Category Archives: New York

Drug dealer gets 10 years in prison for role in actor Michael K Williams’s death

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Irvin Cartagena sentenced after pleading guilty to providing The Wire actor with fentanyl-laced heroin, causing his death

A New York City drug dealer was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison for providing the actor Michael K Williams, best known for his role in the TV series The Wire, with fentanyl-laced heroin, causing his death.

Irvin Cartagena, 40, of Aibonito, Puerto Rico, was sentenced by the US district judge Ronnie Abrams. Cartagena had pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to distribute drugs.

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Fears grow for property sector as WeWork scrambles to stay afloat

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As company warns of ‘substantial doubt’ over its future, experts say consequences for commercial landlords could be dire

WeWork, the troubled office share behemoth, was once valued at $47bn. On Friday, the company was forced to combine 40 of its shares into one in an effort to keep its stock price above $1 and avoid being delisted from the New York stock exchange.

The dramatic rise and fall of WeWork has been well documented, but as the company warned there was “substantial doubt” it would stay in business, experts suggest the impact for the already troubled commercial property sector could be dire.

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Brooklyn’s limited-edition Jay-Z library cards spark surge in membership

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Cards depicting albums by Brooklyn-born rapper are part of initiative to celebrate 50th anniversary of hip-hop

Forget new lines of sneakers or T-shirts: the most sought-after merchandise this month can be found in public libraries in Brooklyn.

In collaboration with Roc Nation, an entertainment company founded by Jay-Z, the Brooklyn Public Library is celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop by issuing limited-edition library cards featuring the rapper, who was born in the New York borough.

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Judge orders FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried to jail after bail revoked

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Lewis Kaplan says he has cause to believe defendant ‘had tried to tamper with witnesses at least twice’ since December arrest

Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail has been revoked ahead of his October fraud trial after prosecutors accused the indicted founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX of tampering with witnesses.

Bankman-Fried is expected to report to jail later on Friday after Judge Lewis Kaplan announced the decision at a hearing over Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions in federal court in Manhattan. Bankman-Fried was taken directly into custody at the conclusion of the hearing. He was led out of the courtroom by members of the US Marshals Service.

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Judge says E Jean Carroll allegation Trump raped her is ‘substantially true’ in court dismissal

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Ex-president claimed that writer defamed him when saying he raped her, but judge said term is commonly ‘used and understood’ in context

Donald Trump suffered another legal reversal on Monday, losing his counterclaim for defamation against E Jean Carroll, the writer against whom he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation and fined $5m, and who continues to pursue a separate defamation case against him.

Dismissing the counterclaim, a judge in New York, Lewis A Kaplan, said that when Carroll repeated her allegation that Trump raped her, her words were “substantially true”. Kaplan also set out in detail why it may be said that Trump raped Carroll.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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New York City plans to house migrants on an island in the East River

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Mayor Eric Adams plans to house as many as 2,000 adults seeking asylum, in tent city where center opened and then closed last year

New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, announced a plan Monday to house as many as 2,000 migrants on an island in the East River where a migrant center was set up last year and then taken down weeks later.

The state will reimburse the city for the cost of operating a tent city for adult migrants on Randalls Island, Adams said.

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Influencer faces charges of inciting riot after New York giveaway causes chaos

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Kai Cenat drew thousands to Union Square with promises of giving away new PlayStation, leading to dozens of arrests

Social media influencer Kai Cenat is facing charges of inciting a riot and promoting an unlawful gathering in New York City after the online streamer drew thousands of his followers – many of them teenagers – with promises of giving away electronics, including a new PlayStation.

The gathering produced chaos, with dozens of people arrested – some jumping atop vehicles, hurling bottles and throwing punches.

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New York police arrest teen in killing of dancer O’Shae Sibley – report

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Well-known gay dancer and choreographer was stabbed after he and his friends vogued at Brooklyn gas station

New York City police have arrested a teenager in connection to the killing of O’Shae Sibley, a well-known gay dancer and choreographer who was stabbed after he and his friends vogued to music by Beyoncé at a Brooklyn gas station on 29 July.

CBS News reported Saturday that the suspect is 17 years old and faces charges of murder as a hate crime as well as criminal possession of a weapon. He was reportedly booked as an adult, though his identity wasn’t released because he is younger than 18.

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Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis charged with ‘brazen’ insider trading

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Billionaire allegedly gave friends, employees and romantic partners information on companies in which he was investor

The billionaire owner of Tottenham Hotspur football club was charged with orchestrating “brazen” insider trading by US federal prosecutors on Tuesday.

According to Damian Williams, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, Joe Lewis gave friends, including his personal pilots, assistants and romantic partners, inside information from companies in which he was an investor.

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Witness claims he heard police say ‘Is he one of us?’ as they restrained Malcolm X assassin

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Mustafa Hassan says comment proved to him that police and FBI knew beforehand that there would be an attempt on activist’s life

A witness to the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X has come forward to claim that a comment he overheard as police were restraining assassin Thomas Hagan outside the Audubon Ball room proved to him that the New York police department and FBI knew beforehand that there would be an attempt on the civil rights activist’s life.

Mustafa Hassan said he heard an officer ask of Hagan, “Is he one of us?”

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Rudy Giuliani ally, pardoned by Trump, gives trove of papers to special counsel

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NYPD’s ex-commissioner Bernie Kerik gave about 600MB of pdfs to Jack Smith, who is investigating Trump for the Capitol attack

The former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik, a leading Trump ally who worked with Rudy Giuliani on attempts to overturn the 2020 election, has given the special counsel Jack Smith thousands of documents, Kerik’s lawyer said on Monday.

“I have shared all of these documents, approximately 600MB, mostly pdfs, with the special counsel and look forward to sitting down with them in about two weeks to discuss,” Timothy Parlatore told CNN.

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New York’s Rikers Island sees seventh death this year after man dies in his cell

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Death of Curtis Davis comes days after US attorney for southern district of New York says jail complex ‘has been in crisis for years’

Calls for a federal government takeover of New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail are likely to grow after a stabbing suspect died in his cell early on Sunday morning, the seventh inmate death this year and the 26th since New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, took office in January 2022.

Curtis Davis, 44, was found lifeless on the floor of his cell at about 5.10 am, according to correction department records. Davis had been held since 1 June for allegedly stabbing a 29-year-old man in the eye.

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Millions on alert as wildfire smoke from Canada to spread to US

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Officials issue air quality advisories across US and with nearly 900 forest fires – many of them ‘out of control’ – burning to the north

As they did last month, wildfires in Canada are again expected to spread increased air pollution to the US this week, as millions in the country are under air quality advisories.

About 70 million people could be under air quality alerts as wildfire smoke from western Canada spreads to parts of the northern US and as far south as Alabama, CNN reported.

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Burner phones and search history led police to Long Island killings suspect

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Charging documents released on Friday show how investigators have tied architect Rex Heuermann to 11 sets of human remains

A New York architect, who allegedly made taunting calls to the relative of a victim police investigators suspected he murdered, is in custody facing accusations that he is the so-called Long Island serial killer.

Rex Heuermann’s arrest and indictment on Friday, on six charges of murder, marks a key moment in a case that has captivated the public and confounded authorities for more than a decade.

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Suspect in Long Island serial killer case arrested and charged with murder

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Police arrest Rex Heuermann in significant breakthrough in decade-old Gilgo Beach case which gripped country

A man who appears to have been hiding in plain sight in a small seaside community for more than a decade while a serial killing gripped the nation was arrested and on Friday charged with murder in connection with several grisly deaths.

Police in Suffolk county, New York, arrested the 59-year-old local architect Rex Heuermann, in a significant breakthrough in the so-called Gilgo Beach case in Long Island.

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Severe US weather: California heat puts firefighters on high alert for wildfires; Canada wildfires cause air quality alerts in US midwest – as it happened

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Extreme dry conditions raising fire risk; air quality alert for Minnesota took effect at 8am on Friday

Vermont governor Phil Scott said his formal request to President Joe Biden for a major disaster declaration has been approved.

The major disaster declaration unlocks federal disaster funds to assist individuals and communities recover from the devastating floods earlier this week.

The disaster declaration provides federal support for recovery. It’s separate from, and in addition to, the federal emergency declaration the president already signed when he was overseas to help with the initial emergency phase.

It’s incredibly important to get flooded homes, businesses and public buildings as dry as possible to prevent other outcomes like mould. We’re working on resources to help with that.

I’m very grateful for the speed of Fema in the White House. It will open up significant federal resources for communities, individuals, businesses [...] In anticipation of these funds, we are working to develop a concrete list of resources to help impacted Vermonters and making sure it’s as easy as possible for Vermonters to access those.

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Floods, tornadoes, heat: more extreme weather predicted across US

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Over a third of Americans under extreme heat warnings as Vermont, still recovering from historic flooding, prepares for more storms

The US is bracing for more extreme weather from coast to coast, with a heatwave hitting California, tornados in the midwest and the east expecting more rain as it continues to reel from historic flooding.

Residents of Vermont, still suffering from an onslaught of dangerous weather in recent days, are preparing for another round of severe storms in the area beginning as early as Thursday night.

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US faces week of dangerous weather with flooding and heatwave alerts

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While the north-east was inundated by heavy rains, southern states are gripped by record heat levels predicted to intensify

Deadly flooding in the north-east on Monday coupled with alerts over longer, hotter heatwaves set to boil much of the southern and western US kicked off a week of dangerous weather, as July warnings about the climate crisis intensify.

Rescue teams raced into Vermont after relentless, torrential rain drenched parts of New England and north-east overnight, washing out roads, forcing evacuations and halting some airline travel.

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One dead as heavy rain causes flooding in New York’s Hudson valley

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Several people missing as much of rest of north-eastern US braced for potentially punishing rains

Heavy rain washed out roads and forced evacuations in the US north-east on Monday, with more downpours forecast throughout the day. One person in New York drowned as she was trying to leave her home.

The slow-moving storm reached New England. Heavy downpours with possible flash flooding were forecast in parts of Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

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Republican fabulist George Santos compares himself to Rosa Parks

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Congressman who has pleaded not guilty to 13 fraud-related counts condemned as ‘disgrace’ by prospective opponent

George Santos, the Republican congressman whose résumé has been shown to be largely fabricated and who has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds, stoked outrage by comparing himself to the great civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks.

“Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the back, and neither am I gonna sit in the back,” Santos told Mike Crispi Unafraid, a rightwing podcast.

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