City Council Members Expense Reports Exposed

Posted by and filed under Maria Baez, Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Miguel Martinez, Politicians, Vincent Gentile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Despite the Big Apple’s fiscal crisis, City Council members went on a spending spree with taxpayer money last year, snatching up expensive furniture, flashy electronics, wedding invitations and a bizarre order of school supplies.

A Post review of the council’s expense reports at Staples and J&R, where city lawmakers have tax-free business accounts, revealed a slew of unusual purchases for the 10 months from July 2008 through May 2009.

In one of the more peculiar purchases, Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx) spent $1,176 on school supplies, including 162 glue sticks, 95 boxes of crayons, 200 rulers and 10 easels.

She bought the goods from Staples at the start of the school year, but her spokeswoman insisted the supplies were kept in the office to occupy the kids of constituents who visit. None of her 50 council colleagues made similar purchases.

She also spent $186 on junk food, like Twizzlers and muffins, and $105 on Tylenol.

“Any item purchased is to help staff with constituents or to serve constituents directly,” said Arroyo’s spokeswoman, Carmen Aquinas.

Another eye-catching buy was made by Councilman Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan), who spent $511 on packets of wedding invitations, envelopes and accompanying labels.

His staff insisted the cards were sent as thank-you notes to constituents in his district.

Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Brooklyn) splurged on a $586 swivel chair. By comparison, several of his colleagues who purchased chairs spent less than $200.

Each member is given $277,000 to spend on salaries and the costs of running an office, including rent, maintenance bills and office supplies.

Councilwoman Maria Baez (D-Bronx) bought three cameras during the year: a $379 camcorder and two digital cameras, for $200 and $187.

Most members who bought cameras at all got only one.

Source: NY Post

Digg it! Twitter! Add to del.icio.us Add to Reddit Bookmark to Simpy Add to Yahoo MyWeb2 Add to BlinkBits Blink this Post Add to Blogmarks Bookmark to Co.mments! Add to Connotea Add to Fark Add to Feed Me Links Add to Furl Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Newsvine Add to Netvouz Add to Scuttle Add to Shadows Add to Spurl Add to StumbleUpon Add to Technorati Add to Wists

Leave a Reply



Issues

NYC Unemployment Rate Grows to 8.7% »

NYC Unemployment Rate Grows to 8.7%

The two-week strike by unionized employees of Verizon offset all of the hiring that occurred last month in New York City and pushed the city’s unemployment rate up slightly, according to figures released Thursday by the State Department of Labor. The city’s official unemployment rate...

No comment / Read More »

Rent Guidelines Board Approves 4 Percent Increase on Stabilized Apartments »

Rent Guidelines Board Approves 4 Percent Increase on Stabilized Apartments

The Rent Guidelines Board has approved a nearly 4 percent hike for rent-stabilized apartments in the city, affecting some 1.1 million apartments by 3.75 percent for one-year renewals and 7.25 percent for two-year contracts, the New York Daily News reported. The hikes will take effect...

1 comment / Read More »

Rent Guidelines Board To Hold Vote Tonight »

Rent Guidelines Board To Hold Vote Tonight

The Rent Guidelines Board will hold a final vote tonight on how much the tenants of more than one million rent-regulated city apartments will pay this fall. Board members are gathering at Cooper Union’s Great Hall at 5:30 p.m. to consider a hike of 3...

No comment / Read More »

Real-estate

Rent Guidelines Board Approves 4 Percent Increase on Stabilized Apartments »

Rent Guidelines Board Approves 4 Percent Increase on Stabilized ApartmentsThe Rent Guidelines Board has approved a nearly 4 percent hike for rent-stabilized apartments in the city, affecting some 1.1 million apartments by 3.75 percent...

1 comment | Read More »
Advertisement
Search Everything