They have been employing him as a chaplain with an undisclosed salary, certainly a generous one… This is just one of many other “gigs” / sinecures of the so-called “priest” who also serves on the Stony Brook University Council – a lavishly paid position directly controlled by Governor Cuomo. Does Father Alex, and everybody else, realize the conflict of interest?
By Nick Stamatakis
We saw the other day Mr. Rick Cotton, Executive Director of the Port Authority of NY & NJ, accompanying Governor Cuomo on their visit to the Archdiocese where they announced with Mr. Elpidophoros and Father Alex the resumption of work for St. Nicholas at Ground Zero. And we referred to the corruption, now confirmed by an ongoing prosecution, within the Archdiocese but also around Governor Cuomo – who “forgot” who Joe Percoco was (his right hand for 20 years who is now serving a 6-year jail sentence for corruption)…
We should have also said a few words about the monumental corruption at the Port Authority… A public service company who has just decided – once again – this year to increase tolls on bridges, tunnels and other services it controls. As a result we now have to pay $16 to cross to N.Jersey and the same amount to come back… Why all these raises? A main cause is that the public has to pay 90% of cost for the pensions of all PA employees! Yes, you read correctly, an unheard of 90%!! (For the notorious Port Authority corruption stories you get a taste here and here and here … Plenty more on their endless scandals over the years is easily accessible online).
So the corrupt Port Authority, a real joke throughout America, has hired the so-called “priest” Fr.Karloutsos as a chaplain many years ago and of course they generously remunerate him… Let me give an example of how this works in the P.A.: An employee can retire after 30 years of work with, let’s say, $80,000 salary (at worst – the usual salary is over $120,000) and receive a pension of over $100,000 (and usually over $150,000)…
Rick Cotton, hand-picked by Governor Cuomo, took over as CEO two and a half years ago with the primary goals of reducing corruption, reforming pensions and upgrading infrastructure. Neither corruption was reduced, nor pensions were reformed. And all the projects he undertook/completed (Kosciuszko Bridge, LaGuardia Airport, etc.) ended up having ballooning budgets… Does the latter tell you anything? This is the same “problem” we faced in the building of St. Nicholas… So Father Alex is a “shoe-in” in this culture of corruption…
At the same time, Father Alex holds another position directly controlled by Governor Cuomo: He is a member of the Stony Brook University Council, a well-paid position that requires only one meeting per month… Stony Brook University is the center of the SUNY system and is notorious for corruption… Having graduated from Stony Brook, I am quite familiar with the corruption of its administration – which is increasing year by year, and especially under Andrew Cuomo’s governments…
It is now quite clear that the photos we saw the other day at the Archdiocese are nothing more than an extreme manifestation of “back-scratching”…
Nevertheless, this gives us the opportunity to pose a few questions:
Father Alex, how many other public or private “gigs”/sinecures do you have? The community and the Church are waiting to find out more about the network you are involved in. Does the phrase “conflict of interest” tell you anything? How can you get employed by the Port Authority while the Archdiocese, where you supposedly “belong”, is negotiating with the Port Authority on the issue of St. Nicholas at Ground Zero? Not to mention that you did not get these positions on the basis of merit (of which you have very little – and we won’t even talk about your morality), but as a reward for your capacity as a member of the governance of our Church. When do you plan to come clean finally and tell it all like it is – including your kickbacks from St.Nicholas’ and other fundraising?
TRANSPARENCY NOW!
January 4, 2019, n.stamatakis@aol.com
