Albany has provided New Yorkers with no shortage of embarrassing tales lately, but the story of State Senator Carl Kruger, as written up this weekend in the Times, is surely one of the most entertaining. Kruger was charged earlier this month with "accepting bribes in exchange for official acts" (the complaint, a .pdf, is here), and the investigation revealed plenty of intriguing facts and rumors about his personal life. The NYT story is headlined "A Senator's Shadow Family," referring to Kruger's unusually close and at times suspicious relationship with the Turano family of Brooklyn. (One of the Turano brothers is charged with laundering money for Kruger.) The NYT's account tastefully declines to insinuate much about what, if any, romantic ties Sen. Kruger may have had with the members of said family. But there are plenty of other you-can't-make-this-stuff-up details to keep you reading:
The house [where Sen. Kruger apparently lives, and which he helped renovate] is owned by two never-married middle-aged brothers, Drs. Michael S. and Gerard I. Turano, gynecologists whose 39-foot yacht, Special Delivery, is often docked out back.
By 1985, Mr. Kruger had won a coveted post as chairman of Community Board 18 in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, making him much sought after for people trying to do business in the area. He had also already been indicted on state corruption charges, in 1980, but he was acquitted at trial, represented then as now by Mr. Brafman.
Mr. Bascombe [who purchased a house from the Turanos] had signed an agreement, which he said he had not fully understood, that allowed the Turanos and their forever guest, Senator Kruger to remain as renters. Livid, Mr. Bascombe eventually took to staging loud protests on the sidewalk, calling the Turanos liars and demanding that they vacate the property.
And I didn't even get to the mob history of the Turanos' current house, or its decor (which includes samurai statues and an "ice cream room"). Or the details of how Kruger avoided depositions in previous cases. Seriously, you should read this story.
