Councilwoman Arroyo in Housing Flap

Crain's New York is reporting that Councilwoman Carmen Arroyo might be in a bit of hot water over trying to steer the award of a building with a HUD mortgage to an organization in the Bronx with close ties to her. The article reports that "Ms. Arroyo apparently reached out numerous times to City Hall, Bronx Borough Hall and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's regional office in New York—run by former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.—to make her own case. She pressured officials to instead hand over the building to a Bronx-based team made up of real estate services firm Foxy Management Ltd. and the Neighborhood Association for Inter-Cultural Affairs, according to a dozen sources familiar with the situation. Executives and family members from Foxy donated at least $10,875 to Ms. Arroyo's two City Council campaigns, according to filings with the Campaign Finance Board. The councilwoman had previously pressed for the installation of South Bronx Community Corp., a nonprofit organization run by her nephew, as managing agent, according to Bronx political insiders. But that effort died last year when he pleaded guilty to stealing $115,000 from the group and was sentenced to a year in jail."

Riverdale Review Reporter Threatens Retaliation

The guy in this photo is Brendan McHugh, a reporter for the Riverdale Review in the Bronx, who apparently can dish it out but can't take it. After being told that his photo will be posted on this blog along with an accounting of his brand of yellow journalism, Brendan called me a "cyber bully" and threatened that he would hold me "personally liable" -- whatever that means. My guess is that I can expect more false reporting, but that is nothing new for this guy or his publication. Brendan is a star pupil in his editor Andy Wolf's school of dirty journalism and character assassination. Brendan is the same guy who interviewed a group of 8 and 9 year old students without their parents permission for a hit piece on their school principal. Ironically, his boss, Andy Wolf, has been crying about the boycott of his newspaper. He says he has a right to print anything and claims that the boycott is a violation of the First Amendment. Yet Brendan wants to stop anyone else from exercising their free speech, and he is willing to use threats to make his point. No Brendan, you can not write lies and attack the character of school and community leaders on behalf of your boss and not expect to be criticized. And, if you lack basic journalistic ethics or standards, you can not expect that readers or potential employers will not find out about it. After all, Brendan, aren't you proud of your scriblings in the Review?

Klein Criticized Over Part-time Staffer Getting Benefits

This Daily News article criticizes State Senator Jeff Klein for providing a part-time staffer, who happens to also be his law partner, with health benefits. The article reports that Dominic Calderoni worked the minumum hours needed (910 a year) to receive the benefits. Mr. Calderoni stepped down from his position last week. While this arrangement raised eyebrows it did not violate any laws -- it also seems it is a common practice in Albany.

Senate Republicans Ignore Fiscal Crisis and Boost Staffing

NYS Senate Republicans are not letting a little financial crisis get in the way of good patronage appointments. Glenn Blain at the Daily News is reporting that they have added $1.3 million in payroll since they took over in January of this year. This includes the hiring of 27 new staffers and raises for others. Of course, they are just trying to keep up with the Democrats, who when they held power gorged themselves on staffing as well. Good to see that both parties have provided strong leadership during this finanical crisis.

Peter Rivera Proposes Using Voter Registration to Get Race Info.

Here is an article by our old friend Candice Giove at the NY Post about Assemblyman Peter Rivera's proposal to include race and ethnicity information on voter registration forms. Based on the story this idea appears to be DOA given that even the NAACP seems cool to it. Although, given that Giove spent 10 years in the Riverdale Review school of dirty journalism, I am not sure I would trust anything from that pen. Btw, last we heard from Rivera he was having some troubles with a not-for-profit he helped to fund.

The Sound of Music in The Bronx

Here is a music video produced by Bronxnet promoting the Bronx and Bronx BP Ruben Diaz. This was put out to burnish the image of the Bronx, especially after some recent negative depictions by Hollywood and the media. The scenery is beautiful and it does a great job of showcasing the best of the Bronx. While it will take a long time to change the imagine stuck in the minds of the world from the 1970's, we have to keep trying so this is a laudable effort. My one criticism is that considering we are the birthplace of rap, I don't see this song being in high demand on iTunes.

Albany's New Power Couple?

An article on Page Six of today's New York Post combines my two favorite topics, politics and gossip, when they speculate that Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein and Brooklyn State Senator Diane Savino are an item (both pictured left). They refer to them as Albany's version of "Brangelina", but in this case they are dubbed them "Klavino". Not quite as catchy. As you may recall, the two Senators formed the new Senate Independent Democratic Conference together with two other members. Senator Savino is quoted in the article as saying, "I have good taste in both men and politics."