En Vito, Mentiras

Tom Robbins of the Village Voice has a first-class, damning expose on Brooklyn assemblyman Vito Lopez. Vito's been "donating" $50,000 of taxpayer money each year -- from a $200-million "member items" slush fund -- to the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The rub? Vito's also a longtime patient there. Then there's this:

Lopez has sent $130,000 annually, in three separate grants, to the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and one of its affiliates, the North Brooklyn Residents Association. For many years Lopez was a paid consultant to the organization. He also lives with the organization's $116,000-a-year housing director, Angela Battaglia.

Had he ever considered that as a possible ethical conflict? "No. Absolutely not," Lopez said. "I will help and continue to help programs that do a good job. That's how I feel about it. And that's a direct quote."

Any program that helps keep you alive, Vito, isn't doing that good a job. More here.