"Friends of the High Line is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and reuse of the High Line - a 1.5 mile, elevated railway that runs along the West Side of Manhattan."
Posted on 04/06/2008 1:20:41 PM PDT by neverdem
Nearly a quarter of the City Council's secret slush fund went to organizations in Speaker Christine Quinn's district, records show.
Eleven groups in the Democratic lawmaker's Manhattan district - encompassing Greenwich Village, Chelsea and parts of Midtown - soaked up a combined $866,500 from the mysterious fund in fiscal year 2007. That was 24 percent of the pot's $3.6 million total.
One of the recipients in her district - Friends of the High Line, which has received $32.5 million in up-front council capital funding - got $290,000 from the secret stash, more than any other organization in the city.
The American Folk Art Museum on West 53rd Street garnered $150,000. The Callen-Lorde Community Health Center grabbed $125,000.
The only other lawmaker whose district received as many earmarks was Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), but the funding for those 11 organizations totaled only $51,100.
No other district came close.
"The vast majority of these groups are not local groups but citywide organizations that happen to be headquartered in Chris Quinn's district. These are organizations and cultural institutions that serve a citywide constituency," said Quinn spokesman Jamie McShane.
Last week, The Post revealed the financial shell game played by the Speaker's Office, in which millions in taxpayer money was stashed away in the name of phony organizations so it could be parceled out later in the budget year to legitimate charities and community groups favored by legislators.
The phantom groups receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars included the "Coalition Of Informed Individuals,"...
--snip--
"These are legitimate organizations, but the question is, why did they get more money that wasn't vetted in the budget process?" said Queens Councilman Tony Avella, a vocal Quinn critic. "There's only one reason, and it's political. To be able to move the money without anyone seeing where it's going."...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
FWIW, Gotham corruption
You ain’t seen nothing like the Mighty Quinn...
What did NY do to be plagued with so many harridans?
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
"Friends of the High Line is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and reuse of the High Line - a 1.5 mile, elevated railway that runs along the West Side of Manhattan."
Thanks for the ping.
This is so obviously a scam——a slush fund to advance Quinn’s political ambitions.
Conniving Quinn put on a game face for reporters——and had the colossal gall to setup her own staff for inevstigations. Not a very wise move——staff are people she put into jobs as payback for helping her win.
Betcha they’ll sing like canaries now....and they have plenty to say.
RINO Rooty was very good at this conniving game-—the taxpayers kept the married mayor’s mistress groomed, bejewelled, and in designer dresses and a posh NYC apartment and Hamptons condo. Rooty hid most the costs of her security detail in obscure city agencies. Investigators oughta look at these other “do-good” funds to find out where RINO Rooty hid the rest of her upkeep.
"TFF to Combine its Tribeca Film Institute with Renew Media Tribeca Film Institute and Renew Media (formerly National Video Resources), founded by The Rockefeller Foundation, will formally combine their organizations and operate going forward under the name of the Tribeca Film Institute."
"The Tribeca Film Institute creates innovative programs that draw on the unifying power of film to promote understanding, tolerance, and global awareness. Our commitment is to educate, entertain and inspire filmmakers and audiences alike while strengthening the artistic and economic fabric of New York City and its lower Manhattan community."
The Friends of the High Line - a pet project of gay activist, former City Council Speaker Gifford Miller - received more money than any other group from the phantom accounts squirreled away by the council last year, records released yesterday showed. The nonprofit, which is transforming a 1.5-mile abandoned railroad track into a $170 million elevated park along the far West Side, got a $290,000 grant in fiscal 2007. Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the High Line was originally allocated the funds during the budget process, but was mistakenly left high and dry when the final list of grants was issued. "This was just a clerical error," she said. "We went back to fix it." A High Line spokesman confirmed that the organization had requested the funds.
Quinn said a similar correction was also made this year for Mentoring USA, which is affiliated with Matilda Cuomo, the former governor's wife. It received $130,000. Records provided by the council showed 87 groups collected $3.6 million after the budget was adopted in fiscal year 2007. Only 13, however, walked off with six-figure sums, including the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce ($275,000); the Staten Island Zoo ($200,000); the American Folk Art Museum ($175,000), and the AIDS Center of Queens County ($125,000). Most groups got much less. New Yorkers for Parks got off with $10,000. The Boro Park Shomrim nabbed $5,000. david.seifman@nypost.com http://www.nypost.com/seven/04042008/news/regionalnews/high_line_bottom_line_got_big_boost_104907.htm
Thanks for the links.
EXCERPT April 5, 2008 -- Friends and co-workers of two former City Council staffers accused of disobeying orders to scrap a phantom budget system fumed yesterday that they're being scapegoated. The two, Michael Keogh and Staci Emanuel, left after Council Speaker Christine Quinn said they ignored instructions to stop reserving millions of taxpayer dollars under the names of fictional organizations so the funds could be dispersed later to genuine nonprofit groups.
On Thursday, Quinn told reporters she issued orders in the spring of 2007 "to stop using holding codes in the budget," and was distressed to learn a few months later that her orders hadn't been followed. "All I can say is that my instruction was to terminate this practice for the fiscal year we are now in," Quinn said. "That's all I can say, that I was very clear on numerous occasions that this practice should be terminated."
Keogh ended up working at the lobbying firm of Bolton-St. Johns, where a Quinn pal, Democratic activist Emily Giske, is a principal. Emanuel is still without a fulltime job. A spokesman for Quinn said yesterday she wouldn't comment on personnel matters.
Insiders said a reserve fund for the council was first established decades ago as a means for correcting small errors in the annual list of some 2,500 "member items" the council disperses each year to community groups and nonprofit organizations. "We did it to deal with the reality of the budget process," said one former city official. In 2001, the secret set-aside was $100,000. By last year it had ballooned to $4.5 million, bringing the total to more than $17 million over the years. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04052008/news/regionalnews/scapegoats_twisting_in_the_quinn_105049.htm
What is the NYC budget now? 45 billion? More? We’d probably go mad for knowing where the money goes.
Is that anything like "The Human Fund"?
One more liberal criminal to the pile. It’s been quite a year for these liberl democrates hasn’t it.
Liberals in all walks of governemt from congress down to city council people all getting caught in bed with others or with their hand in the cookie jar. Yeah, I want these guys in high office so they can rape the country like bill and hill did. I feel your pain but the pain I feel is from my pocket
Thanks for the other stories.
“FWIW, Gotham corruption”
Democrat corruption. Just like Gov. Spitzer, Gov. Patterson. All Democrats.
Totally cool picture, how did you get there?
Every time I boat under the High Line bridge I so much want to go up there.
Can you imagine the view?
It looks like the gates aren’t that difficult to breach, and I doubt if anyone has watched for trespassers in the many decades it’s been shut down.
I also would absolutely LOVE to explore the old smallpox sanitarium at the foot of Welfare Island (Roosevelt Island)!
Oh, my goodness, what an incredible set of ruins that place is. I believe Spiderman 2’s ending scenes were shot there.
Ed
Mio? That pic is from the linked website. I'm from NYC but I can't recall seeing that rail line. Just can't picture it.
Every time I boat under the High Line bridge I so much want to go up there.
79th street?
I also would absolutely LOVE to explore the old smallpox sanitarium at the foot of Welfare Island (Roosevelt Island)!
Oh yeah! Wish I had a boat so I could visit Plum Island. ;-)
You’re very welcome.
Thanks for the ping!
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