Several people sent me this article from Daily Politics. Seems city council candidate in Queens, Michael Cohen, was caught in corruption charges against former Liberal Party boss Ray Harding. There seems to have been a corrupt bargain wherein Harding worked with Gov. George Pataki's office to get Cohen a well-paid job in exchange for Cohen giving up his Assembly seat so Andy Hevesi could run for it. Cohen also endorsed Pataki at the same time, making it like so many other corrupt deals in NYC where favors, money and endorsements change hands.

There are several interesting threads in this latest scandal to hit a city council candidate. First off, I can't help but be reminded of the DiBrienza scandal in Brooklyn. Cohen is vowing to stay in the race despite the scandal...much like DiBrienza did. I suspect Cohen's continuation of his campaign will end up much like DiBrienza's as well: rapidly ended.

Second, this is a reminder what a nest of corruption Queens is. I usually write about Brooklyn corruption, but Queens clearly has its share as well.

Third, I was always something of a defender of Alan Hevesi's. He did, in the end, do something wrong, but it seemed well meant. But now one starts to wonder about the Hevesi family.

But most interesting to me is the fact that a familiar name is floating around this slimy morass...Michael Tobman. I wrote about him sometime back about my few encounters with this guy. Turns out Tobman surfaces again as consultant to Michael Cohen. Which doesn't necessarily reflect poorly on Tobman. He just happens to be hired by someone who may get himself indicted. But I do see an interesting parallel. In my last encounter with Tobman, he was consulting for Roger Adler...who admitted in front of witnesses, including myself, to trying to buy a judicial seat with the help of the head of the Conservative Party. Now Tobman is a consultant for Michael Cohen, who is named in a complaint against the former Liberal Party boss for helping Cohen get a job as a political favor. There seems a pattern here, and an odd symmetry. Is it coincidental that Tobman keeps consulting for people who try and buy positions through minor party bosses? Curiouser and curiouser.