Intelligencer

Spitzer-Lovin’ Lobbyists Head to Albany

Eliot’s friends and admirers movin’ upstate.

By Geoffrey Gray
Published Nov 19, 2006

(Photo: Mitchell Levy/Globe Photos)

As Eliot Spitzer prepares to ride into Albany as its conqueror, his lobbyist supporters are looking to rent office space up there, too. One of Spitzer’s longtime campaign consultants, Roberto Ramirez, the Bronx political macher and lobbyist, says he will be expanding his city-based MirRam Group and opening an Albany office, but he won’t disclose any details about who will run it and which new clients he’ll rep. “The soup,” Ramirez says, “is not ready.” Sources say the city’s top-grossing lobbyist and one of Spitzer’s fund-raisers, Suri Kasirer, has plans to expand her city operations by opening an Albany outpost. Scott Levenson, a lobbyist who raised money for Spitzer, is also checking out new office space in Albany to “steer clients towards drawing down” on the expected surge of Dem-sponsored capital. Spitzer has made reforming Albany his top priority, and lobbyists wonder what restrictions, if any, he will put in place to curb conflicts of interest. Says one Dem lobbyist, “From day one, Eliot has vowed to kill the pay-to-play system. Now everyone has paid, and they want to play.”