Heastie’s Rio Birthday Trip With Albany Lobbyist Raises Gift-Law Questions

New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie spent several days in Rio de Janeiro last month celebrating his birthday alongside a prominent Albany lobbyist, and neither man will say who covered the cost of the trip.

The 59-year-old Bronx Democrat posted Instagram photos from the city over the past week showing him at a Sept. 25 event called the “Boys In Brazil Party,” hosted by former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Charles Haley. Several of the photos show Heastie alongside Patrick Jenkins, a longtime friend and one of Albany’s most influential lobbyists.

Packages for similar trips to Rio are advertised online starting around $3,000 per person and running as high as $4,299, not including airfare.

New York’s ethics rules cap gifts between lobbyists and public officials at $15 in total value. Rachael Fauss, senior policy adviser at the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany, flagged the apparent mismatch between that limit and the cost of an international trip.

“New York State’s ethics laws require both public servants and lobbyists to follow strict gift rules that limit gifts at $15 total,” Fauss said. “We hope that ethics rules are being followed by both parties, particularly given the apparent cost of this trip.”

The state’s ethics commission says on its website that officials are generally barred from accepting gifts of more than “nominal value” from people or entities doing business with the state. There is an exception for gifts from personal friends, provided the friendship isn’t used “as a pretext to give an otherwise impermissible gift.”

Heastie and Jenkins have known each other for decades, having roomed together as students at SUNY Stony Brook. Jenkins’ lobbying business has grown substantially alongside Heastie’s rise in Albany, and his client list now includes the New York Trial Lawyers Association, the Sports Betting Alliance and Google.

Neither Heastie nor Jenkins responded to multiple requests for comment on whether the lobbyist or any of his clients paid for the speaker’s trip. The State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, which enforces New York’s lobbying laws, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Heastie has previously declined to answer questions about ethics concerns tied to a past romantic relationship with lobbyist Rebecca Lamorte.