Julia Xenthes/New York Daily News
Money raised for NYC horse carriage ban examined by coordinated Federal and State investigations into Mayor Bill de Blasio's fundraising operations are examining efforts by a politically connected group to ban horse carriages in New York City, people familiar with the matter said.
The offices of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. are considering, among other matters, whether fundraising efforts circumvented State Election laws and whether donors were promised or given official benefits, people familiar with the matter said.
The two donors behind the proposed horse-carriage ban, Wendy Neu and Steven Nislick, haven't been accused of any wrongdoing. Ms. Neu and Mr. Nislick gave more than $100,000 to the Campaign for One New York, a nonprofit that was run by the Mayor's allies and supported Mr. de Blasio's policy and political agenda, records show. They also financed an independent campaign against former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a rival to Mr. de Blasio in the 2013 Democratic Mayoral Primary.
The FBI questioned ex-New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in its probe of alleged carriage horse conniving during last year’s mayoral race. Former front-runner Quinn, a loser to Mayor de Blasio in the Democratic Primary, was undermined by a well-funded group after she refused to back a ban on the horse-drawn tourist attractions.
Agents spoke with Quinn and at least four others, focusing on the funding of the anti-Quinn effort and why her chief rival, de Blasio, reversed his position and supported a ban.
De Blasio came out against the Central Park industry after receiving campaign donations from the anti-carriage group, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets (NYCLASS).
NYCLASS supporters spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking Quinn shortly after de Blasio publicly embraced their cause.
Agents have zeroed in on $225,000 donated to NYCLASS by a union run by de Blasio’s cousin, John Wilhelm, and a key de Blasio fund-raiser, lawyer Jay Eisenhoffer, several sources familiar with the matter said.
De Blasio, asked last Saturday about the investigation, denied that the Feds were looking at him.
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