Tag: new york

NYPD COPS SUED FOR MISCONDUCT COST CITY MILLIONS IN SETTLEMENTS — THEN GET PROMOTIONS

NEW YORK CITY is on track to fork over more than $100 million this year in payouts for lawsuits alleging police misconduct against members of the New York City Police Department. Twenty of the officers stand out over the last decade for being named in the most suits or being named in suits with the highest payouts. Of the 20, the department has promoted at least 16 of the officers, some more than once. 

“They’re kind of failing upwards when they’re not only staying in the department but they’re also being promoted,” said Jennvine Wong, staff attorney with the Cop Accountability Project at the Legal Aid Society, a public defense organization in New York City. Last month, Legal Aid released an analysis of data on settlements in cases alleging police misconduct. 

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NY State Bill Would Require Background Checks to Buy 3D Printers

New York lawmakers are looking at requiring consumers to first go through a criminal history background check before they can buy certain 3D printers. 

The legislation is designed to crack down on potential misuse of 3D printers capable of manufacturing gun parts. The proposal comes from Democratic Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, who introduced the bill on Friday. 

Under the legislation, 3D printer retailers would need to request a background check from New York’s criminal justice services when a customer tries to make a purchase. Criminal justice services would then need to notify the retailer if the customer has received a felony or serious offense that would make them ineligible to possess a firearm. 

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Jewish NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov arrested for carrying gun at pro-Palestinian rally

Republican Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov was arrested Thursday when she was spotted toting a firearm at a pro-Palestinian rally— resulting in calls for her to be removed from office.

The councilwoman, who is Jewish and has spoken out against pro-Palestinian supporters, was in attendance as protesters convened on the campus of CUNY’s Brooklyn College Thursday.

“[Vernikov] was observed with the but-end of a firearm (handgun) protruding from the front portion of her pants” while observing the protest between noon and 2:45 p.m. Thursday, police sources told The Post.

“The Councilwoman eventually left the location and upon notification to police, the Councilwoman was contacted and she turned herself in to the 70 Precinct, in the company of her attorney [around 2:50 a.m. Friday],” the sources continued.

The 39-year-old was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm because she was on school grounds, the sources said.

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As Arrest Made, Murdered NYC Activist’s Pals Run GoFundMe To “Take Time Off Work”

Friends of murdered New York City liberal activist Ryan Thoresen Carson have created a GoFundMe page in which the “collective” solicits donations so they can take “time off of work” — and have already raked in $69,000. However, some donors are chipping in just for the privilege of leaving scathing comments. 

Carson was stabbed to death at 3:50 am on Monday in New York’s Bedfort-Stuyvesant neighborhood, as he and his girlfriend were returning from a Long Island wedding. They encountered an enraged young man who was kicking over parked mopeds and scooters before turning his rage on Carson, asking, “What the f*** are you looking at?  I’ll kill you!”

In video that captured the crime, Carson be heard repeatedly telling his assailant to “chill.” Carson was stabbed multiple times, including a fatal strike to his heart. (Note: Issuing orders to an enraged man is seldom a sound de-escalation strategy.)

On Thursday, NY cops arrested 18-year-old Brian Dowling — who lives near the crime scene on Lafayette Avenue near Malcom X Boulevard — and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. A search of Dowling’s apartment produced a sweatshirt matching the one that appears in security-camera video of the murder, along with a knife. He’d previously received summonses for disorderly conduct, and allegedly smashed items in his girlfriend’s apartment. In a 911 call, his aunt described him as mentally disturbed. 

Meanwhile, a self-identified “collective of Ryan’s close friends” is managing a GoFundMe account on behalf of themselves and Carson’s girlfriend Claudia Morales. However, rather than seeking funds for funeral and other final expenses, the group says they need the money “to eas[e] the burden and stress of this horrifying situation so that we can have space and time to grieve.” More pointedly, they say “immediate needs are to offset the costs of working class people taking time off of work to properly mourn.”

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Biometrics Look Increasingly Likely for Schools Afraid of Gun Attacks

When U.S. state of New York schools got the OK last week to use biometric systems short of facial recognition, the move gave more momentum to policies arming teachers with guns.

One of the first reactions came from the Security Industry Association, which criticized the fact that the state’s department of education continued to bar face biometrics collection of any kinds on school grounds.

The board announced that other biometrics systems can be used by schools so long as boards examine how doing so would affect privacy and civil rights, how effective the systems would be and how parents feel about the idea.

SIA members had opposed a three-year temporary complete ban on biometrics investment while campus deployment of facial recognition systems, specifically, could be studied. The ban’s lift largely followed recommendations of that report.

The group largely blames the continuing prohibition on face scans on “intense pressure” from the American Civil Liberties Union, which had filed a lawsuit to prevent a school district from putting AI behind CCTV networks.

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I worked construction on New York City’s mysterious windowless building – here’s what I saw

Nestled in the heart of lower Manhattan, the mysterious 33 Thomas Street, commonly known as the ‘Windowless Building’, has remained shrouded in secrecy for decades. 

This formidable skyscraper, devoid of windows and rising 550 feet into the skyline, has puzzled New Yorkers and intrigued passersby since its completion in 1974. 

Often regarded as one of the city’s oddest buildings, its true purpose has long been a subject of intrigue and speculation.

One man, who chose to remain anonymous for safety reasons, worked as a steamfitter – someone responsible for installing wiring and pipes carrying liquids and gases under high pressure – in the building with his son back in the early 2000’s. 

His son told Dailymail.com his father and crew were strictly forbidden to enter certain rooms in the building. There were off-limit areas of the building that were restricted for all visitors. No one was allowed to enter. 

‘There were rooms we couldn’t get into. They specifically told us not to enter, and we couldn’t ask what’s inside or why we can’t go in,’ he said.  

The crew ultimately ended up having to install wires around the rooms, an unprecedented move in the field of steam fitting.  

Additionally, the crew once found what appeared to be confidential papers in a filing cabinet in the basement of the building. 

The classified information was regarding what to do with machines in case of a radiation attack. 

Since being built the windowless building functioned as AT&T’s long-distance telephone exchange until 1999, when the company moved elsewhere. 

Today, the windowless skyscraper is still sometimes used for its original purpose of telephone switching by some local exchange carriers.

Other areas of the building are reportedly used as a high security datacenter. 

It’s now more commonly known as 33 Thomas Street, rather than the AT&T building or the Long Lines Building. 

Constructed under a cloak of secrecy, 33 Thomas Street was designed to withstand an atomic blast, according to an exclusive report about the building by The Intercept in 2016. 

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An inside look at the ‘Satanic, neo-Nazi’ pedophile cult that ensnared NYC man arrested on gun charges

A Satanic pedophile cult uncovered by the FBI after the arrest of a Queens man two years ago is an offshoot of a much older neo-Nazi organization that wants to destroy Western civilization, according to an overseas nonprofit that’s been tracking the hate group.

Federal authorities stumbled upon the newer group – which is named “764” but goes by a number of aliases – while investigating Angel Almeida, a 23-year-old convicted felon from Queens who was busted with a gun in November 2021.

The loosely organized commune of creeps appears to be intensely interested in targeting kids on the internet, then threatening, intimidating or blackmailing them into recording acts of self-mutilation, animal abuse, sex acts and even their own suicides, according to an FBI warning issued earlier this month.

But sources told The Guardian that 764 is an outgrowth of an older, larger organization known as the Order of Nine Angles — which the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) called a “decentralized, Satanic, neo-Nazi organization” bent on the overthrow of Western governments.

The group — commonly referred to as O9A — believes the West’s Judeo-Christian heritage “corrupts modern society,” according to the ISD, an independent, non-profit human rights organization based in London.

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How NYC gun arrest uncovered a huge pedophile Satanic cult

The arrest of a Queens man on gun charges two years ago has led federal authorities to the discovery of a Satanic pedophile extortion cult that targets minors over the internet, a report said Thursday.

Investigators uncovered the heinous group, named 764, while probing disturbing social media posts made by Angel Almeida, 23, who was busted in November 2021 and charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to court documents and a report from The Guardian.

In February, Brooklyn federal prosecutors announced they had filed a superseding indictment against Almeida, adding charges related to child exploitation and enticement of minors.

Prior to Almeida’s arrest, the FBI followed anonymous tips that allegedly linked him to social media accounts containing vile posts about child sex abuse — including one Instagram profile, “@necropedocell,” that featured a photo of what appeared to be a child bound and gagged.

A post on another of Almeida’s alleged Instagram profiles showed him posing with ammunition strapped to his chest, in front of a black flag bearing the logo of the Order of Nine Angels (O9A), which prosecutors described as “a worldwide Satanist … group which embraces elements of neo-Nazism and white supremacy.”

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New York Democrats to distribute flyers telling illegal immigrants to go somewhere else

New York City has had enough of illegal immigrants exhausting the city’s resources and is planning on distributing flyers to illegal immigrants that state they will not be able to find work in the Big Apple and to go elsewhere.

According to Bloomberg, the flyers will be dispersed to illegal immigrants in NYC shelters and at the US/Mexico border in an attempt to dissuade them from coming to the concrete jungle. The contents of the flyer warn illegal immigrants that that “you will not be placed in a hotel”, “NYC is one of the most expensive cities in the world; you are better off going to a more affordable city”, and “NYC cannot help you obtain a work permit, and you will not be able to easily find work.”

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Overdose crisis reaches historic levels in New York City

The overdose crisis has reached historic levels in New York City, according to new data from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Provisional data shows there were 3,026 overdose deaths in New York City in 2022, the highest total since the department began recording such incidents in 2000.

Newly released data shows that overdose deaths increased by 12% from 2021 to 2022. Fentanyl was detected in 81% of drug overdose deaths in New York City, according to the data. Fentanyl is an opioid that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, the department states.

The report found that Black and Latino New Yorkers had the highest rates of overdose death and the largest increases in rate from 2021 to 2022.

Adults ages 55 to 64 continued to have the highest rate of overdose, followed by adults ages 45 to 54, according to the report.

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