Gotham Gazette

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Alain Kaloyeros

Alain Kaloyeros

  • Alain Kaloyeros, Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion Star, Found Guilty on All Charges

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    Alain Kaloyeros (photo via The Governor's Office)


    Alain Kaloyeros, the former president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute who spearheaded key pieces of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s vaunted Buffalo Billion economic revitalization program, was found guilty in federal court on Thursday of bid-rigging state contracts in favor of upstate firms whose executives were major donors to the governor’s campaign.

    Following a trial that lasted just under a month, a jury found Kaloyeros guilty on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in

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  • Citing Broken Cuomo Promises, Nixon Unveils Campaign Finance Reform Plan

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    Cynthia Nixon outside Tweed Courthouse (photo: Gotham Gazette)


    Standing on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan, a symbol of corruption in New York government, Andrew Cuomo launched his run for governor eight years ago last month, vowing to clean up the rot in Albany. On Monday -- as the corruption trial of a close ally to the two-term governor began in federal court -- Cynthia Nixon, the actor and activist and Democratic primary challenger to Cuomo, stood at the same spot to criticize the governor’s broken promise and to

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  • Buffalo Billion Trial Begins with Differing Portraits of Former SUNY Poly Mastermind

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    Gov. Cuomo & Alain Kaloyeros (photo: The Governor's Office)


    Lawyers presented starkly different portraits of Alain Kaloyeros, the former head of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, in opening statements of his corruption trial at federal court in Manhattan on Monday. Critics say the case -- and the related trial of Joseph Percoco, a longtime aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo found guilty in March of taking bribes -- show the governor’s multimillion-dollar economic development projects were fundamentally corrupt.

    Kaloyeros rigged bids for

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  • State-Backed, Scandal-Plagued Entities Seek New Chapter

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    Howard Zemsky, of ESD, in Buffalo (photo via the Governor's office)


    Alain Kaloyeros, the former head of SUNY Polytechnic Institute heading to trial this month for alleged corruption, was known for his luxury sports cars, self-aggrandizing boasts, and awkward social media posts.

    The new face of the state’s tech development projects, Doug Grose, strikes a different image: subdued, old-school business executive.

    Coming after Kaloyeros’ fall from grace and amid twin corruption trials, Grose’s appointment seems aimed at assuring taxpayers that state

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  • Post-Percoco Conviction, Kaloyeros Trial Likely to Further Stain Cuomo Administration

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    Alain Kaloyeros (photo: The Governor's Office)


    Following the recent conviction of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s longtime aide Joseph Percoco on corruption charges – a humiliating blow for a governor who once campaigned on a promise to reform Albany – Cuomo quickly sought to shift attention from the executive to the legislative branch.

    A day after Percoco was convicted of fraud and soliciting bribes, Cuomo called for ethics reform – in the Assembly and Senate.

    “The single best ethics reform, which makes everything else moot, is no outside income in

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  • DiNapoli, Seeking Restored Power, Points Finger at Only the System

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    Comptroller DiNapoli (photo: @NYSComptroller)


    Comptroller Tom Dinapoli is not interested in pointing fingers at any of his fellow elected officials when it comes to the massive scheme alleged to have corrupted major state economic development programs under the noses of Governor Andrew Cuomo and state legislators.

    In the wake of corruption charges brought against nine individuals by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, DiNapoli was given multiple opportunities Friday during a radio interview, but he declined to criticize either Cuomo or the

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  • For Review, Cuomo Chooses Outside Agent Over Existing State Investigators

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    Scheiderman, left, & Cuomo, center (photo via The Governor's Office on Flickr)


    More than a month after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that Bart Schwartz, a former federal prosecutor, would head an “independent investigation” into the Buffalo Billion economic development program, it remains unclear whether Schwartz has begun his

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  • Role of Cuomo’s ‘Independent Investigator’ Remains Unclear

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    Gov. Cuomo (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin, Governor's Office)


    In trying to stifle the blaze that has become U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s investigation into the Buffalo Billion economic development program, Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly invoked the name of Bart Schwartz, a former federal prosecutor the administration has retained (or is in the process of retaining) to carry out an “independent” review of the project.

    In acknowledging that people close to him were being investigated in relation to the Buffalo Billion, Cuomo announced Schwartz’s hire on

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  • IBM Hired Influential Lobbyist Months Before Securing Buffalo Billion Deal

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    IBM (photo: Patrick via Flickr)


    International Business Machines (IBM) has a long history in New York - its headquarters is located on the New York-Connecticut border in Armonk; it used to be one of the largest employers in the state; and it was part of a 2011 deal to bring $4.4 billion in investments to upstate New York through the creation of a high-tech computer chip manufacturing plant. The success of the company and the overall state economy have travelled similar paths, both

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  • Spurred by Buffalo Billion, Reformers Look to Fix State Business Subsidies

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    Cuomo in Buffalo (photo: Governor's Office via flickr)


    United States Attorney Preet Bharara's attention has been drawn away from his normal stomping grounds to Buffalo, intrigued by what critics say is a shadowy network of state authorities and state-controlled non-profits handing out large business subsidies and contracts with little to no oversight.

    Watchdogs say that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, through SUNY Polytechnic head ...

  • Buffalo Billion Boss Offers, Cancels Interview; Claims 'Threat of Jail'

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    Cuomo and Kaloyeros, both pointing (photo: Governor's Office via flickr)


    In response to a recent profile of him, Alain Kaloyeros, president of SUNY Polytechnic and the man Gov. Andrew Cuomo chose to administer his Buffalo Billion program,

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  • Alain Kaloyeros, Powerful Centerpiece of Buffalo Billion, Could Become Household Name

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    Alain Kaloyeros (photo via the Governor's Office on flickr)


    It is easy to spot Alain Kaloyeros, head of SUNY Polytechnic, around Albany. You can often see him jetting around Stuyvesant Plaza, an upscale shopping center basically next door to the campus he built, which features a spaceship-like structure rising out of the dirt of constant construction.

    It doesn't hurt that he drives a Ferrari Spider with the license plate "Dr. Nano." He is New

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