Bill de Blasio and New York City's Clintongate Scandal: A Tale of Three Phonies--Part 9

(A shorter version of this article originally appeared in the Winter 2013 issue of the Lower East Side underground/alternative newspaper, “The Shadow”)

As the New York Daily News observed in a Sept. 22, 2013 article, “the records examined by The News…show that from 1995 to 2001, the now-candidate for mayor was registered with the city Board of Elections as Bill de Blasio and voted 10 times under that name, even though he had not yet petitioned the court to change his name from Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm;” and “on a June 25, 2003, mortgage with JPMorgan…he was listed as `Bill AKA Warren de Blasio AKA Wilhelm’ and he signed it, `Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm AKA Bill de Blasio. Yet registering to vote under a different name than your legal name—and then voting under a different name than your legal name in various elections-- was apparently considered legally “kosher” by New York City’s Board of Elections with respect to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm (who perhaps dropped the “Wilhelm” part of his name when he realized that people in New York City who voted on the basis of ethnic background rather than political philosophy might be more inclined to vote for a Democrat whose last name was just “de Blasio” rather than “de-Blasio-Wilhelm.”)

After getting elected as the Big Apple’s Public Advocate in 2009, de Blasio apparently used his office as a stepping-stone to more easily win election as New York City’s mayor in 2013. In addition, as New York City’s Public Advocate de Blasio apparently served special economic and corporate interests instead of serving the public interest. As the New York Times recalled in an Aug. 31, 2013 article:

“New York City was planning to allow thousands of new taxis to operate outside Manhattan…It was hard to imagine Mr. de Blasio…opposing a proposal to improve transportation for his chronically taxi-starved neighbors….Mr. de Blasio would emerge as the taxi plan’s most prominent opponent…and using his office to fight it in court — and confounding allies who found his stance incongruous with his typical stands.

“`I was flabbergasted,’ said David S. Yassky, the taxi and limousine commissioner whose former City Council district borders Mr. de Blasio’s. `After hearing all his rhetoric about standing up for the outer boroughs, here’s a program that actually would help 80 percent of New York City, and he did everything he could to stop it.’”

“The powerful taxi and limousine industry, which bitterly opposed the city’s plan, made its gratitude clear, sending about $200,000 in contributions to Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign in the last two years, far more than his rivals received. And Mr. Kabessa, the chief executive of Carmel Car and Limousine Service, now sits on the campaign’s finance committee and was a host of a fund-raiser for Mr. de Blasio this spring.

“But a review of his years as public advocate shows that the office often served another aim: Elevating Mr. de Blasio’s political ambitions and his profile in anticipation of a run for mayor..."
(end of part 9)