Behind Big Political Donations, a Mysterious Contributor From Queens
It is a small apartment in a scrubby section of Jamaica, Queens, where the average household income is $33,800 and many residents receive government assistance.
Mr. Williams was listed in a 1968 roster of the basketball team at the State University at Buffalo.
But from this unlikely address, nearly $900,000 has flowed to the campaign accounts of powerful political players across the country.
It is hard to say where the big sums are coming from.
Neighbors describe the man who lives inside — James Robert Williams, 64 — as a reclusive figure who walks with a cane and orders Chinese food for many of his meals.
Yet Mr. Williams, who has few apparent assets and no obvious source of income, has become a major benefactor to political candidates and risen to V.I.P. status in New York Republican circles.