Salon.com > Jennifer Peltz

Times Square was bombing suspects’ next target

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:14:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials say the Boston Marathon bombing suspects intended to blow up their remaining explosives in Times Square.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly spoke at a briefing Thursday.

Kelly says the two suspects had a pressure cooker bomb and five pipe bombs they wanted to set off.

They said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-KHAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) told Boston investigators from his hospital bed that he and his brother had discussed going to New York to detonate their remaining explosives. They said they decided it spontaneously.

Kelly had said a day earlier that the Boston Marathon bombing suspects were targeting New York, but was later briefed by federal officials.

Tsarnaev traveled to New York at least once last fall. There is a photo of the suspect in Times Square.

Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan (TA'-mehr-luhn), died in a shootout with police.

Christine Quinn launches NYC mayoral bid

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:15:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — Long seen as a leading contender, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn formally launched Sunday what she hopes will be a history-making mayoral bid.

A veteran of city politics, Quinn would be a groundbreaking mayor across two personal dimensions: She would be the first female and first openly gay mayor to lead the nation's largest city.

Announcing through her Twitter feed that she's in the race, Quinn said she wanted to give middle- and working-class New Yorkers the same opportunities generations of her family got when they came here.

"I'm running for mayor because I love this city. It's the greatest place in the world," she said in a video linked to her post, before setting out to start what she called a walk-and-talk tour intended to take her to every neighborhood in the city before the Democratic primary in September.

A former tenant organizer and director of a gay and lesbian advocacy group, Quinn, 46, has been on the City Council since 1999 and its leader since 2006. The position has afforded her considerable exposure going into the crowded field of candidates vying to succeed term-limited Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:15:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.

"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.

An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for the 40 percent of American private-sector workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.

Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.

Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.

Beastie Boys rapper’s will bars ad use of his work

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 21:09:40 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch rapped that he wouldn't "sell my songs for no TV ad." His will shows he wanted to make sure that held true after his death, too.

"In no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes," says the will, filed this week in a Manhattan court. Yauch, known for his good nature as well as his raspy voice in one of hip-hop's groundbreaking acts, died of cancer in May. He was 47.

Also known as MCA, Yauch was a founding member of the Beastie Boys, a group that helped hip-hop gain mainstream attention in the 1980s. As white guys from Brooklyn in a genre with few credible white performers at the time, they emerged as prankster pioneers and scored such hits as "Brass Monkey," ''No Sleep Till Brooklyn" and "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" They had four No. 1 albums and sold more than 40 million records.

It's not clear whether the provision in Yauch's will, first reported by Rolling Stone's website, covers all the Beastie Boys' output. His lawyer and the group's spokesman declined to comment Friday.

But the Beastie Boys have signaled that they are keeping a tight rein on commercial use of their work.

Sex charges dropped against DSK, not in effect yet

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:37:00 +0000

Dominique Strauss-Kahn says that the past months have been "a nightmare" for him and his family and that they're looking forwarding to returning home.

In his first public statement since he was charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid, Strauss-Kahn thanked supporters and said was grateful to the prosecutor for agreeing to dismiss the case.

A judge on Tuesday said he would dismiss the charges against the former head of the International Monetary Fund, pending an appeal by the accuser to appoint a special prosecutor.

Judge Michael Obus earlier Tuesday denied the request for a special prosecutor that would have continued the case, but the maid's attorney is appealing the decision.

If an appeals court denies the request, the case is dismissed and Strauss-Kahn is free to leave the United States.

Wearing a dark gray suit, blue shirt and a navy and gold striped tie, Strauss-Kahn appeared resolute during the brief appearance in Manhattan State Supreme Court. He smiled and shook hands with an audience member as his wife, the journalist Anne Sinclair, sat nearby. They left court without speaking to reporters.

Prosecutors seek to dismiss Strauss-Kahn charges

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:34:00 +0000

New York City prosecutors asked a judge Monday to dismiss all criminal charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn because they aren't sure beyond a reasonable doubt that the hotel maid who created a cross-continental sensation by accusing him of sexual assault is telling the truth.

The Manhattan district attorney's office said in court papers that the accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, repeatedly gave false information to investigators and grand jurors about her life, her past and her actions following her encounter with the French diplomat.

"In virtually every substantive interview with prosecutors, despite entreaties to simply be truthful, she has not been truthful on matters great and small," the lawyers wrote.

Diallo, and her attorney, Kenneth Thompson, met briefly with representatives of the Manhattan district attorney's office to discuss the decision not to proceed with the prosecution. Thompson didn't say what had happened inside or reveal what his client was told, but he recited a short statement condemning prosecutors for their handling of the case.

"Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case," he said. "He has not only turned his back on this innocent victim. But he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other physical evidence in this case."

Lawyer: Strauss-Kahn maid’s remarks misportrayed

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:47:00 +0000

The hotel maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sex assault has been wrongfully portrayed as a money-grubbing opportunist in accounts of her recorded remarks to an incarcerated friend, her lawyer said Wednesday after they reviewed the tapes during a nearly eight-hour meeting with prosecutors.

The tapes also established that housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo recounted the attack to the man during their first conversation, a day after the alleged attack -- showing, her lawyer said, that her focus was on what had happened to her, not on the former International Monetary Fund leader's wealth or stature.

"Information has been put out there about Ms. Diallo that now I know was false. She never was scheming to take DSK's money, and that's a fact," said her attorney, Kenneth Thompson, referring to Strauss-Kahn by his initials. Diallo herself didn't speak to reporters, and the Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to comment on the meeting.

The marathon session marked the 32-year-old's first meeting with prosecutors since they said July 1 they had doubts about her credibility because she hadn't been truthful about her background or what she did right after the May 14 encounter. Strauss-Kahn denies the charges, and his lawyers are calling for the case to be dismissed.

Prosecutor mum on Strauss-Kahn maid’s public tales

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:48:00 +0000

The top prosecutor handling the sexual assault case against former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn wouldn't talk Monday after the hotel maid at the center of it made the unusual move of going public with her story.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s office refused repeated attempts to discuss the case, which has grown shaky in recent weeks after questions about the credibility of the maid, who claims Strauss-Kahn forced her to perform oral sex.

Hotel housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo's interviews aired on ABC's "Good Morning America" and in a Newsweek cover story.

"I want justice," Diallo told ABC News. "I want him to go to jail."

With her interviews, the 32-year-old Guinean immigrant, prosecutors' star witness, ripped off the veil of privacy that authorities had kept around her. Prosecutors have provided her with housing and paid her daily expenses to keep her from the media maelstrom.

She defied prosecutors' conventional wisdom about accusers speaking publicly before trial -- it's generally seen as providing defense lawyers material to mine for contradictions and questions. Her move could widen a rift between prosecutors and their key witness, who hasn't spoken with them since late June while her lawyer called for a special prosecutor after the district attorney's office said it had developed doubts about her trustworthiness.

In Strauss-Kahn case, DA weighs limited options

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 19:18:09 +0000

At first, prosecutors said their sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn was growing more formidable by the day. Six weeks later, they said his accuser's history of lying raised major red flags, but they weren't dropping the case, at least for now.

With the former International Monetary Fund leader freed from house arrest because the case has weakened, prosecutors aren't saying what their next move may be.

Some legal experts say prosecutors will all but have to abandon the case because of the damage to the accuser's overall credibility, even if they believe Strauss-Kahn attacked the woman, a housekeeper at a New York City hotel where he was staying. Still, at least one former high-level prosecutor thinks the case isn't doomed.

For now, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. is saying only that prosecutors will keep investigating "until we have uncovered all relevant facts.

"Our commitment to the truth and the facts will govern how we proceed," he said in a statement Friday.

Prosecutors have a number of options, including going ahead with the current charges or reducing them.

Strauss-Kahn free from house arrest; charges stand

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:27:00 +0000

Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn walked out of court free on bail Friday after prosecutors said an extensive background investigation of the hotel housekeeper accusing him of sexual assault gave them pause.

Strauss-Kahn had been under pricey house arrest for weeks in a ritzy Manhattan loft on $6 million in cash and bond. The charges, which include attempted rape, have not been reduced, but the move signals that prosecutors do not believe the accusations are as ironclad as they once seemed.

The 32-year-old hotel maid accused Strauss-Kahn of chasing her through his luxury suite in May, trying to pull down her pantyhose and forcing her to perform oral sex.

"It is a great relief," said Strauss-Kahn's attorney, William Taylor, adding that the case underscores "how easy it is for people to be charged with serious crimes and for there to be a rush to judgment."

"It is so important in this country that people, especially the media, refrain from judgment until the facts are all in," he said.

The accuser's attorney did not back down on the seriousness of the charges.

"From Day One she has described a violent sexual assault that Dominique Strauss-Kahn committed against her," attorney Ken Thompson said.

Prosecutors say Strauss-Kahn case falling apart

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:50:00 +0000

Prosecutors have serious questions about the credibility of a hotel housekeeper who has accused former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, and he is expected to have his strict bail conditions reduced today, according to people familiar with the case.

Investigators have come to believe that the woman lied about some of her activities in the hours around the alleged attack and about her own background, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The official is familiar with the case but spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public in court.

Prosecutors think she lied about details on her application for asylum in the U.S., including saying she had been raped in her native Guinea, the official told the AP.

"She actually recounted the entire story to prosecutors and later said it was false," the official said.

Prosecutors haven't necessarily reached a new conclusion about the allegations against Strauss-Kahn and have not decided whether to downgrade the charges, the official said.

Strauss-Kahn pleads not guilty to sex assault

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:46:00 +0000

The former International Monetary Fund head charged with trying to rape a Manhattan hotel maid formally said he was innocent of the charges Monday in his first court appearance in the case in two weeks.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty in a strong voice at the brief proceeding, standing between his defense team as his wife, journalist Anne Sinclair, watched. He already had said he's innocent.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Orbus went through the formality of telling Strauss-Kahn he needed to appear in court and had a right to be present at his trial to which the economist said "yes." His next court date is set for July 18.

The French diplomat appeared in state Supreme Court in Manhattan for the first time since he was released on $6 million in cash bail and bond last month. He has been under house arrest that includes 24-hour monitors and armed guards, first in a downtown Manhattan apartment and now in a deluxe, $50,000-a-month Tribeca town house.

About 50 hotel workers who were bused in by their union gathered outside the courthouse, many wearing their work uniforms. They shouted "shame on you" as Strauss-Kahn arrived, and again as he left in a black sport-utility vehicle.

Ex-IMF chief due to answer charges in NYC sex case

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:35:00 +0000

Prosecutors have said their evidence against the former International Monetary Fund leader charged with sexually assaulting a Manhattan hotel maid was growing by the day. Defense lawyers, meanwhile, have said they had information that would seriously hurt her credibility.

Both sides have been mum about exactly what they mean, and it's unclear whether either will shed more light on the case as Dominique Strauss-Kahn goes to court Monday to answer the charges. The French economist and diplomat, who has said he's innocent, is expected to enter a formal not guilty plea.

It will be Strauss-Kahn's first court appearance since he was released on a total of $6 million in cash bail and bond last month after nearly a week behind bars. He has since been under house arrest and armed guard, first in a Manhattan apartment and now in a deluxe town house that rents for $50,000 a month.

The case has been intensely followed around the world, spawning news reports even about food deliveries to his home. His arrest rocked politics in France, where Strauss-Kahn had been considered a potential contender in next year's presidential elections, and shook up the IMF. He resigned his post at the powerful lending body after his arrest, and the powerful lending organization has yet to name his replacement.

Ex-IMF chief gets $1m bail in NYC sex-assault case

Thu, 19 May 2011 21:20:00 +0000

International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn will return to a New York City jail pending his release on bail.

Strauss-Kahn is charged with trying to rape a hotel maid and is likely to spend one more night at Rikers Island jail.

A judge set bail at $1 million Thursday, and approved an elaborate arrangement under which the 62-year-old diplomat and banker would be confined to a private apartment in Manhattan and monitored by armed guards.

Strauss-Kahn will also have to take out a $5 million insurance bond.

Prosecutors have said he should remain behind bars.

Strauss-Kahn resigned his IMF post late Wednesday.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn indicted

Thu, 19 May 2011 19:55:00 +0000

A prosecutor in New York says a grand jury has indicted former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn in connection with an alleged attack on a hotel maid.

The assistant district attorney did not specify the charge.

Strauss-Kahn was appearing before a judge Thursday in a bid for freedom while he awaited trial.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund arrived in the courtroom Thursday afternoon wearing a gray suit.

He turned to give a quick smile to supporters in the gallery that included a daughter and his wife, Anne Sinclair.

He has been behind bars since Saturday after he was accused of trying to rape a maid at a Manhattan hotel.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

His political career in shambles and his leadership of the IMF a memory, Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived at a New York City courthouse Thursday in a new bid to get released from jail while he awaits trial on charges that he sexually abused a hotel maid.

The 62-year-old banker and diplomat has offered to post $1 million in bail money to gain his release from the city's bleak Rikers Island jail complex. He's been behind bars since his arrest Saturday.

Frenchwoman alleges 2002 assault by Strauss-Kahn

Mon, 16 May 2011 12:34:18 +0000

The lawyer for a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn nine years ago says she wants to file a legal complaint against the International Monetary Fund chief.

Lawyer David Koubbi says Tristane Banon did not file suit earlier due to "pressures" she face over the alleged 2002 sexual assault by Strauss-Kahn and was dissuaded by her own mother, a regional Socialist official.

The IMF chief -- a possible Socialist contender in France's 2012 presidential race -- is in custody in New York after being accused of a weekend sexual assault against a hotel maid.

Koubbi told RTL radio Monday he is likely to file suit for Banon now because "she knows she'll be heard and she knows she'll be taken seriously."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The head of the International Monetary Fund was examined for evidence that could incriminate him in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid, charges that stunned the global financial world and upended French presidential politics.

Lil Wayne released from jail

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:32:00 +0000

Lil Wayne has been freed from jail after serving eight months in a gun case, emerging with a hot new album, well-wishes from a former president and a deepened appreciation for his fans.

The city's Department of Correction website said Thursday the Grammy Award-winning rap star had been released from the Rikers Island jail complex.

His managers have said he planned to head for his home in Miami, where they're planning a welcome-home party Sunday.

"I was never scared, worried nor bothered by the situation" behind bars, Lil Wayne said Tuesday through Weezythanxyou.com, a website he set up to give fans a glimpse of his life in jail.

Lil Wayne, who had the best-selling album of 2008 and won a best rap album Grammy with "Tha Carter III," kept his career in high gear while locked up for having a loaded gun on his tour bus in 2007.

His latest album, "I Am Not a Human Being" -- released while he was in solitary confinement in September -- hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart last month. He also was featured on a string of hits by other artists, including Drake and Eminem, that came out while he was incarcerated -- and he recorded a verse for the Drake/Jay-Z collaboration "Light Up" over on the phone for a "Rikers Remix" that made the rounds online.

Iran-held U.S. woman returns home

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:53:00 +0000

An American woman who was held in Iran for more than 13 months and accused of spying returned Sunday to the United States.

Sarah Shourd arrived at around 6:30 a.m. at Dulles International Airport near Washington, accompanied by her mother and an uncle, according to a statement released by her family and relatives of two other Americans who are still in custody in Iran.

Shourd and her mother, Nora, were on their way to New York for a news conference later Sunday with the mothers of the other detained Americans, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the families said.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also is due to arrive in the city Sunday to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

Shourd, Bauer -- her fiance -- and Fattal, a friend of the couple, were detained in July 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border. Iran has issued espionage-related indictments, which could bring trials for the two men and proceedings in absentia for Shourd.

The Americans' families say they were hiking, and if they crossed the border, they did so accidentally.

Shourd was freed Tuesday after officials in Oman -- an ally of both Iran and the United States -- mediated a $500,000 bail.

Malcolm X assassin is freed on parole in N.Y.

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:55:00 +0000

NEW YORK -- The only man to admit shooting Malcolm X was freed on parole Tuesday, 45 years after he assassinated the civil rights leader.

Thomas Hagan, the last man still serving time in the 1965 killing, was freed from a Manhattan prison where he spent two days a week under a work-release program, state Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia said.

Hagan, 69, has said he was one of three gunmen who shot Malcolm X as he began a speech at Harlem's Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965. But Hagan has said the two men convicted with him were not involved.

They maintained their innocence and were paroled in the 1980s. No one else has ever been charged.

The assassins gunned down Malcolm X out of anger at his split with the leadership of the Nation of Islam, the black Muslim movement for which he had once served as chief spokesman, said Hagan, who was then known as Talmadge X Hayer.

He has repeatedly expressed regret for his role in the assassination, which he described in a 2008 court filing as the deed of a young man who "acted out of rage on impulse and loyalty" to religious leaders.

"I've had a lot of time, a heck of a lot of time, to think about it," Hagan told a parole board last month, according to a transcript of the interview.

Producer files $30M suit against Lady Gaga in NYC

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:14:00 +0000

A songwriter and music producer who claims he helped launch pop star Lady Gaga says she squeezed him out of her lucrative career after he co-wrote some of her songs, came up with her stage name and helped get her record deal.

Rob Fusari filed a $30.5 million lawsuit against the Grammy Award-winning performer, saying his protege and former girlfriend ditched him as her career soared.

"All business is personal," said the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Manhattan state court.

Lady Gaga's spokesman, Dave Tomberlin, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail sent Thursday by The Associated Press.

Fusari had credits on such hits as Will Smith's "Wild, Wild West" and Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious" when a friend steered the piano-playing singer -- then known by her real name, Stefani Germanotta -- to him in March 2006, according to his lawsuit.

Though he initially dismissed her, he realized she had star potential after hearing her play in his Livingston, N.J., studio, the suit said. He spent the next several months working with her every day and "radically reshaping her approach," persuading her to drop rock riffs for dance beats, it said.