The Daily Politics ran this excerpt from Sabini's statement, released yesterday:

"Today, I entered a plea of guilty to driving while impaired, a traffic violation, accepting full personal responsibility for the events that led to my arrest in Albany. As a condition of my court agreement, I have paid a fine of $300 (plus court costs) as well as attend educational classes.

I take the matter against me very seriously, and am extremely grateful to have this settled. I would like to offer a sincere apology to my constituents, the Albany Court, and the many loyal friends, colleagues and family members for any burdens this may have caused.

As a legislator for sixteen years who has always strived to make the right choices, I have learned from this incident and will continue working hard to maintain the confidence and integrity of my role in the State Senate. I have always been proud and honored to serve my constituents, the State of New York and the great borough of Queens, and on their behalf will continue to support and talk about the issues that matter the most to them."

Sabini initially entered a not guilty plea last October.

According to the state DMV, a DWAI is defined as driving with a Blood Alcohol Content of between .05 and .07. A first offense is classified as a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $300 to $500, up to 15 days in jail, and a 90-day license suspension.

TU reporter Jordan Carleo-Evangelist reports that state Sen. John D. Sabini was arrested early this morning for driving while intoxicated on Washington Avenue after, police say, he failed to signal a turn and then drove down the center of two lanes.

Sabini, 50, a Queens Democrat, was pulled over just after 1 a.m. when an officer watched his car, which sports Senate plates, turn right off Lark Street and head east on Washington without signaling, said Detective James Miller, a police spokesman.

The legislator allegedly drove down the center of the two lanes until police pulled him over near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Dove Street, Miller said.

Sabini allegedly failed several field sobriety tests and twice refused to take a breath test to measure his blood-alcohol content, a decision that merits an automatic license suspension, Miller said.

Sabini was formally charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated at 1:12 a.m, Miller said.

Photo: Sabini's Senate web site

In his radio address this weekend, Mayor Bloomberg urged state lawmakers to "put aside their competing interests and come together" on the issue of congestion pricing. "To leave this half a billion dollars just sitting on the table would be absolutely ridiculous." In response, Brodsky told the New York Times:

We don't have any competing interests. We're interested only in the public interest, and the first thing the public interest requires is someone to actually look at the mayor's plan, fairly and thoroughly.

Yet, over the last five years Assembly Member Brodsky has accepted at least $16,700 in campaign contributions from parking garage interests, according to the New York State Board of Elections. Brodsky's parking industry contributions far exceed those of any other state legislator (though Queens City Council Member David Weprin leads the pack with his $20,500 $40,650 haul). Specifically, Brodsky's contributions have come from the Metropolitan Parking Association and the Mallah family, the owner of several parking companies and sometimes referred to as New York City's "parking royalty."

The Mallah family has interests in several parking corporations including Merit Parking, Mallah Parking Corporation, Advance Parking, and Icon Parking. Shelly Mallah is also associated with New York City's Metropolitan Parking Association and has made campaign contributions to its political action committee.

Vincent Petraro, the executive director of the Metropolitan Parking Association, a trade group representing about 800 lots and garages in New York City, has served as an intermediary for political campaign contributions for Sheldon Mallah, according to the NYC Campaign Finance Board. Petraro is also a board member of Queens Chamber of Commerce and chairman of its Legislative Advocacy Committee.

Parking industry contributions to Richard Brodsky:

$1,000	12/01/05	Sheldon Mallah
$1,000	12/01/05	Sandra Mallah
$500	3/28/05	Metro Parking Association
$400	3/25/04	Sandra Mallah
$500	5/20/04	Sheldon Mallah
$1,000	5/20/04	Sandra Mallah
$2,000	4/29/04	Sandra Mallah
$800	3/25/04	Sheldon Mallah
$500	12/30/03	Sheldon Mallah
$1,000	12/30/03	Sandra Mallah
$1,000	6/26/03	Sheldon Mallah
$2,000	6/23/03	Sandra Mallah
$1,000	3/03/03	Sandra Mallah
$1,000	11/22/02	Sandra Mallah
$1,000	8/26/02	Sandra Mallah
$1,000	8/26/02	Sandra Mallah
$1,000	5/06/02	Sandra Mallah

TOTAL: $16,700

How do Brodsky's parking industry contributions compare? No other state legislator even comes close to the levels of contributions received by Brodsky from the Mallahs and the Metropolitan Parking Association since 2002.

Marty Golden	$1,500
Denny Farrell	$1,000
Sheldon Silver	$1,000
Joe Lentol	$750
John Sabini	$500
Danny O’Donnell	$500
Rory Lancman	$500
Michael Cusick	$250
Mark Weprin	$250