New York Police Department Chief Rodney Harrison defended the use of no-knock search warrants at a press briefing Thursday amid growing concerns over no-knock raids spurred by the protests surrounding the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky in March 2020.

“I assure you, our detectives are anything but careless,” Harrison said at the briefing at 1 Police Plaza. “We work closely with our partners in the District Attorney’s office, judges in the courts regarding the preparation for a warrant.”

Complaints about the department’s use of no-knock search warrants, by which police officers do not need to wait for a door to be opened by a habitant before entering a building, come after a raid on a home last week in Jamaica, Queens. The homeowner’s nephew was arrested during the raid for drug possession, but was subsequently released with dropped charges.

“No-knock warrants are a critical tool to the NYPD to keep narcotics off the streets & seize illegal firearms,” Harrison said. “It’s also critical for all New Yorkers & NYPD officers to be known and seen in these situations.”

Harrison reiterated that no-knock searches only result in a raid when doors are not opened. He also noted that officers go through training to conduct such searches and complete background checks on suspects before resorting to the warrant.

According to Harrison, the city’s courts approved 1815 no-knock search warrants last year. 792 firearms and 667 narcotics were recovered in the searches, and 40 searches yielded no evidence.

“Overall, our record in this work has been stellar,” Harrison said.

He emphasized the importance of targeting crime in the city to prevent more tragedies like the shootings of Davell Gardner Jr., Priscilla Vasquez, and Aamir Griffin. Last year, Gardner and Griffin were killed by stray bullets in two shootings, and Vasquez was shot by a gunman who opened fire outside a school.

Four progressive leaning congressional Democrats announced their tendentious plans for expanding the Supreme Court in a press conference on Thursday, a move that drew rebuke from both Republicans and centrist to moderate Democrats alike.

“Expanding the Supreme Court rights the wrongs the Republicans have done to this great court,” said Senator Ed Markey.

The two term Massachusetts Democrat was joined by Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, Rep Jerrod Nadler of New York, and Rep Mondaire Jones also of New York outside the steps of the Supreme Court building, in their joint call for the expansion of the court from nine to 13 justices.

“How will there be equal justice when Republicans have purposefully warped and weaponized the highest court of the land for their own partisan gain,” Markey asked.

The group argued that because there are currently six conservatives and three liberals on the court, the conservatives hold n unfair balance of power on the nation’s highest court.

Former President Donald Trump got the Republicans to that majority by appointing three justices in his term: Neil Gorsuch, and controversially Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Kavanaugh’s appointment  was embroiled in a scandal involving allegations of sexual assault in his youth.

Democrats accused Trump of rushing Mrs. Barrett’s nomination, which came scant days before the 2020 election, and just weeks after the death of her predecessor Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky championed Barrett’s nomination effort
— despite stating in 2016 that court appointments shouldn’t take place so close to a presidential  election — in order to block outgoing President Barack Obama nomination of Merrick Garland, now serving asPresident Biden’s attorney general.

Johnson said that the Constitution did not specify how many justices should sit on the court, to asserting that the framers wanted the legislative branch to have flexibility over time.

There have been nine judges since 1869, reflecting the number of circuit courts that the nation had expanded to in the late 1860s. Likewise the odd number of justices prevents the event of a tie on decisions.

Fluctuating the amount of Justices for political gain is also not a new tactic; prior to 1869 Congress often changed the number of justices to achieve  partisan ends. This led to as few as five justices (the legal minimum under President John
Adams), and as many as 10 under President Abraham Lincoln.

Republicans have pejoratively labeled the Democrats idea as “court packing”. Jerry Nadler attempted to reverse that narrative.

“Some people will say we’re packing the court,” he said. “We’re not packing it, we’re unpacking it! Senator McConnell and the Republicans packed the court over the last couple of years.”

More traditional and centrist  Democrats aren’t on board with the plans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she has no plans to bring the matter to the floor.

President Biden is no stranger to the Supreme Court appointment process. He was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1995 when he oversaw the contentious Clarence Thomas nomination process. During the 2020 election, the then presidential candidate evaded specifying his stance on the issue. But as a senator in in 1983 Biden lambasted ex-president Franklin D Roosevelt’s 1930s court packing proposal.

“It was a bone headed idea….,” he said. “It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make” s it would tarnish the independence of the court.

County Executive George Latimer painted a rosy picture of the progress made against the pandemic in Westchester  on Thursday, citing the plunge in the number of cases over last year when the area was a raging hotspot of the nascent epidemic

“Westchester is down to 5,700 cases this year compared to last year’s staggering number of 11,200,” he said at a press briefing.

The 67-year-old Democrat added that recent cases were  “slightly down,” from a week ago though the numbers have been “relatively flat.”

“We went through a five-week period where there was great reduction in the number and now we’re sitting at about two weeks approaching three weeks where it is relatively flat its moved up and down just a little bit,” said tbe Mt. Vernon native.

The number of people hospitalized compared to last year decreased dramatically with only 235 people this year and 1,107 people last year, he added.

And the county now has a low fatality rate for Covid deaths with only two fatalities the previous night compared to 18 the previous week.

Latimer also announced that 244,000 Westchester residents have gotten vaccinated and urged resident to make use of the many opportunities to get tested.

He again struck an optimistic note.

“Where we are today versus where we were a year ago today is dramatically different,” he concluded.

A prominent social justice preacher on Thursday accused Harold Tischler, an Orthodox Jewish firebrand, of targeting Mayor de Blasio’s wife with “racist and sexist” smears and demanded his arrest for fomenting violence in street protests against official shutdowns in Hasidic enclaves after spikes in coronavirus cases.

“We call for him to be arrested and investigated for starting a riot,” said Rev. Kevin McCall, former disciple of Al Sharpton and now leader of the Crisis Action Center, an offshoot of Sharpton’s National Action Network. “The Black and Jewish community came a long way and he is setting us back with his actions and comments.”

The accusations of slurs against New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray arose after Tischler, 56, was caught  on tape during a protest on Tuesday night that erupted in Borough Park over Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s order to shut down schools, synagogues, and nonessential businesses due to positive COVID-19 surges in the area. On the tape he allegedly commented on reports that McCray was considering a run for Brooklyn borough president.

“If you think, Mrs. de Blasio, a retard woman, kurva, whatever you are, you think you’re going to get elected to borough president – you will not be elected,” Tischler was quoted as saying.

The yiddish word, “kurva” which means whore was first mistaken for the word, “coon.”

“As a proud Jew and lawyer who has worked in civil rights I condemn the comments made by Tischler,
said attorney Sanford Rubenstein, who joined McCall at a Brooklyn press briefing. “Jews and Blacks need to work together. This must be condemned by all elected officials.”

In an interview with Brooklyn News Service Tischler vehemently denied that his comments were sexist or racist.

“I hate her, I called her a bad woman” said Tischler. “I don’t personally know her but, on a professional and political level she’s stupid. She blew $1.25 billion on a program [ThriveNYC] that did nothing for New Yorkers.”

A candidate for Manhattan DA on Thursday announced plans to create the first of its kind Labor Crime Bureau in the office if she wins the election– a long shot if she goes up against incumbent DA Cyrus Vance, Jr.

Diana Florence, one of the nine candidates in the race to replace the long standing DA (who is  undecided on whether to seek reelection in 2021) greeted supporters in Foley Sq., a stone’s throw from the DA’s office, surrounded by union leaders 

She had previously worked for Vance as a prosecutor, leading the Construction Fraud Task Force, but resigned in January after being accused of withholding evidence about a key witness in several major cases.

Florence’s proposed  Labor Crimes Bureau would be tasked with investigating a range of issues including sexual misconduct in the workplace when it crosses the line into sexual assault and Worker’s compensation insurance fraud.

“The construction business, particularly nonunion construction, is like an ‘old boys club’ and this Labor Bureau will create a legal way to hold these abusive ‘boys’ accountable for their actions,” said Construction and General Building Laborers’ Local 79 member Tierra Williams.

So far, Florence claims to be  the only candidate with any union support in a race which she says has not historically engaged the labor rights community and has recently gained the endorsement of her 10th union.

“Diana Florence is the only District Attorney candidate that fully understands the construction industry in New York,” said Robert Bonanza, business manager of the Mason Tenders’ District Council of Greater New York and Long Island.

Florence, who was born and raised in Manhattan and is a long-time resident of Kips Bay where she lives with her husband and two children began her career as a prosecutor 25 years ago in the Manhattan DA’s office.

Councilman Andy King, the embattled Bronx politician, kept total silence as he held a news conference on Friday outside his East Gun Hill Road office and let his attorney, Joey Jackson, defend him against waves of demands that he be expelled from the City Council.

Jackson branded the moves to oust the ethically challenged 58-year-old Democrat “character assassination against a councilman who stands up for his community.”

The move to expel him gained impetus in the council on Tuesday after an extensive investigation into years-long allegations of stealing city funds, taking bribes, violating council policies and city regulations, harassment, and inappropriate comments towards staff members.

This is the third time similar allegations against King have been levied. King has consistently denied the charges.

Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer who previously with other members attempted to have King expelled in a vote that failed 34-12, tweeted that he would vote a second time to have him removed. “Should have already happened, but this is a good signed,” he wrote.

City Council candidate for for a Brooklyn seat, Elizabeth Adams, said that past inaction by the members “put staff at risk of abuse,” and “exposed the deep gaps in workplace harassment protections and showed how much further we have to go in standing with workers and trusting women.”

But Jackson warned against a rush to judgement. “All we ask for is fairness, all we ask for is justice,” he said.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Thursday urged citizens to vote early to avoid errors in the November’s election after nearly 100,000 city residents received misprinted absentee ballots due
to an error by the vendor.

“We understand that there’s some confusion, and some anxiety about the elections,” said Williams in a webinar. “For those who can, you should vote early, and that is because we know that there is going to be a tremendous strain on the system during November 3rd and we should do everything we can to lessen that strain, so if you can and you feel comfortable vote early.”

The misprints were sent out from the Board of Elections chosen vendor, Phoenix Graphics and left prospective voters worried similar problems in November. Phoenix has promised to fix the problem at no cost.

Williams stressed to voters that the error was encountered early and that it would definitely be fixed in time for those who wanted cast their votes via mail.

“We are asking everyone to choose the voting path that works best for them. Vote early,“ said Williams. “We want to make sure that the pathways are there, and that we have given all the information so that your vote is there.”

Williams was also joined by guest speaker  Susan Lerner, the Executive Director of Common Cause NYC,  a voting rights organization.

“The good news is that this happened right away early in the cycle,” said Lerner. “If this had happened in previous years, the absentee ballot wouldn’t be out before October 4th, so this happened in time to correct it.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio sounded jubilant on Thursday after greeting students at the reopening of the city high schools and middle schools, the latest phase of the staggered schedule of in-person learning in the nation’s largest public school system.

“We did something that other cities around this country could only dream of because we have fought off this pandemic back so well for so long because we have the will and the focus to bring back our public schools for the good of our kids, our families and all of NYC,” de Blasio said at daily remote press briefing. The City aims to have 500,000 students back in class by the end of this week.

The move was hailed as a sign of the city’s success in fighting the pandemic though, despite the overall downwards trend of infection since the outbreak in March, a recent rise in the daily infection rate had been detected on Tuesday, a 3.25 percent increase, the highest rate reported since June.

The authorities attributed the increase to 10 zip code locations across Brooklyn and Queens where congested activities and lack of protections have been prevalent in predominantly Orthodox Jewish communities. These areas accounted for nearly a quarter of infected cases while representing only seven percent of the population. and will be monitored more closely, de Blasio vowed. He insisted that the health and safety of students and faculty are of the highest importance and pointed to more robust tests and other safety measures in the schools.

Some 480,000 of the 1,126,501 students in the system have chosen to take remote-only classes, reflecting the fear of many parents that in=person learning was not safe.

But Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza called the reopening a necessary step.

“There’s magic that happens in a classroom when you see an adult in the classroom with children” Carranza said, stressing the importance of students to be present in a “stable environment”, free of distractions at home.

Carranza added that the decision to reopen also reflected well for other DOE employees like food service workers and sanitation workers who were ready to work.

“Day one will not look like week one or first semester but we will continue to perfect and get better,” Carranza said. “Our custodial staff has never been busier and our educators have been trained to enforce the strictest health and safety protocols.”

The reopening in New York City is being watched closely by officials in other big cities

 Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday defended his decision to relocate homeless residents back to shelters from two neighborhood hotels, arguing that the shelters were now safe and indicating that the decision was not tied to the backlash against their temporary presence there

The move came after the mayor heard complaints when he visited the both the Upper West Side where the Hotel Lucerne on West 79th Street housed some 300 homeless men, and Long Island City where the Plaza Hotel accommodated an unspecified number of homeless persons.

Particularly rancorous was the reaction from the Upper West Side community, a supposedly liberal  and quite affluent neighborhood where local residents threatened to sue the city if the homeless residents were not removed.

“We never intended them to be in hotels on a long-term basis,” said de Blasio at his Thursday morning news briefing, “in fact our policy is the opposite… we want to get out of hotels progressively.”

Over 60 hotels across the city provide shelter to some of the estimated 10,000 homeless persons as a temporary measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

According to de Blasio and the city’s Department of Homeless Services data, the number of people in shelters has seen an unexpected decline making it “exactly the time to get out of hotels.” As of September 8, the total of homeless New Yorkers relying on the shelter system is 54,477 compared to the 58,043 individuals who relied on these services in March 2020 when New York City entered its coronavirus lockdown, officials said.

As overcrowding and cleanliness continue to be the primary concern of congregate and non-congregate shelters, open shelters in the city are advised to follow coronavirus guidelines. A employee of The New York City Rescue Mission, on 90 Lafayette Street, for example, said that the shelter provides air conditioned ventilation, sets beds 6 feet apart, creates distance between each person eating in the dining room and does not allow residents to gather in groups. They also are required to wear masks at all times around the facility unless they are sleeping or eating and made to regularly wash hands and use hand sanitizer.

As the city was opening up de Blasio referred to this time as the “beginning of our rebirth.”

City Councilman Mathieu Eugene sponsored a giveaway program offering free food, face masks and hand sanitizer in front of his district office on Thursday at 900 Rogers Ave in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

“I want to commend and thank the community organizations that have partnered with me to provide these resources to those in need” said Eugene.

One of the community organizations that partnered with him was the Council of People’s Organization (COPO).

Abigail Rose, Director of Communications for COPO said that the organization has been working with Eugene for weeks leading up to the drive.

“We sent fresh goods and produce,” she said. “There were also multiple boxed and canned foods sent in”

Rose also confirmed that COPO donated 240 boxes of non perishable foods, 100 boxes of fresh produce on four pallets sent totaling 3000 pounds.

These resources were an obvious boon to residents in the area who have faced many challenges due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“This has been an extremely difficult time for our community, with many people suffering health issues, unemployment, and food insecurity as a result of the novel coronavirus,” said Eugene. “It is up to each of us to do everything we can to provide resources to help underserved residents provide for their families.”

By BOBBIE BELL

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday  that riders not wearing masks on public transportation would be fined $50, effective Monday.

“It’s a matter of respect,” said Cuomo. While many New Yorkers wear masks, he noted, “a handful” still do not.

Sarah Feinberg, interim president of the Transit Authority echoed the governor’s words.

“They don’t have the right to endanger anyone else or scare them away from the system,” she said.

While many New Yorkers do wear masks, some people wear them improperly.

“I’m blessed, I have a large nose so my nose keeps the mask up,” said Cuomo in a joking tone. “Incorrect mask wearing is a separate phenomenon.” As of now, he said he does not intend to impose fines on those wearing a mask below their noses. But as he has emphasized many times that wearing a “chin guard” is not the proper way to protect yourself.

MTA Chairman Pat Foye, said there was 90% mask compliance on public transportation, but the number could be higher.

The mandatory order will be executed by both MTA and city police officers but MTA workers will not be responsible for enforcing the order. “They already have so much to do,” said Feinberg.

Cuomo said he aimed to boost ridership on public transportation by reclaiming the faith of New Yorkers in the system.

“If they refuse to wear a mask, they will be evicted from the system,” said Cuomo.  His objective is, “ to give riders comfort.”

Cuomo also noted that “after Labor Day, traffic on roads have increased dramatically” as many people return to work and fear contracting the virus on subways, railroads and buses.

A former UN employee facing charges of sexual assault was arrested Wednesday and indicted on two counts of lying to FBI agents.

The Bureau alleges that when Karim Elkorany was questioned by agents outside of his home in West Orange, N.J., he falsely denied the accusations of a woman who claimed that he had sexually assaulted her in his apartment after the two had dined together. Months after he was questioned, Mr. Elkorany resigned from his post at the United Nations where he had worked as a telecommunications specialist

His lawyer, Dawn M. Cardi, Esq., has denied the charges, and told news outlets that she planned to fight them vigorously.

This is not the only incident of sexual assault of which Elkorany has been accused. Six women since 2009 have tied him to similar assaults. All the accusations included drugging the victims, and many described going in and out of consciousness while being attacked.

]]> https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/2020/09/ex-employee-of-un-accused-of-lying-to-feds/feed/ 0 https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/2020/09/activists-hold-microscope-over-another-virus-gun-violence/ https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/2020/09/activists-hold-microscope-over-another-virus-gun-violence/#respond Fri, 04 Sep 2020 19:23:00 +0000 http://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/?p=9708 ...[read more]]]> By BOBBIE BELL

State Senator James Sanders and a group of Queens community leaders on Thursday highlighted how  the coronavirus outbreak has worsened another pandemic that has been overlooked for years: gun violence in black and brown communities.

“COVID has brought out a beast in all of us,” Kevin Livingston, President of 100 Suits for 100 Men Inc., said at virtual panel on Sanders’ FaceBook page.

For many of the panelists the topic was no abstraction, recalling how the problem had impacted them in a personal way.

 Larry Smith, a community activist for social justice and civil rights, noted that one of his childhood friends had fallen victim to gun violence.  While he might have been filled with resentment, he instead said, “We have to look at both sides of the gun.” 

Rodney Green, of the Far Rockaway Youth Greek Council, also had lost someone close to him due to gun violence.  “It was a mistaken identity,” he said.

Sanders cited  CDC statistics showing gun violence as the number one killer of young people.

“People are angry and they don’t know how to displace their anger,” said Rosalyn Mason, program manager of Rock Safe Streets. “Trying to change that mindset is key.” 

Another activist,  Kenny Carter confessed that he once had pointed a gun at someone and also had been menaced with a gun  “Thankfully I’ve never taken a life,” he said.

Some panelists bemoaned how the virus has caused youth programs to shut down, leaving kids idle and vulnerable.

“Kids are killing themselves because they have nothing to do with their time,” said Sanders. 

“Summer youth employment wasn’t carried out the way it should have been,” said Jesutoyin Olabode, a youth leader of Rockaway Youth Task Force. 

Not everyone agreed on how to solve the problem. For example some panelists favored gun buyback programs while others backed bullet buybacks.

Panelists feared that after the COVID-19 outbreak was conquered the pandemic of gun violence would again be forgotten.  “The world is afflicted by the sensationalisms.  Social media is using black people as clickbait,” said Brandon Jeffries, the director of Youth Services for Queens Defenders. 

]]> https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/2020/09/activists-hold-microscope-over-another-virus-gun-violence/feed/ 0 https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/2020/09/ny-restaurant-owners-put-before-cuomo-a-menu-for-fair-wages/ https://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/2020/09/ny-restaurant-owners-put-before-cuomo-a-menu-for-fair-wages/#respond Thu, 03 Sep 2020 21:04:40 +0000 http://journalism.blog.brooklyn.edu/?p=9704 ...[read more]]]>

By CARMEN SAFFIOTI A group of local restaurant owners on Thursday urged Governor Cuomo to follow Mayor de Blasio’s lead in supporting legislation to end sub minimum wage for restaurant workers whose tips have been severely curtailed during the COVID19 pandemic. In ordinary times restaurant owners are permitted to pay servers and other workers less than the minimum wage because most of their earnings come from tips. But these were not ordinary times, the group’s organizers indicated at a digital ceremony sponsored by local restaurants. . This comes after Mayor de Blasio announced last week announced a $3 million plan that provides funding to restaurants that were shut down due to COVID-19.  “As somebody that has grown up in the restaurant business and been front, back, and side of the house,” said  Russell Jackson, chef and owner of a Harlem cafe Reverence, “I can truly say that there have been many, many years and times where I clearly saw the element of wage disparity amongst the different groups and saw that it was never fair.” Jackson, a recipient of city aid,  added: “I’m happy to hear that the government has been responding to the aspects of what we want for the local, and now we really need to push the state. We need to get the governor to take actions.” There are only 7 states, not including New York, where restaurants are required to pay their tipped employees the minimum wage. This creates a problem for employees who want to apply for unemployment benefits because their wage is too low to qualify for benefits. During a rally in Times Square  on Monday, President of One Fair Wage Saru Jayaraman read a report showing an $8 wage gap between black women and white men in local eateries.  Organizers say that the current sub-minimum wage and tip model fosters wage discrimination based on race. “Most people do not work in high-end fancy restaurants,” High Roads Restaurant advocate Mikey Knab said in an interview. “They work in chain restaurants or dive bars where they don’t make $40 an hour in tips. They go home making barely above the wages in tips and by and large most of those people tend to be people of color.” In the current racial climate, those seeking a fair wage believe that their efforts were essential for achieving racial justice. Knab added: “People in the front of the house tend to be white and male, and people in the back of the house are often people of color and women.” This becomes a special problem in New York State,  the only state where tip sharing is banned. Restaurants  in low income neighborhoods were given priority for the grants

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