Politics Meets Rap At Rikers

In a still-in-time-for-the-holidays gift for all reporters on the Guy Velella beat, prison officials have reportedly placed the disgraced ex-State-Senator with rapper Shyne in a cell at Rikers Island. Yes, that Shyne, who is serving a sentence for that 1999 club shooting that P. Diddy, then known at Puff Daddy, was also tried for (being Daddy, the Diddy got off). Now, Gothamist has been following the Guy Velella case peripherally - we never posted before because there were no B/C-list celebrities involved - so we know that Bronx State Senator Velella was convicted of bribery, sentenced to a 1-year term, released after serving 3 months by a mayoral panel, people complained about possible favoritism, and Mayor Bloomberg appointed a new panel which found that Velella needed to go back to jail. And that's where we are now: The local media reporting that Velella is bunking with Shyne and eating Salisbury steak.

The NY Times on Guy Velella. And Gothamist wonders if Shyne will incorporate Velella into his next album.