ALBANY — Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and GOP Minority Leader Brian Kolb have new sets of wheels courtesy of the taxpayers, the Daily News has learned.
The Assembly recently traded in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited that was purchased for Heastie shortly after he became speaker in 2015 for a brand new 2018 Chevy Tahoe, said Assembly spokeswoman Kerri Biche.
The 2015 Jeep had 60,000 miles on it. It had replaced a Ford Taurus with just 40,000 miles that was driven by Heastie’s speaker predecessor, Sheldon Silver.
“The idea behind (buying the new Tahoe) was that the mileage (on the Jeep) was heading up over a short period of time,” Biche said.
She said another reason was that the Tahoe holds seven passengers — more than the Jeep, which holds five.
“When he was traveling upstate, we were finding we were taking more than one car to accommodate the people traveling with him,” Biche said.
As speaker, Heastie receives a $41,500 stipend on top of his base $79,500 legislative salary.
Meanwhile, Kolb, who recently abruptly dropped out of the governor’s race, now has a consolation prize for remaining in the Assembly in the form of a 2018 GMC Acadia SUV that was delivered to him last week.
Kolb spokesman Michael Fraser said the new SUV, which cost the state $43,601, replaces a 2005 Chevy Impala that had about 125,000 miles on it.
It’s not clear when Kolb — who as minority leader receives a $34,500 annual stipend on top of his legislative salary — requested the new vehicle, since up until recently he said he was running for governor.
“This car simply replaced that older model rather than spending thousands to maintain it constantly and upgrade it,” Fraser said.
The new leader-mobiles were part of six new vehicles recently bought by the Assembly.
Three 2018 Ford Tauruses were purchased for $27,669 a piece. They will be used in the Assembly pool of vehicles made available to those not regularly assigned cars.
Biche said the new cars will replacing aging ones in the pool, including a 1999 Chevy Lumina with 51,600 miles on it and a 2002 Chevy Astro van with 133,000 miles on it.
The Assembly Republicans received a 2017 Ford Taurus that cost $29,268.
The car will be replacing another car with about 125,000 miles on it.
He couldn’t say who the car was assigned to.
