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March 20, 2011
Kruger's campaigns see big 'Net' gains
New York Post
By Gary Buiso and Aaron Short
Talk about team spirit.
State Sen. Carl Kruger -- who, the feds charge, directed state money to the Atlantic Yards project, which includes a new Nets arena -- took thousands of dollars in campaign cash from deep-pocketed donors connected to its developer, the team and the arena.
Nets investor Michael Ratner -- a lawyer and brother of the developer, Bruce Ratner -- and Michael's wife, Karen Ranucci, each gave $2,000 to the Brooklyn Democrat's campaign weeks before Bruce bought the team in 2004. Bruce's company, Forest City Ratner, is also building the Brooklyn arena.
Richard Lipsky, a former Ratner lobbyist who, with Kruger, was charged by feds on March 9 in a $1 million bribery case, legally gave Kruger's coffers $3,500 between 2003 and 2007, and Lipsky's wife, Dorothy, gave $9,000 between 2008 and 2010, state data show.
Lipsky was caught on FBI wiretaps allegedly paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Kruger, who is charged with directing state cash to Forest City's $4 billion Atlantic Yards project and other Lipsky clients.
Other Nets investors in the Kruger campaign-money mix were Vincent Viola, a Wall Street mogul and former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange, who gave $5,000 in 2009, Ahron Hersh, a former CEO of a handbag company, who gave $5,000 in 2005, and Martin Rostowsky, president of a Sunset Park electric-supply company, who gave $250 in 2004.
...
Kruger, 61, has gone out of his way to cheer for the Atlantic Yards project in Prospect Heights, which sits well outside his South Brooklyn district.
At a public hearing in 2006, he gushed: "We're not talking about the Nets arena. We're not talking about Forest City Ratner . . . We're talking about Brooklyn first. What better way can we talk about Brooklyn than bringing an arena and a first-class team to the doorstep of what is truly the capital of our world, our borough, Brooklyn?"
Critics blasted Kruger's cozy relationships with Nets and arena backers.
"Contributors feel as if they have to make campaign gifts in order to have the support of crooked officials like Kruger," said Dick Dadey, head of the watchdog group Citizens Union.
Michael Ratner, Viola, Lipsky and Rostowsky did not return calls for comment. Ranucci hung up the phone when Kruger's name was mentioned. Joe DePlasco, a spokesman for Forest City Ratner, declined to comment, as did Nets spokesman Barry Baum.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, New York Post notices contributions from Michael Ratner and wife to Kruger, discovers other Nets investors who gave
When, in September 2006, I first wrote about lawyer Michael Ratner's campaign contribution in apparent furtherance of the goals of Forest City Ratner (run by his brother Bruce), nobody in the press seemed to care.
When news of corruption charges against state Senator Carl Kruger first surfaced this month, I mentioned that Kruger had received FCR-related campaign contributions, and on Friday I wrote again about Michael Ratner.
Exclusive?
Today, in an article labeled "Exclusive," the New York Post offers Kruger's campaigns see big 'Net' gains:
State Sen. Carl Kruger -- who, the feds charge, directed state money to the Atlantic Yards project, which includes a new Nets arena -- took thousands of dollars in campaign cash from deep-pocketed donors connected to its developer, the team and the arena.
(Actually, he directed state money toward a Prospect Park project pushed by Forest City executive Bruce Bender.)
Nets investor Michael Ratner and his wife, Karen Ranucci, are cited first, with no reference to my coverage.
New findings
The others listed advance the story:
- Richard Lipsky, a former Ratner lobbyist, and his wife, Dorothy (Lipsky's also been charged, for illegal gifts, as well)
- Vincent Viola, a Wall Street mogul and former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange
- Ahron Hersh, a former CEO of a handbag company
- Martin Rostowsky, president of a Sunset Park electric-supply company
Hersh said his gift thanked Kruger for helping Russian Jews, while no one else, including reps for the developer and the Nets, would comment.
The numbers are not so great as to suggest a massively organized plan; still, it's notable that so few would comment.
Posted by steve at March 20, 2011 10:02 PM