Category Archives: Brooklyn

New York priest demoted after Sabrina Carpenter video inquiry reveals $1.9m scandal

Posted on by

Gigantiello, who let singer film in church, stripped of duties after inquiry shows he sent parish funds to Eric Adams aide

The leader of a New York City church where pop star Sabrina Carpenter filmed provocative scenes for a music video was stripped of his duties on Monday after church officials said an investigation revealed other instances of mismanagement.

Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello was relieved of “any pastoral oversight or governance role” at his church located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Bishop Robert Brennan said in a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

Continue reading...

Ka, Brooklyn rapper and New York firefighter, dies aged 52

Posted on by

Kaseem Ryan, a member of Natural Elements and an FDNY captain, died unexpectedly, according to Instagram post

Ka, a Brooklyn rapper, producer and firefighter, died unexpectedly on Saturday at age 52, according to a post on his Instagram account.

Kaseem Ryan was a member of the group Natural Elements and also served in the New York City fire department (FDNY). He collaborated with artists Roc Marciano and GZA and earned praise from artists such as Erykah Badu and Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, BET reported.

Continue reading...

‘Abhorrent antisemitism’: homes of Jewish Brooklyn Museum leaders vandalized

Posted on by

Police look into red paint splattered with possible symbol of Palestinian resistance and banner calling director a Zionist

Police are investigating reports of vandalism after the homes of Jewish leaders and board members, including the director, of the Brooklyn Museum were splattered with red paint early Wednesday.

In images circulating on social media, red paint is visibly splashed across the homes of director Anne Pasternak and several others affiliated with the Brooklyn Museum. Police said five homes – three in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn – were vandalized in the attack.

Continue reading...

Vacate orders issued to stabilize New York synagogue after tunnel discovery

Posted on by

Investigation by city uncovered 60ft-long tunnel under historic Jewish site, extending under several buildings in vicinity

New York building officials have issued emergency work orders to stabilize a historic synagogue and its neighboring structures after an illicit underground tunnel was discovered at the sanctuary earlier this week.

An investigation by the city’s department of buildings uncovered a tunnel that was 60ft long (18.3 meters), 8ft wide (2.4 meters) and 5ft high (1.5 meters) located underneath the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, an important Jewish site. It extends under several buildings in the vicinity.

Continue reading...

Jewish and Muslim Americans fear rise in hate crimes amid Israel-Hamas war

Posted on by

With protests escalating and police departments on alert, assaults and harassment have been reported

Jewish and Muslim Americans in cities all around the country are worried that escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine, which some are calling “isolating and scary”, will exacerbate hate crimes and harassment in the United States.

For many Arab Americans in New York City, Bay Ridge was always a place of safety. The south Brooklyn neighborhood is 3 sq miles of Arabic bodega signs, halal grocers and a growing community of Palestinian, Yemeni, Syrian and Egyptian families.

Continue reading...

New York City subway shooter sentenced to life in prison

Posted on by

Frank James pleaded guilty earlier this year to terrorism charges in April 2022 shooting in Brooklyn

A man who sprayed a New York City subway car with bullets during rush hour, wounding 10 people and sparking a citywide manhunt, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.

Frank James, 64, pleaded guilty earlier this year to terrorism charges in the 12 April 2022 mass shooting aboard a Manhattan-bound train. He received a life sentence on 10 counts and 10 years for an 11th count.

Continue reading...

Escaped cow that tore through Brooklyn finds home at sanctuary

Posted on by

Canarsie cow to meet fellow celebrity escapees at rescue center where animals live on vast pasture: ‘She’ll be ecstatic’

It’s been one hell of a week for the Canarsie cow, a black angus calf who started this week on her way to a slaughterhouse and will end it settling into her new home on a New Jersey farm.

After she escaped a truck hauling her from a Pennsylvania farm to certain death at Saba Live Poultry in Canarsie, Brooklyn, she went on a rampage through the streets. Slaughterhouse employees and workers at a nearby pizza shop tried to catch up with her, in a chase that lasted several minutes.

Continue reading...

Brooklyn pastor who was robbed on live stream in July charged with fraud

Posted on by

Lamor Miller-Whitehead, the ‘bling-bling bishop’ with hip-hop connections, is accused of swindling his own parishioners

The Brooklyn pastor who made headlines when he was robbed of an estimated $1m in jewelry during a church service being broadcast online in July was arrested on federal fraud charges on Monday after he allegedly swindled parishioners.

US prosecutors in Manhattan charged that Lamor Miller-Whitehead, 44, solicited money from victims – including $90,000 from a retired parishioner – using threats or false promises of enriching them, but then pocketed the money for himself and sometimes spent it on luxury goods.

Continue reading...

Jay-Z’s bitcoin school met with skepticism in his former housing project: ‘I don’t have money to be losing’

Posted on by

The hip-hop mogul loves to rap about his roots in Brooklyn’s Marcy housing projects. But classes in cryptocurrency show the billionaire is out of touch, residents say

Marcy Houses, the 28-acre public housing development in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, is best-known as a pillar of rapper-turned-mogul Jay-Z’s New York persona. Built in 1949 as part of a push by the New York City Housing Authority to house the city’s low-income residents, Marcy had fallen into a state of dangerous disrepair by the 1970s when Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, was growing up there.

“Where I’m from, Marcy son, ain’t nothing nice,” he raps in “Where I’m From”. “Marcy me, just the way I am always gonna be,” he declares in 2017’s Marcy Me.

Continue reading...

Zack Tahhan is being hailed for his NYPD tipoff. That’s not the whole story

Posted on by

After an arrest in the Brooklyn subway shooting, Tahhan has become a social media star. But there’s plenty of credit to go round

In the aftermath of the Brooklyn subway shooting, social media has found its latest star.

Zack Tahhan, 21, was quickly anointed as a hero on Wednesday following the arrest of Frank R James, the suspect in the attack that injured 29. But the real story, it seems, was more complicated – and Tahhan wasn’t the day’s only hero.

Continue reading...

Brooklyn subway shooting ‘person of interest’ is now suspect, says mayor

Posted on by

The manhunt ramped up for Frank R James who had rented a U-Haul found at a scene, keys to which were recovered by the police

Millions of New Yorkers began their commutes to work and school on Wednesday morning as law enforcement officers continued searching for the gunman who shot 10 people on a subway train during yesterday’s morning rush hour.

The manhunt ramped up for 62-year-old Frank R James, who police have identified as a “person of interest” in the mass shooting, but who Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday said was a suspect.

Continue reading...

Brooklyn subway attack: NYPD names ‘person of interest’ – live

Posted on by

A press conference updating on the Brooklyn subway shooting that happened this morning in the Sunset Park neighborhood just wrapped up, with officials updating that 16 people were injured in today’s attack, including 10 people who were shot, and five people who are in critical but stable condition.

Officials also noted that other injuries from the incident included smoke inhalation, shrapnel, or panic induced from the incident, but said that the shrapnel was not from an explosive device.

Continue reading...

Brooklyn shooting: over 20 injured, including 10 shot, in subway attack

Posted on by

Biden says ‘we’re not letting up until we find the perpetrator’ as manhunt under way for shooter

A gunman wearing a gas mask filled a crowded New York subway car with thick black smoke from a canister and opened fire on morning rush-hour passengers, injuring more than 20, including 10 with gunshot wounds.

A manhunt was under way on Tuesday after the shooter, described as a heavy-built Black male about 5ft 5in tall, wearing a green construction-type vest and hooded grey sweatshirt, fled the scene of the shooting. Officers were searching for a U-Haul truck with an Arizona license plate as of Tuesday afternoon, police told multiple media outlets, and the vehicle was later found.

Continue reading...

‘Secret piety’: new show reveals Andy Warhol’s Catholic roots

Posted on by

Known for his wild parties and proud queerness, he went to church, met the pope and prayed daily with his mother

He is celebrated for his Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s Soup prints, legendary parties, proud queerness and worship of celebrity.

But Andy Warhol was raised by a devout Catholic mother with whom he prayed daily throughout the two decades in which they shared a New York home. The wild prince of pop art went to church, met the pope and financed his nephew’s studies to become a priest.

Continue reading...

African American film-maker is pepper-sprayed then engages protest police in conversation

Posted on by

This is the moment the film-maker Christopher Frierson was pepper-sprayed by police while recording anti-racism protests in Brooklyn, New York. The footage shows toxic fumes hitting the camera lens; simultaneously you hear Frierson's visceral groans of pain as he stumbles and falls to the ground. Within moments he was dragged by protesters to the side of the road. The 37-year-old was unable to see for 10 minutes after the incident 

Continue reading...

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine pleads guilty to nine crimes and says he joined gang

Posted on by

Brooklyn star with huge social media following says he helped others try to kill a rival in the gang

The Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine is cooperating with federal prosecutors after pleading guilty to nine crimes and saying he joined a violent New York City gang and helped others try to kill a rival gang member.

The plea was entered last week by the 22-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez. Information about it was unsealed Friday in Manhattan federal court.

Continue reading...