Aide ‘didn’t see’ slam in mailer
Gov crony admits he gave ‘OK’
ALBANY — A close adviser to Gov. Cuomo was the one to sign off on a controversial mailer saying Cynthia Nixon has been quiet on the issue of anti-Semitism.
Larry Schwartz, who was once Cuomo’s top government aide and continues to serve as an adviser even though he no longer works for the administration, admitted to the Daily News that he gave the go-ahead to the piece of campaign literature that has blown up on the governor since the weekend.
But Schwartz insisted he did not read the entire mailer before approving it. He said he saw the top part that was positive to the governor and thought that was the whole piece. He said he did not see the bottom section that hit Nixon. “When I reviewed the positive piece, that’s what I said was OK,” Schwartz said. “I never would have approved it if I had seen (the negative). I never saw it. That is the God’s honest truth.”
Schwartz added that as a Jew, he “would never tolerate or allow something like that to go out. I’ve been doing campaigns for decades and nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Nixon’s campaign was not buying it. “That would mean Larry Schwartz is smart enough to rise to the most senior post in New York State government, but not smart enough to turn over a piece of paper,” said Nixon campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt. “It’s a lie. It’s incredible. They just can’t stop lying.”
Sent out by the state party to 7,000 addresses in the Jewish community, the literature said that “with anti-Semitism and bigotry on the rise, we can’t take a chance with inexperienced Cynthia Nixon, who won’t stand strong for our Jewish communities.”
It then went on state that Nixon is “against funding for yeshivas,” supports “BDS, the racist, xenophobic campaign to boycott Israel” and has been “silent on the rise of antiSemitism.”
The Cuomo campaign previously denied any involvement with the mailer, saying it was done by the state party, which is controlled by Cuomo. The governor criticized the political pamphlet as a “mistake” and “inappropriate.”
Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said the mailer was written by David Lobl, who served as Cuomo’s top Jewish liaison before recently leaving join powerhouse lobbying firm Kasirer.
Lobl, who Smith said has helped with constituent outreach for the Cuomo’s campaign, did not return a call seeking comment.
Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Abbey Collins said that moving forward, “constituency representatives will not be allowed to draft or participate in the mail program” and that “the state party executive director and lawyer must sign off on each piece.”
Cuomo has denied knowing anything about the mailer before it went out. He criticized it as a “mistake” and “inappropriate.”
Two of Nixon’s three children are being raised Jewish. Nixon also attends a Manhattan synagogue.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Wednesday ripped the mailer, but continued to support the governor over Nixon in Thursday’s primary. “Sen. Gillibrand thinks the mailer is disgraceful and there’s no excuse for it,” spokesman Glen Caplin told The News.
The senator’s office was responding to a statement released hours earlier by Nixon political consultant Rebecca Katz, who called on Gillibrand, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez — all of whom have endorsed Cuomo— to denounce “this heinous attack carried out in the name of their party.”
“Their silence, if it continues, will speak volumes,” Katz said.
Katz added that “this was not an accident. This was a strategy. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign sought to exploit our worst fears to score the cheapest and dirtiest of political points.”