Metro

TV anchor Molly Rokasy says politician hubby dumped her for state employee

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BREAKING: Austin Shafran with gal pal Jennifer Krinsky and at his wedding with Molly Rokasy. (
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Months after beautiful news anchor Molly Rokasy and Queens power broker Austin Shafran married, she claims, he left her for a state employee who’s steadily risen in the government ranks.

Shafran, a City Council candidate, fell in love with then-news assistant Rokasy after meeting her at a 2006 press conference. Three years later, he proposed to her with a 2.5-carat diamond ring.

Shafran, 33, vowed a lifetime of love to the gorgeous journalist, 30, now the news anchor at The Bronx and Brooklyn’s News 12.

The cable-TV anchorwoman and the politician married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Aug. 21, 2010, then headed to Times Square for romantic snapshots.

At a lavish reception held at the towering Terrace on the Park in Queens, the Rockettes kicked their long gams to welcome the glittering guests, including state Sens. Malcolm Smith and John Sampson, local Teamsters President Greg Floyd and Chaz Bono.

But Shafran’s commitment didn’t last long, his ex-wife alleged in divorce documents.

Shafran met fellow Democratic operative Jennifer Krinsky when they both went to work on Queens state Sen. Tony Avella’s campaign in the summer of 2010.

Shafran had introduced Krinsky to his new bride, and they became friends. They would get manicures and shop together.

“They went out to dinner; they hung out; they went out dancing,” a mutual family friend told The Post. “There was one time Austin and Molly took Jenn on a cruise.”

By March 2011, just eight months after the nuptials, Shafran, then the spokesman for state Senate Democrats, began working with Krinsky, the office’s new social-media coordinator.

“They were working much closer together,” a political source said.

Krinsky went from making $37,986 annually as a community liaison for state Sen. Liz Krueger to earning $44,980 as the person in charge of new media for the Democrats.

A source said Rokasy discovered lengthy late-night calls between her husband and Krinsky.

In October 2011, Shafran packed his bags and moved out, court papers say. He initiated the divorce.

Shafran says he began dating Krinsky only after the separation.

The divorce was settled last June, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

Shafran is now a front-runner in the race for City Councilman Dan Halloran’s vacated City Council seat in Bayside, Queens.

Shafran left the Senate Democrats in July 2011 to join the Empire State Development Corp.

Krinsky left the Senate Dems a year later to become a project coordinator for the state Labor Department, where she received another raise to $58,240.

At the time of the job switch, she told pals that she had “an in at the governor’s office.”

“We were not aware of any relationship, nor was her résumé provided to us by Mr. Shafran,” said a spokesman for Gov. Cuomo.

Krinsky now boasts about her relationship online, posting: “My boyfriend’s running for NYC Council. No big deal. Oh wait. Huge deal.”

Rokasy last week celebrated the anniversary of her divorce in a sexy white dress and with an upside-down wedding cake.