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Click here for Inner City Press' weekday news reports, from the United Nations and elsewhere. Click here for a recent BBC piece on Inner City Press' reporting from the United Nations Search This Site Click for March 1, 2011 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption by Inner City Press. Click here for Inner City Press front page
ICP has published a (double) book about
a variety of Bronx-relevant topics -- a review in
Commonweal magazine of Dec. 5, 2003, opines that
"Predatory Bender... is as vivid an account of life in
the Bronx as you are likely to read" -- click here for
sample chapters, here for
an interactive map,
here
for fast ordering
and
delivery, and here for
other ordering
information. See
also, "City
Lit: Roman a Klepto [Review of ‘Predatory Bender’],"
by Matt Pacenza, City Limits, Sept.-Oct. 2004. CBS
MarketWatch of April 23, 2004, says the
the novel has "some very funny moments," and that the
non-fiction mixes "global statistics and first-person accounts."
The Washington
Post
of March 15, 2004, calls Predatory Bender: America in
the Aughts "the first novel about predatory lending;" the
London
Times of April 15, 2004, "A Novel Approach," said it "has
a cast of colorful characters." The Pittsburgh
City Paper of Dec. 11, 2003, wrote that it "may, in fact,
be the first great American lending malfeasance novel" including
"low-level loan sharks, class-action lawyers, corporate bigwigs,
hired muscle, corrupt politicians, Iraq War veterans, Wall
Street analysts, reporters and one watchdog with a Web
site." And all in The Bronx! Click
here
for that
review; for more information, contact us.
See, in Nov 2021, Inner City Press' book "Belt and Roadkill,"
here
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 26 – The United Nations under
Secretary General Antonio Guterres has become a
place of corruption and self-dealing, lack of
transparency and censorship.
Forget
that Guterres has only made worse the conflicts
and coups in Yemen, Cameroon, Libya, Burma,
Nigeria and elsewhere.
He
takes the public's money for his person trips to
Lisbon, from which his wife Catarina Vaz Pinto
has yet to join him in his publicly-funded
mansion in New York.
When
Inner City Press asks his spokespeople Stephane
Dujarric and Melissa Fleming how much this
costs, in person than in writing after Guterres
had Inner City Press thrown
out, there is no answer.
Catarina Vaz Pinto has shown up in photos from
Guterres' self-congratulatory junket to
Colombia. See here.
It
gets worse - while in Colombia she pontificated
on Instagram about "El Bronx," described as a
once drug riddled neighborhood.
For
years residents of the real Bronx, in New York
City, have asked others not to call their most
violent and poorest (or darkest) communities
"The Bronx."
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 14 – Tiasha George sued the City
for false arrest on 136th Street and Brook
Avenue in The Bronx on June 4,
2020.
On November 12, U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge Alvin K.
Hellerstein held a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
The
talk was of sending it to the SDNY mediation
panel, a/k/a the Section 1983 Plan.
The
plan review is due by February 22, 2022.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 4 – Moshe Wagh sued the
Secretary of Veteran Affairs, says that at the
Bronx V.A. Hospital he was paid disparate ages
"on account of the fact that he is an Orthodox
Jew."
On November 2 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge
Robert W. Lehrburger began a jury trial. Inner
City Press went up to the 26th floor to cover
it.
Wagh
was in the plexiglass witness box, explaining on
direct examination what the Sabbath is, and his
two years of medical school in Mexico, two in
Santo Domingo.
Judge
Lehrburger, after he let the jurors go, asked
why he had not been told during summary judgment
briefing of another doctor at the Bronx VA who
is an Orthodox Jew. Wagh's lawyer said he
dispute that the other is, in fact, an Orthodox
Jew.
The
Assistant US Attorney said if she had been on
the case earlier, she would have made Judge
Lehrburger aware.
At
the end on November 3, with Doctor Schwartz
leaving the stand, Judge Lehrburger suggested to
the parties that they avoid cumulative
presentation. Plaintiff's counsel asked to end
on Friday at 4, for this client's religious
observance. That's what the case is about.
On
November 4 mid-day, Judge Lehrburger asked the
lawyers about the pay scale. It emerged it
imposes a maximum payout cap of $400,000 a year.
To be less than the U.S. President? Judge
Lehrburger pointed out that something can be
considered, as required, but then rejected in
full. Then he called the lawyers' lunch break.
The
case is Wagh v. Wilkie, 18-cv-7726
(Lehrburger)
***
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Oct 28 – Back in December 2020, with
a legal filing full of misspellings asking to
enjoin an election or its results, a dozen
constituents of ousted New York City Council
member Andy King asked a Federal judge for a
restraining order. It was denied.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
New York Judge Valerie E. Caproni, in a
proceeding covered by Inner City Press, asked
how the plaintiffs had standing. (King's own
lawsuit against the City Council for ousting him
48-2 for misconduct had already failed).
Judge Caproni declined to issue a preliminary
injunction in Marchant et al v. De Blasio et
al., 20-cv-10544 (Caproni).
Then on April 12, fellow SDNY Judge
Paul A. Crotty held a proceeding in the case King v. City of
New York, 20-cv-8283 (Crotty). He gave King's lawyer Pamela
Hayes two weeks to file more papers. She asked for three.
Judge Crotty said he was not inclined, but
then relented. He gave three weeks but said if the papers are
not in, he will dismiss the case. That case is King v. City of
New York, 20-cv-8283 (Crotty).
On May 27, SDNY Judge Edgardo Ramos held a
proceeding in a case against King, by former staffer Shana
Melius for retaliation. The NYC City Council was refusing to
produce documents unless ordered by a court. So ordered.
On October 28, Judge Ramos held another
proceeding in this case. He was amazed that some discovery
remained to be done, but gave a brief extension for it to
happen..
This case is Melius v. New York City Council
et al., 20-cv-5237 (Ramos)
***
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon UN
censors
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
NEW
YORK, SDNY & EDNY, Oct 15 – The difference
between retail and wholesale politics was again
on display on August 27 and again October 15, in
town halls to The Bronx and Queens.
On
August 27 Inner City Press asked if the
Biden Administration is yet doing enough about
bank redlining, and got an answer, below.
On
October 15 Inner City Press asked about the
Pandora Papers, US trusts and the United
Nations, and did not. Inner City Press asked:
"AOC
cited the Pro Publica Papers and Rep Huffman
said the Pandora Papers don't show US
billionaires going offshore. But they DO show
foreign deposits using trusts in US states:
South Dakota was home to 81 trusts being used by
those studies; another 37 were in Florida, and
33 were located in Delaware. What do the Reps
think should and can be done at this, at not
only the state but also Federal level. And, if
possible, what is their view / understanding of
the nomination of Saule Omarova to head the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency? What
are her views / history on Community
Reinvestment Act, and what SHOULD she do?
Thanks, -Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City Press."
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Oct 6 – Manuel Peralta had finished
his shift at a Bronx deli when at 4 a.m. in
front of his building he was assaulted then
arrested by undercover NYPD officers, he says.
He
sued.
On October 6 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge Gregory H.
Woods held a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
Peralta
says "it is clear that the video of the running
body-worn camera was destroyed, or cut off,
damaged, and purposely, to spoliation of the
evidence to prevent access to the court."
Judge
Woods inquired into the failure to train
allegation.
The case is Peralta v. Vasquez et al., 21-cv-605 (Woods)
***
By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Song I, II, III Pod Vlog
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Oct 1 – Delowar Mohammed Hossain is
on trial for attempted material support to the
Taliban. The trial began on September 29, weeks
after the Taliban again took over Kabul in
Afghanistan. From the July 2019 Complaint:
HOSSAIN:
"Pakistan is a country that support jihad...
Pakistan has a good relationship with the
Taliban of Afghanistan. If we look over there
once we go there..."
Then Hossain was arrested at JFK airport. He has
been out on home detention and on the eve of
trial asked to delay it based on racial
disparities in the jury, because inactive voters
were removed from the jury pool. Inner City
Press will be reporting on the trial. On
September 29 it began, not without
difficulty, with the opening statements, live
tweeting them here
(podcast here,
vlog
I)
On September 30, Inner City Press was told it
could not be in the courtroom to see Cooperating
Witness Number 1, but could listen in an
overflow room two floors above.
This
continued on October 1, concluding in this, live
tweeted here:
Federal
Defender Dalack: This is a message from Delowar
[Hossain] to me, on the day he met you in the
mosque in The Bronx? Long interpretation. FD
asks to show it to jurors. Suhair: This is the
2nd mosque. FD Dalack: Let me take a step back.
Based on your direct
AUSA:
Objection. Misstates the testimony. Judge Stein:
What day was it? Was it the first day you met
the defendant? April 20, 2018? Suhail: I believe
it was a different day. FD Dalack: You went to
the mosque looking for someone at the request of
the FBI, correct?
Suhail:
Yes. FD Dalack: And that the first time you met
Delowar, correct? Suhail: We met at the first
mosque. Then he sent me the address of the 2d
mosque. FD Dalack: He texted you, correct?
Suhail: No.
[It's
like, Who's on the first mosque?] Judge Stein:
Approximately how many days between when you met
him and Gov Ex 505 on the screen? Suhail:
Perhaps uh, two weeks, three weeks, a little
more or less. Suhail: Three week or more.
Maybe less. FD Dalack: The Arabic there says El
Yom, which means today, right? Judge Stein: It
says today? AUSA: Mr Dalack can't translate
Arabic for us. Judge Stein: Just circle the
areas.
Suhail:
It is possible I took a snap shot of this
message to send it over to the FBI, like they
asked. FD Dalack: Do you know how iMessage
works? Suhali: What's iMessage? FD Dalack: It's
the application we're looking at. AUSA:
Objection.
FD
Dalack: So this invites you to the mosque on
Ward Avenue in The Bronx, right? AUSA:
Objection. Judge Stein: I'll allow it.
Interpreter: Could the court reporter read the
question back? FD Dalack: Look at what I've
circled
FD
Dalack: Wasn't this the time of Friday prayers?
Suhail: Could be. FD: What number did you text
from? Suhail: Later on the provided me another
phone, just to text with him. Not use personal
phone. Use work phone, they tell me. FD: 9916
was your personal phone
Judge
Stein: Look away from the document. Is your
recollection refreshed? Suhial: No. FD Dalack:
OK. Judge Stein: Take the exhibit down.
FD
Dalack: He wanted you to wake him from a nap
when you got to the mosque? AUSA: Objection.
Judge Stein: How much longer? FD: Several hours.
FD
Dalack: You goal was to find him when you got
the mosque, right, and wake him? Suhail: Yes. FD
Dallack: You told the FBI about it? Suhail: Yes.
FD: But they didn't pay you? Suhail: Not for
this.
FD:
You called Delowar on May 17, 2018, right?
Suhail: Maybe. FD: You wanted info for the FBI?
[It's 5:03]
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Sept 22 – Christopher Savinon was
charged with selling crack, heroin, fentanyl and
other narcotics on the Bronx' Belmont Avenue
between East Tremont Avenue and East 179th
Street.
On September 22 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge Lewis J.
Liman held a sentencing proceeding. Inner City
Press covered it.
Judge
Liman or his deputy asked if Savinon has been
vaccinated against COVID-19. No, was the answer.
The
Federal Defender said her office has a list of
those not vaccinated, presumably waiting.
The
guideline sentence was 70 to 87 months.
With
the conditions of confinement amid COVID cited,
Judge Liman imposed a sentence of 56 months, to
be followed by fully five years of Supervised
Release.
The case is US v. Savinon, 21-cr-233 (Liman)
***
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Sept 17 – Nicholas Joseph is charged
with narcotics conspiracy in The Bronx, with a
jury trial now ongoing on September 17.
U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York Judge P. Kevin Castel is managing the
proceeding, which Inner City Press is
covering.
The
US Attorney's Office on July 23 filed a motion
in limine seeking to show the jury some of
Joseph's rap videos including "gang signs, gang
colors and firearms" - and his lyrics.
Given
the First Amendment, is this really necessary?
On
August 24 a proceeding was held and Inner City
Press covered it. Joseph wants a 2 to 3 week
delay, citing the difficulty of access at Essex.
The US Attorney's Office opposed.
On
September 17, a cooperator Cruz was in the
witness box, describing being arrested in Maine
in 2019 and becoming a cooperator to try to get
a time served sentence. The US Attorney's Office
did play a rap video - which led the defense to
argue to get into evidence the fact that the
defendant got $21,525 in settlement money from
the City. Judge Castel told the prosecutors to
reach a stipulation to let this in. The trial
will continue. Was the rap showing necessary?
The case is US v. Joseph, 20-cr-603 (Castel)
***
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTROOM Exclusive, Sept 9 – In the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York on September 9, a detention hearing was
held by Magistrate Judge Steward D. Aaron on a
former Bronx school teacher charges with sexual
abusing girls from ten to thirteen years old.
Jesus Concepcion was arrested on August 7 in the
Western District of North Carolina on a
then-sealed indictment. In the month since,
Concepcion has retained his own New York defense
lawyer, affiliated at least in the docket with a
private investigation firm.
The
indictment says Concepcion "a/k/a Mr. C singled
out the Minor Victims for personal attention, he
gave them money, clothing, jewelry and other
gifts, and he provided them with alcohol...
inducing several of the Minor Victims to engage
in sexual activity with him."
But
no press release was put out about this case.
Judge
Aaron returned from a session with Pre Trial
Services and said he would release Conception on
a $1,000,000 bond, with travel restricted to
SDNY, EDNY and Carolina.
This case is US v. Concepcion, 21-cr-479 (Preska / Aaron).
***
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK