NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Since announcing his run for Westchester County Executive last December, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson has accepted $17,500 in campaign contributions from consultants hired by Forest City/Ratner to work on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) filed by the developer over the summer. Just under half the firms hired by Forest City have made contributions to Noam Bramson’s campaign according to New York State Campaign Finance records reviewed by Talk of the Sound.
The money comes on top of previous contributions from Ratner family members — Charles Ratner, Ronald Ratner, Brian Ratner, Deborah Ratner Salzberg, and James Ratner and business associates such as HRH construction.
Altogether, Bramson has taken in over $30,000 in campaign contributions from Forest City related entities and individuals.
Bramson has repeatedly denied taking money from Forest City/Ratner.
On December 22, 2012, the week after Bramson announced, Lobbyist and Legal Counsel DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr LLP gave Bramson $1,500.
On January 10, 2013, three of the firms contributed a total of $6,000 to Bramson.
Planner and Site Engineers Andrew Tung and Gerhard Schwalbe of Divney Tung Schwalbe LLP each gave Bramson $1,250. KSQ Architects gave Bramson $2,500 and Environmental Resources consultant Roux Associates gave Bramson $1,000 on January 10, 2013.
On July 2, 2013, DelBello Donnellan gave Bramson another $5,000
On July 10, 2013, Construction Consultant Tocci Building gave Bramson $5,000.
The list of Forest City Consultants on the Echo Bay FEIS can be found on page 7 of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (excerpted above).
During the Echo Bay FEIS Hearing last summer, Andrew Tung drew guffaws from the audience when he said Forest City had given money to City Council Members.