Andrew Farkas

Andrew Cuomo may not have read that Village Voice article about his relationship with Andrew Farkas, but he did have a suggestion for the article's author:

"The author of The Voice's article, Wayne Barrett, said in an interview yesterday that Mr. Cuomo had suggested delaying its publication until after the primary. Mr. Cuomo said in an interview that he had suggested delaying publication so there was more time for Mr. Barrett and Mr. Farkas to exchange information."

And a letter from Farkas's lawyer to the Village Voice warning of possible libel was also sent.

The New York Post endorsed Cuomo, noting "Cuomo's greatest asset may be his chief opponent in the primary race, perennial candidate for high office Mark Green." A preview of the Rev. Al Sharpton's endorsement today of Cuomo is discussed here.

George Pataki hailed the opening of the Tribute Center, which honors people lost on 9/11. The Times noted "This will be a long interim" since the permanent memorial is not scheduled to open until 2009.

The Post and Daily News give their front pages to the newly released health study of 9/11 rescue workers.

Democrats and some Republicans, like CT Rep. Christopher Shays, want Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

And the city's Campaign Finance Board wants to slash contribution limits for people doing business with the city.

-- Azi Paybarah

The media has been pretty rough on Andrew Cuomo this week. First the Andrew Farkas story, then questions about Andrew Farkas story, and finally, a story about the Andrew Farkas story.  read more »

So I thought this picture I took last night might sum up Cuomo's feeling about the media this week.

-- Azi Paybarah

Andrew Cuomo might not have read Wayne Barrett's tome on Cuomo' relationship with real estate magnate Andrew Farkas, but we were reminded that our own Anna Schneider-Mayerson spoke with both Cuomo and Farkas back in June.

The former HUD secretary sued Farkas for diverting federal funds to management instead of housing maintenance-- and then went on to work for Farkas and accept campaign contributions from him. According to Barrett, Farkas still considers Cuomo's suit a mistake. "Andrew was wrong," Farkas claimed.

But according to the notes Anna kindly passed on, the two seem to hold each other in the highest regard. Cuomo explained their beginnings thusly:

"He's (Farkas) just a good friend and he started a new company and I was doing the things that I was doing and he was ...he said 'do you want to come with me you know a little about real estate development.'"

Farkas, for his part, was sad to see Cuomo return to politics.

"I will miss him personally," said Farkas, adding "He made tremendous contributions while he was here and they were all additive."

-- Jason Horowitz

Charlie King ended his campaign today, endorsing Andrew Cuomo on the steps of City Hall.

Surrounded by more reporters than have covered his campaign so far, King said he received phone calls from Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Charlie Rangel telling him its time to support the person who is going to win.

Cuomo said King was "exactly right" on a number of issues he raised during the campaign. Both suggested -- but stopped short of explicitly requested -- that Mark Green drop out of the race.

Before leaving, Cuomo was asked three times about relationship with Andrew Farkas, which Wayne Barrett describes in his Village Voice article this week. (Short version: While he was at HUD, Cuomo sued Farkas -- a developer who was involved with some dirty schemes invoving federally funded housing projects -- before going on to become Farkas's employee and a major recipient of his campaign contributions.)

Cuomo said he that he hadn't read the article. When I asked him again about the story, Cuomo quickly walked away to say hello to some supporters. Moments, trailed by a few more reporters, Cuomo said the story of his relationship with Farkas was first "written four years ago" and is "factually incorrect."

He didn't say precisely how.

-- Azi Paybarah

Former Insignia Financial chief executive Andrew Farkas has redeemed his real-estate cred.  read more »

Now that Stephen Siegel, the chairman and chief executive of Insignia/ESG, is preparing to move into  read more »