Charter big in racist rant
A CHARTER school advocate and major donor to Gov. Cuomo made racist remarks on Facebook about the Senate Democratic minority leader, according to a report Thursday.
Responding to a New York Times story, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb wrote Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins has done “more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood.”
The investor (photo), 55, serves as the chairman of the Success Academy charter school network’s board of directors.
His statement, apparently referencing the Ku Klux Klan, also applauded Bronx state Sen. Jeff Klein and others who “stand for educational choice and support Charter funding that leads to economic mobility and opportunity for poor knack kids.” “Knack” appeared to be a typo for “black.”
The Times article told of a recent confrontation between Cuomo and Stewart-Cousins, who represents part of Westchester County, in which she told Cuomo, “You see my black skin and a woman, but you don’t realize I am a suburban legislator.”
Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy called Loeb’s comments “outrageous and offensive.”
The comments come when Cuomo, up for reelection next year, has taken heat from his party’s left wing for not doing enough to unify the fractured Senate Democrats. The party has 32 state senators, enough for a majority. But it doesn’t control the chamber because eight Dems — the Independent Democratic Conference led by Klein — are in a leadership coalition with the GOP.
Loeb and his wife have donated more than $170,000 to Cuomo, according to state records, The Times reported. “We have no connection with these comments whatsoever and in our opinion they are entirely inappropriate and have no place in the public discourse,” Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said.
Loeb, who removed the Facebook post, chalked up his remarks to his fervent belief in school choice.
“I regret the language I used in expressing my passion for educational choice,” he said in a statement. “I apologize to Senator Stewart-Cousins and anyone I offended.”