Buying City Hall

Bx. GOP chair among those charged in attempt to buy mayoral race

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK, April 3- In a six count indictment released by the United States Attorney, State Senator Malcolm Smith, Queens Councilman Dan Halloran, Bronx County Republican Leader Joseph Savino, and Queens county Republican Vice-Chair Vincent Tabone were arrested for attempting to fix the Republican candidate choice in the upcoming mayors race in New York City by defrauding the public. Also as part of the indictment the mayor and deputy mayor of Spring Valley were arrested for their alleged part in a scheme with Senator Smith to defraud New York State on a contract Smith was to have approved with the officials for a Spring Valley road.

Starting from about November 2012 the complaint states that Smith, Hallogan, Savino, and Tabone (together with others known and unknown) willfully and knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together with each other to commit offenses against the United States, to wit, wire fraud and bribery in violation of Title 18, United States

code, sections 1343, 1346, and 1952.

Undercover FBI agent (Thomas Holmes) posing as a wealthy real estate developer and an unidentified cooperating witness met with Smith to bribe leaders of the Republican Party County Committee to obtain certificates of authorization called Wilson Pakula certificates

allowing Smith to run as a Republican candidate for mayor of New York City even though Smith was a registered Democrat. It is then alleged that Queens Councilman Dan Halloran met with the pair to negotiate the amount of bribes to Savino and Tabone for the Wilson Pakula certificates, and Halloran was given $20,500 for his services.

According to the indictment, Smith agreed to use his official position to obtain New York State funds for the Spring Valley Project. Savino met the undercover agent in a Manhattan restaurant and allegedly accepted $15,000 in cash in the undercover agent’s car. Tabone met the UC in a Manhattan restaurant and allegedly accepted $25,000 in cash in the undercover agent’s car. Also in February Smith suggested that the undercover agent and the state senator representing the Spring Valley area meet concerning the funding for the Spring Valley project.

In March, telephone and text messages continued between the undercover agent, a witness, Smith, and Halloran as to the status of the Wilson Pakulas. Smith is quoted as saying, “Before any committee leader receives a nickel more (he'd) have to stand on the Empire State Building and drop every person (he) endorsed, and hold Malcolm up and

say he's the best thing since sliced bread”. “Matter of fact, he's better than sliced bread”.

FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos made the following comments on the arrests of New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, New York City Council Member Daniel Halloran, and others: “Elected officials are called public servants because they are supposed to serve the people. Public service is not supposed to be a shortcut to self-enrichment. People in New York, in Spring Valley—in any city or town in this country—rightly expect their elected or appointed representatives to hold themselves to a higher standard. At the very least, public officials should obey the law. As alleged, these defendants did not obey the law; they broke the law and the public trust. There is a price to pay for that kind of betrayal.”

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Easter Bonnet Festival

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Easter Bonnet Festival: (Photos by Seitu Oronde) New Yorkers showed off their unique creations during the annual Easter Bonnet festival in Manhattan. Some of the...

Easter Bonnet Festival

(Photos by Seitu Oronde)

New Yorkers showed off their unique creations during the annual Easter Bonnet festival in Manhattan. Some of the more unique designs were made by Bronxites using MetroCards.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Beloved Gorilla Dies at Bronx Zoo

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Beloved Gorilla Dies at Bronx Zoo: BRONX, NEW YORK, April 1 - Pattycake, the first gorilla born in New York City, died at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo at 40...

Beloved Gorilla Dies at Bronx Zoo

BRONX, NEW YORK, April 1- Pattycake, the first gorilla born in New York City, died at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo at 40 years old.

Pattycake was under medical care due to her advanced age and she was being treated for chronic cardiac issues. A necropsy was performed and more conclusive results will follow.

Pattycake was born at the Central Park Zoo on Sept. 3, 1972 to parents Kongo and Lulu. Since her birth, she was loved by New Yorkers who were captivated by her story. At five months old she was followed closely in the news after sustaining a broken arm. After her injury, she was brought to the Bronx Zoo’s animal hospital for care where she was raised by Bronx Zoo keepers until being returned to her parents at the Central Park Zoo. In 1983, she was brought back to the Bronx Zoo permanently. Two books have been published about her, Gorilla Baby: The Story of Pattycake; and Gentle Gorilla: The Story of Pattycake.

“Pattycake was perhaps the best known gorilla at the Bronx Zoo, and an institution in New York City,” said Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo and WCS Executive Vice President and General Director of Zoos & Aquarium. “Millions of children in New York City grew up with Pattycake at the Bronx Zoo. Pattycake was a very special animal and her presence will be deeply missed."

Upon her death, Pattycake was the 31st oldest gorilla of the 338 presently residing in North American zoos. She surpassed the median life span for gorillas in zoos, which is 37 years of age.

Pattycake had 10 infants while at the Bronx Zoo (two of which were twins born in 1995). Her offspring currently reside in zoos in Omaha, Louisville, Utah, Detroit, Boston and Buffalo. The Bronx Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP), a breeding and management program designed to maintain a genetically viable and demographically stable gorilla population. A total of 59 gorillas have been born at the Bronx Zoo over the past 40 years.

The Bronx Zoo currently has three troops of western lowland gorillas, with 18 animals living in the award-winning Congo Gorilla Forest, which opened in June, 1999. The exhibit has welcomed millions of visitors through the years and helped raise more than $11 million for the protection of gorillas, elephants, mandrills and other important African forest species.

There are four gorilla subspecies. In addition to western lowland gorillas there are mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, and Cross River gorillas. All are classified as “critically endangered” by the IUCN, except eastern lowland gorillas, which are endangered. The Wildlife Conservation Society works to safeguard all four subspecies.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Rams Sweep Colonial in Doubleheader

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Rams Sweep Colonial in Doubleheader: By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, April 1 - On Saturday afternoon, the Fordham Rams (20-11, 4-0) swept a softball doubleheader, 8-3, 3-0, ...

Rams Sweep Colonial in Doubleheader

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, April 1- On Saturday afternoon, the Fordham Rams (20-11, 4-0) swept a softball doubleheader, 8-3, 3-0, over the George Washington Colonials (11-15, 0-2) on the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. After playing its first 25 games in the South, the Rams have won all five of their games since returning to the New York area.

The teams looked evenly matched in the early innings of Game One. The first contest was knotted at one at the end of the first four frames. George Washington scored the first run of the game in the top of the third. Fordham evened the score in the bottom of the inning as catcher Gabby Leuty doubled in a run.

Fordham went ahead by two runs in the fifth as Leuty and shortstop Elise Fortier went deep with back-to-back solo home runs. The Colonials scored two in the top of the sixth to again tie the game, but Fordham ensured the victory in Game One with five runs in the sixth. The big blast was a three-run homer by Fortier, her second of the contest.

Jamie LaBovick (10-7) earned her 10th win of the year after surrendering seven hits and two earned runs in six innings in the circle. LaBovick also, as has become the custom, was effective at the plate. She hit safely twice, scoring a run and driving in a second. The .400 hitter this season tied a Fordham record set by Nicole Callahan in 2012 by hitting successfully in her 17th consecutive game.

In the second game of the day, sophomore Michelle Daubman (10-4) earned her 10th victory of 2013 by hurling her second straight complete game shutout win. Daubman gave up only four hits and one base on balls during her impressive outing.

Neither team was on the board during the first four innings. A single by LaBovick followed by Leuty’s second homer of the day gave Fordham its first two runs of the nightcap in the fifth. The final run of the game was driven in by a double by Fordham’s Paige Ortiz in the sixth.

A single by LaBovick, playing at first base in the second game, in the third inning set a new Fordham consecutive game hitting record of 18 games.

After playing two games on the road against the University of Massachusetts next weekend, the Rams return to the Bronx on Sunday, April 7, to host a doubleheader against the University of Rhode Island Rams.