There’s a new mystery surrounding the Queens political operative who ran a poll-watching operation last year using $750,000 that Mayor Bloomberg channeled through the state Independence Party, and it involves office space.
Election records show that John Haggerty Jr. dipped into a separate $200,000 campaign contribution from Bloomberg to rent an office at 67-53 Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego Park starting in October 2009 at $1,600 a month.
The records also show that the state Independence Party on Nov. 3 — Election Day — paid $3,200 to the same landlord at the same location for what was described as a security deposit.
Neither Haggerty nor Independence Party officials returned calls to explain the arrangement.
A reporter who visited the building yesterday checked the directory, and found neither the party’s name nor the name of Haggerty’s 28th Assembly District Republican Committee, which was formed with the mayor’s $200,000.
Landlord Morris Weinbach said Haggerty rented the office. Weinbach collected checks from both the Independence Party and Haggerty’s committee.