Jeffrey Dinowitz

Yesterday I got the chance to ask a number of Democratic elected officials about the $500,000 Michael Bloomberg quietly donated to the Republican Senate campaign committee recently.

Their reactions, which I gathered at the Riverdale Jewish Community Council legislative breakfast, seemed to be collective shrug of the shoulders (and in some cases, a touch of promotion for the party).

City Comptroller Bill Thompson: “I think I was a little surprised, but then again, Mike has been very supportive of the Republican Party on the state level before, and has had a good working relationship with Joe Bruno. A little surprised, but it wasn’t a huge surprise. He’s been a strong contributor and supporter before, of him [Bruno] and it was kind of a continuation. Mike still has to get things done in New York State and I think that was indicative that he still has a good working relationship with Joe Bruno.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn: “Mayor Bloomberg has long supported lots of different candidates in all different parties. This doesn’t seem like any change from anything Mayor Bloomberg has done throughout his whole life. Certainly not at all different from what he’s done since he became the mayor."

More after the jump.  read more »

Bill Thomson and Adolfo Carrion had a friendly chat during last night’s dinner for the Bronx Democratic County Organization at the Marina Del Rey.

At one point, I and two other reporters ran into Denny Farrell, who was hanging out with his daughter. He cheerily noted that earlier in the day he’d gotten another pro-congestion price mailing, making it three so far. “It must be good to be a billionaire,” he said. (The mayor, about whom Farrell was referring, has denied that he's providing any direct funding for the effort.) Then, Farrell rhetorically asked how many phone calls he’s gotten, smiled, and made a big zero with his fingers.

In introducing Christine Quinn, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, the county leader, said, “If I decide to go back to the City Council in ‘09, I want her to be my speaker again.”

Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz told me he won’t be in town when Sheldon Silver convenes his conference meeting in Manhattan on July 16.

Non-Bronx officials who made their way to the dinner include David Weprin, Melinda Katz and Simcha Felder - all comptroller candidates in 2009, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Also floating around the room were former City Council Speaker Gifford Miller (no tie!) and Democratic Mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer.

And state Senator Efrain Gonzalez, who was indicted last year for misusing public money, was at the dinner before I arrived and stayed after I left, seemingly having a good time.

A $1.3 billion water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park has now become a $2.1 billion project, and the cost could reach $3 billion, according to critics in the Bronx who want the Department of Investigation to review the project expenses.

“Either city officials lied in their estimates or they’re incompetent, or it’s a combination of both,” said Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz in a public statement.

Critics said the numbers they cite were calculated from figures presented by the city Department of Environmental Protection at a May 17 meeting with community stakeholders. They say they added an additional $450 million to the project's expected total cost because the DEP did not factor in things like equipment testing, project design and construction management.

Dinowitz and other lawmakers from the Bronx also want the Conflict of Interest Board to investigate because the former head of the DEP, which is in charge of overseeing the project, left his position “the day after the plant was approved by the City Council and just one year later became head of the General Contractor’s Association, a main advocate for building the plant in a city park.”

A spokesperson for the DEP said they will comment on the matter shortly.