( Chelsea , New York ) — Yetta Kurland, civil rights attorney and candidate for New York City Council in the 3rd District, today called on her opponent, real estate executive Corey Johnson, “to put your money where your mouth is” regarding his repeated demands that Kurland sign a pledge against Independent Expenditures. Johnson, who for months criticized campaign spending by outside groups, has been silent now that his campaign is receiving support from the independent expenditure known as Empire State PAC.
This is not the first time Johnson has had trouble telling the truth. Even after he worked for several years as the Director of Government Affairs at the GFI Development Company, Johnson worked to hide his ties to the Wall Street giant. Earlier this summer, the story broke that Johnson had spent most of the past five years working to develop luxury hotels and condominiums, while simultaneously pretending to be a champion of affordable housing.
“New Yorkers deserve honesty” said Kurland. “My opponent’s work for a billion-dollar Wall Street real estate developer is not the issue, so much as his sneaky attempt to hide it. And now we learn that after he spent months demanding that I live up to his example and disavow independent expenditures, Corey Johnson is benefiting from the money of those outside groups. The hypocrisy and dishonesty has got to stop.”