Post: Vito Lopez has Council Member Levin “on a Short Leash”

By on December 5, 2010 3:04 pm in Government

City Council Member Stephen Levin, whose district includes Brooklyn Heights, is accused of steering funds to an organization located outside his district because of ties to the man he acknowledges as his “mentor”, State Assembly Member and Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez.

New York Post: “Steve is more beholden to Vito than to his district,” said a source who was once close to Levin. “The guy makes no decision without consulting Vito.”

Levin, a Brooklyn Democrat, generously allocates taxpayer money to the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a nonprofit organization where Levin once worked which is at the core of Lopez’s Bushwick-based political machine.
The group, located outside Levin’s waterfront district, gets a larger share of his discretionary funds than any group within his district, which extends from Greenpoint to Brooklyn Heights and includes part of Park Slope.

The Post article quotes Levin as saying his constituents benefit from services offered by Ridgewood Bushwick, including its provision of safe housing for people living in places subjected to a lead hazard. He also noted his advocacy of affordable housing in Williamsburg, a matter on which he and Lopez are in strong agreement.

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  • x

    not surprised.

    Levin is a puppet.

  • bklyn20

    The Vito connection could be perceived as unsavory, but Levin has delivered for this district several times in the past year. He was VERY responsive after the WiIlow Place explosion last January — without his help we wouldn’t have gotten the fast and thorough street re-build that we have now He is excellent on Brooklyn Bridge Park, in my opinion and in that of MANY others.

    The Post article neglects to note that JoAnne Simon was roundly beaten by Levin in the last City Council election. Puppet, schmuppet…

  • BigDave

    We have a City Councilmember who cares about his constituents. The POST article quotes “a source who was once close to Levin.” Gee, I wonder what kind of axe this “source” has to grind?

  • william

    I agree, Steve Levin does care about his constituents. And he IS taking an active interest in what is going on here in the Heights. We are lucky to have him now, instead of Yasskey – who gave Bloomberg the final vote in City Council that he needed to run for his 3rd term as king/mayor.

  • eg

    I am a disabled senior and I receive home aid from the Ridgewood- Bushwick Senior Council, which I believe serves Brooklyn Heights and many more nearby districts. This is arranged through Heights and Hill agency, which now has a much larger Brooklyn area to serve than previously. Among the first services to cut are usually Seniors, children, education and libraries. I am happy that money is found somehow to keep these services going, even with cutbacks.

  • http://inklake.typepad.com PBK

    Is it better to have an effective ‘puppet’, or an ineffectual ‘maverick’?

    Beats me.

  • Tony

    he is giving well over a million bucks to bushwick – a community that he does not represent – rather than to us – his own constituents. i dont know how much money councilmembers get, but i bet he is giving away half of our money to bushwick. this is incredible.

  • Heightsman

    I have no idea but the picture with the cat is gross and yes I would vote against him any day just on principle of the machine.

  • BigDave

    It’s just a cat, fergosshakes.

    Machine fear bubbles brew
    On wintry days in Brooklyn —
    Let the puppets dance.

  • eg

    You are not reading correctly. Some of that money does come back to the heights in the form of support for seniors.

  • DrewB

    You guys sure do get your panties in a wad about Vito Lopez!

    After years of listening to Yassky making promises and do NOTHING, I’m happy to have a council-member who is involved and engaged. He was very helpful with the helicopter assault. He has been heavily involved in search for alternatives to housing in BBP. I have always found him open and easy to contact. I’d say he has delivered more for the neighborhood than any other council-member in the 10 years I’ve lived here.

    Enough of the Murdoch Boogieman Baiting….

  • Y

    As long as you keep voting people like Lopez or Rangel back into office every single time, there is no reason to complain about any of this.

  • clarification

    don’t lie – no money that goes to ridgewood bushwick senior citizen’s council comes back to heights and hill. these are two separate organizations that have nothing to do with one another. nothing. whatsoever.

    the people of brooklyn heights dont have a voice in deciding whether or not lopez or rangel gets elected, but we have a choice of whether or not we want to support their cronies…

  • http://deleted buddy11210

    Which would you rather have, a self-promoting, do-nothing guy like Yassky who gave the final vote to Bloomberg’s third term (for which he has been handsomely paid with his current job) or a guy with holes in his sweater, who comes to every community meeting and finds ways, listed above by some people, to really help his constituents – in and close to his district? And the disgruntled employee is probably Marian Woods – Yassky’s old secretary who Levin kindly kept on but who has been trashing him behind his back to all who will listen, even as she takes his job. Levin is a class act and VIto being a crook should not be pinned on Levin.

  • class act

    who gives all his money away to bushwick…