And he was accused of pocketing $2,000 in cash from a payout to a third staff member and refusing to pay a $15,000 fine imposed by the City Council. Known for his bow ties and colorful clothes, King is facing some serious penalties for alleged misdeeds, including harassing employees and misusing public funds. The City Council’s ethics committee last week had substantiated allegations made against Councilman Andy King, and had recommended his expulsion. Kevin Riley, an aide to state Assembly Member Carl Heastie, has declared victory in the special election to replace Andy King in the City Council. The committee overseeing the investigation voted overwhelmingly for his expulsion due to being considered unreformable. Mr. King said he had given a few staff members a bonus — a common practice in the Council — and was traveling in the Virgin Islands when the staff member first claimed to give him the cash. Council Members each have an office at 250 Broadway, as well as offices in each of their districts. That 48-page document revealed that King used his council staff to plan a 2017 retreat to the Virgin Islands, where his stepdaughter’s wedding was listed on the itinerary — including drafting letters, invitations and flyers for the St. Thomas soiree. Several Council members lamented the hostile work environment that Mr. King created, and his treatment of women. The councilman, Andy King, a Democrat from the Bronx, has long been accused of misbehavior, leading to three ethics investigations by the … We want to hear from you. First elected in 2012, King won a new term in the general election on November 7, 2017.On October 5, 2020, King was expelled by the council due to several ethics charges against him. The report revealed that he failed to pay the $15,000 fine, did not take the required remedial education, mistreated the independent monitor placed in his office to help protect his staffers from further mistreatment and continued to retaliate against staffers he believed testified against him in the two prior probes. And the person at the center of it was Andy King, a Bronx councilman whose brightly colored checkered suits and crisply knotted bow ties allow him to stand out in City Hall. Councilman Andy King, his wife Neva, and the Bronx Youth Empowerment Program members gave back to the community and thanked those who chose to join the army. The City Charter requires Mayor Bill de Blasio to schedule a special election between Dec. 19 and Jan. 8 to fill his seat, according to council sources. Your Ad Choices Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Thursday, October 8, 2020 NEW YORK (WABC) -- A special election will be held to replace former New York City Councilman Andy King, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday. “I’ve heard no contrition from Councilman King at all, ever, for any of his conduct,” said Costa Constantinides, a councilman from Queens. He could not seek a third term in 2021 under term limits. Those sanctions were imposed on King by the council after the Ethics Committee issued a damning report in October 2019 about his behavior, including repeated allegations of misusing government resources and mistreating his staff. Andy King addresses the harassment allegations made against him in a candid one-on-one interview with NBC New York’s Checkey Beckford. N.Y. City Council Votes to Expel One of Its Own for 1st Time in Memory. The councilman, Andy King, a Democrat from the Bronx, has long been accused of misbehavior, leading to three ethics investigations by the Council. Danica Patrick is going back to her NFC North roots... Strike three! The New York City Council has overwhelmingly voted to remove Councilman Andy King from office as a result of sexual harassment against a female staffer, finance violations, and numerous other offenses. Andy King is the former Council Member for the 12th District of the New York City Council, which includes the Baychester, Co-op City, Edenwald, Eastchester, Wakefield, and Williamsbridge sections of The Bronx. Several Council members expressed regret that they had not removed him sooner. Mr. King also failed to pay the fine imposed by the Council last year. 1 weather alerts 1 … Kanye West returns to LA after Kim Kardashian split, Teen arrested in grisly mass murder that claimed family, unborn child, Casino mogul, actress wife pose as motel workers to cut vaccine line, Trump officially opens 'Office of the Former President', Beyoncé teases new Adidas x Ivy Park collection, Icy Park, Teyana Taylor’s ab-baring PrettyLittleThing clothing line has arrived, Saweetie has an entire room just for her wigs, Vanessa Bryant posts letter from daughter Gianna’s friend one year after death, ‘The Bachelor’ Week 4 recap: Slut-shaming is no way to win Matt’s heart, Amar’e Stoudemire wins big on horse named ‘Knicks Go’, © 2021 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, COVID-19 outbreak at NYC Board of Elections offices could affect Bronx race, Staffer sues ex-NYC pol for telling her to put 'Band-Aid' on vaginal bleeding, Special election set for ousted Bronx Councilman's seat, Good riddance to Andy King and his bogus 'racism' defense, first sanctioned by the Ethics Committee in 2018, Death of NYC's most beloved restaurants puts landlords in danger, NYC office towers welcome workers back with new tech, toilet protocols, eBay takes $600 off luxury watches for limited-time deal, Where to buy new KF94 masks online to protect yourself from COVID-19, Sur La Table flash sale takes 20 percent off best-selling cookware, This folding treadmill will get you in shape at home, 10 best women’s loungewear sets that are as cute as they are comfortable. 54,781, This story has been shared 39,750 times. Your California Privacy Rights 250 Broadway, Room 1774 New York, NY 10007 Tel: 212-788-6873 Fax: 212-788-8954 This story has been shared 57,103 times. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Click this image to go to Council Member's Andy King's Facebook Page. We're located at New York City Hall. We've received your submission. The New York City Council voted to suspend Councilman Andy King from his seat for 30 days over allegations he violated its anti-harassment policy, … Thanks for contacting us. Mr. King’s predecessor, Larry B. Seabrook, automatically lost his Council seat in 2012 when he was convicted in Federal District Court in Manhattan of orchestrating a broad corruption scheme to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in city money to his relatives, friends and a girlfriend. The council easily mustered the two-thirds majority needed, voting 48-2 to boot King from his job representing the 12th District at City Hall. King responded with a rambling, half-hour speech that included accusations that his fellow council members had mounted a years-long, racially tinged campaign to boot him from office. The Ethics Committee ordered him to take a sensitivity course that cost city taxpayers $3,500. He’s a king in name only. “We have a duty to believe women,” Mr. Kallos said. Mr. King was also accused of giving another staff member an extra payment of $9,500 in 2019 and forcing the staff member to give him back $2,000 in cash. Monday, October 5, 2020 NEW YORK (WABC) -- The New York City Council voted 48-2 Monday to expel Councilman Andy King, likely the first time … The Council voted 44-1 last year to suspend Mr. King for 30 days without pay and to fine him. 39,750, © 2021 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved Posted on September 29, 2020 City Councilman Andy King, of the Bronx, was charged with harassment by the Committee on Standards and Ethics, chairman and Minority Leader Steven Matteo said in 2019. Mr. King filed a lawsuit against the city in federal court on Monday afternoon, claiming race discrimination and arguing that his expulsion was “arbitrary and capricious.”. “I ask us not to be the Council that does that,” Mr. King said. The ouster of Andy King from the New York City Council in October over repeated ethics violations triggered a special election that moved up the timeline for the race to replace King, who was term-limited but then expelled by his colleagues, from … The panel’s members unanimously backed new charges last week that King engineered a kickback scheme with a staffer that netted him $2,000 in government funds and punished a sick female staffer for seeking medical treatment, issuing a sometimes graphic 55-page report that detailed the evidence. Investigators had found that Mr. King used Council funds to plan a retreat in the Virgin Islands that coincided with the wedding of his wife’s daughter. The staffer took the cash to King’s home on Aug. 16 and left it on a piece of furniture. It’s the latest episode in at least a three-year saga of misbehavior by King, records show. BronxTalk: Councilman Andy King Following a fine, a suspension from the city council, and removal from all committees, Councilman Andy King along with his attorney sit down exclusively with Gary Axelbank to discuss these recent events. The New York City Council voted Monday to expel councilman Andy King over years of harassment allegations against him. The New York City Council is moving to expel one of its own, Bronx councilman Andy King, after a lengthy investigation into multiple allegations. Andy King, a Bronx Democrat, was voted out after facing three ethics inquiries. King at one point attempted to have his attorney speak on his behalf as he appeared to attempt a filibuster of the proceedings, only to be swiftly admonished by Johnson. © Luiz C. Ribeiro New York Councilman Andy King is pictured outside the 216 Deli in the Bronx in this file photo. A special election will be scheduled to replace Mr. King. The New York City Council’s ethics committee on Tuesday recommended that Bronx Councilman Andy King be expelled from office, citing investigations that found he … Attorney Joey Jackson was shell-shocked by the litany of charges against his client. Ben Kallos, a councilman from Manhattan, said he wished he had voted to expel Mr. King last year. The Ethics Committee also found that King used his power to grant one-time payments to members of his staff to engineer a kickback scheme. The councilman replied, “Oh, OK,” according to the report. The Council’s ethics committee found last week that the latest allegations against Mr. King were substantiated and recommended his expulsion. He also misused city resources by ordering his staff to help his wife, Neva Shillingford-King, with her day job as a top executive at SEIU Local 1199 and to bolster her reputation. “Don’t forget, here’s the money,” the staffer told King. “It was always an assassination — a character assassination — against a councilman who stands up for his community,” Mr. Jackson said of the investigation. When a staff member told Mr. King in September 2017 that she needed to go to the emergency room for menstrual bleeding, Mr. King made the Band-Aid comment and laughed, according to a 68-page report by the ethics committee. He said the Council had never expelled someone for behavior that was not a crime. “However, the minute that someone says anything about me, my name is dragged through the mud, dragged through the papers,” he later claimed. In July 2019, King called an unidentified staffer, identified as Staffer-2, into his office and told the employee that he would receive “something extra” in his paycheck — and that the staffer would need to give him $2,000 of that extra payment. The Council’s decision was of “unprecedented severity in comparison to similarly situated Council members who have also not been convicted of a criminal offense,” the complaint said. A few weeks later, King forced the staffer to take unpaid medical leave that she did not seek and then refused to allow her to return to work — eventually forcing her to resign her position. “Council member King’s behavior is unfixable and that if do not take the action recommended by the [ethics] committee, we are likely to be back here in a few months,” he added. Sitemap Mr. King’s lawyer, Joey Jackson, said at a news conference on Friday that investigators were out to get Mr. King, ignoring what he said was a history of good deeds for his Bronx constituents. For the first time in decades, the City Council voted to expel one of its own on Monday — Bronx Councilman Andy King, who was accused of sexual harassment and misusing Council resources. Terms of Use In his first ethics investigation in 2018, Mr. King was ordered to undergo sensitivity and ethics training after a female staff member lodged a sexual harassment claim against him. He said that he was trying to negotiate how to pay the $15,000 fine, but that he felt he should get a credit for the pay he had lost during his suspension. Other members have been automatically ousted when they were convicted of criminal charges. King now holds the ignominious distinction of being the first city politician booted from the lawmaking body in modern history without first being convicted of a crime. Monday’s vote amounts to a civil conviction on the latest set of ethics charges brought by the Committee on Standards and Ethics, which effectively serves as the council’s grand jury for vetting allegations of misconduct by members. New York City Councilman Andy King’s history of unethical alleged actions goes back further than those covered by the recent investigation that may result in his suspension from the Council. Council voted 44-1 last year to suspend Mr. King. A New York City councilman once made a female staff member uncomfortable by holding her hand for too long and asking her to wear a beautiful gown to a fund-raising gala. New York City Councilman Andy King spoke on Oct. 28, 2019, before the New York City Council voted to suspend him for 30 days. City Council District 12 in the northeast Bronx has been without representation since October, when Andy King was expelled. He finally lost his job on Monday. That District 12 election saw Kevin Riley emerged victorious with 68% of the vote, beating Pamela Hamilton-Johnson (24%) and Neville Mitchell (3.2%). 57,103, This story has been shared 54,781 times. “All reasonable alternatives have been exhausted and drastic action is now our only option,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who described the latest set of allegations against King “as conduct disqualifying from public office.”. Who is Brittany Galvin, 'The Bachelor' woman accused of being an escort? October 5, 2020 | 3:15pm | Updated October 5, 2020 | 5:22pm. Visit the Council. The vote was 48-2, with one of the no votes cast by Mr. King. The Ethics Committee also reported that he bullied his staff and retaliated against council employees who he believed testified against him before the Ethics Committee during the first probe into his behavior. New York City Councilman Andy King could be the first lawmaker in recent memory to be temporarily suspended from the City Council, pending a vote next week. With your insight, the Council discovers ways to improve the City we all call home. “There were no kickback schemes involved at all,” Mr. King said. The City Council’s ethics committee took the extraordinary... Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The staffer then made two cash withdrawals of $5,000 over two days in August from his Co-Op City banking branch to give King the money he demanded. Andy King District 12 - Council Member 940 East Gun Hill Road The Bronx, NY 10467 Phone: (718) 684-5509 Website for Andy King; James Vacca District 13 - Council Member 3040 East Tremont Ave Room 104 The Bronx, NY 10461 Phone: 718-931-1721 Fax: 718-931-1605 Website for James Vacca; Ritchie Torres District 15 – Council Member 573 East Fordham Road The motion to expel was opposed only by King and one of his Bronx colleagues, Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. King’s name was immediately removed and his name was taken off the City Council’s website. Previously, Bronx Council Member Andy King was expelled for repeated ethics violations and a special election to replace him was held in December. Council member Andy King leaves City Hall after being suspended. On Monday, Mr. King offered a spirited defense against the charges, saying that he had heard the staff member say she was bleeding at a chaotic work event, but he did not see her gesture toward her genital area. A motion to expel him was defeated, 34-12. Privacy Notice He faces a 30 … King and his wife, Neva Shillingford-King are the founders of the Bronx Youth Empowerment Program (YEP). The City Council voted to oust Mr. King in a stunning rebuke that was believed to be the first time in the city’s history that a Council member was expelled in a vote by colleagues. … He was voted out in an overwhelming majority of 48 “yes” votes to 2 “no” votes. Mr. Johnson’s office said it believed the expulsion was the first decided by a Council vote in the city’s history. Christmas Eve was the 15th ‘Sharing is Caring Day’ for the Wakefield community and fifteen soldiers from the area. The Ethics Committee also determined that King failed to abide by the sanctions and censure that his council colleagues imposed on him last year. Andy King is a former Democratic District 12 representative on the New York City Council in New York.He represented District 12 from 2012 to 2020. “Councilman King’s behavior is unfixable,” Corey Johnson, the Council speaker, said at a video hearing held over Zoom. This state may have its own highly contagious homegrown COVID strain, Bridget Moynahan reacts to ex Tom Brady clinching Super Bowl 2021 berth. “If you look at me as an n-word, then it doesn’t matter because it’s all about hurting me, it’s not about finding truths, it’s about hurting me,” he said at one point. Legislative Office. The New York City Council voted overwhelmingly Monday to expel Bronx lawmaker Andy King after the Democrat was hit by a third set of ethics charges, saying he once again misused government funds and mistreated his staff. King could not seek a third term in 2021 under term limits. Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to schedule the special election within three days of the vacancy, and it is typically held at least 80 days later, which would fall in late December. Council member Andy King angrily pleads his case against charges of misconduct. The $9,500 one-time payment netted the staffer $5,500 after taxes. A two-thirds vote is required to expel a City Council member, something that has not happened since the City Charter was revised in 1989. King initially won the seat in the 2012 special election to replace former Councilman Larry Seabrook, who was forced out following his corruption conviction for steering $2 million to nonprofits that employed family members and friends. The New York City Council voted overwhelmingly Monday to expel Bronx lawmaker Andy King after the Democrat was hit by a third set of ethics charges, saying he once again misused government funds an… After years of complaints, Councilman Andy King’s reign has come to an end. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Your California Privacy Rights As Councilman Andy King is facing expulsion for numerous violations, his lawyer addressed the media Friday, where he denied all allegations against the councilman. Mr. King faced four charges in the latest Council investigation: harassment and discrimination, conflicts of interest, disorderly conduct and violating rules the Council had set for him. King was first sanctioned by the Ethics Committee in 2018 for paying “unwanted attention” to a female staffer. An attorney for King quickly filed suit challenging the Council’s move in Manhattan federal court. Mr. King refused to cooperate with the investigation and sought to thwart it by threatening and firing staff members who he believed were cooperating, the ethics committee found. In a stunning and unprecedented move, the City Council expelled Councilman Andy King from office today. The City Council overwhelmingly voted to expel Bronx member Andy King, in a 48-2 vote on Monday. Riley faced Pamela Hamilton-Johnson and public defender Neville Mitchell in the District 12 special election. Mr. King offered a lengthy defense during the hearing, arguing that he was targeted by investigators for political reasons and because he is a Black man. In September 2017, the unidentified staffer, who suffers from polycystic ovarian syndrome, told King she needed to go to the hospital because she had been struggling with menstrual bleeding for more than a month. King was expelled from the City Council on October 5, 2020. King, who was at a Bronx restaurant to interview a DJ, told her to “put a Band-Aid on it” and laughed, according to the report. He told another staff member, who had to go to the emergency room for menstrual bleeding, to “put a Band-Aid on it.”. 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