Making a mint in city’s ‘lobby’
Hired-gun lobbyists turn some nice coin lobbying the de Blasio administration — despite the mayor’s claim that he avoids cozying up to them.
The commercial lobbyists who got the most face time with top administration officials in recent months work for firms paid millions to influence city officials — and their profits have soared during de Blasio’s mayorality.
The 15 lobbying firms present for the most discussions with Hizzoner’s top staffers over an 11-month period collectively took in more than $52.6 million lobbying last year, a Daily News analysis shows.
That’s 11% more than in 2017, when they earned $47.3 million, and 22% over 2016, when the 15 firms took home $43.2 million for lobbying, according to records with the City Clerk’s Office.
The Daily News revealed Thursday that de Blasio’s deputy mayors, commissioners and high-ranking aides had at least 358 meetings and talks with lobbyists between March 1, 2018, and Jan. 31 of this year.
They spoke with 332 different lobbyists during that time. Of those, 130 were commercial or “third party” lobbyists who work with firms that handle policy for numerous clients. That’s different from “in-house” lobbyists, who speak on behalf of their own employers or organizations.
The “in house” lobbyists include union leaders and those who lobby for massive companies like Amazon and Vornado Realty, as well as powerful organizations like the Real Estate Board of New York. They don’t work for independent lobby firms.
There’s no real distinction between the two under city law. But de Blasio asserted Thursday that lobbying for one’s organization or for multiple clients is “just a different thing.”
De Blasio now claims he will no longer meet with commercial lobbyists given “so much public concern” about their influence.
But he still defended the lobbyists’ easy access to City Hall brass.
“A lot of the folks who have perfectly legitimate issues they want to bring before the government choose to hire representatives to be part of that process,” de Blasio said. “We respect that. We work with them.”
The top 15 lobbying firms involved with most of the 358 discussions include Kasirer LLC, which is led by Suri Kasirer. Her firm took home a whopping $12.8 million in 2018 – the most in the city.
Kasirer has known de Blasio for decades, and helped his campaigns raise tens of thousands of dollars. Her lobbyists spoke to ity officials about WeWork’s redevelopment f the old Lord & Taylor uilding on Fifth Aveue, as well as other eal estate projects and ven horse carriages. Also on the list was he firm run by de Blaio friend and generous und-raiser James Caalino, whose lobbying work via his firm, Caalino+Co., was probed s part of federal and tate investigations into the mayor’s political fund-raising tactics. Capalino agreed to pay a $40,000 settlement with the state ethics watchdog last year.