I had heard about this last week, but haven't been able to follow up until now. Bathroom repairs and other apartment issues have been taking my attention in recent days. Steve DiBrienza, the one time City Councilman for the 39th City Council District, has dropped out of the race for his old seat. This leaves us back with Brad Lander and Josh Skaller as the apparent front runners with four other candidates trying to catch up.

Recently I was talking with a Brooklyn politician and he was telling me what a shame the DiBrienza scandal was because DiBrienza had been a good councilman. That was before I lived in Brooklyn, so I don't know. But it is clear to me that the DiBrienza scandal is indicative of what is deeply wrong with the way NYC is run and why we need some serious change. This scandal, where a city councilman was given taxpayer money with only minimal oversight and little to show for it, taints every layer of the city government, from the mayor, to the Public Advocate to the City Council.  read more »

As Steve DiBrienza started his run for his old City Council seat, he rapidly got sidetracked by an apparent scandal. The highly dubious NY Post claimed DiBrienza had simply kept his old city council office, two doors down from current City Councilman Bill de Blasio's office (did Bill know this?), paid for by city money (either with the approval of Gifford Miller and Christine Quinn, or they both were sadly lax in their oversight of their colleagues), and still drew a salary from city money. The cover for this was a supposed non-profit called the "Neighborhood Assistance Corp." Clever name. Sounded good AND it sounds like a branch of the legitimate, national organization Neighborhood Assistance Corp of America.  read more »

The DiBrienza scandal, which I wrote about a couple of days ago, may die out quickly...that is sure what DiBrienza, Quinn, Yassky and some other City Council members would like. Or it may be the beginning of a major scandal that could being some or all of those people down.  read more »

I had heard rumors about this, but I am always skeptical of things that come from the NY Post, a notoriously inaccurate propoganda rag. However, in this case the NY Post article matches the rumors I had heard from other sources.

Steve DiBrienza, who wants to be the Once And Future Councilmember for the 39th Council District in Brooklyn, has essentially been using for his own private use an office paid for by the city (which means by us) ostensibly for a non-profit whose only impact on the community seems to be a name on an awning. From, gasp, the Post:

Since leaving the council at the end of 2001, DiBrienza has continued to work out of his former district office, which now houses a not-for-profit group - founded by DiBrienza and funded with a total of $1.185 million in council grants, according to city, state and federal records.  read more »