State Senator Martin Golden’s Luxury Condos and Apartments Tax Abatement for Billionaires and Multi-Millionaires Bill (long-since passed and signed into law) is still making news — mostly, the New York Daily News — Today's report indicates that the legislative heavy lifting for Golden’s last minute NYS Senate bill came from the Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
According to a report that appears in today’s Sunday News, “The anonymous benefactor who tucked lucrative tax breaks for five major city developers into a housing bill was Asssembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Daily News has learned. *** Several sources involved in the process identified Silver as the source of the quintet’s gold. *** Bill sponsors and legislative officials speculated and pointed fingers for weeks when asked about the origin of the controversial abatements....” (See “Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver behind tax breaks to five luxury developers: sources” by Kenneth Lovett, 8/18/13, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/sheldon-silver-behind-wealthy-developer-tax-breaks-article-1.1429983#ixzz2cKtXzOnp]).
Even though State Senator Martin Golden’s name is not mentioned in Ken Lovett’s article in the Sunday News, those who have followed this story know that, as this bill’s sponsor in the NYS Senate, Brooklyn’s only Republican State Senator, Martin Golden has been one of the key “...[b]ill sponsors and legislative officials...” that has speculated and pointed fingers for weeks whenever he has been asked about the origin of the controversial abatements. In fact, even Jackie Gleason, doing his iconic turns as “Ralph Kramden” never did a better “...Hubbadah-hubbadah-hubbadah !” than Marty Golden has done about this whole issue and in explaining how the five specific tax abatements got into his bill that passed the NYS Senate at the 11th hour of its session earlier this year.
Does anybody think for a second that nobody mentioned to State Senator Golden that “... Speaker Shelley Silver really wants this...” ? Specifically, does anybody believe that State Senator Martin Golden and GOP Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos never had even the slightest conversation about the proposed legislation without Silver’s interest ever being mentioned ?
Remember, Golden once mentioned that the addition of the abatements had been supported by the GOP conference. If that’s where it really came from, why are sources from two of the developers saying that it all came from Democrat Honcho Sheldon Silver ? Once they talk about it at all, usually the beneficiaries of legislative largesse make sure to give credit where it is due so nobody’s nose gets out of joint.
Please Mr. Postman send me someone name Joe.
ReplyDeletePlease do not send me Gold and Silver coins anymore.
I will just toss them in the sewer.
Thinking now of Dean oh what a player he was maybe he should go in with the rest of the trash here and in Albany.
When this over The City of New York will need help from our brothers and sisters from Washington.
Does your "Joe" mean Joe Bova of the Democrats' Stars and Stripes Club ? Here the reason why I ask.
DeleteI don't know if Golden is carrying water or whatever else for Democrat Sheldon Silver, or any other Democrat like Governor Cuomo, but Golden's Chief of Staff Jerry Kassar, who is also the Conservative Party Chairman, is carrying and passing out Democratic literature for an upcoming Democrat Party primary. He and his crew were working for somebody by handing out Democratic Party Primary material for DA Hynes at various Bay Ridge churches yesterday. Along with Kassar were two of his "fellow" Brooklyn Cons: Fran Vella-Marone and Liam McCabe.
There was not one Democrat in the group "for cover," but somebody from Bova's S & S club came by to check up that the church was "covered" by Kassar's crew of Conservatives.
UPDATE: According to a Daily News report, “Assemblyman Keith Wright is furious at Speaker Sheldon Silver for dragging him into a controversy — now the subject of an investigation — over tax breaks quietly awarded to five city developers. *** Wright, chairman of the Assembly Housing Committee, was the prime sponsor of the bill that passed in January. The Manhattan Democrat inherited the bill after he replaced previous committee chair Vito Lopez, who was removed by Silver last August amid a sexual harassment scandal that ultimately ended Lopez’s Assembly career. *** When Silver gave Wright the bill, ‘it was presented as a routine legislative matter,’ a source briefed on the situation said. ‘Now there's a whole investigation around it’.” (See “Assemblyman Keith Wright Upset With Speaker Sheldon Silver Over Developer Tax Breaks” by Ken Lovett, 8/19/13, NY Daily News/Daily Politics [http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/08/assemblyman-keith-wright-upset-with-speaker-sheldon-silver-over-developer-tax-]).
ReplyDeleteThus far, State Senator Golden has not pointed an accusing finger at anybody in the Republican leadership in the State Senate for inserting the language granting the special tax abatements to five luxury Manhattan housing projects into the housing bill that he had sponsored in the senate. Neither has Golden claimed, like Assemblyman Wright did, that he "never got a penny from any of the five real estate folks [the developers who directly benefited from the tax abatements].”
Gale Your kidding right. This is really starting to make no sense at all. Are you telling me they are all crooks.
ReplyDeletePlease don't tell me this.
I didn't say that Keith Wright was a crook.
DeleteIn fact, I simply repeated Wright's own expression of upset over all of this.
UPDATE : This story continues to percolate.
ReplyDeleteToday Ken Lovett in the NY Daily News Daily Politics blog reported that a January letter from Keith Wright contained the following wording: "...'The bill also includes provisions that would grandfather five projects into the 421-a tax abatement and exemption program, so that they would be eligible for benefits...' [Wright's} Jan. 25 letter says. 'These projects are located in lower and midtown Manhattan.' ... " (See "Assemblyman Keith Wright Sent Letter Acknowledging Developer Tax Breaks In Bill" by Kenneth Lovett, 8/26/13
[http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/08/assemblyman-keith-wright-sent-letter-to-colleagues-acknowledging-developer-tax]). However, Lovett's report also noted that, "A source close to Wright insisted that the letter was prepared by the speaker's office 'and doesn't change the fact that Keith was never told how or why the developers were put in the bill'...." It's interesting that the January letter also indicated that the bill was the result of 'compromises" made during three-way talks among the Assembly, Senate and city.
In spite of Wright's inconsistent and contradictory remarks on the subject of the 421-a tax abatements for the five Manhattan luxury buildings, Assemblyman Wright has been an open book compared to the State Senate sponsor of the bill, Marty Golden.
UPDATE : This story continues to percolate.
ReplyDeleteToday Ken Lovett in the NY Daily News Daily Politics blog reported that a January letter from Keith Wright contained the following wording: "...'The bill also includes provisions that would grandfather five projects into the 421-a tax abatement and exemption program, so that they would be eligible for benefits...' [Wright's} Jan. 25 letter says. 'These projects are located in lower and midtown Manhattan.' ... " (See "Assemblyman Keith Wright Sent Letter Acknowledging Developer Tax Breaks In Bill" by Kenneth Lovett, 8/26/13
[http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/08/assemblyman-keith-wright-sent-letter-to-colleagues-acknowledging-developer-tax]). However, Lovett's report also noted that, "A source close to Wright insisted that the letter was prepared by the speaker's office 'and doesn't change the fact that Keith was never told how or why the developers were put in the bill'...." It's interesting that the January letter also indicated that the bill was the result of 'compromises" made during three-way talks among the Assembly, Senate and city.
In spite of Wright's inconsistent and contradictory remarks on the subject of the 421-a tax abatements for the five Manhattan luxury buildings, Assemblyman Wright has been an open book compared to the State Senate sponsor of the bill, Marty Golden.