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Campaign Donations: Goldman Sachs & NYPD Prefer De Blasio
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 6, 2013
Modified Oct 6, 2013
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 6, 2013
Modified Oct 6, 2013
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On Friday it was revealed that Bill de Blasio raised $635K to Joe Lhota's $280K during the most recent financial disclosure period from September 17th through September 30th. As David Chen points out, the two candidates were neck and neck in fundraising the day after the primary, but de Blasio's support surged after polls showed him ahead by 40 points (and it might get worse for Lhota). We poked around the New York City Campaign Finance Board's handy searchable database to see who is emptying their pockets for a Mayor de Blasio.
First: the Big Names. De Blasio said he'd build (metaphysical) "spaces" for Occupy Wall Street to thrive in, but Zuccotti Park's namesake, John Zuccotti of Brookfield Properties, donated $4,950 to the candidate during the last filing period, the maximum amount allowed by law. Perhaps he was pleased that de Blasio stayed home on the 17th.
Real estate developer Ben Shaoul, who sits on the vanguard of gentrification in the East Village, also donated the $4,950 maximum to de Blasio in the past few weeks. So did real estate mogul Ed Scheetz.
Michael Ratner, Karen Ranucci, and Ellen Ratner, who are developer Bruce Ratner's brother, sister-in-law, and sister, respectively, all donated the maximum amount to de Blasio's campaign on the 24th and the 25th.
David Belt, a founding partner of DBI Construction Consultants, a "a multi-disciplinary construction consulting and project management firm" with offices in New York, Miami, and Rome, also donated the maximum amount to de Blasio, as did Jack Cayre, the CEO of Midtown Equities, the firm that is building the giant Yuppie Condo Mall at the Empire Stores site in DUMBO, among other boldfaced projects.
Oh, and so did the co-founder of Bed Bath & Beyond, Leonard Feinstein.
Billionaire Russian fertilizer titan (yeah) Alexander Rovt donated to de Blasio last year, but his son Maxwell, who is the Chief of Real Estate for the family business, IBE Trade Corp, donated $4,950 to de Blasio this past cycle. (His mother and father each donated $2,475 the previous cycle, in addition to other contributions made last year.) Meanwhile, the Soros family—George, Alexander, Andrea, and Jonathan, donated a total of $13,025 last cycle.
No surprise here:Igor Medvedovskly, the general manager of Yellow Cab Medallion Company also donated $4,950 last month.
As for Wall Street: Neil Mitchell, Morgan Stanley's private wealth executive director (and former senior VP at Lehman Brothers) donated $4,700 last cycle; none of de Blasio's donations from September 17 through the 30th came from Goldman Sachs employees, but nine previously made donations compared with Joe Lhota's two (and they only netted Lhota a total of $275).
A search of the entire database shows that Joe "Mall Cops" Lhota has the support of four current and former NYPD officers, while de Blasio boasts 28, including three lieutenants and four sergeants.
Roughly 123 of de Blasio's donors identified themselves as "unemployed," contributing amounts from $10 to several thousand. Only six "unemployed" people have donated to Lhota. Ah, well. At least Lhota has Two Trees'David Walentas, who chipped in $2,000 in August.
A final note: one Jake Dobkin contributed $175 to de Blasio back in August.
Tagged
bill de blasio
billionaires
cash
developers
goldman sachs
joe lhota
real estate
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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