The Friends of the High Line – a pet project of former City Council Speaker Gifford Miller – received more money than any other group from the phantom accounts squirreled away by the council last year, records released yesterday showed.
The nonprofit, which is transforming a 1.5-mile abandoned railroad track into a $170 million elevated park along the far West Side, got a $290,000 grant in fiscal 2007.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the High Line was originally allocated the funds during the budget process, but was mistakenly left high and dry when the final list of grants was issued.
“This was just a clerical error,” she said. “We went back to fix it.”
A High Line spokesman confirmed that the organization had requested the funds.
Quinn said a similar correction was also made this year for Mentoring USA, which is affiliated with Matilda Cuomo, the former governor’s wife. It received $130,000.
Records provided by the council showed 87 groups collected $3.6 million after the budget was adopted in fiscal year 2007. Only 13, however, walked off with six-figure sums, including the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce ($275,000); the Staten Island Zoo ($200,000); the American Folk Art Museum ($175,000), and the AIDS Center of Queens County ($125,000).
Most groups got much less.
New Yorkers for Parks got off with $10,000. The Boro Park Shomrim nabbed $5,000.