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October 21, 2017- by Steven E. Greer, MD
The Harvey Weinstein scandal is not only bringing down Hollywood, but also the entire liberal movement. The most vocal figureheads of fake feminism have been close friends with Weinstein. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Matt Damon are just a few of the Ivy League blowhard liberals who have decried in false outrage President Trump using foul language to describe his sexual pursuits but looked the other way as Weinstein raped and molested countless women. They have been exposed as clearly enabling serial rapist Harvey Weinstein.
What could be worse than that? Well, what if Harvey Weinstein were a state employee and the Governor of New York, U.S. senators, and U.S. Attorney all looked the other way for decades? That really happened, except the man’s name is Robert Serpico.
The Battery Park City Authority’s CFO for more than 30-years, Robert Serpico, has accumulated a thick human resource file full of complaints by women of sexual harassment. A federal lawsuit has detailed it all with sworn testimony and document evidence. He allegedly has rubbed his groin on women in the BPCA office, given them unwanted massages, routinely spewed vulgar words, and sent blast emails to the employees with sexually explicit images.
Image from one of the emails sent by Serpico to BPCA staff
When Chairman and CEO Dennis Mehiel took over the BPCA in late 2012, he and his second President, Shari Hyman, were both made aware of Serpico’s exploits, but they looked the other way. The details were even published in federal court documents. It was not until late 2016 that Serpico was allowed to “resign” with full pension benefits and avoid the disgrace of being fired. By that time, federal court briefings had exposed him and the BPCA had no choice. During a public board meeting, Mehiel and other board members praised Serpico.
Going back as far as 2013, the State of New York was well aware of the sexual misconduct by Serpico. The female Inspector General, Catherine Leahy Scott, wrote a letter to Serpico mandating that he undergo training in code of conduct and ethics, yet Mehiel and Hyman did not fire him.
In 2015, Governor Cuomo’s office was made aware of Serpico’s behavior detailed in a federal lawsuit, and no action was taken. Likewise, self-proclaimed feminist Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was made aware of Serpico’s behavior, and no action was taken. Indeed, even the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bhahara was informed about Serpico’s sexual predatory behavior on many occasions, and investigators did nothing.
How did Robert Serpico curry such favor with all of these oversight officials? The answer is unclear, but one could assume that it was his knowledge of the billions of dollars in bogus AAA-rated BPCA bonds (that should be rated as riskier debt) might have had something to do with it. Also, the State of New York is so corrupt that just a little money can silence oversight officials.
The inaction of the BPCA to deal with Robert Serpico emboldened him to destroy many lives. Serpico routinely fired people who dared to investigate complaints against him. Kirk Swanson recently won a wrongful-termination lawsuit. Others, such as two African American female BPCA lawyers fired, have been too intimidated to even sue.
The ultimate fate of Robert Serpico, Dennis Mehiel, and the BPCA await the decision of a federal judge and a jury. Stay tuned.