director,” Mr.

Morgenthau said. “We did get help from the State Division of Taxation and Finance. But nothing from the city.”

In spite of the flurry of investments, it appears that for years, Mr. Bloomberg’s foundation had no office, phones, staff, Web site or public brochures. In late 2007, the mayor wrote a second letter to the Conflicts of Interest Board, looking for another blessing: Some of his staffers at City Hall, he argued, were asking him, “unsolicited,” if they could help with his foundation. Saying that the foundation would “ultimately serve city goals,” the board approved. At least three of his staffers were even allowed to use government resources, like office space, phones and Internet service, for foundation work.

One of the staffers was Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris. Aside from Mr. Bloomberg, Ms. Harris was the sole officer listed on his foundation’s tax return. A longtime Bloomberg loyalist, Ms. Harris worked at Bloomberg LP before joining the mayor at City Hall. On foundation tax returns, Mr. Bloomberg and Ms. Harris each claimed to have spent .25 hours, or 15 minutes, per week on the charity—as it gave away tens of millions.

Last month, the mayor announced that Ms. Harris would take on even more duties at the foundation, although it is unclear if she will increase her time commitment.

The mayor’s press office referred all questions about the foundation to the organization’s press office, run by former mayoral aide James Anderson. “In order to avoid conflicts, the Mayor is neither involved in nor apprised of the specific investment decisions made on behalf of the foundation—and we are therefore not in a position to discuss them,” Mr. Anderson wrote in an email.

Yet Mr. Bloomberg does often discuss his charitable endeavors. “Other than Gates, nobody’s given away this amount of money,” he boasted to the New York Post’s editorial board earlier this month.

But the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides a contrast in its investment style. While the Bloomberg Family Foundation is hardly alone in embracing the savings provided by the offshore loophole—according to a 2007 New York Times piece, large universities like Yale and Duke, along with charities like the Rockefeller Foundation, engaged in the practice—The Times also reported that the Gates Foundation did not invest in offshore hedge funds.

“When instructing the investment managers, Bill and Melinda also consider other issues beyond corporate profits, including the values that drive the foundation’s work,” explains the Gates Foundation’s Web site. “They have defined areas in which the endowment will not invest, such as companies whose profit model is centrally tied to corporate activity that they find egregious.”

Mr. Rattner’s Quadrangle Group wasn’t beholden to any such strictures relating to the Bloomberg Family Foundation’s portfolio, and throughout 2008, the foundation made liberal use of the offshore loophole.

The bulk of the investments ended up in the Caymans. The Rattner team transferred more than $71 million dollars to Highfields Capital Ltd., the Caymans arm of a Boston-based hedge fund. (Last month, Highfields’ co-founder, Richard Grubman, was arrested after he allegedly beaned a Ritz Carlton valet with the keys of his BMW.) Another $67.8 million went to Brookside Cayman Ltd, the island home of Brookside Capital.

Other money decamped for even more exotic locales: $710,000 zipped to the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Another $700,000 went to two funds on the island nation of Mauritius, about 500 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. A Brazilian hedge fund got $304,000.

Mystique surrounds even some of the smaller foreign investments. In one, the mayor’s foundation transferred $104,000 in cash to a Cyprus-based oil services firm called Geotech Oil Services Holdings Ltd., controlled by a Russian oligarch named Nikolai Levitsky; Mr. Levitsky was once the first deputy governor of the resource-rich Komi Republic in Russia’s Northwest.

Reached by phone, Geotech spokesman Denis Cherednichenko said he had no idea if the Bloomberg Family Foundation had invested in the company, but seemed surprised. He speculated it could have been through another hedge fund. He said three American funds invested in Geotech in 2007.

In another transaction, Mr. Rattner’s team invested $560,000 of the mayor’s charitable fund in BJJ Universul, a Cyprus-based company that develops real estate in central Eastern Europe. According to its Web site, BJJ was established in Romania in 2004 and has more than 40 employees, split between Bucharest and Sofia, Bulgaria, and focused on “greenfield and redevelopment opportunities in Eastern Europe with a current focus on Romania and Bulgaria.”

Compared with those of the great foundations of America, the Bloomberg investment strategies stand out. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s about as opaque set of investments as you can find,” said Rick Cohen, who covers foundations and charities for Nonprofit Quarterly, and who agreed to review the foundation’s tax return. “This involves extensive investments in hedge funds offshore, where the motivation and purpose is not discernible, so you can’t tell what kind of activity it is or who is going to benefit from the investments.”

One former state official, however, defended the activity. “I don’t think there is anything unusual here,” said Bill Josephson, who headed the state’s Charities Bureau when Eliot Spitzer was attorney general, and examined the tax returns for The Observer.

“It is impossible to look at this and determine the intent of the hedge funds investments. You can’t figure it out from the 990 [tax form],” Mr. Josephson said. “The Bloomberg foundation is not that significantly different from the foundations of other individuals who come out of the investment world.”

The mayor announced some time ago that he would strip his funds from the Quadrangle Group, while allowing many of the Quadrangle managers who tended to his money to continue to do so at another firm. Quadrangle continues to manage about $100 million in New York City pension funds, according to the comptroller’s office.

As for the increasingly isolated Mr. Rattner, who remains under investigation, the mayor stands by him. “He’s a friend whose advice the mayor has, and continues to, rely on,” said a Bloomberg spokesman. Mr. Rattner declined to comment.

While almost nothing is known about the foundation’s investments since 2008, Mr. Bloomberg is now preparing to burnish his place in the annals of philanthropy. What exactly that means is not yet public.

apaybarah@observer.com, rpillifant@observer.com

Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute.

Corona Iron Man's Near Perfect at 98 by Lisa Colangelo - NY Daily News

I'd like to add that Robert Ruffin who serves with me on Community Board 10 is also over 90 years old, and had a perfect attendance, too...

Read original...

WHILE dozens of community board members in Queens failed to show up for their regular meetings last year, there also was Tony Caminiti.

The 98-year-old Corona man has been an active member of Community Board 4 since he was first appointed in 1972.

Last year, he missed just one meeting. "I think I was ill," said Caminiti, a World War II veteran who worked in the moving and furniture sales business.

Caminiti also chairs the board's Parks Committee.

"The board is an important organization," he said. "There is a ruling that if you miss more than three in a row, they throw you off."

Many board members around the borough scored a perfect attendance rate last year. But that isn't always the case. Queens News looked at 2009 records for all 14 community boards in Queens.

Almost 60 people failed to show up for half of the meetings. There were even a handful who missed almost all of the regular meetings for the year.

Community Board 12 member Orville Hall, who founded the Hollis Famous Burgers/Hip Hop Museum, missed six out of seven meetings. Fellow board members Freddy Dill Jr. and Angela Powell-Hammond missed five out of seven meetings last year.

Community Board 3 member Ortner Vernon Murray missed all 10 meetings.

A message left for them at the board offices was not immediately returned.

On Community Board 7 in Flushing, Arthur Cheliotes, president of CWA 1180, missed nine out of 13 meetings last year. Cheliotes, who was reappointed this year, said his duties as a labor leader forced him to miss meetings.

Board member Esther Lee missed 11 of those 13 meetings.

A spokeswoman said Lee missed the meetings because of "personal issues" and her work with the Korean-American Association of Flushing.

The spokeswoman said Lee explained her problems to Borough President Helen Marshall's office earlier this year and was appointed for another term.