Paladino takes aim at Cuomo fundraiser

GOP candidate Carl Paladino took aim Monday at Andrew L. Farkas, a wealthy real estate mogul who helped build Democrat Andrew Cuomo's nearly $24-million political war chest for New York's governorship.

Paladino charged that Cuomo, while Housing and Urban Development secretary in the Clinton administration, helped Farkas avoid prosecution related to a housing complex that was under investigation and later went to work for Farkas in a private housing deal in the Middle East.

"Why would Andrew Cuomo have such a cozy relationship with a man he once said was 'using HUD like a personal ATM'?" Paladino said in a news release, demanding that Cuomo provide more information about his private dealings with Farkas in Dubai. "There is a clear quid pro quo at play here."

Cuomo's camp accused Paladino of "rewriting history with a mud pen" and denied any impropriety. A spokesman said Cuomo met Farkas only in 2002, two years after Cuomo left HUD. In 1998, Cuomo announced a lawsuit charging a Farkas-owned company with paying kickbacks to building owners of federally subsidized apartments. The case eventually was settled for $7.4 million with no admission of wrongdoing.

"This issue has been reported on extensively over the years and Paladino should know better than to try to call this a payoff," said Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto. "Indeed, Mr. Paladino's career as a landlord has revolved around political payoffs making him the pay-to-play king of New York State, so he should really know better."

Newsday found, and the Cuomo campaign confirmed, that Cuomo earned $2.5 million from mid-2003 to mid-2006 while working for Farkas, more than the $1.2 million Paladino's news release said Cuomo earned. Documents show Cuomo was listed as a partner with Farkas in a luxury housing complex in Dubai in a joint venture with Dubai's royal family and other Mideast investors.

Cuomo left Farkas' company when he ran for attorney general in 2006. Farkas, who could not be reached for comment, reportedly ended his involvement in the project, located off Dubai's coast on the world's largest man-made island, about two years ago.

Cuomo also is drawing fire from Paladino because the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, remained one of the staunchest backers of the Arab League boycott of Israel throughout the period Cuomo worked for Farkas' company.

"We truly believe his connections to Dubai had a lot to do with the mosque issue," said Michael Caputo, campaign manager for Paladino, who has repeatedly criticized Cuomo for not investigating the finances surrounding the proposed Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan.

Aides called it unfair to link Cuomo to the UAE's support of the boycott. Cuomo "has extensive experience in the housing sector and provided guidance on oversight and administrative issues to [Farkas' firm] for a variety of projects, including one in Dubai," said Vlasto.

Farkas, whose holdings include the Montauk Yacht Club, was campaign finance chairman in Cuomo's failed 2002 gubernatorial bid and in his successful 2006 run for state attorney general.