SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Jason Koppel (Source: Erica Sherman)

Former State Senator Carl Kruger’s chief of staff is heading back to work… on the reelection campaign of Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz.

City and State revealed yesterday that Jason Koppel, who served as Kruger’s chief-of-staff and campaign treasurer, and whose name came up in at least one of the FBI’s probes into Kruger, is now working as a consultant for Team Cymbrowitz.

“I call him and ask him about things that are important to the community, and that’s the extent of it,” Cymbrowitz told City and State. “He’s very well-connected on my constituents issues.”

Koppel recently resigned as Kruger’s campaign treasurer, where he sat on a trove of $417,000 even though his old boss is behind bars. And, as the FBI probe into Kruger’s dealings became public, it was discovered that Koppel received a 40 percent raise over the 16 months of the investigation, making him the highest-paid legislative staffer in Albany, raking in $162,442 a year.

It is not yet known how much Cymbrowitz is paying Koppel for his consulting services, as his hiring came after the time period covered by Cymbrowitz’s latest campaign financial filings.

Besides his well-paid work for the now-imprisoned pol, Koppel’s name surfaced in an FBI investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of Rasputin Nightclub owner and Russian Dolls “star” Michael Levitis.

Levitis was recorded by an FBI informant saying he would help a fellow restaurateur gain favor with Kruger by passing a bribe off to Koppel after taking a cut for himself. He was sentenced to three years probation and fined $15,000 for lying to FBI agents.

All of that said, political observers are cautioning against guilt-by-association. City and State notes:

As a couple of Brooklyn political observers noted when contacted for this story, Koppel has been extremely thoroughly vetted since then — and never has been charged with any wrongdoing. That’s even as the U.S. attorney’s office recorded years of conversations among Kruger and others that were used as evidence against the senator, and Kruger himself cut a deal on a plea agreement.

Despite the fact that he confessed to accepting bribes and now sits in jail on charges of corruption, ex-State Senator Carl Kruger‘s campaign committee has over $417,000, according to the New York Post.

And, apparently, the campaign is keeping the reserves for the pol’s potential payday when he gets out of the big house.

The Post said that the committee, “Friends of Carl,” continued to exist after Kruger left the Senate in December of 2011, and even after he was placed in jail last month. They have not collected money in the past six months, yet they have been paying their bills and even kept some money aside for Kruger after he finishes serving his seven-year sentence.

In addition, Kruger is receiving a taxpayer-funded pension of $65,000 a year.

State election law says that political campaigns can use “contributions received by a candidate or a political committee may be expended for any lawful purpose,” said the New York Post.

However, the law continues and says that the money cannot be used for personal use unconnected to the political campaign. Yet law experts said that almost all expenses can be connected to politics, and therefore, officials can do whatever they’d like with the money.

Here’s how Capital Confidential, which first reported on the leftover warchest, puts it:

Recall: under New York’s current campaign finance laws, YOU CAN DO BASICALLY WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT WITH CAMPAIGN MONEY. Like buy a car. Or have your widow continue to spend it five years after you die. Legal legal legal. S’all good. This is, in my opinion, one of those things that makes the Empire State great.

Sen. Liz Krueger has proposed a bill to eventually let campaign committees die. It may shock you to learn that it hasn’t advanced at all.

Taxpayers are forking over more money this year than any other year in recent memory, thanks to an increase in the number of special elections and primaries in New York State.

The bill? $80 million – a $23 million bump over previous years, according to the Independent Budget Office.

Here’s the explanation offered by the organization:

We typically have three citywide elections in a year when the terms for state and federal officeholders are up for vote. But this year a federal judge ruled that New York State’s scheduling of its Congressional primaries in September, in conjunction with the state primaries for Assembly and Senate, would not leave enough time to get absentee ballots to military personnel overseas before the general election in November.

Albany officials could have shifted state legislative primaries to June 26 as well, but chose not to. With New York’s legislative session scheduled to run until June 21, the State Senate balked at the idea of holding an election just five days later that would leave them little time to get home and campaign. So counties across the state pony up more money to cover the cost of an additional day for voters to go to the polls. For the city this meant adding $23 million to the Board of Election’s budget. The funds cover expenditures such as printing ballots, transporting voting machines to the city’s more than 1,300 polling sites, and paying about 30,000 poll workers.

For April’s poorly attended Republican primary, the bill came out to much less than the city had anticipated: just $13.3 million. But, the IBO notes, that comes out to about $522 per vote.

Locally, the race to replace former State Senator Carl Kruger, which pitted Democrat Lew Fidler versus Republican David Storobin, the election day costs were about $750,000. No one has yet figured out the cost of the hand recount triggered by the nearly 50-50 split in the vote, or the two months of proceedings that led up it. The New York Post puts that figure at more than $1 million.

Oh, and the kicker? The cost of that special election is not included in the $80 million price tag. Neither is the overtime pay for police officers station at voting sites, which the IBO estimated at approximately $500,000 for each citywide election (and less for local specials).

It’s enough to make a fiscal conservative wonder if democracy is worth the price.

Kruger's office after signage was stripped in March.

Newly-sworn in State Senator David Storobin will open his district office to constituents next week, using the former 2201 Avenue U space once occupied by his disgraced predecessor Carl Kruger.

Storobin told Sheepshead Bites this week that he has obtained the keys to the office, and it will be fully staffed by Monday. Constituents can begin stopping by then to talk to staffers about legislation or problems they’re having with city or state authorities.

The office was the longtime haunt of Kruger, who served as state senator for 17 years. He surrendered to authorities on bribery charges in March 2011, resigned and pleaded guilty in December, and in April was sentenced to seven years in prison. Within hours of his resignation, his name was removed from all signage of the 2201 Avenue U office, leaving only the markings of the State Senate and not the representative. Months later, all signage was removed.

The state will now pay to replace the signage that was removed, which will need to be replaced once more in January when the district is eliminated. That intersection will sit on the border of the new District 17 and District 19.

After much hand-wringing, vote-contesting and court-battling, the race to replace Carl Kruger as the State Senator of the 27th District is finally over. Republican David Storobin traveled to Albany yesterday and was sworn in, followed by some welcoming comments from Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. The above is Skelos’ comments on the floor of the Senate, provided by the Senate’s YouTube channel, with a tip o’ the hat to Politicker for bringing it to our attention.

Source: madamepsychosis/Flickr

While Carl Kruger has requested to be locked up in Otisville, a prison serving kosher meals and known as a haven for white collar criminals, the bag man responsible for funneling nearly $200,000 to the pol is getting his sentence slashed on account of his obesity.

Solomon Kalish was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday, half the standard for his deeds. The judge said his weight-related health problems was the deciding factor.

“I’m very mindful of Mr. Kalish’s health problems, and that in and of itself warrants a non-guidelines sentence,” said Judge Jed Rakoff, according to the New York Post.

Kalish, 62, weighs 270 pounds and suffers from diabetes and coronary-artery disease. He had open-heart surgery last year.

Kalish’s role in the bribery scheme that led to the conviction of Kruger, hospital execs, and a prominent lobbyist among others was that of the bag man. He brought $197,000 from the hospital execs to Kruger in exchange for favorable deals with Albany and a job for Kalish’s son in Kruger’s office.

Former State Senator Carl Kruger was sentenced to seven years behind bars for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. His “intimate associate,” Michael Turano of Mill Basin, who benefited from the bribes and helped launder the money through shell companies under his control, was sentenced to two years.

Below is the press release from the District Attorney’s office:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that New York State Senator CARL KRUGER was sentenced today to seven years in prison for engaging in bribery schemes in which he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for taking official actions. As part of the schemes, the corrupt payments intended for KRUGER were directed to bank accounts controlled by MICHAEL TURANO, a Manhattan-based gynecologist, who was sentenced today to two years in prison for his role in the schemes. KRUGER and TURANO were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “Today’s sentencing of Carl Kruger and Michael Turano takes us one step closer to closing this sorry chapter in the continuing story of public corruption in New York State and City government. And the moral is that when elected officials violate their oaths of office and betray their constituents by putting personal interests and enrichment above their duty as public servants, they will be brought to justice.”

According to the Indictment, other documents filed in the case, and statements made during plea proceedings,

From 1994 to 2011, KRUGER served as a member of the New York State Senate, representing Bergen Beach, Flatlands, Mill Basin and other Brooklyn communities in the 27th Senate District. From 2009 to the beginning of 2011, he was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. KRUGER had a close relationship with TURANO and was effectively a member of his family.

From 2007 through March 2011, lobbyist Richard Lipsky directed approximately $260,000 of his lobbying fees to Olympian Strategic Development Corporation and Bassett Brokerage, two entities controlled by TURANO. In exchange for the payments made to Olympian and Bassett, KRUGER undertook official action to benefit Lipsky and his lobbying clients. Further, from 2007 through March 2011, healthcare consultant Solomon Kalish directed approximately $197,000 to Olympian that had been paid to Adex by third parties, including Robert Aquino, the Chief Executive Officer of Parkway Hospital in Queens, New York, through his marketing/consulting firm, Adex Management, Inc. Aquino caused the hospital to make $60,000 in payments to Adex. In exchange for the payments made to Adex, KRUGER undertook official action to benefit Kalish, Adex, and the third parties paying Adex.

At his plea proceeding, KRUGER admitted that from 2007 through March 2011, he agreed to undertake action, in connection with his official position as a member of the New York State Senate, to benefit Lipsky, Kalish, Aquino, and TURANO, in exchange for payments that he directed to Olympian, Bassett, Adex, and the individuals who had an interest in those entities.

TURANO admitted that from late 2007 through February 2011, his consulting business received payments from Lipsky, Kalish, Aquino and associated entities knowing that the money was paid, in part, in exchange for KRUGER taking acts in his official capacity as a member of the New York Senate to benefit those individuals and entities.

In addition to their prison terms, KRUGER, 62, of Brooklyn, New York, and TURANO, 50, of Brooklyn, New York, were each sentenced by Judge Rakoff to two years of supervised release, and each ordered to forfeit $223,534.

KRUGER and TURANO were initially charged on March 10, 2011, along with six others, including Lipsky, Kalish, Aquino, David Rosen, the former CEO of MediSys Health Network, real estate developer Aaron Malinsky, and New York State Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr.

Rosen, 64, of Harrison, New York, was convicted at a bench trial on September 12, 2011 for his involvement in schemes to bribe KRUGER, former New York State Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, and Boyland. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7, 2012 at 3:30 p.m.

Aquino, 55, of Glen Head, New York, pled guilty on January 3, 2012 and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.

Lipsky, 65, of New York, New York, pled guilty on January 4, 2012 and is awaiting sentencing.

Kalish, 61, of Rockville Centre, New York, pled guilty on January 18, 2012 and is scheduled to sentenced on May 22, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.

Boyland, 41, of Brooklyn, New York, was acquitted by a jury on November 10, 2011.

The Government entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with Malinsky, 63, of New York, New York, on November 22, 2011.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As the neck-and-neck special election to replace former State Senator Carl Kruger rages on with counts, recounts, court hearings and special “referees,” the taxpayer price tag jumped to nearly $1 million.

The New York Post reports:

Board [of Elections] officials said the initial cost to hold the election was $750,000.

That figure covered the cost of poll workers and monitors, transporting the optical-scan voting machines to poll sites, advertising, mailings and other planning and administrative costs.

But overtime costs to deal with the recount are piling up.

Between March 17 and March 31, the board reported paying $125,000 in overtime — most of it to handle the recount, sources said.

Even if only half of the overtime costs are attributed to the recount, the price for the race would be $825,000 through the end of March and nearly $900,000 for the first half of April.

The vote tallying has dragged on for more than a month since the March 20 special election. Unofficial counts put Republican David Storobin ahead of Democrat Lew Fidler by a mere two votes, and a handful of court hearings over absentee ballots may fail to put any finality to the elections; if they remain within a 0.05 percent difference, officials will recount all 22,000 ballots by hand. An allegation of voter fraud may slow the process even more.

With all that money spent, it may amount to very little for taxpayers. The district itself will be dissolved at year’s end, courtesy of redistricting. And it’s increasingly likely that no result will be determined by June, when the legislative session ends – meaning the eventual State Senator of the 27th District may never cast a vote on behalf of his constituents.

Meanwhile, Carl Kruger, who resigned in December before pleading guilty to accepting $1 million in bribes, will be sentenced this week. He faces between nine and 12 years.

Photo by Erica Sherman

More than one year after Pathmark made its last sale from its 3795 Nostrand Avenue location, the building remains vacant, political leadership to bring a new supermarket to the site appears to have dried up, and residents are fuming about the lack of nearby options to shop for their families.

The business closed its doors for good on April 15, 2011, as the parent company, A&P, filed for bankruptcy and closed numerous locations across the nation. More than 100 employees were put out of work by the closing, and it eliminated the only supermarket within walking distance for many nearby residents.

Find out what the pols are up to, and what the property owner has to say.

In State Senate District 27, the shenanigans just keep on coming.

Following the resignation of State Senator Carl Kruger, and the same pol’s guilty plea to charges of taking nearly $1 million in bribes, and then his would-be successors’ brutish campaigns… well, following all that and more, the Daily News has now learned that state-owned furniture and equipment used by Kruger’s staff has vanished.

A new mystery surrounds disgraced former Sen. Carl Kruger: What happened to all his state-owned office furniture and equipment?

When the Senate GOP majority did an inventory of the crooked pol’s old Brooklyn district office, they found that several swivel chairs, a couch, two air conditioners and desk lamps were among 30 missing items, sources said.

“The desks were all there, but no chairs,” one astounded source said. “We don’t know where the things are.”

Though they’d been stripping signage for months, no one expected the same was happening inside the 2201 Avenue U district office, which officially cleared out around the same time as the March 20 special election.

Senate Republicans say they may call police about the missing furniture.