Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos resigned from his leadership position Monday, after being hit with federal corruption charges earlier this month.
Skelos announced his decision in a closed-door meeting with Republican members, the New York Daily News reported. He will be replaced by Senate Education Committee Chairman John Flanagan, a Republican representing Suffolk County.
In District Attorney Preet Bharara’s complaint against him, Skelos is accused of accepting donations from developers in exchange for political favors and steering business to his son Adam’s firm.
Leonard Litwin’s Glenwood Management, which is mentioned in corruption complaints against Skelos and former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver under the anonymous pseudonym “Developer 1,” has been reaping the benefits of the 421a tax breaks for years. A new analysis, also by the New York Daily News, shows just how massive the benefits are.
The newspaper collected information on four major Glenwood buildings Hampton Court, the Brittany, The Paramount Tower And Liberty Plaza — and found that the 421a tax breaks granted on these buildings have allowed Glenwood to save $181 million in property taxes. Of the 1,255 units in these buildings, only 209 are considered affordable.
LLCs controlled by Glenwood have contributed millions to Albany politicians, including $1.2 million to Governor Andrew Cuomo and hundreds of thousands to the Senate Republican campaign.
Glenwood has not been accused of any wrongdoing. [NYDN] and [NYDN] — Tess Hofmann