6 arrested in alleged mayor’s race plot

NEW YORK — A Democratic state lawmaker was arrested along with five other politicians Tuesday in an alleged plot to pay tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to GOP bosses to let him run for mayor of New York City as a Republican.

Malcolm Smith, 56, who has served at times as the state Senate’s majority and minority leader since becoming a senator in March 2000, was arrested along with Republican New York City Councilman Dan Halloran, 42, and four other political figures.

A criminal complaint said that in meetings with a witness and an undercover FBI agent posing as a real estate developer, Smith agreed to bribe up to five leaders of Republican Party county committees in the five boroughs of New York City so he could run for mayor as a Republican, even though he was a registered Democrat.

U.S. Atty. Preet Bharara said $80,000 in cash was promised or paid to Bronx County Republican Party chairman Joseph Savino, 45, and Queens County Republican Party vice chairman Vincent Tabone, 46, who were both arrested Tuesday.

Running as a Republican in the New York City mayoral race is an attractive path for candidates because it is easier to get on the GOP primary ballot in a city crowded with Democratic politicians. Muslim men carry the coffin of a victim of a mosque fire on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Tuesday. A fire engulfed the mosque housing Muslim schoolchildren.