Donors enjoying access to Hochul
Campaign fundraiser host has business interests before New York’s government
On Dec. 10, Gov. Kathy Hochul broke from her whirlwind schedule in New York and flew to New Orleans for a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association.
Even 1,400 miles away from the Empire State, Hochul did something on the brief trip that had become a feature of her days back home: She held a campaign fundraiser hosted by someone with business interests before New York’s government.
The French Quarter event was at the apartment of Howard Glaser, a former top aide to ex- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo who now works in the gambling industry. His clients have included Las Vegas Sands, the casino giant; at least one official from the company is said to have attended the fundraiser, and donated $5,000.
An especially generous Hochul supporter, the powerful lobbyist David Weinraub, donated $5,000 the same day. Weinraub, who represents Las Vegas Sands, has been pressing Hochul’s office to legalize lucrative casino licenses in the New York City area, according to state records. Since August, Weinraub has donated $39,000 to the governor, and his firm, Brown & Weinraub, held a high-dollar fundraiser for her in October and has given an additional $16,000.
Neither Las Vegas Sands nor Glaser would comment on their interactions with Hochul at the New Orleans fundraiser, including whether they pushed her to legalize downstate casino gambling. But in her state budget unveiled in mid-January, Hochul proposed paving the way for the state to allow three new casinos in New York — and for the first time, they would likely be located downstate.
As Hochul has raised campaign funds at the fastest clip in New York history — nearly $22 million between her inauguration in August and this month — donors have not always gotten the results they sought. But with enough cash to hire a lobbyist and attend a high-dollar fundraiser, many interest groups enjoyed the opportunity to directly speak to New York government’s most powerful person.
State Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy recently accused Hochul of raising $21.9 million “by selling state government out her back door.” But lobbying firm fundraisers are a longstanding, bipartisan practice in Albany, albeit one that Hochul has accelerated.
As Hochul was furiously fundraising this fall, the effort was widely viewed a response to the threat posed by state Attorney General Letitia James in the Democratic primary for governor. James, who struggled to meet Hochul’s historic pace, dropped out of the race on Dec. 9.
In a recent Times Union editorial board meeting, Hochul stated she was motivated to exceed the $18 million in remaining campaign cash in Cuomo’s war chest, calling it “the biggest threat against me.” Hochul also acknowledged she didn’t have an indication whether Cuomo would try run for governor this year. The scandalscarred Cuomo has given no indication that he’s running.
“It’s a horse race, and people are looking at me like, ‘Does she have what it takes?’” Hochul said. “Literally, I’ve been written off from the very beginning, and I had a lot to prove . ... I need to have the resources to go the distance.”
Hochul’s unprecedented numbers, according to those familiar with the autumn push, relied partly on aggressive tactics employed by her team, such as setting a $250,000 fundraising minimum to secure her attendance at major lobbying firm events. She is also said to navigate the events artfully, working the room and following up personally with some donors and attendees — a longstanding practice in New York’s political spectrum.
Before Hochul attended a Manhattan campaign fundraiser on Dec. 8, the law firm hosting the event, Feuerstein Kulick, touted access to the governor as an explicit selling point. In pitching the event to players in the cannabis industry, the law firm advertised the chance to get “one on one time with the governor,” according to a person with knowledge of the law firm’s outreach. (A spokesman for Feuerstein Kulick denied that the outreach had been made, or that anyone at the event privately met with Hochul.)
In a Dec. 1 email to clients who are hoping to land licenses to sell recreational marijuana, an attorney for the New York City law firm wrote that attending might provide them “access to the governor’s staff throughout the (licensing) application process.”
Hochul promised a “new era of transparency” on her first day as governor; her campaign declined to answer nearly all questions for this story.
The governor’s senior campaign adviser, Abby Erwin, declined to comment on the governor’s interactions with specific donors, or whether Hochul campaign aides ever take notes documenting donors’ requests of the governor made at fundraisers. She would not say if, since her swearing-in in August, Hochul has attended any one-on-one meetings with donors at the office of a lobbying firm.
Hochul’s campaign spokesman, Jerrel Harvey, said the fundraising events “are organized and attended solely by campaign staff members and contributions have no influence on government decisions,” nor does anyone on the campaign “advocate for donors to the administration. It is not unusual or improper for the governor to briefly speak with attendees at her events, and she appreciates the widespread support from all across New York.”
While Hochul’s campaign says it never advocates for donors to her administration, the campaign did not say whether donors’ concerns are forwarded to state officials.
According to campaign records and people with knowledge of the matter, between Hochul becoming governor on Aug. 24 and mid-January, she held a dozen fundraisers thrown by lobbying firms with significant Albany operations.
Around the time Hochul attended a small campaign fundraiser thrown by the prominent lobbying firm Dickinson & Avella, some of the firm’s clients who cut five-figure checks reported directly lobbying Hochul — and confirmed that discussions about state business occurred at the event.
In a New York City restaurant on Oct. 26, Hochul went from table to table, listening to executives’ interests and concerns for a few minutes each. The setup mirrored some of the other lobbying firm events.
Among the attendees at the Dickinson & Avella event was John Witkowski, president and CEO of the state Independent Bankers Association, which represents community banks and gave Hochul $10,000.
A day before the fundraiser, Dickinson lobbyist William Crowell had written a letter on behalf of the IBA to Hochul’s governmental counsel, Elizabeth Fine. The letter urged Hochul to sign a bill on the governor’s desk that would expand the requirements of the state Community Reinvestment Act — which already covered community banks — to non-depository lenders.
During that same time period, Crowell reported directly lobbying Hochul herself concerning a state bill on “community banking” on behalf of the IBA.
Six days after the fundraiser, Hochul signed the bill. Witkowski told the Times Union that he had not discussed the pending bill with Hochul at the fundraiser. He added he did bring up the idea of a “state bank,” terming the discussion “simple,
“
It’s a horse race, and people are looking at me like, ‘Does she have what it takes? Literally, I’ve been written off from the very beginning, and I had a lot to prove . ... I need to have the resources to go the distance."
- Gov. Kathy Hochul
30,000-foot-level stuff.”
Crowell, the Dickinson lobbyist, figured into another action taken by Hochul soon after the fundraiser. As the Times Union reported, less than two weeks later, Hochul vetoed a bill creating an office to fight for residential utility consumers — and certain language in Hochul’s veto message mirrored an opposition memo that had been written by Crowell.
The Oct. 26 donations included $10,000 from another Dickinson & Avella client, the New York State Builders Association, which reported concurrently lobbying Hochul on a bill making it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units — small, independent residential units on the same lot as a primary residence.
Lewis Dubuque, executive vice president of the Builders Association, confirmed he spoke to Hochul at the fundraiser about the bill, which he opposed due to a provision protecting tenants against “unwarranted evictions” — a “poison pill,” in his view.
But Dubuque said he strongly supports a measure contained in Hochul’s State of the State proposal permitting accessory dwelling units in singlefamily neighborhoods, which would be a boon for the home builders he represents.
He didn’t consider the event any different from any other fundraiser: Hochul “was out in public shaking hands, a meetand-greet.”
Craig Antell, a physician who has started the cannabis company State of Mind LLC, donated $5,000 on Nov. 17. Dickinson & Avella later reported lobbying Hochul’s office on behalf of the company, which will likely seek a marijuana license in New York. Antell did not respond to a call seeking comment.
Firm partner Christina Dickinson, who declined to comment, was a deputy counsel for state Senate Democrats before leaving the chamber in 2008; her partner, Michael Avella, is a former longtime chief counsel for state Senate Republicans, and left the body the same year. In 2015, Avella’s work for an Arizona-based company was an element in the federal corruption case against former Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who was convicted on federal corruption charges. Avella was not accused of wrongdoing.
The Albany-based firm also represents Delaware North — the gaming and hospitality company where Hochul’s husband is a high-ranking executive. In October, Hochul signed a memorandum recusing herself “to the greatest extent permitted by law” from matters related to the company.
Cannabis conflict
In late September, Dickinson began working as a lobbyist for the major Boston-based cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings. Even by Albany standards, the terms of the lobbying contract were extraordinary: The company is paying $30,000 a month to the lobbying firm, roughly double what would typically be considered a generous lobbying retainer.
But Ascend needed fast action from New York cannabis regulators as it faced a pressing deadline for a deal that would see the company take majority ownership of medical cannabis license holder MedMen NY. The paperwork requesting state approvals had been languishing since it was submitted in March to the Department of Health, which used to oversee the industry.
In a phone call with shareholders Nov. 11, Ascend Wellness CEO Abner Kurtin addressed the tight time frame: The company needed state approval of the deal by Dec. 31, or MedMen could pull out, which the license holder ultimately attempted to do.
“Our extreme focus is to get this deal closed by year end,” Kurtin said during the call. “And we think we’re in a good position to do that.”
But the matter did not make it onto the agenda of the newly appointed state Cannabis Control Board at its initial meetings in October or November.
In the final weeks of last year, Dickinson & Avella reported lobbying top officials at the Office of Cannabis Management on behalf of Ascend, including on matters related to finalizing the deal. Another firm that held a Hochul campaign fundraiser, Mercury Public Affairs, reported lobbying the office for Ascend multiple times in late 2021, including about the pending transfer of MedMen’s license.
Ascend and two of its subsidiaries gave Hochul three checks worth $15,000 on Oct. 28 — two days after the Dickinson & Avella fundraiser. Greenberg Traurig, a lobbying and law firm now representing Ascend in litigation with MedMen, held its own high-dollar Hochul fundraiser on the same day the donations were recorded.
According to Ascend,
the company did not attend the Dickinson & Avella fundraiser. But an Ascend spokesman would not say whether anyone from the company attended the Greenberg Traurig event.
No evidence has yet been presented that the company’s donations resulted in pressure being exerted on cannabis regulators to issue the approvals necessary to force MedMen to keep its end of the deal.
A spokesman for the Office of Cannabis Management, Freeman Klopott, refused to say whether Hochul’s campaign had reached out to the office concerning the acquisition or its deadline. After initially declining to answer the question last week, Hochul’s campaign said on Friday that “no one from the campaign contacted the Office of Cannabis Management.”
Now, Ascend and MedMen are locked in an acrimonious legal battle that began earlier this month when MedMen sought to void the $73 million agreement. Ascend said the companies gained the necessary state approvals for the acquisition by the Dec. 31 deadline. In a recently filed counterclaim, an attorney for MedMen alleged state cannabis regulators bent to “political pressure and undue influence” from Ascend, and falsely claimed the companies had final approval though the process was incomplete.
While some statements in MedMen’s Jan. 24 counterclaim regarding Ascend’s lobbying and fundraiser attendance appear to be based on hearsay — and were flatly denied by Ascend and the Hochul administration — others are based on MedMen’s direct experience, and sworn to under penalty of perjury.
Among them was a set of claims about their interaction with Richard Zahnleuter, the general counsel for the Office of Cannabis Management.
On Dec. 16, the state Cannabis Control Board — which oversees the Office of Cannabis Management and issues final determination about state marijuana policies — issued what it termed a “conditional approval” of the transaction between MedMen and Ascend.
The board’s resolution said the approval was contingent on a review by the Office of Cannabis Management’s staff for compliance with state law and regulations.
According to MedMen’s filing, on Dec. 27, Zahnleuter told MedMen during a phone call that the office had only “recently begun” to consider the application, and requested further information. Asked how long the review would take, Zahnleuter allegedly estimated 30 to 60 days.
But on the evening of Dec. 29, Zahnleuter sent an email stating that the Cannabis Control Board’s Dec. 16 resolution constituted “final approval” by the board for the purposes of closing the transaction and transferring the license. Ascend then put out a press release with that same language, which MedMen said it did not consent to.
In a final phone call with MedMen on Dec. 31, the company said Zahnleuter admitted over the phone that he had been “pressured to send” the email.
“These allegations are false,” OCM spokesman Freeman Klopott said on Thursday.
Landlords’ largesse
New York City’s powerful real estate industry has emerged as huge a donor to Hochul, and some of its leading players have reported directly lobbying Hochul since she became governor.
That includes Related Companies. In November, its CEO Jeff Blau gave Hochul a maximum donation of nearly $70,000. So did the company’s chairman, Stephen Ross. According to lobbying records, Related Companies directly lobbied Hochul in November or December, and discussed matters such as economic and development policies. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
On Sept. 14, Hochul attended the executive board meeting of the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents Related and other major New York City developers. Before the meeting, Hochul held two campaign-related “private events.” REBNY declined to say if the group had held a fundraiser for the governor.
The commercial office giant Vornado reported directly lobbying Hochul late last year, but said on Friday that her inclusion in the lobbying filing was an administrative error. The Vornado spokeswoman declined to comment on whether company executives had met with Hochul since she became governor. Two Vornado trustees, David Mandelbaum and Russell Wight, each gave Hochul the maximum of nearly $70,000 on Nov. 1.
Hochul is going forward with a huge commercial development around Penn Station in Manhattan that will allow 10 “supertall” towers to be built. The plan would greatly benefit Vornado, which owns much of the development zone.
Cuomo had first pursued the idea. Hochul’s plan reduces the size of the towers making up the development, but not their number. Hochul outlined the revised plan on Nov. 3 — two days after the Vornado trustees’ donations. And in December, Vornado founder Steven Roth gave the maximum of nearly $70,000.
In a Nov. 2 earnings call, Roth said the company was “very, very, very optimistic that the new government leaders at the city and state will be constructive, will be businessfriendly — and will recognize that the Penn district is something that requires and demands their attention.”
”And we believe we will get that,” Roth said.