Free Republic

Rev. Floyd Flake, a former member of Congress, is a political force in Queens where he is the pastor of a 23,000-member church.  His protégés include U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks and state Senator Malcolm Smith, both under a grand jury investigation apparently triggered by NLPC’s expose of a charity called New Direction Local Development Corporation, and Meeks’ sweetheart deal on a home. According to a story by Russ Buetther in yesterday’s New York Times, Flake and his partners ended up as owners of two eight-story apartment buildings that were “built and subsidized with public money.” In addition, the 300 units...

<p>A federal grand jury has slapped Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks with a subpoena demanding records about his tax-exempt charities and what happened to their money -- including one that stiffed Hurricane Katrina victims, law-enforcement sources revealed yesterday.</p> <p>The subpoena from a Manhattan grand jury signals an expanding corruption probe of Meeks and two fellow Queens Democrats, state Senate President Malcolm Smith and the Rev. Floyd Flake, who also were involved in separate subpoenas issued earlier this month.</p>

It was just three days after Gov. David A. Paterson introduced a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry, and the Rev. Floyd H. Flake had some thoughts for any lawmaker who wanted to change New York’s definition of marriage. “I don’t care what the politicians think,” Mr. Flake, a former Democratic congressman and one of the city’s most influential religious leaders, thundered last week during a Sunday service at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Queens. “Ain’t nothing perfect about laying down and signing a license with somebody who got the same body parts you got.” Mr. Flake...