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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.
2014: MRL on
Beacon Reader
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 7 – Nicholas Joseph is charged
as part of Bronx drug conspiracy that had a
shoot-out in a playground in Castle Hill in
which a 12-year old was injured.
On January 4 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin
Castel held a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
Joseph wanted to be released on $250,000 bond,
to his mother's house in Pennsylvania. Judge
Castel declined, but set a next conference for
March 3.
Now
on January 7, AUSA Andrew Chan has written to
Judge Castel that "earlier today a grand jury
returned a superseding indictment which includes
a second count of being a felon in possession of
a firearm and ammunition." They want Joseph to
be arraigned on this new charge on March 3,
saying that "defense counsel previously voiced
no objection to the exclusion of time [under the
Speedy Trial Act] until March 3."
The case is US v. Joseph, 20-cr-603 (Castel)
***
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 6 – Bronx resident Virgilio
Guerrero was hit and injured by a vehicle owned
by Grenada's Mission to the United Nations in
2018, on 42nd Street.
He sued in state court, but the UN Mission of
Grenada removed it to Federal court.
On
January 6, U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York e Judge John G. Koeltl held
a proceeding. Inner City Press covered
it.
Guerrero,
it turns out, has had to have surgury. The
Grenada UN Mission's venicle was being driving
by Tyrone Samuel.
But
as Inner City Press has reported with regard to
the UN Mission of Nigeria delaying a similar
case in the SDNY, diplomatic immunity or
impunity is a mind-set pervasive in and around
the UN on 42nd Street.
This
case is being referred to mediation, which is
not public.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Podcast
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
/ BRONX, Dec 29 – As 2020 comes to a close in
New York City, its mayor Bill de Blasio on
December 29 held a press conference urging that
anyone traveling back into the city test and
quarantine for COVID-19.
But what of the UN diplomats and bureaucrats
whom the city hosts, notably UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres who left his
public-funded mansion on Sutton Place to
vacation in Portugal, and said he may also visit
the United Kingdom?
Inner
City Press sought to ask the question at de
Blasio's press conference, video here,
but did not get the question in via WebEx as PIX
11, the Daily News and a self-described atheist
from WBAI were called on. (De Blasio said,
"Whatever works for you, God bless.")
So Inner City Press submitted the question
through the WebEx platform chat to panelist
Doctor Dave A. Chokshi the Commissioner of the
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
We'll see.
In
even more local NYC news, Inner City Press on
December 28 covered the online Town Hall meeting
at which Bronx Assembly-member Michael A. Blake
passed the baton to his successor, Chantel
Jackson who spoke of her Belize-born mother
working for a union, and her desire to carry the
voice of Bronxite to Albany. Again, we'll see.
The long-abandoned courthouse on Third Avenue by the 42nd Precinct was discussed, as well as how and whether truly small businesses can access future Paycheck Protection Program loans, as issue Inner City Press covers along with the Fair Finance Watch. Watch this site.
***
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 22 – Leonardo Fernandez is
classified as a career criminal. In four months
in 2018 and 2019, in the Claremont neighborhood
of The Bronx, he sold six grams of crack to
undercover officers.
On December 22, 2020 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge John G.
Koeltl held his sentencing. Inner City Press
covered it.
Assistant
US Attorney Andrew Chan said that Fernandez had
set up his own open air drug market in
Claremont.
Judge
Koeltl asked how much crack was at issue.
Six grams was the answer.
And
what would be the offense level if it were
powder cocaine, versus crack? The difference was
12 for powder, 16 for crack.
The
guideline sentence started at 151 months. Judge
Koeltl sentence Fernandex to 72 months or six
years.
The case is US v. Fernandez, 19-cr-267 (Koeltl)
***
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By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
NEW
YORK, SDNY & EDNY, Dec 17 – The difference
between retail and wholesale politics was on
display Thursday night, on calls on Zoom and
video, DC, The Bronx and Queens.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a Zoom town
hall from 7:30 to 8:30 pm, at which she took
constituent and three media questions, focused
on the stimulus negotiations but the Paycheck
Protection Program or bank re-regulation aspects
of it.
But as DC based sources report, there was a
video call to vote on contested seats on the
House Energy and Commerce Committee, where
Democratic leadership set up a vote between
Ocasio-Cortez and Long Island former prosecutor
Kathleen Rice, which as set up the latter won,
46-13.
Surprisingly, this showdown did not
come up in the questions selected in the
questions picked on Thursday night, except
perhaps indirectly.
A
constituent in the Bronx' Parkchester housing
development asked about how the Green New Deal
deals with such issues as pollution from trucks
on the nearby Cross Bronx
Expressway.
Ocasio-Cortez
replied among other things that corporations are
given tax breaks to come into the Bronx
and then pollute it; she spoke about health
problems caused by older housing stock like
Parkchester.
She also said that earmarks are in the past, and
that Federal Congresspeople have to work on
nationwide issues.
As an example, a constituent from Astoria,
Queens was given an update on negotiations on
PPP and other stimulus (but again, not the bank
regulatory aspect of PPP).
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 18 – 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 on Friday 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).
The plaintiffs' Queens-based lawyer said these
voters had a right to pick their representative.
He said he has already put 40 hours into the
case.
The complaint, which referred to Andy Young
before the last name was stricken to King, asked
for the "stooing" of the election to replace
King.
Judge Caproni declined to issue a preliminary
injunction, and gave the City defendants until
February 5 to answer or move to dismiss the
complaint.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 8 – Dawn Rivera was injured in a
Dollar Tree store in The Bronx in November
2016.
On
December 8 U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York Magistrate Judge Kevin N.
Fox held a proceeding. Inner City Press covered
it.
Dollar Tree was proposing that any disclosure of
information it put under its "protective order"
should result in a finding of contempt.
Judge
Fox nixed that, saying that it was the word
sanctions that should be used.
He
specified other problems with the proposed
protective order. A new one must be filed this
week.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Song
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 4 – A man in a surgical mask
robbed a gas station on City Island in The Bronx
on July 28, 2020.
There
was a security video, and on it he briefly took
down his mask.
Soon a Wanted poster yielded two anonymous tip
to the police, with the perpetrator's name
Michael O'Neill being given and even his
address.
By
August 25 a Federal complaint for Hobbs Act
robbery was sworn out and he was arrested.
On
December 4, U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge Denise L. Cote held a
change of plea proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
O'Neill,
with a Federal Defender, was admitting to
robbery but saying that it was not a gun he
used, but rather an unidentified "tool."
Likewise,
the theft of the gas station attendant's cell
phone which was in the Complaint was no longer
mentioned. So he faces up to 41 months.
Here is this reporter's Dec 5 song based
(loosely) off this, called CourtCall, here.
The
sentencing is set for March 5 at noon.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 15 – Pastor Nestor
Victor, a sandwich maker, sued Sam's Deli of 7
East 170th Street in The Bronx for not paying
overtime.
On November 13 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge Valerie E.
Caproni held a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
Earlier, Judge Caproni had reminded the parties
they cannot drop the suit without filing a
settlement agreement or Department of Labor
document.
The
question arose on November 13 there were really
was a settlement, or cold feet. It was referred
to the Magistrate Judge, Sarah L. Cave. The
parties said they thought that had already
happened.
On
November 24 Magistrate Judge Cave held a
proceeding. Inner City Press covered it; to her
credit, Judge Cave kept it open throughout.
Judge
Cave, noting that one of the parties was still
resisting signing, said she is loathe to
pressure parties to settle. But, she said, if
the skittish party would be willing to speak
with her, he has nothing to worry about.
It appears there will be another call; it is
unclear if it would be public, or docketed.
Elsewhere in SDNY on November 24, another
proceeding described as about issues with a
settlement agreement that had been reached was
abruptly deemed closed. There is a lack of
transparency to the press and public, some
perhaps understandable. We'll continue on this.
The
case is Nestor Victor et al v. Sams Deli Grocery
Corp. et al., 19-cv-2965 (Caproni / Cave)
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 17– Hafeez Shaheed was
driving on Boston Road in The Bronx on December
12, 2015 when he was pulled over by police.
He
was ordered out of his car, was tightly
handcuffed and taken into detention in the 47th
Police Precinct. He was denied medical
treatment. The criminal court summons filed
against him was dismissed and sealed on February
10, 2016.
In 2017, Hafeez Saheed sued the City of New York
and the police officers.
On
May 5, 2020, U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge Katherine
Polk Failla in a public telephone conference
which Inner City Press covered as it does others
asked Hafeez Shaheed if he would be willing to
settle for less than $100,000.
Yes, he said.
Judge
Failla asked, Less than $50,000?
Hafeez Saheed said No.
Melissa Wachs of the NYC Law Department,
representing the City and Officers Kevin Kenny,
Ou Wu and William Nakelski, said she did not
have authority to go above or to $50,000.
And so a tentative jury trial date of December
7, 2020 was set. Judge Failla genially said she
has already had to postpone a June jury trial,
so even December is not entirely sure.
Now in November 2020, another conference was
held in the case, and Inner City Press again
covered it. Since May another conference was
adjourned; the plaintiff's motion to file an
amended complaint was denied. In August the
trial was adjourned sine die. Now the talk is of
May, June or July 2021. On November 17 it was
said, see you in January.
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 5 – In a Perishable Agricultural
Commodities Act case, Custom Pak Brokerage has
sued Bronx-based JA Blurr Farms for non-payment
for wholesale produce.
On
November 5 U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil
held a default judgment hearing. Inner City
Press covered it.
It
emerged that counsel for Custom Pak has not
propertly served the defendants.
Judge
Vyskocil said she would issue an order, to be
served on JA Blurr Farms and Shamar T. Hyatt of
Katonah Avenue in The Bronx, to be responded to
by November 1.
If
not, a November 18 hearing will be canceled and
default judgment entered.