The state attorney general indicted four people associated with a non-profit that was created by state Sen. Shirley Huntley, David R. Gantt (clockwise from top l.) Patricia D. Savage, Roger N. Scotland and Lynn Smith. Photos courtesy state attorney general's office

A member of state Sen. Shirley Huntley's staff and her niece were indicted for allegedly taking thousands of dollars from the state.

State Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) went on the defensive last week after state prosecutors indicted four of her associates, including her niece, as part of an investigation into state money that went into a nonprofit that the senator created.

Although state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli have not charged Huntley, investigators maintain the thousands of dollars in member item money she gave to Parent Workshop Inc. was squandered by the group’s administrators.

Huntley, who created the educational outreach group before being elected to office in 2006?, contended that she did not knowingly shortchange taxpayers.

“The joint investigation by the attorney general and the comptroller found no wrongdoing on my part. I am confident that when all of the facts are presented they will prove I acted appropriately,” she said in a statement.

Member items are funds in the state budget given to lawmakers to dole out to nonprofits primarily in their legislative districts.

Patricia D. Savage, an aide to Huntley, and Lynn H. Smith, the senator’s niece who lives in her home, were indicted Dec. 7 on 11 counts of grand larceny and offering a false instrument in the theft of nearly $30,000 that was set aside for Parent Workshop Inc., which operates out of southeast Queens, the attorney general said.

“The charges announced today send a strong message that those who abuse their positions to rip off taxpayers will be prosecuted,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

Two other Parent Workshop associates, David R. Gantt and Roger N. Scotland, were charged with falsifying business records for allegedly trying to cover up the theft, according to the attorney general.

Scotland, who is the president of the Southern Queens Park Association, was also charged with tampering with physical evidence, Schneiderman said.

The group was created to give support to schools and parents with outreach and educational enhancement programs, according to the attorney general.

Savage, who was the president of Parent Workshop, and Smith, who acted as the group’s treasurer, falsely asserted that the member item money given to the nonprofit would be used to “hold workshops for and conduct outreach to parents on the workings of the New York City public school system,” Schneiderman said.

The pair allegedly submitted a fraudulent contract and fake vouchers to claim the $29,950 they received from the state between April 2008 and March 2009, according to the attorney general.

During that time, however, Parent Workshop had no events or outreach, the attorney general said.

Gantt allegedly falsified records to make it look like he was paid in cash for the phony workshops and Scotland allegedly created a false record in an attempt to hide the theft once the investigation started, according to Schneiderman.

The attorney general’s and state comptroller’s offices would not comment on whether there were more indictments to come as part of the investigation.

“Abuse and fraud will not be tolerated. By combining forces, my office and the attorney general have exposed and are prosecuting this egregious theft of state funds which were intended for the public good,” the comptroller said.

Ex-state Comptroller Alan Hevesi is serving a one- to four-year sentence in an upstate prison. He was denied parole last week. AP Photo/Westchester County DA

In a 2-1 decision, disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi was denied his first shot at parole last week and will remain in an upstate prison, where he is serving time for corruption, for at least one more year.

Hevesi, who was sentenced to one year to four years in prison in April for taking $1 million in campaign contributions and travel expenses in exchange for pension business while state comptroller, told the parole board he was “certainly guilty.

“And there’s some refinements on the edges, but the answer is I’m guilty. I hurt a lot of people … and I’m feeling bad. I have time in prison to think through all the people I’ve hurt,” the former Forest Hills resident told the parole panel at Midstate Correction Facility in Marcy, N.Y, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Hevesi also represented Forest Hills and parts of western Queen in the state Assembly and served as the city comptroller.

Then-state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who filed the charges against Hevesi, said he went on trips to Israel and Italy funded by Elliot Broidy, of Markstone Capital Partners, a firm that specialized in Israeli investments, in exchange for Hevesi’s investing pension funds with Markstone.

During his parole hearing, Hevesi said the Italian trip was just a stopover in a Rome hotel for one night on the way back to New York from one of the Israel visits.

Hevesi also said the travels to Israel “were serious business trips” and not luxury vacations as the charges against him made them out to be.

When asked why he should be paroled, Hevesi said it was not likely he would commit another crime.

“I’m not a career criminal,” he told the panel. “I’ve made this awful, terrible error. I acknowledge how many people I hurt, which I never intended. I’m going to either work –– if you think that’s appropriate, I’m glad to do that.”

But Hevesi said he would spend most of his time taking care of his ailing wife, who is in a nursing home, and watching after his grandchildren.

“I’d rather focus on my wife. I’m her connection to the outside world. I’m the one who visits her every day, takes her to medical appointments to her doctors outside the nursing home,” he said. “And I will be a baby-sitter and I will focus on the family.”

Hevesi also said he wanted to write and was thinking of penning “a couple of books.

“I will be the kind of parolee that the parole officer would be delighted in having,” he said. “I know what I did was wrong and it’s a painful process to come to that conclusion, how wrong and stupid and criminal I was.”

But the parole board did not believe Hevesi was being sincere and accused him of minimizing his crimes.

“During your interview, while you expressed that [the crimes] happened on your watch, your explanation of your culpability was shallow,” wrote one of the three commissioners of the state Commission of Correction.

The commissioner said that while Hevesi admitted his failures, “the majority of the panel finds more compelling the course of conduct from which you have attempted to distance yourself, the violation of your trusted role as an elected official and the loss of integrity of the New York State Office of the State Comptroller.”

A second commissioner agreed with the written opinion and a third dissented, but chose not to explain why she was siding with Hevesi.

Hevesi’s next parole board hearing is scheduled for November 2012.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (second from r.) is joined by Jackson Heights-area legislators -- state Assemblyman Michael DenDekker, state Sen. Jose Peralta and City Councilman Daniel Dromm -- as he presents his overview of the neighborhood and surrounding area's economy last week. Photo by Rebecca Henely

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli painted a mostly positive portrait of Jackson Heights and its surrounding neighborhoods’ economy on a visit to the community last week, saying small businesses owned by immigrants bring in much money and the area has enormous potential growth.

“The economic future of northwestern Queens is a bright one,” DiNapoli said.

The comptroller’s “economic snapshot” of Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst and East Elmhurst was prompted by state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst).

Peralta joined DiNapoli, along with state Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights) and City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), at the unveiling of the findings at the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights, at 37-06 77th St.

The senator said DiNapoli’s analysis could help developers understand the community’s needs?.

“It’s very important for our community to have this kind of document to move forward,” Peralta said.

DiNapoli’s portrait goes back more than 10 years, covering the neighborhoods both before and after the 2009 recession. He said immigrants from 71 countries live in the four neighborhoods, many of whom are small business owners. From 2000-09, the number of businesses grew by 18.1 percent, a percentage three times larger than the rest of the city, and most of these businesses employed less than 10 people.

“People from all over the world continue to come here to live, work and raise their families,” DiNapoli said.

The recession did have an effect on the neighborhoods, however. While private sector wages grew by 6 percent each year from 2004-08, they dropped by 1.5 percent from 2008-10.

The average rent also changed from taking up an average of more than 30 percent of residents’ income? in 2002 to taking up an average of 43 percent to 48 percent of residents’ income in 2008.?

He suggested the long-planned revitalization of Willets Point could bring opportunity much-needed by residents.

“Public and private investment is needed,” DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli said the area had remarkable draws, such as Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the Louis Armstrong Museum, but one problem was school overcrowding — 19 of the area’s 22 elementary schools are above capacity.

DenDekker said he hoped the report would spur development without hurting small businesses. He also suggested that leaders should find ways to help small businesses comply with regulations without just levying fines.

“We don’t want to upset the balance of losing our small businesses,” he said.

Dromm said he believed the economic growth in the area earlier this century is related to the? immigrant population. He said he buys everything he needs from small businesses run by immigrants within a block of where he lives.

“I’m very proud of this neighborhood,” he said.

Former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi is receiving a pension while he serves a one- to four-year prison term. AP Photo/Westchester County District Attorney's Office

Former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi consults with his attorney, Brian Waller, during his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court. Hevesi is collecting a six-figure pension as he serves time in an upstate prison. AP Photo/Louis Lanzano

Disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi is collecting a six-figure pension while he serves time in a state prison on corruption charges.

Hevesi, also an ex-state assemblyman and city comptroller from Forest Hills, was sentenced to one to four years in prison in April for accepting about $1 million in gifts, including trips to Israel and Italy, in return for investing state pension funds with favored firms that paid for the gifts.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an ethics reform package, dubbed the Clean Up Albany Act, in June that included cutting back or taking away pensions from state officials who violate the public trust, but the law only applies to those who are enrolled in the pension system after this month and are convicted of a felony for misconduct they committed after the law goes into effect. This means the law does not apply to Hevesi.

“It’s outrageous, but the current law protects him and others like him,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union. “It’s one of the flaws in our pension system.”

A caveat to the law is that it is up to a trial judge whether or not an elected official who commits wrongdoing in his or her official capacity has the pension reduced or taken away.

State law prevents the terms of pensions from being changed retroactively and only a constitutional amendment can expand the law Cuomo signed in June.

“In the past, this was [considered] a benefit that essentially you were entitled to … and to take it completely away was unfair,” said Russ Haven, executive director of the good government New York Public Interest Research Group. “It may punish your dependents — your spouse, your kids.”

Hevesi collects four separate pensions: two from the state for his service as an assemblyman and comptroller; a city pension for his tenure as city comptroller; and a pension from CUNY for his time as a professor at Queens College.

Just from the state alone, Hevesi’s annual pension is $105,689.40, according to figures provided by the state comptroller’s office.

It is unclear how much Hevesi collects from the city and CUNY.

Hevesi is serving a one- to four-year prison term in the Midstate Correctional Facility in Ulster County and is eligible for parole in April. He is housed in the prison’s protective custody unit and is assigned the inmate No. 11-R-1334.

He also earns $1 a day for his job sweeping the prison’s floors, according to state Department of Corrections spokeswoman Linda Foglia.

Hevesi has stayed out of trouble while in prison and received recreation periods for his good behavior.

“I wouldn’t say ‘model prisoner,’ but there’s no disciplinary action on file,” Foglia said.

State Sen. Tony Avella (inset) wants the state attorney general and state comptroller to review land sales of more than $100,000 to private companies, following the sale of Creedmoor.

Inspired by the controversial sale of Creedmoor land to the Indian Cultural and Community Center, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) penned legislation that would require the state attorney general and state comptroller to review and approve all land sales worth $100,000 and higher to private companies.

The state Dormitory Authority sold a 4 1/2-acre parcel of Creedmoor land to the ICCC, which is seeking a variance to build two nine-story senior housing towers and a community center.

The ICCC’s plans have been heavily criticized by community leaders, who say the group was not upfront about the senior housing proposal and the buildings are out of character with the surrounding community.

“Unfortunately, the lack of oversight from local governments have led to instances of favoritism and lost revenue for the state,” Avella said. “We need to eliminate loopholes that allow private entities to acquire valuable state lands at extremely discounted rates and create a form of oversight that ensures that these deals are done fairly, honestly and at a competitive price.”

Avella and community leaders questioned how the ICCC was able to acquire the land due to its dubious finances — its most recent tax returns show it ran a $29,000 deficit.

The state attorney general’s office and the state inspector general’s office are conducting investigations into the ICCC deal.

Avella’s bill requires that the attorney general and the comptroller review any sale of state-owned land when a public sale or auction is not required.

The ICCC acquired the Creedmoor land through legislation sponsored by then-Sen. Frank Padavan and former Assemblyman Mark Weprin, who now sits in the City Council.

“One of the main intentions of this legislation is to prevent any perceived or actual improper influence from an elected official pressuring state agencies or public authorities to sell state land to specific groups, at a discounted rate for political gain. There needs to be more transparency and accountability involved,” Avella said. “In the end, the taxpayers win as the state will receive more revenue and there will be more competition for available land. It will also afford local elected officials the opportunity for input and review of any proposed sale or transfer.”

Community Board 13 is currently reviewing the ICCC’s plans and is expected to decide whether it approves of a variance for the group when CB 13 meets Oct. 31.

Sandhogs walk in one of the planned East Side Access tunnels about 100 feet underneath Grand Central Terminal in 2008. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli called capital projects like East Side Access critical but questioned the extent of the borrowing.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the MTA’s plan to borrow more than $14 billion could further imperil the agency’s financial straits.

“The MTA is in a very difficult position as it struggles to hold together a strained operating budget while proposing the largest borrowing program in its history to fund capital projects,” DiNapoli said.

In response, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said “the comptroller reaffirmed the financial risks identified by the MTA and the importance of continuing to achieve cost reductions across the organization. The comptroller also voiced support for the MTA’s vital Capital Program. A proposed funding plan for the capital program taps existing funds to cover increased debt service without stressing the MTA’s operating budget.”

But DiNapoli took issue with the extent of the borrowing.

“There is no debating that the capital program is critically important, but my analysis shows that the magnitude of this borrowing plan will have serious implications for the operating budget in the coming years,” DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli said the MTA must “present the public with the facts about the potential long-term implications of this new borrowing services, fares and budget gaps.”

The Capital Plan includes the Second Avenue subway and the East Side Access to bring the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal, both under construction with completion of the Second Avenue subway set for 2016. The opening of the East Side Access now is expected in 2018.

DiNapoli warned that the MTA plan “faces a number of significant budget risks, including the uncertainty of savings from the next round of collective bargaining with the Transport Workers Union, the need to achieve planned cost reduction targets, continuation of a sluggish economic recovery and potential for more cuts in state operating assistance.

DiNapoli’s audit concluded that borrowing to pay for the capital plan would raise debt service to $3.3 billion by 2018, which would be 64 percent higher than in 2011.

The MTA has scheduled fare increases in 2013, 2015 and 2017, but the audit said that despite the fare hikes the MTA would face a budget gap of $1.2 billion in 2018.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli (inset) says his office is taking a second look at the books of the New York Racing Association, which runs the Belmont Stakes (pictured).

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said he will be taking another look at the New York Racing Association’s books to determine whether NYRA appropriately followed recommendations to become solvent, his office announced last week.

The racing association oversees Aqueduct Race Track, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.

The review will examine NYRA’s response to two earlier comptroller audits, which called for significant cost reductions, including salaries and consultant fees, DiNapoli’s office said.

NYRA reported a $17 million operating loss in 2010 and is projecting ?to have an $11 million loss this year, according to DiNapoli’s office.

“NYRA has a history of overspending,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “I want to ensure that this is one tradition that doesn’t continue.”

Last year, DiNapoli audited NYRA and issued nine recommendations to improve its finances.

In June, the state’s Franchise Oversight Board criticized NYRA’s proposed budget, which included a more than 5 percent hike in salaries, with some executives making between $255,000 and $460,000.

In DiNapoli’s 2010 audit of NYRA, he said funds from the soon-to-be-opened video lottery terminal facility at Aqueduct Race Track will go a long way in helping NYRA’s financials.

“NYRA’s eventual receipt of VLT revenues will undoubtedly relieve a significant amount of financial pressure and produce significant benefits in areas such as capital improvements and increased purses,” the audit said. “However, these additional revenues will not negate NYRA’s fiduciary responsibility to operate in a prudent, cost-effective manner.”

NYRA has had financial difficulties for years, even warning in 2008 that it might not be able to hold that year’s Belmont Stakes unless it received a cash infusion from the state.

NYRA got the aid it needed and averted canceling the third leg of the Triple Crown.

At a Long Island hearing in 2009, NYRA President Steve Duncker said the organization’s financial woes were due in part to not being able to take bets online and facing competition for the same dollars from Off-Track Betting sites.

Disgraced former Comptroller Alan Hevesi poses for his mugshot shortly after being sentenced to one to four years in prison on corruption charges. AP Photo/Westchester County District Attorney's Office

Long before disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi was charged in October for his role in a pay-to-play scandal involving the state pension fund under his watch, a little-known treasurer of Saratoga County, J. Christopher Callaghan, knew something was up — and it was in plain sight.

Callaghan, who ran on the Republican line against Hevesi in 2006, said a New York Sun editorial from May of that year pointed out how Hevesi had large contributions donated to him through the wife of Elliott Broidy, the head of the California-based Markstone Capital Partners, and Hevesi invested $250 million of the state’s pension funds into the hedge fund.

The Sun editorial credited the Los Angeles Times with first running a story about Hevesi’s connection to Broidy.

In a phone interview Monday, more than a week after Hevesi was sentenced to one to four years in prison on corruption charges, Callaghan said he pounced on the revelation but nobody noticed.

“To me, that’s one of the great ironies here,” Callaghan said. “This particular incident … was in print as early as early 2006. It just didn’t seem to be of interest. We released press releases. It’s not like we had any secret information. Everything we knew about Markstone had been published in the newspaper.”

Hevesi’s jail term was preceded by his admission that he took roughly $1 million in gifts, including trips to Israel and Italy.

“I don’t think there was any question about the underlying facts,” Callaghan said. “He did go to Italy and Israel with Elliott Broidy.”

During a July 13, 2006, interview at TimesLedger Newspapers’ Bayside offices, Callaghan criticized Hevesi for investing with Markstone, which specialized in Israeli investments, against the backdrop of the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

“He has essentially invested in a war zone,” Callaghan said at the time while also pointing out that Broidy’s wife, Robin Rosenzweig, donated $30,000 to Hevesi’s 2002 comptroller campaign and $50,000 to his 2006 re-election effort.

“At that time, it seemed like it was more of a political statement on his part,” Callaghan said Monday. Hevesi is Jewish.

Callaghan, who now works for a political consulting firm in Waterford, N.Y., also noted that Rosenzweig gave $3,400 to the campaign of Hevesi’s son, state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills).

In the Monday interview, Callaghan said he was particularly incensed that Hevesi went to California to promote Markstone to encourage the state’s pension fund to do business with the company, but the idea did not resonate with voters.

“I don’t think a great mass of people understood what was going on with it,” he said.

Callaghan called Hevesi’s sentence “appropriate.

“I don’t think New York state can call itself serious about ethics reform if Alan Hevesi, who pretty much ran a criminal enterprise, doesn’t do time. How can you call yourself serious about ethics?”

Even armed with the public information, then-state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office did not investigate Hevesi, who Spitzer called an “exemplary public servant” up until an ethics commission issued its report on so-called “Chauffeurgate ” in which Hevesi was irresponsibly found to have had a state employee drive his ailing wife.

Hevesi had claimed his wife’s security was threatened as the rationale for her needing a chauffeur, but the commission found there were no security risks.

Callaghan, who said he had been tipped off to Chauffeurgate through a source in the comptroller’s office, called Hevesi’s then-newly formed hot line to report fraud, waste and abuse to chastise Hevesi over his transgression.

“We used it to be cute,” Callaghan said. “In the midst of a political campaign, we wanted it to be as big a story as we could.”

Although the scandal was widely known by the time the general election was held, Hevesi still prevailed over Callaghan by a vote of about 60 percent to 40 percent.

Callaghan said he figured the state, dominated by Democrats, knew Hevesi would have to give up his post and voted for him knowing a Democratic replacement, which was up to the state Legislature to decide, would be picked.

“The state of affairs on Election Day was Markstone had been revealed and ignored,” Callaghan said. “The people of the state of New York decided for some reason that Alan Hevesi would not remain as comptroller and they didn’t want this upstate rube handling the pension money and they would take what’s behind Curtain No. 3, who was [then-Assemblyman] Tom DiNapoli.”

Former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi awaits sentencing at Manhattan Supreme Court, where Judge Michael Obus handed down the maximum sentence of one to four years in prison for Hevesi's role in corruption of the state pension fund. AP Photo/Stephen Chernin

Former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi (c.) arrives with sons Daniel (r.) and Andrew at Manhattan Supreme Court, where he was sentenced to one to four years in prison. Ap Photo/Stephen Chernin

He used to be state comptroller, but now Forest Hills resident Alan Hevesi is known as Inmate 11-R-1334.

Hevesi was sent to a jail Friday in upstate Ulster County after being sentenced earlier that day to one to four years in prison for his role in the corruption scheme involving the state pension fund.

The 71-year-old Hevesi, who was also a former state assemblyman and city comptroller, pleaded guilty in October in Manhattan Supreme Court to taking about $1 million in gifts, including trips to Israel and Italy, in exchange for pension fund business.

In addressing the court, Hevesi admitted wrongdoing before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus sentenced him Friday to the maximum sentence of one to four years in prison.

In speaking about the public, Hevesi said, “I violated their trust and take full responsibility for my indiscretion. I publicly disgraced myself.

“I have only myself to blame for what I have done,” Hevesi said.

Hevesi, who was comptroller from January 2003 to December 2006, admitted to accepting nearly $1 million in gifts from Elliott Broidy, the California-based founder of Markstone Capital Partners, a hedge fund that specializes in Israeli investments.

In return for the gifts, Hevesi invested $250 million in pension fund dollars with Markstone.

In calling for the maximum sentence, prosecutor Ellen Biben dismissed Hevesi attorney Bradley Simon’s urging that Hevesi’s behavior was a temporary lapse in judgement.

“Defendant Hevesi is a highly sophisticated individual … and has spent most of his professional life and more than 30 years in different public positions. This conduct does not reflect an aberration. It reflects a pattern,” Biben said. “Defendant Hevesi’s conduct during his tenure as comptroller is particularly offensive. Your honor, simply put, instead of using his power to protect the pension fund, he abused his power.”

Simon asked Obus to put Hevesi’s conduct “in perspective,” arguing Morris and David Loglisci, who also pleaded guilty in connection with abuse of the pension fund, benefitted greater financially than Hevesi did.

“Mr. Hevesi accepts the fact that Mr. Morris and Mr. Loglisci and others amassed enormous financial wealth under his watch,” Simon said.

Simon said Hevesi “continues to live an extremely modest lifestyle,” living in the same attached house in Forest Hills that he has for years. “It’s never been about money or wealth for Mr. Hevesi.”

Simon said Hevesi fought for the first hospice law in the state and patients who could not afford to pay are not turned down by hospitals because of the former assemblyman.

“We have to look at Mr. Hevesi as a man and not make him a symbol for public integrity,” Simon said.

The attorney argued that Hevesi has heart disease and needs a pacemaker and that any jail time “could possibly be a death sentence for him.”

“Mr. Hevesi has already been punished by how he has disgraced himself, by how he has disgraced his family,” Simon said. “He knows he’s a pariah.”

But Obus sided with the prosecutors, saying the “damage” that Hevesi caused to the comptroller’s office “is quite profound.”

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Hevesi’s successor, called the sentence “a welcome and just conclusion to a year-long saga.

“Mr. Hevesi betrayed the trust of all New Yorkers,” DiNapoli said. “His sentence is clear evidence that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who took over the prosecution of Hevesi after Gov. Andrew Cuomo was elected governor, said Hevesi was “appropriately punished.”

“Hevesi brazenly sold access to New York pension fund investments — a betrayal of the public trust that went to the heart of his duties as comptroller,” Schneiderman said.

Disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi is expected to be sentenced Friday. AP Photo/Louis Lanzano

A Manhattan Supreme Court judge set former state comptroller Alan Hevesi’s sentencing on corruption charges for Friday after four other delays in the Forest Hills resident’s sentencing.

The sentencing has been adjourned three times — Dec. 16, Feb. 1 and March 1 — according to court records.

Hevesi, who pleaded guilty to taking $1 million in gifts in exchange for state pension business, was in the hospital late last month for internal bleeding and had an emergency endoscopy.

Hevesi, who was the sole trustee of the state’s multibillion-dollar pension fund when he was comptroller, pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to taking more than $1 million in gifts in exchange for $250 million in pension fund business from Markstone Capital Partners, a private equity firm that has some involvement in Israeli investments.

Bradley Simon, Hevesi’s attorney, filed a sentencing memorandum late last month urging a judge to be lenient with his client, arguing Hevesi “has already been punished severely for his crime.”

“His friends and supporters have virtually abandoned him. He lives totally alone, but for sporadic visits from his children who have lives of their own,” Simon wrote. “Unfortunately, he is today regarded as a pariah; even many Jewish organizations, where he had tirelessly devoted his services and energies for many years, have been reluctant to accept his services.”

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Bart Lewis Stone transferred the case to another judge when Hevesi was scheduled to be sentenced March 28.?

Hevesi’s political right-hand man, Hank Morris, was sentenced to up to four years in prison late last month for receiving so-called placement fees in exchange for getting the pension fund to invest with favored firms.

He had been out of office when he was charged with corruption.

As part of a plea deal, Hevesi resigned in 2008 after it was found he had the state police chauffeur his ailing wife despite there being no threat against his wife’s life.

Disgraced former state comptroller Alan Hevesi (l.) consults with his attorney, Brian Waller, during his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court. Hevesi's sentencing was postponed after he suffered internal bleeding and underwent and emergency endoscopy. AP Photo/Louis Lanzano

The sentencing of Alan Hevesi, the former state comptroller from Forest Hills, on a corruption charge involving the state pension fund was postponed Monday after he was hospitalized for internal bleeding over the weekend.

The New York Post said Hevesi experienced symptoms during a visit to his daughter in Virginia and underwent an emergency endoscopy, citing Hevesi lawyer Bradley Simon.

Simon could not be reached to confirm the report.

While Hevesi’s sentencing — where he faces up to four years in prison — was scheduled for Monday, it was unlikely the sentencing would have been handed down because Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lewis Bart Stone decided to transfer the case to another judge.

Hevesi was scheduled to be sentenced April 4.

Simon argued earlier this month that Stone had a conflict of interest because the judge was the executor of his estranged father’s will.

Even though Stone transferred the case, he determined he was not conflicted, the Post said.

Stone’s office could not be reached for comment.

Hevesi’s youngest son, state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), wrote a letter to Stone asking him not to send his father to jail.

“Despite his failures and mistakes, I will not now or ever stop believing in him,” Andrew Hevesi wrote. “Not just because I love him as the man who, with my mom, raised, protected and loved me, but because these transgressions will never define my father.”

Hevesi pleaded guilty in October to receiving $1 million in gifts in exchange for state pension business, including directing $250 million in pension funds to be invested with Markstone Capital Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in Israeli investments.

The senior Hevesi, who also represented Queens in the state Assembly and was city comptroller, admitted taking gifts, including $500,000 in campaign contributions and $75,000 for five paid trips to Italy and Israel.

Bradley Simon (l.), attorney for disgraced ex-comptroller Alan Hevesi (c.), is arguing that the judge who is responsible for sentencing Hevesi has a conflict of interest. AP Photo/Louis Lanzano

The attorney for disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi was expected to file papers Tuesday arguing that the judge charged with sentencing the Forest Hills resident has a conflict of interest and another judge should hand down the sentencing, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office said.

Hevesi’s attorney, Bradley D. Simon, could not be reached for comment.

Hevesi, who was the sole trustee of the state’s multibillion-dollar pension fund when he was comptroller, pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to taking more than $1 million in gifts in exchange for $250 million in pension fund business from Markstone Capital Partners, a private equity firm that has some involvement in Israeli investments.

Hevesi admitted to using part of the $1 million to visit Israel and Italy with some staff and family members.

Nearly five months after his guilty plea, Hevesi has still not been sentenced for his role in the corruption scheme.

His sentencing has been adjourned three times — Dec. 16, Feb. 1 and March 1 — according to court records.

Schneiderman’s office said Simon was expected to argue that Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lewis Bart Stone had a conflict of interest because Stone and Simon’s father are longtime friends, although the younger Simon does not get along with his father.

Stone also is the executor of Simon’s parents’ wills.

A spokesman for Schneiderman would not comment on whether his office believed the maneuver was another tactic to get Hevesi’s sentencing postponed again.

Hevesi has been released on his own recognizance each time his sentencing was adjourned, according to court records.

The attorney general’s office said Stone is expected to decide March 28 whether he has a conflict.

If the judge decides there is no conflict, he is expected to sentence Hevesi on that date, the attorney general’s office said.

Hevesi’s political right-hand man, Hank Morris, was sentenced to up to four years in prison late last month for receiving so-called placement fees in exchange for getting the pension fund to invest with favored firms.

Hevesi had been out of office when he was charged with corruption.

As part of a plea deal, Hevesi resigned in 2008 after it was found he had the state police chauffeur his ailing wife despite there being no threat against his wife’s life.

State Sen.-elect Tony Avella (l.) and state Assemblyman Rory Lancman discuss problems with the new voting system during last week's election. Photo by Anna Gustafson

While there were fewer problems with the new voting system in last week’s general election than in the primary, complaints about the ballots and machines were still widespread and the city and state need to address the small font size and privacy issues, state Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) and state Sen.-elect Tony Avella said this week.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) also announced the results of the Council’s Election Day survey Tuesday, in which nearly 1,200 city residents from 300 different polling sites across the city participated and a third reported problems with the ballot design and small font size. Many elderly Queens residents interviewed by TimesLedger Newspapers last week said they had serious difficulty reading the ballot.

“New York’s new voting system raises as many questions as it answers, and we need to smooth out the kinks in the system now before we end up with our own Florida 2000 debacle in some future election,” Lancman said at a Tuesday press conference he held with Avella. “This year’s elections showed serious flaws in privacy, access and preparedness that cannot be left unaddressed.”

The new system, which was mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act, makes voters select their candidates by filling out ovals — something reminiscent of multiple choice tests — on a paper ballot that is fed into a scanner. The scanner then records the voter’s choice and the physical evidence of the ballot will remain — one of the main stipulations of the federal act, which was passed in part as a response to the confusion over the Florida ballots in the 2000 presidential election.

After voters and many city lawmakers, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, railed against operations during Primary Day, when voting machines broke down or were delivered hours late to their polling site, the city Board of Elections said it took extra precautions to ensure a smooth general election.

“Generally speaking, the Election Day operations went well,” city BOE spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez-Rivera wrote in an e-mail. “On Nov. 2, the board focused on ensuring all voters were able to privately and independently vote and quickly responded to and resolved issues. The board staff closely monitored, logged and addressed problems as they were reported from across the city via our call center and Twitter, including dispatching technicians and, when necessary, back up scanners and staff to poll sites.”

Still, Lancman and Avella said there are major flaws in the new system that need to be addressed, including voter privacy — voters no longer have a curtain behind which they can cast their vote and instead have to carry their ballot from a desk to the scanner, which could allow someone to see their ballots. Lancman and Avella noted in the primary election that officials often did not provide a “privacy sleeve,” or a folder, in which to carry the ballot, though they more frequently did during last week’s election.

“We need to make sure inspectors are better trained,” Avella said.

Lancman and Avella agreed with the Council’s findings on the ballot.

“The results of the Council’s survey show that ballot design and font size is a real problem for many of New Yorkers,” Quinn said. “We look forward to working with our local good government partners on the different ways we can improve the layout of the ballot.”

Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) and Lancman said they thought the design of the ballot likely deterred residents, particularly older people, from voting all the way down the ballot. Both said they believed many people likely voted for governor but then did not vote for many of the other offices because it was too difficult to navigate the ballot or read the font.

“The voting system sucked,” Halloran said. “I know of at lease a dozen older people, personally including my two in-laws, who left the polling places because they said they were waiting on line” and did not want to stay any longer.

“Those seniors are Frank’s voters,” Halloran said, referring to state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), who lost the race.

Lancman and Avella said they will push legislation in Albany to reform the voting process, including allowing college students to be election inspectors even if they do not live in Queens, which is currently mandated, in order to get younger people who are more adept at technology working in elections.

Avella noted that he would like to see the state Board of Elections issue a voter guide, similar to what the city puts out, in order to better inform residents about candidates.

Neighbors Milke Kane and Loretta Boehm chat while waiting to vote at PS 41 in Bayside. Behind them is one of twp broken voting scannes. The polling place at about 11 a.m. only had one working machine. Photo by Christina Santucci

The 2010 midterm elections drew residents from every corner of Queens to vote in races that ousted its last remaining Republican in Albany and changed the face of politics in a borough where Republicans and Tea Party members made little headway despite a national groundswell of support for more conservative politicians.

From Whitestone to Jamaica, Queens residents came out to cast their ballots for what is now an all-Democratic delegation representing the borough, removing state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) after his nearly four decades in Albany and ushering in Democrat Tony Avella. The only Republicans left to represent Queens are at the city level: Councilmen Dan Halloran (R-Bayside), Peter Koo (R-Flushing) and Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).

Some Democrats in Queens, including U.S. Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) and Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), had more of a contest from the conservative movement that helped Republicans win at least 60 seats to capture the U.S. House. Both fended off challenges from Tea Party-supported candidates who carved out more of the vote than Weiner and Ackerman usually cede to opponents.

“The Paladino effect was very negative on southern portions of New York state,” Queens GOP spokesman Robert Hornak said of Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, who was criticized for what many called extremist policies and statements. “It really hurt candidates down the ballot.”

Hornak said just 14 percent of those who voted in the city cast their ballots for Paladino, who received 34.13 percent of the vote statewide, compared to Democrat Andrew Cuomo’s 61.43 percent across the state, according to state Board of Elections results.

Queens College political science professor Michael Krasner said the Tea Party made little attempt to win over voters in the city because it is so heavily Democratic. Still, conservative activists did gain some ground in Staten Island, where GOP-backed Michael Grimm defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael McMahon, and portions of Queens, particularly along the border of the often more conservative Long Island, which Ackerman represents, and such areas as Rockaway Beach, represented by Weiner and home to his Republican rival.

Weiner landed 58.51 percent of the vote compared to Republican Bob Turner’s 41.49 percent. The congressman in 2008 drew more than 90 percent of the vote. Ackerman received a higher percentage of the vote than Weiner with 62.43 percent, compared to GOP candidate James Milano’s 36.92 percent.

“The Democratic registration is so big in both Weiner’s and Ackerman’s districts that it would’ve taken not just a stronger Republican registration but some kind of scandal engulfing the Democratic candidate for them to have lost,” said Krasner, who studies local politics. “Both of those congressmen are energetic and active in their districts, and their staff does effective constituency work.”

Krasner agreed with Hornak that Paladino likely cost Republican votes in Queens. Hornak said he believed there was a light turnout of Republicans in Queens, particularly in Padavan’s 11th Senate District, though the city Board of Elections said it will not have those statistics for some time. Poll workers throughout the borough, including Forest Hills, Jamaica, Whitestone and Middle Village reported seeing a large number of voters for a midterm election, and The New York Times reported about 46 percent of the city’s registered voters came to the polls — an increase over the 36 percent of registered voters who participated in the 2006 midterm election.

“It’s a measure of the incompetence and near lunacy of Paladino’s campaign that he lost by as much as he did,” Krasner said.

Many groups’ exit polls that separated out Queens voters from the rest of the city had yet to be publicized, but the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund said their exit polls found Korean Americans overwhelmingly favored Avella over Padavan. Just 11 percent of the Korean Americans polled supported Padavan, according to the AALDEF, which organization officials said in part was because of Padavan’s “anti-immigrant positions.”

Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) and Make the Road New York Executive Director Ana Maria Archila said the Republican gains in the U.S. House made them doubtful that comprehensive immigration reform would occur over the next two years, a sentiment Weiner also has expressed.

“I’m very concerned,” Ferreras said. “Immigration was looking like it would be the next big conversation after health care, and now it’s not even heard of. We may miss out on a great opportunity.”

Archila also said she was worried about the balance of power in the state Senate, which currently hangs in limbo. The Senate is now controlled by the Democrats, though three seats are currently in question and residents may not know for months whether there will be a Democratic or Republican majority.

“In New York state, it was very, very important to see an attorney general who has a record of fighting for immigrants win,” Archila said of Attorney General-elect Eric Schneiderman. “That’s remarkable in this environment.”

State Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo has been investigating Hevesi’s office for corruption of the state pension fund under his watch, which led to guilty pleas by Hevesi’s political adviser, Hank Morris, and chief investment officer David Loglisci.

While The Times said it did not know exactly what charge Hevesi plans to plead guilty to, it said his children — state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) and former state Sen. Daniel Hevesi — factored into his decision.

The paper said the roles of Hevesi’s children in the investigation, including potential prosecution, was part of the discussions over a plea agreement with the former comptroller, citing people with knowledge of the case.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli plans to conduct a forensic audit into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli recently audited the MTA and found what he said was “a culture of acceptance” of overtime pay.

Now his office will soon begin what is known as a forensic audit to determine whether fraud or any other illegality was involved in the hundreds of millions of dollars in overtime paid by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over the past few years.

“Legislation passed last year authorizes a forensic audit and we welcome it along with the comptroller’s assistance as we continue to fulfill our commitment to reduce overtime,” the MTA said in a statement.

MTA Chairman Jay Walder recently called the curbing of overtime abuse “my top priority” in a shake-up he ordered of the agency.

DiNapoli’s office said it had “expanded its oversight of the MTA to unprecedented levels, completing nearly two dozen audits and reports since 2007.”

The most recent previous audit found what DiNapoli said was overtime costs that increased by 26 percent to nearly $600 million between 2005 and 2009, setting in motion his decision to conduct the forensic audit, which will enable his time to investigate suspicious practices involving overtime.

Forensic audits focus on examples of fraud and wrongdoing that may be considered criminal offenses, which are then referred to law enforcement agencies.

“The auditors will look to make sure that the MTA is only paying overtime that is justified, authorized, earned, properly calculated and correctly applied for pension and benefit determinations,” the comptroller’s office said.

The MTA has been the target of frequent criticism from elected officials and the public that its bookkeeping is sloppy.

“My problem with the MTA is they are consistently asking for more money, but constituent services stay the same and slide a little,” state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) said after hearing that DiNapoli would conduct the audit.

“Something is wrong with a system that allows more than 140 people to double their salaries through overtime,” DiNapoli said. “It’s hard to justify repeated fare hikes, layoffs and service reductions when New Yorkers believe the MTA isn’t controlling spending and restraining costs.”

The union, which represents 90,000 freelancers, consultants, independent contractors, temps, part-timers, and self-employed workers in New York state – including 80,000 in New York City – named priority candidates as well as general endorsements.

For state Senate it endorsed incumbent Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Whitestone) in the 16th District, incumbent Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) in the 15th District, and Democrat Tony Avella in the 11th District. For state Assembly the group endorsed Democrat Francisco Moya in the 39th District, Democrat Aravella Simotas in the 36th District, incumbent Jeff Aubry (D-Corona) in the 35th District, incumbent Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) in the 28th District, Ed Braunstein in the 26th District, and incumbent Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) in the 25th District. It endorsed Democrat Andrew Cuomo for Governor, Democrat Eric Schneiderman for state Attorney General and Democratic incumbent Thomas DiNapoli for state Comptroller.

“Freelancers Union is growing a powerful political operation to give New York’s freelancers a strong voice in Albany,” Sara Horowitz, executive director of Freelancers Union who founded it as Working Today in 1995, said in a statement. “Independent workers are a third of the workforce, but without unemployment insurance and nonpayment protection, they’re getting left behind. This election season we’re working to change that by mobilizing New York’s massive network of plugged-in ‘twitteratti’.”

The reference to Twitter, the ubiquitous Web site, refers to the group’s plans to utilize social networking, as well as “traditional on the ground strategies, as well as viral and guerrilla marketing tactics” as a means to help the candidates it supports.

“The new workforce needs champions, and these candidates are those champions. We look forward to working hard for them on the campaign trail, so they can work hard for us in the state capitol,” Horowitz said.

Thomas DiNapoli

The city’s fiscal 2011 budget passed in June “faces significant risks and uncertainty” even though it is balanced, according to a report released last week by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

“The mayor and the City Council have managed the city’s finances prudently and there are encouraging signs that economic recovery is taking root, but New York City still faces considerable risks associated with federal and state aid that may not materialize as hoped,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Although the federal government played a major role in helping state and local governments weather the economic downturn, future assistance may be limited.”

The comptroller said the city’s 2010 fiscal year is expected to end with a $3.6 billion surplus, but the city “is still feeling the effects of the global economic recession.”

Wall Street, which earned a record $61.4 billion in 2008 and $10.3 billion in the first three months of this year, is contributing to the project surplus, the comptroller said.

DiNapoli said the 185,500 jobs in the city were lost due to the recession and while the state budget has yet to be passed, aid to the city may be cut by $1.1 billion.

“The recession has been less severe in New York City than in the nation and other parts of New York state, and less severe than first feared, but the impact has been painful nonetheless,” the report said.

DiNapoli said the creation of 49,800 private sector jobs and strengthening tax collections “are among signs of a contributing economic recovery.”

Some of the significant risks DiNapoli referred to were the city’s reliance on $279 million in Medicaid relief “which may not materialize” and that the city faces losing $853 million in federal stimulus money that is earmarked to support education.

DiNapoli said as much as $6.8 billion in out-year budget gaps could be at risk by fiscal year 2014.

Governor David Paterson (r.) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver speak with reporters about the state budget. AP Photo/Tim Roske

A state government shutdown was averted after the state Legislature approved an emergency spending bill late Monday with the help of three Republican state senators.

The legislation provides $16.4 billion in funding to help state services and agencies run until June 20, including $2.096 billion for state employees including troopers, guardsmen, corrections officers, nurses and social service workers.

Also approved was $261 million for non-state transportation capital projects, $140.3 million in transit aid, $195 million for unemployment benefits and $149 million for mental hygiene agencies.

“To give New York a fair and responsible budget, we must continue to put partisanship aside and find common solutions to the crisis we all face,” Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) said in a statement.

The spending bills passed by a vote of 34-27.

The three Republican senators were the only members of their party to vote for the legislation.

The state budget, due April 1, has been more than two months late. Since then, legislators have had to approve temporary spending bills to keep government running.

Republicans were needed to pass the latest budget extender because Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx), who would have been the 32nd and decisive vote, refused to sign off on the plan.

Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said the Legislature had no choice but to vote for the emergency bill.

“What is the alternative? The alternative is a government shutdown, which is a horrible alternative, if it is an alternative at all,” he said.

Addabbo said the three Republican senators, none of whom were from Queens or the city, “saw that the government shutting down is not the way to go.”

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) criticized Democrats for excluding Republicans from budget talks as a reason for why a budget has yet to pass.

“Had Sen. Sampson and [state Assembly] Speaker [Sheldon] Silver [D-Manhattan] followed the law and convened budget conference committees, I believe we would have a budget in place and not be talking about a government shutdown.”

Meanwhile, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shot down “outrageous and unfounded rumors and erroneous press reports” that said he would approve the state to borrow money from the state pension fund.

“Let me be very clear: The pension fund will not be used to balance the budget,” DiNapoli said.

“Shame on those individuals who are playing politics, trying to mislead taxpayers and scare members and retirees who rely on the fund for their financial security,” he said. “The fund is not a political football.”

DiNapoli said the pension fund posted its third-best year by gaining 25.9 percent in fiscal year 2009-10, which boosted the fund’s assets to $132.6 billion.

“I will not sacrifice that strength to a dysfunctional budget process,” he said. “The state comptroller’s office has a long history of protecting the fund from raids. I will protect the fund from any raids under any circumstances.”

Queens College student Anita Sonawane (l. to ro.), state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Queens College President James Muyskens, and CUNY Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations Jay Hershenson pose with a check for $6,316 in unclaimed funds that DiNapoli presented to the college at a business breakfast last week. Photo by Anna Gustafson

Queens is a bright spot in a state still reeling from the country’s economic recession, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli told a Queens College’s business forum breakfast last week.

“When I think of the borough of Queens, I see opportunity, I see a community working very hard,” DiNapoli said.

The keynote speaker at Friday’s breakfast, DiNapoli said Queens has suffered fewer job losses than the rest of the city, in part thanks to the borough’s two airports and immigrants, many of whom own small businesses.

“Neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants have flourishing economies,” DiNapoli told the individuals sitting in the Student Union for the breakfast. “They’re opening businesses, they have that entrepreneurial spirit.”

The comptroller said his office recently issued a report on the role of immigrants in the city’s economy and found areas like Flushing, Corona and Jackson Heights have quickly growing economies that have been more resilient to the economic downturn because of the small businesses often owned by immigrants.

In the city’s neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants, DiNapoli said the number of businesses grew by 14.8 percent between 2000 and 2007 — far faster than the rest of the city, which grew by 3.3 percent.

Elmhurst, Corona, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and Woodside top the list of the city’s neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants. Flushing, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens are also on DiNapoli’s list of the 10 neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants.

DiNapoli also noted the total number of paid workers in these neighborhoods grew by an average of 8.2 percent between 2000 and 2007, while the paid workforce in the rest of the city increased by only about 0.9 percent.

“Queens is an opportunity borough,” said DiNapoli, a former state assemblyman from Great Neck.

The borough also has a greater number of homeowners than the rest of the city, the comptroller said.

“In Queens, 45 percent of residents are homeowners,” he said. “It’s just 28 percent in the rest of the city.”

DiNapoli noted the borough’s average salary of $40,000 is second best in the city, coming in just behind Manhattan.

While Queens is faring better than much of New York, the city as a whole is in a stronger position than the rest of the state, DiNapoli said. His office put out a report last week that projected the city would have a surplus of $3.3 billion for the current year and a balanced budget for fiscal year 2011, in part because Wall Street has rebounded faster than expected.

Despite these numbers, DiNapoli said it is important for state legislators to soon pass a budget so city officials can better anticipate the funds they will receive from Albany next year.

At the breakfast, Queens College President James Muyskens presented the college’s annual Business Forum Scholarship to Anita Sonawane, an economics major and incoming senior. Sonawane, who moved from India to Fresh Meadows with her parents in 2002, said she plans to use the $2,500 from the scholarship toward room and board when she interns this summer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

“In 2002, I never dreamed I’d be at the Federal Reserve,” Sonawane said. “The connections I’ve made while at Queens College have made this possible.”