On Thursday, I reported and published a story for my newspaper, the Queens Daily Eagle, about how much money Queens Councilmember Francisco Moya has received from people connected with the new Queensboro FC and its owners David Villa and Jonathan Krane.
Moya is a huge soccer fan — he’s obsessed with Barcelona — and has developed a friendship and convenient political relationship with Villa, who owns a stake in QBFC. Moya has also championed a plan to build a soccer stadium at Willets Point, near Citi Field.
I noticed he had received some high-dollar contributions from a woman with the same last name as Jonathan Krane so I started examining all contributions to his re-election campaign.
It turns out that many of the largest sums came from people with ties to the club, for a total of at least $15,375. That’s more than one-seventh of his total haul
It made for a great scoop and for a story I am proud of — the intersection of soccer and politics in New York City, two of my biggest interests.
Soccer in NYC 