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Mayor Edward I. Koch used Gracie Mansion to entertain more peopleat taxpayer expense during 1985, while he was running for re-election, than in any other year of his second term. Many of the guests had never been invited to the mansion before. In the seven months before the November election, Koch hosted 15 large receptions for ethnic and minority groups, including Hispanic city workers, German Americans, Polish Americans, Irish Americans and Chinese Americans. In the seven months since the election, Koch has hosted two receptions for ethnic groups.
A total of 23,140 people ate and drank at Gracie Mansion and City Hall receptions, dinners, breakfasts and lunches in 1985. Some of the affairs, such as a breakfast March 2 at which Koch hosted out-of-town elected officials attending a Conference of Mayors meeting, and a dinner June 11 for his Tokyo counterpart, Gov. Shunichi Suzuki of Japan, were held as part of Koch's role as the city's chief emissary.
But at least 4,584 of the 1985 guests - nearly 20 percent - were invited not for any official function, but simply because they were members of various minority, ethnic, religious or community groups, according to Gracie Mansion records reviewed by Newsday under the Freedom of Information Law. The cost of food, beer and wine and the wages for bartenders, waiters, waitresses and kitchen help were picked up by taxpayers.
Some of the groups that received invitations, such as Hispanics, were among those targeted for special attention by Koch campaign officials, who were under orders to produce an Election Day turnout that would show Koch had broad support among all segments of the electorate.
The bill for Koch's 1985 public entertaining, including food, beverages, part-time help and miscellaneous expenses, totaled $108,309, including a $14,442 liquor bill. In addition, city funds were used to pay some members of the nine-person Gracie Mansion staff, including city cooks and housekeepers, who were called upon to work at the affairs. City workers assigned to the mayor's Office of Special Projects and Events were used to coordinate the receptions, including a $41,300-a-year administrator whose job includes developing guest lists, sending out invitations and running to the supermarket to pick up food.
Funding for the entertainment came out of the mayor's $3.8-million...