Cuomo jet ride tied to upstate mayor's foe

ALBANY -- When Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo flew into Buffalo in May to collect a few hundred thousand dollars from campaign supporters, he did so aboard a private jet owned by a Cleveland firm that has accused Mayor Byron W. Brown of running a corrupt, pay-to-play administration.

NRP Group picked up the $11,500 tab to ferry Cuomo from Albany to Buffalo for the May 2 gathering honoring the state's top Democrat. And Brown, Buffalo's top Democrat, was noticeably absent.

The private jet donation, legal under state law, turned up in Cuomo's latest campaign-finance filing with the state Board of Elections. No explanation was given on paper for the "in-kind donation," but a Cuomo spokesman and NRP officials confirmed last week that the money went to pay for the corporate jet flights to and from Albany that evening.

The governor, who let donors fly him to events from California to Puerto Rico last year, raised what appears to be in excess of $350,000 at the Buffalo fundraiser.

NRP has brought a federal lawsuit accusing Brown of a racketeering conspiracy that helped kill a $12 million housing project on Buffalo's East Side. A federal judge recently tossed out many of the allegations by NRP, but let the lawsuit continue.

A Cuomo spokesman confirmed the flights but declined to comment.

Last year, the governor was given $145,000 worth of private jet flights to political fundraisers by individuals and corporations with various business dealings before the state, including to Buffalo, Syracuse, California and Puerto Rico, according to a New York Daily News report in January. State law bans public funds for using state-owned aircraft for private or political purposes.

NRP develops, builds and manages housing projects around the country, including some backed by federal and local government financing.

"The NRP Group is a national developer that supports government officials who promote good governance," P. Christopher Dirr, the firm's vice president for development, said in a written response to questions posed last week by The Buffalo News.

Cuomo was secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration, a post that had him overseeing many low- to moderate-income housing initiatives involving private developers.

Besides the $11,500 paid for the two pilots, fuel and fee for the private jet, one of the NRP's founders, J. David Heller, gave Cuomo's campaign account $5,000 on May 16.

A month later, Heller gave Cuomo another $10,000. It is not known whether Heller attended the Buffalo fundraiser, or who flew with Cuomo that evening on the company jet.

In all, Heller and two other of the firm's founders, Ted Bailey and Alan Scott, have given Cuomo $69,999 since 2010. NRP Contractors, a firm listed at the same Cleveland address as NRP Group, gave Cuomo $25,000 in 2011.

NRP has housing projects in a number of states, including New York, and has an office in Buffalo. It has built more than 17,000 units across the country since being formed in 1995.