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Jul 23, 2018 · ALBANY — One half of the Wandering Dago's five-year legal saga reached its conclusion, but there's no end in ... We still have the second case to adjudicate,” he said, referring to Loguidice's firing.
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.
beczuse we are different El Pico Sndrew Cuomo forks us when we wish to work and or bet great out of state racing. ny pml sec 109 must die in court. see eg ny const art 1 sec 3
note el pico andrew already got run over by a woman. with a food truck because he is an arrogant
Jul 23, 2018 · ALBANY — One half of the Wandering Dago's five-year legal saga reached its conclusion, but there's no end in ... We still have the second case to adjudicate,” he said, referring to Loguidice's firing.
Jul 23, 2018 · ALBANY — One half of the Wandering Dago's five-year legal saga reached its conclusion, but there's no end in ... We still have the second case to adjudicate,” he said, referring to Loguidice's firing.
Katie Hill says 'double standard' forced her out in powerful speech to Congress
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.
Congresswoman called out the hypocrisy of having a president accused of sex crimes while she stepped down after being a victim of one
Congresswoman Katie Hill calls out 'double standards' and misogyny in resignation speech – video
In her final speech on the floor of Congress, the Democratic representative Katie Hill condemned the “double standard” that forced her to resign after she was accused of having a relationship with a staffer and nude photos of her were published online.
“I am leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalized on my sexuality and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse – this time with the entire country watching,” she said.
Hill said she would not “shirk responsibility” for the unexpected and early end to her tenure, but she spoke forcefully about the circumstances that pushed her from office.
“The mistakes I made and the people I’ve hurt that led to this moment will haunt me for the rest of my life and I have to come to terms with that,” she said. “I’ve gone to the darkest places that a mind can go, and I’ve shed more tears than I thought were possible.”
While Hill has acknowledged an affair with one of her campaign workers, she denied allegations of an affair with her legislative director, which touched off an ethics investigation in the House. In her speech she called out the hypocrisy of having a president and other men still in power despite accusations of sex crimes, while she has been forced to step down after being a victim of one.
“We have men credibly accused of sexual assault who are in boardrooms, in the supreme court, in this very body and, worst of all, in the Oval Office”, she said, expressing pride that her final vote as a congresswoman was in support of the impeachment inquiry.
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Her husband, Kenneth Heslep, whom she was divorcing, had reportedly been shopping around information about the congresswoman for weeks before images began to surface online.
Heslep later claimed the nude photospublished by the Daily Mail and others were leaked after he was hacked and he did not play a role in providing them to the media. The release of the images is under investigation.
In her speech on Thursday, Hill claimed the images were “taken without [her] knowledge, let alone consent”. She has hired Carrie Goldberg, a New York attorney who specializes in litigating revenge porn, to sue over the pictures.
At least 46 states in the US, including California, have laws banning versions of revenge porn – the posting of sexually explicit pictures or video of another person online without his or her permission, with the intention of causing emotional distress or public humiliation. Goldberg said her firm was investigating who would be targeted for prosecution in the leak and publication of the images.
“Everybody who participated in Representative Hill’s humiliation is on notice that we will track them down,” Goldberg said. “Anybody who continues to share, barter, peddle, sell images of Representative Hill will be found out and be brought to justice one way or another. Whether you are an ex-partner, a political opponent, a publisher, or the Republican National Committee, don’t think for a second you’ll be getting away with destroying a woman’s life.”
Hill said coming to Congress for the vote was the first time she had left her home since the images of her were published online. “I’m scared,” she said. Meanwhile, Democrats are rushing to fill her seat in California’s 25th congressional district, north of Los Angeles. Shortly after Hill resigned, the local legislator Christy Smith said she would run to replace her.
Earlier on Thursday, Nancy Pelosi said she was saddened by Hill’s departure, praising her as an “outstanding young public servant”. The speaker declined to say whether Hill, a fellow Californian, had made the right decision by resigning, only that it was her choice to make.
Pelosi had taken Hill under her wing, plucking her from a historically diverse and female freshman class, a status that earned the 32-year-old lawmaker a position in House leadership and the vice-chairmanship of the powerful House oversight committee, which has played a key role in impeachment.
In a press conference on Thursday morning, before a vote to formally launch an impeachment inquiry into Trump, Pelosi said it was “shameful that she’s been exposed to public humiliation by cyber-exploitation” regardless of any “errors in judgment” she had made.
“Countless women across America have been subjected to this type of harassment and abuse,” Pelosi said, calling it a “profound violation of those women’s rights”.
Some young members of Congress, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have defended Hill. In an interview with Politico, Ocasio-Cortez said the images amounted to revenge porn.
“I don’t think we’re really talking about how targeted and serious this is,” she said.
Matt Gaetz, a 37-year-old Republican congressman from Florida, also defended Hill: “Katie isn’t being investigated by ethics or maligned because she hurt anyone – it is because she is different.”
Meanwhile, Hill said she intended to work to protect other women from violations of their privacy online and implied she may return to politics someday.
“We will not stand down. We will not be broken. We will not be silenced. We will rise, and we will make tomorrow better than today,” she said, before concluding: “Thank you, and I will yield the balance of my time – for now but not forever.”
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.
nassau otb employees have been denied the opportunity to participate in the roth option of the nys 457 deferred compensation plan provided for by the volle tive bargaining agreement
1 the payroll system cannot handle it joseph cairo, arthur walsh, and clavin say
2 human being are not up to snuff? you decide
3 union president and suffolk county legislator say if you want what you are entitled to, it will cost you
4 the benefit of the trump tax cut is not a proper hedging opportunity for nassau otb employees so that money may be deferred in both pretax and after tax accounts
jackson leeds nassau otb
cashier write in candidate for town of hempstead 5th council district
and nassau otb gave mr singh a restaurant in the carle place branc because ed mangano said call otb
genuine criminals enjoy fine dining not places like singh's, ditto for otb bettors and employees
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.
Nassau tax appeal firms donated $94,000 to unusual campaign account
Nassau County overhauled its property-tax appeal process after Edward Mangano won the county executive race in 2009. Photo Credit: Newsday / John Keating
Nassau County’s largest residential tax appeal firms donated $94,000 to an unusual campaign account shared by six local Republican candidates in 2011 — around the time they signed an agreement with the county on a tax system overhaul that earned them tens of millions of dollars in profits.
The donations, paid by the firms’ joint political action committee, far exceeded the $39,176 limit the law set for donations from a single contributor for that election.
Republicans in North Valley Stream — led by Joseph Cairo, now the county party's chairman — created the campaign account after Republican then-County Executive Edward Mangano overhauled the property-tax appeal process. Representatives of the tax firms were part of the group that recommended some of the changes.
The donations were made to the campaign account, named NVS Victory Fund 2011, a few months before and after county and tax-firm officials signed a court agreement locking in components of the overhaul, according to campaign finance filings.
The residential tax firms’ PAC, known as the Committee for Fair Property Taxes, was the only donor to that campaign account, which was shared by Hempstead Receiver of Taxes Donald X. Clavin Jr., former Hempstead Town Councilman Edward Ambrosino and four current or former Nassau County legislators: Deputy Presiding Officer Howard Kopel, Legis. Vincent Muscarella and former legislators Joseph Belesi and John Ciotti. Clavin is currently a candidate for Hempstead Town supervisor and Kopel and Muscarella are running for reelection. Ciotti died in 2017.
The tax firms established their PAC in 2009, during Mangano’s successful campaign for county executive. Their industry was being crippled by the tax system in place at the time, which required them to attend tens of thousands of time-consuming court hearings each year for individual clients. Through Mangano’s changes, the majority of challenges would be resolved automatically with no court hearings — and in favor of their clients.
A Republican Party spokesman denied any limits were exceeded and said the contributions had no influence on the candidates’ actions. Tax firm heads have long held that their contributions are not made to curry favor but to support candidates who support taxpayers.
The 2011 contributions are a small part of the $3 million in contributions linked in various ways to the firms since 2009. Eighty-eight percent of the funds have gone to Republican candidates and committees, according to a Newsday analysis.
Mangano won by 386 votes out of more than 250,000 cast in 2009 and overhauled the property tax system with help from an advisory committee to which he appointed the heads of two of the firms. The overhaul, which was intended to reduce county costs, made the industry an estimated $502 million in its first six years as the number of successful grievances soared. That is $167 million more than they stood to bring in under the old system, Newsday found in 2017.
In July 2011, county officials signed the court agreement with the tax firms that supported the new assessment challenge process. More than $112,000 in contributions linked to the firms were made in May 2011, $80,000 of which went to NVS Victory Fund 2011, according to campaign finance filings. Another $20,590 went directly to the main campaign accounts of the shared committee’s six candidates. Only $1,000 went to a Democrat, Legis. Kevan Abrahams.
The other $14,000 paid to NVS Victory Fund 2011 was contributed about five months later as Election Day approached.
The agreement is still in place and has complicated efforts by Mangano’s successor, Laura Curran, to correct widespread inaccuracies caused by his overhaul. Her changes threaten to return the assessment challenge process back to roughly what it was before Mangano.
North Valley Stream Republicans had created a different shared committee in 2009 that did not receive more money than the candidates’ allowable amount. But it, like the NVS Victory Fund 2011, received donations only from the tax firms' PAC and only existed for one election. The candidates who shared them also had standard, single-candidate committees that they mainly used to fund their campaigns.
Campaign finance experts said the shared campaign account activity was unusual. It raises questions about whether it violated campaign finance laws by allowing candidates to receive more money than campaign finance limits permit, which vary depending on the number of voters in a candidate’s district, the experts said.
"This looks like a very complicated structure set up to circumvent contribution limits," said Alex Camarda, senior policy adviser with the good government group Reinvent Albany.
In an emailed statement sent after Newsday requested an interview with Cairo, Nassau County GOP spokesman Mike Deery said the shared campaign accounts were unintentionally established as multicandidate committees rather than party committees.
Candidate committees generally have lower limits on what they can accept from a single contributor, which were exceeded by NVS Victory Fund 2011. A party committee, by contrast, can usually accept much larger sums from a single contributor.
"A clerical error resulted in the committees filing documents as multicandidate committees," Deery said. "Considering that this was a clerical error, it is our position that the committees were in full compliance with all state and local election laws and reporting requirements."
Deery said any necessary amendments to the filings would be made.
But experts said even if NVS Victory Fund 2011 were set up as a party committee, it would still raise questions of whether laws were violated.
Party committees can give unlimited funds to candidates but cannot explicitly funnel money to them from others, particularly with the intention of exceeding campaign finance limits. Intent can be hard to prove, but when contributions made by NVS Victory Fund 2011 are added to what four candidates received directly from the tax firms’ PAC, the total is higher than their contribution limits.
The tax firms’ committee made large contributions to the main accounts of the six NVS Victory Fund 2011 candidates on the same day it contributed $80,000 to the Victory Fund itself. About five months later, as the election approached, NVS Victory Fund 2011 sent $22,064 of that $80,000 to four of the candidates’ main accounts.
Belesi, whose election limit based on the number of voters in his district was $2,328, ended up with $4,328 from the tax firms’ committee and NVS Victory Fund 2011.
Ciotti, whose limit was $2,213, ended up with $4,403.
Ambrosino, whose limit was $4,173, ended up with $6,173.
Kopel received $15,750, which was more than six times his limit of $2,540.
Deery said, though, that serving as a pass-through was not the purpose of the North Valley Stream committees in 2009 and 2011.
"The committees made their own decisions regarding expenditures and contributions,” Deery said. “Candidates who received contributions from these committees would likely have no knowledge of the source of contributions to the committees."
The rest of the NVS committees’ funds were paid to party committees and longtime Nassau Republican consultant McLaughlin and Associates. It is unknown how much of those expenditures aided each of the candidates because the committees never filed a required form specifying who benefited. McLaughlin and Associates did not respond to a request for comment.
Setting up the two multicandidate committees — NVS Victory Fund 2011 and the 2009 fund — required obtaining 14 notarized candidate authorization forms over two years. The forms, which are identical to the ones candidates sign for their main campaign account, authorized the shared committees to take part in the candidates’ campaigns. The treasurer of both committees, Cairo’s secretary, Diane Alleyn, did not respond to requests for comment.
“When a multicandidate committee is established, the people doing it either know or should know that it will have a direct impact on the contribution limits of the specific candidates,” said veteran election lawyer Jerry Goldfeder, who represents mostly Democratic candidates and is the author of a widely referenced book on New York election law.
Newsday contacted the shared committee candidates. Those who responded either did not remember signing the authorization forms — twice, in some cases — or provided statements defending their campaign finance practices.
In a joint statement, Kopel and Muscarella, who authorized both shared committees, said they adhered to the highest campaign contribution standards.
"What's more," the statement said, "any suggestion that these contributions would influence any of our governmental decisions is baseless and false as we had no knowledge of the identity or source of those who donated."
Kopel also said in a brief interview that he did not remember signing the authorization forms. His main campaign accounts, which date to 2007, have received $41,750 from the residential tax firms’ committee and the firms’ owners, employees, immediate family members or other businesses. That is 11% of what he has raised. Muscarella’s campaigns have received $3,800.
In an emailed statement, Clavin, who only signed an authorization form for NVS Victory Fund 2011, said contributions he accepted complied with the law.
"With regard to my relationship with tax certiorari firms," Clavin said, "I have held hundreds of taxpayer seminars, instructing homeowners how they can file their own grievances without the assistance of professional tax assessment appeal companies."
Clavin, who has been an outspoken critic of Curran’s assessment revamp, has raised $59,770 linked to the tax firms since 2006, according to campaign finance records. That is 12% of what he has raised.
Civil fines or misdemeanor or felony charges can result from involvement in exceeding campaign finance limits, but such charges are rare and experts said the statutes of limitation have passed for any 2011 violations.
Newsday first reported on the North Valley Stream committees in 2012, after which no more were established. The fact that the committees were shared by multiple candidates was only discovered when Newsday recently requested from state elections officials the forms creating the committees. Among the documents provided were the authorization forms. The state’s campaign finance database website gave no indication candidates shared the accounts.
Residential tax firm heads who have contributed to the Committee for Fair Property Taxes have vigorously denied contributing in exchange for any official action.
The treasurer of the tax firms' committee, Paola Orsini of Re-Assessment and Evaluation Services, and firm heads Sean Acosta of Property Tax Reduction Consultants, Shalom Maidenbaum of Maidenbaum Property Tax Reduction Group and Lance Geller and Peter Norberto of Tax Correction Agency, did not return calls, emails or text messages seeking comment. Fred Perry of Fred Perry Property Tax Reduction Group said he was not directly involved in the disbursement of funds from the Committee for Fair Property Taxes.
Matt Clark is an investigative reporter, data analyst and computer programmer who has been a member of Newsday's investigative team since 2013. He worked on the 2013 police misconduct series that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Public Service.
