While some of the Occupy Wall Street protesters have been able to retrieve the property they "abandoned" in Zuccotti Park during last week's raid, many of the items that were supposed to be transported to the Sanitation Department's Midtown storage depot weren't, or were damaged in the process. Most notably, the People's Library has only retrieved 1,099 books out of the total collection of about 4,000, and only 800 are still usable. At noon today, civil rights attorney Norman Siegel will join the president of the NYC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild Gideon Oliver and members of the People's Library for a press conference at 260 Madison Ave. to address the city for destroying or losing thousands of books. more ›

Though their presence may be somewhat diminished, Occupy Wall Street's drummers continue to exercise their First Amendment rights to annoy the hell out of Upper East Siders as part of a 24-hour jam session. more ›

Pawn takes rook, check mate! As everyone had hoped those rascally Inwood chess players were vindicated in court today when a judge threw out the NYPD's case, saying that summonses were wrong. Which—since the tickets were for being in a park after hours and were written at 2 p.m.—they were. Of course, this doesn't mean that cops looking to fill quotas won't be coming after more chess players. Norman Siegel, who represented the players, advises adults to stay away from chess tables near playgrounds, since quota-filling cops can always cite a different Parks provision in future cases. more ›

A judge turned down a request by former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) to halt his expulsion from the legislative body, but the disgraced politician isn't giving up his fight. Though the federal judge declined Monserrate's bid for an immediate stay on his senate expulsion and on Gov. David Paterson's call for a special election, Monserrate will continue the legal battle in which he has cast himself as a victim whose civil rights have been trampled. more ›

The demonstrators who fought for the right to rally in front of Mayor Bloomberg's townhouse claim the NYPD violated legal guidelines by taking photographs of them during the demonstration. Parents, students, and teachers who gathered in front of the Mayor's Upper East Side home to protest school closures allege that the NYPD's use of photography violated the Handschu agreement — a longstanding set of legal standards drafted to protect protesters from police intimidation. more ›

Last night was the second debate for what might be the sleeper race in the city-wide elections this fall, the four-way contest for public advocate. While the first debate wound up being a Mark Green pile on, this one saw mud being slung in every which direction after the recent momentum and attention gained by the biggest fund raiser and endorsement-getter, Bill de Blasio. The candidates showed they were hungry for the second highest elected position in the city, a job Councilman Simcha Fielder recently suggested should be done away with. more ›

Last night, the Democratic candidates for NYC Public Advocates squared off for a WABC 7-televised debate, and it got good fast: Within 10 minutes, City Councilman Bill de Blasio attacked frontrunner and former Public Advocate Mark Green, "I have to say, with all due respect to Mark Green, he has a little amnesia. He did not stand up to Rudy Giuliani when it mattered most, when Rudy Giuliani wanted to stay on for 90 days at the end of 2001. Mark caved in to him for political reasons.” Green retorted, "There was not any public official in the eight years of Rudy Giuliani who stood up to him more often and more successfully." Green also told moderator Diane Williams, "Diane, let Bill attack me one more time because he needs it emotionally." more ›

After Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum announced she would not run for a third term in 2009, the race for the seat was officially on. City Council member Bill de Blasio thinks he's right for the job--his 2009 election website, which once announced his campaign for Brooklyn Borough President, now highlights out his experience organizing people against the term limits extension. Speaking with City Room, de Blasio said of his possible, rumored opponents, including fellow Council members John Liu and Eric Gioia (who has raised $2 million), Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV and lawyer Norman Siegel, "It's a strong field of candidates, a group of quality people. In a way, you wish there were more elections in this city with this kind of a field of strong candidates." more ›

The fight over the right for school children to bear cell phones in schools moved to the Appellate Court, where lawyers for NYC and public school students' parents appeared before a five-judge panel. This comes after the City Council passed a bill allowing cell phones in schools, which the Mayor vetoed. more ›

A state judge has shot down Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to rent sports fields on Randalls Island to private schools because the administration failed to follow the legally required land-use review process when it made the deal. The plan was for private schools to pay $2.6 million a year for the next two decades in exchange for use of the renovated fields during peak hours from 3pm to 6pm. The Parks Department had agreed to contribute $65 million to refurbishing 36 sports fields and building new fields on 12.5 acres of the island. more ›

Imecca Burton, her mother, and civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel held a press conference in front of Police Headquarters yesterday to decry the handcuffing of 10-year-old Imecca, who was handcuffed by police in front of PS 25 where she attends elementary school. Police officers witnessed a fight on her school bus and in the ensuing events Imecca was handcuffed. Witnesses said that Imecca was swearing, kicking, and screaming, which is why the cops cuffed her. They were removed once she composed herself. The 10-year-old said she was afraid that she was going to jail and would never get out. "I never thought I'd see my brothers and sisters again," the New York Post reports. The Post labels Imecca Burton as "disabled" when describing her handcuffing and later elaborates that she has attention deficit disorder and dyslexia. Norman Siegel plans to sue the city on her behalf. more ›

Norman Siegel, former NYCLU director, is taking the city to court today on behalf of Harlem residents opposed to the city’s plan for sports fields on Randall's Island. The city is building 63 new fields on the island in addition to the 36 fields already there; the construction is being partially financed by a consortium of private schools who will be given exclusive access to most of the fields between 3pm and 6pm on weekdays. more ›

The family of Carol Simon is grieving after she was killed while walking on Eastern Parkway near Bedford around 5:30PM on Saturday. Simon, a 35-year-old nurse's assistant, had been on her way to take her son to swimming lessons when an argument between two men became violent and one pulled out a gun. more ›

First responders gathered in front of the NYC Medical Examiner's office to protest how the ME has classified deaths seemingly related to Ground Zero illnesses. State Senator Eric Adams said he would introduce legislation making sure first responders who worked at Ground Zero will "get the same line-of-duty benefits" as September 11 victims. Recently, the ME's office has not named two rescuers, who worked at the World Trade Center site after September 11 and later... more ›

Hallelujah! Yesterday the judge presiding over the Reverend Billy case dropped the charges that claimed he harassed public officials. The Rev was arrested in June while reciting the First Amendment in Union Square during a Critical Mass ride which coincided with the protest of the proposed MOFTB rules. Turns out the prosecutors didn't meet their deadline to file papers explaining the arrest and its justification. The Reverend's (whose real name is Bill Talen) lawyer, Earl... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a vessel in distress off Rikers Island in the East River, a dead body found in the East River off Roosevelt Island and Queens, and an industrial accident on 52nd Ave. in Queens.
• Confirming recent speculation, The New York Times is cancelling its TimesSelect initiative, in which people subscribed to read a number of columnists and other special online content.
• Mayor Bloomberg signed autographs, greeted courtroom personnel, and posed for a court artist's portrait, but was ultimately dismissed by one or both of the lawyers choosing from 40 potential jurors today. He did not take it personally.
• Norman Siegel is defending Rev. Billy, who was arrested on harrassment charges for reciting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in Union Square. Part of Siegel's strategy is to argue that the use of harrassment charges insinuates that there was some sort of romantic relationship between cops and Rev. Billy, as harrassment is normally reserved for "ex-boyfriend sexual stalkers and drunk husbands."
• The principal of a Manhattan public high school hosted a Santeria ritual at her school while no students were present. The officiant at the Afro-Caribbean religion's ceremony received school funds for other services and the assistant principle was asked to pay $900 towards the cost.
• Less than three-tenths of the money in a special fund dedicated to bridge and highway work was allegedly spent improving New York's infrastructure in 2004-2005. An upstate lawmaker claims that the money is being used to cover non-infrastructure general budget items.
• Brooklyn Heights Blog notes someone's complaint that on one of the hottest weekend days of the year, one may have to wait for hours to take a dip in a free public pool on the East River.
• Astronaut Photography of Earth includes an impressive shot of Brooklyn from space.

The City Council voted, 46-2, to allow NYC public school students to bring cell phones to and from school - though not to use them during the day. The bill was meant to address concerns of parents and students who believe cell phones are critical to students' safety (see these tales of cell phone-less horror). City Councilman Lew Fidler who sponsored the bill said his 17-year-old son walks eight blocks for a bus and "We wouldn't dream of sending him to school without a cellphone. If he's going to be late, we want to know why." more ›

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn fired Councilman Charles Barron's chief of staff Viola Plummer yesterday. Quinn had required Plummer to sign a letter agreeing to behave during meetings, after Plummer heckled Quinn during a meeting about street namings and made reference to an "assassination" of Councilman Leroy Comrie, but Plummer refused (she has maintained that she meant a "assassination" of Comrie's character and/or political prospects). And Plummer filed a $1 million racial discrimination suit against Quinn. more ›

Saturday we posted about Reverend Billy getting arrested during Friday night's Critical Mass as he recited the First Amendment. The above is a video of how it went down. Each police officer involved is identified by the cameraman, and at the end you'll see Lt Daniel Albano, "one of the main architects of the recent NYPD crackdown on civil rights." That night Reverend Billy was in jail for 20 hours, and charged with harassment of a public official. more ›

To anyone attending next year's Puerto Rican Day Parade, we have this suggestion: Don't wear black-and-gold. At a press conference, parade organizers decried arrests of people who were not engaged in any illegal activity during Sunday's event. National Puerto Rican Day Parade president Madelyn Lugo said, "We are very disappointed and alarmed that these violations of civil rights should occur." more ›

New York has never celebrated the forms of dance that it has birthed until now: Voguing, Jazz, the Jitterbug, Punk, Gothic--even Salsa was birthed in the Cuban Communities in this great city. And it is now time for Dance. New York has enjoyed the last two years of a September Art Parade and in May 2007, we can finally honor Dance in a similar fashion. more ›

The Department of Education officials are smiling and parents are seething: Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone ruled that the DOE could continue to ban cell phones. more ›

Hello, cellphone vigilantism! more ›

A series of robberies at the 7th Avenue F train subway station in Park Slope has allegedly prompted the NYPD Transit captain to order officers to "stop all black male teens" there, according to the NY Post. Cops are apparently supposed to stop and question teens, while filling out "250 forms." This, of course, has set off a frenzy from different unions and organizations. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Assication's Patrick Lynch said, "Ordering police officers to stop every black male teenager is against the department's racial-profiling prohibition and creates more trouble for the officers than it will solve," while 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care head Eric Adams said, "We're going to go to the Seventh Avenue station and do observations," given the NYPD's past abuse using 250 forms. more ›

The city must have many storage closets that escape notice. The city will release 1,613 phone calls made on September 11 by emergency workers and trapped people at the World Trade Center. As Newsday explains it, "The fire department is releasing these recordings now because of an oversight that occurred after a March decision by the New York State Court of Appeals to release all calls, according to a statement. A personnel error led to the department overlooking another tape of phone calls made between 8:45 and 10:45 a.m. on Sept. 11, the statement said." An oversight of two hours of phone calls? That's some oversight. more ›

Oh sweet Jesus! Doesn't the city have anything better to do than harass peaceful cyclists? It's only been six months since a judge ruled that the Critical Mass monthly ride didn't require a permit. Rather than comply with the judge's order, the NYPD has decided to simply change the rules. The New York Times reports: more ›

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Police captain Eric Adams, who had been reprimanded by the police department for speaking out against last fall's terror alert and implying that Mayor Bloomberg used the alert to draw attention from a mayoral debate he was not participating in, was found not guilty of two charges the NYPD brought against him in a trial. Adams, who is retiring to enter politics, had said the NYPD waited three days before telling the public about a terror threat; he would have been stripped of his pension otherwise. However, he was found guilty of appearing on TV, representing the NYPD without permission. Overall, Adams will be able to retire with his full pension, giving up 15 vacation days for speaking without permission. But his lawyer, Norman Siegel, says Adams will appeal the decision, saying, "If government employees - including police officers - are afraid to speak out and they don't speak out, then we, the citizens, we, the public, lose in the long run. Because the government employees know better than anyone else what's actually happening inside their government agencies." more ›

Umar Abdul-Jalil, the city's top chaplain and a Muslim imam, was suspended for two weeks for controversial remarks given at an out-of-state speech. When the NY Post published that Abdul-Jalil said "the greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House" (plus referred to "the Zionists of the media"), a furor erupted over what a city employee should or should not say. Mayor Bloomberg (and his advisers) ultimately decided that the comments warranted only a suspension, because though he erred by not clarifying that he was not speaking as a representative of the city, he should have the opportunity to speak freely. Here were the Mayor's comments:

"I certainly don't agree with that view, but the issue here is not do I agree with him, but does he have a right to say what he wants to say At the same time, we have an obligation to ensure that city employees do not falsely represent their political statements as the official position of their agency."

Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil, executive director of ministerial services for the city's Department of Correction, was suspended Thursday for saying, while speaking at a conference in Arizona last April, that Muslims were being tortured in city jails and that "the greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House." more ›