New York, NY – Concerns by a top de Blasio advisor regarding two men who are now in the center of the biggest scandal to hit the NYPD in decades were apparently ignored.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Sources told the New York Post that the mayor’s chief fund raiser, Ross Offinger, and the inaugural committee’s chairwoman, Garbrielle Fialkoff, had been warned by mayoral aide Avi Fink that he had his doubts about naming Jeremy Reichberg and Jona Rechnitz to de Blasio’s inaugural committee.
Fink was said to have expressed multiple concerns about including Reichberg in the carefully culled group who were awarded perks at the inauguration and invited to a special Gracie Mansion breakfast.
“People in the Orthodox community told Avi they had questions about where his money comes from and said he’s not a community activist, he’s only out for himself,” said a source.
Fink’s qualms Rechnitz’s reputation apparently stemmed from a disagreement over a business deal with Lev Leviev, an Israeli billionaire and diamond merchant.
“He had a falling out with [Leviev] that may have tarnished his reputation,” noted the source.
Despite Fink’s warnings, both men were named to the committee by Offinger and Fialkoff, a jewelry heiress who now earns an annual salary of $203,000 as the head the Office of Strategic Partnership, which was created by de Blasio.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s campaign said only that members of the inaugural committee had been carefully chosen by campaign staff in conjunction with a volunteer chairperson.
Both Reichberg and Rechnitz later made substantial donations to de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York, with Reichberg hosting a fundraiser in his home that raised $35,000 and Rechnitz contributing $50,000 to the political non-profit.
Do we know yet what these guys did wrong? The biggest thing I saw so far was that rechnitz steered the police union to invest in his hedge fund. It seems like a legit hedge fund. And this is the way all big hedge funds work. Think about when madoff invited the richies to go golfing with him.
Avi Fink is helping Hillary Clinton shows you, something about his “values”. to #1 these guys used police connections for PERSONAL not Community benefit that is called corruption both here and in Angola.