FW: daily news on Esperanza, Capoccia

H* A*

Some background on the Esperanza destruction.

Adam

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	L.A. Kauffman [SMTP:lakauffm@erols.com]
> Sent:	Saturday, February 19, 2000 4:30 PM
> To:	Undisclosed-Recipient:;@rly-yd04.mx.aol.com;
> Subject:	daily news on Esperanza, Capoccia
> 
> NEW YORK DAILY NEWS  Friday, February 18, 2000
> 
> Garden Was Razed
> For Rudy Contributor
> 
> 
> By TOM ROBBINS, FRANK LOMBARDI and JOEL SIEGEL
> Daily News Staff Writers
> 
> The developers who had Mayor Giuliani's backing to bulldoze an East
> Village
> community garden over the fierce objections of advocates have made $46,800
> in political contributions to the mayor, records show.
> 
> The Giuliani administration had cops arrest 31 protesters Tuesday so a
> bulldozer could level the 22-year-old Esperanza Garden on E. Seventh St.
> to
> make way for a housing and retail development by BFC Partners.
> 
> The administration's bulldozer rolled while the state attorney general's
> office was in court, seeking to block the city from clearing the property.
> 
> Campaign finance records show that three principals of BFC and a BFC
> consultant have given the $46,800 in donations to committees created by
> the
> mayor to finance his 1997 mayoral race, his 2000 Senate race and his
> national political travels.
> 
> The donations included $11,000 that had to be returned because it exceeded
> caps on contributions, the records show.
> 
> BFC and the Gethsemane Garden Baptist Church obtained the property from
> the
> city without competitive bidding after approaching the Housing
> Preservation
> and Development Department with a proposal to develop the site, a
> department
> spokeswoman said.
> 
> The spokeswoman, Carol Abrams, said the firm paid "fair market value," but
> she said she did not know the cost. She noted that the City Council,
> Manhattan borough president and Planning Commission all approved the deal.
> 
> The mayor was not available for comment, but a spokeswoman defended the
> deal
> as proper, calling one of BFC's principals, Donald Capoccia, "a long-term
> supporter of the mayor" who shares the mayor's ideas.
> 
> "They are both fiscal conservatives and social moderates," spokeswoman
> Sunny
> Mindel said. "Capoccia is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans, and the
> mayor was a keynote speaker there last year. No quid pro quo."
> 
> A spokesman for Giuliani's opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, declined
> comment. But yesterday morning, the First Lady said the garden's
> destruction
> "tells us a lot about the difference in leadership styles that we are
> going
> to see in this campaign."
> 
> "The mayor seems to think that you bulldoze first and answer questions
> later," she said. "I don't think you can bulldoze your way into the
> Senate.
> We need leaders who bring people together."
> 
> Speaking with reporters, Giuliani dismissed Clinton's comment as overtly
> political. "If you can't see through that one ..." he said, his voice
> trailing off before moving on to the next question. On Tuesday, he
> defended
> the bulldozing by noting the project would include affordable housing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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