Family Corruption In The Big Easy

New York City's Child Care Centers Misspending State Funds

2008-07-03T20:16:00.003-04:00

Some New York City child care centers have been stealing from the state tills:

The money for the programs came from the federal Child Care and Development Fund, which provides New York State with more than $300 million a year to arrange child care for low-income families.

One part of the study examined a sample of 34 contracts whose contractors were supposed to create 1,545 slots for child care, but as of May 2007 they had created only 821. Another part of the audit focused on 55 contracts that cost the state $2.9 million and found that misspending in 39 totaled nearly $1.6 million.

Leona Helmsley's Estate Goes To The Dogs

2008-07-02T21:09:00.004-04:00

Leona Helmsley may have been the queen of mean but she apparently loved dogs:

In a two-page “mission statement,” Leona Helmsley left her entire trust, valued at $5 billion to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs.

It is by no means clear, however, that all the money will go to dogs. Another provision of the mission statement says Mrs. Helmsley’s trustees may use their discretion in distributing the money, and some lawyers say the statement may not mean much anyway, given that its directions were not incorporated into Mrs. Helmsley’s will or the trust documents.

New York's Governor Embraces Gay Rights

2008-06-30T15:47:00.002-04:00

From NYT:

Few governors have made advancing gay rights as central to their policy making as Mr. Paterson. Even liberal Democrats who have long advocated equal rights for gay men and lesbians, like Mr. Paterson’s predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, have not embraced the gay community so publicly.

The most significant move Mr. Paterson has made toward broadening gay rights in New York was an order he issued in May that directed state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside of New York.

Contracts and the Mafia

2008-06-27T13:15:00.002-04:00

The Mafia have their hands in everything even in school bus contracts:

The former president of a union representing 15,000 New York City school bus drivers was sentenced on Thursday to four years and nine months in federal prison after pleading guilty to extortion and receiving bribes in a Mafia-controlled racketeering conspiracy.

The former president, Salvatore Battaglia, admitted his role in the conspiracy in January, four days before his trial was to begin. Mr. Battaglia, 61, of Staten Island, acknowledged taking payoffs from mobsters under the employ of Matthew Ianniello, the former acting boss of the Genovese crime family, in exchange for agreeing not to unionize certain bus companies with contracts with the city.

Mr. Battaglia was the president of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union from 2002 to 2006, when he lost the job because of his indictment in the case. In that indictment, he was accused of being a member of the Genovese family.

Testing For H.I.V.

2008-06-26T13:17:00.002-04:00

Routine testing for H.I.V. could help save lives. The Bronx will soon be able to say that they are willing to control this epidemic:

The New York City health department plans to announce on Thursday an ambitious three-year effort to give an H.I.V. test to every adult living in the Bronx, which has a far higher death rate from AIDS than any other borough.

The campaign will begin with a push to make the voluntary testing routine in emergency rooms and storefront clinics, where city officials say that cumbersome consent procedures required by state law have deterred doctors from offering the tests.

Columbia Professor Fired Over Plagiarism Charge

2008-06-24T10:42:00.002-04:00

She cried racism but ultimately it was her dishonesty that led to her downfall:

Madonna G. Constantine, the Columbia University professor who gained widespread attention last fall after a noose was found hanging on her office door, was fired on Monday after months of wrangling over charges that she plagiarized the work of two former students and a former colleague.

Standing Strong To One's Conviction

2008-06-23T10:18:00.003-04:00

Winning a criminal case at the expense of the truth has long been most prosecutor's motto, but not for prosecutor Daniel L. Bibb:

The 1990 shooting of a bouncer outside the Palladium nightclub — had been called into question by a stream of new evidence. So the office decided on a re-examination, led by a 21-year veteran assistant, Daniel L. Bibb.

Mr. Bibb spent nearly two years reinvestigating the killing and reported back: He believed that the two imprisoned men were not guilty, and that their convictions should be dropped. Yet top officials told him, he said, to go into a court hearing and defend the case anyway. He did, and in 2005 he lost.

But in a recent interview, Mr. Bibb made a startling admission: He threw the case. Unwilling to do what his bosses ordered, he said, he deliberately helped the other side win.

He tracked down hard-to-find or reluctant witnesses who pointed to other suspects and prepared them to testify for the defense. He talked strategy with defense lawyers. And when they veered from his coaching, he cornered them in the hallway and corrected them.

Bravo Mr. Bibb for doing the right thing.

And The Walls May Come Tumbling Down

2008-06-20T19:29:00.002-04:00

Your safety may be at risk:

Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether the leading concrete testing company in the New York area, which has been hired to measure and analyze the strength of the concrete poured at some of the biggest construction projects in the city, failed to do some tests and falsified others.

The investigation has uncovered problems with tests the company conducted on concrete poured over the last 18 months at the new Yankee Stadium site in the Bronx and the foundation of the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan, along with as many as a dozen other large projects.

Man Made Fatal Wall Collapse

2008-06-19T18:11:00.002-04:00

Putting money before safety was on the mind of this loser:

Abraham Hertzberg, a licensed engineer has been charged with filing fraudulent plans with the Department of Buildings in connection with a Brooklyn construction site where a day laborer died in March when earth and debris collapsed on him.

The charges come one week after the owner of the site was indicted on manslaughter charges, and at a time when the authorities are placing intense scrutiny on construction safety following a string of deadly accidents at building sites.

Is This Possible?

2008-06-17T11:09:00.002-04:00

Car-free streets:

New York City will close off to traffic a 6.9-mile route from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street on three consecutive Saturdays, giving New Yorkers to a chance to explore and enjoy “car-free recreation corridors” — well, for six hours a stretch, at least.

The route will run from Lower Manhattan to East 72nd Street via Centre Street, Lafayette Street, Fourth Avenue and Park Avenue. Major crosstown routes — including Chambers, Canal, East Houston, 14th, 23rd and 59th Streets — will remain open to traffic. Buses that ride along the 6.9-mile route will be rerouted during the street closings — which have been scheduled for Aug. 9, 16, and 23, from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m.

New York Tries To Save Benefits For Workers

2008-06-16T11:48:00.001-04:00

State officials say they may have to create a $200 million emergency fund to finance workers’ compensation benefits for thousands of injured New Yorkers because 12 trusts that provided insurance to their employers have failed financially.

The self-insured trusts provide workers’ compensation insurance to groups of small- to medium-size employers in the same industry, and the failure of so many of them in recent months has sparked fears of a cutoff in benefits to thousands of injured workers. It has also generated criticism that the State Workers’ Compensation Board was lax in regulating the trusts. There are 50 group trusts remaining in the state that provide insurance to more than 20,000 businesses with a total of about 500,000 employees.

Study Says Police Need More Weapons Training

2008-06-09T15:34:00.002-04:00

Don't shoot until you read this:

Police recruits as well as veterans require more dynamic and frequent firearms training, according to a study of the New York Police Department’s shooting habits released on Monday.

The study, by the Rand Corporation, was commissioned in January 2007, about seven weeks after an unarmed Queens man, Sean Bell, died in a hail of 50 police bullets. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said at the time that questions about the department’s effectiveness and training required an independent look at its tactics.

Rand researchers tried to tackle the phenomenon known as “reflexive shooting” or contagious shooting in which one officers’ gunshots spur a fusillade of bullets by others.

Reform Groups Angry At Patterson

2008-06-05T20:34:00.002-04:00

There are always those who are quick to criticize:

The government reform groups were already angry enough with Gov. David A. Paterson. At a news conference on Wednesday, they accused him of abandoning the reform platform on which he had campaigned alongside Eliot Spitzer, in 2006.

They said he had walked away from new campaign contribution limits, lobbying reforms, redistricting measures and steps to make the notoriously reform-resistant state government more open.

But not long before the event ended, a reporter held up his BlackBerry to reveal that Mr. Paterson had issued a fresh announcement about what he called a historic overhaul of state campaign finance laws.

The Political Future Of Mayor Bloomberg

2008-06-04T15:23:00.004-04:00

Voters may feel that enough is enough. One should not make a career out of an elected position. Mayor Bloomberg, however, is weighing his options:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and his senior advisers have been exploring strategies that would allow him to remain in political life, including undertaking a campaign to overturn the city’s term limits law or making a bid for governor.

Mr. Bloomberg, as part of that effort, commissioned a poll recently to determine whether city voters would be open to lifting the term limits law, which forces him and other elected city officials from office after two four-year terms. The poll found that even as voters approved of his performance as mayor, they would strongly oppose any attempt to undo the limits. Voters were receptive to the idea of a Bloomberg candidacy for governor, however.

Plea Expected In Prostitution Case Tied To Spitzer

2008-06-03T19:19:00.002-04:00

What will Eliot Spitzer plead to? Oh I forgot---he didn't do anything wrong. Uuh?

A graduate of an elite New Jersey prep school is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday to charges related to running the day-to-day operations of a prostitution ring that authorities say was patronized by, among others, Eliot Spitzer, a person briefed on the case said on Monday.

The woman, Cecil Suwal, 23, is expected to plead to a money-laundering conspiracy charge and to conspiring to violate federal prostitution statutes, said her lawyer, Alberto A. Ebanks.

Ms. Suwal, described by prosecutors as the operations manager for the ring, would become the second person to plead guilty in the case, which is being prosecuted in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Some Headlines just Grab Your Attention

2008-06-02T11:34:00.002-04:00

Oh now I get it...

CLOTHING DESIGNERS HONOR...BLOOMBERG?

On Monday night, when the Council of Fashion Designers of America gives Mr. Bloomberg its annual award, it will not be for his groundbreaking clothing selections.

“When I close my eyes and think of him, I just see this mid-gray suit,” said the designer Stan Herman, a member of the council. Others wince at Mr. Bloomberg’s version of casual wear, like matching salmon-colored socks and sweaters, which can be exasperatingly formal.

The council of designers will honor the mayor for his advocacy on their behalf, displayed most vividly two years ago when he intervened to keep the city’s annual fashion shows from being booted out of Bryant Park.

Crane Collapse In Manhattan Kills Crane Operator

2008-05-30T11:45:00.003-04:00

Please look upward while going about your daily life in New York. The life you save may be your own.

A crane toppled and collapsed onto a high-rise apartment building on East 91st Street on the Upper East Side on Friday morning, tearing off balconies and raining broken brick and shattered glass onto the street below, in the second Manhattan crane collapse in two months. At least one person, the operator of the crane, who was sitting in the cab as the structure fell, was killed, officials said.

The crane, which was apparently being used for a construction project at 354 East 91st Street, snapped apart moments after 8 a.m., sending the top piece onto the white-brick residential building at the southwest corner of 91st Street and First Avenue.

ConEd Sues New York City

2008-05-29T19:52:00.001-04:00

Can we sue ConEd?

Consolidated Edison has sued New York City and a contractor, contending they contributed contributing to the explosion of one of the utility’s steam pipes in Midtown Manhattan last summer that killed one person, injured dozens of others and displaced thousands more.

Con Edison alleged that a sealant used by Team Industrial Services, a contractor hired by the utility to prevent leaks, clogged steam traps designed to remove condensation from steam pipes. With the traps not working, water built up and helped trigger the explosion, according to the complaint, which was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Was That Stock Tip Legit?

2008-05-23T19:03:00.003-04:00

Do you trust your friends to provide you with sound investment advice? Well, some people did and now they are paying a hefty financial price:

A former stock trader was charged on Thursday with duping friends out of $16 million over six years by luring them into various investments, most of which never existed.

Instead of investing the money his friends handed him, the ex-trader, David Holzer, 58, spent it on luxuries, including a $300,000 Aston Martin, a gold Cartier watch with diamonds and bracelets from Hermès. He spent the money so quickly, prosecutors said, that he now has only $375 in one bank account and just over $1,000 in a brokerage account.

Choose your friends wisely.

Double-decker Buses Could Make Comeback

2008-05-22T13:09:00.003-04:00

Who says what's old can't be made new again:

Double-decker buses — a fixture of the streetscape in London and other international cities — could be making a comeback in New York City. Officials at New York City Transit said today that the agency was considering bringing back double-decker buses, similar to ones that used to run in the city decades ago.

Maybe the bus prices could also decrease.

Officers In Sean Bell Case Face Departmental Charges

2008-05-21T23:13:00.003-04:00

Keep in mind that although the officers face departmental charges, those charges have been suspended pending a federal investigation into civil rights violations:

The three detectives who stood trial in the case — Detectives Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper — were charged with “discharging their firearms outside of department guidelines. Detective Isnora was also charged with taking enforcement action while working as an undercover officer instead of letting officers who were present, and not working undercover, take control.

Lt. Gary Napoli, the ranking officer at the scene, faces internal charges of failing to supervise the operation. Sergeant Hugh McNeil and Detective Robert Knapp, of the Crime Scene Unit, were also charged: the detective with failing to thoroughly process the crime scene and the sergeant with failing to ensure a thorough processing was done.

If nothing results from the federal investigation, then the departmental charges will probably go down the drain as well.

Officers In Sean Bell Case May Be Fired

2008-05-20T19:33:00.003-04:00

Could the officers, in the Sean Bell case, who were found not guilty by a juror face the possibility of losing their jobs. Well, that depends on what further action the police department takes:

On Tuesday, additional charges were filed accusing the three detectives and one other shooter who wasn't charged in the criminal case with firing outside of police guidelines. Isnora, who followed the men and fired first, also was charged with ''taking enforcement action while acting in an undercover capacity while other non-undercover officers were available.

In addition, the department accused a lieutenant of failing to properly plan the undercover operation, and two more detectives of failing to properly process the crime scene.

The officers are to be tried by an administrative judge, with private attorneys defending the officers. The trial commissioner makes recommendations to police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who has final say. It is unclear when proceedings would begin.

Do you think the officers should be fired?

New York City's Subways Out Of the Loop

2008-05-19T14:36:00.004-04:00

If you depend on New York City's Subways, you may want to know about the following problems:

One of every six elevators and escalators in the subway system was out of service for more than a month last year.

The 169 escalators in the subway averaged 68 breakdowns or repair calls each last year, with the worst machines logging more than double that number. And some of the least reliable escalators in the system are also some of the newest, accumulating thousands of hours out of service for what officials described as a litany of mechanical flaws.

Two-thirds of the subway elevators — many of which travel all of 15 feet — had at least one breakdown last year in which passengers were trapped inside.

Noose Display To Result In Felony

2008-05-16T17:38:00.003-04:00

It's been a long time coming but thank God it is here:

Gov. David A. Paterson says he has signed legislation that will make it a felony to display a noose as a threat. The crime will be punishable by up to four years in prison.

The noose, a symbol of lynchings in the Jim Crow South, has made news in other cases around the country, including in Jena, La., where six black teenagers were charged with beating a white student. The beating happened after nooses were hung from a tree on a high school campus there.

This will help teach those, who engage in this type of behavior, how despicable and vile their acts are.

Removing Children From Abusive Homes

2008-05-15T21:27:00.001-04:00

We have to learn from our mistakes:

New York City has enacted a tough new policy that allows the authorities to remove newborns from their parents’ homes in all but an “extraordinary instance” if the parents previously had children taken from their custody and their case is still open.

John B. Mattingly, the city’s commissioner of children’s services, announced the more aggressive approach during a City Council budget hearing on Tuesday at which he faced questions on his agency’s role in the death of Pablo Paez, an 11-week-old boy whose older sibling had been removed from the same home at age 3 months, a year earlier.

The children’s mother, Kiana Paez, a 23-year-old drug addict, was charged on April 25 with beating Pablo to death. Child welfare workers had been in frequent contact with Ms. Paez since the first baby was placed in foster care because of violence in the home, but they did not try to remove Pablo.

Mr. Mattingly said that the new policy was influenced by the Paez case, but that he had been considering the changes — a natural outgrowth of other changes he had made at the agency — for a long time. The policy, which had been toughened in 2006, was officially revised again on April 21, 18 days after the baby’s injuries were discovered.