As part of its probe into the Eric Adams campaign’s connections to Turkey, the FBI is looking into whether an internal list of property owners seeking approval of fire alarm systems, kept by the mayor’s office under both Bill de Blasio and Adams, allowed prominent real estate developers to cut the line for crucial inspections, […]
New York City
Posted inThe Deed Finders
Hochul Signs Bill Giving Prosecutors More Power to Halt Deed Theft Evictions
New York State is moving to combat deed theft. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday signed into law a bill that aims to give prosecutors more latitude to go after fraudulent real estate transactions — and keep homeowners in their homes. Sponsored by Sen. Brian Kavanagh (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) and Assemblymember Helene Weinstein and co-authored by Attorney General […]
Posted inPublic Schools
Participation in Parent Conferences Has Plunged 40% Since COVID Remote Meetings Began
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters Remote parent-teacher conferences, a holdover from the height of the pandemic, continue to elicit mixed feelings among families and educators alike. For some parents, these virtual meetings — which were enshrined in the most recent teachers union contract — have been a boon. They can Zoom […]
Posted inAdams Turkey Probe
Mayor Eric Adams Blasts Leaks From Feds as Investigation into Foreign Donors Heats Up
Mayor Eric Adams railed against leaks coming from federal authorities as investigators are reportedly looking into whether he pressured senior fire department officials to help open the Turkish government’s new consulate building in Manhattan before he became mayor. Last week Monday, Federal investigators seized the mayor’s phones and iPad as part of the investigation into […]
Posted inMarijuana
Legal Budtender Is Home After Three Weeks in Rikers on Pot Charges
Jumal George, a budtender at Housing Works’ dispensary, was released from a Pennsylvania jail on Thursday evening. He had spent more than three weeks imprisoned on Rikers Island, in part because of an arrest warrant for out-of-state cannabis charges. George, 33, was arrested during a traffic stop on October 11 while driving home from his […]
Posted inAdams Turkey Probe
Eric Adams Donor Construction Firm Escaped Past City Graft Tangles
The federal probe of Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign fundraising that exploded into public view last week centers on KSK Construction, a Turkey-tied engineering firm that delivered more than a dozen donations to the mayor’s 2021 campaign that are now a subject of the investigation. But years before KSK’s involvement in this explosive inquiry became public, […]
Posted inAdams Turkey Probe
Before FBI Probe, Eric Adams Campaign Accepted and Returned $10,000 in Donations Linked to Turkish University
Less than two months before the 2021 general election, the Eric Adams campaign received five $2,000 donations from people listed as employees of Bay Atlantic University, a small Turkish-owned institution based in Washington, D.C. Now, the university-linked contributions are under scrutiny as part of an investigation conducted by federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. to determine […]
Posted inImpact
Queens Public Administrator to Depose Speculator Bros About Forgery Claims Uncovered by THE CITY
A home in Douglaston, Queens, estimated to be worth more than a million dollars, has become the focal point of a showdown between city officials and a trio of real estate speculators accused of predatory practices and fraud. Through an LLC called The Queens Foundation, one of those speculators had acquired interests in the property […]
Posted inAffordable Housing
Low-Income Co-Ops Do Without Gas for Years in Face of Steep Cost of Fixes
Jose Fernandez has been cooking without gas for over two years. So have his neighbors in their West Harlem co-op. Con Ed turned off the gas in the summer of 2021, after an inspector noticed a problem with an exterior pipe, fixed it and subsequently performed a separate air pressure test that the system failed, […]
Posted inUnions
City Workers Ditch Unions, Skip Dues, Following Supreme Court Ruling
City payroll records obtained by THE CITY suggest union enrollment has slipped since a Supreme Court ruling that allows government workers to opt out of membership. Between 2018 and 2022, membership went down nearly 8% among city employee unions, outpacing a decline of 5.1% in the number of full-time employees across city agencies. The gap […]