SON GAVE 50G TO BRUNO AFTER DAD CO-SIGNED LOAN

 

June 24, 2005 -- ALBANY — Joseph Bruno, the Republican leader of the state Senate, co-signed for a $50,000 loan last year to his lobbyist son, Ken, who then gave the money to the powerful politician, according to a published report yesterday.

The elder Bruno's spokesman, John McArdle, said the report in the Times Union newspaper of Albany involving the June 2004 transaction was simply a matter of the younger Bruno paying off a loan given to him by his father two years earlier to help build a family home.

At the time of the $50,000 payment, the younger Bruno was going through a messy divorce and the Senate leader had been subpoenaed to testify as part of those court proceedings.

According to the Times Union report, the transaction freed the elder Bruno from having to testify.

The transaction also provided the younger Bruno with evidence the payment was to cover an earlier loan. If the $50,000 was a gift from father to son, Ken Bruno's estranged wife could have claimed half of it as joint assets, the paper said.

McArdle told The Associated Press that was not the reason the elder Bruno engaged in the transaction. In a statement given to the Times Union, the elder Bruno said, "For 30 years, every aspect of my life as a businessman and a public servant has been thoroughly scrutinized and examined. Despite numerous false allegations and inferences, my record has held up."

The younger Bruno's lawyer, Michael Assaf, in a statement to the newspaper, said, "Any suggestion of improper, unethical or illegal conduct on the part of Mr. [Ken] Bruno in connection with this loan has no basis in fact, and publication of any statement declaring or implying the same would be false and defamatory." AP

ALBANY STEPS UP TO PLATE FOR YANKEES

June 24, 2005 -- ALBANY — Construction of a new $800 million Yankee Stadium yesterday received an important boost from the state Legislature.

The Assembly unanimously gave final passage to legislation that authorizes the city to enter into the necessary contracts and leases with the Yankees, as well as for the granting of permits needed for parking facilities.

The bill further authorizes the transfer of Macombs Dam Park, across from the current stadium, to the team for building a new stadium. The city is also permitted to take other land for new parks.

"The rebuilding of Yankee Stadium and the associated redevelopment initiatives are exciting and welcome," said the bill's sponsor, Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx). Kenneth Lovett