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Cuomo Needs Rich People Like The MTA Needs Repairs
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 7, 2014
Modified Oct 7, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 7, 2014
Modified Oct 7, 2014
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Governor Cuomo has no plans to institute campaign finance reform, because the system works! (For him.) An analysis of Cuomo's donors released by NYPIRG shows that 331 individual donors have given him more than $40,000 apiece, 14 more than his last required filing in July, raising his campaign total to $44,935,791. Seventeen of Cuomo's benefactors have given more money than all 3,767 donors to Republican challenger Rob Astorino.
The report notes that Astorino, who has just over $4 million in his coffers, is leading Cuomo in one respect: small donors. Donations of $1,000 or less represent nearly 20% of his funds, while they represent just 0.72% of Cuomo's.
Cuomo's most lucrative cash nipple? Real estate mogul Leonard Litwin, who has donated $1,000,000 to Cuomo's campaign since 2010, not including the $470,000 he gave to the state Democratic Party and Cuomo's running mate, Kathy Hochul.
Extell, The Richman Group (ha ha), Brookfield, and Cablevision round out Cuomo's top five, accounting for $2,087,000 of the governor's take.
Asked today about the MTA's $15 billion capital plan to order new subway cars, renovate stations, replace tracks, and repair line equipment, Governor Cuomo called it "bloated."
Did you know that the MTA does not need any new streams of revenue [PDF], from taxpayers or otherwise? It's true, because why would Governor Cuomo lie to us?
“There's no need for it," Cuomo told NY1's Zack Fink, according to Capital, who reported the exchange. "Look, we had a $10 billion deficit and we didn't do tolls. It's just that Zack accepted in whole cloth the M.T.A. plan. He just didn't push back, he didn't do his job and ask questions, say, 'What in here do you really need, and isn't this just the bloated initial first request that you send to the second floor?'”
No one even takes the subway unless they're trying to prove a point about fear and terrorism.
You can read NYPIRG's whole report, including the top 331 donors to Cuomo's campaign below.
NYPIRG Gov Fundraising 10 7 2014
Tagged
campaign finance reform
governor cuomo
MTA
rich people
your great democratic governor
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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