By CADITA ROUSSEAU

‘Tis the season to be ugly.

If you’re a sweater, that is.

That seemed to be the motto of residents and business owners of Manhattan’s  Flatiron District on Tuesday as they staged an Ugliest Holiday Sweater Contest on 23^rd Street.

Some partipants stopped at nothing to enter the contest, even stealing their grandmother’s sweater to win a two-night stay at the MAve Hotel, and gift certificates valued from $20 to $100.

Meaghan Gibson was the contestant who borrowed her grandmother’s sweater.

“Grandma wears it all the time, she thinks it is pretty,” said Gibson.

Five finalists were selected for the tongue-in-cheek contest sponsored by the neighborhood Business Improvement District.

Ashley Neverson read about the contest on-line and immediately thought, That’s for me. “I am crafty,” she said and made and decorated the sweater herself, including tassels and brashly clashing colors.

She hoped to win a free honeymoon for herself and fiance.

John Friia of Long Island happened upon the contest while Christmas shopping in the area and immediately bought what he considered an urgly sweater and entered.

“If you’re drunk and you happened to look at this sweater the color skims would make you throw up,” said Friia.

Finally with much jeering from the crowd the winner was chosen.  And Friia captivated the crowd with some dance moves. Was it the sweater or his performance that worked in his favor? The Baruch College student  took first prize.

Is his sweater really ugly? Judge for yourselves

Continue Reading

By KRYSTYNA CHICHURA

It’s 10 o’clock in the morning and the local businesses in  the Atlantic Yards area are just starting to open the doors to their customers. Abe Fulani has been sitting at his desk in the Fulani Boutique at the corner of Fifth and Flatbush avenues since 8 a.m. He’s been in business  for 21 years sewing and altering custom-made suits. And now, the opening of the new Barclays Center down the street is having a negative impact on his boutique.

It’s not the lack of customers that he has a problem with – it’s the rising price of rent that slowly but surely is pushing him out of business. He has to relocate because there is no chance he can sell enough suits to cover the frequent increases. “For a small business like me, I can’t afford to pay $10,000 rent,” Fulani said. “I just don’t make that kind of money.”

Rent is increasing but, on the plus side, fans arriving at the 18,000-seat arena for Brooklyn Nets basketball or concerts with world-class talent are willing to spend money in the nearby restaurants and bars and buy sports-related clothing. On the other hand, the crowds arriving from the transit hub beside the arena at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues have not brought customers interested in buying hardware, furniture or custom-made suits, local business owner say. And, with rents rising, they are being forced out.

Small and specialty businesses are closing; restaurants, bars, chain and upscale stores are growing. Storefronts are improved. ”That’s a sign of economic vitality, something that’s good for the borough,” said Joe DePlasco, spokesman for Forest City Ratner Companies, developer of Atlantic Yards.

Sury Muqherjee says rising rents will force him to close his business near Barclays Center. Moussa Dia, top, says the arena is bringing him new customers. Photos: Krystyna Chichura.

According to Citi Habitats, a real estate company, rents went up dramatically, reaching about $200 per square foot. Sury Muqherjee, the owner of the store Mondini, whict sells army clothes and backpacks at 160 Flatbush Avenue, on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street, a block away from the Barclays Center, said he will probably be forced to leave at the end of January because the rent will go up.

But he is pleased to be getting more customers in the meantime. Muqherjee said some of the business owners that he knows in the area had gotten notices already that they have to move out by Jan. 31. Some are trying to negotiate a new lease with the landlord but the cost is beyond their means, he said. Muqherjee finds the area safer, busier and cleaner with the coming of the Barclays Center. ”Even just a few years ago not much business happened here,” he said. ”But now everyone is out on the streets.”

Yagil Kadosh, on the other hand, is excited about the arrival of Barclays Center because it has brought increased foot traffic and more hungry people to his-fast food burger place, Kulushkät Falafel, located at Dean Street and Flatbush Avenue, after events. The main advantage he has over the other businesses is that he doesn’t have to worry about the rent going up; Kadosh has a 10-year lease on the property. He said that the restaurant will be opened seven days a week (instead of six) and will stay open two hours later every night.

Andrea Alari, owner of the restaurant Va Beh, a very hip Italian place with minimal decorations, said it couldn’t be better. The restaurant, at 446 Dean St. between Fifth and Flatbush avenues, will be opened as late and as long as it has the customers, he said.

Barclays Center has its own bars and restaurants but the State Liquor Authority on Aug. 29 ruled to allow the center to sell alcohol at its premium bars for an hour after events finish, or a cutoff of 1 a.m. That’s why all the hungry and thirsty night-owl customers will go the local bars and restaurants outside of the Barclays Center.

Carlos Espinal, the manager of the “mom and pop” Latin restaurant El Viejo Yayo, located at 36 Fifth Ave. about two blocks from the arena, said that he has to make some adjustments to the business model, making the place more modern, hiring more people, extending the hours of operation, adding a few dishes to the menu (keeping the original Latin dishes on the menu as well). But all these changes and adjustments are “definitely worth it,” he said. “Barclays Center will bring a lot of new customers to the neighborhood.”

Though the manager of the Applebee’s restaurant at DeKalb and Flatbush avenues declined to comment, employees said they expect a lot of traffic and they’ve been noticing that a lot of people have been hired at this time.

Chain stores like Modell’s and Victoria’s Secret are getting more customers and expect growth as more people come to the Atlantic Yards. According to the general manager at Modell’s, Nicholas Chan, hiring at the Modell’s store on Flatbush Avenue near the arena has increased since it was announced that the New Jersey Nets were coming to Brooklyn. “The store has been revamped completely and the products with the Brooklyn Nets logo is the best seller,” Chan said.

Karrime Davis, who spends a few hours every day on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street distributing business cards to the passersby, welcomed the change the arena has brought. “If you can’t survive the war, get out of Brooklyn,” he said.

And for the retailers trying to survive and prosper in a rapidly changing neighborhood, it is a war. Barclays Center’s presence will profit upscale and chain stores, restaurants and bars but will bring loss of profit to small and specialty businesses. Businesses are trying to adjust to the changes to survive.

Owners of some other stores, such as upscale clothing stores, are also excited about the change. Moussa Dia, who owns Versailles, a women’s boutique at Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street, said he is very optimistic that the arena will change Brooklyn in a good way. A long-time retailer, he moved to Brooklyn from Manhattan 15 months ago and notices a change – more tourists and celebrities. “More customers – more money,” he said.

Dia said stores are changing their exteriors, painting and updating the storefronts in the hopes of increasing customer traffic.

Owners of salons, spas and barbershops also expect Barclays Center to bring a lot of business even as some stores in the neighborhood close. For example, the stylist Antoinette Lopez at a hair salon on Bergen Street said that as a result of the arena, “mom and pop” stores are closing, there are more cars on the streets and fewer available parking spots. But, at the same time, she said, the salons hope to find new customers as more concerts are booked.

Smaller neighborhood business face difficulty. Carlos Figueroa, who works at an electronic and computer store on Flatbush Avenue, said that based on the customers he gets, most likely all small electronic stores will close and chain electronics stores will be opened. Rubin Levitan, who owns a furniture store across the street from the Barclays Center, on Pacific Street, said that he is trying to sell as much furniture as possible. “People who will come to the center are definitely not coming there for the home furnishing products but for entertainment purposes,” Levitan said.

Monique LeBlant, manager at the GNC store at Flatbush and Lafayette avenues, said that the store is not as busy as usual at this time of the year. LeBlant said that people who prefer going to the store for their vitamins don’t go there anymore because it is hard to find parking in the area. People who come to the Atlantic Yards for entertainment don’t care much about buying vitamins. “People can buy them [vitamins] in their neighborhoods. They come for drinks and have some fun,” said LeBlant.

Continue Reading

By Yvonne Juris

If you want to go crosstown on two Midtown streets, you might reach your destination more quickly  by riding in a bumper car.

At least that was the opinion of Gene Russianoff of the New York Public Interest Research Group Straphangers Campaign as he announced on Tuesday the joint winners of the annual Pokey Award for the slowest city bus routes — the M42 traversing 42nd Street and the M66 traversing 66th and 65th streets. Both routes clocked in at an all time slow speed of 3.9 mph, resulting in a tie for the Golden Snail statuette.

“The M66 and M42 would lose a race to an amusement park bumper car”, which clocks in at 4.3 m.p.h., said Russianoff. “And it would be a lot less fun.”

The other dubious distinction, for unreliability, went to the M4, which run from Penn Station to Fort Tyron Park. This bus got the Schleppie Award after NYPIRG members recorded many instances of buses clustering together on the route. The researchers found that nearly 30 percent of M4’s arrived bunched together.

The Schleppie statuette shows two elephants lumbering on a golden pedestal.

“New Yorkers are sick of slow lines,” said Russianoff. “There is not enough service.”

The MTA “is very aware that bus speeds in the city are low,” a spokesperson reported  in a statement. Officials point out construction projects such as the Second Avenue subway line have slowed the M42 and M66 buses.

Russianoff cited the installment of the Select Bus Service, which requires riders to pay their fare before they enter the bus, as a sign that the city is being responsive to the complaints made by straphangers about slow service

In the outer boroughs the B35 ltd, Bx19, Q58 and S48 were listed as some of the slowest buses and the B15, Bx41 and S78 were named the most unreliable.

Continue Reading

Bby RYAN SIT

The homeless man accused of fatally shoving a Queens resident onto the subway tracks appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, where his lawyer said he was only defending himself.

Naeem Davis, 30, was arrested last Wednesday, two days after he pushed Ki-Suck Han, 58, into the subway tracks at the 49th St.-7th Avenue station in Manhattan and fled the scene.

Assistant DA James Lin said he expects a grand jury to be empaneled before Davis’ next court date set for Dec. 18.

Legal Aid lawyer Stephen Pokart said Davis, who was charged with second-degree murder, pushed Han, “only in an attempt to get [Han] out of his face,” but later clarified that “it’s not exactly self-defense. Pokart cited news articles to Judge Alexander Tisch, alleging that Han was both the aggressor and drunk during the altercation.  Pokart also criticized the media of assailing Davis.

“How is my client a monster?” he asked outside the courtroom.  “You can defend yourself from harassment.  It’s legal.”

Davis, his hands cuffed behind his back and wearing a large black sweatshirt and an untamed beard, walked slowly to Pokart’s side, before the judge.  He remained stoic and unemotional while Pokart requested the DA’s witness list.

“If things go wrong my client could spend the rest of his life in prison,” Pokart said, arguing for the list.

Pokart handed out a flier with, “Are you a witness?” air max 90 femmes above the infamous New York Post front-page photograph of Han in the tracks, grasping the platform edge while he looked at the first car of a southbond Q train barrelling into the station.  The lawyer said over 500 fliers had been handed out around the 59th Street station.

When asked about reports that Davis said he heard voices telling him to push Han, that he was high during the event or that he told a reporter from DNAinfo that he is bipolar, Pokart said only “I’m not sure.”

Some of Davis’ friends and Midtown vendors who regularly paid him to run errands spent all day at the courthouse, waiting to show their support.

“Hold your head up, Naeem,” one shouted from the pews as Davis was escorted by an officer out of the courtroom.  “We love you,” another yelled.

They echoed sentiments that Davis was “honest” and “very loving,” outside the courtroom and expressed resentment towards the media’s early coverage of their friend that they said villified them.

“I’ve never even seen him argue,” said one man, who said he’s known Davis for three years.

“He’s always smiling.  The first thing he would ask is, ‘Are you hungry?’” said another friend of Davis, who was on his way to meet Davis the day Han was killed.

Han was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital last Monday, leaving behind his wife, Serim Han, and 20-year-old daughter, Ashley.

Continue Reading

By AVRIL REGIS & CONOR FEBO

Europe’s largest bank, HSBC Holdings Plc, agreed to a record $1.92 billion settlement with Federal and State authorities Tuesday to settle U.S. probes of money laundering charges that connected the banking titan with terrorist organizations.

The bank also was linked to charges that included the transferring of billions of dollars for nations under United States sanctions, enabling Mexican drug cartels to launder tainted money through the American financial system, and working alongside Saudi Arabian banks associated with terrorists.

“HSBC is being held accountable for stunning failures of oversight,” said head of the Justice Department’s criminal division Lanny Breur at a news conference in Brooklyn. “Today’s historic agreement which imposes the largest penalty in any Bank Secrecy Act prosecution to date, makes it clear that all corporate citizens no matter how large, must be held accountable for their actions.”

The outcome represents the conclusion of a multifaceted investigation that spanned years. Included in the settlement is a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the forfeiting of $1.25 billion, according to the London-based bank.

HSBC faced four-count criminal information that was filed in a Federal District Court in Brooklyn. The filings in the court charged the bank with failure to maintain an effective money-laundering program, violating sanctions and the Trade With the Enemy Act, and ordered HSBC to more closely monitor its foreign correspondent affiliates.

“Cartels and criminal organization are fueled by money and profits,” said John Morton, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director.  “Without their illicit proceeds used to fund criminal activities, the lifeblood of their operations is disrupted.”

The settlement, which required HSBC to admit the accusations charged against them by government agencies, extends for five years. If it violates any part of the agreement, prosecutors are encouraged to immediately indict the bank.

HSBC also agreed to pay the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the bank’s close regulators, an additional $500 million as part of the civil penalty.

The Federal Reserve will receive a $165 million civil penalty fee.

“We accept responsibility for our past mistakes,” said Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of HSBC in a statement. “We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organization from the one that made those mistakes.”

By agreeing to the deferred prosecution agreement, HSBC must make structural changes within it entire operation around the world to prevent this from happening again.

During the years of 2006-2010, the bank’s anti-money laundering compliance function was understaffed, according to reports. They also had an anti-money laundering program that would be able to properly monitor suspicious transactions and activities from HSBC customers, further rendering their acts shameful.

And despite evidence that Mexico was associated with significant money-laundering risks from 2006-2009, HSBC Bank USA rated Mexico lowest in its anti-money laundering risk category. The oversight that the bank failed to monitor led to over $670 billion in wire transfers and over $9.4 billion in purchases of U.S. dollars from HSBC Mexico.

HSBC Mexico’s loose anti-money laundering control made it the hot spot for drug cartel money launderers. Some of the laundered drug trafficking proceeds were involved in the Black Market Peso Exchange. The exchange would move the proceeds made from illegal drugs sales in the United States to drug cartels outside the U.S., mostly to Colombia. At least $881 million in drug trafficking proceeds made by both Mexican and Colombian drug cartels were laundered through HSBC Bank USA.

“No corporate entity should ever think itself too large to escape the consequences of assisting international drug cartels,” said Queens DA Richard Brown.

All of the bank’s senior management was replaced.

Photo: Officials at Brooklyn news conference.

Continue Reading

By ROBERT GARCIA

President Barack Obama benefited from taking the gay vote. While the presidential debates did not see a single question on LGBT matters, 76 percent of gay voters voted for Obama, according to exit polls.

Five percent of voters in the presidential election identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual. Obama’s overwhelming advantage with these voters helped him greatly, tipping the balance and helping him towards victory.

Denis Dison, the editor of GayPolitics.com and the vice president of communications at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said the rapid change in public opinion on such issues as permitting those openly gay to serve in the military, marriage equality, bullying and other related issues made it a smart move for the Republican Party to remain for the most part silent on those issues.

“I’d say LGBT issues were not very prominent this year… and that may have been by design,” he said. Advocates including Dison had hoped for their agenda to get attention from the candidates but the matters most important to them did not enter the vice presidential and presidential debates.

According to polls taken by the Pew Research Center, support for gay rights has been rising considerably since 2004 in the U.S. Voters aged 18 to 29 are especially supportive. Large media campaigns on bullying and equal rights have reached the media-driven youth and helped increase their political support for such issues.

According to polls, young voters are increasing in numbers; the age group of 18 – 29 accounted for 19 percent of voters in 2012. Obama took 60 percent of the youth vote while Romney obtained 36 percent.

When President Obama declared his support for gay marriage equality, Republicans chose to be withdrawn from the subject. While the economy was the dominant issue of the campaign, gay rights was an important and sometimes decisive factor for some voters.

“I just couldn’t see myself voting for Romney, I couldn’t do it,” said Ghassan Khoury, who supported Obama as “the lesser of two evils.” Khoury, a young professional who lives in Brooklyn, identifies as gay.

Khoury said he was concerned that victory for Romney would be a setback for gay rights Romney has consistently opposed legalizing same-sex marriage even as Democrats shifted in the past year to offer support and make the issue part of their platform.

Gay voters are now a sought after group, having demonstrated the power as a minority to sway political outcomes.

Photo: Newsweek dubbed Barack Obama “the first gay president.”

Continue Reading

By MELANIE GOLDBERG

Ishmael Khaldi, the brown-skinned man who represents the face of Israel on college campuses is not Jewish and is not telling a story of oppression, but is a Muslim Bedouin with as much allegiance to his culture as his Israeli citizenship.

“Israel is an immigrant country, an assemblage of cultural groups from all over the world.,”he observed. “It is a multiethnic state combining Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, Bedouins, Druze, Arabs and more, who coalesce to make the country great. We are compelled to find a common language and common ground, despite our differences.”

Born forty years agothe third of eleven children in a village near Haifa, Khaldi lived in a Bedouin tent until the age of eight, walking four miles roundtrip to attend school. When he wasn’t learning, he tended to his family’s flocks of sheep. zx 630 He was the only member of his family to earn a bachelors degree in political science from the University of Haifa and continue his studies further to earn a masters in international relations at Tel Aviv University. Throughout this time, Khaldi also had the opportunity to work for the Israeli Ministry of Defense, the Israeli Police and Israel Defense Forces as a political analyst.

“It was through their alliance with the emerging Jewish state that the Bedouins began to transcend the isolation that was part of their nomadic history,” he said, explaining his family’s connection to Israel. “My family, too, has reaped the benefits of this alliance, receiving health care, education, job training and pensions. … Israel’s right to exist is my right and my people’s right.”

However, Khaldi explains that since Bedouins are not just a minority in Israel, but are also a minority in the Arab community in Israel, their feelings toward Israel differ from much of their Arab brethren.

“My family, besides being full of pride at my appointment in the Israeli government, was also tremendously supportive,” he said.

Asked if there was opposition within his community, he laughed and said, “Opposition for what? For being an Israeli diplomat? Remember, and many don’t understand this, 20percent of the Israeli population are not Jewish but Arab citizens. We, the Bedouin community, are a minority within the Arab minority. We have a different history as being part of the state of Israel and in fact were a part since the days the Jewish pioneers arrived in the pre-state of Israel establishment. Bedouins serve in the military, though non-mandatory, and can do everything Israeli citizen can do. So there was no notion of opposition.”

In 2006, Air Jordan Femme Khaldi initiated a project called “Hike and Learn with Bedouins in the Galilee” that has brought thousands of young Jews to Khawaled, his hometown, to learn more about Bedouin culture and history. He said these encounters inspired him to become a diplomat, a position in which he still serves. He said there is still a long way to go before the Bedouin minority achieves full equality in Israel but the situation is improving, and more Bedouins are graduating from high school, entering universities and getting better jobs than ever before.

“As I grew up, I increasingly felt the need to explain from my village in the Galilee what Israel stands for and that it wants a democratic, independent Palestinian state existing alongside it in peace and security,” Khaldi explained. “I became more aware of how to serve my country locally and abroad.”

“There are differences in tradition and religion between us [Jews and Muslims], but at the end of the day we are all Israeli citizens,” Khaldi said. He also said  he would always consider himself a proud Bedouin.

Khaldi began working for the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 2004. In June 2006, he was appointed to serve in San Francisco, California as Israel’s Deputy Consul General in the Pacific Northwest region. By August 2009, Khaldi was appointed policy advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, of the right-wing party Yisrael Beitenu.

When he goes to speak at college campuses, he intends to show how a non-Jew can be a loyal Israeli in a Jewish state often perceived as prejudiced against its minorities. He wants to show how easy it can actually be for a minority to work their way up in Israeli society.

“Israel is an immigrant country, an assemblage of cultural groups from all over the world. It is a multiethnic state combining Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, Bedouins, Druze, Arabs and more, who coalesce to make the country great,” he said. “We are compelled to find a common language and common ground, despite our differences. The IDF is a perfect example of this as it is really the melting pot of Israeli society. The colors, religions and ethnicity all disappear when a person starts his IDF service. There, you’re just judged based on your talents and skills.”

He is quick to add that he wasn’t setting out to paint Israel as a perfect place.

“Like every other nation in the world, Israel has its problems,” he said.

However, he was initially aghast by the ferocity of Israeli hatred he encountered in the US that has often earned him a less-than-warm reception. So, he began a new approach of reminding Americans that the United States is not perfect either, despite a much longer nationhood than Israel’s. He explained that he believes in a positive approach, searching for solutions as a free member of a democracy, rather than less constructive avenues of criticism.

“These years of confrontation convinced me of my ability to represent my country,” he concluded. “And I intend to dispel the antagonism and confrontation against the country of my citizenship. The country I call home. I want to open more bridges of understanding between Israel and the world, wherever I can.”

Photo: Ismael Khalidi

Continue Reading

By NAKIA COPELAND & STEPHANIE BERZON

The ex-con had no intent to kill a former martial arts instructor over a dogfight at the Prospect Heights bar, but used a knife in fear, said the defendant’s lawyer in the closing statement on Tuesday.

Daniel Pagan, 36, stabbed Chai Eun Hillmann, 41, twice in front of the Branded Saloon in September 2010.

The dispute began over two small dogs, one tied too closely to the other inside of the western-and-country saloon. Things quickly escalated after an argument of whose dog could win in a fight, showed testimony in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Hillmann, the bartender and a part-time actor, allegedly confronted Pagan’s wife Yvonne when the dogs’ leashes entangled and a fatal fight ensued. Two different versions of the events emerged in closing statements,

“Mr. Pagan saw Mr. Hillman put his hand on his wife and he got upset,” said the defendant’s lawyer.

The men began tossing each other around and musician Daniel Hultquist, dropped his guitar and attempted to break up the feud, but was stabbed in the neck

Pagan also stabbed the guitarist out of fear, the defense lawyer said.

However the closing statement by the prosecutor painted a vastly different picture. The prosecutor argued that after stabbing the guitarist Pagan, walking away, taunted an intoxicated Hillman as “a ninja. The two then ended up in the street in front of the bar, where Hillmann was stabbed.

“He was in fear because he knew that Mr. Hillmann was a martial arts specialist,” said Pagan’s lawyer.

“It doesn’t make sense that he did it somewhere where he could be easily recognized if he was intending to kill – two blocks away from his house.”

Records show Pagan was convicted of manslaughter in 1991 after shooting a man dead in Brooklyn. He faced up to 15 years in prison, but was released in 2000.

The defendant’s lawyer contended that the witnesses who testified were “friendly with Mr. Hillman and are testifying in a way that probably didn’t happen.”

The video also showed Pagan punching Hillmann in the face outside of the bar and then slashing him in his chest with Pagan’s wife trying to restrain her husband.

“When he slid the knife into Hillmann all the way to the handle, his intent was to cause the death of Hillman and his intent was to cause serious injuries to Mr. Hultquist when he slashed him,” concluded the prosecutor.

“It’s an argument between two men at a bar,” said defendant’s lawyer.

Photo: Stab victim Chai Eun Hillman

Continue Reading

By SIGOURNEY SEALEY & CONOR FEBOS

The Brooklyn man accused of murdering a Pace University student during a drug deal that went awry, told the jury Tuesday that his co-defendant was solely responsible for the slaying.

Raymond Rizzo, 33, was arraigned on murder in the second degree in the killing of Max Moreno though the Manhattan DA stipulated that Rizzo did not fire the gun that killed the 21-year-old victim in his Gold Street apartment in September, 2010.

In an unusual defense tactic Rizzo took the stand in his own defense and said that he thought that he and his companion Randy Colon, also 33, were merely there to buy pot.

“It (the shooting) shocked the heck out of me,” said Rizzo with an air of confidence. “I had never seen anything like that before and was not expecting anything like that to happen.”

Rizzo, however, air jordan spizike also testified that Colon pulled out a gun after the two mistakenly exited an elevator on the 36^th floor, a level below Moreno’s apartment.

“I had no idea he had it [gun] on him,” said Rizzo. “We were just standing there and all of a sudden he was like, ‘you know what this is.’”

Rizzo, a father of two, insisted in his testimony that he regretted not disarming Colon, but was scared for his own life.

“I wasn’t sure of what to do, I didn’t know what was going to happen, “ said Rizzo.

The unemployed defendant, who had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Brooklyn for aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle at the time of the murder, spoke after two DNA experts examined a piece of a latex glove that was allegedly worn by Colon in the apartment.

Craig O’Connor, a forensic science professor at NYU Medical Center, testified during a DNA profile of Colon that nothing connected Rizzo to the shooting itself.

After Colon allegedly shot the marijuana dealer, Rizzo ceased talking to the man he’d known for years, but told the jury that he allowed him in his truck following the shooting.

“I didn’t want anything to do with him, but I didn’t know what else to do,” said Rizzo.

Prosecutors said Colon shot Moreno after the two engaged in a physical altercation over the selling of marijuana.

Colon awaits a separate trial for his connection to the murder

Photo: slain student Max Moreno & friends

Continue Reading

By MELANIE GOLDBERG

Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed his tips for long life at a conference at the   City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on Tuesday: keep working and move to New York, the city with the highest life expectancy in the country of 80.9 years.

“Not only are New Yorkers living longer, but our improvements continue to outpace the gains in the rest of the nation,” said Mayor Bloomberg about the release of a health department report. “Just think about that, the average person in New York City is now living 3 years longer than they did 10 years ago. So, it’s a joke, but it’s not really a joke.”

The Health Department analyzed data from death certificates and determined that the improvements included the prevention and treatment of diseases and conditions such as infant mortality, HIV, heart disease and cancer, air jordan 11 the main factors that contributed to the increase in life expectancy.The life expectancy of both men (78.1 years) and women (83.3 years) increased and are better than the nationwide averages for both sexes. The overall death rate hit an all-time low of 6.4 per 1,000 population in 2010: almost 8,000 fewer people died than in 2000.

“Our willingness to invest in health care and bold interventions is paying off,” Bloomberg added.

Since 2001, the city has invested more money in Take Care New York initiatives, allowing it to exceed expectations to reduce the infant mortality rate to 5.0 this year and also exceeded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Healthy People 2020 infant mortality goal of 6.0 deaths per 1,000 live births. Bloomberg did note however that the city still needs to address persistent racial and ethnic disparities regarding infant mortality and that work was still needed in infant health programs such as the Nurse-Family Partnership and Newborn Home Visiting Program, both of which teach future mothers about how to keep themselves and their babies healthy as well as the benefits of breastfeeding.

“Between the decrease in infant mortality and increase in life expectancy, the future health of New Yorkers has never looked better,” said Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs.

Bloomberg also added said he believed the decrease in HIV related deaths was caused by more people being tested for the disease because of city testing initiatives in Brooklyn and the Bronx, which led to over 900,000 tests in the last five years.

Bloomberg also boasted that his anti-smoking efforts lead to a decrease in deaths from heart disease, down by 27.1 percent from 2001 to 2010, and cancer, down 6.5 percent.

“I’m a believer that if you ever stop working, if you ever slow down, you die,” Bloomberg concluded. “As long as I’m healthy I assume I’m going to want to keep living.”

Continue Reading