THE GODFATHER
‘Anti-FALN’ pols feared Don Viverito
Lawmakers who publicly supported honoring the a co-founder of the murderous FALN terror group at the Puerto Rican Day Parade claim they felt strong-armed by an offer they couldn’t refuse.
But unlike the scene in “The Godfather” where Don Vito Corleone doles out favors on his daughter’s wedding day, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito never even had to raise the specter of a quid pro quo.
Several council members admitted to The Post on Tuesday that they agreed to sign a May 22 letter in support of recently sprung excon Oscar López Rivera because they were afraid of angering their powerful leader.
The lawmakers said budget negotiations the time — and the possibility funding for their districts could get cut — left them feeling pressured to cave in to Mark-Viverito, a fervent supporter of López Rivera.
“Most members know that’s an important issue to her, so she didn’t have to say it,” one council member said. “You want to be in line and not make her mad.”
Another member said the timing of Mark-Viverito’s request made turning her down too risky. “The call was right before the budget,” the official said.
Asked if he would have agreed to sign the letter this week, after Mayor de Blasio and the council hammered out an $85.2 billion budget for fiscal 2018, the official said, “Probably not.”
A third council member said he now regretted signing the letter because it likely cost him support from the law-enforcement community.
“I felt I couldn’t spit in her face and then say this is what I need for my district,” the pol said.
Mark-Viverito got 29 council members and six other elected officials,to sign her letter, which she began circulating as outrage mounted over a plan to name López-Rivera the first “National Freedom Hero” at this Sunday’s parade. All three Republican council members said they weren’t asked to sign, with Staten Island Councilman Joe Borelli saying, “I would have circulated a counter-letter.”
On Thursday, a Post editorial accurately predicted what would happen. “In budget season, members fear Speaker Melissa MarkViverito will penalize their districts if they don’t side with her,” it said. The next day, parade organizers announced López Rivera would march “not as an honoree but as a humble Puerto Rican and grandfather.”
The move followed the loss of major corporate sponsors and marchers including Gov. Cuomo, Police Commissioner James O’Neill and Hispanic police and Fire Department societies.
López Rivera, 74, spent more than 35 years in the slammer.
He had been convicted of crimes tied to his leadership of the FALN, which claimed to have carried out more than 100 bombing during the 1970s and ’80s.
New York targets included historic Fraunces Tavern, where four people were killed in 1975.