Tag: new york

Still More Juicy Stuff on the New GOP Congressman Who Lied About Everything

Perhaps you saw The New York Times’s exposé on incoming Republican Congressman George Santos from the Empire State. He’s a total unknown who in November managed to flip one of a handful of House seats nationally in the fingernail-chewing battle for control of the House of Representatives. 

And, as we shall see, there is less to the man than meets the eye.  

I’d read up on Santos right after the election, and noted his consequential victory and a  historical first: Both the Republican and his Democratic opponent, Robert Zimmerman, whom he narrowly beat, are openly gay. It is the first time this has ever happened in the country. 

It also didn’t happen where one might expect. New York’s 3rd Congressional District, one of the wealthiest in the country, runs along Long Island’s North Shore, includes a bit of Queens, leans conservative, and is graced with the Gatsby-esque old-money mansions of the “Gold Coast.” All this just a short distance from the Gomorrahs of Manhattan, Fire Island, and the Hamptons. 

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Mystery surrounding Republican Rep.-elect George Santos who flipped a House seat on Long Island: There are ‘no records’ at big banks where he said he worked, college he said he attended, or of properties ‘wealthy’ candidate says he owns

Republican Rep.-elect George Santos comes to Congress in January with a degree from Baruch College and stints at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, according to his campaign biography. 

But a New York Times investigation revealed Monday that nobody by Santos’ name, or a deviation of it, graduated in 2010 from Baruch. 

Nobody at Citigroup nor Goldman Sachs had a record of Santos working at their offices. 

The Times’ reporters couldn’t even track down the Long Island Republican where he said he lives. 

Journalists went to where Santos is registered to vote and the address associated with a campaign donation he made in October, but the woman living at that address said Sunday she was not familiar with Santos. 

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NYPD Warehouse for DNA, Troves of Criminal Evidence Destroyed in Brooklyn Inferno

An untold amount of “biological evidence” linked to New York City crimes dating back decades was destroyed or damaged in a raging inferno that devoured an NYPD warehouse off the Brooklyn waterfront Tuesday, authorities say.

The fire, which broke out around 10:40 a.m. at the Erie Basin Auto Pound in Red Hook, a sprawling warehouse on Columbia Street, left a half-dozen first responders and two civilians hurt — and sent up towering black smoke plumes so thick some confused New Yorkers thought the blaze had started in Manhattan.

It escalated to three alarms within about 30 minutes, and roughly 150 fire department members were at the scene through early afternoon. Twenty people, a mix of NYPD staffers and contractors, were said to be inside the warehouse when the inferno started.

It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the blaze, and the investigation could take some time, though investigators said they know it started on a shelf that stored evidence. Firefighters were forced to withdraw from the interior early because of the intense flames and combustible material, as well as the threat of collapse. One section of the warehouse, which may have had hundreds of e-bikes in it, did fall, officials said.

A total of eight people — three firefighters, three EMS members and two civilians — were hurt in the fire, but all are expected to be OK, FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said.

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Man Wrongfully Convicted of NYC Subway Stabbing in 1990 to be Compensated $18 Million

A man who was wrongfully convicted of fatally stabbing a tourist at a New York City subway in 1990 will be compensated $18 million.

Johnny Hincapie spent more than 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Hincapie was released from prison in 2015 and his conviction was dismissed in 2017.

According to reports, Hincapie said he was “coerced” into falsely confessing to the fatal stabbing.

Hincapie was sentenced to 25 years-to-life despite the fact that he recanted his confession and exculpatory evidence proved his innocence.

“I have never forgotten the loss his family suffered,” Hincapie said. “I am fortunate that my innocence has finally been acknowledged by my city and my state and I look forward to the next chapter of my life with my family.”

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Mayor Eric Adams to Involuntarily Hospitalize Mentally Ill New Yorkers

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) on Tuesday announced the city’s new plan to address mentally ill residents by hospitalizing them against their will, even if they do not pose an immediate safety risk to others.

Under Adams’ directive, New York City police officers, firefighters, and health department officials are allowed to involuntarily commit mentally ill individuals if they “cannot support their basic human needs to an extent that causes them harm.”

Previously, city officials were authorized to hospitalize mentally ill individuals who were dangerously violent and deemed an immediate threat to others. They would usually be discharged from the hospital after a few days when their conditions slightly improved.

Now, Adams’ directive authorizes “the removal of a person who appears to be mentally ill and displays an inability to meet basic living needs, even when no recent dangerous act has been observed.”

“If the circumstances support an objectively reasonable basis to conclude that the person appears to have a mental illness and cannot support their basic human needs to an extent that causes them harm, they may be removed for an evaluation,” the directive stated.

However, Adams and his staffers failed to define “basic needs” or provide any criteria for how city workers would determine if those needs are being met.

In announcing his plan, Adams claimed that the idea that city officials were only empowered to involuntarily hospitalize an individual if they are violent was a “myth” that “must be put to rest.”

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NYC Landlords May Soon Be Banned From Performing Background Checks on Prospective Tenants

Landlords in New York City may soon be prohibited from conducting criminal background checks on prospective tenants under a new piece of legislation under review by city lawmakers.

The legislation, called the “Fair Chance for Housing Act,” would even prohibit landlords from performing background checks on prospective tenants convicted of murder and other violent crimes, according to the New York Post. 

Reportedly, the legislation does not prohibit landlords from checking New York’s sex offender registry for prospective tenants, but the current language leaves landlords “vulnerable” to renting their properties to sex offenders who committed crimes in other states because out-of-state sex offender registries are not outlined in the legislation.

And, the bill does not affect New York City Housing Authority complexes, as they are required by federal law to carry out background checks. The bill also excludes homeowners renting out single rooms.

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Outrageous! NYC Housing Authority to Spend $596 Million on Illegals While New York’s Citizens Suffer

Some New Yorkers are understandably upset that so many resources, and tax dollars, are going to illegals who are not citizens, rather than to New Yorkers in need. New Yorkers, like all Americans, are struggling with out of control housing costs and the steep rise in cost of consumer goods.

According to a study by The New York Times in March of 2022, rents in the city have risen 33% in the last year, close to double the national average.

But in August, it was migrants who were invited by the hundreds to receive free healthcare coverage, food, other supplies and even free phones.

But New York Mayor Eric Adams is working overtime to help illegals, including recent efforts to strike a deal to house illegals in luxury cruise ships.

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Governor Hochul signs novel law that limits cryptomining, for now

New York is taking a first-in-the-nation step to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining, under legislation that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed Tuesday.

The measure comes amid growing scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry following this month’s collapse of the FTX exchange. But New York’s measure, which passed the state Legislature in June, is specifically concerned with the environmental aspects of crypto.

“I will ensure that New York continues to be the center of financial innovation, while also taking important steps to prioritize the protection of our environment,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a message explaining her approval.

The new law sets a two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for energy-intensive “proof-of-work” cryptocurrency mining — a term for the computational process that records and secures transactions in bitcoin and similar forms of digital money. Proof-of-work is the blockchain-based algorithm used by bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies.

The law also requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to asses how cryptomining affects the state’s ability to meet its climate goals.

Environmentalists said New York was undermining those goals by letting cryptomining operations run their own natural gas-burning power plants.

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The ‘Nazi’ Who Threatened Attacks on NYC Synagogues is Actually Jewish

The “Nazi” who was recently arrested and charged with plotting attacks on New York City synagogues is actually Jewish, and his lawyers claim he’s the descendant of holocaust survivors.

22-year-old Jewish man Matthew Mahrer, of Manhattan, is facing a charge of criminal possession of a weapon, alongside an alleged accomplice, 21-year-old Christopher Brown, of Aquebogue, NY. Brown faces additional charges of making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment. It’s unclear if Mahrer will be charged with more crimes related to the “Nazi” attack investigation.

According to a statement from law enforcement, the two men were arrested by the Metro Transportation Authority (MTA) at Penn Station, before they were “turned over to the NYPD and FBI.”

Police say they seized “a large hunting knife, an illegal Glock 17 firearm and 30-round magazine, and several other items,” including a Nazi armband.

According to CNN, which has painted the situation as being indicative of a massive Nazi militancy of angry Americans fixated on hurting Jewish people, community organizers and Democrat politicians responded swiftly to the arrests, making public statements to “denounce antisemitism.”

“The message is clear,” says New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “Anti-semitism has no home in New York City.”

“If you come here to perpetrate acts of hateful violence, you will be stopped by the finest police force in the world. Thank you to the NYPD for their quick work in bringing these bigots to justice,” Adams went on.

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White Sign-Language Interpreter Sues Broadway’s ‘The Lion King,’ Claims he Was Fired Because of His Race

A white sign-language interpreter is suing Theatre Development Fund for discrimination, alleging that the Broadway show fired him because of his skin color. 

Theatre Development Fund (TDF) — a nonprofit that assists Broadway shows with sign-language interpreters — asked Keith Wann, 53, and at least one other interpreter to step aside in favor of a black replacement for an April production of “The Lion King.” According to the New York Post, the organization decided it was “no longer appropriate to have white interpreters represent Black actors in Broadway shows.”

On Tuesday, Wann filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the organization and its programming director, Lisa Carling.

According to the lawsuit, Carling asked Wann and another non-black sign-language interpreter to “back out” of the show — which celebrates its 25th anniversary on Sunday — so they could be replaced by black sign-language experts.

“To me, just seeing that discrimination, it doesn’t matter if I’m white or black,” Wann told the New York Post. “This is blatant and I would just hope that other people who have also experienced this would step forward.”

Wann is a veteran sign-language interpreter who has been involved in Broadway productions for over a decade. In March, he was asked to work on one of Broadway’s most-acclaimed and longest-running shows.

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