14
COURIER LIFE, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
NO TRACE OF $4 MILLION
Money former state Sen. Marty Golden promised on eve of election never materialized: Parks
BY CHANDLER KIDD AND
COLIN MIXSON
His word is not
Golden!
State Sen. Marty
Golden welched on an
election-year promise to
allocate $4 million for repairs
to an ailing Marine
Park playground, according
to the city Parks Department.
Golden claimed credit
for the massive cash infusion
for the dilapidated
PS 278 Playground on Fillmore
Avenue near Stuart
Street — which suffers
from peeling paint and
pools of stagnant water
that attract gnats, mosquitoes,
and mold — in
November, near the tail
end of his 2018 re-election
bid against Democratic
candidate Andrew Gounardes.
However, following
the eight-term senator’s
defeat in the general election
just a few days later,
the promised funds never
made their way into
Parks Department coffers,
according to a Parks
spokeswoman, who said
there’s no evidence the
money existed to begin
with.
“Despite our best efforts,
we have been unable
to verify that the
$4 million existed for
the agency to receive,”
said Parks Department
spokeswoman Anessa
Hodgson.
A spokesman for the
New York Senate Majority
said the upper chamber’s
finance gurus were
similarly unable to uncover
evidence of Golden’s
promised funds, and
accused the former legislator
of announcing the
money as an 11th hour
ploy to grab headlines before
a tight election.
“Marty Golden lied to
Brooklyn families and
took credit for money he
did nothing to secure and
knew wasn’t coming,”
said Gary Ginsburg, a
spokesman for senate
Democrats.
When reached for
comment over the phone,
Golden said “I’m busy,”
before hanging up. Three
subsequent calls went
unanswered.
However, a spokeswoman
for senate Republicans
rushed to defend
the former state lawmaker,
and provided this
paper with an email sent
from Golden’s office to
the Parks Department on
Oct. 30, 2018 containing
a preliminary two-page
application for the Marine
Park senate grant,
which she claims the
agency failed to fill out,
and that the parks money
was never allocated due
to the agency’s bureaucratic
oversight.
“Marty Golden cares
deeply about Marine Park
and fought to allocate $4
million to fix the playground,”
said Candice
Giove, a spokeswoman for
the New York Senate Minority.
“It is sad that because
an employee at the
New York City Parks Department
let an application
worth $4 million sit
in an in box until this
day, and failed to submit
it, that Marine Park never
received this money.”
The Parks Department
responded to Giove’s accusation
in a statement
that ignored the application,
instead doubling
down on their assertion
that Golden’s money
never existed, while saying
the agency doesn’t
suspect any foul play on
the part of the former
senator.
“We appreciate former
Senator Golden’s wellintentioned
efforts to secure
funding for Marine
Park,” said Hodgson.
Giove went on to claim
that then Senate Majority
Leader John Flanagan
sent a letter to Golden
just a few days before the
application was sent out,
but could not provide a
copy by deadline due to
Evelyn Rosenberg stands with her two-year-old twins in front of the run-down playground at Marine Park. Photo by Elissa Esher
his secretary’s recent
hospitalization.
And while Ginsburg
admitted that Parks may
have failed to fi ll out the
application, he insisted
that Golden’s victory lap
was premature and premeditated
to aid his reelection
bid, saying his
election day defeat did not
deprive him of six remaining
weeks in offi ce, during
which no effort was made
to secure the funds.
“If Marty actually
cared about this more
than getting a press release
and getting a nice
photo op, he would have
made a call to make sure
they saw the email and
were filling it out,” said
Ginsburg.
Cycle of violence
BY CHANDLER KIDD
Two thieves stabbed a man and stole his cellphone in
Flatbush last Wednesday.
The victim, 26, told police he was riding his bike
when the crooks plunged a knife into his lower back between
Farragut and Glenwood roads at around noon,
before nabbing his hone and hightailing it.
Paramedics rushed the victim to a nearby hospital in
stable condition, cops said.
Anyone who provides police with information leading
to an arrest can expect up to a $2,500 reward through the
NYPD’s Crime Stoppers program. The public can phone
their tips to (800) 577-8477, log into the Crime Stoppers
website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, tweet @NYPDTips,
or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
All calls are strictly confi dential.
The man who was slashed and robbed in Flatbush on Wednesday.
Paul Martinka
Biker stabbed over phone
/www.nypdcrimestoppers.com