Source: Flake, Jay-Z Out of AEG

Rev. Floyd Flake and rapper Jay-Z are pulling out today from AEG, the company which bid recently won a lucrative contract to run video lottery terminals at Aqueduct, according to a source familiar with the group’s make-up.

Flake, a powerful reverend and former congressman, and Jay-Z, a multi-faceted rapper, each had less Read More

Kangaroo Casino

In mid-2006, Karl O’Farrell, an Irish-born entrepreneur from Australia with a penchant for gambling, hatched a quixotic plan to take over and develop New York’s biggest horse-racing tracks. That plan was the root of the political maelstrom that now engulfs Governor Paterson’s selection of a team to build a casino at the Aqueduct Read More

Report: Feds Probing Aqueduct Deal

WPIX is reporting that federal authorities are investigating David Paterson’s decision to award a contract to operate a video casino at Aqueduct Raceway to a business group connected to Floyd Flake, the influential pastor in Queens.

“Two reliable sources confirm the investigation is ‘very fresh,’ but could not say precisely what it is prosecutors Read More

Paterson: There Was Consensus on Aqueduct; AEG Has the Money

Facing increasing criticism for selecting a politically-connected bidder to develop slot machines at the Aqueduct race track, Governor Paterson released a statement Thursday afternoon stressing that legislative leaders had agreed on the choice.

The statement appeared to be a riposte at Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who Friday stated a list of conditions (and sent a Read More

Equal or Better Than Hevesi. Hopefully.

Alan Hevesi’s campaign has just rolled out yet more statements of qualified support from Democrats. The latest batch includes comments from Rep. Charlie Rangel, Rev. Floyd Flake and former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr. [statements after the jump]

Each of the canned comments is formulated in pretty much the same way, saying that Read More

Thought-Based?

Sorry to harp on this, but another point on the claim in the Times this morning that the Bloomberg campaign targeted not traditional demographics but “thought-based” groups:

Which thought-based group, exactly, was the target of a widely mailed flyer, colored in the green, yellow, and red associated with Africa, that was headed by the Read More

Mike’s Balancing Act

Our story this week dwells on the difficulty of running a campaign on the “I’m not a politician” theme while, well, running a campaign.

We can’t really knock Mike for being a politician. If you like him, you want him to win, so you want him to cut the deals and take the Read More

Giuliani Has a Chance To Be a Republican Star

When it comes to re-electing their Mayor, New Yorkers seem to have embraced the old adage that, prick though Rudy Giuliani may be, he is their prick and they want him to keep stickin’ it into the bad guys. Given his ineffectual predecessor and the rudderless hulk he is running against this time, it’s difficult Read More