Stanton endorser was on his payroll

Correction appended

In March, City Council candidate Cliff Stanton touted an endorsement from the Northwest Bronx Democrats  as a “real endorsement,” but last week’s campaign finance filing shows he paid the leader of that club $1,200 as a campaign consultant.

Mr. Stanton — who is running to replace Councilman Oliver Koppell in District 11 — paid Anthony Rivieccio $400 on March 15 and $800 on April 11 to help with “voter contact.” 

The club’s endorsement of Mr. Stanton proceeded the first payment and came in the form of a March 13 e-mail from Mr. Rivieccio. The Stanton campaign later held a press conference to announce the support on March 22.

alIn front of PS 8, Mr. Rivieccio, along with a dozen or so Norwood and Bedford Park residents wearing “NW Bronx Dems Support Cliff” buttons, endorsed Mr. Stanton. The announcement came in the midst of a seemingly endless string of endorsements going to Mr. Stanton’s opponent, Andrew Cohen. Mayoral candidates, unions and many Bronx elected officials endorsed Mr. Cohen for the seat.

At the time, Mr. Stanton touted the endorsement as a “real endorsement” from an organization of Bronx residents who worked hard “to address the diverse needs of their neighborhoods.”

“[Mr. Cohen] takes the endorsements of elected officials who are lined up for him by his political patron, Jeff Dinowitz, and he calls it his evidence of the fact that he can assemble a coalition. This is evidence you can assemble a coalition,” Mr. Stanton said on March 22.

When asked about the arrangement after the filing became public last week, Mr. Stanton said Mr. Rivieccio is working on field management, voter outreach and opening doors “that would be hard for me to find on my own in that part of the district.”

“He’s been invaluable,” Mr. Stanton said. 

When asked about the obvious conflict in paying Mr. Rivieccio as a consultant while accepting an endorsement from his group, Mr. Stanton said Mr. Rivieccio doesn’t speak for the entire group of activists, about a dozen of whom he said came out to rally behind the endorsement. 

“Anthony Rivieccio is just one person, the Northwest Bronx Democrats are a group of dozen, if not more, community activists in that area,” he said.

Paying Mr. Rivieccio to put help him reach voters in Bedford Park and Norwood shows Mr. Stanton is looking to those areas to gain support. Mr. Cohen and third candidate Shelley Keeling are both from Riverdale while Mr. Stanton resides on Cannon Place in Kingsbridge Heights. 

A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the name of Mr. Rivieccio's political club. The name of the club is the Northwest Bronx Democrats.