Malcolm Smith

Ex-Rep. Floyd Flake, Cronies Get More Media Scrutiny

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Sat, 06/19/2010 - 16:35

Floyd Flake photo Rev. Floyd Flake, a former member of Congress, is a political force in Queens where he is the pastor of a 23,000-member church. His protégés include U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks and state Senator Malcolm Smith, both under a grand jury investigation apparently triggered by NLPC’s expose of a charity called New Direction Local Development Corporation, and Meeks’ sweetheart deal on a home.

According to a story by Russ Buettner in yesterday’s New York Times, Flake and his partners ended up as owners of two eight-story apartment buildings that were “built and subsidized with public money.” In addition, the 300 units were “well maintained by one of the church’s charities.”

Prokhorov NBA Bid Gets Scrutiny; ACORN-Funder Ratner Needs Russian Billionaire to Build Brooklyn Arena

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Sun, 04/11/2010 - 09:22

Ratner & Prokhorov Bruce Ratner is a New York real estate developer and owner of the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association. For five years, he’s been trying to move the team to a new arena in Brooklyn that he hopes to build, relying on New York’s powers of eminent domain to move hundreds of homeowners and businessmen out of their quarters.

The Brooklyn arena project, known as Atlantic Yards, is on life support. It is only being kept alive by an investment of Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, who is reportedly worth more than $13 billion. He is investing $200 million with Ratner for a 85% ownership interest in the Nets, and a 45% interest in the $4.9 billion arena project, which includes residential and office towers.

Rep. Gregory Meeks Attacks the Wrong Peter Flaherty

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Thu, 03/25/2010 - 18:35

Meeks photo In today’s Queens Chronicle, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) attacked NLPC as “a right-wing, inside-the-Beltway organization with an explicitly stated partisan agenda.” As evidence, Meeks claimed that I “served as a top advisor to Mitt Romney during his presidential campaign.” The only problem is that Meeks got the wrong Peter Flaherty.

Maybe Meeks should learn how to aim before he fires. Or at least learn how to use Google. The Peter Flaherty who advised Romney is a principal in the Shawmut Group in Boston. He is a former assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County, and served as Vice-President of Walden Media, a film production studio. Flaherty worked as a senior advisor to Mitt Romney while he was governor, and held a senior position in his 2008 presidential campaign. He is also credited with helping to engineer Scott Brown's upset Senate win this year.

High-Living Congressman Meeks Blames NLPC for Scrutiny

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Sat, 03/20/2010 - 10:24

According to a New York Times story today titled “Congressman Cries Poor, but Lifestyle May Disagree” by Eric Lipton and Ray Hernandez:

Money is so tight, Representative Gregory W. Meeks says, he does not have a savings account with more than a few thousand dollars in it. And yet Mr. Meeks, one of New York City’s most prominent Democrats, lives a life worthy of a jet-setter.

When he travels, he stays in luxury hotels like the Mondrian South Beach in Miami and the Ritz-Carlton in San Juan, P.R. He drives a Lexus, leased by the federal government, at a cost of $1,000 a month. He eats expensive meals at BLT Steak in Washington and Docks Oyster Bar in Manhattan, among other trendy spots.

Later in the Times article, Meeks attacks NLPC:

Doubts Cast on Rep. Meeks’ New Account of Missing Katrina Funds

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 09:50

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) has offered a second account of what happened to money he helped raise for Hurricane Katrina victims who apparently did not receive the aid. But this latest explanation — that it benefitted Katrina victims who came to New York City — is proving as flimsy as his original.

On New York’s Channel 1, Meeks was actually being interviewed about Rep. Charles Rangel’s downfall when the interviewer shifted gears to questions about the Katrina charity. Meeks has ducked interviews on the topic since NLPC first raised questions on January 31 about a nonprofit called New Direction Local Development Corporation, which sponsored an effort known as New Yorkers Organized to Assist Hurricane Families (NOAH-F). The “charity” is now being investigated by federal prosecutors.

Earmarks Corrupt NY Politics

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 16:39

New York Post columnist Maureen Callahan today asks what New York state political scandals have in common:

It’s the one question that’s not really been addressed during this dubious week for New York legislators: How is it that so many — from Pedro Espada to Larry Seabrook to Malcolm Smith to Hiram Monserrate — have been able to so blatantly funnel taxpayer money to their own interests? The answer is both shocking and not: Because they can.

“New York has its own brand of mischief that’s more lethal than other states,” says Ken Boehm of the National Legal and Policy Center. “When millions of dollars are being sent to non-existent organizations, clearly there’s a problem.”

Unlike every other state, New York allows legislators to set up their own non-profits and then steer taxpayer money to those same organizations. So, as will happen, many state and city lawmakers have done just that. “Like DC,” Boehm says, “New York allows earmarks cloaked in secrecy.”

Rep. Meeks Can’t Account for Hurricane Katrina Money; Puts Spotlight on Paterson/Flake Aqueduct Gambling Deal

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Sun, 02/07/2010 - 13:59

Flood Gate No one knows anything. As NLPC exposed last Sunday, a charity with which Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) is deeply involved, can’t account for funds raised for Hurricane Katrina victims. According to a front-page New York Post story today, Meeks claims the money was used “to help displaced evacuees,” but neither he nor anyone else involved with group can or will say how.

The contoversy over Meeks’ group, called New Direction Local Development Corporation, is fuel for the firestorm of surrounding the awarding by New York Governor David Paterson of a lucrative gambling franchise to Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) in which former Rep. Floyd Flake is an “investor.” Days later, Paterson met with Flake to discuss his support for Paterson’s re-election campaign. According to the Post:

Floyd Flake is extremely valuable to AEG because of his political clout in both Queens and New York state," said Ken Boehm, chairman of National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group. "Now he appears to be dangling his support for the governor until AEG's bid is fully approved.

Rep. Gregory Meeks’ Charity Looks More Like Slush Fund

Submitted by Ken Boehm on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 16:12

Meeks photo Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), already under scrutiny for his relationship with Ponzi billionaire Allen Stanford, is deeply involved with a nonprofit group in Queens, New York called New Direction Local Development Corporation. Our review of IRS tax returns, New York state budget records, and other documents suggests that New Direction does little development. Instead, it appears to operate to the benefit of Meeks and a state Senator named Malcolm Smith, and much of the money it has raised is simply unaccounted for.

New Direction has received at least $56,500 in New York state taxpayer funds since 2001, at the direction of Smith in the form of “member items,” the state equivalent of an earmark. The group’s largest donation of $250,000 came in 2004 from a company called International Airport Centers, which successfully sought permission to build an airport cargo facility near JFK airport in their districts. New Direction also collected thousands of dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims.