pay enough and/or requires too much WORK more than de minimis WORK or simply appearing?
Nassau OTB could make more money if it was open 365 days of the year but the rights secured by NY Const. Art 1, Sec. 3 are de minimis and even among Christians, the most highly paid lobbyist wins?
NIFA approves contract for Albany lobbyist
NIFA Chairman Jon Kaiman looks on during the Nassau Interim
Finance Authority meeting at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale on
Friday, May 2, 2014. (Credit: Barry Sloan)
Nassau’s financial control
board, with a new chairman and majority appointed by Gov. Andrew M.
Cuomo, has approved a $60,000 contract with Albany lobbyist Robert
Bishop after the former NIFA board twice rejected hiring Bishop as
unnecessary.Jon Kaiman, Nassau Interim Finance Authority chairman, said that when he served as North Hempstead Town supervisor, he found lobbyists provide a valuable service. NIFA member John Buran said, “Given the amount of money that flows between the county and the state, this is a de minimis expense.”
But NIFA member Chris Wright [FORMER NASSAU OTB DIRECTOR], who voted against the Bishop contract last week and in the past, said, “I don’t think it’s possible for the county to get more favorable treatment from Albany than it’s currently getting" -- a reference to the close relationship between Democrat Cuomo and GOP County Executive Edward Mangano.
Hempstead Town hires D'Amato firm for consulting, lobbying
2012 Hempstead payrolls
Hempstead officials
Employees and early retirementTravel deals
The town board voted 6-0 on Tuesday to retain Manhattan-based Park Strategies LLC as a consultant for $12,500 a month, starting June 1.
The town did not seek bids. It was not required to because the consultant contract is considered a personal services agreement, town spokesman Michael Deery said. "These types of consultants' agreement are eligible for reimbursement under FEMA as well," he said. "They [Park Strategies] have unique expertise with dealing with governmental agencies with reimbursement of expenses, in this case for disaster response and recovery."
DATA: 2012 payroll | Employees taking early retirement
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Under the contract, Park Strategies would provide advice on obtaining disaster relief funding for damage from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and superstorm Sandy in 2012. The firm would also provide lobbying services for gaining government funding and arrange meetings with key individuals and agencies.
"We will work with all appropriate authorities to seek those funds to which the Town is entitled under various state and federal programs," Dana Sanneman, executive assistant to D'Amato, said in a statement.
The town may cancel the contract for any reason with 30 days written notice, according to the agreement.
"Town officials should inform residents of any and all efforts the town makes to obtain disaster relief funding, along with any costs," frequent town critic Felix Procacci, of Franklin Square, said in an email. "I feel this is especially important in this case since the company being hired is run by a former high ranking politician and a former Hempstead Town Supervisor."
D'Amato, senator from 1981 to 1999, established Park Strategies in 1999. A Newsday review of lobbying records in February showed the firm was paid $5.9 million for lobbying in 2013 -- a 60 percent increase from the year before and a 150 percent jump from 2011.
Report: Lobbying earnings up for LI firms
Former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato endorses
Dina DeGiorgio as she announces her candidacy for supervisor for the
Town of North Hempstead at a fundraising event in Port Washington.
(April 18, 2013) (Credit: Danielle Finkelstein)
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After absorbing an Albany-based firm increased its clients from 46 in 2011 to 79 last year, Park Strategies rose to ninth place in total clients among lobbying firms registered in New York, according the state's annual lobbying report.
The company's revenue was $3.7 million in 2012 -- eighth-most in the state -- slightly up from $3.3 million the previous year.
All told, more than 20 Long Island lobbyists or those with deep local ties earned about $8.9 million in 2012, about a 3 percent annual increase, a review of records shows.
Statewide, spending on lobbying totaled $205 million last year, a 7 percent decrease from the year before, according to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. A significant drop in advertising spending by lobbying groups drove the decline, while fees paid to lobbyists increased 5 percent from the year before.
"It's certainly not a shrinking business. It seems there are new names every year," said Arthur "Jerry" Kremer, a former state assemblyman who heads Empire Government Strategies, the fifth-largest Island-affiliated lobbying firm with $469,000 in lobbying fees in 2012.
Kremer said the amount spent on lobbying is just a fraction of the business for many firms, which typically provide an array of consulting services. "We're busier than ever," he said.
Manhattan-based Park Strategies, which has an office in Uniondale, was even more active.
The D'Amato firm last year absorbed Capitol Public Strategies, an Albany-based firm headed by former Pataki administration officials. The merger not only grew the company's client list but also increased its State Capitol and upstate presence, other lobbyists and watchdogs said.
Merger's 'heavy footprint'
"The merger of these major players brings a dynamic and heavy footprint to the Albany lobbying community, a classic case of where the sum will be greater than their individual parts," said Dick Dadey of Citizens Union, which monitors lobbying and other issues.
The firm's biggest client was Veolia Transportation Services, an Illinois firm that now runs Nassau County's bus service. Veolia, long a D'Amato client, paid Park $270,000 last year.
Other major clients included Gateway Casino Resorts ($180,000), the company working with the Shinnecock Nation to develop a Long Island casino; Extended Home Care, a long-term health care company ($150,000); LaGuardia Airport ($105,000); and Nassau Off-Track Betting Corp. ($96,000). (Nassau OTB regularly retains other lobbyists, too; it spent $180,000 on lobbying in 2012.)
Park also represented Nassau Health Care Corp. ($65,000) during a year it unsuccessfully tried to get state legislative approval to refinance its debt, and SRC ($105,000), a Syracuse-based company that sought state aid to redevelop a Rochester mall.
In an emailed statement, D'Amato said he was proud of the company's "continued success."
"Businesses on Long Island and across the state have recognized that our team at Park Strategies has tremendous professional experience in a wide range of interests -- ranging from insurance, tax policy, and banking, to energy, health care, and local government," D'Amato said.
LI firms, by the numbers
No other firm with Island ties topped $1 million. Meyer, Suozzi, English and Klein earned $918,125, the first time in recent years it didn't record at least $1 million. Its largest client was the Shinnecock Nation ($101,000).
Robert A. Ungar Associates, a Garden City firm that primarily represents unions and contractors, ranked No. 3 among local firms with $792,468, according to the report, which was released March 28. Ungar reported about $640,000 in lobby billings in 2011.
The company with Long Island ties that spent the most on lobbying was Cablevision. It spent $935,328, a slight decrease from the two previous years. Cablevision is the parent company of Newsday. According to its filings, Cablevision lobbied on a range of laws including labor, telecommunication, Internet privacy and franchising.
Glenwood Management Corp. ranked No. 2 with $798,000, up from $704,000 the year before. The New Hyde Park-based real-estate company, headed by Leonard Litwin, lobbied on land-use, environmental regulations, and housing and rental laws, among other things. Litwin, through dozens of Glenwood subsidiaries, has contributed $500,000 to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo since 2010, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Statewide, no group spent more than the Committee to Save New York. The deep-pocketed business group allied with Cuomo spent $4.2 million in 2012 to promote the Democrat's agenda. This was the second consecutive year the group led all lobby spending.
Exxon Mobil ranked No. 2 with $2.106 million, followed by Major League Soccer LLC, which spent $2.102 million advocating for a new stadium in Flushing, Queens.
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Home > LI
Confidential > Stop
scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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