Alan Hevesi | |
|---|---|
| 53rdComptroller of New York | |
| In office January 1, 2003 – December 22, 2006 | |
| Governor | George Pataki |
| Preceded by | Carl McCall |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Sanzillo (acting) |
| 41stComptroller of New York City | |
| In office January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2001 | |
| Mayor | Rudolph Giuliani |
| Preceded by | Elizabeth Holtzman |
| Succeeded by | Bill Thompson |
| Member of theNew York State Assembly from the28th district | |
| In office January 3, 1973 – December 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Alfred A. DelliBovi |
| Succeeded by | Melinda Katz |
| Member of theNew York State Assembly from the25th district | |
| In office December 1971 – May 12, 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Emanuel R. Gold |
| Succeeded by | Vincent F. Nicolosi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1940-01-31)January 31, 1940 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 2023(2023-11-09) (aged 83) East Meadow, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingDaniel andAndrew |
| Education | Queens College (BA) Columbia University (MA,PhD) |
Alan George Hevesi (January 31, 1940 – November 9, 2023) was an American politician who served as aNew York State Assemblyman from 1971 to 1993, asNew York City Comptroller from 1994 to 2001, and asNew York State Comptroller from 2003 to 2006. Hevesi was originally fromQueens, New York City.[1]
A member of theDemocratic Party, Hevesi was elected State Comptroller in 2002 and reelected in 2006. He resigned from office effective December 22, 2006, as part of aplea bargain with theAlbany County Court related to his unlawful use of state employees to care for his ailing wife.[2] In February 2007, Hevesi was sentenced to a $5,000 fine and permanently banned from holding elective office again; he received no jail time and no probation.[3] He also pleaded guilty to corruption charges surrounding a "pay to play" scheme regarding theNew York State Pension Fund; on April 15, 2011, he was sentenced to one to four years in prison.
Alan George Hevesi was born inManhattan on January 31, 1940, and grew up inForest Hills, Queens, where he primarily resided for the rest of his life.[2] His parents wereJewish immigrants who left Hungary in 1938 to escape theNazis. 55 of Hevesi's relatives were murdered inconcentration camps.[4] Hevesi's father was Eugene Hevesi (1896–1983), a Hungarian-born American Jewish leader who served as foreign affairs secretary for theAmerican Jewish Committee and as representative to the United Nations for several Jewish NGOs.[5] His brother,Dennis, a reporter forThe New York Times andNewsday, died in 2017.[6][7]
Hevesi earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1962 fromQueens College,CUNY. He received a Ph.D. in public law and government fromColumbia University in 1971.[8] The title of his doctoral dissertation wasLegislative Leadership in New York State.[9] Hevesi taught political science at Queens College for more than 30 years.[8]
Hevesi married Carol Stanton in 1967; they had three children and were married until her death in 2015.[2] Their sons, New York State AssemblymanAndrew Hevesi and former New York State SenatorDaniel Hevesi, have both had careers in politics.[10]
Hevesi died fromLewy body dementia at a care home inEast Meadow, New York, on November 9, 2023, at the age of 83.[2]
On November 2, 1971, Hevesi was elected to theNew York State Assembly to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation ofEmanuel R. Gold.[11][12] He took his seat during a special session in December 1971.[citation needed] Hevesi served in the Assembly for 22 years.[8]
Hevesi unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for city comptroller in 1989, as didFrank Macchiarola.[13][14] Both finished behind Brooklyn District Attorney and former CongresswomanElizabeth Holtzman. In May 1993, Hevesi began his second campaign for city comptroller.[15] The primary election again featured a three-way race, with Holtzman, Hevesi, andHerman Badillo.[16][17] Hevesi defeated Holtzman to secure the Democratic nomination,[18] then Badillo, who contested the general election as afusion candidate of theRepublican Party andLiberal Party.[19][20]
In 1995, Hevesi, as Comptroller, thwarted an attempt by then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to fill a one-time hole in the city budget that year by selling theNew York City water supply system.[21]
By December 1997, Hevesi enlisted the weight and soundness of his city's finances in the cause of forcing Swiss banks to meet the demands of theWorld Jewish Congress and other organizations thensuing Swiss banks over Nazi-era bank balances the WJC said were owed to the heirs of victims of theholocaust, joined eventually by both then-MayorRudolph Giuliani and then-GovernorGeorge Pataki. In his book on the subject,Norman Finkelstein called Hevesi "the godfather of Holocaust restitution sanctions."[22]
Hevesi recruited many other states' and municipalities' financial officers to put their powers in the service of this cause, at one point calling them to a conference in New York at which they discussed ways to coordinate their actions for maximum effect.[23] Sanctions againstSwitzerland having seemed successful in securing the $1.25 billion (1999) settlement, Hevesi then brought the power of the ad hoc network he had constructed to bear on subsequent actions against Germany, Austria, and other countries,[24] where its use was deemed successful in raising the amounts of the settlements.
Hevesi served as New York City Comptroller from 1994 to 2002, when he was term-limited out of the office.[25][26] He won his second term with a Liberal Party endorsement, after which former mayorDavid Dinkins declined to support him.[27]
In 2001, Hevesi sought the Democratic nomination formayor of New York,[28][29] running on the platform of "Most Experienced, Best Qualified".[30][31] He finished fourth, behind Public AdvocateMark Green, Bronx Borough PresidentFernando Ferrer, and New York City Council SpeakerPeter Vallone Sr.[32] Hevesi was the Liberal Party nominee for mayor in the general election,[33][34] but did not campaign, instead endorsing Green. Following his defeat in the mayor's race, Hevesi started his campaign for state comptroller, defeating William Mulrow in a primary,[35] followed by RepublicanJohn Faso in the2002 election.[36][37]
In November 2006, Hevesi was reelected as New York State Comptroller.[38] On December 23, 2006, Hevesi pleaded guilty to a single felony, agreed to pay a fine of $5,000, and immediately resigned as comptroller.[39][40]
At a commencement address he delivered at Queens College on June 1, 2006, Hevesi told his audience that U.S. SenatorCharles Schumer was so tough he would "put a bullet between the President's eyes if he could get away with it." Several hours after his remarks, Hevesi apologized for his comments, calling them "beyond stupid, beyond moronic, totally offensive" and "incredibly moronic".[41]
On September 21, 2006, Hevesi admitted that he used Nicholas Acquafredda, a state employee and member of his security detail, to drive and aid his ailing wife.[42] Hevesi claimed that in 2003, the State Ethics Commission decided that he should pay back the entire cost of having a state employee chauffeur his wife unless such services were necessary for safety purposes. A spokesperson from the State Ethics Commission denied that such a decision was made.[citation needed]
On September 26, 2006, after his Republican challenger, Christopher Callaghan, asked theAlbany CountyDistrict Attorney's office to investigate the matter, Hevesi said he would reimburse the state more than $82,000 for having a public employee chauffeur his wife. Callaghan first phoned in the complaint to the State Comptroller's own hotline.[42] Hevesi had admitted the previous week that he had not previously reimbursed the state. Callaghan and the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor,John Faso, also called for Hevesi's resignation. ThenNew York State Attorney GeneralEliot Spitzer, who was then running forGovernor of New York, withdrew his endorsement of Hevesi. The controversy stimulated interest in the candidacies of Callaghan and minor party candidatesJulia Willebrand of theGreen Party and John Cain of theLibertarian Party.[43]
Hevesi claimed that drivers were needed to provide security to his wife, though a bipartisan ethics panel concluded that the State Police found no threat that would justify such an arrangement. The panel also concluded that Hevesi had no intention of repaying the state for the services rendered to his wife until Callaghan publicly filed a complaint.[44]
On October 12, 2006, Albany County District AttorneyDavid Soares' office acknowledged that it was officially investigating actions by Hevesi regarding the public employee hired to chauffeur his wife.[45]
On October 23, 2006, the "Ethics Commission concluded that Hevesi had 'knowingly' violated state law."[46] On November 3, 2006, Hevesi was ordered by the office of state attorney General Elliot Spitzer to reimburse the state $90,000 — in addition to the $83,000 he has already paid – in compensation for what had been deemed an improper use of a state employee.[47] Hevesi apologized in a TV ad, stating, "I'm asking you to weigh my mistake against my 35 years of public service, I'm human...I'm a good comptroller who did a dumb thing."[48]
On December 12, 2006, Hevesi agreed to a deal that called for the $90,000 inescrow money to be turned over to the state and for him to pay an additional $33,605 within 10 days, making his payback total (with $83,000 already paid) $206,000. According to the Attorney General's report, Hevesi had actually hired four (not two) employees as his wife's "security detail", and said employees ran personal errands for the Hevesi family. On December 13, 2006, a poll conducted between December 5–11 byQuinnipiac showed that 45% of people in New York believed that Hevesi should resign, while 43% believed that he had paid his debt to the state.[49]
On December 14, 2006, the Albany County District Attorney acknowledged that he had a strong enough case to indict Hevesi. In February 2007, after Hevesi had pleaded guilty in December 2006 to a charge of defrauding the government, he was sentenced by Judge Stephen Herrick in Albany County Court to a $5,000 fine and barred permanently from elected office. As part of the plea deal, he was given no jail time and received no probation. Prior to sentencing, Hevesi paid the state more than $200,000 in restitution. He expressed remorse for his actions and told the judge: "I'm culpable, I'm responsible and I apologize."[citation needed]
On October 6, 2009,Raymond Harding, chairman of theLiberal Party of New York, pleaded guilty to charges that he accepted $800,000 from Hevesi's aides when Hevesi was comptroller of the state of New York.[50]
As state comptroller, Hevesi faced a conflict of interest allegation in relation to a private capital fund namedMarkstone Capital Partners, according to a report in theNew York Sun.[51] The opening paragraph stated, "The New York State comptroller, Alan Hevesi, encouraged California pension managers to invest in a private capital fund founded by a man whose wife has been a generous donor to his political campaigns." The story originally appeared in theLos Angeles Times.
Hevesi met with his California counterpart, comptrollerSteve Westly, andElliott Broidy of Markstone Capital Group. They met on May 19, 2003, in order to "pitch" theCalifornia Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) to invest in Markstone, a fund that invested in Israeli companies. TheSun reported that in June 2003, Hevesi had invested $200 million in Markstone. Broidy is a major Republican political contributor who did not directly contribute to Hevesi's political campaigns, but Broidy's wife, Robin Rosenzweig, had contributed $80,000 since 2002 — $30,000 before the May 2003 meeting, and $50,000 afterwards. She also contributed to Andrew Hevesi's State Assembly race.[citation needed]
On October 7, 2010, Hevesi pleaded guilty to accepting gratuities for steering the investment funds to California venture capitalist Elliot Broidy. Hevesi had accepted $75,000 in trips for himself and his family and $500,000 in campaign contributions, and benefited from $380,000 given to a lobbyist.[52] After being accused of "pay to play" practices involving the New York State Pension Fund during his tenure as Comptroller, Hevesi pleaded guilty to a corruption charge; on April 15, 2011, he was sentenced to one to four years in prison.[53] He began his prison term on April 17, 2011.[54]
Hevesi went before a parole board on November 14, 2012, and was released on parole on December 19, 2012.[55] He served 20 months of a maximum four-year sentence.[56]
| New York State Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | New York State Assembly 25th District 1971–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | New York State Assembly 28th District 1973–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | New York City Comptroller 1994–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | New York State Comptroller 2003–2006 | Succeeded by Thomas Sanzillo Acting |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Rudy Giuliani 1997 | Liberal nominee forMayor of New York City 2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forNew York State Comptroller 2002,2006 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
