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The city’s yearly cash stream to a former Councilman Steve DiBrienza’s not-for-profit — a flow of money that became such a political liability that he was forced to drop out of the race for his old seat — has been plugged.
The city budget approved last Friday allocated no money for DiBrienza’s Neighborhood Assistance Corporation in fiscal year 2010 — the first time that the agency has not been funded since the politically powerful DiBrienza left the City Council in 2002.
Neighborhood Assistance Corporation came under scrutiny earlier this year after the New York Post and The Brooklyn Paper reported that the group had received $1.185 million in Council funding since DiBrienza left the cozy confines of the East Wing of City Hall.
DiBrienza drew a salary from the organization, but records do not reveal the exact amount because it was below the $50,000 reporting threshold. Staff salaries and benefits dwarfed program expenditures, consuming between 73 percent and 76 percent of the budget, records show.
Other records showed that Neighborhood Assistance Corporation was an arm of DiBrienza’s political machine. Its past employees included Josephine Beckmann, now district manager of Community Board 10 in Bay Ridge, and Gail Bauccio, who worked for DiBrienza in the Council.
In the current fiscal year, the organization had received $100,000. And in fiscal year 2008, the group received $195,000, with $15,000 coming from Councilman David Yassky, then a congressional candidate seeking DiBrienza’s endorsement.
In the controversy that flared after news coverage of his agency, DiBrienza claimed that Neighborhood Assistance Corporation was a legitimate provider of neighborhood services, and the Department of Youth and Community Development, which allocated most of the money to DiBrienza for after-school programs and basketball tournaments, said its audits found no red flags.
But other city records revealed that DiBrienza’s group served few customers, and many local community service providers told The Brooklyn Paper that they were unaware of DiBrienza’s work.
As a result, DiBrienza dropped out of the Council race in March.
This week, DiBrienza said that his group would not receive funding next year because he did not apply for any.
He claimed that the agency, which shares office space with DiBrienza’s law practice and real-estate company, would continue as a volunteer organization and will provide whatever services it can to the community.”
©2009 Community Newspaper Group
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