New York City
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Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five, won his primary election to the New York City Council in a strong fashion.
As the results of the Democratic primary for the City Council’s 9th District came in at 11 P.M. on Tuesday night (June 27th), the 49-year-old author and justice activist was leading state Assembly members Inez Dickens and Al Taylor with more than 50% of the vote. Dickens and Taylor netted 25% and 15% of that vote, respectively. Kristin Richardson Jordan, the incumbent who dropped out of the race unexpectedly but was still on the ballot, came in last but earned 10% of the vote.
Salaam gathered with his supporters at Harlem Tavern, entering to raucous applause. In a speech he gave to the crowd which was covered by Jeff Coltin of City & State NY, he said: “What has happened on this campaign has restored my faith in knowing that I was born for this. I am not a seasoned politician. So therefore this was not politics as usual.”
In being one of the five Black and brown teens – the others being Antron McCay, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise – falsely accused and convicted of assaulting and raping Trisha Melli in 1989, Salaam’s experience served as fuel for his life as a justice advocate after he and the others were exonerated after another man confessed to the crime. That story drew many in the Harlem district to back his campaign. The win guarantees that Salaam will serve on the City Council for two two-year terms, as there is no Republican candidate slated for the district.
He referenced that situation and the 1989 newspaper advertisement by Donald Trump calling for the death penalty in their case, although he deigned to call out the former president by name. “This campaign has been about those who have been counted out, those who have been forgotten,” Salaam said in his speech. “I am here because, Harlem, you believed in me.”
There was the possibility of Salaam potentially going through a second round of counting votes due to New York’s ranked-choice voting system, but the lead that he holds makes it mathematically impossible for Dickens and Taylor to overcome. The 73-year-old Dickens, who scored the only endorsement by Mayor Eric Adams in any City Council election this primary, reportedly called Salaam to concede later that evening.
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A grand jury has indicted Daniel Penny in the death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway train last month.
On Wednesday (June 14th), grand jurors in Manhattan returned an indictment against Penny. The exact charges were not revealed, but are expected to be announced once the indictment is unsealed. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter last month and turned himself over to authorities. He would be released on a $100,000 bond afterward.
A representative for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment on the indictment when contacted by the press. “I appreciate DA Bragg conducting a thorough investigation into the death of Jordan Neely. Like I said when the DA first brought charges, I have the utmost faith in the judicial process, and now that the Grand Jury has indicted Daniel Penny, a trial and justice can move forward,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a statement.
Lawyers for Neely’s family applauded the grand jury’s decision, issuing a statement saying that it was “the right result for the wrong he committed”. “Daniel Penny did not have the right to be the judge, jury, and executioner,” they also said. In their statement, lawyers for the 24-year-old former Marine said that “it should be noted that the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low and there has been no finding of wrongdoing. We’re confident that when a trial jury is tasked with weighing the evidence, they will find Daniel Penny’s actions on that train were fully justified.”
The indictment comes six weeks after May 1st when Neely boarded a northbound F train, appearing to be erratic and yelling about being unhoused. Penny grabbed the 30-year-old in a chokehold along with two other passengers, bringing him to the floor of the train. A bystander took video footage showing Penny having Neely in that chokehold for several minutes as he struggled. Neely would be pronounced dead after being hospitalized, and the medical examiner declared his death a homicide due to compression of the neck. Penny has maintained that he was acting in self-defense.
The case has shone a light on the serious societal divide, as protests ensued days after Neely’s death demanding justice. Right-wing networks and publications dubbed Penny a hero and “Good Samaritan”, including Republican presidential candidates. Penny’s lawyers stated that a crowdfunding campaign for him has raised $2.8 million so far for his defense.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams was met with displays of disapproval at a law school graduation, with some publicly turning their backs on him.
Last Friday (May 12th), Sudha Setty, the City University of New York School of Law dean, introduced Mayor Adams to the crowd of graduates and families. As she made note of his record as a police officer, boos steadily rose from the crowd. As he took to the stage to speak, many of the graduates visibly turned their backs on him. Others present at the closed-door event stated that there were more boos and derisive words shouted, with one source claiming to see a couple of raised middle fingers directed towards him.
Adams seemed undeterred by the protests. “We have a lot of challenges, a lot of things that it needs discipline. And just as you see these graduates here, I know what it is to protest,” he said, which was met by yells from the crowd. As he concluded his remarks which at some points were met by applause, he did note the backlash. “We’re watching a clear lack of desire to even participate in healthy dialogue,” he said. “My message today to the graduates,” Adams continued, “my message to those who believe that their beliefs are the only beliefs in a diversified city like New York, my message to you, instead of being a detached spectator in the full contact sport called life, get on the field and participate about improving the lives of the people of this city.”
The protests against Adams, reminiscent of how New York Police Department officers visibly shunned then-Mayor Bill de Blasio at a police funeral, come as he faces high criticism for refusing to condemn the murder of Jordan Neely by a white ex-Marine, Daniel Penny on a subway train. Adams also has been blasted for presenting a city budget that would cut 235 faculty and staff positions from CUNY’s network, which has been rallied against by students and professors.
“He’s committed to carceral discrimination against the poor, even if he was an internal reformer when he was in the police,” said Genevieve Ward, a second-year student who saw a video of the speech. “It’s disingenuous for himself to align his interest in police with the interests of what we’re taught at CUNY,” she continued. “And also just the timing of it, with the killing of Jordan Neely and his absence of talking about it until two days ago.”
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Daniel Penny, the man who choked and killed Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train has turned himself over to authorities.
Penny, a former Marine, arrived at the Fifth Precinct of the New York Police Department in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan at 8 A.M. on Friday (May 12th). He surrendered alongside his attorneys, Steven Raiser & Thomas Kenniff.
Penny faces a charge of second-degree manslaughter, which was announced by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Thursday.
Raiser and Kenniff said in a statement that they were “confident that once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr. Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.” A second-degree charge of manslaughter in New York is applied when the assailant is accused of recklessly causing the death of another person. If convicted of the charge in a trial, the 24-year-old Penny would face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The city medical examiner ruled that Neely died due to compression of the neck on May 3rd.
Penny’s surrender comes after days of sustained but rising outrage expressed by community activists and politicians who were shocked at witnessing the video of Penny restraining Neely, a Black man who was homeless, in a chokehold on a northbound F train. A witness on the same train stated that Neely was yelling at others after boarding the train while in the midst of a mental health crisis. Penny would grab Neely and put him in a chokehold as two other men restrained his arms and legs. Police arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette station, and rushed Neely to a nearby hospital where he died.
Mayor Eric Adams had received heavy criticism from Democratic politicians for not taking a stronger stance on the incident, but after the announcement of charges he said: “I have the utmost faith in the judicial process, and now justice can move forward against Daniel Penny.” Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor who was part of the team that brought the case by the D.A.’s office against the Trump Organization, has been tasked to lead the investigation.
The family of Jordan Neely held a press conference afterward, blasting media depictions of Neely as excessively violent. Family attorney Lennon Edwards said of the charge, “We’re closer now to justice than we were a week ago because Daniel Penny has been arrested.” They also blasted Penny’s previous statement, claiming that “he’s getting to rewrite the account of what happened”.
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Jordan Neely, a young Black homeless man who reportedly suffered a mental health episode while on a New York City subway train, was subdued by a passenger and eventually lost his life. Neely’s death was ruled a homicide as protestors continue to demand justice.
Neely, 30, was aboard an F train at the Broadway-Lafayette station when he allegedly threated passengers while standing. Another passenger, reportedly a U.S. Marine, grabbed Neely from behind with a rear-naked chokehold to subdue Neely as others looked on. From the little video footage we could bear to watch, Neely was effectively constrained by the Marine and two others posing no real threat but the Marine kept the deadly chokehold applied tightly and emergency response teams were unable to revive him.
As reported by local outlet ABC 7, protestors planned a protest outside of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for Thursday (May 4), adding to the growing cries of injustice and a common refrain that Neely’s death was indeed murder. The Marine, 24, was taken into custody and eventually released. Howwever, with the homicide ruling, charges could be pending for the Long Island resident.
As the news of Neely’s passing grew wide, most remembered him as a Michael Jackson imprsonator who held performances in and around the Times Square area. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among the many public figures to speak out regarding Neely’s death and opened a tweet about the matter with, “Jordan Neely was murdered.”
The tweet was decried by New York Mayor Eric Adams, who said of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet, “I don’t think that’s very responsible at the time when we’re still investigating the situation.”
While Neely’s death was ruled a homicide, the Manhattan DA will need to file charges if the case is to move ahead.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has been especially vocal regarding Neely’s death, also incurring the criticism of Mayor Adams. However, Lander is refusing to back down.
Across social media, many are gathered in support of Jordan Neely and his family in their ongoing fight to find a legal resolution.
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A Black man who was alleged to have berated riders on a New York City subway train was killed due to a chokehold by a white passenger.
As NewsOne reports, Jordan Neely was on a northbound F train on Monday afternoon (May 1st). A witness claimed that Neely was yelling at other passengers on the train. “He started screaming in an aggressive manner,” said witness Juan Alberto Vazquez. “He said he had no food, he had no drink, that he was tired and doesn’t care if he goes to jail. He started screaming all these things, took off his jacket, a black jacket that he had, and threw it on the ground.” At that point, an unidentified white straphanger comes up behind Neely and places him in a chokehold, taking him down to the ground.
After a reported duration of 15 minutes, Neely stopped moving & lost consciousness. Video footage apparently shows someone expressing concern for Neely’s well-being off-camera. The 24-year-old and another man who joined in to hold Neely down let go of him, leaving him lying on his side.
Neely was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital by police where he would pass away. New York Police Department representatives have revealed that the 24-year-old is a former enlisted Marine, but have not revealed his name. He was arrested at the scene but released ultimately without being criminally charged. They also stated to members of the press that Neely was a recidivist with 44 prior arrests for assault & fare evasion.
The incident has angered many who got wind of the news on social media, noting how the 24-year-old vigilante wouldn’t have gotten to go free if he was Black and the victim was white. Some pointed out the free use of the term “vagrant” by publications to describe Neely. Others, like journalist Soledad O’Brien, noted how outlets like the New York Times used passive language. “Okaaaay young journos: let’s talk about the passive voice from @nytimes this fine morning. The guy “died”? Or was killed?” she wrote.
Police claim that an investigation into the exact circumstances of Neely’s death is ongoing, expressing that they are waiting on the autopsy results. Subway crime has been a heated topic of discussion, with NYPD officials boasting that it has dropped about 6% since the beginning of the year.
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A proposed ban in New York City on menthol cigarettes has led to two opposing groups of advocates debating the potential effects on the Black community.
The proposal of further city and state bans on the sale of menthol cigarettes has created an unexpected conflict between groups of Black activists, visibly seen on Thursday afternoon (March 9th) in dueling protests for and against the bans held a half-hour apart near City Hall.
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A group of activists led by the family members of Eric Garner and George Floyd held a protest against the ban on the steps of City Hall. “We don’t need more interaction by police enforcement, we had enough,” Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother, said at the protest. “My son was a victim because allegedly he was selling ‘loosie’ cigarettes.” That’s what they’re going to do when they ban these cigarettes.”
Another protest, led by members of the NAACP along with 40 clergy members in front of One Police Plaza, advocated for the bans to commence. “The big lie is that the police are going to come into our communities if we ban menthol cigarettes,” said NAACP New York State Conference President Hazel Dukes. “Our children are dying. Our kids think menthol is great. They think it’s bubblegum,” she continued.
While there is a current ban on most flavored tobacco producs in New York State, the 2024 fiscal budget put forth by Governor Kathy Hochul contains the proposed ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and a tax increase on other tobacco products. The city’s ban proposal, brought forth by Council member Rita Joseph and 19 others, bears similarities to the state ban and contains language which will “prohibit police officers or other law enforcement officers from arresting any person on the grounds in relation to any flavored tobacco product.”
Menthol cigarettes have enjoyed a high degree of popularity in the Black community. According to data compiled by New York public health officials, $177 million of the $9.1 billion spent annually by major tobacco companies goes to marketing in the state. Observers and critics have pointed out how these tobacco companies have aggressively marketed menthol tobacco products to the Black community through targeted ads, giveaways, and event sponsorship. Menthol cigarettes, while consumed by half of all adult users, are smoked primarily by 86% of Black smokers and 72% of Latino users according to reported data.
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It seems Mayor Eric Adams has some more work to do. It has been reported over 150 New York City police offers have been involved in misconduct responding to George Floyd’s passing.
As spotted on The Grio the New York Police Department could have responded better to the tragic killing of that turned the world upside down. According to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, or “CCRB”, over 600 complaints were received when the Big Apple collectively protested police brutality. On Monday, February 6 the organization released their findings via The 2020 Protest Report. Their investigation found that 150 badges were guilty of misconduct during the uproar including excessive force.
On May 30, 2020 multiple protestors were knocked over by a police vehicle. Another lawman reportedly pulled another protestor’s COVID-19 mask down and pepper sprayed them in the face. That same day a different set of offices tackled protestors and hit them over the head with batons. It was also confirmed others used physical force, such as pushes and shoves, against civilians in violation of NYPD Guidelines, abused their authority against members of the press and civilians who were not involved in protests and failed to provide medical attention to injured civilians.
The CCRB also faced multiple hurdles when investigating these complaints, many of which led to complaints being closed as “Officer Unidentified” because the CCRB could not determine which officers were involved in the alleged misconduct. Chief among these challenges were:
(1) the actions NYPD members took to conceal their identities, which prevented them from being identified by complainants, victims, and witnesses.
(2) the NYPD’s failure to track and document where officers, vehicles, and equipment were deployed.
(3) the NYPD’s failure to provide dispositive responses to requests for footage from BWCs and other NYPD-controlled cameras that resulted in delayed responses, false positives, false negatives, and inconsistent responses.
(4) investigative delays resulting from officers refusing to be interviewed remotely.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board is an independent oversight agency that investigates, mediates and prosecutes complaints of NYPD misconduct. You can read The 2020 Protest Report here.
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Kanye West’s former living mannequin Julia Fox wants the world to know she hates the idea of wealth by giving us a tour of her living conditions.
Julia Fox swears she is Prince Akeem and is living in meager accommodations on purpose. The “actress”/”model” took her TikTok followers on a tour of her “tiny” Manhattan apartment she shares with mice thinking it was a flex on the rich, but newsflash, it’s not.
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Fox, best known for galavanting around NYC and across the globe with “billionaire rapper genius” Kanye West, claims she is against “excessive displays of wealth.”
She also claims the mice running around her “tiny” apartment she shares with her child makes her “feel icky” and adds that “people that have really big houses. It’s just really wasteful when there is just so many homeless people in this country. I just, I’m not really like that.”
“I never thought in a million years that I would do this, but I do believe in maximum transparency, and so I am going to give you guys an apartment tour,” Fox says.
She continues “I know I am going to get roasted. And whatever, but hopefully maybe somebody can watch this and be like ‘maybe I’m not doing so bad.”
If she is paying rent in Manhattan, she is not “doing so bad,” We’re sure the 3 million people watching her bootleg episode of MTV Cribs feel the same way.
While Julia Fox “Struggles” With Mice, Kanye West Got A New Wife
Fox is currently giving the rich the middle finger by flexing on them with her tiny apartment, and her ex is reportedly a married man again.
West is rumored to have tied the knot with Yeezy architectural designer Bianca Censori, and yes, she is a Kim Kardashian knockoff.
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One of New York City’s most unique identifiers is no longer. The graffiti from a very popular tunnel in Washington Heights has been repainted to the ire of some residents.
As spotted on Gothamist the Department of Transportation gave the 191st Street 1 train tunnel in Upper Manhattan a noticeable makeover. On Friday, January 20 a crew of employees repainted the underground passageway in an effort to remove all the graffiti that had been there for decades.
The project was not announced prior to it starting and even local were taken aback by the surprise remodeling. “The continual lack of transparency has long damaged our community’s trust; we are angered and disappointed by the lack of notification and care employed by the Department of Transportation in panting the tunnel without community engagement or planning” a joint statement from Council Member Carmen De La Rosa & Nira E. Leyva-Gutiérrez, Executive Director at NoMAA read.
When news of the project spread it quickly drew backlash from locals. “What happened here is just a slap in the face to the community,” said Luiggy Gomez, Washington Heights resident. “They erased history.” Naturally the controversy prompted the DOT to respond. Vincent Barone, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, did not explain why the repainting occurred but shared that the tunnel will receive new artwork in the near future. “We look forward to working closely with the community and local elected officials on a project that celebrates the culture and diversity that makes New York so special,” he said.
At this time the Department of Transportation has not shared details about the forthcoming art project for the tunnel.
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