tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post1200123049595999169..comments2024-03-05T05:38:22.024-05:00Comments on Left at the Gate: Cuomo Seeks A Do-OverAlan Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570505944559196118noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post-10607367235385359292015-01-08T08:55:36.536-05:002015-01-08T08:55:36.536-05:00Sharpton owns the democrats.Sharpton owns the democrats.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post-63283866002323213532015-01-04T12:46:36.755-05:002015-01-04T12:46:36.755-05:00Does anyone at the IRS, or NYS for that matter, ha...Does anyone at the IRS, or NYS for that matter, have the guts to truly audit Sharpton's non-profit?Figlessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post-26514907567484484072015-01-04T12:43:12.486-05:002015-01-04T12:43:12.486-05:00FROM SATURDAY'S NY POST:
Horse in the race
O...FROM SATURDAY'S NY POST:<br /><br />Horse in the race<br /><br />One example of Sharpton’s playbook has emerged in tax filings and a state inspector general’s report.<br /><br />In 2008, Plainfield Asset Management, a Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund, made a $500,000 contribution to New York nonprofit Education Reform Now. That money was immediately funneled to the National Action Network.<br /><br />The donation raised eyebrows. Although the money was ostensibly to support NAN’s efforts to bring “educational equality,” it also came at a time that Plainfield was trying to get a lucrative gambling deal in New York.<br /><br />Plainfield had a $250 million stake in Capital Play, a group trying to secure a license to run the coming racino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. Capital Play employed a lobbyist named Charlie King, who also was the acting executive director of NAN.<br /><br />Sharpton has said that most of the Plainfield contribution went to pay King’s salary. <br /><br />King’s company, the Movement Group, was paid $243,586 by NAN in 2008, tax records show.<br /><br />Harold Levy, a former New York City schools chancellor who was a managing director at Plainfield at the time, has denied the contribution was made to curry favor with Sharpton or anyone else. But a year later, as the battle for the racino license heated up, NAN raked in another $100,000 from representatives of the AEG consortium, which was the successor company to Capital Play.<br /><br />One AEG member e-mailed another in 2009 saying, “Sharpton lobbied [then-Gov. David Paterson] hard over the weekend on our behalf,” according to the state inspector general’s 2010 report on the corrupt racino licensing process. <br /><br />Harold Levy, a former Plainfield director, denied the company donated to NAN for Sharpton’s favor.<br /><br />In order to discredit SL Green, one of the rival bidders whose plan included a Hard Rock Hotel, an AEG executive sent another e-mail outlining tactics to conscript local leaders to its cause.<br /><br />“We are going to need it, and we are going to need . . . Sharpton to piss on hard rock,” according to the undated e-mail cited in the IG’s report.<br /><br />Sharpton denied he lobbied on behalf of AEG. <br /><br />The donations, meanwhile, came at an opportune time for Sharpton, as NAN was deep in debt to the IRS in 2008. It owed $1.3 million in unpaid federal, state and city payroll taxes including interest and penalties.<br /><br />AEG viewed its payments to Sharpton as more of an insurance policy so he wouldn’t scuttle its chances by criticizing the group, said a source familiar with the racino controversy.Figlessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post-49795035119761342642015-01-02T09:30:48.346-05:002015-01-02T09:30:48.346-05:00Happy New Year Alan and congrats on your special c...Happy New Year Alan and congrats on your special celebration.jknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post-87972746766382492042015-01-01T14:16:05.267-05:002015-01-01T14:16:05.267-05:00Thanks for being a great gate keeper, Alan. Wishin...Thanks for being a great gate keeper, Alan. Wishing you a prosperous new year. Bonnie L.noreply@blogger.com