collects the cash for redistribution under the tutelage of nassau otb lobbyist ald'amato
While Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers debate a litany of issues before the Albany session adjourns on June 19, former GOP US Sen.-turned-powerhouse lobbyist Al D’Amato is co-chairing a “Long Island cocktail reception” fundraiser in Great Neck Sunday for the governor, The Post has learned.
And he has also hit up his roster of 90 clients to kick in to Cuomo’s campaign kitty.
“I’m doing something with a group of people for Gov. Cuomo, I will be a participant,” D’Amato told The Post.
The Park Strategies lobbying firm founder said he reached out to clients to see if they want to donate to Cuomo, but the former “Senator Pothole” stressed, “I didn’t put my arm on them.”
He added: “Those who want to give, give.”
And they’ve been asked to give a lot.
Tickets per head start at $5,000 for a “friend” to $25,000 for a “co-chair.”
Among D’Amato’s many clients include the New York Cannabis Association that could be impacted by the legalization of recreational marijuana — which the governor and the Legislature are now discussing.
The Cuomo campaign invite for the event glowingly describes the former lawmaker-turned-mega lobbyist as “Hon. Alfonse D’Amato,” even though it’s been two decades since he last served in elected office.
He joined the lobby industry after losing his US Senate reelection bid to then-Congressman Chuck Schumer in 1998 and has been peddling his influence for his well-heeled clients ever since.
D’Amato’s involvement in the fundraiser gives the perception of pay-to-play politics at work, said one government watchdog.
“Companies and organizations are buying influence through contributions of this size,” said Alex Camarda, a campaign finance analyst with Reinvent Albany. “It contributes to the notion that government isn’t acting with integrity. It breeds cynicism.”
The top-dollar fundraiser for Cuomo — who has said he’s interested in
running for a fourth term — will be held at the Great Neck home of Arbor Realty honcho Ivan Kaufmann.
Other bold-face names attending Sunday’s shindig include industrialist Dennis Mehiel, Battery Park City Authority Chairman George Tsunis, Triangle Equities developer Lester Patracca and Nassau and state Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs.
Cuomo’s campaign declined comment on D’Amato’s role in the fundraiser and referred The Post to comments made by the three-term executive Tuesday on public radio station WAMC.
Cuomo said he can’t be bought by donations.
“If anybody ever walked up to me and said ‘I contributed to your campaign and I therefore want you to do me a favor,’ Cuomo said, “I would knock that person on their rear end in a nice, polite, legal way.”
He added: “If you can be bought off for a contribution I don’t care for 10 dollars or $5,000 or $50,000, you are unethical or you are criminal.”
The legislative session ends June 19.
Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan in Albany
