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State Sen. Terrence Murphy Apologizes Over Financial Disclosure Form Error

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- State Sen. Terrence Murphy's (R-Yorktown) staff has issued an apology in response to an article in The Journal News about his Yorktown Heights restaurant, Murphy's, owing $117,000 in back taxes.

Sen. Murphy's staff is apologizing over an oversight on an ethics form

Sen. Murphy's staff is apologizing over an oversight on an ethics form

Photo Credit: File Photo

The article said Murphy changed his social media profiles to downplay his involvement in the restaurant. The article also said Murphy, a member of the Senate Ethics Committee, had hidden his ownership in two corporations related to the restaurant on his financial disclosure forum.

Murphy's chief of staff Matt Slater said Murphy listed his ownership in the wrong section.

"We apologize for the embarrassing situation and have already amended the report to list it properly," Slater said. "Sen. Murphy has submitted amendments that not only correct the mistake, but provide more information than is required, which further prove his commitment to an open and transparent government."

Murphy's tax troubles first came to light in a letter to the editor from resident Nick Witkowich to Daily Voice that said Yorktown was owed $3 million in back taxes, sighting Murphy and Supervisor Michael Grace as delinquents.

The senator responded in a letter to Daily Voice saying he was not involved in the day-to-day operations or financial management of the restaurant.

Patrick Murphy, Murphy's brother and one of the owners of Murphy's, said the senator wasn't even aware of the restaurant's problems until Witkowich's letter.

"Today's (Journal News) 'story' is old news," Slater said in a press release Thursday morning. "Almost a month ago, the Murphy family publicly acknowledged in the Daily Voice that their family restaurant exercised the legal option to pay their overdue taxes late with interest and penalties, a situation the restaurant's business manager, Patrick Murphy, has confirmed multiple times." 

Murphy's 40th Senate District includes Beekman and Pawling in Dutchess County, Carmel, Patterson and Southeast and Brewster in Putnam County, and Peekskill, Cortlandt, Lewisboro, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Somers, Yorktown, Mount Kisco, Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Croton-on-Hudson, Pleasantville and Sleepy Hollow in Westchester.

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