The Journal News by Noreen O'Donnell - January 9, 2010
A decade ago, Majed Samarneh approached a woman he knew from church to run for Yonkers City Council. A Democratic district leader, he thought it was time for an Arab-American to represent the area. "By bad luck to me I found her," Samarneh said Friday. "Her" was Sandy Annabi, who became the first Arab-American to win public office in Yonkers and who this week was indicted on public corruption charges. Annabi, 39, and two others — former Yonkers Republican Chairman Zehy Jereis and politically connected lawyer Anthony Mangone — are charged in an extortion and bribery scheme. All three deny the charges. "If she's found guilty, she has to pay for her mistake," Samarneh said. "I'm sorry for what happened," he said. "If they have the proof, and that's true, that's very bad. I don't know what to say." And if she is found not guilty, he said, "We're happy for her." Annabi's win in 2001, a month after the World Trade Center attacks, was held up as proof of the growing political influence of the Arab-American community. She downplayed her ethnicity in comments after her victory, but she nonetheless was a source of pride for a group that was increasingly facing hostility. Now that pride is turning to embarrassment. "In terms of the Arab community, it is a setback," said Haifa Bint-Kadi, an artist who lives in downtown Yonkers. "In the times that we're living, it's upsetting because for the most part Arabs are American citizens who are trying really hard to battle against profiling and stereotypes, and so it makes it a little bit harder. It doesn't make it impossible but it makes it a little bit harder." Annabi served on City Council until last year, when term limits forced her out. In November, she lost a close race for a seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators. "We hold her up as a banner to Arab contributions in the community of Yonkers," Bint-Kadi said. Samarneh noted that she was born and raised in the United States, not in the Middle East. "She is more American than Arab," he said. Annabi and Jereis are both part of the city's Jordanian community, whose families were among a wave of Arab immigrants who moved to the area in the past century, finding success as doctors, lawyers and other professionals, opening stores and real estate businesses. According to the latest census figures, about 3,400 people or 1.7 percent of Yonkers' population identified their ancestry as Arab.
In the federal charges made public Wednesday, Annabi is accused of accepting more than $166,000 in exchange for dropping her opposition to two real estate developments: the $630 million Ridge Hill project by Forest City Ratner and the development of two abandoned city schools for housing by Franco Milio. Jereis, who served as GOP chairman between 2003 and 2007 and to whom Annabi has said she is related, is alleged to have gotten a $60,000 consulting job from Forest City Ratner in exchange for Annabi's deciding vote for the Ridge Hill project. He is accused of passing bribes to her, money spent on everything from co-op apartments to payments on a Mercedes-Benz automobile. Mangone demanded a bribe from Milio for Annabi's vote on the development of the schools, a project called Longfellow, according to prosecutors, and received $10,000 for himself. Both men once worked for former state Sen. Nick Spano, and both have pleaded guilty in the past to politically connected charges. On Friday, some people in the Arab community declined to publicly criticize Annabi and Jereis. Others did not return phone calls. Still others said they were surprised at the charges brought against Annabi, though no one said the same of Jereis. "She was doing a wonderful job here in our district," said Joseph Nader, a World War II veteran who is retired from the Yonkers police force. "She was doing an excellent job as a council representative. I am surprised. I am truly, totally surprised. I really am ... It's got me in the gut. "All I could say to you, it's a damn shame that a flower has to be nipped in the bud," he said. Yet her family is no stranger to scandal; nearly 25 years ago her parents were convicted in a conspiracy to distribute heroin imported from the Middle East. Bint-Kadi said she hoped the charges against Annabi would not overshadow the achievements of Arab-Americans nor discourage young people interested in politics from seeking office. "As an Arab-American who does a lot of volunteer work and does a lot of public service, I think it just encourages us to make sure our public profile is what it needs to be. "It's hard to talk," she said. "I think a lot of us are just still reeling. We're just reeling. It's just shocking, and (we're) in shock and not really sure what to make of it. Everybody gets their day in court, so I'm waiting to see what's going to happen." Annabi appeared so sincere, she was approachable as a councilwoman, she seemed to have integrity, Bint-Kadi said. "This is very damaging not to just the Arab community but to the community in general," she said. Is Samarneh searching for other Arab-Americans to run for City Council? "I think that that's a bad image for the Arab-American community over here," he said of the charges. "Now, with that image, I think we have to be quiet for a while." nodonnel@lohud.com
Click Here to See Related Story, "Connected and Corrupt Westchester Attorney, Former Councilwoman, Among Indicted"
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20 comments:
The Pirros have always been a force to be dealt with (read: payoff required) in Westchester County. Just follow the money, and you'll see the dirty hands of the Pirros (and Spanos) all over it.
As a life-long Westchester resident, I am horrified to see how bad and how deep the public corruption has been here- and for many, many years!!!
I am embarrassed. Put these animals in jail.
you should live in Niagara County,
some call it Nazi Routine, it is sad that lawyers and judges and public officials are not subject to psych tests, insanity is running our county and they gang bang people! Low Lifes
Oops, now they know you had your dirty little claws in on the Ridge Hill deal money, Al. You must be more careful, Al.
When does Pirro greed end?
I hope Bernadette E. Lupinetti, Esq. from Goshen, New York is next. This criminal belongs in a cage to pay for her crimes against family and children. Investigate her husband too, the human waste must not float too far from the septic tank.
Big Al Pirro aka "The Untouchable" was "touched" when the feds convicted him and he became a felon. Being a felon he lost his law license but what I want to know is how did he get his law license back and how much did it cost him and his connected wife?
yea and how did Pirro ONLY get "suspended" for 3 years instead of "disbarred" and how was he able to "negotiate" State Contracts and State Payments with Pataki's Thruway and DOT?
perhaps some of the answers are laid out in the Sept 2005 NY Daily News expose "Stuck on the Mafia's Highway"?
Pirro was "negotiating" contract payments with the State of New York as a "suspended" lawyer according to the article. what the Second or Third Departments do about that?
DAILY NEWS "STUCK ON THE MAFIA'S HIGHWAYS" starring Al Pirro
DAILY NEWS "STUCK ON THE MAFIA'S HIGHWAYS" starring Al Pirro
Now I am not going to mention names, but there was this certan individual under investigation by The NYS OCTF, in the Office of then AG Vacco.
Investigators sent in a wired up building inspector to have a conversation with a certain person. That certain person is heard on the tape calling his secretary and ordering her to write out a check for 100.00 in any manner the inspector wanted.
When Vacco heard of it because he was the boss, guess what happened? filed in the round file.
I am told the tape still is there or with the investigator.
Nice to have a 'judge' in the family. a governor that stops over the house for dinner at least 2x a month. Yeah, isn't America great.
Tell me is there anyone who's legit? It seems like the whole world is filled with corruption.. payoff's, cover-ups, crimes, crimes and more crime's!!!!!!!
Dennis Vacco was an ADA in Buffalo for years bfore he used his ethnicity to catapult himself into the downstate political arena...just couldn't figure at that time how he bullied that impossible feat for an upstater. Now I know...he used his ' ow life connections" from here to hook up there with the seedy, greedy Italians of the big time Mafia.
The funny part about Vacco in upstate is that he tried so hard as a young lawyer to come off as a blue blood of Western European heritage.....which was amusing then, but even more hysterical today.
Vacco today is rarely heard from here...I guess he is back to playing the typical BB lawyer that practices within the conservative old money upstaters...they should only read this blog!
YOU do realize that OCTF stands for Organized Crime Task Force. What they investigate organized crime..........get it?
Why did they wire up a building inspector to visit a lawyer?
they not only investigate OCTF, they have lunch with them too!
do you really want to get a mobster in trouble, not me...
unless, of course, it is my Senator!
Saint Andrew, Patron Saint of crooked Lawyers and Judges, where are you? Are you raising the defenses in Westchester around your supplicants? Saint Andrew?
Zehy Jereis is Martinelli's and Spano's puppet. He is also a felon and obtained a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities - read get out of jail free card from Spano. He's a bad actor and has been for far too long. Hate to see you go but l know you can't help yourself since you're such a low life.
Whats the tie between Al Pirro and Joe Rugoso and whats his connection?
George Pataki, Al Pirro, Nick Spano, John Perrone (former Assemblyman), Zehy Jereis and CAPPELLI have a long history
Former Judge John Perone is a dirty bird and belongs in jail with the other criminals. He's all about money and how to steal it. Perone hangs out on Nantucket and is known as a gay blade. His former wife runs a real estate agency close to his law office. He knows he's above the law and has protection.
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