Political Language makes lies sound truthful.....

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ”

NYT: 2/9/15

More than a dozen New York City buildings inspectors and clerks have been charged with exploiting their positions as gateways to the city’s booming real estate industry to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, law enforcement officials announced on Tuesday.

In return for bribes of home mortgage payments, sport-utility vehicles and a luxury cruise, among other payments, city buildings inspectors cleared complaints and stop-work orders on properties and expedited inspections, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Some inspectors were charged with trying to evict tenants under false pretenses in exchange for cash from a Brooklyn property manager.

City investigators stepped in before any tenants were illegally evicted.

Sixteen city employees are accused in bribery schemes — 11 of them from the Department of Buildings and five from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Prosecutors also charged dozens of property managers and owners, expediters and other construction workers with making payments to bypass the proper inspection channels.