Bay Ridge Democrats Endorsement Divides Bay Ridge
The Bay Ridge Democrats divided this community with their out-of-touch endorsement.
Brad Lander is a politician that has served in office and done nothing about property taxes because he benefitted from low rates all these years.
Did Chris McCreight, the head of the Bay Ridge Democrats tell his groups that Lander had been benefitting from this property tax loophole for many years? Chris knows.
There has to be some Democrats in Bay Ridge that care about property taxes. A few must care if they are paying twice the property tax of Brad Lander and his friends in Park Slope.
Did Chris McCreight also fail to tell the Bay Ridge Dems about Brad Lander’s ethic violation?
In 2019, Brad Lander admitted to an ethics violation of using his official government position to solicit donations for a progressive non-profit he helped to create, and of which he was Chairman.” (See story)
Brad Lander has been office for many years. He know the rules, but he thought he was going to get away with it.
Finally Lander doesn’t have a finance background, but many of the other candidates for comptroller do. Lander has a Masters degrees in social anthropology.
This endorsement was careless and it shows the Bay Ridge Democrats don’t understand what is going on in their community.
We have had enough of the career politicians!
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
March 12th, 2021 at 10:41 am
Another shady politician lacking integrity (just like his buddies JB & Senator Coward) ~~Anita
March 12th, 2021 at 12:02 pm
I don’t expect this to be published here. I am a regular reader of your blog. As a real estate professional (a residential appraiser), one of many that live in Bay Ridge, I don’t find dealing with developers to be disqualifying to politicians for holding public office. Indeed, the number of developers, agents, brokers, mortgage lenders and bankers that live in Bay Ridge don’t either. I appreciate your concern over property taxes. The system is messed up. But when examining citywide or countywide tax reassessment Nassau county ended up with a civil rights case that opened a can of worms that they have never recovered from. Jersey City did it and it had disastrous effects on entrenched property owners that had resisted/fought against the impact of gentrification until being reassessed finally forced them to move. These unintended consequences are what I suspect motivates politicians to either ignore the issue or bury it on a commission or committee. Also when publishing someone’s property taxes you have no way of seeing what efforts the individual may have taken to reduce their own property taxes. You too can challenge your assessment.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/challenge-your-assessment.page
I am sending this in appreciation for your local coverage and as an admirer of your blog. Sometimes your singular focus on property taxes and your immediate disqualification of politicians becomes offputting. That said, God Bless you and keep up the great work reporting on our community.
March 12th, 2021 at 5:52 pm
I’ve challenged our taxes and then had a real estate attorney challenge for us. We barely got any response either time other than that we were refused. My house is a mother daughter house with the driveway in the front (more typically seen in Dyker). The same type of house was used for a like property.
My family’s property in Downtown Brooklyn was almost taken by eminent domain. They fought for years to hold on to it. When everything was looking hopeless, they showed up in court and the judge released their property and another because it was an illegal use of eminent domain. Politicians in Brooklyn voted against these small business owners because developers had them tied.
When I see Senator Gounardes accept money from a developer and not show up for a landmarking meeting for Angel Guardian Home, we know we have a problem with developers controlling pols because they think no one is watching.
Thank you for your kind words too.
March 12th, 2021 at 6:05 pm
Yes another one, Anita!! Thank you for calling Andrew by his real title – LOL!!
Disappointed that Chris McCreight, the head of the Bay Ridge Democrats didn’t think Bay Ridge deserved a qualified candidate