 MOBBED-UP NYC MAYOR RUDOLF GIULIANI STEALS $350M/YEAR IN UNCONSTITUTIONAL PARKING-TICKETS TO FEED HIS MAFIA FAMILY'S CAR-THEFT RACKETS - DESPITE UNITED NATIONS WARNING OF TERRORIST RETALIATION - THEN MOVES HIS OFFICE OUT OF WTC 1 MONTH BEFORE 911 ATTACK |
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"State Department officials say that if the city goes through with its plan to seize and auction the cars, US diplomats could face retribution abroad. They caution that Giuliani's policy would violate the Vienna Convention." "A son of the mayor's uncle and a guest at Giuliani's first wedding in 1968, was a "ruthless and widely feared mob associate" who headed a massive stolen car ring, according to FBI documents. Along with cracking heads, it says the mayor's father served time in state prison for a stickup, rarely held an on-the-books job and once was a gunman in a mob shootout in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn." "This investigation proves that those who declare the death of the mob do so at their own peril." "Diplomatic immunity is like virginity . . . you have it or have not." Mafia chauffeur: "They're behind us now, they figure you running some big, big enterprises right now. That's what it is. You know, with the garbage, and with an... and with incinerators now, and ah... with all that shit. Incineration is a big thing with us, the thing of the future. They figure that you got it, that you control it."
Anthony Corallo replies: "They're right, you know." (boss of the Luchese crime family) PAX TV - Encounters With The Unexplained February 2002 - PAX TV was destroyed in the airstrike on the World Trade Center 9-11, and is now back on air. Click link on week of March 15 to check broadcast times. A documentary by PAX TV about the fatal crash of John F. Kennedy, Jr., broadcast in February 2002, revealed that 3 eyewitnesses reported to FAA investigators that they saw JFK's airplane explode in midair. The testimony by the JFK wedding party, a lawyer, a doctor and a reporter, disproved the official allegations that JFK had died because he did not know how to fly a plane. PAX reported that in 2000, JFK had turned down Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore's offer to run with him as vice president, and that JFK had instead decided to announce that weekend his candidacy for the US Senate in 2000 against the Republican mayor of New York City, the Mafia-born-and-bred Rudolf Giuliani (whose father spent years in Sing Sing prison for armed robbery and had an uncle gunned down by the FBI and another uncle running New York state's largest car-theft ring). PAX reported that either the Mafia assassinated JFK to put Giuliani into Congress [or to elect the wife of presidential bastard Bill Clinton - the illigitimate son of Arkansas governor Rockefeller - Hillary Clinton?], or else he was killed after JFK's magazine George, the largest monthly news magazine in the world, was reporting on political assassinations in Israel. "The power to punish for contempt conferred by this section may NOT be
used to punish persons who fail to appear for traffic violations or
parking violations." "Enterprise" means any individual, sole proprietorship,
partnership, corporation, business trust, union chartered under the laws
of this state, or other legal entity, or any unchartered union,
association or group of individuals associated in fact although not a
legal entity, and it includes illicit as well as licit enterprises, AND
GOVERNMENTAL, as well as other, entities." |
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http://www.nydailynews.com/2000-07-06/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-72333.asp From: News and Views | City Beat |
Rudy's Kin Tied to MobFather, uncle and cousin surface in new biographyBy MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Mayor Giuliani — a former federal prosecutor who won notice for pursuing the Mafia — had relatives linked to organized crime, including a mobbed-up cousin who was gunned down by FBI agents in 1977, a new book says. Lewis D'Avanzo, a son of the mayor's uncle and a guest at Giuliani's first wedding in 1968, was a "ruthless and widely feared mob associate" who headed a massive stolen car ring, according to FBI documents and interviews detailed in "Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani," by Village Voice senior editor Wayne Barrett. Due in stores next week, the book sketches a largely unflattering portrait of the clan, depicting his father, Harold, as a hothead and the "muscle" behind a brother-in-law's loansharking operation, run out of a Brooklyn bar. Along with cracking heads, it says the mayor's father served time in state prison for a stickup, rarely held an on-the-books job and once was a gunman in a mob shootout in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The book never makes clear how much of the family's alleged dark side is known to the mayor, who has talked lovingly of his father, who died in 1981 of prostate cancer — the same disease that the mayor is fighting. The mayor's spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel, said yesterday that Giuliani "hadn't seen the book and had no comment." On Tuesday, Giuliani defended his father as "a complete man" who taught him the value of honesty, but the mayor refused to address questions about his father's alleged criminal past. "The details of his life died with him," the mayor said. And they almost stayed that way. Barrett said a source told him the elder Giuliani had spent time behind bars, but the author couldn't find city court records documenting it. Barrett eventually looked in the 1934 state prison archives in Albany and discovered a single sheet — a Sing Sing Prison receiving blotter — that listed Harold Giuliani at the top of the page. On the next line, Barrett found the key to the story: Harold Giuliani's alias, Joseph Starrett. Barrett then found all the New York court records under the name Starrett. Initial excerpts of the book appeared in Talk magazine and in this week's Voice; another excerpt was released yesterday.
According to the book, Giuliani's cousin Lewis D'Avanzo was
known as "Steve the Blond" and listed as armed and dangerous in
FBI bulletins. His criminal record included a 10-year federal
sentence for the armed hijacking of a truck loaded with $240,000
worth of mercury. The book alleges that he was suspected of
taking part in several murders.
D'Avanzo was gunned down by the FBI in October 1977, when
he tried to run down an agent after being stopped on a warrant
that accused him and two associates of transporting 100 stolen
luxury cars.
Quoting an unnamed friend of D'Avanzo, the book describes a
1962 shootout pitting a local mobster against the mayor's father
and Leo D'Avanzo, Lewis D'Avanzo's father. The book says Leo was later sanctioned by mob bosses for shooting at a Mafia member. Born two years apart, Giuliani and his cousin attended the same elementary and high schools, but Giuliani's father forbade the two from spending much time together. Giuliani met D'Avanzo's wife, Lois, only once — at the mayor's first wedding, to Regina Peruggi, the book says.
The book says Leo D'Avanzo, who was known in family circles as
a black sheep, ran loansharking and gambling operations out of a
Brooklyn bar where Giuliani's father worked as a bartender.
In his role as debt collector, his father "broke legs, smashed
kneecaps, crunched noses," the book says. Leo D'Avanzo left town after the shootout, and gave the bar to Harold Giuliani, the book said. Based on interviews with family members, the book also claims that Joan Ellen D'Avanzo, a cousin who at one time lived with Giuliani when he was a youngster, became a drug addict who was beaten to death in 1973 at age 34. Her cause of death was listed as undetermined, but several family members said she was murdered. |
"State Department officials say that if the city goes through with its plan to seize and auction the cars, US diplomats could face retribution abroad. They caution that Giuliani's policy would violate the Vienna Convention." "The power to punish for contempt conferred by this section may NOT be
used to punish persons who fail to appear for traffic violations or
parking violations." |
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http://www.nydailynews.com/2000-07-05/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-72202.asp From: News and Views | City Beat |
Rudy Mum on Dad's PastDefends him but refuses to discuss 1934 robbery rap
By LISA L. COLANGELO
Defending his father as a kind, generous man who taught him the importance of honesty, Mayor Giuliani refused yesterday to address questions of his dad's alleged criminal past.
"My father died 19 years ago and the details of his life died with him as far as I am concerned," Giuliani said after marching in the Travis Fourth of July Parade in Staten Island. According to The Village Voice, Harold Giuliani spent more than a year in Ossining State Prison (Sing Sing) for the armed robbery of a milkman in 1934. His only child, best known for his strict law-and-order persona, was born 10 years later. The revelation was from an excerpt of Voice reporter Wayne Barrett's upcoming book "Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani."
The article paints the elder Giuliani as an impulsive and
hot-tempered young man who easily used his fists to defend a
woman's honor or collect a gambling debt.
He worked as a bartender and a collection agent for his
brother-in-law. The report says 26-year-old Harold Giuliani was one of two men who held up milkman Harold Hall on April 2, 1934, in a building on E. 96th St. in Manhattan. Hall told police Giuliani thrust a gun into his stomach while an accomplice pulled $128 from his pocket. One week after Giuliani was indicted, Hall changed his statement, saying Giuliani's accomplice wielded the gun. According to court documents, Hall changed his statement after being threatened by several people. "The fact is, I am not going to discuss that article or the book," Giuliani told reporters. "It has no relevance to me and to what I do as mayor of New York City or to my life."
According to a psychological exam conducted before he went to
prison, Harold Giuliani was both aggressive and aimless.
"A study of this individual's makeup," wrote Dr. Benjamin
Apfelberg, a psychiatrist with the then-city Department of
Hospitals, "reveals that he is a personality deviate of the
aggressive, egocentric type. This aggressivity is pathological in
nature and has shown itself from time to time even as far back as
his childhood. He is egocentric to an extent where he has failed to
consider the feelings and rights of others." Harold Giuliani succumbed to prostate cancer in 1981 at the age of 73. Earlier this year, the mayor was diagnosed with the same disease. When asked if his father's alleged past pushed him to seek a career in law enforcement, Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney, responded, "It has had no influence on me. "The influence my father had on me was to drill into my skull from the time I was a little boy that you had to be very honest and that you had to be honest with yourself first and honest with other people second," Giuliani said. "I appreciate the lessons that he taught me. He was a very, very fine man. He was a complete man." |
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http://mostnewyork.com/manual/news/rudy_judi/default.asp NY Daily News Rudy's AdulteryHe was a hotshot attorney working for the US Department of Justice. She was a glamorous television reporter living in Miami, Florida. When they met on a blind date in 1981, it was love at first sight. But all would not go well in the relationship of Rudy Giuliani and Donna Hanover. While Hizzoner's alleged tryst with aide Cristyne Lategano had tongues wagging in 1997, it wasn't until 2000 that this mayoral union became a truly tabloid affair. Like the opera the mayor so greatly enjoys, this relationship had it all — romance, illness, politics, and a red-hot show about vaginas. For all you out-of-towners — or those who just can't get enough Rudy-Judi-Donna gossip — here's a look back on the divorce that rocked New York. Latest Headlines
My Ex 'Jealous,' Says Rudy's Judi (07/10/01)
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1741000/1741087.stm
British Broadcasting Corporation Giuliani joins lucrative lecture circuitThe former mayor is expected to make $100,000 per lecture
The former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani is jobless and homeless - but not for long. Mr Giuliani, whose popularity soared due to his confident leadership after the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center, will deliver his first private speech on Thursday evening in Florida. New York newspapers are speculating that he could make as much as $100,000 per lecture, the same rate charged by former President Bill Clinton. The former mayor has also announced the establishment of a consulting company, "Giuliani Partners", which will offer advice in crisis management, financial services and investment. Shortly after the swearing-in ceremony of his successor, Michael Bloomberg, Mr Giuliani signed a contract with the accounting firm, Ernst and Young, which will provide the former mayor's new business offices and administrative support. Top team Mr Giuliani said several of the city's former officials, including the former New York fire chief Thomas Von Essen and the former police chief Bernard Kerik - both close advisers following the 11 September attacks - will be among his partners. "We're going to recreate the very close relationship and efficiency and effectiveness that we've had in government in the private sector," Mr Giuliani was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP. He said he would continue to chair the Twin Towers Fund, because of the personal responsibility he felt towards the families of the firefighters and policemen who died in the terror attacks. The former mayor has also not ruled out the possibility of returning to public service, with New York papers naming him as a potential vice-presidential candidate in three years. House hunt On Wednesday Mr Giuliani left for Florida, where he will give a speech to the workers of General Electric in Boca Raton. He is expected to stay there for a few days, taking some time off with his new partner, Judith Nathan. Mr Giuliani and Ms Nathan are expected to start looking for a new residence in New York. According to the New York Post, they have been staying with a friend of the mayor since leaving the official mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, when Mr Giuliani's divorce battle escalated. With his ex-wife, Donna Hanover, moving into their old apartment, Mr Giuliani and Ms Nathan will be looking for somewhere new to live, the New York Post reported. |
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http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_01/012997/news/11208.htm Carting Away the MobThe guilty pleas by carting kingpins Angelo Ponte and Vincent Vigliotti Sr. confirm New York's most open — and dirtiest — secret: The city's commercial carting industry was a mobbed-up mess. No kiddin', Sherlock. Corruption and fraud have been part of the trash biz since there was garbage. But thanks to a one-two, criminal-civil punch, the Mafia is being trashed. Finally. Ponte was the king of the trash heap. His V. Ponte & Sons was the largest commercial carter in the city. Vigliotti was no small fish, either. He ran Vigliotti & Sons and ABC Recycling and was involved in his brother's firm, AVA Carting. Both were intimately acquainted with the cartel's standard operating procedures: bid rigging, intimidation, economic retaliation and violence. All to keep the cartel's grip firm and strong around the necks of business. It meant a rip-off of millions, with those businesses that could survive passing it on to consumers. You don't need to be a detective to realize that meant higher prices in restaurants, groceries, shops — just about every commercial establishment. This mob tax was dealt a huge blow last year, when Ponte and Vigliotti got snared by the Manhattan district attorney's huge probe. Their guilty pleas mean Ponte faces up to six years in prison, Vigliotti three. They deserve no less. The criminal charges are a nice compliment to the actions taken by Mayor Giuliani since December 1995. Building on his model for chasing the mob out of the Fulton Fish Market, Giuliani was able to loosen the mob's stranglehold on the commercial trash biz. Contracts were limited to two years. Background checks, including fingerprinting, were conducted of carters. Audits were done, complaints investigated. And with the nation's three top carting firms welcomed to the city, competition finally came calling. The results have been extraordinary. Seemingly overnight.
Metropolitan Museum of Art officials told the city
Guess who was milking that cash cow at Water St.? None other than Angelo Ponte. Those days thankfully are over. The bad guys are being brought to justice. And the savings are rolling in for those who've paid through the nose rather than risk losing it. Never knew the garbage biz could smell so sweet. Stick It to 'Em Who's responsible for the parking-sign fiasco in this town? Depends who you ask — which is the first clue to a bureaucratic snafu. And shuffle. The Department of Sanitation sets street-cleaning routes and hours and informs the Department of Transportation, which puts up signs. Which may mean both bear the blame. Or neither. Because, as New Yorkers know, no one in government is ever responsible for a goof. Especially a monumental one. And this one defines monumental. All over the city, motorists have been scratching their heads — and digging into their wallets to pay fines — thanks to misinformation on the signs regarding alternate-side rules. Some of these placards require a secret decoder ring to decipher them. Others are just plain wrong — and have been since 1991, when regulations were revised. After the Daily News detailed the headaches, DOT rushed into action, vowing to stick decals over those parts "that are irrelevant, obsolete or incorrect." Brilliant idea. And it belongs to The News' own Gridlock Sam, former Deputy DOT Commissioner Sam Schwartz. Call it a new form of privatization. DOT insists the proposal arose a couple of weeks ago during discussions with him. Too bad it took the agency two weeks to pledge action on the matter. And a little bad publicity. In fact, too bad it took DOT more than five years to come up with — or, rather, agree to — this solution. Maybe it thought decals hadn't been invented yet. They have, they have. And now that officials say they'll put them up, let's see how long it takes them. Starting now. No Comparison Before human rights crusader Natan Sharansky left Russia 11 years ago, underground education in small classes was the norm for Jewish children. Back in Moscow on a visit, he was struck by enormous changes. After meeting with teachers, he said, "There were people from a thousand different Jewish schools. They were complaining about tight budgets, they were squabbling over different systems of education. It was like a New York school board." With all due respect, Mr. Sharansky, nothing is like a New York school board.
Original Story Date: 01/29/97
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http://www.nydailynews.com/1999-03-28/New_York_Now/Cityscape/a-23830.asp
From: New York Now | Cityscape |
Politics of PersonalityBy MICHAEL SEGELL T hat's your favorite Rudy Giuliani story? His curmudgeonly cam- paign to make us more polite? His arrest-the-jaywalkers jag? His demand that Virginia accept New York's garbage? The one I like has him riding to City Hall in the mayormobile one morning when a car in front of him runs a red light. Outraged, Giuliani turns on his flashers, chases down the miserable scofflaw, and detains him until a policeman arrives to issue a ticket. Apocryphal or not, the story perfectly illustrates the highly visible Giuliani temperament — a classic disposition called choleric — irritable, impulsive and explosive. The typical choleric is easily annoyed, eager to pick a fight, and prone to venting intense, unpredictable emotion. The choleric is the most unjustly maligned of the four temperaments described by Hippocrates (the father of medicine), according to David Lykken, a personality expert at the University of Minnesota. The others are "sanguine," or optimistic and energetic; "melancholic," moody and withdrawn, and "phlegmatic," calm and slow. Despite their bad rap, though, cholerics often emerge as effective leaders. In a more brutal era, the irritable type was often known for his heroics. But today there are few socially acceptable outlets for the naturally peevish and aggressive nature. There are only so many Mafia dons an impulsive guy can prosecute, only so many squeegee men he can chase from the streets. As kids, Lykken says, junior cholerics first learn of the profound effect their volatility has on others, who typically "back down and get the hell out of their way." If they can control and selectively unleash their outbursts, they can become particularly successful managers: their underlings are forever cowed and never know when they might pop off. The mayor we see actually may be a pussycat version of the mayor that would really like to get out. Lately, Hizzoner has been road-testing his extreme personality nationally and gotten noticed. Not for him the grandfatherly calm of his predecessor, David Dinkins, the smooth charm of San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, or the sleepy agreeability of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Not that Giuliani really cares whether he goes over in Peoria. Cholerics don't lose any sleep worrying about whether they're loved. This mayor doesn't seem to sleep anyway. Americans have always revered easygoing regular guys — think of Ronald Reagan — but we also admire the trigger-happy enforcers who quickly respond to a perceived injustice. "It's politically incorrect to say [it], but all men aspire to do that and admire those who can," Lykken adds. Who among us hasn't secretly thanked the man who goes nuts in a long checkout line when the cashier is fixing a broken nail? Or who threatens to level the Board of Ed? Other cultures think it a sign of good character when the choleric puts the torch to his short fuse. Israelis routinely encourage the make-my-day disposition. Recently, there have been signs that we are increasingly ready to elect no-nonsense cranks as our fearless leaders. The newly anointed Chief Hothead of Minnesota, Gov. Jesse Ventura, appears to have borrowed the Giuliani stylebook. After a testy early news conference, The Body announced that he was having his official car outfitted with special shock absorbers so it could run over reporters. If the citizens of the most progressive state in the union are willing to get behind a bristly intimidator, the rest of the country can't be far behind. Giuliani's chances for national office might be better than we think. Mike Tyson for mayor, anyone? |
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http://www.nydailynews.com/2000-03-11/News_and_Views/Crime_File/a-59675.asp
From: News and Views | Crime File |
Cops Bust 4 Cops in Bribe ScamFinest tip probers to fixes
By MIKE CLAFFEY and RICHARD WEIR
Tips received from police officers at the 62nd Precinct led to the arrest of four Brooklyn cops for fixing parking tickets and currying favors for the owner of an illegal social club, Police Commissioner Howard Safir said yesterday. "This is a perfect example where there is no Blue Wall of Silence," Safir said. The three arrested officers and one sergeant received relatively paltry bribes in return for their services, records show. According to a criminal complaint filed at the officers' arraignment early yesterday morning, an informant working for Internal Affairs investigators provided "stolen" power drills and a box of 100 new Yankees and Mets caps. Retail value of the caps: $15.99 each. "This really is a stupid way to be involved in corruption," Police Commissioner Howard Safir said, noting that no cash was involved in any of the deals. The commissioner was quick to point out that tips received from police officers at the 62nd Precinct led to the arrest of the four, who have been charged with official misconduct, attempted criminal possession of stolen property and other crimes. The arrested cops were identified as Sgt. Ernest Vitolo and Officers Miguel Paniss, Francis Mazzella and Kenneth Dunn. Vitolo has been on the force 14 years, Paniss, 18 years, and Mazzella and Dunn both 3 1/2 years. Three other sergeants and an officer were placed on modified assignment as a result of the five-month Internal Affairs Bureau investigation. Safir said he was concerned that so many sergeants were netted in the sting operation. "We are going to look at the supervision. We are going to look at the entire precinct and make an evaluation," he said. George Cerrone, a lawyer representing the sergeants implicated in the scandal, said the three who were placed on modified duty had simply bought food at a pizzeria adjacent to the Bensonhurst social club, Cafe Caserta. Both are owned by John Diana. Cerrone added that the social club was not on the Police Department list of corrupt or banned hangouts. Police sources have characterized Diana, who was charged with a string of crimes ranging from serving liquor without a license to running an illegal gambling operation, as a Mafia associate. Safir called Diana a "Mafia wanna-be." One law enforcement source said, "The guys spent major portions of their tours hanging out there, and they became compromised. They had a nice little situation, a place where they could hang out and drink on duty." http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_01/011497/news/9908.htm Tix Blitz A Sucker PunchNow that the murder rate is down and New Yorkers can think about other problems, it comes as no surprise that the No. 2 issue appears to be parking. Or, more specifically, parking tickets. After all, aside from violent crime, nothing makes a New Yorker feel more victimized than seeing a summons on the windshield. Except maybe not seeing the summons because the windshield and the car it's attached to have been towed. As traffic columnist Gridlock Sam wrote in The News on Sunday, towing "is the equivalent of the death sentence for an illegally parked car. It should be reserved for the most egregious violations." Instead, City Hall imposes it in whatever area the tow trucks happen to be cruising. This is not to defend people who park illegally. Vast numbers deserve tickets. But the flood of complaints and anecdotes show that too many drivers get suckered by misleading signs or inaccurate signs or contradictory signs. Then there are the summonses for piddly violations, such as incorrect placement of inspection stickers. What a menace to society that is. Combined with the city's foolish hands-off policy to diplomutts who use their DPL plates to park anywhere they want, erratic enforcement is enough to drive you nuts — or to the suburbs. And "erratic" best defines Mayor Giuliani's charge that the State Department has not moved fast enough to revoke diplomatic scofflaws' license plates. Considering that it was Giuliani's administration that iced for three years a perfectly good program to deny license plate renewals, the mayor's blast is little more than a smokescreen for his own inaction. All the more so because his team has set target numbers for traffic agents. A "target," the city is quick to explain, is not a "quota." As if this makes a hair-splitting difference. It's probably just a coincidence that City Hall is so dependent on parking ticket revenue. Giuliani says, "You couldn't possibly do a budget for the city, and when it says, 'receipts and parking tickets,' put in the number 'zero.' " No, you couldn't. But there is no law that says you have to raise this year's estimate by a whopping $101 million over last year's, as Giuliani and the City Council have done. And, by the way, if the budget number isn't real, then Giuliani and the Council are playing a game with fiscal monitors and Wall Street, who use those projections to evaluate the city's budget and bonds. Still, the city would have you believe the money is secondary. The primary aim of tickets, officials claim, is to maintain traffic flow and safety. But if traffic flow is important, why are commercial vehicles double and triple-parking with impunity? And, if maintaining safety is important, why isn't more attention given to moving violations — illegal turns, failure to grant right-of-way, speeding? Until officials clarify parking rules, until signs are comprehensible, until enforcement appears sane and fair, the perception will continue to be this: N.Y.C. is harassing drivers in hopes of lining its pockets. There oughta be a law against that. Fresh Air at Fulton By kicking out companies that charge customers for parking — and protection — at the Fulton Fish Market, the city is continuing to rid the market of the stench of corruption. Six companies controlled 800 parking spaces at the nation's largest seafood market. Even though most of the spaces are on city property, taxpayers saw next to nothing of the estimated $5 million shaken down from buyers from restaurants and retail stores. That finally will change — tomorrow. So-called loaders were charging buyers up to $20 for a parking space and the peace of mind that their merchandise would be protected from thieves. Talk about irony. Now the city will license just two companies that will be allowed to charge a maximum of $4 for cars and $6 for large trucks. The predicted savings of $2.5 million is nothing to sniff at. "These are cost reductions that will affect the bottom lines of restaurant owners and retail stores, and the savings should be passed along to consumers," said Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro. Thanks to a concerted effort to drive out the Mafia, the cost of doing business at the market has plummeted. When mobbed-up fishmongers got the hook, the cost of unloading fish dropped 20%. Carters' prices for trash have been slashed, and now parking will be, too. If the city can guarantee those savings to consumers, that truly will be the catch of the day. Achoo! From the wires: SOUTHAMPTON, England — Six out of seven dwarfs in a Snow White pantomime show here have gotten the flu — and only Sneezy has escaped the bug. So what? Bet Happy really isn't, either. Original Story Date: 01/14/97 |
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http://www.nydailynews.com/2000-09-10/News_and_Views/Crime_File/a-79508.asp From: News and Views | Crime File |
Mob Muscles in on MarketMafia-run stock market scams more widespread than officials thoughtBy GREG B. SMITH
When Robert Gallo applied to be a registered stockbroker, he mentioned his only previous experience was as a labor foreman. He did not say anything about his reputed association with one of the nation's largest crime families, New York's Genovese clan. Once Gallo joined the Monitor Investment Group at 20 Exchange Place, however, he acted in a manner more consistent with a character in "The Sopranos" than someone who keeps track of "Moneyline News Hour." On June 14, Gallo was indicted along with 119 others in the biggest securities fraud case in U.S. history. Since then, law enforcement officials and financial regulators have come to believe the mob's influence on Wall St. may be even greater than they once supposed. The five New York Mafia families, say authorities, have figured out that the current bull market has made it ripe for the picking. Officials see increasing cooperation among crime families to divide up the Wall Street pie. "They are getting more together," said Barry Mawn, director of the FBI's New York office. "They're apt to be taking advantage of the good times. They know how we look at them. If they can branch out in a new area where we're not as aware, that's to their advantage." Investigators, prosecutors and regulators with the National Association of Securities Dealers and the Securities and Exchange Commission all agree that the mob has lurked at the margins of Wall Street for years. But now for the first time, prosecutors say, a mob boss is receiving a per share "mob tax" in a stock scam. Alphonse (Allie Boy) Persico, reputed acting boss of the Colombo crime family, is getting 6 cents for every share the mob secretly controls in various pump-and-dump schemes, prosecutors allege. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Smith, who is leading the 120-defendant mob-on-Wall-Street case for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, said the money is funneled through Persico's cousin, Frank, a registered broker since the end of the last bull market — 1988. Frank Persico, an alleged Colombo associate, along with Gallo and Vincent Langella, another reputed Colombo associate, represents the new breed of rising Mafia star — the wiseguy broker. A review of their résumés reveals a trail of fraud, as they jumped from one scam brokerage house to another. (All three have been indicted in various securities fraud schemes). For instance, from January 1989 through December 1992, Persico worked at A.S. Goldmen & Co. He jumped to J. W. Barclay from March 1993 through February 1994, then to Meyers Pollack Robbins through June 1995. He moved to William Scott & Co. through November 1997, then to First Liberty Investment Group. All of these firms have been implicated in massive fraud in investigations by the Manhattan district attorney, the Manhattan U.S. attorney or the SEC. A look at the history of these mob-connected brokerage houses shows how they operate within a few blocks of one another in the heart of Wall Street. There, the crime families of New York — who often can't agree on anything — forged temporary and fragile alliances to make money. At 17 State St., from 1993 through 1996, White Rock Investments was a cooperative agreement between the Bonanno, Colombo and Genovese families, according to Brooklyn federal prosecutors. At 30 Broad St., in 1996 and 1997, Meyers Pollack Robbins was controlled by the same allegiance of the Bonanno, Colombo and Genovese families, according to court papers. At 80 Broad St. and 84 William St., in 1996, First Liberty became a "joint venture" between the Bonanno and Colombo crime families, prosecutor Smith said. And most recently, in 1998 through this June, DMN Capital Investments at 5 Hanover Square was run by the Bonanno and Gambino families, an indictment brought by a Manhattan federal grand jury alleges. Investigators say Wall Street is a perfect spot for La Cosa Nostra strong-arm tactics: The mob is threatening white-collar yuppies, not longshoremen or Teamsters. Typically, mobsters muscle in on a small brokerage house, then set up boiler rooms to hard-sell stock in classic pump-and-dump schemes. Gangsters secretly own stock in worthless companies. They pay off corrupt brokers and stock promoters to pump up the stock's value by telling unwitting investors a company is about to go public or win a huge contract or be bought out by a major firm. When the value rises significantly, they dump their stocks en masse, forcing the stock value to plummet and leaving in the lurch unwitting investors, who often are senior citizens. When the scheme is exposed, they move on to another questionable firm. "I call it the maggot run," said one regulator who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Brokers go from one sleazy firm to the next....They rip people off and they move on before they get caught or sued." At DMN Capital in Hanover Square, a former employee who spoke to the Daily News on the condition of anonymity described the atmosphere as "one big party." Run by reputed Gambino associate James Labate and Bonanno associates Salvatore Piazza and Jeffrey Pokross, DMN frequently threw parties with hookers at midtown hotels, spending wildly as it scammed unsuspecting investors through hard-sell tactics, said the former DMN employee. Prosecutors allege that to keep the party going, the gangsters kept stock promoters in line by threats of violence. When one promoter was suspected by DMN's gangster principals of being an informant, Labate — who is not a broker — allegedly knocked him out with one punch, then stripped off his shirt to see if he was wearing a recording device, according to prosecutor Smith. Like many of the mob-run firms, there inevitably came a day when there was a falling-out among thieves. At DMN, Colombo associate Persico shot up a DMN computer when he decided he had been ripped off, Smith alleged. At Meyers Pollack, a 6-foot-4 Genovese associate slapped a broker in the face. The broker sought help from a Bonanno associate, and both families arranged a Feb. 12, 1997, "sitdown" at Abbracciamento Italian restaurant near Canarsie Pier in Brooklyn. As a result, prosecutors allege, the Bonanno family agreed to let the Genovese family control Meyers Pollack. At Monitor Investment Group, the pump-and-dump scam began to fall apart when one of the stock brokers who was beaten decided to fight back with a lawsuit. Registered broker Robert Grant, who now lives at an undisclosed location in fear of mob revenge, said in court papers he had been working at Monitor for several months when broker Robert Gallo told him there was a staff meeting in the conference room. On Jan. 19, 1996, Grant and a co-worker walked in and, without warning and for no stated reason,were attacked. Gallo and five other brokers beat the two men with fists and kicked them to the floor. One man was clubbed with an office chair; the other was bitten on the back. Grant later taped Gallo, who apologized for the beating but said he believed Grant was about to skip to another firm and take customers with him. He then recited dialogue that could have come from just about any mob movie imaginable. "The way youse carried yourselves, that youse was looking to do the wrong thing to us," he said. "Sometimes, you know, cooler heads don't prevail, but unfortunately, you know, it's nothing personal between me and you." http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_01/010697/news/9206.htm Goin' Tow-to-Tow On Scofflaw DiplosBy BOB LIFF
Police Commissioner Howard Safir said yesterday that tow trucks could soon begin hauling away cars of deadbeat diplomats who don't pay their parking tickets. "We can certainly tow cars," Safir said. "We can make things inconvenient." Safir acknowledged that diplomatic immunity agreements among nations block the city from keeping the cars or even collecting the fines. But he indicated that towing is one way to hassle and embarrass diplomats who thumb their noses at parking rules that bedevil ordinary New Yorkers. Diplomats got 67,011 tickets in the first six months of 1996 and refused to pay fines totaling $3.4 million. Russia led the pack of deadbeats, with its diplomats' cars getting 14,845 tickets, followed by Indonesia, Bulgaria, Egypt and Israel. Only Great Britain and Canada paid their tickets, totaling about $3,000. Safir's comments appeared to indicate one way the city plans to change its tactics in the aftermath of an incident in which officials from Russia and Belarus allegedly slugged a city cop ticketing their car. "The city doesn't tow illegally parked diplomatic vehicles because it can't collect fines," Safir said Thursday. "If you tow it and there's nothing you can do about it besides inconvenience . . . it's not real productive." Mayor Giuliani has formed a task force of city agencies to figure out how to pressure diplomats to pay their fines. Giuliani has called on the State Department to expel the diplomats accused of the slugging. Cops said the envoys appeared to have been drinking. Giuliani said the officers who pulled the diplomats out of their car may have prevented an incident like one in Washington last week in which an official with the embassy of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia was charged in a drunken driving incident that left a teenager dead. "When you think about what those police officers were doing a couple of days ago in New York City. . . that could be very well what they prevented," Giuliani said. Original Story Date: 01/06/97
http://www.nydailynews.com/1998-11-06/News_and_Views/Opinion/a-10081.asp
Handicapped By City Tow PolicyBy WILFRID SHEED Back in the 1970s, I had to leave New York — which by me is like falling off the planet — to find a parking place. Second-stage polio had begun its boring work, and I could no longer face another flight of subway stairs or one more bouncing bus. So off we went. But then, in 1982, I got a reprieve in the form of New York State handicapped license plates. "Just don't make a nuisance of yourself," said the guy at the stationhouse, which I took to mean don't do anything a doctor or a diplomat wouldn't do. With that, I suddenly had the run of the city again for a few intoxicating years — until, in conjunction with some parking scandal or other, the tickets began to land on my windshield again. At first occasionally, but then faster and faster, so that now I've been known to receive them in the time it takes to cross the street and use an ATM or check into a store to see if it sells gloves on a freezing day. They're not small tickets, either, but $55 babies, followed by maximum penalties for failure to pay on time. I don't know — maybe the cops and meter maids think those little wheelchairs on the license plates are the symbols of some oil-rich republic and that the owners are wealthy sheiks with nothing but time on their hands, because they've recently begun towing my car as well, at a further cost of half a day to find it and $150 more for their inconvenience. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, we underwent the ultimate, worst-of-everything experience. My wife and I found our car missing from a perfectly legal space near the front of the Algonquin Hotel. Naturally, we tried to find out if it had been stolen or towed, but we discovered after a taxi to the pound at Pier 76 on the Hudson that even the cops couldn't help us with this. No one knew but a city marshal, and he was not available — even to the police — until 8 the next morning. Me: "But there's some medication in there that my wife needs right now." Officer: "Well, I guess you'd better check her into the hospital." Next morning, we learned that because I owed on a couple of tickets, the car had been towed to a remote corner of Brooklyn. But before I could get it, I would have to take a huge amount of cash (no checks or credit cards) to another corner of Brooklyn, equally remote. As anyone who knows the outer boroughs can tell you, you can forget about taxis on such treks. You either hire a car for the day (if you're handicapped, you must be rich, no?) or try your luck with public transit, if you can find any. Or just take a year off and hop the whole way. So here's my proposition: To be complete public servants, the city's 83 marshals should take rides with one of us handicapped folks sometime and point out ways we could get to appointments less than an hour late and shout encouragement as we climb ramps that look like ski slopes to get in and out of the city's legitimate parking garages — which, incidentally, charge almost as much as the marshals do. This would put a human face on a problem that has recently made me feel like a hunted — not to say impoverished — man in the city I love. And not just me, of course. The city in effect has told a whole class of people: "Stay home if there's something wrong with you; be well, or be gone." "Those handicapped plates are a racket anyway," garage attendants have told me. If this is really so, it should be investigated, not just whispered around by commercial operators with something to gain. I sure as hell earned mine the hard way, and so, I'm convinced, did all the others. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of us to form a lobby. But the plus side is that there aren't enough to overrun the city either, or tie up traffic seriously. And now that the mayor has made New York so courteous, it certainly would be nice to visit the place again. Sheed, an author, critic and journalist, lives in Sag Harbor, L.I. http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_04/042597/news/19703.htm Rudy vs. Himself On DiplosBy DAVID L. LEWIS
At the same time Mayor Giuliani was telling New Yorkers he "wouldn't mind" if the United Nations bolted town, he was urging the federal government to spend millions to keep the organization hre, city documents show. Giuliani called for $38.6 million in new federal tax breaks and subsidies to UN agencies last month in his 1997 agenda for the city's congressional delegation. The program, accompanied by a signed letter from the mayor, included a dire warning about the economic threat to the city if countries like Germany succeed in wooing UN agencies and jobs. Giuliani's agenda called for a $37 million increase in the subsidy for the United Nations Development Program, the world body's largest agency, and a $1.6 million federal tax break to finance a new city headquarters for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. The mayor's call for the subsidy contrasted sharply with his comments about the UN days later in a clash over a crackdown on diplomatic scofflaws. "If they would like to leave New York over parking tickets, then we can find another use for that area of town," Giuliani said when diplomats charged that the plan to yank license plates of diplomat scofflaws would violate diplomatic immunity. The varying statements rankled at least one member of Congress who has been fighting to secure the subsidies endorsed by the mayor. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx) said the mayor's rhetoric hurt efforts to persuade UN agencies to stay in New York and undermined efforts to persuade congressional Republicans to ease opposition to UN funding. Giuliani press secretary Colleen Roche said the mayor was trying to get the diplomats to be good neighbors, not drive them out of town. "There's no question that this administration values the United Nations, and we recognize what it means to the City of New York," she said. "We don't want their parking tickets, and we don't want them slapping around New York City police officers — and we don't want them to leave." Original Story Date: 042597
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_05/052197/news/22490.htm Diplo Harass Up In City, U.S. SezBy JOEL SIEGEL
The city's war over diplomat parking has spurred an ugly increase in harassment and hostility toward foreign diplomats in New York, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday. Ambassador Bill Richardson warned that the battle to curb diplomatic scofflaws has helped undermine the U.S. at the UN and encouraged other cities to woo the UN about moving some offices out of New York. "We're seeing an alarming upswing in angry confrontations . . . and an atmosphere of growing hostility toward diplomats and their families," Richardson told 300 business and civic leaders in Manhattan. "As a direct consequence, there's even been retaliation against American diplomats living abroad." Several diplomats based in the city have been jeered when cops towed their cars, and some envoys have had their tires slashed, Richardson aides said. Threatening leaflets were distributed around Russia's UN mission, and a Costa Rican delegate critical of the city crackdown on scofflaw diplomats got an expletive-filled letter that prompted police and FBI investigations. Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said he was unaware of any increase in harassment against diplomats. He also dismissed any suggestion that Mayor Giuliani's attacks on envoys who flout city parking rules and fail to pay tickets might have incited New Yorkers to retaliate. "Occasionally, New Yorkers have expressed their frustrations. That's called the First Amendment," Mastro said. The exchange came amid a city struggle to crack down on diploscoffs. The city and the U.S. State Department initially agreed to deny license plate renewals to diplomats who fail to pay parking tickets. But federal officials backed off after the UN objected that the move would be illegal. The UN and U.S. are trying to negotiate a new plan. Richardson said he was not taking sides in the battle. He stressed that diplomatic immunity "does not grant one a license" to avoid paying parking tickets. But some of his comments appeared aimed at Giuliani, who recently said he "wouldn't mind" if the UN left town over his push to make diplomats pay up. Richardson said the UN's presence "is unquestionably a beneficial relationship for both the city and the diplomats," and "these benefits should not be overshadowed by $5 million in unpaid parking tickets." He joked that while he has faced off against tough figures such as deposed Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, "the toughest guy I've ever had to negotiate with is Rudy Giuliani." Original Story Date: 052197
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_01/011897/news/10276.htm Moscow Cops In Tix BlitzBy DAVID L. LEWIS
Escalating the new Cold War, Moscow officials have launched a crackdown on U.S. and other foreign drivers in apparent response to Mayor Giuliani's dispute with Russian diplomats here. Russian police issued more than 200 traffic tickets to visitors and other outsiders this week in a three-day blitz code-named Foreigner, Moscow press reports said. Most of the tickets went to Americans, but French, British and other foreign residents also were targeted, police said. Word of the crackdown came as Giuliani appeared on two network news shows last night to explain his concern about diplomatic scofflaws. Dmitri Choulga, a New York-based spokesman for the Russian Federation, insisted the Moscow crackdown was not ordered in retaliation for the dispute triggered here when two city cops scuffled with diplomats over parking tickets. "If there is a violation, there is a violation," Choulga said. "That's what Mayor Giuliani says, that's what probably the mayor of Moscow would say." But the Russian newspaper Segodnya made it clear that events in the U.S. played a role in the ticket blitz there. |
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"There is an ideology of double standards especially evident with the Americans," the paper reported yesterday. "What they consider unthinkable — not to say criminal — at home is just an innocent prank abroad." The U.S. Embassy in Moscow confirmed that more of its officials were being ticketed. The dispute erupted when a Russian diplomat and an envoy from Belarus were arrested last month after a fight with cops who ticketed them for parking illegally at an upper West Side fire hydrant. Police said Russian diplomat Boris Obnossov appeared drunk, and Belarus envoy Yuri Orange punched one of the cops in the face. The diplomats denied the allegations and accused cops of injuring Obnossov when they yanked him out of the car. Obnossov and Orange were released without charges because they enjoy diplomatic immunity. As Giuliani called on the State Department to revoke or refuse to renew the license plates of diplomatic scofflaws, city cops earlier this week issued three new tickets to the car of Russia's ambassador to the United Nations. Original Story Date: 01/18/97
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_01/010797/news/9295.htm Apology Demand Really Tix Rudy OffBy BOB LIFF
Belarus yesterday demanded a U.S. apology for last month's police scuffle with a Belarus and Russian diplomat over parking tickets — but Mayor Giuliani told the Eastern European nation to stuff it. In a letter to the State Department, Alyksandr Sychou, the Belarus ambassador to the United Nations, called for "a thorough investigation of the incident, official explanations and apologies [and] disciplinary action against the culprits." The written complaint represented the latest escalation of the ticket scuffle-turned-international incident. The debate flared Dec. 29 after two city cops ticketed the car of the two diplomats, which was parked illegally at an upper West Side fire hydrant. Police said the Russian, Boris Obnossov, appeared drunk and refused to get out of the car during a shouting match with two officers. Diplomat Yuri Orange of Belarus struck one of the officers in the face during the incident, police said. Officials from Russia and Belarus have denied that account and accused city cops of acting improperly and breaking Obnossov's arm during a struggle. "What has happened is an attack on a person enjoying diplomatic immunity and protection, which represents a violation of international law," Sychou wrote yesterday. Giuliani fired back, branding the letter "a pack of lies." He also demanded that Belarus fork over more than $41,400 to settle thousands of parking tickets that have gone unpaid under the cloak of diplomatic immunity. "Rather than the pack of lies that is in that document, what they should be doing instead is dealing with the problem that they obviously have of intoxicated diplomats trying to drive," Giuliani said. The mayor also repeated his demand Orange and Obnossov be sent home. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns acknowledged yesterday that the agency had received formal protests from Russia and Belarus. But Burns said diplomats who flout local laws are "a cause of great concern to us." "Diplomats do not have license to violate local fire laws, to park next to fire hydrants at will," he said. Calls to the Belarus and Russian missions were not returned. Original Story Date: 01/07/97
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_01/011097/news/9585.htm We Auto Get a Break, Too, Say DiplosBy BOB LIFF
The Cold War reignited at the United Nations yesterday, this time over parking tickets instead of nuclear arms. Officials from the U.S. and Russia squared off in a superpower debate over the scuffle between two city cops and diplomats from Russia and Belarus who parked illegally at an upper West Side fire hydrant. Envoys from 13 other nations chimed in with gripes about city parking problems. All that was missing was Nikita Khrushchev banging a shoe on a table. Addressing a special session of the UN Host Committee, Russian Federation Ambassador Sergey Lavrov formally accused the cops of roughing up the diplomats during the Dec. 29 incident — leaving one with an arm injury that required a cast. "Parking a vehicle too close to a fire hydrant can hardly be viewed as sufficient grounds for the use of brutal force against any person, even one without a diplomatic status," Lavrov harrumphed in comments translated simultaneously into five languages. City officials contradicted the Russian account. They charged that the Russian diplomat, Boris Obnossov, appeared drunk, and that the Belarus envoy, Yuri Orange, hit one of the cops in the face. Donna Lynne, operations chief for Mayor Giuliani, said everyone — diplomats included — is barred from parking at fire hydrants. "It is not only an illegal activity, but it is a public-safety issue," Lynne said. She needled Lavrov and Belarus Ambassador Alyksandr Sychou, noting that their two UN delegations racked up more than 15,000 unpaid city parking tickets during the city fiscal year that ended in June. Victor Marrero, the U.S. representative on the panel, said the State Department was prepared to approve a city plan to deny license plate renewals to diplomatic cars with tickets unpaid for more than a year. He urged officials from the city, Russia and Belarus to hash out the dispute. Nothing doing, said Lavrov. He called for an independent UN probe and demanded to see a police report on the incident that the city is expected to give the State Department. Other committee members used the debate to pour out their frustrations over a problem familiar to New Yorkers — finding a place to park. Constantine Moushioutas of Cyprus argued that the city should set aside more parking spots for diplomats and keep New Yorkers' cars out. "Let's talk about parking spots for diplomats citywide," agreed Herve Ladsous of France. "It would be a pity if all of this were to lead once again to an anti-diplomat campaign." After the session, Lavrov complained that the Russian Federation mission is in a building that houses delegations from five countries from the former Soviet Union. The only parking for all five is about 12 spots on Lexington Ave., and some of those are used by cops from the nearby 19th Precinct stationhouse, he said. "We need more parking," Sychou said. Check out Mike McAlary's take on diplomatic immunity. Original Story Date: 01/10/97
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http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_01/011197/news/9696.htm Rudy: No Aid for UN Probe of Diplo SpatBy JOEL SIEGEL
Mayor Giuliani vowed yesterday that the city would not cooperate in any United Nations probe of the parking ticket scuffle between two city cops and two Eastern European diplomats. Defying calls by Russia and Belarus for such an investigation, Giuliani said witnesses' accounts of the scuffle convinced him that the police officers acted properly in ticketing the diplomats' car and then arresting them last month. "The UN has no jurisdiction to investigate New York City police officers," Giuliani said. The Cold War-style response came a day after Belarus and Russia called on the 15-member UN Host Committee to investigate the Dec. 29 incident and demanded to see a police report that Giuliani is expected to send to the U.S. State Department. Both sides say the diplomats parked a Russian Federation car illegally at an upper West Side fire hydrant, but all agreement ends there. Giuliani and police charge that Russian diplomat Boris Obnossov appeared drunk and refused to get out of the car in response to an order from Officers Patrick Gaine and Robert Finnerty. Yuri Orange, a diplomat from Belarus, slugged one of the cops when they yanked Obnossov from behind the wheel, police said. But Russia and Belarus officials say the diplomats were not drunk and were attacked without provocation. Officials of the two nations said the incident left Obnossov with a badly injured elbow — prompting a demand that the city pay his medical bills. Several witnesses have backed the police account. But Lawrence Wiener, an upper West Side retiree who said he saw the incident, yesterday insisted that the diplomats didn't attack the cops. Because the ticketed car had picked up nearly 400 unpaid parking tickets, the incident has spotlighted the issue of diplomats who ignore their summonses. Yesterday, Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro called on the State Department to revoke the diplomatic license plates of any envoy with five or more unpaid summonses that are at least a year old.
Original Story Date: 01/11/97
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/96_12/123197/news/8831.htm Cops Hit By Scuffle Diplomacy - 2 envoys sprung after fight
By JOHN MARZULLI
and STEPHEN McFARLAND
pair of rogue foreign officials started a brawl and punched a city cop in the face in an angry fight over parking tickets, but went free by invoking diplomatic immunity, police said yesterday. The alleged louts — one from the Russian Federation and the other from Belarus — screamed and cursed at two 20th Precinct police officers who ticketed the diplomats' car when it was parked illegally at an upper West Side fire hydrant Sunday, police said. When the cops hauled the Russian driver out of the car because he refused to present a license and appeared drunk, the Belarus diplomat got out and slugged one of the officers, police said. Cops were seething yesterday over the alleged attack and what the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association labeled a clear abuse of the diplomatic privileges that grant many foreign officials immunity from U.S. laws. "We are aware of the constraints of diplomatic immunity. However, I wonder how diplomatic these people really were," said Marilyn Mode, chief spokeswoman for Police Commissioner Howard Safir. The diplomats — Yuri Nicklaevich Orange, 50, the first secretary of the Belarus Mission to the United Nations, and Boris Obnossov, 43, the first secretary of Russia's UN Mission — contradicted the police account yesterday. Obnossov went even further, accusing cops of violating his legal rights. The undiplomatic offensive unfolded at 4:15 p.m. Sunday, when Officers Patrick Gaine and Robert Finnerty spotted an unoccupied red Chevrolet with diplomatic plates parked at a fire hydrant at W. 81st St. and Amsterdam Ave. They wrote two tickets and put them on the windshield. As they finished, they were accosted by the two men, police said. One, later identified as Obnossov, appeared unsteady on his feet and slurred his words, police said. Both allegedly complained about the tickets and cursed the cops. They then got into the car, with Obnossov at the wheel. According to police, Gaine asked Obnossov for his driver's license. When Obnossov said he had none, Gaine ordered him out of the car and reached in and turned off the ignition. Obnossov refused to get out, cops said, so Gaine pulled him out. At that point, Orange jumped out, ran around to the cops and punched Finnerty in the face, police said. The cops handcuffed the two men, and placed them under arrest. Obnossov was charged with driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest. Orange was charged with felony assault and resisting arrest. Finnerty was treated for a bruised face, Gaine for a cut finger. During arrest processing at the W. 82d St. stationhouse, the suspects produced diplomatic credentials that were verified by the Police Department Intelligence Unit. As a result, the arrests were voided. Under the 1961 Treaty of Vienna, diplomats cannot be arrested or charged with crimes by countries in which they are officially accredited. United Nations diplomats enjoy such protection in the U.S. But police officials filed a report with the State Department. If the State Department deems the Russia and Belarus to waive immunity, clearing the way for prosecution of the two diplomats. If the countries refuse, the U.S. could demand that they be shipped home. A 24-year-old secretary who saw the incident from a nearby restaurant backed up the police account but conceded she didn't see Orange hit the officer. "Their behavior was shocking," the woman said of the diplomats. "We did nothing except wrong parking," Orange said yesterday, insisting that Obnossov wasn't tipsy. He also accused the cops of being "aggressive and rude." Obnossov, nursing what he said was an elbow injury suffered during the incident, said "What happened was a violation of my legal rights."
Original Story Date: 12/31/96
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_03/031297/news/15280.htm Nations United vs Tix Rules - Fed-city crackdown has diplos fuming
By JOEL SIEGEL
nited Nations diplomats set aside differences over issues like global warming and Third World poverty yesterday to complain about a more pressing threat: the loss of their parking privileges. Envoys from around the globe gave a Bronx cheer to a new federal-city crackdown that will prohibit them from dodging parking tickets by invoking diplomatic immunity. "No. No. No. It's completely ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous," said Pilar Madrigal, the third secretary of Costa Rica's mission to the UN. "There is no place to park. If the ambassador has to go to a meeting, for example the Security Council, and he doesn't show up at a certain time because of parking, tragic things can happen," Madrigal said. The policy shift, announced Monday by the city and the U.S. State Department, gives diplomats slapped with parking tickets after March 31 one year to pay up or face losing their license plates. As word of the get-tough policy spread through the UN, it became clear that Mayor Giuliani could claim credit for uniting the world. Whether from the Third World or developed nations, from former East Bloc countries or the Western powers, diplomats denounced the policy as trampling their rights. Some hinted of retaliation against the cars of U.S. diplomats overseas. "It is Cuba's conviction that we as diplomats are supposed to observe the laws of the host country. Nevertheless, the host country is not supposed to interfere with the normal functioning of the diplomats," said Jamela Cueto, counselor for Cuba's UN mission. Many said the policy was unfair given the limited parking spaces and the need for diplomats to hop from meeting to meeting. "If you want to eliminate these immunities, amend the Geneva Accords!" complained a Turkish diplomat who did not want to be identified. "If you cannot undo or amend the accords, then everybody has to shut up about this thing!" Even an envoy from neutral Switzerland, Deputy Consul General Manuel Sager, admitted yesterday, "I am poring over the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as we speak, trying to find what the potential problems may be." Concerns about the crackdown were raised by a cross-section of nations at a UN Host Country committee meeting late Monday, including France, Britain, China, Spain and Honduras. An envoy from the Russian Federation — which led all UN members by racking up more than 32,000 parking tickets last year — all but pounded his shoe on the podium in denouncing the new policy as "parking warfare." U.S. officials, however, said the new policy would stand. And New Yorkers essentially told the diplomats to get lost. "I don't think they have a right to park, and not get tickets, and not pay them," Michelle Benatti, 22, said near the Russian mission on the East Side. "It makes me want diplomatic plates." Original Story Section: City Central http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_04/040297/news/17422.htm Parking-Ticket War With UN Put on Hold
By JOEL SIEGEL and DAVID L. LEWIS
nited Nations diplomats last night agreed to a 10-day ceasefire in their war over the city's parking ticket crackdown, backing away from a showdown with the U.S. after a day of backroom talks. As the U.S. worked to head off a confrontation, the UN host committee delayed voting on a Russian-sponsored resolution that would have referred the dispute to the 185-member General Assembly. The cooling-off will allow all sides to gauge whether the city is keeping a promise to provide sufficient parking for foreign envoys and to ticket diplomats only when necessary, said U.S. official Robert Moller. "We are not asking for a long time," he said. But envoys from other nations spent a second day complaining about the New York City-U.S. State Department plan to yank diplomatic plates if city parking tickets go unpaid for a year. They said the crackdown, launched yesterday, violated diplomatic immunity. "Diplomatic immunity is like virginity . . . you have it or have not," said Brazilian diplomat Jose Felicio. While the diplomats squawked, New Yorkers applauded the decision to crack down on diplomats. "A rule is a rule, and they should have to pay just like everybody else," said Cisse Khalifa, 41, a cabby feeding a parking meter on Madison Ave. at 91st St., near the Russian consulate. Diplomats predicted the issue would go to the General Assembly, and from there to the International Court of Justice at the Hague — a body more familiar with charges of genocide than alternate-side parking. But several UN officials raised fears the battle would give the UN a black eye. Mayor Giuliani ridiculed the possibility of UN action, saying: 'It would seem to me that you would not want to be . . . using the time of the General Assembly to be debating . . . parking tickets, as opposed to the wars . . . the famine . . . the problems of children."
Original Story Date: 040297
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_02/020497/news/11773.htm Terse Tip To Scofflaw Diplos
By BOB LIFF
he city has given scofflaw diplomats a slightly undiplomatic warning that they'd better pay their parking tickets — or else. "We strongly urge that you insure that either the individuals or the permanent mission pay these amounts due immediately," reads a "Dear Ambassador" letter that Parking Violations Bureau head Michael Phillips sent to United Nations missions and consulates last week. The city has warned that if the diplomats don't pay up, it will seek to have their license plates revoked. The State Department is prepared to refuse to renew the plates of scofflaw diplomats but not to revoke them. City officials also have asked the State Department to force diplomats to pay outstanding tickets received in the past year. "We want to establish a protocol that takes into account past misconduct so there is a strong incentive for these missions to see that there is full payment for past tickets," said Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro. But Mastro said the State Department wants enforcement to cover only future tickets. An irate Mayor Giuliani yesterday demanded that the department go a step further and revoke the driver's licenses of the 180 worst scofflaw diplomats. He said the department was more worried about diplomats than enforcing city law. The diplomatic parking uproar grew out of December's upper West Side scuffle in which city cops yanked the keys from a Russian diplomat's car they were ticketing. Cops said the driver appeared drunk and tried to slug them, leading Giuliani to demand that the State Department kick them out of the country. "That would send a very strong signal to other diplomats that we're not going to have you slapping around police officers on the streets of the city," he said. State Department spokesman Andy Laine said his agency was waiting for a final police report on the scuffle, which mayoral aides said was sent last week. Laine said talks were continuing on a diplomatic ticketing plan. "There's still more work to do on the proposal," he said.
Original Story Date: 02/04/97
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_03/032897/news/16952.htm City Auto Curb Zeal, Diplos Cry - Say give us a brake
By JOEL SIEGEL
It was New York against the world yesterday at the United Nations. For three hours, envoys from around the globe took turns slapping the city for a looming crackdown on diplomats who don't pay their parking tickets. "Extreme," said Russian diplomat Alexandre Zmeevski. "Inappropriate!" complained a Honduran representative. "Disturbing," said the deputy permanent representative of Cuba, Pedro Nunez-Mosquera. UN observers said the session was the most heavily attended meeting in years of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country.
Eighteen nations slammed the policy, including U.S.
allies France and Britain. Only Canada defended
New York and the U.S. State Department, which is
Mayor Giuliani was unmoved by the attacks. "It's a shame that the UN is not having a spirit of trying to make this agreement work," he said. Under the crackdown, diplomats hit with tickets after March 31 will have one year to pay their fines or contest their summonses. If they don't, they face loss of their diplomatic license plates. At times yesterday, it seemed more like a Parking Violations Bureau hearing room than a stately UN chamber, as diplomats invoked all sorts of reasons why they should never be deprived of their driving privileges. "Are we supposed to come here by foot?" Nunez-Mosquera demanded indignantly. The Cuban envoy and France's representative, Hubert Legal, both said the long-hand of mayoral politics was behind the new policy. "At the end of 1993 we saw a similar program presented by Mayor [David] Dinkins just before the elections," Legal said. "Once again, before elections, Mayor Giuliani has presented a similar program, and I hope for him that the success he will draw in terms of the elections from this measure will not be the same as his predecessor." Zmeevski accused city cops of conducting "a hunt" for diplomats. "Is the diplomatic corps really a serious problem for traffic in a city with millions of vehicles?" he asked. Diplomats' cars should enjoy the same liberal parking privileges as cops and firefighters, he said. "Our professions in some respects are similar," he reasoned. "We all have a need to resolve conflicts, to put out fires." Carolyn Willson, the U.S. Mission's counsel, dismissed an opinion by the UN chief counsel that the crackdown violates treaties guaranteeing UN envoys diplomatic immunity. Federal and city officials said the crackdown would proceed as planned. But the UN scheduled another meeting for Monday and hinted that the matter might be hauled before the General Assembly if the city and U.S. don't back down.
Original Story Date: 032897
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http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_04/041197/news/18297.htm Rudy: Park Or Pack It In - Sez UN site ideal for housing
By JOEL SIEGEL and DOUGLAS FEIDEN
ayor Giuliani yesterday gave the United Nations a tough new ultimatum in the Great Diplomatic Parking Ticket War — you can leave if you don't like it. As a UN committee voted to send the dispute to the General Assembly, Giuliani accused the world body of "defining diplomacy down" by seeking international action against the city's crackdown on scofflaw diplomats. The mayor said the city would happily develop the UN's East Side headquarters for sorely needed housing if the UN ever opted to leave the city over the dispute. "If they'd like to leave New York over parking tickets, we can find another use for that area of town," Giuliani said. "It happens to be just about the most valuable real estate in the world. And with the vacancy rates that exist in the City of New York, can you imagine what we could do with it?" Although he stopped short of daring the UN to leave, Giuliani outlined a potential development scenario for the East River trophy site. "It would go on the tax rolls . . . and then you put it out for private development, and you build some hotels there and you build some theaters maybe, or housing," he said. "Just think of the property value of that — it would be enormous!" As the mayor launched the latest broadside in the running war, angry foreign envoys voted 10 to 1 at a UN committee meeting to demand General Assembly action on the crackdown.And the city accused U.S. diplomats of secretly trying to back off the tougher stance in the face of international pressure. Under the crackdown, the city will tow the cars of illegally parked diplomats, and the State Department will deny license plate renewals to international scofflaws who fail to pay tickets after one year. The envoys, charging the crackdown violates diplomatic immunity, said the General Assembly must weigh in. Yesterday's vote could send the battle to the World Court at The Hague in the Netherlands, a scenario that Giuliani said would make the UN a laughingstock. During the meeting of the UN's Committee on Relations with the Host Country, diplomats from dozens of nations aired complaints about alleged ticketing outrages. Russian diplomat Alexandre Zmeevski charged that a bus from the Russian mission in Riverdale, the Bronx, which was parked in a diplomatic space on the East Side with the driver and passengers inside, was ticketed and towed yesterday. Police, however, said the bus was double-parked and that four men hopped into it only when cops threatened to tow it away. Khabouji Lukabu, a diplomat from strife-torn Zaire, returned Giuliani's attack by recalling the mayor's appearance at the UN's 50th anniversary last year. "The mayor who paraded before the General Assembly saying he was the mayor of the whole world now . . . says the United Nations can get out," Lukabu complained. Officials from the U.S. Mission tried to hammer out a compromise with the UN's legal counsel. "It is not in the interest of this committee to have an issue of this nature sent to the General Assembly," said Ambassador Victor Marrero of the U.S. Mission. "It would bring this organization into ridicule in the public eye to be discussing questions of diplomatic parking." But Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro accused Washington officials of "reneging" and trying to negotiate a compromise under which scofflaws would not be stripped of their license plates. Instead, U.S. officials would merely call in scofflaw envoys, or contact their home countries, and ask them to pay up. Such a compromise would be "unacceptable," Giuliani said, repeating his take it or leave position. "We should not be cowered by the thought of their moving out . . . because the consolation prize should they leave would be a windfall for the United States and the city and the state," Giuliani said.
Original Story Date: 041197
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_04/041897/news/18948.htm Envoy Fixing Diplo Tix Nitpix
By JOEL SIEGEL
nbsp; after serving as a U.S. envoy to hot spots including Iraq, Burma and Sudan, Bill Richardson began another daunting mission yesterday: trying to persuade Mayor Giuliani to accept changes to a plan forcing diplomats to pay parking tickets.
Richardson, the U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations, huddled with Giuliani at City Hall yesterday
to discuss the mayor's characterization of the
When the 45-minute meeting ended, it appeared that Richardson might be making headway in his latest assignment in delicate diplomacy. By day's end, Giuliani had not followed through on his threat to yank new parking spaces that the city had agreed to set aside for UN missions under the initial plan to curb diplomatic scofflaws. In addition, the city seemed more amenable to accepting at least some changes the UN and State Department made to the original crackdown. "We had a good meeting, and we made progress," Richardson said. "Right now, we have the State Department and the UN legal counsel and our mission in agreement, and we are working a few differences, a few wrinkles with the city." The initial crackdown would have allowed the city and State Department to yank the license plates of diplomats who failed to pay their parking tickets after a year. After diplomats howled and the UN authorized a General Assembly session over what member nations called a breach of diplomatic immunity, the United States and the UN's legal counsel negotiated a more roundabout enforcement plan. Under the revision, if a diplomat refuses to pay a parking ticket, the State Department could retaliate by not renewing the diplomat's license plate when it expires. The U.S. also could refuse to issue new plates or reregister old plates assigned to the scofflaw's UN mission. After the meeting, Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said further talks are necessary. Still, he indicated the city is becoming more comfortable with the revised plan. "There was much more detail explained in this meeting by the ambassador and the State Department than that which has been described publicly," Mastro said. "There was an explanation of how the State Department would use its offices and authority to enforce the agreement, and that was very helpful to us to understand those things that have, prior to this time, not been known to us and not been subject to public debate."
Original Story Date: 041897
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_04/041997/news/19054.htm Diplo Truce Tix Off RudyHe sez OK to pact, but axes 30 spaces
By JOEL SIEGEL
ayor Giuliani yesterday grudgingly accepted a compromise to make diplomats pay their parking tickets — a deal he previously denounced as caving in to whining United Nations envoys. But the mayor didn't completely surrender. He immediately took back 30 of the new parking spaces the city had recently set aside for diplomats and said he would release monthly lists of UN missions that rack up the most unpaid tickets. A State Department official warned that yanking the spaces would complicate efforts to reach a final settlement in the fight to curb scofflaw diplomats. "There's clearly another round or two of negotiations to go," the official said. Giuliani's New York vs. the World battle over diploscoffs has roiled the UN and drawn international attention. But the mayor conceded yesterday he had little leverage to force the U.S. State Department to enact the original crackdown. "We are forced to be realistic. If we don't go along with this enforcement mechanism, then you have none at all. This is better than nothing," Giuliani said. "The State Department is the player here. . . . We try to influence the conduct of foreign relations, but we don't conduct it — they do." Under the initial enforcement program, the city could have confiscated the license plate of any diplomat who had an unpaid parking ticket that was more than a year old. UN officials denounced the crackdown as a breach of diplomatic immunity and voted to convene a General Assembly session on the issue. That embarrassing prospect prodded the State Department and the UN officials to reach a tentative compromise. The new plan takes a different approach to diploscoffs. If a foreign envoy fails to pay a ticket, the State Department would refuse to issue new plates or renew other plates already assigned to the diplomat's mission. "It's not nearly as effective," Giuliani said. "If you don't take the actual license plate away, then somebody can easily evade detection." Stuart Nagurka, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the UN, disagreed. "This will exert pressure internally, within the missions, to get these tickets paid," he said. UN officials warned last night that the organization's legal counsel still hadn't okayed the compromise. U.S. officials said they expected approval. Giuliani's decision to take back the parking spaces posed another hurdle. As part of the original crackdown, the city provided 111 extra spaces for diplomats. But when the plan was revised, Giuliani said he felt no obligation to honor the city's end of the initial deal. Five of the 30 diplomatic spaces that Giuliani yanked yesterday had been assigned to Belarus and another to Russia, missions that have been mayoral targets ever since two of their diplomats brawled with cops in a December parking dispute. The mayor's action sparked anger — and sarcasm. "I guess if the mayor's office has nothing else to do, he should pursue diplomats," said Dimitri Chougla of the Russian Federation's UN mission.
Original Story Date: 041997
http://www.nydailynews.com/archive/97_04/042097/news/19159.htm New Loss For Diplos
By MICHAEL O. ALLEN
ayor Giuliani yesterday said he would take back 20 more parking spaces newly set aside for foreign envoys as he stepped up his attack on federal officials for modifying a crackdown on scofflaw diplomats. Giuliani announced the action as he accused the State Department of caving in to "moaning" United Nations diplomats angry at the parking brouhaha. "What happens is that they are very strong and assertive when they meet with us," Giuliani said of the State Department, "then when they go back and somebody at the UN yells at them, they change their mind." State Department officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. Giuliani vowed to step up the pressure by yanking the 20 parking spaces. On Friday, he took back 30 other spaces, out of 110 the city promised to set aside for UN missions under the original plan to make the diplomats follow parking regulations — and pay their tickets. "I'm not going to give them the same 110 spots if they've cut the deal in half," Giuliani said. "If they've taken away the enforcement mechanisms, there's no way they are getting those spots." State Department officials said on Friday that the city action could complicate efforts to solve the parking dispute. The city and State Department agreed to the initial crackdown in an effort to stop illegal parking by UN dignitaries and their staffs and force scofflaw diplomats to pay millions of dollars in unpaid summonses. The plan would have authorized the city to confiscate the license plates of any diplomat who failed to pay parking tickets for a year or more.
Original Story Date: 042097
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