Exclusive | Dem House candidate Laura Gillen decried corruption while handing $1.5B Coliseum contract to donor

Democrat Laura Gillen is pitching herself as a House candidate who already “took aim at waste and corruption” on the local level — after helping hand a top donor a $1.5 billion contract to renovate the area around the aging Nassau Coliseum.As Hempstead town supervisor, Gillen championed the project and credited herself and Democratic Nassau County Executive Laura Curran with being able “to finally get something at the [Nassau] Hub after decades of Republican obstructionism,” Newsday reported in 2019.While at least 17 developers initially vied for the contract, Nassau officials tapped RXR Realty Investments to revamp the area with two hotels, 500 housing units, office buildings and research facilities as well as 200,000 square feet devoted to retail businesses.RXR Realty Investments CEO Scott Rechler donated nearly $21,500 to Gillen’s county-level campaign in the months leading up to the deal, New York State Board of Elections records show.“As a long-time champion of Long Island, whether it’s supporting County Executive Bruce Blakeman or Laura Gillen, I’m proud of my bipartisan support of its leaders,” Rechler said in a statement to The Post.Rechler’s generosity hasn’t stopped since Gillen set her sights on Congress.In 2022, Rechler maxed out with a $2,900 donation to Gillen’s Democratic primary campaign in NY-04, and he and his wife added two contributions of $2,083 each ahead of the general election, according to Federal Election Commission filings.Gillen lost to Republican Anthony D’Esposito by 3.6 percentage points, a result she is hoping to reverse this time around.Earlier this year, Gregg Rechler, Scott’s brother, contributed to $2,500 to Gillen, while another Rechler brother, Todd, gave $500.RXR executive Joanne Minieri also pitched in $3,000 in June 2023.The ties between Gillen and RXR have been present since at least 2017, when the firm’s chief operating officer, Richard Conniff, served on her Hempstead town supervisor transi...