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October 9, 2010
Mr. Paladino and the System
The New York Times, Editorial
Does The Times have a double-standard when it comes to nutty, belligerent Tea-Partying gubernatorial-candidate and "liberal do-gooder" real estate developers?
Carl Paladino, the Republican nominee for governor of New York, portrays himself as a business-hardened outsider who would reform Albany’s corrupt and bloated bureaucracy and drive out the pay-to-play special interests. “I’m just a regular guy from Buffalo,” he says.
A look at his record as a developer shows that he has been an eager recipient of just the sort of government largess he so bitterly condemns and a generous contributor to politicians who can best do him favors.
His flourishing real estate business was stoked with tax breaks, multimillion-dollar state leases and government land giveaways. At the same time, he used his partnerships and corporations to donate nearly $500,000 to scores of elected officials, judges and candidates since 1999 — a bit more than most regular guys from Buffalo.
Mr. Paladino is the largest landowner in Buffalo, and building his empire required many local zoning variances and municipal permissions. Buffalo’s politicians, who received generous donations from him for years, were happy to help.
NoLandGrab: Does this means that if Bruce Ratner ran for governor, The Times might actually condemn his modus operandi?
Posted by eric at October 9, 2010 11:31 AM