A jury found Byad Lockett and Darryl Watson guilty in the Sept. 2021 Essex County jail attack against then 21-year-old Jayshawn Boyd, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The jury found Lockett and Watson guilty of attempted murder, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

The third inmate, Isaad Jackson, was only found guilty of the final charge. Prosecutors said the jury was hung on the attempted murder and assault charges.

The vicious beatdown was caught on video, many of the images too disturbing too watch. In it, the three men stomp on Boyd, hit him with a mop handle, douse him with bleach, throw a water cooler and then a microwave at his head. According to Essex County officials, a total of seven inmates were involved in the attack.

“The victim was unconscious after sustaining serious head shots during the seven-on-one assault. Lockett, Watson, and Jackson then returned to the defenseless body of Boyd and struck him in the head multiple times with industrial-sized items,” Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab said.

The sentencing for the three men is set for September.

That Boyd can walk at all shows his incredible will to survive — no one thought he could live after the beating in the C-Pod at the Essex County jail. Boyd, whose family says suffers from schizophrenia, had never been put in general population before the day of the beating.

“The way they beat my son, I couldn’t even watch the video,” Nacolia Boyd, Jayshawn’s mother, said. “My son Is not the same. He can’t do things on his own anymore. He can’t go to the store—can’t dress himself-it’s hard for me. You don’t have the life you did before.”

The Boyd family is now suing the county and correction officials. Attorney Brooke Barnett says the duration of the beating with no intervention by jail guards was unacceptable.

”He’s placed in the jail—in less than 10 minutes, this is what’s happening,” Barnett said. “And nobody came to his aid.”

The seven-on-one attack went on for two minutes and 23 seconds, according to Barnett.

Union officials said the sole officer on duty in that unit had not been academy trained. According to prosecutors, he left for his safety and called for backup. A year and a half later, officers without academy training are still being put into units at a ratio of one to every 64 inmates.

County officials insist they have implemented safety and security changes since the assault on Boyd.

“We are employing national standards and we are employing best practices,” ECCR Director Donald Charles said.

But according to internal documents obtained by the News 4 I-Team, there have been a total of 17 inmate-on-inmate or inmate-on-staff incidents since March. Officer Jeffrey Matos was stabbed and beaten by a group of inmates on May 17.

“They don’t care about our safety. I’ve never seen the jail this dangerous in my life,” Matos said.

Barnett, who represents several inmate families, agrees.

“You talk about Rikers, Essex County Jail, they’re worse than Rikers,” she said.

Boyd, his family says, will need a lifetime of care.

“They should have been on a job protecting these inmates. Just because you’re in jail, doesn’t mean you have to be treated like an animal. And it shouldn’t have happened to my son. No one should have gone through that,” his mother said.

One defendant has already pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, while three others have yet to be tried.

Given the dire situation that Adams has repeatedly said the influx of tens of thousands of migrants into NYC has caused, the mayor said Tuesday that he’s considering using his official mayoral residence on the Upper Ease Side as a shelter for migrants.

“I wanna lead from the front, that’s the type of leader I am,” he said.

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Adams said he’ll share his waterfront view with a migrant family as long as city guidelines agree. The mayor did not say how long he thinks it would take to investigate the logistics of such a plan, but said he believes he has enough space for a migrant family or two.

The comment follows his suggestion that everyday New Yorkers could possibly house asylum seekers in their private residences — and perhaps get compensation for it. It’s an idea that New Yorkers has been met with mixed response from New Yorkers.

“I think we have to find a way to put people up in the city,” said Eric Fowler, who lives in Gramercy.

“I wouldn’t even accommodate my relatives,” said Chinatown’s Sun Lo, with a laugh.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much residents would get paid to house migrants, but the plan would come with a catch: It would have to work around the city’s 30-day rule and other provisions that dictate how long it takes someone to become a tenant.

It also comes after Adams announced that 50 churches, mosques and houses of worship will get paid to house nearly 1,000 migrants in an effort to take some of the pressure off hotels and the city’s shelter system. Having the asylum seekers stay in churches would also cost significantly less for the city,

Instead of paying hotels, the city will pay the houses of worship $125 per person per night that they are hosting.

“We should be recycling our own dollars. We should take this crisis and go to opportunities. That is how we can deal with this,” Adams said.

Within the last year NYC has seen huge waves of asylum seekers. Officials have said they’ve welcomed more 72,000 since 2022, with 45,000 of them actively getting assistance — creating a major lack of space. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that the Westchester County city of White Plains is now housing 46 migrants, and hundreds more could soon be sleeping on cots at a JFK Airport warehouse, pending approval from Port Authority.

“I’m scared, I no longer want to go to hospitals,” said the former patient who asked to remain anonymous. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through this.”

But the former patient’s attorney, Nicholas Liakas, said he fears the brazen nature of Dr. Cheng’s alleged sex assaults suggest he may have victimized other patients.

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“For someone to rise to this level where you are drugging and raping a person, that doesn’t happen overnight,” Liakas said. “You have essentially a predator in a white coat.”

In Dec. 2022, the Queens district attorney’s office secured a first-degree rape indictment alleging Dr. Cheng used a K-N95 mask filled with cotton balls that had been soaked in that unknown liquid to render a female victim unconscious in his apartment. When she woke up, she allegedly found the video of her own sexual assault. Cheng is currently awaiting trial, held without bond on Rikers Island.

James Kousouros, the defense attorney representing Dr. Cheng, said the physician denies the criminal rape charges. With respect to the rape allegation from the doctor’s former patient, Kousouros stressed the hospital decided not to impose discipline.

“Our understanding is the matter was investigated by the facility and no action was taken,” Kousouros said. “Our client will defend these allegations should they be formally charged.”

But the former patient, herself, says the hospital didn’t do enough to investigate when she initially raised concerns about being drugged.

In an exclusive interview with the NBC New York I-Team and Telemundo Investiga, she said she was assaulted in June 2021 when Dr. Cheng allegedly entered her hospital room the day before she was scheduled to have her gall bladder removed.  The patient, then 19 years old, said Dr. Cheng unexpectedly injected her with a substance that made her fall asleep and “when she woke up [the] doctor was no longer in [the] room” but she was experiencing “extreme pain to [her] lower abdomen.”

Liakas said, at the time, both his client and her mother expressed concern the teenager might have been sexually assaulted while she was unconscious. Though her hospital records do not include an explicit accusation of rape, they do show medical staff initially took that possibility seriously. 

The records show hospital personnel checked surveillance video, key card access near the patient’s exam room and assigned a team of social workers who specialize in sexual abuse concerns to examine the young woman. According to the medical file, the 19-year-old patient told the social workers “she doesn’t remember what happened to her” during the time she was knocked out.   

After she woke up, the former patient says she clearly pointed out Dr. Cheng during an impromptu “line-up” of male medical personnel, as the staff tried to figure out who injected her.

“They put in front of me like four doctors and they said to identify who it is,” she said.

Despite that, her lawyer says the hospital appears to have allowed the investigation to fizzle without taking action against Dr. Cheng. 

“That investigation, if you want to call it, hit a dead end,” said Liakas, who has filed a civil lawsuit on his client’s behalf.

He alleged New York-Presbyterian was aware the patient had been sexually assaulted, “but conspired to cover up her assault by failing to tell her what had happened, failing to test or treat her for the illegal and dangerous injection of drugs she had been given, [and] refusing to call the police.”

“That investigation, if you want to call it, hit a dead end,” said Liakas, who has filed a civil lawsuit on Jane’s behalf, alleging New York Presbyterian was aware the patient had been sexually assaulted, “but conspired to cover up her assault by failing to tell her what had happened, failing to test or treat her for the illegal and dangerous injection of drugs she had been given, [and] refusing to call the police.”

New York-Presbyterian declined to answer specific questions about the alleged rape, but did send a written statement expressing the hospital’s outrage at Dr. Cheng’s behavior.

“The crimes committed by this individual are heinous, despicable, and a fundamental betrayal of our mission and our patients’ trust. We are appalled and deeply saddened by what these victims and their families have endured,” the statement read.

The hospital said Dr. Cheng was fired six months ago, after New York-Presbyterian learned of the criminal rape indictment. 

“In December 2022, as soon as the District Attorney made us aware of allegations of sexual abuse against this individual, he was immediately placed off duty, banned from hospital property, and terminated,” the hospital said. “We have been fully cooperating with the Queens District Attorney’s office, the NYPD, and the NYS Department of Health.”

But the hospital statement did not explain why Dr. Cheng was allowed to continue treating patients after staff members investigated teenage patient’s complaint about being drugged in June 2021.

New York-Presbyterian said an exhaustive review of the matter has been conducted, including additional training for all employees. It’s not clear whether the hospital reported Dr. Cheng to regulators at the New York State Department of Health. 

According to records posted by New York’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct, Dr. Cheng was suspended from practicing medicine on April 7, 2023. That’s four months after Cheng was indicted on criminal rape charges and nearly two years after the patient at New York-Presbyterian Queens first told medical staff she’d been mysteriously drugged and woke up with pain to her lower abdomen.

New York State law requires physicians, nurses, and social workers to report when they have reasonable cause to suspect a person under 18 has been abused by someone responsible for that child’s care.

In this case, even though the medical care was being provided in a pediatric unit, the patient was a 19-year-old. Her medical record says she declined a gynecological exam and had no evidence of trauma or injury to her body.

The patient says she may have never known she had been raped, were it not for the criminal investigation into Dr. Cheng a year later. In the process of searching the physician’s phone for records associated with the alleged drugging and rape in his apartment, investigators reportedly found a video from the prior year, showing the rape inside New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens. A prosecutor in the Queens district attorney’s office called the former patient’s mother to share the awful news, her lawyer said.

“Without the call they did to my mom, I would have never known,” the former patient said. “They have a video, but I don’t want to see it.”

A spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney’s Office declined comment on the criminal case against Dr. Cheng or on whether prosecutors expect to file additional rape charges related to the former patient who was allegedly drugged at New York-Presbyterian Queens.

That’s because there aren’t any.

In the shadow of JFK Airport, on a desolate stretch behind barbed wire, is Building 197 — a sprawling warehouse that is being prepared as the next home for new asylum seekers, according to city hall. It could soon house as many as 1,000 migrants.

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The massive structure used to be an overflow facility for the U.S. Postal Service. On Thursday, white trailers with showers and bathrooms could be seen lining one side of the building.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said earlier in the week that it was one of many locations being analyzed across the state.

“We’re looking at space at JFK, at a hangar there, waiting for federal approval,” Hochul said previously. “So we’ve been very focused on just surveying all the state assets that would include SUNY dorms, shuttered psychiatric centers and anywhere we can find space to help take some of the burden off New York City and their shelter system.”

Mayor Eric Adams for months has said the burden placed on the city is too big, as 72,000 migrants and counting have come to the city thus far over the past year. It has cost the city and taxpayers more than $4.3 billion, according to estimates. NYC Comptroller Brad Lander on Thursday asked the city to come up with more cash to cover migrant legal services, outreach, case management and access to clinics.

“Spending that 70 million will save several hundred million in the future,” said Lander.

The newest state-run migrant center in NYC opened in Harlem on 110th Street, overlooking Central Park. It was the old Lincoln Correctional Facility, but now 40 single men will be living there temporarily. Gov. Hochul said it will house 500 in all, as she continues to push Washington for more support.

“My main priority is making sure they’re safe, but also getting the federal government to help us with the expense, with work authorizations,” she said. “I have so may employers and farmers in desperate need of good workers, these people came here for work.”

Hundreds of cots have been set up at the former jail facility, while big shipments of food were brought in and contractors and electricians worked to get the building suitable.

A spokesperson for Mayor Adams said the city is grateful for the state’s partnership in helping secure the JFK warehouse. But as has been seen before, there is pushback against the plan.

“While I am glad that this isn’t another hotel in the middle of a neighborhood like we’ve seen elsewhere. I — and many of my constituents — would prefer if we didn’t open any new shelter facilities at all,” said NYC Councilmember Joann Ariola, of nearby Ozone Park, in a statement. “I think we need to really address this problem at the root and eliminate NYC’s status as a right to shelter city once and for all.”

According to City Hall, the state is just waiting on approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before the shelter at the warehouse can be opened up. Neither the city nor the state shared any further details about the location, or a timeline for when it could be functional.

Over the past week, neighbors started seeing activity at Lincoln Correctional Facility, an former jail in Harlem — a state facility that Gov. Kathy Hochul gave the OK Sunday to temporarily house migrants.

“I think it’s important to give people a safe place to live and if people are coming seeking a better life. I think we should take care of them. I think it’s good,” Simon Vozick-Levinson, of Harlem, said.

Around 70,000 asylum seekers have shown up in NYC within the last year, and the mayor says hundreds more arrive everyday.

NBC New York spotted a state correctional car in the front and a security guard at door of the facility that will soon house migrants.

Residents told us they’ve also seen workers haul in large amounts food and water. However, Some people are uneasy about the changes.

“As we ride through here we see so many homeless people. Why isn’t the city taking care of the homeless people who are already here,” Robert Avery, of Harlem, said.

This building that will temporarily house migrants has a long history. At one point it housed the Young Women’s Hebrew Association. U.S. troops stayed here during World War II, and the New York City Schools used it too.

Meanwhile, the outside still has glaring signs from its most recent past. Like the caged-in area at the top.

It is still unclear when and how migrants will move in.

However, city representatives say families with children will not be housed here.

According to sources, investigators want to know if the gifts – which would be valued in the tens of thousands of dollars – came from the owner or associates of an Edgewater business that won a controversial exclusive contract to perform Halal meat certification with the Egyptian government – even though United States Department of Agriculture officials complained that the New Jersey firm had no previous experience in this field.

“I am sure it is going to end up in absolutely nothing,” Menendez said last week denying any wrongdoing in connection with the ongoing federal corruption investigation.

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Sources familiar with the matter say Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigations agents are looking into whether the senator and his new wife Nadine Arslanian improperly took gifts from the owner or associates of IS EG Halal – and whether the senator took any action in return.

Menendez, a Democrat, serves as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee helping to oversee billions of dollars in aid to Egypt.

“Prosecutors would obviously want to look if money, apartments, cars were given to the senator or someone close to him in return for one of his official acts,” NBC News legal analyst Chuck Rosenberg said.

In addition to the investigation into any possible quid-pro-quo scheme, sources familiar with the matter said IRS criminal investigators are looking into whether the alleged gifts were properly accounted for on tax filings by the senator and his wife. None of the items appear listed on Menendez’s senate disclosure forms.

Senate rules state in part that gifts to a member or someone close to him are considered gifts if a senator “has reason to believe the gift was given because of the official position.”

A spokeswoman for Menendez declined to comment when asked if the senator or his wife received a Mercedes, free rent, money or jewelry from the IS EG Halal business or associates. She referred NBCNewYork.com to past statements where the senator acknowledged an ongoing “inquiry” and that “should there be any official inquiries, the senator is available to provide any assistance requested of him or his office.”

In 2019, IS EG Halal was awarded an exclusive contract with the Egyptian government to certify Halal meat exports worldwide. Seven long-time companies across the globe were suddenly fired by the Egypt government and those firms lost out on millions in business to the Edgewater firm – a firm run by a Christian with little prior experience in Islamic certification of international meat imports and exports.

One U.S.-based executive whose company contract was suddenly delisted said the industry across the board was “shocked, stunned, blindsided.”

“It defies logic,” said Peter Paradis, the former deputy assistant inspector general at the USDA.

Paradis played no role in the current criminal investigation into the senator and his relationship with IS EG Halal. But Paradis points to past USDA reports on the controversy including one that stated IS EG Halal “has no preexisting relationship with the US beef industry or Islamic organizations.”

“This corporation has no track record of doing these types of certifications – and yet the country in question earmarks them as the sole entity to perform that task?” Paradis said.

A spokeswoman for Wael Hana, IS EG Halal’s owner, issued a denial.

“Allegations about cars, apartments, cash, and jewelry being provided by anyone associated with IS EG Halal to Senator Menendez or his wife at all, let alone in exchange for any kind of favorable treatment, are totally without basis,” said Hana.

Sources familiar with the matter said as part of the ongoing investigation, the FBI is looking into whether any IS EG executive or associate paid any bribe to any Egyptian official. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service officers based in Egypt have turned over related-documents to the Justice Department, the sources said.

“If representatives of this company were paying Egyptian officials for consideration, for favors, for an advantage in business, that’s a crime,” Rosenberg said. He explained any such payment could violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

IS EG Halal has said the firm won the contract on the merits and deny any wrongdoing.

A spokeswoman said the IS EG Halal firm won the contract “without any assistance from the senator or any other U.S. public official. Nor is there any evidence whatsoever that the contract was awarded based upon bribery or corruption in Egypt – and nothing like that has ever even been alleged.”

A spokesperson for the Egyptian embassy in Washington, D.C. did not return several requests for comment.

Sources close to the IS EG Halal said owner Wael Hana has been long-time friends with the Senator’s wife – and that friendship existed long before Nadine Arslanian even met the senator. One source familiar with the company said Arslanian had received gifts including jewelry over the years from the owner.

Sources familiar with the matter said investigators want to know if Egyptian officials knew of the ties between IS EG Halal and the senator’s wife and whether there was any effort by any Egyptian official to try to run a foreign influence operation connected to Menendez – who serves as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“A senator can certainly help somebody in his or her state,” Rosenberg said. “They can make connections. They can set up meetings. They can advocate for businesses within their juristictions. What they can’t do is take money or gifts in exchange for an official act.”

A spokesperson for Senator Menendez declined to comment on any of the allegations citing the ongoing “inquiry.”

In recent years, the US Supreme Court has issued a series of decisions narrowing the definition of public corruption. In 2018, Senator Menendez had criminal charges against him dropped after a separate corruption the trial had ended in a hung jury. Allegations in that case were Senator Menendez took gifts and free private jet trips from a now convicted Medicare fraudster Salomon Melgen.

US Attorney Damian Williams is overseeing this latest criminal probe, according to sources and individuals who have received subpoenas. US Attorney Spokesman Nicholas Biase declined comment. A spokesman for the FBI and a spokeswoman for IRS-CI also declined any comment.

This investigation into Menendez appears to have grown in scope in the last couple of weeks after a new round of grand jury subpoenas were sent out including one to North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco. The new subpoenas do not appear related to any IS EG Halal-related matter but separate questions relating to the senator and state legislation relating to a proposed development deal, people familiar with the matter said.

The right to shelter has been in place for more than four decades in New York, after a court in 1981 required the city to provide temporary housing for every homeless person who asks for it. Other big U.S. cities don’t have such a rule.

But with the arrival of 70,000 asylum seekers since last spring, many of whom crossed into the U.S. from Mexico, the city has been challenged to find room for everyone in need of a temporary roof and bed.

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“It is in the best interest of everyone, including those seeking to come to the United States, to be upfront that New York City cannot single-handedly provide care to everyone crossing our border,” Mayor Adams said in a statement.

“Being dishonest about this will only result in our system collapsing, and we need our government partners to know the truth and do their share,” said the mayor, a Democrat.

Adams said he was not seeking to permanently end the right to shelter but was seeking “clarity from the court.”

A city official said the Adams administration is looking to bring all involved parties back to the table and get more information on the rule, which was established well before the city was dealing with an influx of tens of thousands of asylum seekers. The official told NBC New York said the city wants some guidance on what they can do going forward given space, staffing and financial constraints.

The proposal was condemned by some housing advocates, who said it could result in more people living outdoors. In a joint statement, the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless blasted the city’s idea.

“The administration’s request to suspend the long-established State constitutional right that protects our clients from the elements is not who we are as a city. New Yorkers do not want to see anyone, including asylum seekers, relegated to the streets,” the statement read. “We will vigorously oppose any motion from this Administration that seeks to undo these fundamental protections that have long defined our city.”

Joe Loonam, housing campaign coordinator for the advocacy organization VOCAL-NY, said Adams wants “to end the right to shelter that has prevented New York City from following in the footsteps of places like L.A. and San Francisco where thousands of people are in horrendous conditions out on the street.”

Catherine Trapani, executive director of Homeless Services United, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing, urged the city to alleviate the shelter crisis by increasing rental assistance programs.

“There are alternatives,” she said. “The mayor does not need to take this drastic step to limit what should be a fundamental right.”

In a statement, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala called the application “troubling” and wondered if New Yorkers would be left to sleep on the street or elsewhere.

“It’s beyond disturbing that so much effort is being spent on rolling back protections for all New Yorkers, instead of implementing immediate and long-term solutions that can help us avoid and move out of shelters

New York’s shelter system is now filled to record levels. The city says it is currently providing housing for 93,000 people. In recent months it has rented out entire hotels to house the influx of migrants, at great cost. It has also put cots in schools, and temporarily housed people in tents, a cruise ship terminal and a former police academy building.

In a letter to the deputy chief administrative judge for New York City Courts, the city’s lawyers asked for a change in the mandate that would allow officials to suspend the right to shelter when the Department of Homeless Services lacks the resources to house everyone safely.

The request comes nearly two weeks after Adams issued an executive order loosening the city’s legal restrictions on right-to-shelter rules.

That initial order targeted three things. First, it suspended a rule prohibiting families with children from being housed in congregate settings, such as barracks-style shelters. The change allowed the city to place families in already established shelters rather than looking for new places (like hotels outside the city) to house families.

Another change relaxed a rule requiring the city to get a bed for people within a certain time-frame. Before the mayor’s executive order on May 10, families with children who had applied for shelter before 10 p.m. were guaranteed placement in a shelter unit at some point that night.

The previous order also loosened a rule regarding unlawful evictions and how they apply to shelter residents. Under the exception, those who are put into hotels would be excluded from the rule that anyone living in a NYC dwelling for 30 days can’t be immediately evicted without certain legal proceedings.

At the time, a city spokesperson said it was “not a decision taken lightly and we will make every effort to get asylum seekers into shelter as quickly as possible.” Advocacy groups said that Adams was “heading down a dangerous road” with the initial changes. The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said they were considering their options, including possible litigation.

Adams has sought financial help from the state and federal government and has been critical of President Joe Biden’s administration for not providing funding to care for migrants. In an appearance on the CBS News program “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Adams said the White House offer of $30 million is insufficient.

“We’ve spent over a billion dollars,” the mayor said. “We’re projected to spend close to $4.3 billion, if not more. This estimate was based on a number of migrants coming to the city, and those numbers have clearly increased.”

In recent weeks, the city has begun paying to house some asylum seekers at hotels in counties north of the city, but that action has stoked anger and accusations that the city was dumping its problems on other communities. On Tuesday, Dutchess County became the latest to be granted a temporary restraining order barring the mayor from busing migrants to hotels there.

However, the owners of the suburban hotels said they made a deal with NYC to provide lodging to migrants in need of help — but claim politically motivated county leaders are illegally blocking them from keeping their end of that deal. In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday, the hotels argued that the county leaders are aggressively targeting them and threatening to destroy their businesses for agreeing to provide rooms to asylum seekers.

The lawsuit alleges the counties — 26 named in all — bullied the hotels with court challenges, issued executive orders and withheld permits, all of which interferes with their contracts. The hotels say it’s unconstitutional, as is what they claim is selectively enforcing zoning laws to keep out asylum seekers.

“Defendants have exceeded their power and authority and have targeted and retaliated against Plaintiffs for helping people in need. Defendants have made clear their reasons are not noble, but are unlawful and reek of discrimination,” the lawsuit alleges.

In a statement, a Rockland County spokesperson said it is “against local zoning laws for hotels and motels to operate as a shelter,” adding that the county “always puts people before profit” and that their actions were “taken to protect residents from the irreparable harm this would cause.”

In the initial months of the crisis, Adams heralded the “right to shelter” mandate as an emblem of his city’s empathy toward asylum seekers. Many of the first arrivals were bused to New York by the governors of Republican-led border states including Texas and Arizona who were trying to bring attention to the border crisis. The governors also targeted Washington, D.C., another city with a Democratic mayor.

Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela contributed to this report.

According to a formal complaint filed in 2018 with the state’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct, a patient awaiting surgery claimed Paduch engaged in “a number of abusive and inappropriate actions” in the exam room.

The alleged sexual misconduct, which reportedly took place in 2006 and 2007, included claims that the doctor required the patient to masturbate in front of him, that the doctor photographed the patient’s erect penis, that he showed the patient photos of other men’s penises, and inquired about the patient’s taste in pornography.

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Health regulators would not say why that formal complaint failed to prompt disciplinary action in the five years before Paduch was arrested or if an investigation failed to substantiate the complaint.

Monica Pomeroy, a DOH spokesperson, said state health regulators are required to review every complaint they receive, but they are not allowed to discuss complaints that do not lead to formal discipline.

“The New York State Department of Health takes instances of potential medical misconduct seriously and acts appropriately to protect the health and safety of patients,” Pomeroy wrote to the I-Team.  “Public Health Law prohibits the Department from discussing or providing any details or records pertaining to an investigation, complaint, or prosecution, beyond what is published on the public website.”  

According to the DOH public website, Dr. Paduch’s only formal discipline came after he was arrested.  His license to practice medicine in New York is now suspended.

Michael Baldassare, an attorney representing Paduch in the criminal case, said his client should be presumed innocent and stressed his decades of experience in treating patients with fertility and other conditions affecting the male reproductive system.

“Not only has Dr. Paduch been a well-respected physician for 20 years, he has authored or co-authored over 80 scholarly publications in his field and served our country honorably as a Captain in the Army Reserve Medical Corps,” Baldassare said, “we will defend this case to greatest extent of the law.”

Lawyers for the former patient who filed that DOH complaint in 2018, say he is one of at least 37 plaintiffs now suing Dr. Paduch under New York state’s Adult Survivor’s Act, which gave victims of sex crimes a one year look-back period to file civil suits – even if the statute of limitations has passed.  The former patients suing Paduch are also suing New York Presbyterian Hospital and Northwell Health, the two medical networks that employed the accused pedophile.

“I think dozens more, if not hundreds more, are likely to come forward,” said Mallory Allen, an attorney who now represents at least 35 former patients suing Dr. Paduch.  “Most people who are abused don’t come forward, though, so I think what that is likely to tell us is that thousands of people were likely abused.”

The I-Team reached out to the American Board of Urology, to ask whether it is ever appropriate for a urologist to ask a patient to masturbate in front of him or her or for a doctor to take photos of a patient’s erect penis.    We also asked if there are best practices for genital examinations of patients under the age of 18.   The Board did not immediately respond to the I-Team’s inquiry.

Allen says some of her clients will testify Dr. Paduch became aroused in the exam room, pressing himself up against patients during physical exams. And she says patients aren’t the only ones who have complained about Paduch’s behavior. 

Allen’s law firm has obtained a 2012 letter addressed to a human resources official at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. In it, a urology nurse complained about the physician’s alleged misconduct – including claims that Paduch routinely used sexually explicit language and even exposed his bare buttocks to a fellow employee.  It is not clear if that letter ever prompted an investigation or internal hospital discipline.

Steve Singer, a spokesperson for Weill Cornell Medicine, said the hospital could not address specific allegations because of the ongoing litigation, but stressed the institution is cooperating fully with law enforcement and hiring an outside law firm to conduct an internal investigation.

“Weill Cornell medicine values the care and safety of our patients above all else and we are taking these matters very seriously,” Singer wrote.  “The acts described are disturbing and appalling and we feel deeply for those involved.”

Paduch spent more than a decade working at New York Presbyterian, but at some point around 2019, he ended his practice there and begin treating patients at Northwell Health.

Jason Molinet, a spokesperson for Northwell Health, declined to answer questions about Dr. Paduch’s time there, except to say he no longer works there.

“Northwell Health strives to provide the highest level of care to its patients, patients’ families and communities and we take these allegations very seriously,” Molinet said. “Dr. Paduch is no longer working at Northwell.  We will cooperate with the appropriate authorities as they conduct their investigation.”

But Tucker Coburn, one of the former patients now suing Paduch, says it is clear to him that Northwell Health failed act decisively in light of his own complaint. Back in 2020, Coburn says he met with Northwell officials and described Paduch’s alleged pattern of abuse at New York Presbyterian, where the urologist treated Coburn for a genetic disorder affecting his hormones.

Coburn says the Northwell human resources team appeared to take his warnings seriously, but in the months following, nothing seemed to happen. In the two years that followed Coburn’s complaint, the criminal indictment says Paduch went on to continue his pattern of sexual abuse at Northwell.

“After my complaint to Northwell – and then nothing having happened from that and people subsequently having been abused?  To me it’s infuriating,” Coburn said.

The ballooning migrant crisis has overwhelmed the city’s existing capabilities, forcing the takeover of old hotels and school facilities to house the thousands transported north from the border. In recent weeks, the Adams administration has sought the help of neighboring suburbs to aid the housing problem.

After dramatic pushback and fiery words between NYC leaders and officials in Hudson Valley, the Suffolk County Legislature held a press conference on Sunday declaring potential legal action to stop the city from busing any migrants out to the county. No officials plan have been announced by Mayor Eric Adams or the city.

“We’re watching humanitarian crisis spin out of control due to the complete incompetence of the Biden administration and the Hochul administration,” Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey said. “The residents of Suffolk County should not have to shoulder the burden of the failed policies of the Biden and Hochul administrations.”

The elected leaders said without intervention from the county executive, they will be forced to pursue hiring legal counsel to try and stop NYC from using hotels and motels in the county.

“I want to be this is not an anti-immigration stance,” McCaffrey started saying, and was met by a thunderous outcry from a group of protesters attending the morning briefing. He and other officials were repeatedly met by chants of “no hate, no fear — immigrants are welcome here.”

The remaining minutes of the press conference were repeatedly interrupted by people furious with the leaders’ decision to announce such plans, and to do so “undercover on a sunday when people are at church,” as one outspoken protester put it.

McCaffrey told reporters the county legislature had not reached out to anyone in the Adams administration, and city outreach had reportedly only been made to potential hotels and motels inquiring about occupancy.

“We’re only taking questions from the press,” he shouted over angry protesters.

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Suffolk joins a number of counties in the Hudson Valley, including Orange and Rockland, in opposition of the city’s efforts to stretch the ongoing crisis beyond the boroughs borders. The latter counties have declared states of emergency to try and block the NYC move.

It comes as an expected 15 buses arrived in the city over the weekend, bringing incoming migrants to the Roosevelt Hotel, which was recently converted to a welcome center. The old iconic hotel was reopened Friday and will serve the city as a hub for migrant resources and housing going forward.

Adams on Sunday said the city has received more than 70,000 asylum seekers, 42,000 of which have been accommodated. He’s calling on President Joe Biden to step in and assist with legislation and money, as the city prepares for even more migrants.

“The numbers are really alarming when you look at it. But the problem here is on several levels. Number one, we have to be honest of the Republican Party. They have blocked real comprehensive immigration reform. This is not sustainable. This needs to be addressed,” Adams said.

Diaz, 54, was convicted of murdering Consuelo Agudelo, a 31-year-old woman who was sleeping in her Woodside, Queens, apartment when she was shot execution-style in the back of her head. The killing took place in July 1992, but Diaz wasn’t arrested until nearly ten years later, when the sole eyewitness, Samir Hurtado, changed his story dramatically — while facing deportation related to a federal drug investigation.

“There was nothing connecting me to this crime,” Diaz told the I-Team. “This man came out ten years after the crime was committed only because he was in custody.”

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On the day of the murder, Hurtado was also injured by gunfire in Agudelo’s apartment but he survived. According to police notes and records from that day, he repeatedly told first responders the killer — or killers — were Black men.

One of the first responding NYPD officers wrote in his notepad that he spoke to a medic “who stated that the male victim [Hurtado] told him that 2 male Blacks just shot him.”

Another page of the same police notebook memorializes a statement from Hurtado himself, where he “stated 2 male Blacks pushed their way into [the] apartment [and] went over to [the female] when she was sleeping and shot her.” Later, an NYPD platoon commander in the 108th precinct typed up a report on the homicide, which says Hurtado “stated that two males, dark complexion…forced their way in and first shot Consuelo Agudelo in bed and then fired on him.”

About eight hours after the shooting, while recovering from his gunshot wounds at Elmhurst Hospital, Hurtado changed his story slightly. According to detectives’ notes, he now implicated only a single intruder, no longer two men.

But from his hospital bed, he maintained that the killer was “a largely built male Black [who] pushed him into the apartment.” The detectives’ notes went on today say Hurtado “described the male as M/B/20’s, approximately 6 feet” and that he was “not of Hispanic extraction.”

Diaz, who is 5’6”, says he never met the victim Agudelo or her boyfriend, Hurtado. And he says there is no way he could be mistaken for a large stature Black man.

“I would describe myself as a white Hispanic,” Diaz said.

Now out of prison, Diaz is asking Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to support his request for a conviction reversal or a new trial.

A spokesperson for the Queens DA said her office could not respond to specific questions about Diaz’s conviction, but did confirm his case is being reviewed by prosecutors who specialize in wrongful conviction claims.

“Mr. Diaz’s case is one of more than 130 currently being evaluated by the Conviction Integrity Unit for investigation,” the spokesperson said. “For there to be justice in the criminal justice system, and faith in its outcomes, it is imperative for prosecutors to follow the facts to where they lead. The district attorney created the Conviction Integrity Unit when she took office in 2020 and has since vacated 99 convictions.”

In the original trial, Hurtado denied ever describing the killer or killers as Black men, and the jury never got to see the police notes that directly contradicted him. According to portions of the trial transcript reviewed by the I-Team, the police notes were never entered as evidence and never referred to on cross examination.

The jury also never got to see a prior felony domestic violence complaint filed against Agudelo’s husband, who had since passed away. The criminal complaint was unsealed just before the trial began, but Diaz’s defense attorney, Murray Singer, said he was never given the paperwork until after the guilty verdict.

The wording of that complaint alleged that Agudelo’s husband had once stabbed her with a screwdriver in a fit of rage, a narrative that supported the defense theory that it was more likely the woman’s killing had to do with romantic jealousy than with drugs.

“I stand by my work representing and defending Mr. Diaz, and continue to believe that Mr. Diaz is innocent and was wrongfully convicted,” Singer said. “I hope that his continued efforts to be exonerated will be successful.”

At trial, Queens prosecutors relied entirely on Hurtado’s story. There were no fingerprints, DNA ballistics or physical evidence linking Diaz to the crime scene. After the conviction, the Queens district attorney’s office wrote a letter to U.S. Immigration & Customs officials, confirming Hurtado’s cooperation led to a murder conviction. The letter stated that Hurtado was promised nothing in return for his testimony.

Though Hurtado originally told police he didn’t recognize the killers, at trial he admitted to lying. At the time, a New York Post headline labeled him a “Flip Flop Druggie” because he now testified that he recognized Diaz as one of the killers because they both participated in the drug trade during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Diaz had three prior non-violent drug arrests, but by 2001, when he was hauled in for the murder, he says he had turned his life around and was focused on a career helping disabled children.

“I dedicated myself to do better, to be better. I turned my whole life around and here I am being pulled back and yanked into this,” Diaz said.

The I-Team’s efforts to reach Hurtado were unsuccessful. Attempts to contact relatives of Agudelo were also unsuccessful.

After more than two decades behind bars, Diaz is balancing his time trying to find steady work and trying to find help in his crusade to prove his innocence. While incarcerated, he reached out to Avi Gross, an investigator who founded Live and Direct, a social media webcast dedicated to stories of wrongful conviction and prison reform. Gross was able to take Diaz’s case file and shop it around to lawyers.

“I just take the documents from attorney to attorney hoping that attorneys can pick it up and see the case, read the case and see that he is actually wrongfully convicted,” Gross said. “That’s basically my thing, to go out and make sure these people in prison are heard.”

Recently, Gross and Diaz had success. A group of attorneys at the nonprofit Exoneration Initiative has agreed to re-investigate the case.

Judge Richard Buchter, who presided over the trial and is now retired, declined to comment on the Diaz case. At the 2003 sentencing, Buchter called the evidence against Diaz “far from overwhelming.”

Diaz wants the world to know, he has always maintained his innocence, even when prosecutors and the judge offered him as few as 5 years in prison – in exchange for a guilty plea. He was facing 30 to 40 years.

“I didn’t take the offer because, for one, I wouldn’t know how to face my family by pleading guilty to taking the life of a person, of a human being,” Diaz said. “I couldn’t do that.”

“He broke my heart,” Nicole Henderson said of Anthony Rose, the 19-year-old driver accused of causing the accident that critically injured her daughter Nya and killed two of Nya’s close friends.

Henderson called what happened “a parent’s worst nightmare.” Even worse, it wasn’t the first time Rose was accused of causing a crash while driving without insurance and violating multiple terms of his learner’s permit.

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“They are still learning. That’s why it’s called a learner’s permit. So we should make sure that if they are putting people at risk, that we stop that from happening as quickly as possible,” said New York State Senator Michael Gianaris.

Devastated parents said if Rose’s permit had been suspended more quickly, maybe he would not have been behind the wheel the day of that fatal crash. But the Department of Motor Vehicles was waiting for Rose’s tickets to be adjudicated in court which took more than two years.

The NBC New York I-Team first exposed cracks in the system in April, including backlogs in Pelham Manor traffic court and loopholes in the state’s traffic laws that enabled Rose to hold onto his permit before — and even after — the deadly collision.

Under New York State law, with few exceptions, only drivers under 18 years old can have their permits pulled before a conviction in court.

“If there’s reason to believe you’re a dangerous driver and you’re not fully licensed, they shouldn’t be on the road as this is playing out,” Gianaris said.

Gianaris, who represents Queens, proposed the bill that would no longer make it necessary to wait for a conviction before imposing a 60-day suspension for permit holders 18 and older.

The bill spells out new grounds for suspension, including: driving without a licensed driver over age 21 in the car; driving with hazardous materials; driving with more than one passenger under 21 unless a parent or driving instructor is present; and driving with anyone in the front seat other than a supervising driver.

In cases where a permit holder is believed to have caused injuries or death, Gianaris’ bill would seize the license plates from the car until the case plays out. The goal is to keep potentially dangerous drivers off the road, but an owner could appeal to get the plates back sooner.

“Drivers with learner’s permits continue to cause death or injury and the laws have not caught up to that danger and we thank the I-Team for your work,” said Gianaris.

Rose has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Westchester. His attorney told NNBC New York he was devastated by the crash and disputes prosecutors’ accusations that Rose was speeding 100 miles per hour at the time of the accident. He is due back in court in June.

The move to use the gyms as shelters with six weeks still to go in the school year touched off an immediate backlash, with parents organizing protests at several schools and threatening to keep their kids home once migrants arrive.

Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, acknowledged Tuesday that the use of the schools was “drastic” but insisted the city is out of options. Around 4,200 migrants sought space in city shelters last week alone, he said.

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Twenty school gyms are currently being considered for temporary housing. Those facilities are built for children — with kid-sized restrooms and sinks, and without showers — but are being prepped for adult migrants.

At least one of them, in Coney Island, was housing migrants on Tuesday. Several others have been supplied in recent days with green cots and emergency rations. The mayor said the school gyms were intended to be used only for short periods, with the goal being to move people out quickly.

“This is one of the last places we want to look at,” Adams said. “None of us are comfortable with having to take these drastic steps. But I could not have been more clear for the last few months of what we are facing. Over 65,000 migrant asylum seekers have reached our city.”

Following the expiration of a pandemic-era immigration policy last week, the number of migrants entering the U.S. has slowed significantly. But several cities say they have seen a swell of new arrivals — many of whom crossed the southern border prior to the change in policy.

In New York City, where a court-ordered mandate guarantees all people a right to shelter, local officials have explored various unconventional ideas for housing its newest residents. Over the weekend, the city announced it had struck a deal to convert a shuttered historic hotel into a shelter with as many as 1,000 rooms.

They have placed migrants in an NYPD academy and petitioned the federal government to reopen a former military airfield.

The city has also placed migrants on buses bound for northern suburbs, prompting anger and lawsuits from upstate officials. On Tuesday, Orange County was granted a temporary injunction blocking NYC from sending any more asylum seekers there, at least for the time being.

“New York City should not be establishing a homeless shelter outside of its borders in Orange County,” Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus said. “The city is a self-proclaimed sanctuary city; Orange County is not. We should not have to bear the burden of the immigration crisis that the Federal government and Mayor Adams created.”

The decision from the judge came as a senior staffer with the Adams administration had called Neuhaus and told him seven more buses were heading up there. The county executive told the staffer to talk with the city’s attorney, as the judge had already put the temporary skids on the busing plan.

The attorney representing the city in the case did not issue a comment outside court, nor did an attorney for the Crossroads Hotel and the Ramada Inn in Newburgh, which haven been housing migrants bused from NYC.

Ultimately, Orange County wants the judge to order NYC to take the migrants back. For now, if any of the 186 men do leave — and they are free to go anywhere — the city can’t replace them with others.

Adams made several media appearances Tuesday defending how he’s dealt with officials in the northern suburbs. Rockland County officials have complained they were blindsided as well, and they went to court to stop a hotel in Orangeburg from accepting hundreds of migrants.

But back in the city, where two new busloads of migrants arrived Tuesday night, the decision to use school gyms has struck a nerve.

Parents protested Tuesday morning outside a public school in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section, where a squat brick gym was being prepared for the arrival of migrants. Some parents said that the gym setup is inhumane and questioned whether it was safe for the migrants — as well as their own kids.

In the afternoon, after classes dismissed for the day, the playground was unusually quiet. Parents said their kids were told they couldn’t play outside and that all after school programs were being held indoors.

“There’s usually hundreds of kids running around right now, playing sports, getting their energy out,” said Maureen Steinel, a mother of 8th grade twins, gesturing to an empty stretch of asphalt now lined with orange cones and a stack of police barricades.

A self-identified progressive, Steinel said she wanted to help migrants, but couldn’t understand the decision to take away space from school kids. She ticked off a list of preferable options: city-owned community centers and college campuses, an armory, empty luxury condos.

“Everybody here is an immigrant, we should help. This is not the right place. There are showers there right now,” said Elizabeth Canelo, a Sunset Park resident.

City Councilwoman Jennifer Gutierrez toured P.S. 17 with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and later told NBC New York they saw more than 70 cots inside, each with a toiletry bag. They said the situation was not ideal, but will work for the immediate future.

City officials said there were advantages to school buildings, which are municipally owned, and come with built-in staff and security. Many of the gymnasiums were previously used for vaccine distribution during the pandemic.

Adams also said all the gyms under consideration were stand-alone facilities, not directly connected to school buildings. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they would be used by single men or families, or how long the migrants would be allowed to stay.

Other elected officials said upset parents are misinformed.

“These parents are basing most their opinions on folks that are not looking to understand the problem,” said Reynoso.

Parents said they’ve been told won’t be able to use the gym, go to recess, and the prom and upcoming carnival may be canceled. It wasn’t clear how long the migrants would be sheltered in the school gym.

On Tuesday night, parents listened in to a virtual meeting by P.S. 17 Principal Robert Marchi, who sent a letter on Monday blasting the city’s decision, saying “I am extremely angry over this administrative arrogance and total disregard and disrespect shown to the P.S. 17 community.”

Some parents who recently learned of the shelter plan accused the principal of dodging their questions. But many school and local leaders have said they really don’t have much information, saying they’ve been blindsided by Adams.

Josh Goldfein, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, which helps monitor the city’s treatment of homeless individuals, said there were problems with the city’s decision to go outside their standard shelter options, such as hotel rooms. He pointed to a lack of shower access and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities at some school gymnasiums.

“If they move people into spaces that have not been typically used before like office buildings, tents, gyms, we have a much greater level of concern,” Goldfein said.

Adams has repeatedly said New York, a city long known for its openness to immigrants, has reached its limit on new arrivals. He has called on the federal government for help, both in providing funding to the city and in slowing entrances at the border.

NBC New York’s Sarah Wallace, Erica Byfield and Checkey Beckford contributed to this report.

Public school gyms are now being used to house asylum seekers and that is causing some outrage among some parents.

The asylum seekers are not being welcomed with open arms by some in the community who are frustrated with not knowing when this was going to happen. With the end of the school year fast approaching, it’s unclear how short term this shelter will be.

P.S. 188, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, is one of the schools that is now starting the week as a migrant shelter.

As the city continues to experience an overflow of asylum seekers, P.S. 188’s gymnasium is now a short-term shelter housing adults.

Mayor Eric Adams’ office also designated two other schools in Sunset Park and East New York — P.S. 172 and P.S. 189 — as short-term shelters as the city continues to struggle to find space for individuals being bused from the southern border each day.

However, the decision to use schools as shelters has garnered mixed reviews.

“I feel they should have a different type of building or something for adults,” one resident told News 4 New York.

Meanwhile, another local said she is for it.

“I’m Ukrainian myself. I support refugees,” she told News 4 New York.

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Migrants who are being housed in the P.S. 188 gym will not have access to the school. This has prompted some in the community to say that it is inhumane that migrants won’t have access to showers and other resources during their stay.

Parents say they were only notified of this school becoming a shelter at the end of last week. Concerns are now growing about how and when residents in the city are finding out about how the migrant crisis is impacting their neighborhoods.

“They really didn’t tell the parents anything until the kids came home and said something,” one parent told News 4. Later on in the day, that’s when we were notified. I feel we should have been notified prior.”

The NYC Mayor’s Office put out a statement Monday, saying in part: “We’ve been very clear for the last two weeks that New York City is out of space. Every single day, hundreds of asylum seekers arrive in New York with no support, after hundreds more arrived the day before, and thousands more in the days and week earlier. But, once again, we are stepping up, in the absence of a national solution to this national crisis and are coming up with our own decompression strategy.”

The latest controversy comes on the heels of news over the weekend that the historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan, shuttered three years ago, will be reopening to accommodate an anticipated influx of asylum seekers just as other New York City hotels are being converted to emergency shelters.

Mayor Eric Adams announced Saturday that the city will use the Roosevelt to eventually provide as many as 1,000 rooms for migrants who are expected to arrive in coming weeks because of the expiration of pandemic-era rules, known collectively as Title 42, that had allowed federal officials to turn away asylum seekers from the U.S. border with Mexico.

Across the city, hotels like the Roosevelt that served tourists just a few years ago are being transformed into emergency shelters, many of them in prime locations within walking distance from Times Square, the World Trade Center memorial site and the Empire State Building. A legal mandate requires the city to provide shelter to anyone who needs it.

Even so, Adams says the city is running out of room for migrants and has sought financial help from the state and federal governments.

“New York City has now cared for more than 65,000 asylum seekers — already opening up over 140 emergency shelters and eight large-scale humanitarian relief centers in addition to this one to manage this national crisis,” the mayor said in a statement announcing the Roosevelt decision.

The storied hotel near Grand Central Terminal served as election headquarters for New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, who in 1948 was said to have wrongly announced from the Roosevelt that he had defeated Harry Truman for president.

As the city faces growing pressure to expand its shelter system, it is turning to vacant hotels for those who need a roof and a place to bunk down as they sort out their lives. One of them is the Holiday Inn, located in Manhattan’s Financial District. A few months ago, signs in the lobby windows of the 50-story, 500-room hotel said it was closed.

Scott Markowitz of Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, attorneys for the hotel’s owner, said reopening as a city-sponsored shelter made financial sense.

“They rent out every room at the hotel at a certain price every night,” Markowitz said, adding that it is bringing “substantially more revenue” than normal operations would have brought in.

It’s not new for the city to turn to hotels for New Yorkers without homes when shelters and other options weren’t available.

During the pandemic, group shelters made it difficult to comply with social distancing rules, prompting the city to rent out hundreds of hotel rooms as quasi COVID wards. As the pandemic eased, the city became less reliant on hotels.

That changed as thousands of migrants began arriving by bus last year.

The Watson Hotel on West 57th Street, which used to receive rave reviews for its rooftop pool and proximity to Central Park, is now being used to house migrant families.

“It is our moral and legal obligation to provide shelter to anyone who needs it,” the city’s Department of Social Services said in a statement. “As such, we have utilized, and will continue to utilize, every tool at our disposal to meet the needs of every family and individual who comes to us seeking shelter.”

Before the surge in asylum seekers, the city was dealing with increased homelessness, packed shelters and a dearth of affordable housing. New York even announced a plan to send hundreds of migrants to hotels in suburban Orange and Rockland counties across across the Hudson River, angering local leaders.

Vijay Dandapani, the president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, said the city needs to come up with long-term solutions.

“Hotels are not the solution for these situations,” he said, adding that the optics posed problems for taxpayers who might think migrants are living in luxury at their expense.

But some advocates for the homeless say the private quarters that hotel rooms provide are a better choice than the barracks-style accommodations the city usually provides.

Kassi Keith, 55, one of the city’s homeless residents, welcomed the hotel arrangement.

“Having your own room, what it gives you, it gives you peace of mind,” Keith said. “I can go to sleep with both eyes closed, you don’t have to keep one eye open.”

Earlier this year, dozens of migrants staged a protest after being evicted from hotel rooms and forced into barracks set up at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, which has poor access to public transportation. They complained about the cold, the lack of privacy and not having enough bathrooms.

The Roosevelt Hotel will first open this week as a welcome center providing legal and medical information and resources, officials said. It also will open 175 rooms for families with children, then expand the number of rooms to 850. The city said another 150 other rooms will be available to other asylum seekers.

“When you offer people something like a hotel room, you’re much more likely to get a positive response to it,” said David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, adding that the rooms provide “privacy and dignity.”

But Giffen said hotels won’t address the greater problem of a lack of affordable, permanent housing.

“What’s behind all of this (is) that we have such a failed housing system that people who have lower incomes end up using the shelter system as the de facto housing system,” he said. “And then the shelter system doesn’t have enough beds so we’re using the hotels as a de facto shelter system.”

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Orange County and the town of Newburgh filed three lawsuits on Friday to block the city from placing migrants in area hotels. The lawsuits against NYC, The Crossroads, and the Ramada by Wyndham seek to halt any use of the hotels as temporary shelters.

“It’s a complete mess and the government has not been forthright and honest with us,” said Orange County Supervisor Steve Neuhaus.

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In response to those lawsuits, the New York City Mayor’s Office said it was reviewing its legal options.

“New York City has cared for more than 65,000 migrants — sheltering, feeding, and caring for them, and we have done so largely without incident. We need the federal government to step up, but until they do, we need other elected officials around the state and country to do their part,” a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “Right now, we’re asking Orange County to manage less than ¼ of 1% of the asylum seekers who have come to New York City, with New York paying for shelter, food, and services.

The heated political back and forth continues as couples said they, too, were blindsided by The Crossroads Hotel. They told NBC New York that they lost their hotel rooms for their wedding parties due to the migrants staying there.    

With a wedding in almost a week, Queens couple Sean and Nicole are now beyond stressed due to the last minute hole in their plans. They said they have family coming from Ireland, England, Canada, Ecuador and Japan for their upcoming nuptials, and blocked out 37 rooms at The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh.

But all those rooms set for next weekend are now canceled, as dozens of asylum seekers arrived and moved in on Thursday.

“We figured it would be a situation where they’d be there, we’d be there and it’d be fine,” said Sean, who was hoping they’d be able to share the hotel with the migrants.

But when they called the hotel manager, they were told that the hotel has canceled all blocks for the next few months. The couple said they still have not received an official email stating their block of rooms is cancelled. But they’ve since been scrambling telling their family and friends what happened, and are working on re-booking — while time is ticking.

“If we hadn’t called them, they wouldn’t have called or emailed us,” Sean said.

Another couple, Gary Moretti and Deanna Mifsud, are getting married on June 24 and had more than 15 rooms booked at The Crossroads Hotel — which they were also told are cancelled, but only after they called Friday morning.

“You’re just going in circles because nobody wants to say anything and then they just hang up on you,” said Mifsud, as Moretti called the ordeal “mindblowing.”

But the couples are staying positive, or at least trying to, for their special day coming up.

“There’s really no excuse for not communicating with us,” Sean said. “What matters is that we’re there, and our friends and family can see us there. So in a way, it’s kind of brought home what’s most important about the whole thing.”

NBC New York made multiple calls to The Crossroads Hotel Friday evening, but the phone went unanswered.

Meanwhile, another city is pushing back against the city’s plan to transport migrants. Yonkers says it welcomes the roughly 100 asylum seekers set to arrive in the coming days — but condemns what it calls the lack of communication from the Adams administration, a frequent refrain from suburban leaders over the past few days.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said the migrants will be bused to the Ramada Inn on Tuckahoe Road, with his own police force giving him the heads up Friday. He said he heard nothing from NYC or the Adams adminsitration.

“What we’re saying is, where are the resources?” Spano told NBC New York, as he said his city is now scrambling to help hundreds of others with little notice. 

“You’re talking about a hundred families. Are you talking about two kids per family, three kids per family? I don’t know. We have to prepare our school district for it. And the answer I got was: Be happy it’s summer time,” said Spano.

He said that migrant families will be housed at the hotel for at least a year, with the first bus expected to arrive on Sunday. 

Mayor Adams’ office said that Yonkers was given two days’ notice.

“I have not spoke directly to Mayor Adams. I did speak directly to his deputy chief of staff who apologized and said I was on her list to call,” Spano said.

But it’s not just those outside New York City who are unhappy with Adams’ effort to find housing for migrants. Some within the city have new concerns as well.

In Brooklyn, City Councilmember Ari Kagan said he found out on Friday that some asylum seekers would be housed in a gym at P.S. 188 in Coney Island. He called that “unacceptable,” and raised concerns about student safety.

Kagan later said he was told the school would be used only as a future “overflow” site, if necessary.

According to a city hall spokesperson, no one had been currently staying at P.S. 188 and added that “security” would be on hand at sites where migrants are staying.

At Manhattan’s Port Authority Bus Terminal, asylum seekers continue to stream in as the rate of buses isn’t slowing down, adding to the growing tally of 65,000 migrants who moved to New York City in the past year. 

“I think the governor has not done enough to what she can do, help us coordinate a statewide response,” said NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is now asking President Joe Biden to allow NYC to use military or federal land, including Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, to build an emergency shelter for migrants.

“This incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and local government,” the letter stated.

Adams has gone a step further and has been transparent in his criticisms of the Biden administration, saying “the national government has turned its back on NYC.”

It comes as the entire New York City Congressional Delegation sent a letter to the president asking the federal government to allow asylum seekers to work here legally.

“Without work, many are forced to seek services from government and non-government groups, straining resources in a completely preventable manner,” the letter stated.

Homeland Security officials do not agree, however, with a fast track to work, saying it could incentivize people to cross illegally.

Two sources familiar with the matter said at least one powerful New Jersey politician, North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, was among those to receive a subpoena.

A spokesperson for the mayor said, “As they always have, Mayor Sacco and the Township of North Bergen will comply with any inquiry they receive from law enforcement and will cooperate fully.”

Robert Menendez Oct 27, 2022

Dozens of Subpoenas Issued In Criminal Investigation Involving NJ Sen. Robert Menendez

Robert Menendez Apr 17

NJ Sen. Robert Menendez Setting Up Legal Defense Fund Tied to Federal Investigation

Robert Menendez Oct 26, 2022

NJ Sen. Menendez Under Federal Investigation, Sources Say

For months, Menendez has been under criminal investigation as to whether he and his wife improperly took cash and gifts from the owners of an Edgewater halal meat business IS EG Halal.

The Democratic senator and the company’s owners have denied any wrongdoing.

“I know of an investigation. Don’t know the scope or the subjects and of course stand ready to help authorities when and if they ask any questions,” Menendez said in October.

A Menendez spokesman declined additional comment for this story.

The newly issued subpoenas – including the one delivered to Sacco – are unrelated to any allegations involving the meat company, two sources said.

The sources said the subpoenas in part seek information about certain legislative changes in New Jersey, but are still part of the overall investigation focused on Menendez. 

According to NJ.com, some of the new questions regard Fred Daibes, a real estate developer based in Edgewater who has had multiple projects along the Hudson River waterfront. The subpoenas focus on proposed state legislation that could impact the business owned by Daibes, according to NJ.com.

The outlet reported Daibes pleaded guilty in 2022 in an inside loan scam at Mariner’s Bank, the financial institution he founded, but it wasn’t clear how it could be connected to the Menendez investigation.

Sacco’s spokesman said “We do not feel that it would be appropriate to offer any additional comment at this time.” The subpoena issued to Sacco came one day after he was reelected mayor.

As for Menendez and IS EG Halal, questions continue to swirl as to how the Edgewater business won an exclusive worldwide contract with Egypt for Islamic certification of imports — as numerous other firms suddenly had their contracts cancelled back in 2019.

Sources said some officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture were among those who raised concerns about how the contract was awarded to a New Jersey firm with little prior experience.   

Numerous sources said Menendez’s wife is friends with the IS EG owners. The senator is chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversees billions in aid to Egypt.

Lawyers for IS EG have denied any wrongdoing and the owners have said they won the contract with Egypt on merit. But other firms in the industry are raising questions.

“This was an unfortunate decision, as all of us certifiers lost our authorizations to provide Halal certification for Egypt.  This had a severe impact on the industry,” the USA Halal Chamber of Commerce said in a statement.

In April, Menendez said he was opening a legal defense fund to help pay defense lawyers in connection with the ongoing investigation.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and an FBI spokesman both declined to comment. A spokesperson at the USDA did not return calls for comment.

This latest development comes as sheriff’s officers were posted outside the Armoni Hotel in the Rockland County town of Orangeburg a day earlier, where a temporary restraining order is in place barring migrants from moving in.

NYC was looking to send a couple hundred migrant men to the northern suburbs at what the mayor’s staff would be an emergency-use hotel. But Rockland Officials said that would simply be subterfuge for an illegal city-run shelter.

“This is a renegade operation on the part of the mayor, and I cannot even begin to believe what’s going on at this point,” Day said Wednesday. “I have never seen such bullying and arrogance in my entire career.”

On Wednesday, the mayor’s press secretary responded by saying, quote, “we will allow the hotel to decide how to move forward in Rockland County, but our plan is still to move a small number of asylum seekers to Orange County, barring any security issues.”

However, on Thursday, the mayor had harsher words for Day.

“So when you look at the County Executive Day — this guy has a record of being antisemitic, racist comments. His thoughts and how he responded to this really shows a lack of leadership. I thought he was the Texas governor the way he acted,” Adams said.

In response, Day said that Adams “can call me every name in the book to deflect the reality of this former officer’s clear disregard for our laws. 

“Between his actions underscoring his belief that he is above local and state law, his disregard for State of Emergencies, and ongoing deception to the State of New York, Rockland County, and most recently Orange County –which was blindsided Thursday morning after being told by Adams they were holding off with their plan — speaks volumes about the character of Mayor Adams,” Day’s response went on to say. “I’ll do whatever is necessary to safeguard all the lives involved that this plan will without question endanger.”

The “blindsiding” that Day mentioned referred to what occurred Thursday morning, when NYC put its controversial plan to relocate migrants to the suburbs into action. Two buses filled with asylum seekers arrived at the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, despite the state of emergency in place there and in Rockland County.

Volunteers from immigrant justice groups greeted the buses carrying about 60 male asylum seekers from the city, most of whom got to NYC in the past few days and volunteered to head to the hotel rather than stay in the city. The move came in stark contrast to what Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said in a video he posted online Wednesday night, when he said “for the time being, no buses from New York City with asylum seekers are coming.”

That did not turn out to be the case. Neuhaus on Thursday blasted Mayor Adams, saying “The New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Supervisor of the town of Newburgh and his police department were not notified these buses would be arriving today. Sadly, we have learned that you cannot trust the word of New York City’s Mayor and the leadership of New York.”

“It’s a complete mess and the government has not been forthright and honest with us,” he continued in a new video Thursday. “We were misled by the city of New York. The state of New York was misled.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she spoke with Neuhaus earlier in the day, where he “commended” her and her team for communicating with the county since learning of Adams’ plan on Friday. Leaders in the suburban counties insist Hochul is on their side and opposes the plan to ship migrant to hotels in their areas — a notion the governor appeared to confirm earlier in the day.

“We have been working so close with the Mayor’s office, trying to identify sites close to where the migrants are arriving and where there are services,” said Hochul.

A spokesperson for Adams said that Neuhaus’ comments on Wednesday were not accurate, and all that had been mentioned was the program being paused, even though “our plans had not changed.”

After staying mum for a few days regarding his plan to move migrants, Mayor Adams addressed the controversy on Thursday.

“We are communicating with the officials up there on what we’re doing. Now, some may not like it, but people can’t say we’re not communicating,” Adams said.

In a call with the mayor’s staff on Tuesday, Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny was still fuming over the fact that beds suddenly showed up at the Armani Hotel last weekend.

“It was a sneak attack in the middle of the night. They gave us a debriefing call at 4:30 p.m. yesterday and told us buses were still coming,” said Kenny.

While there is a temporary injunction in place to prevent the hotel from accepting migrants, Rockland County is seeking a permanent injunction against New York City and the hotel. A hearing is scheduled for Monday morning.

In anticipation of a new influx of migrants coming to the tri-state as COVID-era immigration restrictions known as “Title 42” are set to expire, New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order loosening the city’s legal restrictions on right-to-shelter rules.

The order, announced Wednesday night, effectively will target three things. First, it suspends a rule prohibiting families with children from being housed in congregate settings, such as barracks-style shelters. The change allows the city to place families in already established shelters rather than looking for new places (like hotels outside the city) to house families.

Given the strain put on the system by the migrants sent to the city (which has seen an 83% increase in shelter population since 2022), Adams said it’s “just not realistic” that NYC would still be able to provide families private units with bathrooms and kitchens.

Another change would relax a rule requiring the city to get a bed for people within a certain time-frame. Before the mayor’s executive order, families with children who applied for shelter before 10 p.m. were guaranteed placement in a shelter unit at some point that night.

The order also loosens a rule regarding unlawful evictions and how they apply to shelter residents. Under the exception, those who are put into hotels would be excluded from the rule that anyone living in a NYC dwelling for 30 days can’t be immediately evicted without certain legal proceedings.

A city spokesperson said it was “not a decision taken lightly and we will make every effort to get asylum seekers into shelter as quickly as possible.”

City Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. Hochul backed the mayor’s decision, saying “these are unprecedented actions, but these are unprecedented times.”

The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said in a joint statement in which they said that the executive order’s changes could “force families with children to languish at the City’s intake facility for extended periods of time, potentially days on end, prolonging suffering that no human being should experience.”

The statement said Adams is “heading down a dangerous road” and that the right-to-shelter laws “have protected people from immeasurable harm” for decades. The groups said modifying the rules could put families at risk.

“This order could potentially lead to the City regularly placing homeless families with children in congregate settings, a dangerous and widely condemned practice of the distant past,” the statement read. “We recognize the efforts from City staff to avoid putting people in harm’s way, but we’ve learned through experience that congregate shelters put families and children at risk of communicable diseases and sexual assault, and they adversely impact mental health.”

The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said they are considering their options, including possible litigation.

Meanwhile, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) announced it has sued Rockland and Orange county for barring the arrival of migrants.

“Orange and Rockland County’s Emergency Orders egregiously violate migrants’ rights,” Director of Immigrants’ Rights Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union Amy Belsher said. “Migrants have every right to travel and reside anywhere in New York, free of xenophobic harassment and discrimination. People are not political pawns – both counties should welcome migrants into their communities, not unlawfully bar them from seeking refuge.”

In issuing its executive orders, both Rockland and Orange counties invoked a non-existent emergency, raising the specter of “thousands” of immigrants entering the counties and burdening social services. However, there are no large-scale plans for migrants to move to these counties nor any immediate need for the counties to absorb the costs of caring for those who choose to do so. 

US-Mexico Border May 10

Asylum Seekers Told to Use a Mobile App to Enter US as Title 42 Expires. Here's How the CBP App Works

migrant crisis May 8

Rockland Fights NYC Migrant Relocation Plan: ‘Do They Have Criminal Records?'

title 42 May 9

What Is Title 42? The Soon-to-Expire Border Policy, Explained

The order, announced Wednesday night, effectively will target three things. First, it suspends a rule prohibiting families with children from being housed in congregate settings, such as barracks-style shelters. The change allows the city to place families in already established shelters rather than looking for new places (like hotels outside the city) to house families.

Another change would relax a rule requiring the city to get a bed for people within a certain time-frame. Before the mayor’s executive order, families with children who applied for shelter before 10 p.m. were guaranteed placement in a shelter unit at some point that night.

The order also loosens a rule regarding unlawful evictions and how they apply to shelter residents. Under the exception, those who are put into hotels would be excluded from the rule that anyone living in a NYC dwelling for 30 days can’t be immediately evicted without certain legal proceedings.

A city spokesperson said it was “not a decision taken lightly and we will make every effort to get asylum seekers into shelter as quickly as possible.”

City Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said in a joint statement in which they said that the executive order’s changes could “force families with children to languish at the City’s intake facility for extended periods of time, potentially days on end, prolonging suffering that no human being should experience.”

The statement said Adams is “heading down a dangerous road” and that the right-to-shelter laws “have protected people from immeasurable harm” for decades. The groups said modifying the rules could put families at risk.

“This order could potentially lead to the City regularly placing homeless families with children in congregate settings, a dangerous and widely condemned practice of the distant past,” the statement read. “We recognize the efforts from City staff to avoid putting people in harm’s way, but we’ve learned through experience that congregate shelters put families and children at risk of communicable diseases and sexual assault, and they adversely impact mental health.”

The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said they are considering their options, including possible litigation.

US-Mexico Border May 10

Asylum Seekers Told to Use a Mobile App to Enter US as Title 42 Expires. Here's How the CBP App Works

migrant crisis May 8

Rockland Fights NYC Migrant Relocation Plan: ‘Do They Have Criminal Records?'

title 42 May 9

What Is Title 42? The Soon-to-Expire Border Policy, Explained

The news comes amid the ongoing battle over plans to house asylum seekers in the Hudson Valley. In Rockland County, sheriff’s officers were posted outside the Armoni Hotel in Orangeburg, where a temporary restraining order is in place barring migrants from moving in.

The city was looking to send a couple hundred migrant men to the northern suburbs at what the mayor’s staff would be an emergency-use hotel. But Rockland Officials said that would simply be subterfuge for an illegal city-run shelter.

“This is a renegade operation on the part of the mayor, and I cannot even begin to believe what’s going on at this point,” said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. “I have never seen such bullying and arrogance in my entire career.”

On Wednesday, the mayor’s press secretary responded by saying, quote, “we will allow the hotel to decide how to move forward in Rockland County, but our plan is still to move a small number of asylum seekers to Orange County, barring any security issues.”

The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh was another targeted location, as both Orange and Rockland County officials filed states of emergency.

In a call with the mayor’s staff on Tuesday, Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny was still fuming over the fact that beds suddenly showed up at the Armani Hotel last weekend.

“It was a sneak attack in the middle of the night. They gave us a debriefing call at 4:30 p.m. yesterday and told us buses were still coming,” said Kenny.

While there is a temporary injunction in place to prevent the hotel from accepting migrants, Rockland County is seeking a permanent injunction against New York City and the hotel. A hearing is scheduled for Monday morning.

A video posted on the NYPD’s YouTube Channel, says the mission of the Overdose Squad “is to track the source, the person that sold the poison to an overdose victim and then to build a prosecutable case against them.”

Now, a Westchester County mother who lost her daughter to fentanyl poisoning is questioning whether the NYPD’s Overdose Squads are actually following through with those objectives – or even whether the specialized units exist anymore.

Long Island Apr 24

21 Gang Members Arrested in NY Drug Bust Involving Enough Fentanyl to Kill Thousands

fentanyl Apr 14

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fentanyl Apr 12

Fentanyl Laced With Animal Tranquilizer Is ‘Emerging Threat' in US, Biden Admin Says

“They just classified her as a drug addict, a chronic user,” said Julianna Arnold, referring to the Bronx detectives who responded to the overdose death of her 17-year-old daughter, Lucienne “Coco” Konar.

According to the medical examiner’s report, Konar’s body was found in an older man’s apartment with a Ferrari-stamped glassine in the bathroom.

Arnold says she provided detectives with Instagram direct messages showing the identity of a Bronx man who agreed to supply her daughter with what look like oxycodone pills the day before Coco turned up dead. Those messages, reviewed by the I-Team, also show the address of the Bronx building which the teenager visited to buy the pills.

Despite those leads, the medical examiner’s report says the detective who responded to the death declined to investigate the death as a crime.

“Concerns were raised to Det. Esquillante [sic], who did not believe any criminality occurred and thought the death was an overdose,” the report read. “He declined any CSU [Crime Scene Unit] involvement and will await autopsy results.”

“That one thing of him saying not to make that a crime scene, that changed everything,” said Arnold, who believes investigators also failed to urgently gather surveillance video that may have been captured by cameras inside and outside the two Bronx buildings her daughter was known to have entered.

In 2021, NYPD detectives in Brooklyn used surveillance video extensively to build a case against the men accused of selling fentanyl-laced drugs to actor Michael K. Williams. That case was referred to the U.S. Attorney for federal prosecutors who obtained a guilty plea that could send a heroin dealer to prison for up to 40 years.

Coco’s mother said she believes her daughter’s case was treated with far less urgency than the death of Williams.

“The difference was that when he [Williams] was called in dead and the police came, they immediately said we’re going to treat this like a homicide. This is a homicide case, not a drug overdose case,” Arnold said.

The NYPD declined to answer questions about the failure to call the Crime Scene Unit or about the availability of surveillance video in Coco Konar’s case, but a departmental spokesperson issued a written statement reading:

“There are no words to express the trauma suffered by all of those who loved 17-year-old Lucienne Konar. Following her tragic death on March 10, 2022, the New York City Police Department commenced an extensive investigation with its law enforcement partners as part of the department’s ongoing work to eradicate the opioid crisis that has affected people in all neighborhoods, in all walks of life. The assigned NYPD detectives worked exhaustively in an effort to achieve justice for Lucienne and to bring some measure of comfort to her mother and her loved ones. This is the work NYPD detectives carry out in every fatal overdose, to determine how the narcotics were obtained, to identify all of those responsible for proliferation, and to ensure appropriate crimes are charged so that lives can be saved.”

The I-Team also asked the NYPD whether Overdose Squads are still active in the Bronx and other boroughs. The department did not respond to that question.

In recent years, drug overdoses in New York City have climbed to new records and the latest statistics show poisonous fentanyl is being detected in 8 out of 10 overdose deaths. But filing criminal charges to hold drug dealers responsible for fentanyl poisoning is more difficult in New York than in some other states.

Unlike in New Jersey, where the law allows drug dealers to be held criminally responsible whether or not they know their product is laced with fentanyl, New York’s criminal code requires some element of intent or negligence.

Assembly Member Steve Stern (D – Melville) is currently sponsoring legislation that would hold drug dealers “strictly liable” for overdose deaths, giving prosecutors more tools to hold those who sell fentanyl – knowingly or unknowingly – accountable.

“With this change in the law they would have much greater opportunity to prosecute these cases as they should be, as the murder cases that they are,” Stern said.

Julianna Arnold says she supports the “strict liability” standard for criminal charges, but she also said tougher penalties for dealers are only part of the solution. Arnold also wants social media platforms held accountable for facilitating drug sales that result in overdoses.

She said her daughter’s SnapChat and Instagram accounts show the teenager had little problem searching for and finding pills for sale online. Both platforms say they proactively disable millions of posts for drug-related content violations each year. An emailed statement from SnapChat said the company is using advanced technology to detect and remove drug dealers from the platform.

“Our support for law enforcement investigations has helped bring dealers to justice,” the SnapChat spokesperson wrote.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, said the Bronx man’s account, where Coco Konar discussed buying pills the day before she died, has since been disabled. But the company did not say how it was flagged or why it was able to operate leading up to her death. Meta pointed the I-Team to internal company data that shows Instagram took down more than 3 million posts with drug-related content in just the last quarter of 2022, a dramatic increase from the same period 2021 when just over 1 million drug-related posts were removed.

Eric Feinberg, Vice President of Content Moderation for the Coalition for a Safer Web, said social media platforms have made progress in eliminating drug solicitations but he doesn’t expect them to fully eradicate the problem until Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act is repealed. That’s the section of federal law that says third-party internet platforms are not liable for most harmful content posted by third parties.

“Although there is some effort and progress in flagging and removal of illegal drug posts it is not enough,” Feinberg said. “The only way to solve this problem and to get the platforms to spend more time and resources is for Congress to revise Section 230.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a challenge to Section 230. Free speech advocates have urged keeping the rule in place, fearing holding social media companies liable for third party posts would limit free expression.

By now, most of us have seen grainy surveillance video of the batteries exploding into a white flashes of flame. But watching them explode — up close – helps reveal why these battery cells present such a challenge to modern fire safety.

FDNY Feb 24

E-Bike Batteries Blamed for 25 NYC Fires, 2 Deaths in 2023. Now FDNY Is Cracking Down

Bushwick Feb 14

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Queens Jan 25

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The NBC New York I-Team partnered with Telemundo 47 Investiga to give viewers an up-close-and-personal view of how a lithium ion battery fire progresses, minute-by-minute. With the help of VTEC Laboratories in the Bronx, we punctured an e-scooter battery pack inside a fire-proof room outfitted with multiple cameras.

Recordings of the demonstration show how compromising a single battery cell inside the pack, leads to a chain reaction called “thermal runaway.” Essentially, when one battery cell combusts, the immense heat transfers to the next cell, leading it to catch fire. That heat then transfers to the next cell, and so on.

“Thermal runaway is that the battery goes into ignition and combustion and it keeps going in this process until it uses up all its energy,” said Neil Schultz, Executive Director of VTEC Laboratories. “During that period of time it gives off a large amount of heat and high temperature and it’s a good source of ignition for other objects around it or in contact with it.”

The video demonstration also revealed why lithium ion battery fires can be so deceptive.

After puncturing the first battery cell in the pack, there was an initial plume of smoke in the room, but after about four minutes, the smoke had mostly cleared and there were no visible flames. An untrained eye might have concluded the fire had fizzled out. But the battery pack was still heating up, and after about five minutes, the next battery cell popped, igniting the fire anew and, in turn, lighting nearby cardboard on fire.

From that point on, it took less and less time for each successive battery cell to overheat and catch fire.

Around 11 minutes into the demonstration, the cascade of overheating cells led to a final explosion so violent that it broke the equipment used to hold the battery pack down.

The concept of puncturing battery cells to model what happens in a lithium ion battery fire is not new. In 2020, the US Department of Transportation sponsored research using the puncture test to determine whether covering battery cells with a slightly wet, spongy material might suppress flames. Dr. James Quintiere, the study’s principal researcher and a University of Maryland Fire Protection Engineering expert, said the test was successful.

“The water in the sponge starts to boil at the surface of the battery and then cools the battery and stifles the runway reaction within the battery,” Quintiere said.

It is important to emphasize, in both Quintiere’s experiment and the I-Team/Investiga demonstration, battery cells were intentionally damaged and did not catch fire on their own. But it is not difficult to imagine some percentage of e-bike or e-scooter batteries getting banged up or busted on busy city streets, leading to an elevated fire risk.

According to the NYC Mayor’s Office, batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters caused 220 fires in 2022, up from just 44 fires in 2020. In the first two months of this year, Lithium Ion battery fires had already taken two lives and caused 40 injuries.

A group called Los Deliveristas Unidos is now pushing NYC to implement a new minimum wage for delivery workers – many of whom rely on e-bikes — in part because higher income would allow them to purchase certified battery packs, which tend to be safer but also more expensive.

“A lot of deliveristas would be able to invest in safer batteries if they were actually being paid a decent wage,” said Ligia Guallpa, director of the Workers Justice Project, a Brooklyn nonprofit which advocates for low-wage, mostly immigrant workers.

Fire experts have often expressed concern that most lithium ion battery fires begin with cheaper aftermarket charging adapters and uncertified replacement parts.

George Kerchner, a spokesperson for PRBA – the Rechargeable Battery Association, a trade group representing many lithium ion battery vendors and manufacturers — said that aftermarket batteries should not be confused with brand-name batteries that have been carefully matched with charging adapters and undergo testing and certification.

“It is important to recognize that many standards (e.g., UL) take a ‘systems approach’ to safety that mandate testing of the battery, charger, and device,” Kerchner said. “Low quality aftermarket batteries, counterfeit and ‘knock-off’ batteries, and off-spec chargers are a significant problem for certain applications.”

Kerchner said he does not believe requiring all batteries to be shipped with fire-proof coverings — like the sponge material, for example — would be realistic. But he said players in the lithium ion battery industry have been doing extensive research on ways to mitigate fire risk and companies are expecting new fire safety regulations on both a federal, state, and municipal level.

In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams recently signed a package of legislation regulating lithium ion batteries. On the federal level, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York), and Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-New York) recently advanced legislation that would create nationwide standards for the testing and certification of e-bike and e-scooter batteries.

“The sheer speed and scale of these fires, of these explosions is staggering,” Torres said. “At the federal level, the scandal is not that we’re failing to regulate the safety of these batteries. The scandal is that we’re not even trying.”

In an exclusive interview with the NBC New York I-Team, Chief Michael Gala, Chief Michael Massucci, and Chief Joseph Jardin, three men demoted by Kavanagh, said they believe the commissioner has lost the department’s trust.

“I believe there is too much pain, too much hurt, too much embarrassment, too much humiliation, and for no reason,“ said Gala.

“Morale is very low,” said Massucci. “It’s low in the fire houses, I know that for a fact from speaking with firefighters.”

In February, Kavanagh took away Gala’s and Jardin’s prestigious “staff chief” titles. Though Massucci kept his staff chief designation, his role was significantly reduced.

Since the staffing shake-up, high ranking sources in the department have confirmed a total of 10 staff chiefs have asked to voluntarily give up their titles in solidarity, including Chief John Hodgens, the highest ranking uniformed member of the FDNY and Chief John Esposito, who heads FDNY Operations. But Kavanagh has yet to approve their requests for demotions.

“You’ve got to remember, the amount of staff chiefs that have requested demotions is for the pure fact that they don’t believe they can work with the Fire Commissioner,” Massucci said.

Given the apparent stalemate – with so many high ranking chiefs in positions they don’t want – the three demoted chiefs are now calling on Mayor Adams to step in.

“The department can heal itself,“ said Jardin, “With this commissioner that would be truly challenging. I don’t see a way forward. That is certainly within the Mayor’s prerogative to try to fix that.”

FDNY Apr 14

Dozens of Deputy Chiefs Wouldn't Accept Promotions Under Commissioner: FDNY Source

FDNY Mar 24

Ex-FDNY Chiefs Accuse Commissioner Laura Kavanagh of Age Discrimination in Lawsuit

But Adams doesn’t appear to believe the FDNY needs fixing. In a statement this week to the I-Team, he doubled down on his support for Kavanagh, the first female commissioner in the department’s history.

“Since day one, Fire Commissioner Kavanagh has promoted a culture of true leadership, accountability, and performance within the FDNY and she has spearheaded efforts to diversify the Department to a level never seen before,” Adams wrote. “She has my full support, as she has since the day she stepped in to lead New York’s Bravest.”

In a recent New York Times Op-Ed, supporters of Kavanagh suggested the rebellion among so many male fire chiefs against a female boss, is evidence of entrenched misogyny. But the demoted chiefs bristled at that notion, pointing out that their labor union, the Uniformed Fire Officers Association backed an African American woman, Terryl Brown, to become the fire commissioner. Brown was the FDNY’s former Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs.

“The Department would have been truly well served with Terryl as the fire commissioner,” Jardin said.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with the fire commissioner being female,” said Massucci. “This has to do with the fire commissioner’s treatment of her executive staff.”

After Kavanagh became commissioner, she ousted Brown for reasons that have not been made clear. Brown did not immediately respond to the I-Team’s request for comment.

Earlier this month, Gala, Jardin, and Massucci filed an age discrimination lawsuit against Kavanagh, accusing her of systematically firing or demoting senior employees, including Brown, in an effort to fill her inner circle with younger, less experienced people. The FDNY has not responded to the suit, citing the pending nature of the litigation, but Amanda Farinacci, an FDNY spokesperson, said Kavanagh‘s personnel decisions come only out of an effort to build her own management team.

“As with all commissioners before her, she is building her own team and making changes as she sees fit,” Farinacci said. “She will continue to lead the department and make decisions – staffing and otherwise – that reflect the best interest of the department, and keep the public safe.”

Jim Walden, the attorney who represents the demoted chiefs, said he fears eroding morale within the FDNY could make the public less safe.

“Commissioner Kavanagh is just much more comfortable surrounding herself with younger ‘yes-people’ and wants to get rid of people who have experience,” Walden said. “In a fire safety organization that is just a ticking time bomb.”

Accusing the feds of “hyping up the so-called cross-border suppression plan,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenben said his country has used various means to suppress those who oppose it, but that the label ascribed by U.S. officials in these latest cases “is more suited to the U.S. side.”

“We urge the U.S. to reflect on itself, abandon the Cold War mentality, stop its wrongdoing, stop political manipulation, stop smearing China,” Wenben’s translated comments said. “The U.S. has maliciously linked the overseas service stations for overseas Chinese with Chinese diplomatic and consular officials, making unfounded accusations. This is pure political manipulation.

The rebuke comes after two men were arrested by the FBI in Lower Manhattan Monday for allegedly helping the government of China target party critics in the five boroughs. Those arrests came alongside charges against 34 officers with China’s national police force in China for using social media to do the same throughout the United States.

Wenben denied the existence of such overseas police stations and the related allegations as China has done in the past, saying those stations serve to help Chinese citizens with matters like driver’s license renewals.

“China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, strictly abiding by international law and respecting all countries’ judicial sovereignty,” Wenben said.

The American government begs to differ, however.

Such secret offices have been reported across North America, Europe and in other countries where Chinese communities include critics of the Communist Party who have family or business contacts in China. 

In the New York case, “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were charged with conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government.

Two other complaints were also filed Monday — one against 34 members of Beijing’s Municipal Public Security Bureau, and another against a group of 10 people that includes eight Chinese government officials.

The common thread in the three complaints – that the suspects allegedly worked to intimidate, harass and threaten “wanted” Chinese nationals inside the United States, the FBI said.

Last November, the FBI said it was aware that China was operating a de facto police station in Manhattan, outside of proper procedure or authority, as part of global network of such outposts. It followed a Sept. 2022 investigation by a nongovernmental organization, Safeguard Defenders, which reported there were dozens of such centers worldwide conducting police operations.

Chinese officials decried that characterization, saying the “service centers” were volunteer-run and had nothing to do with policing. But the New York Times reported in January that Chinese state media had explicitly described the centers as policing facilities, acting in other countries without collaborating with local authorities. The Times also reported that the FBI had searched the East Broadway facility in the fall of 2022.

“This case serves as a powerful reminder that the People’s Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they don’t want anyone to hear,” Kurt Ronnow,  acting assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement Monday.

The new campaign filings come as the senator has been part of the focus of an ongoing corruption investigation being led out of the Southern District of New York. Campaign finance records show Menendez’s campaign has spent about $200,000 to pay two law firms as well as a document search company.

Sources familiar with the matter have previously said that Menendez has been under criminal investigation in connection with a Weehawken meat company, IS EG Halal, that won an exclusive contract with the government of Egypt. Several sources have said owners of that company have given expensive gifts to the senator’s wife in the past. 

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Lawyers for the company and a Menendez spokesman have denied any wrongdoing.

Investigators have sent out dozens of subpoenas, with sources familiar with the matter saying they are looking into whether Menendez used his position as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee – which oversees $2 billion in aid to Egypt – to help the New Jersey company get the exclusive contract.

In recent filings, the Menendez campaign reported paying $127,343 to the law firm of Winston and Strawn, and another $48,000 was paid to the law firm of Schetler and Oronato. Another 55,000 was paid to a document search firm Haystack.

A spokeswoman for the Democrat declined to detail what the payments were intended for, but issued a statement saying Menendez “is confident that this official inquiry will be successfully closed, but as it is still unresolved he will be opening a separate legal defense fund so as not to drain any further campaign funds.”

The law firms did not respond to requests for comment, with Winston and Strawn not returning NBC 4 New York’s calls when asked if it was representing Menendez again in this latest criminal matter. Spokesmen for the FBI and US Attorney’s office also declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

Dozens of federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued in the past several months as part of the ongoing federal criminal investigation involving several individuals in New Jersey and the powerful democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Robert Menendez, NBC 4 New York reported in October 2022.

A federal court filing at that time showed that in Nov. 2019, the FBI searched IS EG Halal headquarters and Hana’s residence. According to a filing by Lustberg, federal agents seized cellphones, computers, tablets, USBs, business documents, notepads, a photo album, $5,943 dollars in cash, jewelry and Hana’s passport.

According to filings not just by Lustberg but by two federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Southern District of New York, most of the seized items were returned to Lustberg on January 31, 2020.

Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was indicted in 2015 on federal corruption charges of illegally accepting favors from a Florida eye doctor, Salomon Melgen. That included flights on a private jet to stay at Melgen’s resort in the Dominican Republic, three nights at a five-star hotel in Paris, and more than $700,000 in political contributions for Menendez as well as the Democratic Party.

That case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Several jurors later told reporters that they believed the government’s evidence was not convincing.

Federal prosecutors decided in 2018 not to retry the senator.

Menendez is not up for re-election until 2024. He has served in the Senate since 2006 and previously served in the House.

The two are charged with conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government. The FBI said “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were arrested Monday morning at their homes in New York City.

“The defendants worked together to establish the first overseas police station in the United States on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of the (Ministry of Public Security),” the FBI said in a statement.

In addition to the New York complaint, two other complaints were filed – one against 34 members of Beijing’s Municipal Public Security Bureau, and another against a group of 10 people that includes eight Chinese government officials.

The common thread in the three complaints – that the suspects allegedly worked to intimidate, harass and threaten “wanted” Chinese nationals inside the United States.

Last November, the FBI said it was aware that China was operating a de facto police station in Manhattan, outside of proper procedure or authority, as part of global network of such outposts. It followed a Sept. 2022 investigation by a nongovernmental organization, Safeguard Defenders, which reported there were dozens of such centers worldwide conducting police operations.

Chinese officials decried that characterization, saying the “service centers” were volunteer-run and had nothing to do with policing. But the New York Times reported in January that Chinese state media had explicitly described the centers as policing facilities, acting in other countries without collaborating with local authorities. The Times also reported that the FBI had searched the East Broadway facility in the fall of 2022.

“This case serves as a powerful reminder that the People’s Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they don’t want anyone to hear,” Kurt Ronnow,  acting assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement.

Rebecca Klein says she was unfairly accused while caring for her own pets. Her two pups — Lily, an emotional support animal, and Max — were seized by the Hudson Valley Humane Society while the group executed a search warrant.

“I didn’t do anything to hurt them. They were the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Klein, who sobbed as she spoke with the I-Team.

She has not been allowed to see them since that day. The president of the Humane Society told NBC New York there is no definitive process when they seize animals and it could take up to two years to file charges. 

“You’re not seeing everything. Trust us, we are. We don’t get a warrant lightly,” said Hudson Valley Humane Society President AnnMarie Gaudio.

What’s not in dispute is that Max got loose in Nov. 2022 and broke his leg after being hit by a car. Klein documented visits to clinics and veterinarians. As a registered nurse, she says she opted for a splint rather than expensive surgery — indicating one vet wanted $8,000.

“I opted to do the splint because I myself had surgery and I suffer from other problems, complications… I don’t think I was negligent,” said Klein. “I don’t think I did anything that should be looked at as negligent. I was definitely on top of it.”

Her ex-husband lives in the same Rockland County home and says she adores the dogs.

“When I think of animal cruelty, I think of dogs sitting out in the winter like those commercials when they try and raise money for the humane society,” said Robert Klein. “Rebecca is the opposite. This woman loves animals.”

But apparently, someone disagreed and flagged the Humane Society, which confiscated both dogs. Lily, who was pregnant at the time, gave birth to seven puppies at the shelter. 

So why did the Humane Society feel it was necessary to take both dogs, even though they claim that Max was the one mistreated? Gaudio said that “for her safety, we took Lily.” She also said there is more than meets the eye in this case.

“When you learn what happened in this case, you’ll be aghast,” Gaudio told NBC New York.

Klein’s next-door neighbor, a licensed therapist, said she went to the Humane Society and volunteered to foster the dogs. Her children often played with them.

“I was threatened that I was going to be arrested if I didn’t get off the property,” said Miriam Sultan. “Why not leave the dogs with me and my children if we’re willing to take them in. Especially because they know us.”

But the animal group wasn’t hearing any of it,

“It’s just another way to get the dog and give it to her — we’re not going to do that at this juncture,” said Gaudio, adding that she expects criminal charges to be filed in the next several days.

Meanwhile, Klein is still waiting for answers as to what she did wrong.

”You want to show me what I did that was wrong? I am willing to listen. I’m standing humble before these people. They have my dogs,” she said. “I’m lost here. If I did something wrong, I am sorry. If I did something, it wasn’t malice. Just tell me what I have to do to get my dogs.”

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Data released by New York State provide ammunition for both sides of the argument.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of felony falsification of business records and New York City prosecutors have charged defendants with that crime hundreds of times in recent years. But it is rare for falsification of business records to be the “top” or most serious charge on an indictment.

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Records from the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services show 10 years ago, 101 people were arrested in New York City in cases where the top charge was falsification of business records. But In 2022, just 39 people faced that top charge. And last year in Manhattan, only 2 people were arrested in cases where falsifying business records was the most serious charge.

“I mean normally you would have something where they’d be charged with greater offenses and then they’d work out a deal and maybe they’d wind up pleading to a misdemeanor or lower offense and that might be the business records charge,” said Annemarie McAvoy, a former state and federal prosecutor. “The reality is that if you’re going after a big fish you to want to have some significant charges that you’re bringing.”

But the Manhattan DA’s office pushes back on any notion the charges against Donald Trump are anything but serious and the office offered statistics showing Bragg has made a priority of cracking down on white collar crime.

In Bragg’s first 15 months as DA, his team filed 166 felony counts for falsifying business records against 34 people or companies. Under former District Attorney Cy Vance, it took three years – between 2019 and 2021 – to charge about the same number of business record felonies.

In his news conference after Donald Trump was arraigned, Bragg underscored the importance of enforcing the law related to the integrity of business records.

“This charge can be said is the bread and butter of our white collar work,” Bragg said. “True and accurate business records are important everywhere. They are all the more important in Manhattan.”

Adult (18+) Arrests for Top Charge PL 175.05 and PL 175.10, 2013-2022
Source: DCJS, Computerized Criminal History File (as of 3/17/2023)

Investigators said the attack started in the middle of March and technicians continue working to try to get all systems back up and running.

A police spokesman confirmed the cyber intrusion but stressed the ransomware attack did not impact 911 call systems or other public safety responses.

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CCPD spokesman Dan Keashen said the malware first hit the department about three weeks ago. 

“The agency is operational and did not experience any disruption or outages in its public safety response services to the Camden City Community,” Keashen said.

The FBI, NJ State Homeland Security’s office and the New Jersey attorney general’s office were all notified of the incident and are assisting in the investigation, several officials said.

Sources familiar with the matter said the hackers were demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars to unlock the files as a result of the malware. Keashen declined to comment on what group might be behind the incident or how much money was being demanded.

Sources briefed on the matter said electronic police files were among those locked and inaccessible — delaying some investigations. One official said about 80-85 percent of the files have now been reopened. Keashen said the department “is working with information technology and law enforcement professionals to ensure there is no remaining threat in our network.”

One law enforcement source said investigators were looking into whether the incident began after a police department employee opened a personal email that was malware on a police department device.

Two sources said the Camden County Prosecutor’s office has also been hit by a hacking incident impacting some files. It is unclear how significant of a cyberattack the office suffered in the last couple of weeks.

A spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The press office of NJ State Attorney General Matthew Platkin also did not immediately return a request for information.

A spokesperson for the FBI’s office in Philadelphia said “our standard practice is to neither confirm or deny the existence of investigations.”

The cyber attack on the Camden County Police Department comes after other law enforcement agencies have also been targeted. In February, the U.S. Marshals suffered a malware attack affecting numerous systems. The Washington D.C. Metro Police in 2021 and Atlanta Police Department in 2018 were also hit in malware-related attacks.

The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s historic New York City criminal arraignment a day ago, along with his family and the court itself, received unsubstantiated threats after the hearing, two sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

One official says there have been “dozens” of such threats recently to the judge and the judge’s chambers, though the official didn’t elaborate on the time frame.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the unprecedented case against the ex-commander-in-chief, and other top officials in his office also continue to receive threats, according to one source. The unsubstantiated threats have come in the form of calls, email and letters.

The Manhattan DA’s office confirmed to NBC News that they have since taken down information on the “Meet our Team” section of their website, which had included executive bios.

The NYPD detail assigned to Bragg’s office is providing extra security to all impacted district attorney staff, including line prosecutors and top executives with the office, the sources said. Court security officers are providing additional protective measures to the presiding judge and court as a precaution, they added.

Investigations into the threats are active and ongoing, the sources say.

When asked about comments Trump and others have made about the judge and his family, a New York court spokesperson said neither the court nor the judge had any comment.

As for Trump, his lawyer said that the former president “heard the judge” when it comes to not saying or posting things online that could incite violence. But he also said that Trump a right to defend himself against allegations as he runs for reelection, and is allowed to point out potential political conflicts.

“Some of the judge’s family members work for Kamala Harris. That’s a relevant fact here,” said attorney Joe Tacopina. “It’s not an attack on the judge or certainly his family. No one is suggesting that anything should happen to the judge or his family.”

A stone-faced Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the 34-count felony Manhattan grand jury indictment, which alleged he illegally influenced the 2016 election through a series of hush money payments. The charges cemented the 76-year-old Republican as the first U.S. president in history, sitting or former, to be criminally indicted.

He and his legal team have consistently denied wrongdoing.

Hundreds of people — from media to gawkers to supporters and protesters — flanked the streets outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, where U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was quickly whisked away by her security team as chaos intensified, and Trump Tower in midtown, where NYPD barricades have been in place since last week.

Read the full indictment here.

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A stone-faced Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday in connection with a 34-count felony Manhattan grand jury indictment claiming he illegally influenced the 2016 election through a series of hush money payments, cementing him in history as the first U.S. president, sitting or former, to be criminally charged.

The 76-year-old Trump denied dozens of charges of falsifying business records for his alleged role in hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels as his 2016 presidential campaign wrapped up. The indictment was unsealed in a brief proceeding before Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial of the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer.

The statement of facts released alongside the indictment offers a more detailed account of the alleged crimes in Trump’s “catch and kill” scheme during a two-year period to keep potentially damning information from preventing the former president’s path to the White House.

As alleged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the charges arose from a series of checks that Trump or his company wrote during the presidential campaign to his lawyer and fixer for his role in making a payment to a porn actor who alleged an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

The payments were part of “an unlawful plan to identify and suppress negative information that could have undermined his campaign for president,” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy said in court. They were made to “protect his candidacy,” Conroy added.

Read the full indictment here.

The broad contours of the case have long been known, but the indictment contains new details about a scheme that prosecutors say began months into his presidential candidacy in 2015, as his celebrity past collided with his presidential ambitions. It centers on payoffs to two women, including Daniels, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with him years earlier, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged the former president had out of of wedlock.

All 34 counts against Trump are linked to a series of checks that were written to Trump’s personal lawyer and problem-solver, Michael Cohen, to reimburse him for his role in paying off Daniels. Those payments, made over 12 months, were recorded in various internal company documents as being for a legal retainer that prosecutors say didn’t exist.

Cohen testified before the grand jury and is expected to be a star prosecution witness. Nine of those monthly checks were paid out of Trump’s personal accounts, but records related to them were maintained in the Trump Organization’s data system.

Prosecutors allege that the first instance of Trump directing hush money payments came in the fall of 2015, when a former Trump Tower doorman was trying to sell information about an alleged out-of-wedlock child fathered by Trump.

David Pecker, a Trump friend and the publisher of the National Enquirer, made a $30,000 payment to the doorman to acquire the exclusive rights to the story, pursuant to an agreement to protect Trump during his presidential campaign, according to the indictment. Pecker’s company later determined the doorman’s story was false, but at Cohen’s urging is alleged to have enforced the doorman’s confidentiality until after Election Day.

The investigation also concerns six-figure payments made to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both say they had sexual encounters with the married Trump years before he got into politics. Trump denies having sexual liaisons with either woman and has denied any wrongdoing involving payments.

Early reports from the courtroom had indicated the indictment included conspiracy charges, and prosecutors had alleged in court that Trump engaged in an “illegal conspiracy,” but those charges were not present in the released documents.

The former president is due back in court at the end of the year, in December. His lawyers asked about excusing Trump from attending in person due to the extraordinary security measures, but as of now, Trump is expected to appear. Judge Juan Merchan said he would not impose a gag order, for now, but did urge both sides to not say anything that may cause violence, or jeopardize the safety of individuals.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has not indicated whether he plans to seek jail time in the event of a conviction.

“At it’s core, this case today is one with allegations like so many of our white-collar cases, allegations that someone lied again and again to protect their interests,” Bragg explained at a press conference following the arraignment.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HEARING?

Prosecutors raised concerns about what they said were irresponsible social media posts they said targeted people in the case, including grand jury witnesses and Bragg. They specifically pointed to posts Trump made that warned of “potential death and destruction” if he were to be indicted.

The judge said he was not imposing a gag order at this point but asked both sides to refrain from making comments or engaging in comments that could lead to civil unrest.

Trump spoke briefly. He told the judge he was pleading “not guilty” to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and he was advised of his rights. Trump stayed mostly still, his hands steepled or interlaced, and looked ahead during the proceedings that lasted just over an hour.

Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said during the hearing: “He is absolutely frustrated, upset and believes that there is a great injustice happening in this courtroom today.”

At the conclusion of the hearing, Trump left the courtroom ignoring questions from reporters down the hall and left in his motorcade bound for LaGuardia Airport.

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When it finally came time to surrender, Trump waved to throngs of people, some decrying his indictment, others lauding it, as he headed into Manhattan Criminal Court, where hundreds gathered to bear as close witness as possible to the historic proceedings.

The former president was informed of his arrest, then processed, fingerprinted and arraigned on the 15^th floor, Part 59 in the Manhattan Criminal Court building. No mugshot was taken, sources said. He looked soberly at the reporters lining the hallway as he headed in for his arraignment, which happened in the same courtroom where Harvey Weinstein was tried and convicted of rape and sexual assault in February 2020.

Trump and his defense team have repeatedly and vociferously denied any wrongdoing.

As his motorcade headed to the courthouse, a 4-mile drive from Trump Tower earlier in the day, the former president posted a message on his Truth Social account that read, “Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”

Hundreds of people — from media to gawkers to supporters and protesters — flanked the streets outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, where U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was quickly whisked away by her security team as chaos intensified, and Trump Tower in midtown, where NYPD barricades have been in place since last week.

The developments may have significant implications for the 2024 presidential election. The 76-year-old Trump has insisted he would continue to seek the Republican nomination even if the grand jury voted to indict.

Legally, an indictment does not block him from running. Prosecutors haven’t said if they planned to seek prison time in the event of a conviction, though that also wouldn’t preclude Trump from running for president or winning next year. Each count of falsifying business records, a felony, is punishable by up to four years in prison — though it’s not clear if a judge would impose any prison time if Trump is convicted. 

For a man whose presidency was defined by one obliterated norm after another, the indictment sets up yet another never-before-seen spectacle.

Trump Denial and Next Steps

Flanked by American flags, Trump delivered a campaign-style speech to cheering supporters at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday night. If his lawyers told him to stay away from talking about the indictment, and to stop criticizing Bragg, Trump did not follow their advice.

He was defiant, referring, among other things, to his two impeachment trials during his presidency. He called the New York indictment the latest in an “onslaught of fraudulent investigations.”

“This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately,” Trump said.

He said that “every single pundit said there’s no case,” adding that DA Bragg is a “criminal” for leaking grand jury information. Trump said Bragg should be prosecuted or “at a minimum” resign. He also lashed out at the judge presiding over the New York case, despite being warned hours earlier by the judge to refrain from rhetoric that could cause civil unrest.

It was not immediately clear if his comments could potentially get him into further legal trouble.

Among the room of supporters were defeated Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, voter fraud evangelist Mike Lindell and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas.

“We are a nation in decline, and now these radical left lunatics want to interfere in elections by using law enforcement,” Trump said. “We can’t let that happen.”

His speech was under 30 minutes, short by his standards, and Trump seemed more subdued than his normal boisterous self. But his words and accusations were as vitriolic as ever.

Eric Trump said in a tweet that the DA’s office is “spending an estimated $200 million of city funds” for the case, a number which includes the costs of more police being on put on duty. City Hall Spokesman Fabien Levy rejected that notion, saying “Neither Donald Trump nor Eric Trump have the slightest idea how math works.”

A spokesperson for the former president told NBC New York that Trump is focused on the reelection campaign, and touted a supposed surge in poll numbers even since news of the indictment broke out. When Trump has to go back to Manhattan for his next court date, the spokesman said “we’ll do this all over again.”

Trump’s team has denied wrongdoing throughout the investigation and vociferously did so again Tuesday. Tacopina said the former president didn’t commit any crime and vowed to “vigorously fight this political prosecution in court.”

Tacopina has accused prosecutors of “distorting laws” to try to take down the former president. He has described Trump as a victim of extortion who had to pay the money because the allegations were going to be embarrassing to him “regardless of the campaign.”

In a lengthy statement of his own issued the day of the grand jury vote, Trump echoed the claims his attorneys made earlier Thursday, calling the case “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”

He also once again called the investigation a “Witch-hunt,” and went on to go after Bragg, whom he called “a disgrace…doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on.”

President Joe Biden, who has yet to formally announce that he’s seeking reelection next year, and other leading Democrats have largely had little to say about it.

Asked about the matter Tuesday, a White House spokesperson said the president was focused on the American people, not matters related to Trump.

Trump’s Legal Woes: Beyond the Manhattan Indictment

The indictment marks an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.

Even as Trump pursues his latest White House campaign, there is no question an indictment gives fodder to his longstanding critics.

Besides the hush money inquiry in New York, Trump faces criminal investigations in Atlanta and Washington over his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election.

A Justice Department special counsel has also been presenting evidence before a grand jury investigating Trump’s possession of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate.

It is not clear when those investigations will end or whether they might result in criminal charges, but they will continue regardless of what happens in New York, underscoring the ongoing gravity – and broad geographic scope – of the legal challenges facing the former president.

On Tuesday from Mar-a-Lago, Trump took time to address some of the other potential legal problems he may face — which may put him in more legal jeopardy than the Manhattan charges.

He called on Atlanta prosecutors to “drop” a case into his effort to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, condemned an ongoing federal investigation into his handling of classified documents, mocked a New York state investigation into his business and described special counsel Jack Smith — who is overseeing the federal probe into his handling of classified documents and his actions around the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — as a “lunatic.”

Trump said that New York Attorney General Letitia James has “put our family through hell.”

“With all of this being said, and with a very dark cloud over our beloved country, I have no doubt nevertheless we will make America great again,” Trump said.

Eric Tucker, Michael R. Sisak, Jill Colvin and Michelle L. Price of the Associated Press, as well as NBC News’ Jonathan Allen and Allan Smith, contributed to this report

BREAKING UPDATE: Trump Pleads Not Guilty to 34-Count Indictment in Manhattan

Donald Trump waved to throngs of people, some decrying his arrest, others cheering it, as he arrived at the Manhattan district attorney’s office Tuesday, where he surrendered ahead of a historic court moment that will see him become the first-ever criminally indicted U.S. president.

The one-time commander-in-chief posted a message on his Truth Social account as his motorcade left Trump Tower, writing, “Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”

Details of the indictment, including whether it may include felony counts, have remained sealed since the grand jury vote late last week, though sources familiar with the matter say it includes about 30 counts of document fraud-related charges tied to the hush money investigation involving payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Trump, who has blasted the district attorney’s probe as a “witch hunt” and called for Alvin Bragg’s removal from office, has consistently denied wrongdoing. Late Monday, the judge in his case, Judge Juan Merchan, ruled that no video cameras would be permitted inside court and while phones and laptops are OK, they cannot be used — meaning the public will have to wait until after the arraignment, which is expected to be brief, to learn the ramifications.

Trump attorney Joe Tacopina had said the defense may ask Merchan for a brief recess if the district attorney’s office provided a copy of the indictment when the former president and his team arrived at the building. That would afford Trump’s lawyers at least some time to review the paperwork before the arraignment, Tacopina said.

It appears that request was accommodated, which led to a minor delay in the scheduled arraignment. Separately, senior security officials say the upper floors of the courthouse are being cleared of all other operations and hearings. A security sweep will be conducted before members of the press are permitted into the building.

The 76-year-old Trump may issue a brief statement to reporters lining the hallway, where cameras are allowed, before he heads inside the courtroom, his lawyers said Tuesday morning.

The former president’s motorcade headed downtown just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, with the caravan departing from Trump Tower, where crowds converged throughout the day Monday and overnight for his arrival.

Once Trump formally surrendered, he was to be informed of his arrest by a member of the district attorney’s office, fingerprinted and arraigned on the 15^th floor, Part 59 in the Manhattan Criminal Court building, the same courtroom where Harvey Weinstein was tried and convicted of rape and sexual assault in February 2020.

The mugshot question remained up in the air as of late Monday, but as of Tuesday afternoon, it appeared none would be taken. While that would be part of the typical booking process, Trump isn’t your typical defendant.

Tacopina said Tuesday that the twice-impeached Trump wouldn’t plead guilty to lesser charges, even if it might resolve the case. He said he didn’t believe the case would ever make it to a jury, but he conceded, “Really, there’s a lot of mystery here because we’re doing something that’s never been done before.”

The former commander-in-chief will not be handcuffed, nor will he be kept in a holding cell, sources with knowledge of the plans have said. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has declined comment.

After the arraignment, Trump is expected to be released by authorities because the charges against him don’t require that bail be set. He will then return to LaGuardia Airport, where his private plane landed a day ago, and fly back to Florida ahead of an anticipated evening public address from Mar-a-Lago.

Trump Arraignment Draws Intense NYC Security

Rolling street closures are expected throughout Manhattan over the course of the day, and more roads may be shut down at the discretion of the NYPD. Mayor Eric Adams appeared alongside NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell ahead of the arraignment to urge people who choose to demonstrate to do so peacefully, including ardent Trump ally U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who tweeted last week her intent to rally outside court in person on Tuesday.

Hundreds, from media to gawkers to supporters and protesters are flanking the streets outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse and Trump Tower, where NYPD barricades have been in place since last week. An NYPD bus and other vehicles were added to the line of defense Monday and were expected to stay there for much of Tuesday.

The department's 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees have been ordered to report in uniform and prepare to deploy as needed since Friday, and that precautionary mandate will likely remain in effect through early this week.

What Happens Next?

New York’s ability to carry out safe and drama-free courthouse proceedings in a case involving a polarizing ex-president could be an important test case as prosecutors in Atlanta and Washington conduct their own investigations of Trump that could also result in charges.

Those investigations concern efforts to undo the 2020 election results as well as the possible mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Top Republicans, including some of Trump’s potential rivals in next year’s GOP presidential primary, have criticized the case against him. Trump has insisted he will run in 2024 regardless of the outcome of the case. Neither an indictment nor a conviction, even on a felony charge, would preclude him from tossing his hat in the ring once again.

Prosecutors haven't said whether they would seek jail time in the event of a conviction.

Meanwhile, Trump pollster John McLaughlin said the former president would approach arraignment day with "dignity."

“He will be a gentleman,” McLaughlin said. “He'll show strength, and he'll show dignity and ... we'll get through this and win the election.”

But Trump was also defiant. In a post late Monday night on his social media network, he lashed out at President Joe Biden, suggesting the current president should be facing legal troubles of his own.

Biden, who has yet to formally announce that he’s seeking reelection next year, and other leading Democrats have largely had little to say about it. Asked about the matter Tuesday, the White House said the president was focused on the American people, not matters related to Trump.

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Discussions were ongoing around the plans well into Monday given the unprecedented nature of the logistics: Trump is the first U.S. president, sitting or former, to be criminally charged. His Secret Service detail has remained with him since he left office, and security of that profile has never had to lead someone into court for a grand jury indictment.

The mugshot question is still up in the air. Here’s what we know so far, according to NBC News sources as well as a source with direct knowledge of Monday’s meeting between Secret Service, court officers and the Manhattan district attorney’s office:

Will Trump be arrested? The former president is expected to surrender at the Manhattan district attorney’s office, at which point a member of that office will inform him he is under arrest pursuant to the indictment.

How will he be processed? Trump will be processed at 100 Centre Street, the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. He will be fingerprinted there, the source told NBC News. No DNA will be taken. A potential mugshot is still up in the air. Sources indicated there was some concern it could be leaked, and it was not in the plans as of Monday night.

When will we know the charges? Customarily, an indictment is unsealed after the judge takes the bench and calls the case. It is expected that Trump will plead not guilty and he will be released without bail.

Then what? The former president will be escorted to a room on the 15th floor. He will not be handcuffed, nor will he stop in a holding cell.

Media will be kept at a distance for the 2:15 p.m. hearing — cellphones and laptops will be allowed inside court but cannot be used, NBC News has learned. Video cameras will not be allowed inside the courtroom; still photos will be allowed until the proceeding begins, then will have to leave. Cameras will be allowed in the hallway only. The arraignment is expected to be brief.

What does all that mean? There will be no live coverage from inside the courtroom, so the public will not be getting updates and will have to wait until the hearing is over in order to learn about what happened during the arraignment, which is expected to be brief.

The indictment will most likely not be read out loud during the hearing. The full details of the indictment, including all the charges Trump faces, will likely become available when the DA’s office posts the indictment document online or emails it to news media.

What will Trump do after the arraignment? Trump is expected to go directly from the courthouse to LaGuardia Aiport, where he is scheduled to fly back to Florida. Around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, he is expected to deliver a public address from Mar-a-Lago. What he will say, or what he will be allowed to say, is still yet to be determined.

Before that time, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will host a press conference of his own around 3:30 p.m. down at Centre Street.

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Former President Donald Trump‘s private plane landed at LaGuardia Airport Monday afternoon ahead of, as he shared on his social media platform, a “believe it or not” appearance in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday, where he is expected to be the first sitting or former U.S. president in history to be arraigned on a criminal indictment.

The Republican, who has vowed to stay in the running for the 2024 presidential nomination despite the case (and can legally do so), traveled by motorcade to Trump Tower from the Queens hub Monday afternoon. Trump confirmed his travel plans on his Truth Social account earlier in the day, where he also called for his potential trial to be moved out of Manhattan and for District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s removal from office.

Watch his plane’s arrival at LaGuardia.

Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said Sunday a discussion about possible venue change had not yet occurred (and sources say the judge would be unlikely to grant one). As for Bragg, Gov. Kathy Hochul would have to initiate a formal process to remove him, which does not appear in her plans. The Manhattan indictment has been sealed since the grand jury vote late last week, but multiple sources say it involves about 30 counts of document fraud-related charges.

The 23-member Manhattan panel had been considering charges around Trump’s alleged authorization of hush money payments one-time attorney and fixer Michael Cohen paid to porn Star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign to keep claims of an extramarital affair quiet. Multiple other investigations are ongoing.

The former president and his legal team have consistently denied wrongdoing in connection with them all. Trump is expected to return to Florida after Tuesday’s arraignment, where he will address the public from Mar-a-Lago.

Meanwhile, New York City is hunkering down for his stay. If you work in Manhattan and drive, the odds are against you.

Hundreds, from media to gawkers to supporters and protesters are expected to flank the streets outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse and Trump Tower, where NYPD barricades have been in place since last week. An NYPD bus and other vehicles were added to the line of defense Monday and are expected to stay there.

The department’s 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees have been ordered to report in uniform and prepare to deploy as needed since Friday, and that precautionary mandate will likely remain in effect through early this week.

Trump Arraignment Details Emerge

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrived at the courthouse early Monday and did not comment to reporters. He has not shared any details regarding the charges he asked the grand jury to consider, but the district attorney will hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Sources familiar with the matter said Friday it includes about 30 counts of document fraud-related charges.

Trump and his defense team have repeatedly and vociferously denied any wrongdoing. He will be informed of his arrest, fingerprinted and arraigned on the 15^th floor, Part 59 in the Manhattan Criminal Court building, the same courtroom where Harvey Weinstein was tried and convicted of rape and sexual assault in February 2020.

It is directly across the hall from the room where Trump Corp and Trump Payroll Corp were found guilty in December 2022 of criminal tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Attorney Susan Necheles defended the Trump Organization in that case and is expected to appear alongside Trump when he is arraigned. Expect street closures.

Trump’s attorneys have filed a request with the court to keep videographers and cameras out. Late Monday night, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that cellphones and laptops would be permitted inside court but will not be allowed to be used. Video cameras will not be allowed inside the courtroom; still photos will be allowed until the proceeding begins, then will have to leave. Cameras will be allowed in the hallway only.

So what does all that mean? There will be no live coverage from inside the courtroom, and the public will have to wait until the hearing is over in order to learn about what happened during the arraignment, which is expected to take place around 2:15 p.m. and should be brief.

The indictment will most likely not be read out loud during the hearing. The full details of the indictment, including all the charges Trump faces, will likely become available when the DA’s office posts the indictment document online or emails it to news media.

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The developments may have significant implications for the 2024 presidential election. The 76-year-old Trump has insisted he would continue to seek the Republican nomination even if the grand jury voted to indict.

Legally, an indictment does not block him from running. Prosecutors haven’t said if they planned to seek prison time in the event of a conviction, though that also wouldn’t preclude Trump from running for president or winning next year.

For a man whose presidency was defined by one obliterated norm after another, the indictment sets up yet another never-before-seen spectacle — a former president being fingerprinted, then arraigned. It’s not clear if the public will see a mugshot, or if one will even be taken. Here’s why. For security reasons, his booking is expected to be carefully choreographed to avoid crowds inside or outside the courthouse.

While Trump and his lawyers prepared for his defense, Bragg late last week defended the grand jury investigation that propelled him toward trial, as congressional Republicans painted it all as politically motivated.

In a Friday letter, the Manhattan district attorney told three Republican House committee chairs that such claims are “misleading and meritless” and rebuffed congressional probing into the grand jury process, which by law is secret.

Learn more about the case background here.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed to use congressional oversight to probe Bragg. Steil, Jordan and Comer have asked Bragg’s office for grand jury testimony, documents and copies of any communications with the Justice Department.

President Joe Biden has not commented on the indictment. The White House is not expected to release a statement.

Trump’s Legal Woes: Beyond the Manhattan Indictment

The indictment of Trump marks an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.

Even as Trump pursues his latest White House campaign, there is no question an indictment gives fodder to his longstanding critics.

Besides the hush money inquiry in New York, Trump faces criminal investigations in Atlanta and Washington over his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election.

A Justice Department special counsel has also been presenting evidence before a grand jury investigating Trump’s possession of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate.

It is not clear when those investigations will end or whether they might result in criminal charges, but they will continue regardless of what happens in New York, underscoring the ongoing gravity – and broad geographic scope – of the legal challenges facing the former president.

Eric Tucker, Michael R. Sisak, Jill Colvin and Michelle L. Price of the Associated Press contributed to this report

One of the three men wanted in connection to the overdose deaths of two men who visited Manhattan gay bars last year has been arrested.

Law enforcement sources said Jacob Barroso, a 30-year-old from New Britain, Connecticut, is now in custody and faces charges of murder, robbery, grand larceny and conspiracy. Two other men, Jayqwan Hamilton and Robert Demaio, remain at large.

Police tracking the work of a major robbery ring identified the three men Saturday in connection to the deaths of Julio Ramirez and John Umberger, who after a night out in Hell’s Kitchen, were each found dead from acute intoxication. The medical examiner’s office said multiple drugs, including fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and lidocaine, were found in their systems.

Barroso, police say, was arrested on charges connected to the death of Ramirez, not for both murders.

The three men are believed to be a part of the Robbery Pattern 188. Police say this crew is responsible for at least 17 robberies in the borough, primarily in the Village and Hell’s Kitchen.

The leading theory is the victims were targeted for money, not their sexual orientation, but the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force continues to investigate the potential bias factor as a precaution, the officials said.

Two law enforcement sources said there have been at least four suspects arrested in connection to the robberies, but no arrests had been made in regards to the murders before Saturday.

A second investigation, known as Robbery Pattern 90, is believed to involve a different crew that has robbed 26 people. There are several suspects in that case, which is going before a Manhattan grand jury, the law enforcement officials said. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

An NYPD spokesman declined immediate comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

The two law enforcement officials said the homicide of acclaimed New York City fashion designer Kathryn Marie Gallagher, which came by drug-facilitated death, may be part of Pattern 90. The medical examiner’s office last week said Gallagher died of acute toxication by the combined effects of alcohol, fentanyl, ethanol and p-fluorofentanyl.

The 35-year-old internationally recognized designer, who had more than two dozen collections under her own label Katie Gallagher and showed at Fashion Week in both New York and Paris, died in July 2022. She had been working on a Fall 2022 collection at the time she was found dead in her Eldridge Street apartment.

The medical examiner’s office said earlier in March that both Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, and Umberger, a 33-year-old consultant, died of lethal combinations of fentanyl, cocaine, lidocaine and ethanol found in their blood. The NYPD has said it was the lidocaine that would have ultimately incapacitated them.

Ramirez also had heroin in his blood, the medical examiner’s office found. It determined both men died by drug-facilitated theft, suggesting they were drugged for that purpose. Both had their bank accounts drained.

Ramirez was found in a taxi in the early morning hours of April 21, 2022. He had last been seen leaving Ritz Bar and Lounge on West 46th Street with a group of men and they all got into a cab, though Ramirez was alone in the backseat when the driver realized he was unconscious. The taxi driver found a cop to report the unresponsive passenger, and Ramirez was pronounced dead at a hospital. Neither his wallet nor phone was on him.

Later, relatives say they discovered $20,000 missing from his accounts.

Umberger was found dead in late May of an apparent drug overdose in his employer’s Upper East Side townhouse, where he was staying. Surveillance video showed him leaving the Q NYC club on Eighth Avenue, with several men propping him up. He also had money stolen from his bank account. Further details on that timeline aren’t clear.

His mother, though, alerted cops he was missing and Umberger was found on June 1. She said his phone was gone, and his credit cards were missing, along with $25,000 from his bank account.

Umberger’s mother, Linda Clary, said on Wednesday that the indictments do give her “some sense of affirmation” regarding the circumstances of her son’s death.

“These people are predators and they’re looking for people who are alone, and they’re like a pack of hyenas who prey on the most vulnerable or isolated person,” Clary said.

NYC Robbery Crews Linked to Mystery Druggings, Deaths

Officials have said the deaths appear to be part of a string of people fatally poisoned with narcotics in what investigators say were schemes by criminal crews to incapacitate and rob people at NYC bars and nightclubs.

The killings — at least five in all, according to police — stretch back months and appear to be the work of different crews, operating independently but using similar tactics, police and prosecutors said in a December update.

Men surreptitiously slip revelers dangerous levels of drugs to knock them out, then take their wallets and phones, sometimes using their digital banking info to drain their accounts, officials said. In an earlier incident, Nurbu Sherpa, a 29-year-old chef, was found dead on the sidewalk after leaving a bar where he had been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

Other men have come forward with stories about being drugged by strangers and waking up to find money gone.

Many of the crimes remain unsolved, but the Manhattan district attorney previously announced that one suspect, Allen Kenwood, of the Bronx, had been charged with murder in Sherpa’s death and in the killing of Ardijan Berisha, 26.

Berisha, of South Salem, New York, and a friend passed out on the sidewalk in July 2022 after drinking at a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Kenwood drugged both of his victims with fentanyl, prosecutors said, then robbed them. He is accused in three other instances where victims survived. The status of his case wasn’t clear Wednesday.

Anyone with information on the robbery patterns is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

The unprecedented Manhattan grand jury indictment against former President Donald Trump contains about 30 counts of document fraud-related charges, two sources familiar with the matter said Friday, though a source with direct knowledge of the court proceedings says prosecutors aren’t expected to seek its unsealing until next week.

It’s at the discretion of District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office as far as when they seek to unseal the charges. Should prosecutors seek that before Tuesday, when sources say Trump is expected to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court in person for arraignment, they would have to file an unsealing application. A judge would then have to consider it.

At this point, it appears Bragg will follow normal procedure and wait for the indictment to be unsealed on Tuesday, the sources said. The situation is fluid, sources say, and subject to change.

According to two senior officials familiar with the matter, plans as of now are for Trump to fly to LaGuardia Airport Monday night, then stay overnight at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. He is expected to be driven down to the courthouse in lower Manhattan around 1 p.m. ahead of a court appearance at 2:15 p.m., officials said.

Sources say Trump will be arraigned on the 15^th floor, Part 59 in the Manhattan Criminal Court building, the same courtroom where Harvey Weinstein was tried and convicted of rape and sexual assault in February 2020.

It is directly across the hall from the courtroom where Trump Corp and Trump Payroll Corp were found guilty in December 2022 of criminal tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Attorney Susan Necheles defended the Trump Organization in that case and is expected to appear alongside Trump when he is arraigned.

While he is in the courthouse, officials said there are no plans to handcuff Trump or put him in a holding cell. He will be brought to a back area where he will be fingerprinted, but officials said there is no photograph machine in that area, so there are currently no plans to take a mugshot of the former president. However, there is a chance a machine could be moved there by Tuesday, though some officials would rather not run the risk of having the photo leaked.

Joe Tacopina, an attorney for Trump, confirmed to NBC News that Bragg’s office had initially wanted Trump to turn himself in Friday, but Tacopoina said he and other Trump aides rebuffed the ask. Tacopoina said Secret Service needed more time to prepare, a claim Secret Service denies, according to NBC News sources.

Those sources said the Secret Service detail was prepared to transport Trump to New York at a moment’s notice, saying its members are simply responding to orders based on agreed-upon dates between the Trump defense team and Bragg’s office. Bragg’s office confirmed late Thursday that his team had reached out to Trump’s to coordinate his surrender. No arraignment date has been set officially. Thus, the grand jury indictment remains sealed for now.

Officials said that “dozens and dozens” of Secret Service agents are involved in the security for the event from the airport to the courthouse and Trump Tower, but they are reluctant to provide specifics on numbers of personnel. Trump is expected to head back to LaGuardia afterward for a planned fight out, but his travel plans after the arraignment are not set in stone — and while it is unlikely, the judge could set travel restrictions or conditions.

The Secret Service indicated they are “prepared for any option that the judge says” and also prepared if the Trump team wishes to make a statement where the former president would have a more visible role.

Some experts have said they believe Trump could be charged with falsifying business records, which can be a misdemeanor or a felony under New York law. To secure a conviction on the felony charge, prosecutors would have to prove that records were falsified with the intention of committing or concealing a second crime.

It’s not clear what prosecutors may allege as the second crime.

If Trump indeed turns himself in, expect a carefully choreographed and relatively quick process and release without bail (as is common in New York) — and with a focus on security. There is no playbook for booking an ex-president with U.S. Secret Service protection. Agents are tasked with the protection of former presidents unless and until they say they don’t need it. Trump has kept his detail, so agents would need to be by his side at all times.

It’s unlikely Trump would be paraded across a sidewalk in handcuffs or through a crowded court hallway, given security concerns, experts say. For most defendants, that would be typical, as would fingerprinting and a mugshot.

Bragg himself didn’t comment as he left his office Thursday night. NYPD has ordered all its officers to be in uniform and prepare to deploy accordingly as of Friday.

Trump Denial

Trump’s team has denied wrongdoing throughout the investigation and vociferously did so again Friday. He shouted in all capital letters on his social media platform that the Democrats have “LIED, CHEATED” and more to damage his 2024 presidential run.

Tacopina said during TV interviews Friday he would “very aggressively” challenge the legal validity of the Manhattan grand jury indictment. Trump himself, on his social media platform, trained his ire on a new target, complaining that the judge expected to handle the case, Juan Manuel Merchan, “HATES ME.”

Merchan also presided over the case of the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, as well as the tax fraud trial in which the family’s company was found guilty on 17 counts including charges of conspiracy and falsifying business records.

Tacopina has accused prosecutors of “distorting laws” to try to take down the former president. He has described Trump as a victim of extortion who had to pay the money because the allegations were going to be embarrassing to him “regardless of the campaign.”

In a lengthy statement of his own on Thursday in which he again denied the allegations, Trump echoed the claims his attorneys made earlier Thursday, calling the case “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”

“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable – indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference,” Trump’s statement reads. “The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever.”

As he has continuously done in the past, Trump once again called the investigation a “Witch-hunt.” He went on to go after Bragg, who he called “a disgrace…doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on.”

Legally, an indictment does not block Trump from running in 2024, as he has repeatedly vowed to do. Prosecutors have not said whether they intended to seek prison time in the event of a conviction, a development that also wouldn’t prevent Trump from seeking or winning the presidency.

A Brief Review of the Hush Money Case

The grand jury spent weeks meeting in secret to probe Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to the porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about a sexual encounter she said she had with him years earlier. Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels, through a shell company before being reimbursed by Trump, whose company, the Trump Organization, logged the reimbursements as legal expenses.

Earlier in 2016, Cohen also arranged for former Playboy model Karen McDougal to be paid $150,000 by the publisher of the supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer, which then squelched her story.

Trump denies having sex with either woman.

Trump’s company “grossed up” Cohen’s reimbursement for the Daniels payment to defray tax payments, according to federal prosecutors who filed criminal charges against the lawyer in connection with the payments in 2018. In all, Cohen got $360,000 plus a $60,000 bonus, for a total of $420,000.

Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law in connection with the payments. Federal prosecutors say the payments amounted to illegal, unreported assistance to Trump’s campaign. But they declined to file charges against Trump himself.

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Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, prosecutors and defense lawyers said Thursday, after an investigation into payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. The indictment itself remains sealed for now in the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president.

Trump — a Republican who assailed the case Thursday as a Democratic prosecutor’s “political persecution” of “a completely innocent person” — is expected to turn himself into authorities next week, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person said the details of his surrender are still being worked out.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said it had contacted Trump’s lawyer to coordinate his surrender and arraignment.

For any New York defendant, poor or powerful, answering criminal charges means being fingerprinted and photographed, fielding basic questions such as name and birthdate, and getting arraigned. All told, defendants are typically detained for at least several hours.

There can be differences in where the different steps happen, how long they take, whether handcuffs come out and other particulars. A lot depends on the severity of the case and whether defendants arrange to turn themselves in.

But there is no playbook for booking an ex-president with U.S. Secret Service protection. Agents are tasked with the protection of former presidents unless and until they say they don’t need it. Trump has kept his detail, so agents would need to be by his side at all times.

“This would be a unique outlier,” said Jeremy Saland, a defense lawyer and former prosecutor in Manhattan.

If Trump indeed turns himself in, expect a carefully choreographed and relatively quick process and release without bail (as is common in New York) — and with a focus on security. A former president isn’t likely to be paraded in cuffs across a sidewalk or through a crowded courthouse hallway, Saland predicts.

“It’s a public forum, but safety is also paramount,” he notes.

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If defendants are notified of an indictment or an impending arrest, they often arrange to turn themselves in. Doing so can smooth the process and strengthen arguments for bail by showing that they aren’t evading the case.

For example, when the former finance chief of Trump’s company, Allen Weisselberg, was indicted in Manhattan on tax fraud charges in 2021, he was able to turn himself in at a courthouse side door before normal workday hours.

The aim was “to reduce the likelihood that the surrender would become a media frenzy,” his lawyers wrote in a subsequent court filing.

Weisselberg arrived around 6:15 a.m. and was taken to what his attorneys described as a “holding room” for booking, an interview about potential release, and other procedures. To pass the time, he’d brought a book — “Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan’s Soul” — and his lawyers supplied him with a snack, a face mask, breath mints and other items, according to the filing.

Weisselberg was arraigned and released about eight hours later, after being walked into a courtroom past a phalanx of news cameras in the hallway. (Weisselberg eventually pleaded guilty to dodging taxes on job perks including a free apartment and school tuition for his grandchildren.)

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, on the other hand, turned himself in at a Manhattan police station in 2018 to face rape and criminal sex act charges. He was briefly in a stationhouse cell, flipping through a biography of famed film director Elia Kazan, before being led out in handcuffs and taken to court under the gaze of journalists on the sidewalk — and other suspects in a courthouse booking area, where some hollered, “Yo, Harvey!”

Within about three hours after his surrender, Weinstein was arraigned and released on electronic monitoring and $1 million bail. (Weinstein was eventually convicted; his appeal is now before New York’s highest court. He’s also been convicted on similar charges in Los Angeles.)

But even a scheduled arrest is still an arrest. Defendants have to give up cellphones and some other personal items for safekeeping (and, in some cases, potential evidence), and lawyers generally aren’t allowed to accompany their clients through the process. Attorneys often advise traveling light and staying mum.

“Don’t make any statements. Because you think you’re helping your situation, but they can just use your statements against you — because you get caught up in the moment, you get nervous,” says Gianni Karmily, a defense lawyer who practices in New York City and on Long Island.

Many arrests in New York City aren’t preplanned. That can be a very different experience for defendants, even prominent ones.

When a hotel housekeeper accused then-International Monetary Fund chief and potential French presidential contender Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in 2011, he was pulled off a plane at Kennedy Airport.

Strauss-Kahn, who said his encounter with the woman was consensual, spent about 36 hours being questioned, arrested, undergoing various exams and waiting in such spots as a courthouse holding pen before being arraigned and jailed without bail. After several days at the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail, Strauss-Kahn was allowed out on $1 million bail, under house arrest with armed guards.

Manhattan prosecutors eventually dropped the criminal case against Strauss-Kahn, who later settled a civil suit brought by his accuser.

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report

The NYPD and Manhattan district attorney’s office continue to investigate what they believe are two separate robbery patterns where suspects use drugs to temporarily incapacitate or overwhelm more than 40 victims in order to steal money and belongings — and people have died in connection with both investigations, two law enforcement officials say.

Six suspects have been indicted — some for murder, others for robbery — in connection with one of the patterns, known as Robbery Pattern 188, the officials said Wednesday. This crew is believed to be behind at least 17 robberies in Manhattan, primarily in the Village and Hell’s Kitchen, and is thought to be responsible for the homicides of two men — Julio Ramirez and John Umberger — last seen leaving gay bars in the latter neighborhood.

The leading theory is the victims were targeted for money, not their sexual orientation, but the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force continues to investigate the potential bias factor as a precaution, the officials said.

Two law enforcement sources said there have been at least four suspects arrested in connection to the robberies, but no arrests have been made in regards to the murders so far.

A second investigation, known as Robbery Pattern 90, is believed to involve a different crew that has robbed 26 people. There are several suspects in that case, which is going before a Manhattan grand jury, the law enforcement officials said. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

An NYPD spokesman declined immediate comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

The two law enforcement officials said the homicide of acclaimed New York City fashion designer Kathryn Marie Gallagher, which came by drug-facilitated death, may be part of Pattern 90. The medical examiner’s office last week said Gallagher died of acute toxication by the combined effects of alcohol, fentanyl, ethanol and p-fluorofentanyl.

The 35-year-old internationally recognized designer, who had more than two dozen collections under her own label Katie Gallagher and showed at Fashion Week in both New York and Paris, died in July 2022. She had been working on a Fall 2022 collection at the time she was found dead in her Eldridge Street apartment.

The medical examiner’s office said earlier in March that both Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, and Umberger, a 33-year-old consultant, died of lethal combinations of fentanyl, cocaine, lidocaine and ethanol found in their blood. The NYPD has said it was the lidocaine that would have ultimately incapacitated them.

Ramirez also had heroin in his blood, the medical examiner’s office found. It determined both men died by drug-facilitated theft, suggesting they were drugged for that purpose. Both had their bank accounts drained.

Ramirez was found in a taxi in the early morning hours of April 21, 2022. He had last been seen leaving Ritz Bar and Lounge on West 46th Street with a group of men and they all got into a cab, though Ramirez was alone in the backseat when the driver realized he was unconscious. The taxi driver found a cop to report the unresponsive passenger, and Ramirez was pronounced dead at a hospital. Neither his wallet nor phone was on him.

Later, relatives say they discovered $20,000 missing from his accounts.

Umberger was found dead in late May of an apparent drug overdose in his employer’s Upper East Side townhouse, where he was staying. Surveillance video showed him leaving the Q NYC club on Eighth Avenue, with several men propping him up. He also had money stolen from his bank account. Further details on that timeline aren’t clear.

His mother, though, alerted cops he was missing and Umberger was found on June 1. She said his phone was gone, and his credit cards were missing, along with $25,000 from his bank account.

Umberger’s mother, Linda Clary, said on Wednesday that the indictments do give her “some sense of affirmation” regarding the circumstances of her son’s death.

“These people are predators and they’re looking for people who are alone, and they’re like a pack of hyenas who prey on the most vulnerable or isolated person,” Clary said.

NYC Robbery Crews Linked to Mystery Druggings, Deaths

Officials have said the deaths appear to be part of a string of people fatally poisoned with narcotics in what investigators say were schemes by criminal crews to incapacitate and rob people at NYC bars and nightclubs.

The killings — at least five in all, according to police — stretch back months and appear to be the work of different crews, operating independently but using similar tactics, police and prosecutors said in a December update.

Men surreptitiously slip revelers dangerous levels of drugs to knock them out, then take their wallets and phones, sometimes using their digital banking info to drain their accounts, officials said. In an earlier incident, Nurbu Sherpa, a 29-year-old chef, was found dead on the sidewalk after leaving a bar where he had been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

Other men have come forward with stories about being drugged by strangers and waking up to find money gone.

Many of the crimes remain unsolved, but the Manhattan district attorney previously announced that one suspect, Allen Kenwood, of the Bronx, had been charged with murder in Sherpa’s death and in the killing of Ardijan Berisha, 26.

Berisha, of South Salem, New York, and a friend passed out on the sidewalk in July 2022 after drinking at a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Kenwood drugged both of his victims with fentanyl, prosecutors said, then robbed them. He is accused in three other instances where victims survived. The status of his case wasn’t clear Wednesday.

Anyone with information on the robbery patterns is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

The Manhattan grand jury that has been weighing charges against former President Donald Trump is not expected to vote on a possible indictment in the hush money case this week, though the schedule could change, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The sources said that as of Tuesday afternoon, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not expected to convene the 23-member panel again until Thursday, when they say the group is expected to address matters other than Trump and Stormy Daniels. They did the same last Thursday after a scheduled meeting for the day before was abruptly called off. No reason was given at that time.

A day ago, the grand jury heard from David Pecker, former CEO of American Media and publisher of National Enquirer. It was his second appearance before the grand jury. Why appear again? 

Pecker’s testimony could corroborate Michael Cohen’s claim that the hush money payments were not just personal, but political, and that they were intended to catch and kill a story that could have impacted Trump’s election.

In 2018, American Media Inc. admitted to paying $150,000 in hush money to ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult-film star Stormy Daniels. A statement of admitted facts said that AMI’s “principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.

Federal prosecutors previously granted Pecker immunity in their investigation into Cohen. A week before Pecker’s latest appearance, Trump ally Robert Costello, who waived immunity, sought to discredit Cohen before the grand jury.

The president had told the globe he expected to be arrested last Tuesday. Seven days later, no arrest has come, nor has an indictment vote. And the world continues to wait.

Heightened concerns over potentially violent protests in the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol last year also appear to have eased a bit. Two senior police officials said Monday that an NYPD order directing all officers report for duty in uniform in case of a possible indictment or related protest chaos was rescinded.

The department continues to monitor events in Lower Manhattan. Protest activity has been largely muted in the absence of any movement on the case by Bragg or the grand jury, which has been secretly hearing evidence for months in the case.

It’s unclear if the testimony from Costello, who could be prosecuted if he were to perjure himself, factored into Bragg’s grand jury plans over these last few days.

Trump has vociferously equated the relative silence out of the Manhattan grand jury to “NO CASE.” He taunted Bragg on his social media platform for much of last week and continued to do so on Truth Social early Monday.

Bragg’s office, which received threatening letters in the mail potentially related to the case, declined comment.

It’s unclear if any possible organized actions could intensify should the grand jury opt to indict Trump, which would be the first indictment of a sitting or former U.S. president in history. But with the pall of the Jan. 6, 2022 insurrection still looming large, the NYPD, and its law enforcement partners at all levels of government, prepared accordingly.

What Happened? And What Happens Now?

Although the grand jury paused last week in its review of the case, former prosecutor Daniel Horwitz said he doesn’t believe the delay was due to second thoughts about the credibility of Cohen, who has admitted to and served time in prison for lying about the payoff to the porn star.

“There’s a lot of criticism, questions about Michael Cohen. You know, lots of white collar cases — almost every white collar case is made with insiders,” Horwitz said.

Cohen says he is telling the truth about Trump and falsified documents to try to cover up the hush-money payments — which are not illegal. However, falsifying business records to protect a presidential campaign might be.

“After reviewing everything, if the DA still believes the evidence warrants the charge, then I would expect Bragg to file those charges,” said trial attorney Robert Gottlieb.

Columbia law professor John Coffee suggested the law itself could be a problem for prosecutors because even if the district attorney can prove Trump falsely accounted for hush money to Daniels, that would only amount to a misdemeanor. Winning a low-level felony conviction could require connecting that to a federal crime. 

“The New York statute says it’s a misdemeanor if you just falsify the records. It’s a felony if you falsify the record in order to conceal a crime. But if the crime is a federal crime that is a different ball of wax,” said Coffee. “It is not at all clear that NY state has jurisdiction or authority to find a violation of a federal crime.”

Federal prosecutors had said the payments amounted to illegal, unreported assistance to Trump’s campaign. But they declined to file charges against Trump himself. The ex-president has denied all allegations against him.

”I am going to sit back and take a deep breath and process it and take it all in. Because it’s been a long fight,” Robinson told the I-Team.

The 56-year-old is still absorbing the just-issued decision by New York’s second-highest Court to vacate a judgment convicting him of murder in the second degree, as the court did so “on the law, on the facts, and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice.”

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“Now, don’t get me wrong. I am very hurt and I am very disappointed for what took place over the past 30 years. But you know, I have one of the most precious things back, and that is my freedom,” Robinson said.

The case against Robinson was a classic example of how prosecutors use DNA evidence to their advantage — but some say will dismiss it when it favors the defendant.

“If it’s in the prosecution’s favor, it is ironclad evidence of guilt. But if it’s in favor of the defendant, it’s meaningless,” said Harold Ferguson, an appeals attorney with the Legal Aid Society.

In 1993, Robinson, a New York City correction officer at the time, was charged with stabbing to death his estranged wife, Gwendolyn Samuels, and injuring the elderly woman she cared for in a Bayside, Queens home. A defense expert would later reveal that the 88-year-old sole eyewitness, Alveina Marchon, was legally blind.

A parole board released Robinson, who’d served 26 years in prison, in 2019. At the time of his release, he told NBC New York “I didn’t want to die in prison for something I didn’t do.”

While in prison, Robinson uncovered a police report through a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request that showed investigators vouchered forensic evidence from the victim. It was only after a higher court intervened that a trial court judge, Stephen Knopf, ordered the Queens District Attorney’s office to try and locate DNA samples.

Prosecutors initially claimed the evidence was damaged or lost while stored in an NYPD warehouse in Superstorm Sandy. That was not true.

“It was actually the Office of the Medical Examiner who are the ones who told us we have evidence,” said Ferguson. “It had been there all along.”

Robinson’s Legal Aid Society defense team hired a private lab, Cybergenectics — which New York City used to identify World Trade Center victims — to test the DNA. During a lengthy hearing which the I-Team covered, the DA’s office argued against the science, which proved Robinson’s DNA was not found underneath’s the victim’s fingernails.

Still, the trial judge ultimately ruled that fact wouldn’t have changed the verdict.

“He didn’t ignore the science. He accepted that the DNA on the fingernails was not Mr. Robinson. He just adheres to the position that it didn’t make a difference,” said Ferguson.

The Appellate Division rejected that argument — a blow to the DA’s office.

“They still dug in. They didn’t want to let go,” said Robinson. “Who knows. You know, but I am here now, and I am free and ready to start a new life.”

A spokesman would only tell NBC New York, “We are reviewing the court’s decision.”

Robinson’s case is due back in court on April 11th. At that time, the DA’s office could announce its decision to retry him or to dismiss the indictment.

“Effective immediately my office has assumed all control of law enforcement functions of the Paterson Police Department,” Platkin announced in a press conference.

The news comes after a string of high-profile arrests within the ranks of the police department.

At least eight Paterson police officers have been charged in recent years with corruption in a long-running probe. 

Many of the officers arrested to date have pleaded guilty in federal court. The conspiracy involved illegal searches and vehicle stops, thefts from drug suspects and assaults.

According to court documents, certain Paterson police officers stopped and searched motor vehicles, without any justification, and stole cash and other items from the occupants of the motor vehicles. These officers also illegally stopped and searched individuals in buildings or on the streets of Paterson and seized cash from them. Some routinely received a portion of these stolen monies from some of these officers and signed off on corresponding false police reports about the underlying incidents, according to court documents.

In 2016, a sergeant who was found guilty following a trial related to the long-running probe, told one of the officers to start “tagging,” or logging into evidence, some of the money that the officer was stealing, because effecting narcotics arrests without logging money into evidence would otherwise raise questions.

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Another three witnesses claim that a sergeant allegedly stole money from a safe, and passed a portion of that money to two of the witnesses.

In another controversial incident that took place earlier this month, a five-hour-long standoff between Paterson police and a well-known anti-violence worker in the city — that ended with officers fatally shooting him in his brother’s apartment — began with sobbing pleas from the man’s mother to end the ordeal.

Details released by the New Jersey attorney general’s office a couple of weeks ago, including hours of body-camera footage from seven officers as well as seven 911 recordings, provide the most comprehensive account yet of the March 3 standoff that ended with the death of Najee Seabrooks.

Seabrooks, 31, was a crisis intervention worker and mentor with the nonprofit Paterson Healing Collective and died soon after police shot him when he emerged with a knife from the apartment bathroom where he was holed up, according to the attorney general’s office.

Long accustomed to helping others in the mid-sized city 20 miles northwest of New York, Seabrooks’ co-workers have been shattered by his death and say authorities prevented them from using their mental-health expertise to deescalate the situation.

It’s also led to the state attorney general’s office investigating the shooting, as required under state law, as well as a public outcry for a Justice Department investigation into the city’s police department.

“We won’t be happy until we see changes that the AG spoke on. How can we be happy? We’re still mourning the death of Najee Seabrooks,” Stacey Remberg, Seabrooks cousin, said following the state’s takeover of the Paterson Police Department.

The attorney general’s office has faced criticism for its alleged mishandling of a past take-over of the Clark Police Department – where that town’s mayor and some police leaders were accused of discrimination and making racist statements.  The state’s attorney general’s office has been sued for alleged retaliation against a whistleblower in that matter.

The attorney general said in Monday’s press conference that overall change is coming to the Paterson Police Department with new leadership being appointed and new policy for dealing with mental health calls — a program with the name “Arrive Together.”

“‘Arrive Together’ pairs plainclothes officer trained in mental health intervention with a screener in an unmarked vehicle to respond to 911 calls related to mental health or behavioral health crises,” Platkin said.

Mayor Andre Sayegh responded to Platkin’s announcement, saying in a statement: “When I spoke to the Attorney General, he assured me his office, the State Police, the Governor and Legislature will provide financial and additional  resources to our Department. I previously welcomed the Attorney General’s Office through the County Prosecutor over a year ago to assist with our Internal Affairs process.

“Given that resources were promised by the Attorney General, we look forward to working with the Attorney General’s Office once again. Moreover, we are eager to review the Attorney General’s plan and timeline, as well as to share and build upon the reforms that we have already implemented. We will do everything we can to continue to improve our Police Department for the residents of Paterson.” 

The Manhattan grand jury that has been weighing potential charges against former President Donald Trump heard from a witness in the hush money case Monday, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to NBC News, though the schedule could change.

David Pecker was the witness at Monday’s grand jury hearing, NBC News confirms. He is the former CEO of American Media and publisher of National Enquirer. This was his second appearance before the grand jury. 

Why is Pecker’s testimony potentially important? Pecker could corroborate Michael Cohen’s claim that the hush money payments were not just personal, but political, and that they were intended to catch and kill a story that could have impacted Trump’s election.

In 2018, American Media Inc. admitted to paying $150,000 in hush money to ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult-film star Stormy Daniels. A statement of admitted facts said that AMI’s “principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.

Federal prosecutors previously granted Pecker immunity in their investigation into Cohen.

The grand jury hadn’t taken up the hush money matter in a week, sources have said. Heightened concerns over potentially violent protests in the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol last year also appear to have eased a bit. Two senior police officials said Monday that an NYPD order directing all officers report for duty in uniform in case of a possible indictment or related protest chaos was rescinded.

The department continues to monitor events in Lower Manhattan. Protest activity has been largely muted in the absence of any movement on the case by the grand jury and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Bragg arrived at his office Monday morning and did not comment on the ongoing investigation. The grand jury has been secretly hearing evidence for months in the case. Three sources familiar with the matter said that the grand jury for the Trump investigation did not vote on Monday.

News 4 reported security plans were in development in the event an indictment could come as early as last week, yet a day after that report, Trump told the globe he expected to be arrested. No arrest came.

The 23 Manhattanites on the grand jury were told to stay home last Wednesday, despite being scheduled to convene, and heard evidence on other cases Thursday, three sources familiar with the matter said. They didn’t discuss Trump, sources say, though it’s unclear why. Early in the week, they heard testimony from Trump ally Robert Costello, who sought to discredit key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney and fixer, as “totally unreliable.”

It’s unclear if the testimony from Costello, who had waived immunity and thus could be prosecuted if he were to perjure himself, factored into Bragg’s grand jury plans over these last few days.

Trump has vociferously equated the relative silence out of the Manhattan grand jury to “NO CASE.” He taunted Bragg on his social media platform for much of last week and continued to do so on Truth Social early Monday.

Bragg’s office, which received threatening letters in the mail potentially related to the case, declined comment.

It’s unclear if any possible organized actions could intensify should the grand jury opt to indict Trump, which would be the first indictment of a sitting or former U.S. president in history. But with the pall of the Jan. 6, 2022 insurrection still looming large, the NYPD, and its law enforcement partners at all levels of government, prepared accordingly.

What Happened? And What Happens Now?

Although the grand jury paused last week in its review of the case, former prosecutor Daniel Horwitz said he doesn’t believe the delay was due to second thoughts about the credibility of Cohen, who has admitted to and served time in prison for lying about the payoff to the porn star.

“There’s a lot of criticism, questions about Michael Cohen. You know, lots of white collar cases — almost every white collar case is made with insiders,” Horwitz said.

Cohen says he is telling the truth about Trump and falsified documents to try to cover up the hush-money payments — which are not illegal. However, falsifying business records to protect a presidential campaign might be.

“After reviewing everything, if the DA still believes the evidence warrants the charge, then I would expect Bragg to file those charges,” said trial attorney Robert Gottlieb.

Meanwhile, the world continues to wait.

Columbia law professor John Coffee suggested the law itself could be a problem for prosecutors because even if the district attorney can prove Trump falsely accounted for hush money to Daniels, that would only amount to a misdemeanor. Winning a low-level felony conviction could require connecting that to a federal crime. 

“The New York statute says it’s a misdemeanor if you just falsify the records. It’s a felony if you falsify the record in order to conceal a crime. But if the crime is a federal crime that is a different ball of wax,” said Coffee. “It is not at all clear that NY state has jurisdiction or authority to find a violation of a federal crime.”

Federal prosecutors had said the payments amounted to illegal, unreported assistance to Trump’s campaign. But they declined to file charges against Trump himself. The ex-president has denied all allegations against him.

The Manhattan grand jury that has been weighing potential charges against former President Donald Trump reconvened Thursday after an unexpected, and still unexplained, day off — but they did not hear anything related to the alleged hush money case, three sources familiar with the matter say.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrived at his office Thursday morning and again did not comment on the ongoing investigation. Across from Bragg’s Hogan Place office in Lower Manhattan, the grand jury was sitting — but sources told NBC New York that it was doing work on other cases. There was no action on the matter regarding hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The panel of 23 Manhattanites had been scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon regarding the Trump case but Bragg told them to stay home and be on standby for a potential hearing the next day, sources said. The reason for the delay remains unclear, including whether it may be related to a potential witness or new evidence.

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Sources said that the situation remains fluid but it was unlikely the grand jury would meet to consider the Trump case before next week, on Monday at the earliest. The grand jury often meets Mondays, Wednesdays and sometimes Thursdays, sources told NBC New York, and prosecutors still deciding on if and when to move forward.

Trump taunted the DA on his social media platform for much of the day, saying that Bragg “is doing the work of Anarchists and the Devil.” He then released a statement that read, “Total disarray in the Manhattan D.A.’s Office. Tremendous dissension and chaos because they have NO CASE, and many of the honest people in the Office know it, and want to do the right thing. They think back to the Late, Great, Bob Morgenthau, the best ever, and know what he would have done. JUSTICE FOR ALL!”

Trump announced to the globe nearly a full week ago that he expected to be arrested in Manhattan earlier this week. That did not turn out to be true, and it still isn’t clear if and/or when that might happen.

The taunting from Trump came as the DA’s office pushed back against several congressional Republicans who say they might investigate the handling of the case by Bragg, a Democrat. In a letter, Bragg’s office told several GOP leaders that their questions amounted to “an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution,” and that it would be “an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty.”

Although the grand jury paused this week in its review of the case, former prosecutor Daniel Horwitz said he doesn’t believe the delay is due to second thoughts about the credibility of key witness Michael Cohen, who has admitted to and served time in prison for lying about the payoff to the porn star.

“There’s a lot of criticism, questions about Michael Cohen. You know lots of white collar cases — almost every white collar case is made with insiders,” Horwitz said.

Cohen says he is telling the truth about Trump and falsified documents to try to cover up the hush-money payments — which are not illegal. However, falsifying business records to protect a presidential campaign might be.

“After reviewing everything, if the DA still believes the evidence warrants the charge, then I would expect Bragg to file those charges,” said trial attorney Robert Gottlieb.

Meanwhile, the world continues to wait.

The proceedings have been shrouded in secrecy. Even if the Manhattan grand jury were to discuss Trump on Monday, it wouldn’t guarantee a same-day potential indictment vote. Legal experts said it’s a complicated case and every detail needs to be reviewed in order for the grand jury to legally move forward.

One key question being weighed: Whether prosecutors can trust the key testimony from Michael Cohen, especially after his former lawyer and Trump ally Robert Costello testified under oath on Monday that he is “totally unreliable.”

“I think the DA now has to call a time-out and decide if they can go forward with this case and this witness,” Costello said. “I think I threw a wrench in their monkey works.”

Speculation abounds with the relative silence out of the Manhattan district attorney’s office this week.

Columbia law professor John Coffee suggested the law itself could be a problem for prosecutors because even if the district attorney can prove Trump falsely accounted for hush money to Stormy Daniels, that would only amount to a misdemeanor. Winning a low-level felony conviction could require connecting that to a federal crime. 

“The New York statute says it’s a misdemeanor if you just falsify the records. It’s a felony if you falsify the record in order to conceal a crime. But if the crime is a federal crime that is a different ball of wax,” said Coffee. “It is not at all clear that NY state has jurisdiction or authority to find a violation of a federal crime.”

Federal prosecutors had said the payments amounted to illegal, unreported assistance to Trump’s campaign. But they declined to file charges against Trump himself. The ex-president has denied all allegations against him.

The latest developments come days after Trump urged his supporters to “PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST” in New York City, where throngs of fully uniformed NYPD, Secret Service and other officers secured the Manhattan Criminal Court perimeter ahead of a possible grand jury indictment. The uniform mandate for all officers remains in effect.

Protests have been intermittent and largely muted thus far. A few members of the New York Young Republican’s Club donned MAGA hats and rallied outside Manhattan Criminal Court earlier this week, and a barricaded Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan has been the scene of a handful of impromptu demonstrations.

It’s unclear if any potential organized actions could intensify should the grand jury opt to indict Trump, which would be the first indictment of a sitting or former U.S. president in history. But with the pall of the Jan. 6 insurrection still looming large, the NYPD, and its law enforcement partners at all levels of government, are preparing accordingly.

Trump is reportedly concerned about optics if he is indicted. The New York Times cited friends and associates who say the former president is ready for his perp walk, and even mused openly about whether he should smile for the assembled media. He has reportedly pondered how the public would react and is said to have described the potential spectacle as a fun experience, according to the Times.

Friends and associates of Trump told the Times that no one is quite sure whether his remarks are bravado or genuine resignation about what lies ahead.

As of the latest developments, there have been no plans or requests for Trump — who has been at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and hasn’t commented on the grand jury delay — to travel to the city this week, sources sat.

It doesn’t appear a virtual arraignment would be likely in the event of an indictment, given what would be the historic significance of such a proceeding.

BREAKING UPDATE: Manhattan DA Tells Trump Grand Jury to Stay Home Today, Sources Say

It’s been five days since former President Donald Trump announced to the world he expected to be arrested and urged his supporters to “PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST” in New York City, where throngs of fully uniformed NYPD, Secret Service and other officers secured the Manhattan Criminal Court perimeter ahead of a possible grand jury indictment.

After an off day Tuesday, that grand jury reconvenes Wednesday afternoon — and all eyes are on Manhattan and its district attorney.

Protests have been intermittent and largely muted thus far. A few members of the New York Young Republican’s Club donned MAGA hats and rallied outside Manhattan Criminal Court earlier this week, and Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan has been the scene of a handful of impromptu demonstrations.

It’s unclear if any potential organized actions could intensify if the grand jury does in fact opt to indict Trump, which would be the first indictment of a sitting or former U.S. president in history, but with the pall of the Jan. 6 insurrection still looming large, the NYPD, and its law enforcement partners at all levels of government, are preparing accordingly.

NYPD officers of every rank were ordered to wear their uniforms and prepare for deployment starting Tuesday, according to an internal memo obtained by News 4.

The memo, sent by the commanding officer of the NYPD’s operations division, instructed all uniformed service members to be mindful of protocol around public disorder and be prepared for mobilization at any time while on duty.

Law enforcement sources said intel teams are closely monitoring social media for protests, including intentional acts to slow down traffic or disrupt daily life across the city. Thus far, nothing of the sort has taken place in the city.

The police department, Secret Service, court officers and FBI continue to meet to discuss security. Two senior officials said the Secret Service has yet to do a security review of the 100 Centre Street courthouse where Trump could face a judge if he is indicted. Entrances, booking areas, hallways, courtroom, surrounding streets and more would be included in that kind of advanced security review, which would only be done if and/or when a potential indictment comes down.

During the meetings between law enforcement agencies, officials have discussed various possible routes of arrival for Trump should he be flown to New York to face any charges. LaGuardia and Teterboro airports have been mentioned as possibilities, officials said, along with varying routes to and from the courthouse.

As of the latest developments, there have been no plans or requests for Trump — who has been at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — to travel to the city this week, according to several sources. It doesn’t appear a virtual arraignment would be likely in the event of an indictment, given what would be the historic significance of such a proceeding.

What Happens Next: Could Trump Still Run? And More Questions

District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has been investigating alleged hush money paid to women, including Stormy Daniels, who alleged sexual encounters with the former president. Trump declined to testify before the grand jury. Potential charges include falsifying business records connected to the payments made during his 2016 campaign.

It’s one of several intensifying probes as Trump mounts his third presidential run. He has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and accuses prosecutors of engaging in a politically motivated “witch hunt” to damage his campaign.

An indictment wouldn’t stop Trump from keeping his hat in the 2024 ring. There is no prohibition against running while facing criminal charges — or even following conviction. Indeed, convicted felons have run for president before.

If Bragg does secure an indictment, legal experts say there will be a slew of thorny procedural questions about how to provide a fair trial.

“If you are going to go after a person the likes of Donald Trump you better have an unbelievably rock solid case,” said Arthur Aidala, an attorney who has represented big-name clients like Rudy Giuliani, Harvey Weinstein and Meek Mill.

If Trump is charged, Aidala predicts the defense would ask for a change of venue, given the heavily Democrat block from which the jury base would be chosen. Aidala said he doesn’t think a venue change would be granted.

Prosecutors have been investigating since Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen admitted in 2018 that he paid Daniels $130,000 before the presidential election to silence her claims about an alleged sexual encounter the two had years earlier.

Cohen spent hours testifying before the grand jury over two days earlier this week. He emerged Wednesday from his second day of testimony saying he would continue to cooperate with prosecutors and provide them any information “that they need.”

The former president’s current lawyer said Trump was invited to testify before the grand jury but has no plans to do so.

There has been no public announcement of any time frame for the grand jury’s secret work in the case. At least one additional witness is expected to testify, further indicating that no vote to indict has been taken, the AP reports.

How Does Grand Jury Process Work?

The grand jury’s role is to determine whether there is probable cause to believe a defendant has committed a crime and should be put on trial.

The prosecutors go into the room with the grand jury to read the crimes/charges and define elements of the crimes.

If 12 or more jurors don’t believe a crime had been committed, then the case is dismissed.

If 12 vote in favor, the indictment is drawn up and brought to the grand jury to make sure it’s correct and the jury foreman will sign it if correct (at that point this is known as the “true bill”).

While there is no time certain for this, at some point, the jury’s returned indictment gets filed under seal with the court.

Filing is the key action that has to take place. If it has not been filed, it’s not a done deal.

If it is filed under seal, no one other than the court staff and prosecutors can see it.

Once the indictment is filed, the prosecutor will typically reach out to the defendant’s attorneys to say their client needs to surrender or provide an arraignment date.

Typically, the prosecutor then gets an unsealing order from the judge, so they can alert the public and give the defense a copy as well (until then, they technically aren’t allowed to).

The defendant is then processed (which is not public) and arraigned by a judge (which is public).

It is possible a defendant could surrender before an indictment becomes public, in which case the public might see a defendant arrive at the courthouse before an indictment is formally announced.

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Law enforcement agencies are conducting preliminary security assessments, the officials say, and are discussing potential security plans for in and around the Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Centre Street in case Trump is charged in connection with an alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels and travels to New York to face any charges.

The officials stress that the interagency conversations and planning are precautionary in nature because no charges have been filed.

The agencies involved include the NYPD, New York State Court Officers, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, officials say.

NBC News has reached out to all those agencies for comment, and all have declined to comment.

Prosecutors have been investigating since Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen admitted in 2018 that he paid Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 presidential election to silence her claims about an alleged sexual encounter the two had years earlier.

Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and has indicated he’ll do so even if criminally charged, has denied having sex with Daniels. But Cohen was reimbursed for the payment to the adult film actress. Manhattan prosecutors have been looking into whether any state laws may have been broken in connection with those payments or how Trump’s company compensated Cohen for keeping Daniels’ allegations quiet.

The $130,000 payment was made in 2016, as Trump’s first presidential campaign was in its final weeks and Daniels was negotiating to go on television to air her claims of a sexual encounter with him a decade earlier. Cohen made the payment and arranged another payout to a different woman — at Trump’s direction, he says.

Trump and his lawyers have said he was extorted into paying the money to Daniels and should be considered the victim in the investigation. Daniels and the lawyers who helped arrange the payment have denied extorting anyone.

Friday’s developments come two days after Daniels’ attorneys said she met with prosecutors regarding the case and said she would testify. Cohen spent hours testifying before the grand jury over two days earlier this week. He emerged Wednesday from his second day of testimony saying he would continue to cooperate with prosecutors and provide them any information “that they need.”

The former president’s current lawyer said Trump was invited to testify before the grand jury but has no plans to do so.

His lawyer also said that Trump will follow the normal procedure in surrendering to face criminal charges if indicted by a Manhattan grand jury.

“Will follow normal procedures if it gets to that point,” Joseph Tacopina told CNBC late Friday when asked what Trump would do if that possibility becomes reality.

Federal prosecutors in 2018 charged Cohen with campaign finance crimes related to payments to Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, arguing that the payouts amounted to impermissible gifts to Trump’s election effort.

Falsifying business records can be a misdemeanor under state law, or a felony if the fudging of paperwork is done in connection with a more serious crime.

Cohen pleaded guilty, served prison time and was disbarred. Federal prosecutors never charged Trump with any crime.

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“I have a family to support and a mother who is sick,” says Eduardo Espinoza, an asylum seeker from Venezuela who is now living in a Brooklyn shelter.

Pictures and videos show Espinoza, a baseball fan, wore his Yankees cap on his arduous, five-month-long journey. He says many migrants are shocked when they hit U.S. soil and learn it would likely take less time to walk back and forth to Venezuela again, than to get a legal work authorization card.

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“It’s months of extra waiting that are completely unnecessary,” says Rep. Dan Goldman, describing the federal law that requires asylum seekers to wait five months to apply for working papers and six months before they can become eligible.

Democrats in House and Senate leadership tell the I-Team that the Biden administration could instantly eliminate that wait for certain groups, including Venezuelans like Espinoza. The president has the authority to grant something called Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which exempts an asylum seeker from the 180-day federal waiting period for work eligibility.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the I-Team Thursday that Schumer believes the Biden administration should extend TPS to recently arrived Venezuelans seeking asylum.

When I-Team asked the White House whether they support efforts to shorten the wait, spokesman Seth Schuster said Thursday, “We do not have any TPS announcements to make or preview,” and referred the I-Team to the Department of Homeland Security.

“I wish we could have more success with the Biden administration,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Portland, Maine, where caring for 2,000 newly arrived migrants is straining resources. With no action from Biden, Rep. Pingree wants Congress to cut the wait from 180 to 30 days. But several Democrats acknowledge the odds of Pingree’s bill passing the House are slim to none.

“The system is strained and you’re not gonna fix it with a Band-Aid,” says Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, saying the greater need is to secure the border and deal with more than 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S. Lawler says shortening the wait for work permits may make sense, but only as part of a more comprehensive immigration reform deal.

Republicans, including Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, also argue that the vast majority of those entering the country do not have legitimate asylum claims and that fast access to work permits would incentivize individuals to enter illegally.

“They are inundating our immigration system and hurting other immigrants who followed the legal process. NYC’s ICE office now says it cannot process any more individuals for the next decade,” Malliotakis said.

The I-Team interviewed some asylum seekers who showed ICE documents showing their next check-in appointment is in the year 2027, but immigration attorneys say they have seen clients with check-in dates as late as 2032.

Under federal law, asylum seekers cannot start the six-month wait until after they have filed their asylum claim, itself a complicated and expensive process that can take almost a year. After that, the work authorization cards often arrive well after the six month waiting period, because of backlogs.

“The president could do it immediately,” says Lenni Benson, an immigration professor at New York Law School who also founded the Safe Passage Project, which provides free legal services to immigrants. But Benson notes: Even if the president bestowed TPS on migrants, making them immediately eligible to work, he would still need to dedicate resources to clear up backlogs in the bureaucracy.

“The delays are chilling. And people will not receive the documents they need to prove that they’re lawfully here and eligible to work for potentially more than a year unless the government makes this a priority,” Benson said.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Immigration, the agency that processes the work authorization cards, did not respond to the I-Team’s inquiries about how many — if any — of the asylum seekers bussed to NYC since in spring of 2022 have received them. An agency spokesperson said the applications are evaluated humanely and efficiently, adding that “USCIS has set new agency-wide backlog reduction goals and expanded premium processing.” Under “premium processing,” an applicant can cut their wait to 30 days by paying up to $2,500 — an impossibility for many migrants who are unauthorized to work.

Benson explains the waiting period was written into the law to discourage migrants from claiming asylum when what they really want is to work.

It’s also frustrating for business owners who are chronically short staffed. At Benny’s Cuban Café in Queens, owner Mike Lopez says he’s had to turn away more than 100 migrants who’ve appeared defeated as they’ve approached him for work.

“This is not a unique situation here at Benny’s. Colleagues in the industry constantly call me and we often times talk about how we can get these guys to work,” said Lopez.

In the interim, asylum seekers are selling fruit and chocolates on the subways, and employers are taking advantage — not paying them for the hours they worked. Jesus from Venezuela took a job doing electrical wiring for a contractor who he says stopped paying him and now owes him $3,500.

He says he was saving the money to hire an immigration lawyer and showed us that he visited an accountant to prepare a tax return on his under-the-table earnings.

Jesus Aguais, who founded Aid for Life, a non-profit that helps refugees, said he has encountered some upsetting recent cases, including one in which migrants were hired as messengers, then unwittingly used as drug couriers.

“It opens the door to so many abuses. If we don’t do anything to support them the criminal organizations are going to recruit them,” Aguais says.

“We’re hopeful that the administration will be sensitive to the desires of the people coming here to contribute to our communities, as well as our businesses who want to hire these migrants,” said Rep. Dan Goldman who represents Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

He said the New York congressional delegation will be asking Biden for action.

“We are in the process of beginning those conversations,” Goldman said.

But other Democrats have been on the record for months urging the president to use his executive authority. In a tweet last October, Manhattan Congressman Jerrold Nadler urged the president “to redesignate TPS immediately given the oppressive Maduro regime.”

It would not be the first time. A previous group of Venezuelan migrants was granted the status because of the brutal political and economic conditions from which they were fleeing. The status comes with immediate work authorization, but does not apply to Venezuelans who have entered the U.S. since 2021. The UN has listed Venezuela’s displacement crisis among the top three in the world, alongside Ukraine and Syria.

Congresswoman Pingree says it’s important to remember that “it’s not illegal to come to this country and declare asylum.”

Recently, the Biden administration announced plans to allow 30,000 migrants a month from four countries including Venezuela to enter the country and work, but under the new policy, they must apply for permission to enter from south of the Mexican border, and have a sponsor in the U.S. Under the same policy, the Department of Homeland Security said migrants who enter the country without permission, between ports of entry would be returned to Mexico.

Aid for Life estimates approximately 26,000 of the 50,000 migrants who have landed in New York City since last Spring are Venezuelan. NYC is providing shelter and meals, but asylum seekers are not entitled to receive most public assistance. And without income, many have struggled to afford necessities like medicine, MetroCards, school supplies and shoes. Each Saturday morning, Aid For Life distributes food, clothes and other goods to migrants. Hundreds show up.

Espinoza, still in his baseball cap, says an estimated 12-to-18 month wait for work papers was not what he envisioned when he made a death-defying jump onto a moving Mexican freight train known to many as “the beast.”

“We had to hold on for our life,” he said.

For now, Espinoza remains stuck outside the economy and outside Yankee Stadium, dreaming he’ll someday earn money to buy a ticket.

The mayor declined to share many details of the new plan, announced at City Hall on Tuesday. He said it would involve establishing a new 24-7 office that is focused on the ongoing needs of those seeking asylum.

Adams would not disclose a location or a timeframe for the new office. He added that the city is in discussions with other cities and non profits to redistribute migrants to other locations outside NYC.

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“Please don’t ask me which cities because I don’t need you running to the cities and stopping us from getting asylum seekers there,” Adams said, addressing reporters at his news conference. “So we’re not telling you, we’ll tell you when they get there.”

He also announced plans to clear out a section of the Port Authority Bus Terminal that has been dedicated to helping asylum seekers, since buses from the border started rolling in nearly a year ago. On any given day, hundreds of migrants can be found at the transit hub — not because they just arrived or need to catch a bus, but because they’re living in local shelters and are coming back in search of additional help.

Mutual aid volunteers on the ground say the needs are great.

“When they come to us, they ask for specific things: food, clothing, school, health services, lawyer services. All of these things that are supposedly offered by the city,” said Power Malu of the mutual aid group Artists Athletes and Activists.

During a visit to the terminal on Tuesday, Cristian, a father from Colombia who arrived in NYC in the fall said his asylum hearing was in less than 24 hours …in Idaho but that he had no money to get there.

“I’m trying to get help, but it’s difficult,”  he said.

Translating for her mother, a 12-year-old girl named Damaris said her family of migrants was trying to accumulate enough money for a bus ticket to Florida and had been sleeping in the bus terminal for three days.

Mayor Adams called on the Biden administration to move more quickly, send more money, and devise a decompression strategy which he said is a Federal responsibility — not his.  Adams agreed this week to take on a formal role campaigning for President Biden’s re-election, and insisted he will not soften his pointed advocacy for more migrant resources and better immigration policy from the White House.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to the suspect or suspects responsible for the unsolved 2008 Times Square bombing.

According to the FBI, the bombing of the United States Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square on March 6, 2008 may be connected to two other unsolved bombings in the city: the 2005 British Consulate attack and the 2007 Mexican Consulate attack.

Throughout the investigation, a number of people of interest were identified and are being actively pursued, the FBI said, adding there is no statute of limitations in this particular case.

“Fifteen years may have passed since the bombing occurred, but the New York [Joint Terrorism Task Force] is unwavering in the pursuit of justice in this case,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll.  “If you have any information about this incident or those responsible for it, please contact us.”

On the morning of March 6, 2008, a suspect riding a blue Ross bicycle west on 37th Street, took a right up Sixth Avenue, and made a left on 47th Street before turning left down Seventh Avenue, according to the FBI. Subsequently, they got off their bike near the recruiting station at West 43rd Street and Seventh Avenue, placed the explosive device at the recruiting station, lit a fuse, and fled the scene on the bicycle.

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While the suspect appeared to be working alone, he or she may have had a lookout or surveillance team of as many as five other individuals in Times Square at the time of the attack, according to authorities. Subsequently, the suspect then rode their bike south on Broadway before turning left on 38th Street, and the bike was later found in a dumpster near Madison Avenue and 38th Street. 

The suspect was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and pants of an undetermined color, the FBI said. The height, weight, age, sex, and other physical factors that could lead to the identification of the suspect are unknown.

According to federal authorities, the explosive was built using an ammunition can that was filled halfway with black powder and exploded using a time fuse.

While no one was wounded, it could have caused “significant casualties if people had been close to the blast,” the FBI said.

The Times Square bombing poses similarities with two other bombings in the city — both of which took place in consulates. In the May 2005 bombing at the British Consulate and the October 2007 bombing at the Mexican Consulate, the devices that detonated were delivered by an individual on a bike and exploded between 3 and 4 a.m. Because of these similarities, there is a possibility that these three bombings are connected.

The FBI urges anyone with information on any of the three bombings to call their New York City office at 212-384-1000.

“The NYPD is actively engaged in litigation and negotiations that touch directly on the SRG and the court has issued a gag order directing confidentiality in the matter,” an NYPD spokesperson wrote.

But lawyers suing the NYPD over the SRG’s response to the 2020 racial justice protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death say there is no such gag order.

“There is no gag order,” said Wylie Stecklow, an attorney representing plaintiffs who say they were wrongly arrested. “Any representation to the effect that there is a gag order in place that impacts the NYPD and SRG’s ability to testify about oversight to the City Council is simply false.”

On Thursday, Stecklow filed a letter addressed to Judge Colleen McMahon, who is presiding over several consolidated cases involving the SRG, asking for the city’s lawyers to identify “the supposed ‘Gag Order'” or “for the Court to clarify that no such ‘Gag Order’ exists.”

The I-Team reached out to the NYPD to inquire about the gag order, but the police department did not immediately respond. The I-Team also reached out to the New York City Law Department. A spokesperson for that agency did not answer questions about the gag order, referring the I-Team back to the NYPD.

In a response to questions from HellGatenyc.com, which first reported on the disputed gag order, an NYPD spokesperson defended the explanation saying, “The court appointed a court mediator to oversee settlement negotiations. The court’s rules require all parties to such mediations to sign confidentiality agreements.”

But Stecklow said standard confidentiality rules that apply to settlement negotiations are not gag orders and have nothing to do with a police department’s responsibility to answer questions about how it uses tax dollars to carry out public safety functions. 

“The City Council is doing oversight of the NYPD.  It is part of the City Council’s responsibility.  The NYPD cannot just ignore it, and that’s what they’re doing, and they’re blaming a judge for it and it’s not fair to that judge and it’s simply not true,” Stecklow said.

The New York Office of the Attorney General, also a party to litigation regarding the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, agreed that there is no gag order in the case.  

On Wednesday, attorneys representing hundreds of racial justice protesters in a class action against the NYPD announced a settlement which – if approved by a judge – would have New York City pay each arrestee $21,500.  In their lawsuit, they accused members of the SRG, a tactical unit dedicated to crowd control, of violating the protesters’ First Amendment rights when they rounded them up with a controversial technique called “kettling.”  The NYPD admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, but issued a statement noting that since 2020, “much of the NYPD’s policies and training for policing large-scale demonstrations have been re-envisioned.”

Council Member Jennifer Gutierrez (D-Williamsburg), who spoke critically of the NYPD for skipping out on Wednesday’s public hearing, said the department’s use of the term “gag order” was deceitful because it suggested police brass had no choice but to avoid City Council testimony.

“I think it is deceitful,” Gutierrez said. “You’re choosing not to come.  You’re choosing not to show your face.  You’re choosing not to be transparent. You’re choosing not to be held accountable, and that is very different from a court ordered gag order.”

Andrew Krivak gave a sigh of relief Monday after being exonerated of the most notorious crime in Putnam County history: the rape and murder of 12-year-old Josette Wright. Investigators found Josette’s body bound and gagged in the woods in November 1995 — 13 months after her mother reported the girl missing.

“At some point you have to have faith in the people to see things for what they are, and that’s what happened,” Krivak said outside the courthouse.

The verdict marks a huge legal loss for Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy, who tried the case himself. The defense argued this was a prosecution fueled by tunnel vision, relying on a conspiracy of corrupt cops.

Krivak, now 45, signed a statement after seven hours of interrogation by Putnam County Sheriff’s officers: A confession that helped convict him. In court testimony over the years, the two lead Investigators have always maintained the words were Krivak’s alone.

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In July 1996, cops charged Krivak and his best friend, Anthony DiPippo, with the crime. They were convicted the next year in separate trials.

Investigators, then and now, primarily relied on a teen named Denise Rose, who testified she was in a van with DiPippo and Krivak when they assaulted and then killed Josette. Over the years, Rose has changed some details of her story — several times in written statements and in sworn testimony.

DiPippo won freedom and a $14.9 million civil court settlement after a jury acquitted him in a third trial in 2016. His defense team uncovered evidence that pointed to another suspect in Josette’s murder: Robert Gombert, who now serving time in Connecticut for a child sex crime there. He has denied any criminal wrongdoing, but that potential link helped Krivak get his conviction overturned in 2019.

Krivak’s conviction was overturned in 2019 and he was released on bail the next year, but remained under house arrest, until Monday.

DiPippo came to the courthouse to hear the verdict.

“This is a full exoneration of the both of us. Now, 24 jurors have found us innocent and I’m just looking forward to seeing my man move on with his life,” DiPippo said.

Tendy, the district attorney, still believes Krivak to be guilty — a stance he reiterated outside the courthouse.

“The jury has spoken. We have to respect their decision,” Tendy said.

“It’s a disgrace, it’s a waste of taxpayer money. And it makes a joke of what should be happening in this courthouse,” Karen Neuwirth, Krivak’s defense attorney, said.

Josette’s family was in court throughout the trial, but left when the verdict was announced and declined to speak with reporters.

In a recent test, the I-Team asked the artificially intelligent chatbot to write a “news” article describing Michael Bloomberg’s activities since finishing his third term as mayor of New York City. 

The first text output from ChatGPT reads like a convincing summary of Bloomberg’s post-electoral philanthropic activities – complete with a quote from Bloomberg, himself. But the I-Team could find no record of the former mayor ever uttering those words. 

When the chatbot was reminded to include commentary from Bloomberg’s critics, ChatGPT seemed to make up entirely fabricated quotes from phony anonymous sources. And those fake sources appear to skewer the former mayor for using his wealth to influence public policy. 

In one passage written by ChatGPT, the bot writes:

“‘It’s not about giving back, it’s about buying influence,’ says a political commentator who asked not to be named. ‘Bloomberg is using his wealth to advance his own agenda and promote himself as a leader on the national stage. It’s a classic case of wealth talking, and the rest of us being ignored.'”

Open AI, the company behind ChatGPT, declined to answer questions from the I-Team, but a spokesperson for the firm sent a fact sheet that included a list of the AI technology’s limitations, including occasionally providing inaccurate responses, sometimes producing harmful or biased content, and having limited knowledge after 2021.

A disclaimer on the Open AI website under the heading “Truthfulness,” also cautions ChatGPT text output “may fabricate source names, direct quotations, citations and other details.”

“It’s really extraordinary what it can do but if you spend any time with it you realize that it has severe shortcomings,” said Tara George, Associate Professor of Journalism at Montclair State University. “It’s getting harder and harder to tell the good stuff from the bad stuff, the fake news from the well reported journalism, and I think that AI is going to make that worse.”

Worries about the potential use of artificial intelligence to disseminate fake news and misinformation are just one area of concern surrounding ChatGPT. New York City’s Department of Education recently restricted the chatbot from most school classrooms and devices for fear students might primarily use it to plagiarize or cheat on writing and math assignments.

But several education experts at Teachers College Columbia University told the I-Team blocking ChatGPT may miss an opportunity to shift academic emphasis from rote, formulaic thinking to more conceptual understanding – in much the same way the advent of calculators prompted teachers to delve deeper into mathematical theory.

“Just like the calculator has reduced mathematics down to – punch it in, you still need to understand something about when you want to punch something in,” said Jin Kuwata, who coordinates the Teachers College Computing in Education Program. “Chat GPT might be the same thing in terms of shifting how teachers think of their roles in mediating this relationship between people and technology.”

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Lalitha Vasudevan, Vice Dean for Digital Innovation at Teachers College, acknowledged there are real risks that AI platforms could encourage “intellectual laziness,” but she said that should prompt academia to become more innovative in the use of AI tools – rather than focusing so heavily on their risks.

“If we’re only concerned with the fact that students are using this to generate text, we are perhaps missing one possibility which is it might open up new ways for them to think about ideas,” Vasudevan said. “Schools should have ChatGPT hack-a-thons that say who can come up with the best prompt to deliver the best version of this essay. I think it’s just trying to turn the heat down from ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to make people cheat!’ and instead turn up the volume on — now that it’s in the water — how do we make sure this is an ethical, moral, and a responsible tool?”

Charles Lang, Director of the Teachers College Digital Futures Institute, suggested ChatGPT’s problems with accuracy, phony quotes or anonymous sources are likely to be addressed by additional technological innovations — developed to keep AI-text generators honest.

“If the internet gets flooded with machine-generated text and that thing gets fed back into the machines, that’s a problem for Open AI. So they are probably motivated to figure out a detection system,” Lang said. “There’s also a premium on truth and that makes a market for someone to come in and invent something and make money off of having verified information.”

Some verification and transparency tools are already available to help highlight machine-generated content.

Edward Tian, a computer science and journalism student at Princeton University, recently designed an app called “GPTZero.” The tool, which Tian wants to keep free for anyone to use, analyzes variable characteristics of sentences and paragraphs to estimate the likelihood that text came from ChatGPT.

“Generative AI technologies are not coming out with anything original,” said Tian. “If there are wrong facts in its training data, these facts will still be wrong in its output. If there are biases in training data, these biases will still remain in its output and we have to understand these limitations.”

GPTZero correctly predicted that the article about Michael Bloomberg was written by a machine.

Open AI has also developed a tool to detect AI-generated text. In January, the company said the tool, called the “Open AI Text Classifier” had a success rate of about 26 percent in labeling machine-written content.

When the I-Team ran the article about Michael Bloomberg through the Open AI Text Classifier, the tool falsely predicted the text was written by a human. Open AI did not say why its classification tool was unable to correctly identify text that ChatGPT wrote.

The I-Team reached out to a representatives for Michael Bloomberg for reaction to the ChatGPT article containing fake quotes but did not immediately hear back.

Speaking exclusively to the NBC New York I-Team, parents of 20-year-old Joseph Ancona accused the public transit agency of negligence after their son got caught in a subway door and dragged by a 1 train as it left the Columbus Circle platform during rush hour in October 2022. At the time, the NYPD said the victim was dragged onto the tracks and killed when another oncoming train hit him.

“How does a train leave with somebody being dragged?” said Jack Ancona, the victim’s father. “He had nothing but a bright future ahead of him that got taken away unfortunately through things that could have been prevented.”

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According to a notice of claim filed by Ancona’s parents, the subway operator “should have never set the train car in motion with the Claimant being stuck between the doors of the train car.”

Citing the pending litigation, MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan declined to answer specific questions about the accident.

“This was a tragic situation with a terrible result that led to thorough internal and outside independent reviews,” Donovan said.

The MTA did not share results of those internal and external accident reviews, nor did the transit agency indicate whether the investigations are complete. The MTA did say all subway trains have redundant safety features and protocols designed to prevent trains from moving when the doors are not fully closed.

Rosemarie Arnold, an attorney representing Ancona’s parents, characterized whatever safety features were present as insufficient.

“What you’re dealing with here is one of the top 10 subway stations in Manhattan during rush hour,” Arnold said. “How is it possible in 2023 that a conductor started a train with a man trapped in between the doors? It’s unheard of.”

After the death underground, Janno Lieber, the MTA Chair and CEO, stressed the there was no criminality in the accident, saying subway fatalities like Ancona’s are “exceedingly rare.”

“Every loss of life in the mass transit system breaks my heart. This one is a little extra,” Lieber said.

But Ancona’s parents say the MTA’s soaring legal bill – much of it paying for personal injury settlements – suggests safety gaps have become too common.

According to an I-Team review of 20 years of financial statements, MTA expenditures on legal claims surged from $140 million to $509 million in the ten years between 2002 and 2011. In 2012, payouts for claims dropped steeply back down to $155 million. But since then, legal bills have steadily risen again, reaching $426 million in 2021, a 175% increase over the last decade.

“The fact that there is more litigation. The fact that there are more settlements, that should be eye opening to everyone,” said Paige Butler, another attorney representing the Ancona family. “That means there continue to be issues. There continue to be incidents. There continue to be individuals who get harmed as a result of a negligent authority.”

The MTA disputed the notion that safety gaps are driving the higher claims payouts. The transit agency says increase in legal costs over the last decade are better explained by trends in liability lawsuits impacting lots of public agencies and departments across New York City.

“Like the City, over time we’ve experienced an increasingly litigious environment and higher jury awards,” said Tim Minton, the MTA’s Communications Director. “The MTA needs new strategies to limit exposure for taxpayers’ dollars.”

Jack Ancona’s said his legal claim is intended to hold the transit agency accountable, and to make it less likely another family will experience the loss of a loved one.

“I don’t want my son to go away without an opportunity for his part to be heard or some kind of correction to be made in his name,” Ancona said. “I don’t want my son’s death to be in vain.”