Three developers made improper donations to the mayor while pursuing business with the city, according to a settlement reached today as part of an ongoing investigation.
Greenpoint Landing Developers, Brookfield Financial Properties and Toll Brothers donated a total $125,000 to Campaign for One New York, a fundraising organization set up by Mayor Bill de Blasio to promote his agenda of expanding prekindergarten.
Brookfield gave the campaign $50,000 in 2015 while it was lobbying the city and will pay a $30,000 penalty. Greenpoint Landing Developers, which is a partnership between Brookfield and George Klein’s Park Tower Group, also made a $50,000 donation to the de Blasio funding organization and was fined $20,000. Toll Brothers also gave $25,000 at the request of the mayor, the investigation found, and will pay $15,000 for the misstep.
The mayor’s fundraising entity has since been closed and the Joint Commission on Public Ethics did not find that the mayor violated the law, according to a statement from a mayoral spokesman to Politico. The fundraising organization was shuttered in 2016 amid a probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance and the remaining funds were transferred to an organization to promote the mayor’s housing agenda.
[Politico] — Georgia Kromrei