This probably isn’t legal (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Councilmembers Lew Fidler and Jumaane D. Williams passed legislation that they hope will crack down on illegal gambling in the city. According to the press release, the bill, which passed by a 49-to-0 vote in the City Council, specifically targets illegal activity in new gaming cafes that have been establishing themselves in neighborhoods across the city.
The gaming cafes are often marketed as internet cafes, but also promote sweepstakes and other prizes for playing online games in their establishments. According to the pols, some cafes abuse legal loopholes in the law by offering cash prizes or awards for certain activities. Councilman Williams highlighted the importance of closing these loopholes and what it means for communities across the city.
“The message that Intro 1035-A sends is clear; we will under no circumstances tolerate businesses that attempt to take advantage of legal loopholes in order to prey on lower-income individuals,” Williams said in the release.
The press release explained the source of this new phenomenon.
Council Members Williams and Fidler have been advocating against the proliferation of illegal gambling at internet sweepstakes cafes since they discovered establishments that had opened in and around their districts, including Lucky Spot NYC, Reels of Fortune and Monopoly Cafe. Since then, they have worked with local community boards to ask DCA to examine this issue, several of these locations have closed down or been investigated by the NYPD. The council members have also discovered advertisements for similar cafes located in all five boroughs.
According to a New York Post report, the NYPD has shut down nine internet cafes since November and arrested eight people affiliated with their operation.
On the turf of former State Senator Carl Kruger and embattled State Senator John Sampson, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch came before a group of concerned citizens with a message: don’t despair, not everyone is corrupt, be you must be active and involved to ensure the best from your elected leaders.
Madison Marine Homecrest Civic Association hosted the event on Thursday, May 16, inviting Lynch to the Carmine Carro Community Center in Marine Park to talk about the recent cases. Lynch’s appearance came amid scandalous headlines involving Sampson who’s at the center of a handful of federal probes, and less than two years after the arrest and resignation of Kruger. Both represented portions of Marine Park.
The entire 40-minute talk by Lynch, which included questions from the audience, is posted above. But, aside from Sheepshead Bites, a slew of other reporters were at the event. Here’s what some of them wrote:
Don’t “succumb to cynicism and apathy. Don’t give up — stay committed,” said Lynch, who is the chief federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, which also includes, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.
“Stay involved . . . Don’t give up.”
… When the audience was asked how many of them believed all politicians are corrupt, nearly everyone in attendance raised a hand.
Lynch told the audience, “We have to take back the system from the people who trampled on it. I don’t own it, you own it.”
Lynch took that message a step further when she said that not only should people not give up on the political process, but also that their participation is necessary.
… U.S. Attorney Lynch stated that apathy hurts the democratic process and that – along with wiretaps, undercover officers, and witnesses using recording devices – ordinary citizens who notice inconsistencies often play a big role in bringing corrupt politicians down.
“We are all enforcers,” Lynch said. “We all play a role. People need to get involved. ‘See something, say something’ is not just a slogan for the subway.”
Lynch also cautioned people to be patient in corruption cases and warned that just because somebody’s name is brought into the mix doesn’t necessarily mean they are corrupt.
“There can often be names that come out that should not have come out because, especially early on in an investigation, it’s impossible to determine their involvement and often it just tars their names,” she said.
Political reporters converged on Lynch after the event, asking her about recent allegations from minority lawmakers that the feds, including Lynch, were unfairly targeting elected officials of color. Lynch, herself an African-American who began her career working in civil rights, denied the charges.
From the Eagle:
When Lynch was questioned about whether black politicians are unfairly targeted, she replied, “Not stealing money is not a high standard. We look at the behavior of everyone. Our goal is to protect communities. You deserve integrity regardless of what your background is.”
When Lynch was questioned about whether black politicians are unfairly targeted, she replied, “Not stealing money is not a high standard. We look at the behavior of everyone. Our goal is to protect communities. You deserve integrity regardless of what your background is.”
… “No matter what type of case we prosecute, people who may feel targeted are concerned and make all kinds of statements about it,” Ms. Lynch said. “It’s part of the problem of public corruption that it really almost makes everyone look as if they’re involved, even if they’re not. And so you have people get very paranoid and very nervous and feel as if they’re under a microscope … We don’t go around targeting people other than those that we strongly have evidence [against], but I think what happens is, the atmosphere is very toxic, for lack of a better word, and it does affect people and that’s a byproduct of these cases,” she said.
A slew of local elected officials, including Councilman Lew Fidler and Assemblymembers Helene Weinstein and Alan Maisel, spoke before Lynch, and used it as an opportunity to remind attendees that the recent headlines reflect a few “bad apples.” They also touted anti-corruption legislation they’re working on, including disallowing lawmakers from using campaign funds on legal fees, and the ability to strip convicted legislators of their pension.
In the six months following the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, victims of the storm have been facing a slew of problems beyond the damage to their properties. The New York Daily News is reporting that one of the new hurdles confronting residents is the city’s yearly sale of tax liens to debt collectors.
Every year the city sells the tax liens, which include unpaid property taxes and water bills, to third party debt collectors. The collectors then jack up the interest fees, sometimes as high as nine percent on homes valued under $250,000. The increased fees force many homeowners to foreclose their homes.
This year, 720 Sandy-damaged homes, located in Brooklyn and Queens, are on the city’s lien list. Lawmakers, like Councilman Lew Fidler want the city to delay the sale of the liens another year.
“Sandy hit many homeowners like a brick bat and many have still not recovered. For the City to come along and whack them again with a lien sale is not only cruel but, in the end, it will be counter-productive. If our goal is to get people to pay what they owe without losing their homes, this is the exact wrong way to go about it. Allowing people some more time to recover from this disaster is both reasonable and compassionate.” Fidler said in a press release.
The city has taken the step of removing homes who have faced extreme damage from the tax lien list but has not yet taken any extra steps.
We received the above photo from Missy Haggerty, the Lake Avenue resident who helped lead dozens of neighbors to safety out of the flooded corridor during Superstorm Sandy.
Missy tells us the bungalow courts remain underwater even as most of the water from this morning’s flash floods have receded elsewhere. The courts are below street level, and the drains – which, we’re told, are not connected to city sewer lines – were still clogged from Sandy, causing all the water to back up.
Residents are using pumps to get the water out now, and we’re told by a rep in Councilman Lew Fidler’s office that they’re working to get the Department of Environmental Protection on scene to help pump the water out of the alleyways.
BYLAWS REVISED: After taking heat from a group of neighbors upset about a drug treatment facility proposed for Kings Highway, Community Board 15 voted to revise a section of their bylaws that would require more intense community outreach in the run-up to a hearing for similar facilities in the future.
For decades a battle has raged between parents, religious leaders and politicians over the question of allowing prayer in schools. Councilman Lew Fidler may have come up with a solution that attempts to bridge the gap between those who believe and those who don’t.
According to CBS New York, Fidler has put forward a resolution that calls for students to observe a mandatory, albeit non-denominational moment of silence, either before or after the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Like most attempts to legislate the behavior of children, Fidler’s idea has split critics and divided parents.
TriBeCa resident Christi Wood spoke to the seemingly benign nature of the proposed resolution. She told CBS New York that she thinks “it’s a good idea. They can kind of think about whatever they want. We live in a crazy, fast-paced city, so a moment of silence, I think it is a good idea. I’d like to have one.”
Julie Antoinette thought the measure was a waste of time.
“I disagree with it. I just think that if they need to have a moment of silence [do it] at their own time. How many hours in a school day? They have 12 other hours to do it on their own private time.”
While a resolution from the City Council can’t force the Department of Education to enact a mandatory moment of silence, Fidler hopes that a near-unanimous council resolution puts pressure on them to do so.
“Hopefully, if it passes the council and it passes unanimously, or close to unanimously, the Department of Education will understand that there is a school of thought out there that believes that this should be policy,” Fidler told CBS.
We were wondering what our readers think of making children observe a mandatory moment of silence everyday at school.
Do you think it’s good for children to have a moment to silently meditate, pray or just relax quietly? Do you think the idea is too rooted in a religious mind-frame and has no place in public schools? Or do you think the idea is just dumb and a waste of time?
The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) stopped hauling away large debris and garbage resulting from Superstorm Sandy on March 18, roughly five months after the storm paralyzed the East Coast. Despite the extra months of work, valiant Sanitation workers put in by trucking away huge pieces of junk from people’s battered homes, residents in the area are still in need of their services, according to Brooklyn Daily.
So far, DSNY has carted away a staggering 430,000 tons of Sandy-related debris. According to Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein and Councilman Lew Fidler, residents are still in desperate need of pickups because they cannot afford expensive private garbage haulers to take away their debris as construction continues.
Sheepshead Bay resident Kathleen Flynn expressed her frustration at the situation.
“We don’t own anything anymore, only the garbage we’re trying to throw out, and now they’re telling us we have to pay to get rid of it.”
Michael Taylor, the founder of Gerritsen Beach Cares, spoke of the consequences of debris that doesn’t get collected.
“I have friends who have stuff in their basement that’s full of mold, and but [sic] he won’t get rid of because he doesn’t have the money to afford a dumpster [sic].”
Fidler promised residents that he and Weinstein will do everything they can to get the DSNY to initiate another round of debris pickups.
“My office and assemblywoman Weinstein’s office reached out to [Sanitation] to continue extra pick-up services. We do not view the rebuilding to be done, the demolition to be done, nor the crisis to be over,” Fidler told Brooklyn Daily.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg applauded the efforts of Councilman Lew Fidler for his work on a bill that seeks to better understand child homelessness in the city, a subset of the population that is often times exploited or ignored.
In the video above, Councilman Fidler laid out the staggering statistics that should make anyone’s stomach churn when confronting the problem of homeless children in New York City.
“On any given night in our city, 3,800 children are homeless without their families on our streets. That’s a fact that I’m ashamed of as a member of government and as a father and as a human being.”
Fidler went on to describe how these children are often exploited sexually just so they can survive from day to day. The bill is designed to investigate how the city is currently servicing these children so the city can better coordinate resources to help to save them.
Monsignor Thomas Brady, the beloved former pastor of Marine Park’s Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church (1943 Brown Street), passed away Monday evening after more than half a century as a man of the cloth.
Brady lost a long battle with an unspecified form of cancer, said Reverend James Devlin, who succeeded Brady in leading the Good Shepherd parish. Brady passed away at approximately 11:00 p.m. Monday. He was 78 years old, and known to be suffering from lung cancer and had been the victim of several strokes.
“He was very beloved. He served. He was always here for people when they needed him,” Devlin said of Brady. “He was the retired pastor when I arrived and I certainly realized how very much loved he was by the people of the parish.”
Serving at the local church for more than 22 years, Brady was known as a committed member of the community, developing outreach programs and strengthening the ties between the church and the larger Marine Park neighborhood.
“In our interactions he was always very, very nice, very hospitable, and very community-minded,” said Councilman Lew Fidler. “He was always looking out for ways that Good Shepherd’s members could benefit from community involvement, and he always made me feel welcome when I came to Good Shepherd.”
He served as principal of the Good Shepherd School in addition to leading the parish. Brady resigned in June of 2009, suffering from increasing health ailments.
But the final years of Brady’s life did not pass in peace. In addition to wrestling with the effects of chemotherapy and strokes, Brady was put on administrative leave in 2011 after two teenage students from the school alleged the respected pastor had attempted “inappropriate sexual contact.” Members of the community rallied around Brady and expressed their disbelief, and a defiant parish dedicated their annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony to the embattled monsignor amid the controversy.
Ultimately, a grand jury reviewed the complaints and determined them insufficient to merit a criminal complaint.
After returning from administrative leave, Brady remained as a pastor emeritus at the church until his death on Monday. He is survived by nephews and nieces.
A wake for Monsignor Thomas Brady will be held at Marine Park Funeral Home at 3024 Quentin Road on Monday, April 1, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. The funeral home can be reached at (718) 339-8900.
The funeral will be held Tuesday, April 2 at 10:30 a.m. at Good Shepherd. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Little Sisters of the Poor (Queen of Peace Residence). Donations can be made at 10-30 221st Street, Queens Village, NY 11429-2597, or by calling (718) 464-1800.
Correction (March 29, 2013 at 8:10 p.m.): The above article originally stated that Brady had served as the principal of Good Shepherd School. That was inaccurate. He had served as rector-principal of Cathedral Prep Seminary in Elmhurst.
Departing City Councilman Lew Fidler took journalist and “Inside City Hall” host Errol Louis on a tour of his Southern Brooklyn district, visiting Gerritsen Beach and Marine Park, among other places, in a new report by NY1.
In the video, Fidler shows Louis the destruction wrought by Superstorm Sandy, discusses building projects such as the Marine Park Green Community Center, keeping Public School 114 in Canarsie open, and maintaining funding for children and senior programs.
At the end of the video, Fidler, who is leaving the City Council at the end of his term, remained vague about his future plans. While he said it wasn’t in his plans to run for office at the moment, he added that he was “not riding off into the sunset.”
