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Marty Golden's silence on Carl Kruger; Richard Lipsky's campaign money for Golden, and a wide variety of politicians

In March, I pointed to a couple of posts Room 8 blogger Gatemouth, aka Howard Graubard, had written about the charges against state Senator Carl Carl Kruger (who, by the way, says he's running for re-election!), Assemblyman William Boyland, and lobbyist Richard Lipsky.

Now Gatemouth points out that state Senator Marty Golden, who in 2008 took three days to introduce a resolution concerning arrested state Senator Hiram Monserrate, has been conspicuously silent regarding Carl Kruger, who helped to elect Golden.

And, Gatemouth points to another curious connection between Kruger and Golden: a $3000 campaign contribution by Dorothy Lipsky (lobbyist Lipsky's wife) to Golden.

Spreading the wealth

I took a look at campaign contributions that Richard Lipsky and Dorothy Lipsky gave from their three addresses (all listed in the city's lobbying database; search on Richard Lipsky) and found a varied set of recipients.

See below for the full list, but it includes significant contributions--$9000 from 2008-10--from Dorothy Lipsky to "Friends of Carl," which is Kruger's campaign committee.

(If Richard Lipsky was funneling cash to Carl Kruger, as charged, this would be considered the legal element of a larger scheme. Lipsky himself gave $3500 to Kruger from 2003-07.)

Dorothy Lipsky made a $3800 contribution in 2009 to the untouchable Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. She gave $2500 to Monserrate in 2006 and again in 2009. Her husband gave $4500 from 2005-08.

Richard Lipsky gave $4800 from 2008-10 to Assembly powerhouse and Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez and $5000 in 2009 to Senator Pedro Espada, who was later indicted for embezzlement (and goes to trial in September).

He also gave $3000 in 2010 to former City Council Member Tony Avella in his successful campaign for state Senate. (City Hall News reported 1/27/10 on Avella's new conciliatory strategy.)

Most of Lipsky's contributions have been to Democrats, though, as the contribution to Golden suggests, he and his family are not doctrinaire. Indeed, in 2002 and again in 2010, he gave $2000nto the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee.

The AY angle

Lipsky, a longtime lobbyist for Forest City Ratner, made one set of contributions that might be seen as furthering the developer's interests.

In 2006, he gave three contributions totaling $2500 to Tracy Boyland's stealth campaign against incumbent state Senator Velmanette Montgomery, an Atlantic Yards opponent.

Was Boyland, in fact, the "Ratner candidate," as some charged? Not exactly, but there were some signficant intersections. As predicted by a source in the Crain's Insider, Boyland indeed used the same consulting firm--Knickerbocker SKD--that FCR has used for its deceptive Atlantic Yards mailers.

(As noted, former Council Member Boyland told the Brooklyn Papers that she's friends with FCR's Bruce Bender, a former top City Council aide.)

Lipsky Campaign Contributions

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