New York City Carriage Horses~Prohibited Campaign Contributions
Link of interest: https://topcatsroar.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/new-documentary-for-the-carriage-horses-of-central-park-nycmust-see/
Not only is the real estate of interest but is extremely political with pay-offs involved-Sounds like RICO charges might be in order beside the hefty fines…
http://nypost.com/2014/05/21/city-council-members-fined-over-money-from-anti-horse-carriage-group/
City Council members fined over money from anti-horse carriage group
Two city council members were slapped with hefty fines for accepting prohibited campaign contributions from a group at the center of the Central Park horse carriage brouhaha.
Freshman member Laurie Cumbo (D-Brooklyn) was fined $7,868, and newbie Mark Levine (D-Manhattan) was fined $8,686 by the city’s Campaign Finance Board for accepting over-the-limit funding from a “prohibited source.”
The board found that the funding source for both campaigns – New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Street (NYCLASS) – was too intertwined with the candidates’ consultant, The Advance Group (TAG).
Campaigns are prohibited from coordinating with third-party groups that make “independent” expenditures.
Yet TAG president and lobbyist Scott Levenson was political director for NYCLASS, and both groups shared the same office space.
Two other TAG staffers also did work on behalf of NYCLASS – the group that helped bankroll a vicious anti-Christine Quinn effort in last year’s mayoral primary.
NYCLASS’s efforts also boosted then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio – who vowed to ban the iconic horse carriages from Central Park – in his successful run for mayor.
“The penalties leveled today against the Cumbo and Levine City Council campaign represent only the first step in this proceeding,” said CFB Chair Rose Gill Hearn. “The board will consider violations and penalties for the other parties to these transactions.”
As The Post has reported, Levenson is being probed by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, US Attorney Preet Bharara and the city Department of Investigation over potential misconduct in last year’s mayoral race.
The two council members, NYCLASS and TAG reps did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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Disclaimer connected to this blog…Things said are of my opinion ad the opinions of others…Stay tuned -B
Top Cats Roar... 
Wow! And as the plot thickens, the soup keeps on being stirred. You know the you tube video narrated by Liam Neilson(sp.) which was released this week in support of the NY Carriage horses, was AWESOME!
There was a time, long, long ago, when such activity bore the label “bribery.” Today, with political correctness, that label might hurt someone’s feelings -especially the ones doing it. So “contributions” is a much nicer term. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Help each other out here. Give me a $50,000 “contribution,” and I’ll approve your application for whatever it is you might not otherwise be qualified for. Money speaks louder than words, you know, and right or wrong is not a part of the equation.