Even The Liquor Is Tainted In New York

Needless to say, there's plenty of drinking going on in New York. It is rare though for anyone to think about the red tape that had to be cut to get the booze to the customer. That is where the State Liquor Authority comes in and apparently the people that dole out permits want something in return for their services...besides a legal paycheck.

From The Gothamist:

While no arrests have been made yet, more details have emerged on the Inspector General's Wednesday raid on the State Liquor Authority's Harlem office, where some two dozen employees control 65 percent of the state’s operating licenses and permits for bars, restaurants and liquor stores in NYC, Long Island and Westchester County. Police sources say employees would not only accept cash bribes in exchange for expedited license processing, but also bottles of booze, and gift cards for meals and clothes—some payoffs even included Applebee's gift cards. Stay classy, SLA.[...]

Some liquor license applicants report waits of almost a year for processing, while others managed to receive licensing withing two weeks. Investigators say "handlers" would steer applications to bribe-friendly employees, who would then push the application to the top of the deck. According to the AP, the agency's computer database lacked security, so any corrupt Applebee's-lover could log on and process applications. Investigators also say that some licenses were given without required criminal background or proof of citizenship checks. And the Times reminds everyone that this isn't the first time the SLA's been mired in corruption.

It just goes to show, no matter where in our state's government, corruption manifests itself like bacteria. All you have to do is add some fresh New York air and watch it multiply.

ConEd Corruption: Bribes, Kickbacks, Shakedowns, Oh My!

I've never really been a big fan of Con Edison but now they're even lower in my book. Granted that most employees are on the straight and narrow but as a Federal investigation has shown, not all are so squeaky clean. Perhaps with all the crookedness and corruption going on in this state, a few managers at Con Ed thought it was their turn to get in on the greed.

From The Gothamist:

Federal prosecutors say that eleven Con Edison supervisors (ten current and one retired) forced a contractor to give them over a $1 million in bribes so they'd approve payments on projects like clean-up from the 2007 steam pipe explosion near Grand Central Station. And what's more, the feds have wiretaps of them bragging about it. Classy!

Bribes were given in the form of Giants-Cowboys tickets, electronic gadgets and cash. According to the Daily News, "Con Ed construction manager Rocco Fassacesia lamented the difficulty of spending the dirty money on his daughters' college tuition without attracting attention." He was recorded saying, " I used to go up to the bursar's office at, at the campus and come out with their f---ing tuition for the semester in f---ing 100s." And the Post has this quote from Thomas Fetter: "From a couple of a--holes shaking down f---ing contractors, we did pretty f---ing good."

The accused were arrested yesterday, and the NY Times explains they apparently "approved invoices for work that was unnecessary or was never performed, or guaranteed faster payment for work that was performed"—and they'd get about 4% of the payment. U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said, "These defendants used their positions at Con Ed to line their own pockets at the expense of utility customers and the residents of the New York City metropolitan area."

"A couple of a**holes" is right. You would think that management employees would be on their best behavior after the disaster near Grand Central in 2007. Then again, the people above them were trying to deny responsibility in the accident, blaming everyone under the sun but themselves. It is sad to see this type of crap going on, but it isn't like they had much in the form of role models at the executive level of the utility.

Senator Stevens Knew He Was Guilty

Not all the news on corruption out of Alaska is about Sarah Palin. She may be the one running for VP, but Senator Stevens is campaigning for his re-election to the Senate and his little criminal trial is starting to get in the way. Instead of being able to hold rallies and fundraisers in Alaska, he is stuck in Washington so that a jury can decide whether he is guilty or innocent. Too bad for Stevens, he already knew he was guilty, though when he said it he was unaware that he was being recorded.

From Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens told an oil-executive friend, in recordings played on Monday at the Alaska Republican's corruption trial, they both risked going to jail -- but he didn't think it would come to that.

"These guys can't hurt really us. They're not going to shoot us. It's not Iraq. What the hell?," Stevens told Bill Allen, founder of the former VECO Corp. oil-services firm based in Alaska.

Stevens is charged with lying on Senate disclosure forms from 2001 to 2006 to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations to his property and other gifts provided by VECO.

"The worst that can happen to us is we run up a bunch of legal fees, and might lose and we might have to pay a fine, might have to serve a little time in jail. I hope to Christ it never gets to that, and I don't think it will," Stevens said.

However, he said, "We've got a fight out there ahead of us, and we're going to win, because we didn't do anything wrong. You've got a right to spend all the money you've got to support the party you believe in."

If Stevens thought he wasn't doing anything wrong, then he wouldn't have lied and concealed all the gifts he received. Sorry Senator, I'm afraid logic has its way of blocking your path to innocence. The recording clearly shows that Ted knew that what he was doing was illegal and gambled on the outcome of being bribed. For him, giving attention to rich oil companies was more important than representing Alaskans. Stevens figured that by throwing as much pork as he could their way that they'd be happy, but clearly Ted never gave his constituents much credit.

Thankfully for them, they can put their trust in a man who will put Alaska first, Senate candidate and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

DoB Senior Official And Crane Companies Found To Be Corrupt

The title may not be so shocking to many New Yorkers, considering all of the accidents that occur in construction. Speed has always concerned the industry more than the safety of the workers, although you would hope that the Department of Buildings would be on their side. Well guess again. James Delayo, a senior inspector making $74,000 a year has been padding his salary with bribes from the crane companies to help them skirt regulations.

From The Gothamist:

The Department of Buildings' acting Chief Inspector for Cranes and Derricks was arrested today. James Delayo was accused of taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a crane company and falsifying reports. WNBC reports, "The city's Department of Investigation also says Delayo tampered with licensing exams by providing the answers for crane operator exams to a crane company for a fee."

Delayo's actions allegedly had nothing to do with last week's East 91st Street crane collapse or the March 15 crane collapse at East 51 Street. An official told City Room, "The long and short of it is that between 2002 and 2007 he accepted money — bribes for passing individual test-takers in order to get a crane operating license." Delayo, 60, earns a little over $74,000 annually. Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said:

"DOI's (Department of Investigation) investigation revealed the profoundly disturbing and sobering realization that a senior inspector responsible for ensuring that cranes operating in New York City are in proper condition and are operated by qualified individuals is charged with selling out his own integrity in a way that compromised public safety, leaving it in the hands of the individuals who paid him bribes, and rendered his inspectional job meaningless."

It seems that the entire Department is meaningless. Michael Bloomberg's outrage at this is also meaningless. His legacy for New York is an unprecendented building and development boom that prefers speed over safety without funding the Department of Buildings properly so that inspectors are plentiful, well-paid and looked after by well-trained hawks. Bloomberg can offer his stern warnings now, but where has he been in the last seven years?

Assemblywoman Gordon Bites The Dust

While members of the Assembly are within their right to fight for items for their districts in the budget, taking bribes for yourself is a serious no-no. The audacity of ex-Assemblywoman Gordon (D-East New York) is quite astonishing in how she tried to enrich herself while throwing out the trust of her constituents. Thankfully however for the people, she is now out of a job.

From The Gothamist:

A four-time State Assembly member representing East New York in Brooklyn was convicted of third-degree bribe-receiving and official misconduct yesterday. When a developer was interested in acquiring city land back in 2004 and 2005, Assemblywoman Diane Gordon asked for a home in a Queens gated community, worth $500,000.

When the Brooklyn DA's office discovered evidence of bribe taking, they offered her a deal that would have let her off if she quit. But she ran for reelection, prompting the DA's office to indict Gordon and release a surveillance video of her appearing to take a bribe. The developer, Ranjan Batheja, agreed to cooperate with investigators when he tried to bribe an undercover investigator, and on the video, Gordon said, "We got to do something with this land .. so I can get me a home now." Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes said, "It is especially appalling [that Gordon] did not want her house built in her own assembly district."

Gordon was acquitted of the most serious charge--second-degree bribe-taking--and could face up to ten years in jail, but her lawyer said, "We're going to do our best to see that the sentence is one of probation or less." Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver told the NY Times, "This is an unfortunate situation, and my heart goes out to Ms. Gordon’s family. However, this has been proved to be a breach of the public trust.” She is officially out of the Assembly and her seat in the 40th district will remain vacant until fall--which is when City Councilman Charles Barron's wife may run for it.

You would think that once you were caught red-handed and offered a sweetheart deal that a sane person would take. Apparently Gordon did not fit that bill and her hubris took over all mental faculties. She is extremely lucky that she will not do any time for this blatant breach of public trust, even though she should be. Sheldon Silver's comments were mostly appropriate, but of course he conveniently leaves out the fact that the culture of corruption in Albany is what helps foster this criminality.

Stevens Jr. Is Screwed

The apple that did not fall far from the Stevens' family tree is rotten to the core and was brutally exposed by one of the worms that used Ben Stevens for personal gain. Ex-VECO CEO Bill Allen testified in court yesterday and fingered ex-Alaskan State Senate President Stevens for taking bribes from him. Basically, it was a slam dunk for the government's eventual case against the young Stevens.

From The Washington Post:

Allen said he bribed Kott, former state Senate President Ben Stevens and former Rep. Vic Kohring. He also testified that he recruited Stevens in 1995 for work on behalf of VECO, well before Stevens was appointed to the state Senate in 2002, and that Stevens maintained a consulting contract with the company through 2006.

Stevens, the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, is under federal investigation but has not been charged.

"Mr. Stevens has consistently said he's not engaged in any of the illegal activity that is alleged by Mr. Allen. He denies it," John Wolfe, Stevens' attorney, told The Associated Press.

Ben can deny his "alleged" actions all he wants, but testimony under oath by the man that claims to have bribed him carries just a tad more weight than his cries of innocence. I'm sure his dad is proud to see Junior following his dad's footsteps in politics. I only wonder if Ben can last as long as his Dad. Another interesting aspect of it all, which one will be convicted of corruption first? It should be a close race.