Karimov Comes to Town

Cityfile decided to play a prank on a handful of New York politicians by sending a letter claiming to be from Alisher Vohidov, Uzbekistan’s consul general to the United Nations, regarding a planned visit to the city by Islom Karimov. The letter claimed that the president wished to meet with these officials, and to give the recipients extra incentive to respond, they said that Karimov was looking for ways to invest parts of a $1 billion investment fund in New York City’s economy.

Seven of the fifteen recipients bit, calling back the number the letter provided.

A rep from City Councilman John Liu’s office was so excited that she left both her office and cell phone numbers and promised that our “delegation” would be treated to a tour of City Hall. A rep from Alan Gerson’s office was equally enthusiastic, calling three times in three days to leave increasingly insistent messages about locking in a date. We heard from State Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver’s office in Albany, who said Silver would be happy to meet with us, but then left another message a few days later to explain that, unfortunately, Silver would be out of town the days we proposed. Councilmember Daniel Garodnick gave us a yes. So did State Assemblyman Dov Hikind and Councilmember David Yassky. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum’s deputy chief-of-staff replied by email and said Gotbaum would be “honored” to meet with the President.

Among those who did not respond was Mayor Michael Bloomberg. For excerpts from some of the phone calls, visit Cityfile.