New York Daily News

Molinaro hits gov on mailer aide

- Kenneth Lovett

ALBANY — GOP gubernator­ial candidate Marc Molinaro wants Gov. Cuomo to dump his former top aide from the MTA board.

Molinaro cited various conflicts involving Larry Schwartz, who until 2015 was the powerful secretary to the governor.

Since leaving the administra­tion, Schwartz was appointed by Cuomo to the MTA board, has been advising his reelection campaign — signing off on a controvers­ial mailer that targeted primary foe Cynthia Nixon — and is working for an airport concession­s company that will benefit from the state’s improvemen­ts at LaGuardia and Kennedy airports.

“This is the incestuous sludge that the governor continues to function in,” Molinaro told the Daily News.

Citing the corruption conviction­s of ex-top aide Joseph Percoco and ex-associate Todd Howe, Molinaro and his camp said Cuomo should feel an obligation to erase even the perception of conflicts.

It was revealed at Percoco’s federal corruption earlier this year that Percoco continued to wield influence within the administra­tion even while serving as the governor’s campaign manager and then after leaving for good for private sector.

“Specifical­ly, we believe documentat­ion can prove that he continues to function as a top aide to the governor while working in a private capacity,” Molinaro said.

Schwartz, during the Democratic primary, participat­ed in debate prep and green-lighted the mailer suggesting Nixon had been silent on antiSemiti­sm.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States