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NYPD Chief Ray Kelly Gets Free Food, Dues at Harvard Club
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 26, 2010
Modified Oct 26, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 26, 2010
Modified Oct 26, 2010
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NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has been dining at the Harvard Club on someone else's dime, in violation of the department's strict rules about accepting gifts. NYPD Confidential reports that the nonprofit New York City Police Foundation has been paying Kelly's dues and picking up his tab for years. Ironically, the Foundation began in the wake of the 70s-era Knapp Commission scandal, which investigated Frank Serpico's corruption allegations.
The Times reports that the Foundation raises money for activities not covered in the Police Department’s budget, like the Crime Stoppers program and the deployment of city counterterrorism detectives overseas. In its 39-year existence, Kelly is believed to be the only police commissioner to ask the foundation to cover his tab at a private club. A souce tells NYPD Confidential that Kelly has refused to disclose to the foundation the names of the guests whose food and drink they have been covering. "There was grumbling by the board at first, but they have gone along," says the source. "They will not take him on. He is now in control of the foundation."
Public agency heads are required by law to report gifts totaling more than $1,000 from a single donor, and the NYPD Patrol Guide states: "It is the policy of the Department that members of the service may not accept any reward, gratuity, gift or other compensation for any service performed as a result of or in conjunction with their duties as public servants... Members of the service also shall not solicit any gift, gratuity, loan, present, fee or reward for personal gain." Kelly hasn't commented on the allegations, but NYPD spokesman Paul Browne tells the Times his boss "might have erred" by failing to report the arrangement. It's not known how big a tab Kelly's been running, but one source says it's "not extravagant" and that the "meetings generally concerned Police Department business."
Tagged
dues
harvard club
new york city police foundation
nypd
Ray Kelly
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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