David Paterson

NY Gov Fined $62K Over Yankees World Series Tickets

Rachel Slajda | December 20, 2010, 1:03PM

Gov. David Paterson (D-NY)

New York Gov. David Paterson has been fined $62,125 for accepting several 2009 World Series tickets from the New York Yankees.

The state Commission on Public Integrity announced today that it found that Paterson (D), who will finish his term at the end of the month, guilty of breaking state ethics law by accepting illegal gifts.

The commission also found that Paterson had lied to the commission about the tickets in February. It's a finding also made by an independent investigator appointed by the state attorney general's office, who said in August that Paterson could be charged with perjury. The case is now in the hands of the Albany County district attorney, who has not yet announced a decision about whether to charge Paterson.

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Pedro Espada Jr.

NY Senate Majority Leader Espada Stole From Non-Profit, Say Feds

Ryan J. Reilly | December 14, 2010, 6:33PM

NY state Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada

New York Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Jr. and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, are facing charges that they stole over half a million dollars from clients of their nonprofit health care network, according to a six-count federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.

A grand jury handed up the indictment of the 57-year-old Bronx Democrat and his 37-year-old son, charging them with five counts of embezzling from their nonprofit, the Soundview HealthCare Network. Since that nonprofit receives over $1 million a year from the Department of Health and Human Services and millions in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, the pair were also charged with one count of conspiring to steal government funds.

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David Paterson

Paterson Aide At Center Of Domestic Violence Scandal Fired

Rachel Slajda | December 13, 2010, 4:32PM

New York Gov. David Paterson and aide David Johnson

David Johnson, the close aide to New York Gov. David Paterson (D) who was at the center of a domestic violence scandal that forced Paterson to drop out of the gubernatorial race, was fired last month.

Johnson, who was placed on unpaid leave when the scandal surfaced in February, was officially taken off the payroll on Nov. 19, the AP and others are reporting.

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New York

A Grand Jury Begins Investigating Potential 2009 Voter Fraud

Rachel Slajda | December 10, 2010, 1:43PM

Troy, New York.

A grand jury in Troy, N.Y., is investigating allegations that city officials blatantly colluded to commit voter fraud by forging ballots in the 2009 Working Families Party primary for local and county elections.

The grand jury has subpoenaed some 14 witnesses, according to local news reports. The witnesses, who testified this week, included residents whose names were used on absentee ballots in the primary but who say they never requested an absentee ballot nor voted.

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Muslims

Two Men Charged With Hate Crimes For Allegedly Assaulting Imam

Rachel Slajda | December 10, 2010, 8:37AM

Two men have been charged with assault and robbery as a hate crime after attacking a Muslim religious leader on a New York City subway platform.

According to prosecutors, the two men, Albert Melendez, 30, and Eddie Crespo, 28, spotted the unidentified imam on the A train in Manhattan at about 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.

"What are you, a camel jockey? I don't like Muslims," Melendez said, according to the criminal complaint.

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J.C. Owsley

An Answer To The Times' Titans Of Industry Mystery

Eric Lach | December 2, 2010, 1:16PM

J.E. Owsley (right) in 1905, when he coached Yale's football team.

Who is J.C. Owsley? Yesterday, we pointed out a terrific infographic in The New York Times, which listed the top salary earners in the country in 1941, and their tax rates. Among the names were well-known titans of industry: Thomas J. Watson, President of IBM; Eugene G. Grace, President of Bethlehem Steel; and Louis B. Mayer, General Manager of MGM. Number one on the list was a gun manufacturer, Carl Swebilius, and his wife Hulda Swebilius. But two of the names on the list, J.C. Owsley and C.S. Woolman, were labeled "unable to identify" by the Times. In a footnote, the paper attributed the lack of information to possible typographical errors in the documents it had received from the National Archives. According to the list, Owsley earned $486,244 and Woolman earned $442,142 in 1941. Could some of the nation's richest individuals really be so obscure? After some research (and the help of some reader tips), we think we've identified both men -- but Owsley's is the trickier case.

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