Category Archives: New York

Literary mystery may finally be solved as man arrested for allegedly stealing unpublished books

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Filippo Bernardini is accused of impersonating publishing figures to steal manuscripts, in scam that has stumped authors and editors for years

A mysterious fraudster who impersonated publishers and agents to steal book manuscripts in an international phishing scam may have finally been caught, with the FBI arresting a 29-year-old man at John F Kennedy airport in New York on Wednesday.

Filippo Bernardini, an Italian citizen who worked at UK publisher Simon & Schuster, was arrested upon landing in the US on Wednesday. The FBI alleged that Bernardini had “impersonated, defrauded, and attempted to defraud, hundreds of individuals” to obtain unpublished and draft works.

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Prince Andrew’s lawyers fight to dismiss Virginia Giuffre lawsuit in court

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Arguments via videoconference come day after unsealing of 2009 Epstein settlement as judge promises ‘a decision pretty soon’

Lawyers for Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, who has long accused the royal of sexual abuse, faced off in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, in his attempt to dismiss her civil lawsuit.

The arguments via videoconference came a day after the unsealing of a 2009 settlement between Giuffre and the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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New York attorney general subpoenas Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump – report

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Letitia James reportedly issues subpoenas to pair as part of fraud investigation into former president’s business empire

The attorney general of New York state has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump as part of its fraud inquiry into Trump’s businesses, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing a court document.

The document was filed by lawyers for Trump in response to Letitia James’s decision to subpoena the former president himself.

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Court to unseal deal between Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre

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Prince Andrew’s lawyers believe 2009 agreement could shield him from Giuffre’s civil sexual assault lawsuit

A crunch week in Prince Andrew’s fight to avoid a public trial over claims he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old trafficked by the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein begins on Monday, when a New York court unseals a confidential 2009 deal between Epstein and the alleged victim.

Lawyers for the Duke of York, who “unequivocally denies” the claims made by Virginia Giuffre, believe her agreement with Epstein could shield him from her civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse in 2001.

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New Year’s Eve: Times Square crowds return, NYC hails new mayor and Miley Cyrus battles wardrobe malfunction

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New York tradition brings some normalcy as coronavirus pandemic leads to cancellation of shows around the world

A Miley Cyrus wardrobe malfunction, a celebrity rant about outgoing New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, and the traditional dropping of a six-tonne ball in Times Square were among the highlights as America welcomed the new year, and bid good riddance to the old one.

The New Year’s Eve tradition of crowds at Times Square returned this year, though with only 15,000 of the usual 60,000 spectators there to watch the ball, encrusted with nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals, descend as couples embraced, some still wearing their masks.

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Maxwell conviction increases scrutiny of other women who worked for Epstein

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Four employees and assistants were described in a 2007 non-prosecution agreement as ‘potential co-conspirators’

The conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex-trafficking charges this week has increased the scrutiny of others who worked for or socialized with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein for years, and their knowledge of the pair’s activities.

Attention has largely focused on prominent male associates of Epstein, including Prince Andrew, who faces a civil suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Giuffre alleges the Queen’s son had sex with her on three occasions two decades ago when, aged 17, she had been sexually trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, allegations Andrew vehemently denies.

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US cities scale back New Year’s Eve events and urge people to scrap parties

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Americans face stay-at-home celebration again as some mayors scale back or cancel public events amid Covid surge

Americans are again facing a stay-at-home New Year’s Eve as US political leaders and senior health advisers have urged people to scrap party plans and avoid larger public events as daily cases of Covid-19 break all previous records.

In New York, attendance at the Times Square celebration known as the Ball Drop – in essence, tens of thousands of people watching a 12-foot geodesic sphere inlaid with Waterford crystals descend a long pole – has been capped at 15,000, down from pre-pandemic 60,000, with organizers encouraging revelers to watch it on TV or online.

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US alarm at rise in child Covid infections sees school closures back on agenda

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Omicron threat stokes fears coast to coast but leading public health expert says ‘We know how to keep schools open and safe’

As US regional health authorities reacted with alarm to a jump in child Covid infections that caused some school districts to announce returns to remote learning, a leading public health official questioned the need for schools to close, saying: “We know how to keep schools open, we know how to keep them safe.”

Over the past three weeks, as Omicron-related cases soared in New York City and elsewhere, the number of children hospitalised in New York with Covid-19 quadrupled, the state health department said.

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Slice of life: New York’s famed $1 street pizza under threat from rising costs

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Cheap street pizza is one of New York’s charms, but could supply chain problems and inflation this spell the end?

“Well, you can never go wrong with bread, cheese and tomato,” Lou Reed, poet of the New York streets, would sometimes remark as he passed by one of the city’s multitude of pizzerias.

The late musician was a fan of Coney Island’s legendary Totonno’s, close to the site of of one of the first recorded pizza parlors established by Italian immigrants in the 1880s.

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Covid live news: 1.7 million people in UK had coronavirus last week; hundreds of Christmas flights cancelled

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ONS figures are highest on record so far; Christmas for many in disarray as US and Australian airlines say flight crews hit by Covid

Here’s a story that echoes the cancellation of flights happening over the US.

Thousands of Australians have had their domestic flights cancelled in the hours leading up to Christmas, as frontline staff were ordered to test and isolate amid a rise in Covid cases.

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‘There’s a lot of anxiety’: US grapples with Covid test shortage amid surge

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The US continues to lag in testing, leading many people to wait in line for hours amid increased demand due to the emergence of Omicron

As a history professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Kevin Bruyneel had been tested for Covid-19 more than 100 times and typically waited less than 15 minutes for the free tests.

So Bruyneel was upset when he went to get a PCR test at a clinic Sunday in Brooklyn, New York, and waited more than an hour after his scheduled appointment and was billed at least $100 – though he could owe more depending on what his insurance covers.

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Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial: jury begins deliberations

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Prosecutors say Maxwell, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, manipulated victims and groomed them for sexual abuse

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

The jury began deliberating late on Monday afternoon in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial in New York.

Closing arguments had wrapped up in federal court in Manhattan earlier on Monday with a simple, chilling message.

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New York reports 22,000 new Covid cases – but hospitals say they can cope

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Omicron surge leads to event cancellations and lines at testing sites but health system not yet under serious strain

New York state reported on Saturday that nearly 22,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday – eclipsing Thursday for the highest single-day total for new cases since testing became widely available. Amid fears over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, more than half of the positive results were in the city.

The Rockettes on Friday canceled remaining performances of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, citing “increasing challenges from the pandemic”. Saturday Night Live taped without an audience and with reduced crew. Lines at some testing sites stretched around the block and at-home tests remained hard to find or pricier than usual.

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Victim of privilege: how Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers tried to make her seem likable

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Maxwell’s attorneys tried to replace her image of a privileged socialite with one of being a kind and generous employer

When Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense case started last Thursday, her team tried pulling off a near-impossible task – making the British socialite accused of sex trafficking seem likable.

Indeed, the first defense witness in Maxwell’s Manhattan federal court sex-trafficking trial, former assistant Cimberly Espinosa, described her ex-boss in glowing terms.

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New York has a huge rat problem. These vigilantes with dogs think they can fix it

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Rats, a group that has been hunting rats with dogs in New York since 1995, is summoned to infested neighborhoods

This will come as no surprise to anyone but New York City has a rat problem.

Two million rats call the city home, thriving on the streets, in sewers, in both abandoned and un-abandoned buildings, in the parks, in the subways, in shoe stores and in restaurants.

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Ghislaine Maxwell lawyers ask judge to allow witnesses to testify anonymously

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Legal team make unusual request, saying witnesses might be leery of testifying unless allowed to give evidence under pseudonyms

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have taken the unusual step of asking the judge to allow several defense witnesses to testify anonymously in her sex-trafficking trial, which resumes on Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

Maxwell’s legal team has said that some witnesses might be so leery of testifying that they might not take the stand unless allowed to give evidence under pseudonyms.

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It’s tough to see Ghislaine Maxwell’s team toy with such sad, broken women | John Sweeney

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Justice at work is difficult to watch when big-money lawyers go in hard as they try to discredit witnesses

The slut-shaming – or something very much like it – of the four key witnesses against Ghislaine Maxwell and her late lover, Jeffrey Epstein is, almost, a thing of beauty, a dark wonder to behold. You’ve got to admire the way Maxwell’s multimillion-dollar attorneys break her accusers on the rack of their own human frailty. No one dare call it torture: we’re watching justice at work, the Ghislaine Maxwell defence team way.

In order of appearance witness “Jane” was challenged as a drug user from a wealthy but deeply unhappy home; witness “Kate” was a drug user with a troubled mother; witness Carolyn – to give her some privacy the court accepted her request to use only her real first name – had a single parent mother who was an alcoholic and a drug addict, who became an alcoholic and a drug addict herself, who left school when she was 14, who did not, said her ex-boyfriend Shawn “have the reading ability” to say Ms Maxwell’s first name, Ghislaine. So Carolyn called her Maxwell. Witness Annie Farmer – her full real name, was 16, the child of a divorced single mum but not herself broken, not at all.

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Friend, lover, fixer? Ghislaine Maxwell prosecutors home in on nature of Epstein relationship

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Federal sex-trafficking trial has shed more light on pair’s ties, and how their lives seemed intimately interwoven

Ghislaine Maxwell has long been accused of luring teenage girls into Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit for him to sexually abuse, but whatever motive for allegedly doing so has long remained a mystery.

The answer hinges somewhat on the nature of their relationship. Did Maxwell serve as the late financier’s consigliere, or act as his girlfriend and procurer?

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 802 9999. 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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Ghislaine Maxwell gave me nude massage when I was 16, accuser says

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Annie Farmer testifies about encounter at New Mexico ranch in 1996, and recounts how she met Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein

The fourth accuser to testify in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial said Friday that she was only 16 when the British socialite gave her a nude massage at Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico ranch.

This accuser, Annie Farmer, also said that the morning after her encounter with Maxwell, Epstein climbed into bed with her and said he “wanted to cuddle” and she “felt kind of frozen”.

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 802 9999. 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’s Met museum to remove Sackler family name from its galleries

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Art museum announces change in the wake of leading members of the family being blamed for fueling the deadly US opioids crisis

New York’s famed Metropolitan Museum of Art is going to remove the name of arguably its most controversial donor groups – the billionaire Sackler family – from its galleries.

The news comes in the wake of leading members of the US family, one of America’s richest, being blamed for fueling the deadly opioids crisis in America with the aggressive selling of the family company’s prescription narcotic painkiller, OxyContin.

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