An ABC News investigative report revealed a loophole in campaign contribution regulations that allow millions of dollars to be funneled to legislators in the State Senate. Senator Carl Kruger is one of the chief recipients of the dubious funds, the report indicates.
The investigation, which appeared online this past Monday, shows that Kruger received more than $33,000 from a single real estate developer funneled through nine Manhattan parking garage businesses. Corporate campaign contributions to a single legislator are limited to $5,000 per year, but the developer Leonard Litwin, paid out more than six times that amount to Kruger alone.
ABC News found that soon after our state senator became chair of the powerful finance committee, “the money started rolling in.” Campaign disclosure reports show that in the first six months, he received more than a half-million dollars in contributions, double the donations received in all of the previous year. Kruger’s campaign warchest is by far the largest in the State Senate, with nearly $2.2 million.
The enormous amounts given to Kruger since his reign as finance committee chair reveal a deep weakness in our state system, in which corporate interests are wielding powerful sway over our representative. And from the video, it appears as if our Senator Kruger is only too eager to take his thirty pieces of silver.
Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger is once again getting panned by the city press for his money magic.
Back in November he invited a storm of criticism for holding up the budget process and nearly putting the state in bankruptcy. The Penguin – err, the senator came up with a number of ludicrous schemes to fill state coffers, and more than once insisted that the deficit just didn’t exist.
Well, now the NY Post has caught him spending taxpayer money with one hand while using the other to give the finger to Governor Paterson for not, uh, stopping senators from spending taxpayer money.
Kruger was caught pissing away $31 million in an unfunded entitlement that would cap rent costs for New York City HIV/AIDS victims at 30 percent of their income. A good purpose, for sure, but still a $31 million sinkhole wrought with hypocrisy by our good senator:
But what makes this bit of frivolity especially rich is that only last month, Kruger insisted that Paterson wasn’t going far enough in combating such [unfunded] mandates, saying: “It seems illogical [that] the governor is so unwilling to end unfunded mandates once and for all, and is instead content with a temporary moratorium.”
So how does Kruger square that stance with his support of, well, a new unfunded mandate?
Easy: The bill, he says, won’t cost a dime.
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[Advocates of the bill say] the entire cost will be offset by money the city and state no longer need to spend relocating HIV/AIDS patients who can’t pay their rent into emergency housing.
Yet, according to OTDA, that sum runs to barely $4 million a year.
Even if that’s a lowball figure, it’s a great deal less than $31 million.
While the aim of the new mandate is inarguably good, our lawmakers are required to figure out fundraising schemes to cover costs. Kruger – one of the most powerful senators as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee – is way too lazy for that. In fact, we can’t figure out how a guy who fails at every turn to think about the economic consequences of his actions and seems to lack any basic math skills became the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Kruger’s continued electability (and he’s sure to be reelected) is an ongoing reminder of how truly F’d New York State politics are.
Over the weekend, gay rights activists marched in front of State Senator Carl Kruger’s Mill Basin home, enraged at the senator’s recent vote against marriage equality in New York State. According to NBC New York, activists called Kruger a “bigot”, and are planning more protests in the coming weeks.
Kruger has defended his vote as a reflection of his constituents’ wishes, not of his own beliefs. He said he considers the Orthodox Jewish community a “bedrock” part of his district. He added, “When it becomes an emotional, gut-wrenching issue, when it cuts through the fabric of traditions and values, then I have my community as the cornerstone of my decision.” (Others say Kruger’s vote was the result of a “chit cashed” by fellow “Amigo” Ruben Diaz.)
What do you think? Should a senator put his constituents’ wishes before his own moral beliefs? Always/Never? And is the Orthodox Jewish community reflective of the the entire district, which includes Bergen Beach, Flatlands, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, and Midwood.
Meanwhile, in other Kruger news, the good senator continues to get slammed for his budget shenangigans and role in the MTA deficit (here and here).
It’s not sleigh-bells ringing this holiday season, but cell phones!
One of the most important things to have in the modern day is a phone. Yet with unemployment on the rise, many are finding it difficult to meet their monthly payments.
Well, as of December 14 that won’t be an issue anymore, thanks to State Senator Carl Kruger. He’s launching The Assurance Wireless Program (TAWP) which will provide qualified applicants with 200 minutes a month of free phone time from Virgin Mobil/Sprint. Those minutes come with no strings attached. No contract, no fees. Pretty nice deal if you ask us.
Gay rights advocates are "outing" Kruger, alleging he is a closeted homosexual.
From the Daily News:
After voting “no” on the gay marriage bill yesterday, Sen. Carl Kruger exited the Senate chamber and walked straight into the buzzsaw that was Allen Roskoff and Corey Johnson.
The two outspoken gay advocates stunned onlookers by heckling the Brooklyn Democrat, publicly calling his sexuality into question and threatening to support a primary candidate against him in 2010.
I reached the duo, who arrived in Albany Tuesday night in time to see the Assembly pass the marriage bill for the third time since 2007, as they were en route home to New York City. Roskoff proudly confirmed he and Johnson “told Carl off.”
In the 18th Century, Samuel Johnson said, “If you are idle, be not solitary” – and with those words, as if by magic, the New York State Senate was established; and a whole lot of otherwise idle men were grouped together, to be idle, but not solitary.
With the state facing a $3.2 billion budget gap, little has been accomplished except a continuous ticking-off-the-list of things we can’t do to fix the budget. Why can’t we do them? It’s this senator’s pet project, or that senator’s constituency (or, perhaps, campaign contributor). Meanwhile, New York State is just days away from declaring bankruptcy.
And who’s leading the shenanigans? Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger. Continue Reading »
Sheepshead Bay’s two state senators – Carl Kruger (D) and Marty Golden (R) – remain the only Brooklyn-area representatives standing against gay marriage in New York.
Of the nine members of the Brooklyn delegation to the State Senate, seven have publicly stated support for same-sex marriage rights, according to a survey by NY1. The majority of state senators from all five boroughs and Westchester support the bill, as do the majority of residents statewide, according to one poll. Continue Reading »
Angered by Governor Paterson’s moves to slash spending in education and healthcare, State Senator Carl Kruger proposed an alternative budget and blasted the governor for wantonly depicting a “doomsday scenario.”
Despite a deficit of more than $3 billion, Mr. Kruger has threatened to block any significant cuts to health care and education, the biggest spending areas in the budget. He has presented his own budget plan, which has startled even Albany veterans for its reliance on one-time maneuvers and financial gimmickry.
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Where the governor would cut spending, Mr. Kruger and the Senate prefer one-time measures like restructuring the state’s tobacco bonds, a move that would increase New York’s debt burden. Mr. Kruger would also draw from the treasuries of public authorities to a greater degree than the governor and wants to increase gambling hours at gaming facilities.
And Mr. Kruger believes the state should set up a commission to study ways to make government more efficient, a step that could take years to show gains.
Kruger represents parts of Sheepshead Bay, Homecrest, Gravesend, Midwood, Mill Basin, Flatlands, Manhattan Beach, and Bergen Beach. In a power play over the summer, Kruger joined three other Democratic lawmakers and threatened to caucus with the Republicans, putting the Dems at risk of forfeiting their majority. He came out of the play as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and has raised more than $2.1 million for his 2010 reelection bid – far more than any other state legislator.
Local leaders pressed MTA officials and the agency’s contractor for proposals and promises from the authority this morning, but the biggest payoff appears to be for residents of Gerritsen Beach and communities east of Sheepshead Bay.
“Did a magic bullet appear? No,” said Councilman Lew Fidler of the meeting. “The thing that probably will come out of it – and we’re optimistic will come out of it – and it doesn’t affect a whole lot of people, but it does affect Weinstein’s constituents and mine – there was some willingness to consider reversing some of the service cuts on the BM3 and BM4 buses. That’s the thing we’re most optimistic will happen, but obviously it doesn’t help the vast majority of people affected by the construction.”
It appears the MTA came unaware of the demands and complaints awaiting them.
“They were there to tell their side of the story, and I think that’s all they thought they were there for,” said George Broadhead, president of the Gerritsen Beach Property Owners Association. Broadhead said they came to discuss the construction plans, not alter them. However, the meeting changed direction when Broadhead brought up the recent service changes to the BM3 and BM4 buses, which provide alternative Manhattan-bound service to Gerritsen Beach and the eastern portion of Sheepshead Bay. Those bus routes now leave many riders with only the handicapped B/Q line.
The MTA officials present only represented the subway service, and according to sources at the meeting, they were unaware of the bus division’s actions and dismissed it as the other branch’s responsibility.
“[State Senator Carl] Kruger blew his top,” said one source who asked not to be named. “[The MTA was] there to really apologize for all the bullcrap. But I think they got a taste of it from Kruger.”
Kruger scolded the MTA for its dismissive attitude towards bus alternatives, reportedly saying, “We bailed you out with billions of tax-payer dollars, and now you’re telling me the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing?” Continue Reading »
Today the area’s elected politicians are meeting with MTA officials. On the agenda? The B train.
One full week after the B train kicked off its two-year hiatus – though it’s three weeks if you count the unannounced termination of service before that – the area’s leaders are gathering at Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein’s office on Nostrand Avenue with MTA officials. In attendance are Councilmen Lew Fidler and Mike Nelson, Assemblymen Weinstein and Maisel, State Senators Carl Kruger and Marty Golden, as well as Community Board Chairperson Theresa Scavo. An invite has also been sent to Congressman Weiner’s office.
The gang of seven-ish is hoping to press the MTA to seek alternatives to the current plans, which will see the B train running local until late 2011.
“We want to hear from them on what they want to accomplish. They’re inconveniencing a lot of people,” Fidler said. He added that he’s looking for assurances that they’ve looked into alternative plans. “There’s got to be a better way. I’d like to hear there’s an option that’s more convenient for the public.”
Assemblyman Maisel said he hoped the gang could gain some ground with the agency by airing the community’s grievances. However, he also noted the MTA isn’t required to accomodate the group’s demands. “They’re called the authority for a reason,” he said, and pointed out that the authority system has been a troubled one for decades.
As the only unelected party in the group, Theresa Scavo was more blunt with her assessment. “I don’t think anything’s going to get accomplished,” she said. “I think they’re basically going to ignore us.”
Sheepshead Bites will check in later with the pols to see how it went. Stay tuned!
