M.N.: The present situation also calls on us to review and to re-conceptualize the old European (and the Middle Eastern) notion of the "head of State" as the benevolent paternalistic figure. They are not. | The Fatal Incompetence of Obama Administration and its Repercussions- 7:44 AM 3/18/2019
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M.N.: The present situation also calls on us to review and to re-conceptualize the old, anachronistic European (and the Middle Eastern) notion of the "head of State" as the benevolent paternalistic figure. They are not. Many of them use their position for the blatant, brazen, arrogant self-enrichment and all the possible types of the self-aggrandizement. Many of them are frank oppressors.
They are first of all the Government chief managers, no more and no less, and should be seen as such. Their removal for the professional malfeasance should be made easy and automatic.
"If you do not do your job properly, as investigated, demonstrated, and proven, you are out!" As simple az ziz! And all of us will live happily ever after. Supposedly.
Michael Novakhov
3.18.19
M.N.: Dear Mr. Comey: To paraphrase your recent quoting, it is very easy to close our eyes on the FBI problems and to pretend that everything is OK with them. It is much more difficult to understand the true nature of these problems and to fix them. To keep our eyes wide open is the painful exercise. | Ochs-Sulzberger New York Times and the Reform Movement... formed a kind of interlocking directorate that turned a cold shoulder to Jews coming under Nazi rule... extended to concealment of Hitler’s destruction of European Jewry..
"Auerbach shows how the Ochs-Sulzberger New York Times and the Reform Movement — led by anti-Zionist zealots like Judah Magnes and groups like the American Council for Judaism —formed a kind of interlocking directorate that turned a cold shoulder to Jews coming under Nazi rule. He demonstrates how the Times’ emphasis on “universalism” extended to concealment of Hitler’s destruction of European Jewry, by now the subject of Deborah Lipstadt’s Beyond Belief(1986) and Laurel Leff’s Buried By the Times (2005). Nor were the Nazis the sole beneficiaries of the Times‘ universalism. The paper’s Moscow bureau chief Walter Duranty depicted Soviet Odessa as a place “far more conducive to Russian Jewry than … Palestine itself.” (Duranty’s rank dishonesty is now better known for his apologetics on behalf of Stalin and the dictator’s decimation of the Ukrainians.)"
Ochs-Sulzberger New York Times and the Reform Movement... formed a kind of interlocking directorate that turned a cold shoulder to Jews coming under Nazi rule... extended to concealment of Hitler’s destruction of European Jewry..
See Also:
The New York Times and Abwehr - GS
M.N.: Dear Mr. Comey: To paraphrase your recent quoting, it is very easy to close our eyes on the FBI problems and to pretend that everything is O.K. with them. It is much more difficult to understand the true nature of these problems and to fix them. To keep our eyes wide open is the painful exercise.
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As part of the largest college-admissions scam ever prosecuted, some parents allegedly paid others to create fake photos of their children as top athletes. WSJ finds out just how easy it is to manipulate photos by asking an expert to combine pictures of Tom Brady and Bradley Cooper. Photos illustration: David Starr
They are first of all the Government chief managers, no more and no less, and should be seen as such. Their removal for the professional malfeasance should be made easy and automatic.
"If you do not do your job properly, as investigated, demonstrated, and proven, you are out!" As simple az ziz! And all of us will live happily ever after. Supposedly.
Michael Novakhov
3.18.19
The Fatal Incompetence of Obama Administration and its Repercussions- 7:44 AM 3/18/2019
Incompetence of Obama Administration - Google Search
By Mike Nova
M.N.: Let us face it: behind these numbers is the intense public rage at Obama, and the racial component is just the small and insignificant part of it, more of the convenient and primitive emotion than anything else. This intense rage is directed at the general incompetence of the past Administration (to put the other hypothetical notions and explanations aside for now) which is felt intuitively, affectively ("political passions") rather than is analyzed rationally and understood consciously by the masses. The independent and strong "intellectual class" (find any other names for it that you wish, and this term should also include the FBI and other Government structures) has a duty to understand, to interpret, and to translate these raw political emotions into the conscious conceptual ideas, thoughts, and the plans of actions. This is the huge, subtle, sophisticated job.
I also have to say that Mr. Trump was absolutely correct when he said that white extremists are the "very small group of people with the very serious problems". This is probably true statistically. But "twisted" they are, very much so. And dangerous they are, very much so. We have to assess this situation objectively.
It would be a disaster if the Obama's Administration lack of competence is replaced by the same on the part of the Trump's Administration. Any Government is just as good as people who make it and who work for it.
Michael Novakhov
3.18.19
__________________________________________________
I also have to say that Mr. Trump was absolutely correct when he said that white extremists are the "very small group of people with the very serious problems". This is probably true statistically. But "twisted" they are, very much so. And dangerous they are, very much so. We have to assess this situation objectively.
It would be a disaster if the Obama's Administration lack of competence is replaced by the same on the part of the Trump's Administration. Any Government is just as good as people who make it and who work for it.
Michael Novakhov
3.18.19
__________________________________________________
Congressman Accuses Justice Department, FBI Of Stonewalling On Domestic Terrorism Threat:
"Federal law enforcement has been criticized for focusing too much on decreasing Islamic-linked terrorism and not enough on the rise of violent right-wing extremism in the U.S. The threat is largely shielded from the public because of the lower-level charges.
An example is former Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Hasson, an avowed white nationalist arrested last month with a cache of weapons. Hasson allegedly planned to kill progressive politicians and journalists in what prosecutors have described as a domestic terrorism plot. But Hasson hasn’t been charged with terrorism, only with a series of weapon and drug crimes.
About 110 people were arrested in the 2017 budget year after being investigated for crimes inspired by foreign terrorist groups, such as ISIS; 30 of those faced terrorism charges, the Post reported. The following year, 100 were arrested and nine faced terrorism charges.
In the same time span, 150 domestic terrorism suspects were arrested the first year, and 120 the following year, according to FBI figures provided the Post. No terrorism charges were filed against any of them.
Early this year, the Anti-Defamation League released a report that said attackers with ties to right-wing extremist movements killed at least 50 people in the U.S. in 2018. That was nearly the total number of Americans killed by all domestic extremists."
See also:
Domestic Terrorism Threat - GS
New Zealand attack exposes how little the US and its allies share ...
Washington Post-Mar 16, 2019
[Congress pushes the FBI for domestic terrorist data amid rise in ... task forces that were trying to address the domestic terrorism threat until they ...
New Zealand attack exposes how little US, allies share intelligence on ...
The Denver Post-Mar 16, 2019
... how little U.S., allies share intelligence on domestic terrorism threats ... is a real terrorist threat that has killed more Americans than even ISIS.
Christchurch attack exposes how little US, allies share intelligence on ...
International-Stuff.co.nz-Mar 16, 2019
International-Stuff.co.nz-Mar 16, 2019
Congressman Accuses Justice Department, FBI Of Stonewalling On ...
HuffPost-Mar 15, 2019
“The terrorism in New Zealand underscores that we must not ... ignore the domestic terrorism threat,” he said in a statement. “We must all work ...
Congress pushes the FBI for domestic terror data amid rise in right ...
Washington Post-Mar 15, 2019
Washington Post-Mar 15, 2019
After New Zealand shooting, Trump downplayed white nationalist ...
<a href="http://NBCNews.com" rel="nofollow">NBCNews.com</a>-18 hours ago
... New Zealand shooting, Trump downplayed white nationalist threat. .... 'domestic terrorism' through a global lens, just as we do the threat of ...
Mulvaney says it's 'absurd' to link New Zealand mosque attacks to ...
Opinion-Washington Post-18 hours ago
Opinion-Washington Post-18 hours ago
The congressman heading the Committee on Homeland Security has sent an angry letter accusing the FBI and Department of Justice of failing to brief lawmakers on the threat of domestic terrorism. He sent the letter just hours before 49 people were killed at New Zealand mosques and police arrested a suspect who had praised American white supremacists.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) on Wednesday sent his third letter to the FBI and the Justice Department demanding a committee briefing on the “evolving threat of domestic terrorism” after earlier requests were ignored. “Regrettably, this is just the latest example of non-cooperation on this important issue,” Thompson wrote. He asked again for a briefing, this time for the end of March. The committee plans to hold hearings on the issue in coming months.
Thompson on Friday expressed sympathy and offered prayers to all those affected by the brutal attacks on two mosques in Christchurch.
Read the whole story
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New Zealand attack exposes how little the US and its allies share ...
Washington Post-Mar 16, 2019
[Congress pushes the FBI for domestic terrorist data amid rise in ... task forces that were trying to address the domestic terrorism threat until they ...
New Zealand attack exposes how little US, allies share intelligence on ...
The Denver Post-Mar 16, 2019
... how little U.S., allies share intelligence on domestic terrorism threats ... is a real terrorist threat that has killed more Americans than even ISIS.
Christchurch attack exposes how little US, allies share intelligence on ...
International-Stuff.co.nz-Mar 16, 2019
International-Stuff.co.nz-Mar 16, 2019
Congressman Accuses Justice Department, FBI Of Stonewalling On ...
HuffPost-Mar 15, 2019
“The terrorism in New Zealand underscores that we must not ... ignore the domestic terrorism threat,” he said in a statement. “We must all work ...
Congress pushes the FBI for domestic terror data amid rise in right ...
Washington Post-Mar 15, 2019
Washington Post-Mar 15, 2019
After New Zealand shooting, Trump downplayed white nationalist ...
<a href="http://NBCNews.com" rel="nofollow">NBCNews.com</a>-18 hours ago
... New Zealand shooting, Trump downplayed white nationalist threat. .... 'domestic terrorism' through a global lens, just as we do the threat of ...
Mulvaney says it's 'absurd' to link New Zealand mosque attacks to ...
Opinion-Washington Post-18 hours ago
Opinion-Washington Post-18 hours ago
Read the whole story
· ·
The congressman heading the Committee on Homeland Security has sent an angry letter accusing the FBI and Department of Justice of failing to brief lawmakers on the threat of domestic terrorism. He sent the letter just hours before 49 people were killed at New Zealand mosques and police arrested a suspect who had praised American white supremacists.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) on Wednesday sent his third letter to the FBI and the Justice Department demanding a committee briefing on the “evolving threat of domestic terrorism” after earlier requests were ignored. “Regrettably, this is just the latest example of non-cooperation on this important issue,” Thompson wrote. He asked again for a briefing, this time for the end of March. The committee plans to hold hearings on the issue in coming months.
Thompson on Friday expressed sympathy and offered prayers to all those affected by the brutal attacks on two mosques in Christchurch.
“The terrorism in New Zealand underscores that we must not ... ignore the domestic terrorism threat,” he said in a statement. “We must all work together to counter domestic terrorism, including those who feed it and allow it to spread.”
Federal law enforcement has been criticized for focusing too much on decreasing Islamic-linked terrorism and not enough on the rise of violent right-wing extremism in the U.S. The threat is largely shielded from the public because of the lower-level charges.
An example is former Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Hasson, an avowed white nationalist arrested last month with a cache of weapons. Hasson allegedly planned to kill progressive politicians and journalists in what prosecutors have described as a domestic terrorism plot. But Hasson hasn’t been charged with terrorism, only with a series of weapon and drug crimes.
About 110 people were arrested in the 2017 budget year after being investigated for crimes inspired by foreign terrorist groups, such as ISIS; 30 of those faced terrorism charges, the Post reported. The following year, 100 were arrested and nine faced terrorism charges.
In the same time span, 150 domestic terrorism suspects were arrested the first year, and 120 the following year, according to FBI figures provided the Post. No terrorism charges were filed against any of them.
Early this year, the Anti-Defamation League released a report that said attackers with ties to right-wing extremist movements killed at least 50 people in the U.S. in 2018. That was nearly the total number of Americans killed by all domestic extremists.
The ADL has also reported that 71 percent of the extremist-related fatalities in the United States from 2008 to 2017 were committed by members of the far right or white-supremacist movements. Islamic extremists were responsible for 26 percent.
Some experts have pointed to Trump’s incendiary rhetoric as a cause.
“If you have politicians saying things like our nation is under attack, that there are these marauding bands of immigrants coming into the country, that plays into this right-wing narrative. They begin to think it’s OK to use violence,” Gary LaFree, a criminologist at the University of Maryland told the Post.
Trump said Friday, when asked about the Christchurch massacre: “I don’t really” see a rise in white nationalism. “I think it’s a small group of people.”
Read the whole story
· ·
By Mike Nova
M.N.: Dear Mr. Comey: To paraphrase your recent quoting, it is very easy to close our eyes on the FBI problems and to pretend that everything is OK with them. It is much more difficult to understand the true nature of these problems and to fix them. To keep our eyes wide open is the painful exercise. | Ochs-Sulzberger New York Times and the Reform Movement... formed a kind of interlocking directorate that turned a cold shoulder to Jews coming under Nazi rule... extended to concealment of Hitler’s destruction of European Jewry..
"Auerbach shows how the Ochs-Sulzberger New York Times and the Reform Movement — led by anti-Zionist zealots like Judah Magnes and groups like the American Council for Judaism —formed a kind of interlocking directorate that turned a cold shoulder to Jews coming under Nazi rule. He demonstrates how the Times’ emphasis on “universalism” extended to concealment of Hitler’s destruction of European Jewry, by now the subject of Deborah Lipstadt’s Beyond Belief(1986) and Laurel Leff’s Buried By the Times (2005). Nor were the Nazis the sole beneficiaries of the Times‘ universalism. The paper’s Moscow bureau chief Walter Duranty depicted Soviet Odessa as a place “far more conducive to Russian Jewry than … Palestine itself.” (Duranty’s rank dishonesty is now better known for his apologetics on behalf of Stalin and the dictator’s decimation of the Ukrainians.)"
Ochs-Sulzberger New York Times and the Reform Movement... formed a kind of interlocking directorate that turned a cold shoulder to Jews coming under Nazi rule... extended to concealment of Hitler’s destruction of European Jewry..
See Also:
The New York Times and Abwehr - GS
__________________________________________________
M.N.: Dear Mr. Comey: To paraphrase your recent quoting, it is very easy to close our eyes on the FBI problems and to pretend that everything is O.K. with them. It is much more difficult to understand the true nature of these problems and to fix them. To keep our eyes wide open is the painful exercise.
Read the whole story
· · · · · ·
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OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 2:10 PM PT – Sun. March 17, 2019
A top Obama-era prosecutor said the Mueller probe will not likely end anytime soon.
In an interview on Sunday, former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said he’s skeptical of the reports that the Mueller probe could be coming to an end, and added he expects more indictments going forward.
This comes after the Mueller team indicted six former aides to President Trump and 20 Russians — mostly for financial crimes.
Bharara pointed out special counsel Robert Mueller could delegate parts of his investigation to other U.S. attorneys.
Bharara also suggested the delays in the sentencing of Rick Gates might suggest he is cooperating with the Mueller team — which could extend the duration of the probe.
Israel's High Court of Justice barred leader of far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) from running for parliament, while allowing Arab joint slate ...
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s top court disqualified on Sunday a far-right Jewish politician from next month’s national election and approved the candidacy of a disputed Arab party, overturning March 6 decisions by the election board, a court statement said.
Michael Ben-Ari from the Jewish Power party, attends a hearing at Israel's Supreme Court in Jerusalem March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The Supreme Court rulings were widely expected and unlikely to shake Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to craft a rightist alliance that might secure him a record fifth term.
But they deepened the vitriol of a campaign in which his camp has cast itself as the victim of judicial over-reach and media bias, and has in turn been accused by centre-left rivals of race-baiting and fear-mongering.
The court found in favour of appellants who argued that Michael Ben-Ari of the Jewish Power party had displayed anti-Arab racism. That view was backed by Israel’s attorney-general.
Other members of Jewish Power, a small faction that is part of an ultra-nationalist list which last month forged an election alliance with Netanyahu’s Likud party, remain eligible to run.
The Central Elections Committee, a monitoring body made up of delegates of parties in the current parliament, last month approved Ben-Ari’s candidacy while disqualifying Raam-Balad, a joint party list representing some of Israel’s 20 percent Arab minority.
Israel has in the past prosecuted two Balad figures for contacts with Palestinian militants and accused a former party leader of helping Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon war.
The court voided the ban on Raam-Balad, a mix of Islamists and Arab nationalists which describes itself as a democratic movement.
NEWCOMER
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, a fellow rightist in Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition, said in a statement that the court’s blocking of Ben-Ari “while declaring terror-backing parties kosher is a crass and misguided interference in the heart of Israeli democracy”.
Netanyahu’s bid for reelection has been challenged by a centrist newcomer, former armed forces chief Benny Gantz. Their escalating exchanges of allegations have included corruption, bigotry, forsaking national security and abetting Israel’s foes.
The premier’s partnership with Jewish Power also drew rare censure from the U.S. pro-Israel lobby and normally staunch Netanyahu backer AIPAC, which branded the party “racist and reprehensible”.
A poll aired by public broadcaster Kan on Sunday put Likud narrowly in the lead to form the next coalition government with a projected 31 of parliament’s 120 seats against 30 for Gantz’s Blue and White party.
If reelected, Netanyahu will become Israel’s longest-serving premier in July. That bid was dealt an unprecedented blow last month when Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit announced a plan to indict Netanyahu for bribery and breach of trust. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and could forestall formal charges in a review hearing after the election.
Raam-Balad, which held eight seats in the last parliament, said the Supreme Court had upheld its “fundamental right to represent our electorate while Netanyahu and Gantz compete to see who can incite more powerfully against the Arab public”.
Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones and Ros Russell
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Two of Germany's biggest banks Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ... as money laundering as well as a role in what could be termed Trump gate.
Suspect arrested in murder of reputed mob boss
<a href="http://krcgtv.com" rel="nofollow">krcgtv.com</a>-21 hours ago
... death of Francesco Cali on Wednesday in front of his Staten Island home, said Chief ... The 53-year-old Cali, a native of Sicily, was shot to death by a gunman who ... Police say they are still investigatingwhether Cali's murder was a mob hit or ... with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
The New York Inquiries on Trump and Manafort, Explained
New York Times-Mar 14, 2019
There is overlap between some of the federal investigations and the recent state ones. ... another one by the federal special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. ... Francesco Cali was fatally shot outside his home on Staten Island on ...
New Zealand Mosque Shootings Called a 'Terrorist Attack'
Yahoo News-Mar 15, 2019
Trump says 'there should be no Mueller report' in furious rant, as president escalates campaign to undermine Russia investigation ..... Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali, the reputed leader of the Gambino crime family, was shot ...
Secretary of State Pompeo talks US relations with Israel, North Korea ...
Yahoo News-Mar 15, 2019
Mueller, in U.S. court filing, says multiple probes continue ... Rick Gates, amid "ongoing investigations" stemming from the Russia investigation. ..... Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali, the reputed leader of the Gambino crime family, ...
Read the whole story
· ·
Mafia don Frank Cali's killing is a reminder the mob is alive. Just not as ...
CNN-11 hours ago
(CNN) Cigar-chomping Mafia bosses in dapper suits once dominated perceptions of organized crime in the United States. While the dons are ...
'They don't bother nobody': the quiet presence of New York's mafia
In-Depth-The Guardian-Mar 15, 2019
In-Depth-The Guardian-Mar 15, 2019
Frank Cali, Reputed Gambino Family Mafia Boss, Shot Dead In Staten ...
Rolling Stone-Mar 14, 2019
Francesco “Frank” Cali, the alleged crime boss of the notorious Gambino family, was shot and killed in front of his Staten Island mansion on ...
Gambino crime boss killed in New York
<a href="https://en.crimerussia.com/" rel="nofollow">https://en.crimerussia.com/</a>-Mar 14, 2019
<a href="https://en.crimerussia.com/" rel="nofollow">https://en.crimerussia.com/</a>-Mar 14, 2019
A look into 'Franky Boy' Cali — the alleged mob boss assassinated in ...
International-ABC News-Mar 14, 2019
International-ABC News-Mar 14, 2019
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· ·
It’s Friday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Brooklyn native, is 86 today.
Weather: Grab the umbrella. Today will be wet and cloudy — but warm. The weekend will be sunnier and drier.
Alternate-side parking: In effect through Wednesday, then suspended Thursday for Purim.
For the first time in decades, a New York Mafia boss was assassinated. One expert said it looked like an inside job.
The murder of the reputed boss, Francesco Cali, on Staten Island on Wednesday night was also a reminder that the five Mafia families of New York are still around.
For years, New Yorkers’ rents and food were more expensive because of the “unseen taxes” levied by the mob, according to Selwyn Raab, a former Times reporter and author of several books about the Mafia and law enforcement.
“The Mafia, whether you like it or not, always has been part of the fabric of New York life,” he said.
What does this murder say about the mob, and New York?
Mr. Raab explained in an interview, which we’ve lightly edited and condensed for clarity:
Who was Francesco Cali?
He was a reputed leader of the Gambino crime family. For years, the family was led by John Gotti. His son and later his brother Gene were also influential members. They were flamboyant, and by around 2006, they were gone. [They went to prison.]
After the Gottis, the Sicilians took control of the family. The Sicilian faction included Mr. Cali. He grew up in Brooklyn, but his parents were from Palermo, Italy, and his family was involved in the Sicilian Mafia, according to Italian authorities.
How was he killed?
The police said he was shot six times outside his home, shortly after a motorist crashed into Mr. Cali’s car. He had no bodyguards. He probably wasn’t even armed. He obviously considered himself immune.
What does the killing suggest?
Somebody felt endangered by Mr. Cali, and they want to take over the family. And they wouldn’t be doing it if there wasn’t some wealth involved. Normally, they kill you with a single shot, but the idea that they really blasted away at him, that’s a message: The people who got him are very violent.
When was the last time a reputed Mafia boss was killed?
Paul Castellano in 1985. It was a power move. The Gottis thought they were going to be threatened by Castellano. It was a pre-emptive strike.
What does Mr. Cali’s death say about the Mafia today?
It’s the end of an era of peace. They know this is going to get headlines and it’s going to get a lot of attention. So, it’s a very drastic move, and it ends this 20 years of pretty much peaceful “stay under the radar screens.”
Mafia families didn’t want hits. Hits created headlines. Headlines created enforcement, and also scrutiny. Their bread and butter is gambling, loan sharking and drugs. It’s a potential for corrupting law enforcement and influencing politics because they make a lot of money.
Because of the construction industry rackets, your rents were higher because the costs were higher. Same thing with your food; the costs were higher because they were involved in the food industry. Private garbage hauling, too.
How does Mr. Cali compare with John Gotti, the notorious Mafia boss?
First, unlike the Gottis, no one ever heard of Mr. Cali. He wasn’t flamboyant. He kept a low profile.
Second, the Sicilians changed a hundred-year rule of American Mafia families: If you were in the Mafia and then cooperated with law enforcement, the Mafia would go after you, but not your family.
The new edict said if you’re in the Mafia and then cooperate with law enforcement, we’ll go after you, your relatives and your loved ones.
More coverage:
Todt Hill on Staten Island: Mr. Cali’s neighborhood is known for mob ties.
A look at five high-profile mob hits before the Cali slaying.
The Gambino crime family: How control has changed since the 1950s.
From The Times
Parents wanted their unvaccinated children in school, but a federal judge in White Plains said no.
A court ruling in Connecticut clears the way for a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the firearm used in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The mini crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.
What we’re reading
There are just nine all-women apartment buildings left in New York City. [New York Post]
Nonconsensual pelvic exams at hospitals may soon be banned in New York. [Politico NY]
A grass-roots organization wants to solve the problem of vacant storefronts on the Upper West Side. [Our Town]
Was there a coyote in Riverside Park? [West Side Rag]
The decay of a train station in Woodside is slow but visible. [QNS]
Be careful what you call a “barcade.” [Eater]
Coming up this weekend
Today:
The Downtown Alliance unveils “Prismatica,” an art installation of kaleidoscopes, at three plazas in Manhattan: 75 Wall Street, 77 Water Street and 32 Old Slip. All open at 7 a.m. [Free]
Have a late-evening chuckle with local comedians at the Broadway Comedy Club. 11 p.m. [Two-drink minimum]
Saturday:
The BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn screens shorts as part of its Caribbean Film Series. 4:30 p.m. [$15]
A discussion of Jeffrey Gibson’s “The Anthropophagic Effect” at the New Museum in Manhattan. 3 p.m. [$15]
Sunday:
The Hangovers perform jazz at FourFiveSix in Brooklyn. 7:30 p.m. [Free]
For Women’s History Month, join the Urban Park Rangers on a tour of the Gravesend cemetery in Brooklyn to learn about Lady Deborah Moody. 11 a.m. [Free]
— Derek Norman
Events are subject to change, so double-check before heading out. For more events, see the going-out guides from The Times’s culture pages.
And finally: Why isn’t the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17?
The Times’s Corey Kilgannon reports:
St. Patrick’s Day is Sunday. So why is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan tomorrow?
“Religious reasons,” John T. Ridge, a parade historian, said. “If March 17 falls on a Sunday, which is a holy day, the parade is held on Saturday.”
Brian O’Dwyer, the parade’s grand marshal, also noted: “We don’t want to march past St. Patrick’s Cathedral and disrupt things with our bagpipes.”
Now in its 258th year, the parade will start at 11 a.m. and proceed up Fifth Avenue, from 44th Street to 79th Street.
Of course, March 17 most often falls on a busy weekday. Tying up Fifth Avenue and its surroundings on that date is something that city officials have occasionally tried to change, said John Dunleavy, 80, who served as parade chairman for 22 years.
“We had no problems when City Hall was all Irish, but since then we’ve had politicians who wanted to move the parade to the weekend and even move it off Fifth Avenue,” he said. “But the parade also means that every bar, every restaurant, every hotel in Midtown is packed.
“So, once we reminded them of the enormous tax revenue to the city, they let us alone.”
It’s Friday — you deserve a parade.
Metropolitan Diary: Packed in
Dear Diary:
I couldn’t help but bristle at the woman throwing herself into the packed M train at the last minute, even though I had just done the same thing myself. She jostled me far too close to a man there in the car. He was clearly unhappy.
“Come on,” he said as the woman cleared the closing doors. “Wait for the next one.”
My backpack was dangling from my left hand. My book was in my right. When I was ready to turn the page, my left hand was tucked too tightly at my side to be any help. I tried sliding my right thumb beneath the page, but that didn’t work.
I had just decided to wait until the next stop to turn the page when the man I had been shoved into used his empty hand to turn it for me.
— Anna Gabianelli
New York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com.
We’re experimenting with the format of New York Today. What would you like to see more (or less) of? Post a comment or email us: nytoday@nytimes.com.
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· · · · · · · ·
The Mafia has not been spared from the gigificaton that has reshaped the larger economy.
That was one of the takeaways from expert analysis following Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali’s murder in Staten Island, New York this week. Cali, an underboss in the Gambino crime family, was shot at least six times outside his home on Wednesday (March 13), in an incident that may be related to a mob power struggle.
If the shooting was an official “rub out,” it would be the first killing of a high-ranking Mafia leader since the 1985 shooting of Paul Castellano, then head of the Gambino family, outside Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. But the relatively few headlines about New York’s “five families” since then should not be taken as a sign of the mob’s erasure, William Gale, as assistant agent for the FBI who directs the Organized Crime Task Force in New York, explained to NBC News this week. “The mob is alive and well,” he said, explaining that their “bread-and-butter money-making activities” remain centered around illegal gambling, “which turns into loan sharking, which turns into extortion.”
What’s changed, apparently, is the mob’s structure and recruiting methods. Cali, for instance, was said to be recruiting many of his foot soldiers from Sicily, which is part of a “broader trend” according to an anonymous investigator who spoke to the New York Times (paywall). For 21st-century Mafia managers, old-country recruits “have what they believe are the old values, because the American-born kids don’t have the right stuff anymore,” that official said.
The problem in the US may be a lack of loyalty and dearth of talent in a diminished Mafia (paywall), David Shapiro, a distinguished lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former FBI agent, who also spoke to NBC News, suggested.
“There was always the assumption that there was command and control in the mob families, like our American corporations,” he said. “But I don’t think that applies as much anymore. Today the business units are more fluid. The cells are smaller. There is not that loyalty to the boss and the underboss that there used to be.”
“You know the gig economy?” he also said. “Well, we’ve got a gig Mafia now.”
Christian Cipollini, a crime historian, author, and blogger, shared a similar view with Vice in 2015 when describing a disrupted industry. “The American Mafia had based a lot of its progress on the assistance of politicians, the supply of contraband, and rackets across the board,” he said. “As time went on, there were fewer people taking payoffs, younger and more savvy organizations excelled in the drug trade, and many of the rackets the Mafia dominated—well, they just don’t exist anymore.”
A string of mob convictions and defections in the ’80s and ’90s also left New York’s five families weakened, just as other criminal organizations, including the Russian mafia, were rising, Gale also said.
But it’s not only in the US where the Mafia is shape-shifting and attracting freelancers. A 2015 study of organized crime in the EU described “conglomerations of career criminals who temporarily join with others to commit crimes until they are completed and then reform with others to commit new crimes,” writes the Independent.
That report called on law enforcement agencies to rethink their approach to shutting down the now “adaptable” mob networks, which were no longer about hierarchy and tradition.
Read the whole story
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The Gambino crime family (pronounced [ɡamˈbiːno]) is one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). The group, which went through five bosses between 1910 and 1957, is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963, when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering, gambling, loansharking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution,[2] fraud, hijacking, pier thefts[clarification needed], and fencing.
The family was one of the five families that were founded in New York after the Castellammarese Warof 1931. For most of the next quarter-century, it was a minor player in organized crime. Its most prominent member during this time was its underboss Albert Anastasia, who rose to infamy as the operating head of the underworld's enforcement arm, Murder, Inc. He remained in power even after Murder, Inc. was smashed in the late 1940s, and took over his family in 1951—by all accounts, after murdering the family's founder Vincent Mangano.
The rise of what was the most powerful crime family in America for a time began in 1957, when Anastasia was assassinated while sitting in a barber chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. Experts believe that Anastasia's underboss Carlo Gambino helped orchestrate the hit to take over the family. Gambino partnered with Meyer Lansky to control gambling interests in Cuba. The family's fortunes grew through 1976, when Gambino appointed his brother-in-law Paul Castellano as boss upon his death. Castellano infuriated upstart capo John Gotti, who orchestrated Castellano's murder in 1985. Gotti's downfall came in 1992, when his underboss Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano decided to cooperate with the FBI. Gravano's cooperation brought down Gotti, along with most of the top members of the Gambino family. The family was headed by acting boss Frank Cali until his murder outside his Staten Island home on March 13, 2019.
NEW YORK (AP) — A 24-year-old man was arrested Saturday in the shooting death of the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family, New York City police said.
Anthony Comello was arrested in New Jersey in the death of Francesco Cali on Wednesday in front of his Staten Island home, said Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea, who stressed that the investigation is in its early stages.
"There are multiple, multiple angles that we are exploring," Shea said at a news conference at police headquarters. "Was the person paid to do it? Were others conspiring to do this crime?"
The 53-year-old Cali, a native of Sicily, was shot to death by a gunman who may have crashed his truck into Cali's car to lure him outside. Shea said Cali was shot 10 times.
Shea said police have recovered the truck but have not recovered the gun used in the murder.
Asked about Comello's arrest record, Shea said he "crossed paths in some limited circumstances with the NYPD" including getting a parking ticket on Staten Island the day Cali was killed.
Comello will be extradited from New Jersey to New York to face charges, Shea said. Information on an attorney for Comello wasn't immediately available.
Federal prosecutors referred to Cali in court filings in recent years as the underboss of the Mafia's Gambino family, once one of the most powerful crime organizations in the country. News accounts since 2015 said he had ascended to the top spot.
Cali's only mob-related criminal conviction came a decade ago, when he pleaded guilty in an extortion scheme involving a failed attempt to build a NASCAR track on Staten Island. He was sentenced to 16 months behind bars and was released in 2009.
Police say they are still investigating whether Cali's murder was a mob hit or whether he was killed for some other motive.
The last Mafia boss to be rubbed out in New York City was Gambino don "Big Paul" Castellano, who was assassinated while getting out of a black limousine outside a high-end Manhattan steakhouse in 1985.
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