Thread: Rangel’s rent excuse is nothing but a ruse: federal records

Rangel’s rent excuse is nothing but a ruse: federal records

By Michael Gartland
April 13, 2014 | 3:39am

None of New York City’s 12 other members of Congress failed to pay rent because of last year’s federal sequester — the excuse Rep. Charles Rangel gave for stiffing state taxpayers out of $87,000.

“It’s not just my office. It’s any office that had to take a cut that we didn’t ask for in our budget,” the deadbeat pol whined in a TV interview following The Post exposé last Sunday.

After missing three payments, Rangel, who rents office space on 125th Street from the state Office of General Services, negotiated a sweetheart deal with state officials. They gave him a six-month reprieve and slashed his rate from $7,253 a month to $4,809.

Yet Rangel still hasn’t paid, owing 16 months of back rent, according to OGS statements and the most recent federal expense records.

Those records also show that all of the city’s congressional representatives paid rent every month last year.

“I don’t know how Charlie ran his budget,” said Rep. Peter King (R-LI). “We had the money to pay it and that’s all I can say.”

Even when the sequester debate was raging and immediately after its implementation in March 2013, Rep. Jerrold Nadler paid his $10,755 monthly rent. Rep. José Serrano also managed to pony up $10,779 a month.

The only members of the city delegation who fell behind in rent — Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Yvette Clarke — eventually made good within six months.

Rangel’s 2013 office budget of $1.2 million was the third-largest among the city’s congressional delegation. Some of this cash was used on items other than rent — $20,000 on travel, $18,500 on office supplies and $5,500 on making copies.

“We negotiated our rent to help loosen our belt, but it’s a very long and complicated process,” said Rangel spokeswoman Hannah Kim.

“The money allocated for the unpaid rent is in reserve and will be paid as soon as the new lease is approved under the House rules.”

The OGS refused to say who authorized Rangel’s rent break on the 3,054-square-foot office, and would not say whether the congressman paid the last quarterly invoice it sent out on April 1.

http://nypost.com/2014/04/13/rangels...deral-records/

It is time to catch up on the Rangel campaign and see what Charlie has been up to. Looks like more of the same.

Rangel didn’t pay rent but state bailed him out

By Michael Gartland
April 6, 2014 | 2:44am

New York City’s longest-serving congressman won’t pay his rent.

State taxpayers were stiffed out of at least $87,000 when Rep. Charles Rangel stopped paying for the district office he rents in Harlem’s Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, records *obtained by The Post show.

His staffers’ excuse? They lost the lease, according to state Office of General Services correspondence.

“I finally heard back from Congressman Rangel’s office and it seems we haven’t gotten the signed lease back because they lost it!” OGS real-estate specialist Sydney Allen wrote in a July 30, 2013, e-mail to a colleague that was *obtained by The Post.

Rangel paid $7,253 in monthly rent on the 125th Street office he has rented since 2000, expense reports from 2012 show. But the payments stopped for all of 2013.

Incredibly, instead of demanding payment of the back rent and late fees from its deadbeat legislative tenant, the state cut him a huge rent break.

The state says it allowed Rangel in March 2013 to enter into a new sweetheart deal in which he could postpone paying six months of rent. That “abatement” money has still not been paid, nor has the other six months of missed rent from 2013, a OGS official said.

The state comptroller approved a $101,000 lease between Rangel and OGS on Dec. 26, 2013, retroactively covering the period back to April 2013 and future months through December 2014, records show. The 21-month deal resulted in a deeply reduced rent of $4,809 a month.

When The Post last week inquired about the year of missing rent, Rangel’s office and OGS blamed federal sequestration, not the lost lease referenced in agency correspondence.

“As everyone knows, the GOP sequester not only constrained our nation’s economy, but also strained the budget of congressional offices,” said Rangel spokeswoman Hannah Kim.

The sequester, which set caps on lawmakers’ discretionary spending, began in March 2013, two months after records show Rangel stopped paying rent.

Rangel also promised to open another district office in The Bronx, a portion of which he now represents after a 2012 redistricting, but still has not done so.

Rangel is no stranger to real-estate problems. Congress censured the 22-term legislator in 2010 after the Ethics Committee found him guilty of 11 violations — including dodging taxes on the rental of his Dominican Republic villa.

The then-chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee — he lost the powerful post due to his censure — was also forced to request an ethics probe into himself for his campaign’s use of one of four rent-controlled Harlem apartments that Rangel rented. Financial-disclosure forms show Rangel was worth between $566,000 and $1.2 million at the time.

The veteran Harlem pol is facing what could be his biggest political challenge. On June 24, primary voters will choose among him and two Democratic challengers — state Sen. Adriano Espaillat and the Rev. Michael Walrond.

http://nypost.com/2014/04/06/rangel-failed-to-pay-rent-on-harlem-office-but-state-bailed-him-out/

Could Charlie become a victim of ethnic politics?

Espaillat to challenge Rangel for Democratic nod

By Carl Campanile
February 26, 2014 | 11:27pm

State Sen. Andriano Espailla (left) will attempt again to dethrone Rep. Charles Rangel for the Democratic nomination to run this fall.Photo: Matt McDermott, Warzer Jeff

State Sen. Adriano Espaillat is announcing his second bid for Congress Thursday to dethrone longtime Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel.

Espaillat, 59, the uptown senator from Inwood-Washington Heights, nearly upset Rangel during their initial face-off in the 2012 Democratic primary.

“Adriano was an insurgent nobody thought could win two years ago. This time people think Adriano is going to win and they want to get behind a winner,” a source said.
Espaillat is expected to line up support from leaders who backed Rangel in the past.
Preacher Michael Walrond — who has close ties to Rev. Al Sharpton — also has thrown his hat in the ring.

Espaillat will launch his campaign during a noon event at the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights.

Rangel, 83, is seeking is his 23rd — and final — term in Congress. He’s held the seat since 1970.

But many Democratic Party, community and labor leaders expressed surprise that Rangel is running again, saying they were led to believe that the 2012 race would be his last hurrah.

The Democratic primary election is June 24.

The population in the congressional district has shifted from majority African-American to Hispanic. The district includes a small portion of the south Bronx as well as all of northern Manhattan — parts of the Upper West Side, Greater Harlem, and Washington Heights/Inwood.

Espaillat, born in the Dominican Republican and the first Dominican to serve in the New York Legislature, symbolizes the aspirations of the new wave of Latino immigrants. He has been a state legislator since 1997 serving in the Senate and Assembly. Rangel, who is half black and half Puerto Rican, is the dean of the New York congressional delegation.

But the Korean War veteran’s legacy was stained was stained when Congress censured him in 2010 for a slew of ethics violations, including using a rent-stabilized apartment as his campaign office and failing to pay taxes on his Dominican Republic villa.

Rangel defeated Espaillat by only about 1,000 voters two years ago.

http://nypost.com/2014/02/26/espaillat-to-challenge-rangel-for-democratic-nod/

Help has arrived from the Old Boy's CLub.

Rangel clinches Schumer’s support amid tough race

By Geoff Earle
April 8, 2014 | 1:38pm

New York Sen. Charles Schumer announces his support for Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel, who is running for a 23rd term.Photo: Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel is rolling out the big guns, announcing an endorsement from Sen. Charles Schumer in his bid for re-election to a 23rd term as he desperately tries to hang on to his seat for what he says is his final campaign.

In a fundraising email appeal being sent out by Rangel’s campaign, Schumer calls Rangel a “tenacious leader” and an “effective, progressive leader.”

Schumer says Rangel is the “clear choice,” then makes an appeal for campaign cash for Rangel’s campaign, which had just $211,000 in the bank at the start of the year.

In the email blast that is going out Tuesday, contributors will be asked to contribute between $10 and $2,600 — the maximum they can give in a primary.

But plenty of other party bigwigs are drifting away.


Adriano EspaillatPhoto: Chad Rachman

Rangel, 83, is facing a tough challenge from state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, who has been wrapping up critical endorsements of his own that reflect the changing nature of the district.

He recently won the backing of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, along with Brooklyn Assemblyman Karim Camara. Rangel beat Espaillat in 2012 by about 1,000 votes. He’s also being challenged by the Rev. Michael Walrond.

Last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand endorsed Rangel, who was censured by the House in 2010 over ethics violations.

http://nypost.com/2014/04/08/rangel-clinches-schumers-support-amid-anemic-campaign/

Almost a miracle for Charlie. Within 72 hours of the Corporate Democrats riding to the rescue another Hispanic, Yolanda Garcia has stepped in to dilute the vote away from Espaillat. She says that she is NOT a stalking horse for Rangel. I wonder why she offered that up?

Rangel may catch break in bid against Espaillat

By Carl Campanile

April 11, 2014 | 6:45pm

Rep. Charles Rangel may have caught a lucky break in his embattled bid for re-election, with the entrance of another Hispanic candidate into to challenge his top rival, Sen. Adriano Espaillat

Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel may catch a break in his tough re-election bid: Another Hispanic candidate is entering the Democratic primary — potentially siphoning votes from his chief rival, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat.

Bronx community activist Yolonda Garcia gathered some 6,000 signatures, more than four times the 1,250 needed to qualify for a spot on the June 24 ballot, a source close to the candidate said.

A Board of Elections spokesman confirmed Garcia had filed the petitions.


er
New York State Sen. Adriano Espaillat.

Espaillat nearly toppled Rangel two years ago by grabbing an overwhelming majority of the Latino vote.

Like Espaillat, Garcia is a Dominican immigrant. She moved here in 1975.

Garcia spokesman Richard Soto, head of Rising Democratic Voices Coalition, insisted she’s not a stalking horse for Rangel.

The district covers part of The Bronx as well as upper Manhattan.

But political consultant Mike Nieves, a Hispanic campaign adviser to Rangel two years ago, said Garcia could be a problem for Espaillat.

“She could siphon off enough votes from Espaillat in The Bronx to make Charlie the clear winner,’’ Nieves said.

Preacher Michael Walrond — an ally of Al Sharpton — is the other candidate in the race.

http://nypost.com/2014/04/11/rangel-may-catch-break-in-bid-against-espaillat/


Charlie got dumped two Hispanic politicians that have endorsed his opponent days before Schumer arrived. The Democrats make it ALL so, ethnic. Now it seems political machines machines in New York are based on ethnicity instead of ability.

They had better be checking those 6000 votes for Yolanda to insure that the election laws are being obeyed. It is a felony for an non citizen to vote in a FEDERAL election.

Ally ditches Rangel to endorse main challenger

Big city politics, what can one say.....

Bronx Assemblyman, Nelson Castro, may face perjury charges

BY BOB KAPPSTATTER
DAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF
Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 12:01 AM

NOONAN FOR NEWS

Bronx assemblyman Nelson Castro may face perjury charges.

A Bronx Assemblyman believed to have tripped himself up in an election fraud case is expected to be indicted on perjury charges, the Daily News has learned.
The charges against Assemblyman Nelson Castro are expected sometime this or next week, sources told The News.

Castro was accused in last September's primary of electoral shenanigans after nine voters were found to be registered to his one-bedroom flat in the west Bronx. A judge still cleared him to run - and he won the 86th Assembly District. Opponents complained later that he lied under oath when he said he was unaware of the registration situation.

It turned out some of the nine were his and his girlfriend's relatives. The alleged lies under oath are what now have Castro in hot water and facing possible criminal charges, sources said.

A spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson had no comment.
Castro, former chief of staff for Manhattan Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, was designated by then-Bronx Democratic Party boss Jose Rivera to run for the seat after Assemblyman Luis Diaz stepped down to work for Gov. Paterson.

Castro, 37, immediately was criticized after it was disclosed he had a criminal record for collecting unemployment while he had a job and that he was also facing trial at the time for a string of unpaid traffic tickets and driving with a revoked license.

The original court action was brought by Richard Soto, head of the Rising Voices Coalition, which was backing Soto's brother Mike in the race.

Castro could not be reached for comment yesterday; he is believed to be on vacation.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...ticle-1.396813