Tag: Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Sep 22

2016

More dubious Buffalo Billion dealings

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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect new developments as of Sept. 22, 2016.  The close relationship between EYP Architecture and Engineering and (currently suspended) SUNY Polytechnic President Alain Kaloyeros was further described by state attorney general Eric Schneiderman in a complaint unsealed today. State investigators allege that EYP, referred to as “Architect-1” throughout the complaint, was described as SUNY Poly’s “in-house architect” by a former employee of Columbia development, whose president has been charged with collaborating with Kaloyeros to rig bids for a project to build SUNY Poly housing. The employee told investigators that EYP had been involved[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Sep 22

2016

Investigative Post’s Buffalo Billion reporting

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Gov. Cuomo’s signature Buffalo Billion initiative was mired in corruption and bid-rigging, according to a federal complaint unsealed Thursday. The complaint alleges what has long been suspected: the RFP for Buffalo developers to build the $750 million factory for SolarCity was designed with one company, LPCiminelli, in mind. SUNY Polytechnic president Alain Kaloyeros, lobbyist Todd Howe, and executives at Buffalo-based LPCiminelli worked together to “secretly tailor” the required qualifications for a developer in Buffalo so that LPCiminelli would be guaranteed to win the work, according to the complaint. A similar pattern of collaboration is alleged to have taken place between Kaloyeros, Howe and[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Sep 19

2016

SUNY Poly plays by the rules — or, guidelines

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Editor’s note: A version of this story published Sunday in the Times Union of Albany. Two state-affiliated development corporations at the center of a federal corruption probe operated for years without rules commonly used by government agencies to promote competition, discourage favoritism and get the best deal for taxpayers when choosing companies to do business with. As a result, they’ve used unusually loose procurement policies to select developers for multimillion dollar projects, an Investigative Post analysis shows. Some of their contract awards – often to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s major campaign donors – are now being investigated by state and federal[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Sep 15

2016

Arbetter on Cuomo’s “pathology’ of self-interest

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Susan Arbetter has built The Capitol Pressroom into an influential interview program with a daily audience of 100,000 listeners by practicing what she described Tuesday as “broccoli dipped in chocolate” journalism. Speaking to a near sell-out crowd at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Arbetter said her approach – tackling serious subjects with a dash of flavor and humor – gives voters the information they need in a way they can digest. “We need to eat vegetables to have real democracy,” she said, “but people are opting to only eat dessert,” referring to the gluttony of media consumption preoccupied with sports,[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Sep 15

2016

Podcast: Arbetter on Cuomo, state politics

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In this episode of Investigative Postcast, our new podcast, listen to some highlights of Jim Heaney’s conversation with Susan Arbetter, the award-winning host and producer of The Capitol Pressroom. Heaney interviewed Arbetter in front of a live audience at the Burchfield Penney Art Center on Tuesday. In this excerpt: Arbetter’s thoughts on Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the diminished power of WNY’s legislative delegation, and why Carl Paladino is never going to be governor. This is our second podcast: Last week’s featured Arbetter talking about her approach to producing The Capitol Pressroom. Also worth a listen: Heaney’s interview with Arbetter last week about the latest developments[...]

Posted 8 years ago

May 13

2016

SolarCity slashes Buffalo factory commitment

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SolarCity has sharply reduced its job creation commitment for the solar panel manufacturing plant under construction in Buffalo from 1,460 to 500 jobs, according to state records and filings the company submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission last fall. The company remains committed to a total of 1,460 jobs in Buffalo, but the majority of them will not be employed at the plant. Documents do not specify what kind of jobs they might be. “With new advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment that enables automation, we believe 500 is the minimum number of manufacturing jobs the factory will require,” said Kady Cooper,[...]

Posted 8 years ago

May 6

2016

Latest Buffalo Billion scandal developments

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There were two noteworthy developments Friday involving the mushrooming Buffalo Billion scandal. Gannett newspapers reported that Alphonso David, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s legal counsel, has issued an edict that requires the bureaucracy headed by Alain Kaloyeros to run all decisions regarding the Buffalo Billion and nanotechnology projects in Albany past Bart Schwartz, who is heading the governor’s review of numerous state economic development programs. Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reported that longtime Cuomo associate Todd Howe has been fired from the law firm that employed him to, among other things, represent politically connected upstate developers. Howe is a focus of U.S. Attorney[...]

Posted 8 years ago

May 2

2016

Cuomo’s M.O. enables corruption

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One Albany insider told The Buffalo News over the weekend that “everyone is literally flabbergasted” at the turn of events in the federal probe of what can safely be termed the “embattled” Buffalo Billion program. I suppose the spectacle of Cuomo insiders turning on each other as the governor scrambles into damage control mode is a bit jarring. But no one who has been paying attention to Cuomo’s governing style in general, and his administration’s management of the Buffalo Billion program in particular, should be the least bit surprised. In short, the Cuomo crowd is obsessed with secrecy and operates[...]

Posted 8 years ago
Investigative Post

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