Council Speaker Christine Quinn pocketed $17,500 in campaign donations traced to the operator of Brooklyn’s only working dock, records show – just three months before she jumped on board its bid to stop the city from converting the ports to a cruise-ship destination.
Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate, was one of 21 elected officials who on Thursday signed a letter to the Port Authority demanding it back off plans to sell the piers to the city and instead immediately provide a 10-year lease to American Stevedoring International.
The shipping company is using its growing political clout in a fight against the Bloomberg administration’s plan to convert Piers 7 through 11 in Red Hook into the borough’s second cruise-ship terminal, a marina for private yachts and a fancy brew pub.
Quinn received $17,500 on July 11 from ASI owner Sabato “Sal” Catucci and three members of his family.
Sources say Quinn’s support for keeping ASI in Red Hook is key because it signifies the council would never approve a transfer of the piers from the PA to the city if it hurt the shipping company.
Most of the others who signed the letter – including Sen. Charles Schumer and potential mayoral candidates Rep. Anthony Weiner and Comptroller Bill Thompson – have not received donations from ASI, records show.
But ASI’s most vocal backer, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, has received at least $30,400 from Catucci and his family since 1997.
Another key ally, Councilman David Yassky, received $12,200 from the Catucci family and other ASI brass for his failed congressional bid last year. Catucci previously gave Yassky $2,750 in 2004.
Quinn declined to comment on the donations.
Her spokesman, Jamie McShane, said, “Chris Quinn agrees with Chuck Schumer, Jerry Nadler, Bill Thompson and Anthony Weiner that we need to keep the Red Hook port open. Fighting for good-paying jobs like these will always be a priority for Chris.”
This year, ASI also made a $25,000 donation in February to the New York State Democratic Committee and donated another $25,000 in April.
Catucci gave $10,000 to Gov. Spitzer’s gubernatorial campaign in 2006.
ASI declined to comment on its donations.
Most of the local politicians who received cash from Catucci are liberals, but ASI has also given $122,500 to the state Conservative Party since 1999.
The city is looking to move port operations to Sunset Park, Brooklyn. But such a move could take more than 10 years, and ASI supporters say the company’s uncertainty created by the PA and city is destroying the local shipping industry and placing hundreds of jobs in jeopardy.
ASI has remained as a PA tenant since April.
The PA has long said that ASI needs to relocate but recently hinted that it would consider renewing its lease if the company paid $1 million in what it called back rent. The PA also wants the lease to be awarded through a competitive bidding process.
cbennett@nypost.com