Is the Kruger/Lipsky case the end of the scandal investigations in Albany? Maybe not. What about the Aqueduct "racino"?

In Piling On Carl Kruger, Convicted Already In Court Of Public Opinion, City Hall News explains that state Senator Carl Kruger, unlike many charged with corruption, is not even being given the doubt in the recently announced case involving payments from Richard Lipsky.

Why? City Hall News reports:

“Everyone who’s been paying attention to politics in Brooklyn, has long known that these two gentlemen play pay-to-play politics,” said one politician who asked not to be named, referring to Kruger and Assembly Member William Boyland, Jr., who was also accused of accepting bribes. “They are shady folks, period.”

Kruger’s personal life is already the source of much speculation and innuendo. But his political behavior did not win him any friends either.

Dan Feldman, a former Brooklyn Assembly member tried to explain why.
“A high percentage of the time, I’m amazed and shocked when these people get into trouble. Frankly, this is one of those cases where I’m not shocked—I just didn’t get good vibes,” Feldman said. “Most politicians are very gregarious. With Carl, you never got the feeling of any kind of personal connection. I don’t mean to be cruel—to some extent, it felt like you were talking to a computer.”

Also, Kruger's clear role in Senate shenanigans--one of the "Four Amigos" whose party allegiance was malleable--surely played a role.

Anyone else?

The newspaper reports:

Some wondered how much further the scandal would go. Would there be more arrests in addition to the eight already?

“The cynical analysis is this is the tip of something much larger and this could explode,” [Baruch College professor Doug] Muzzio said. “It’s not only waiting for the other shoe to drop. There seems to be a whole shoe closet here with shoes ready to fall out.”

If so, who could that be? Perhaps the investigation of the Aqueduct "racino" will yield further charges.

If so, those could involve state Senators Malcolm Smith of Queens and John Sampson of Brooklyn.

And if so, there might be a tangential connection to Forest City Ratner.

That's a lot of "ifs," but we shouldn't be surprised by anything these days.

Note that part of the "Brooklyn buy-in" for the Aqueduct Entertainment Group bid involved the services of consultant Darryl Greene, who also works for Forest City Ratner.

And, as noted, Sampson's leadership was apparently willing to outsource "pork" to FCR executive Bruce Bender.