On the Law Beat

Columnist Robert Gavin looks at when heckling moves from ugly to unlawful./

Lawmakers are not strangers to criticism. But there comes a point when it can cross the line from commentary to unlawful behavior.

And that line was crossed on the afternoon of July 9 when a woman’s impromptu harassment of Albany County Legislator Jennifer Whalen included a threat on her life.

“Blondie, I’m going to kill you,” the woman, Lori A. Costanzo, told Whalen during a hearing outside the county Board of Elections building before 4 p.m. that day, according to court documents.

Costanzo, 50, also told Whalen: “(Expletive) you on your stupid meeting,” and “Take your meeting and stick it up your ass.”

Rude? Sure.

Illegal? That too.

In an interview, Whalen told Law Beat she was part of a task force speaking to county Board of Elections employees, ironically enough, about safety issues following the movement of their building to the former Department of Motor Vehicles location on South Pearl Street, near Morton Avenue. Whalen — a Loudonville-based Republican elected last year to represent the 21st District legislature seat — was the sole Republican on the six-member panel which held the hearing at the very location being discussed. The meeting was held outside due to concerns over COVID -19 inside the building.

Whalen said Costanzo — clad in a Stormy Daniels shirt — showed up and asked task force members what was going on. Whalen said she did not speak to Costanzo, whom she did not know. A lawmaker, she said, politely told Costanzo they were holding a meeting and that it needed to continue.

That’s when, according to Whalen, Costanzo became angry, walked behind her and unleashed her profanity-laced tirade as a Board of Elections employee testified before the panel. Costanzo told Whalen she would “kick your ass” but then escalated it to the death threat — and loudly threatened to come back, she said.

Whalen, an Albany Law School graduate admitted to the bar in 1992, has worked in the attorney general’s office and the state Racing and Wagering Board. A lifelong friend of U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Whalen has also run for office multiple times.

“I’m a lawyer and I’m a tough person mentally,” Whalen told Law Beat, “But I was scared. I was like, ‘I don’t want to die today in this parking lot. My kids would really miss me’ .... it was very scary and very tense.”

Whalen said she called Rachel Bledi, the county Republican elections commissioner, and police came out. Also at the meeting were county legislators Bill Ricard, Lynne Lekakis, Carolyn Mclaughlin and Dustin Reidy.

Costanzo — who heckled Mayor Kathy Sheehan earlier this year, shouting baseless allegations at her during a news conference — went on trial Thursday in a nonjury case before Albany City Court before Judge Holly Trexler. The judge found the defendant guilty of second-degree harassment, a violation akin to a traffic ticket.

Whalen testified virtually at the trial, as did Ricard, a Democrat from Cohoes. Ricard told Law Beat he was concerned for Whalen’s safety because he did

not know Costanzo’s frame of mind.

“I was concerned that it could escalate into a worse situation if she had a weapon or physically attacked legislator Whalen as opposed to verbally,” Ricard said.

A prosecutor for Albany County District Attorney David Soares earlier offered Costanzo a plea offer that she refused. Instead, Costanzo chose to go to trial and act as her own lawyer, where she got to cross-examine Whalen. Costanzo argued that she was unaware who the board members were and did not actually plan to kill Whalen, according to people familiar with her defense. The defendant could not be reached for comment on the case.

The judge found Costanzo guilty, ordered her to pay a surcharge and to have no contact with Whalen.

This was not the first time Whalen has been subjected to jarring ridicule at a public meeting. In 2019, during a Colonie Town Board meeting when she sat on that board, Whalen pressed the town’s public works commissioner, asking him how frequent town inspectors were sent to ensure that builders comply with

promises they made when their projects were first approved. The commissioner, Jack Cunningham, told her it was “as needed.”

When Whalen asked Cunningham what that meant, Town Board member David Green responded: “When needed is when needed! Jesus Christ, get a brain.”

Green’s comment, while an insult and unprofessional, was not illegal.

Law Beat asked Whalen if she had any regrets of bringing the complaint against Costanzo. Whalen said she discussed the issue with her husband and her children and decided to pursue the case as a violation, which put it in the public record. She said she did not want to ignore it and allow someone else to be at risk.

“I don’t know what she was capable of, but she was scary ... she threatened to kill me,” she said. “I almost thought about not doing anything, but then I thought that I had a moral responsibility to stop her.”

Whalen said while lawmakers are used to some criticism, this was different.

“It’s not that common, really, as an elected official,” she said, “to have someone threaten to kill you when you’re trying to sit in a meeting.”