Queens pol Scrooged by YouTube post
May 5, 2008
Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to YouTube.
No doubt whoever posted Councilman Hiram Monserrate’s Three Kings Day celebration on the video-sharing Web site thought it was a nice way to showcase the Queens politician’s annual post-Christmas toy giveaway for thousands of kids.
It also could give more ammunition to probers of the City Council’s ongoing slush fund mess.
The Daily News has reported that Monserrate (D-Queens) appeared in radio ads for a car dealership in March, promising to buy his next car there.
Monserrate was not paid for the appearance, which he used to tout tax breaks he’s proposing for drivers who buy hybrid cars.
Libre, a nonprofit with close ties to the councilman, got a $5,000 donation from the dealership, Paragon Honda, two months before the ads aired, the Web video shows.
“In retrospect, I would have handled the situation better. The reality is I was not compensated. I was not a personal beneficiary in any way,” Monserrate said about the radio appearance.
Libre reportedly has received $400,000 in taxpayer funds in recent years courtesy of Monserrate, who steered earmarked member items to the charity.
City and federal investigators are looking closely at the Council’s member items after indicting two aides to a Brooklyn councilman last month.
Monserrate said Libre is no different from dozens of other charities he’s supported. He acknowledged that two of his staffers also have worked there (in what he said were unpaid positions). He denied a New York Times report that he negotiated the group’s lease.
The Queens Democrat said he did not ask Paragon for the donation to Libre.
“They knew I was attending the event and I was going to be there, and they wanted to be supportive of the event. I told them who the event organizer was, and they pursued it,” Monserrate said.
His assertion was backed by the dealership’s general manager, Brian Benstock. The $5,000 donation was specifically meant to support the Three Kings Day celebration, which Libre organized, Benstock said.
The money, the ads and Libre are sure to come up in Monserrate’s expected race against state Sen. John Sabini this fall - a battle in which Mayor Bloomberg said privately he would support the councilman.
Source: NY Daily News
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