Sean Bell

At the unveiling of a playground initiative at a school in the Bronx just now, Michael Bloomberg was asked about the involvement of the House judiciary committee in reviewing police procedures in the wake of the Sean Bell incident.

The mayor made it clear that he didn’t regard it as helpful. “This is a police department that works and doesn’t exactly need more oversight [from the federal government],” he said. He also said that the judiciary committee should look into the police departments in other cities where the crime rate is higher.

SEIU Local 1199 has endorsed City Council candidate Elizabeth Crowley, one of the Democrats running in the special election to fill Dennis Gallagher's seat.

The union is hugely powerful politically, particularly in special elections. So this is fairly big, if not all that surprising.  read more »

 

After speaking to reporters in Manhattan about the protests he’s organizing in response to the Sean Bell verdict, Al Sharpton was asked about a separate issue: Barack Obama’s denunciation of Jeremiah Wright.

Sharpton, a politician and reverend, said, “What Barack Obama did was a profile in courage,” and said it demonstrated the kind of leadership “I not only respect, but support.”

This, a day after Sharpton blasted Obama for "grandstand[ing] in front of white people." Go figure.

Later today, Al Sharpton and others will be meeting at the 1199 SEIU building on West 43rd Street to organize citywide protests in response to the Sean Bell verdict. The union will be represented by president George Gresham and executive vice president Patrick Gaspard, according to a spokeswoman.

The union's involvement in the planned protests shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Bell’s mother is a former member of the union [clarified]. And union officials have been in touch with the family since the shooting in 2006. .
 read more »

When Al Sharpton walked off the stage at his National Action Networks headquarters in Harlem this weekend, television cameramen and reporters packed up their things and left too. But Terrell Taylor picked up his camera and got to work

Taylor is a 38-year-old filmmaker who is working on a documentary about Sharpton, the National Action Network, and the modern civil right movement. After filming Sharpton for a project focusing on the 40th anniversary of the civil rights movement, Taylor said he approached Sharpton about doing a second project. And Sharpton, never one to shy away from reporters, was more than obliging.

Sharpton has granted Taylor and his six-man-crew behind the scenes access that no other reporter is getting. And since Sharpton is working on the Sean Bell case, that means lots of footage of Bell’s family and friends.

According to Taylor, “We were with the family 48 until the verdict. So, we had an opportunity to sit down while they ate their last dinner before the verdict, while they went to church and prayed. Also at the vigils. We were actually there at the breakfast before the trial.”  read more »

How much credit does Michael Bloomberg deserve for the relative calm that’s followed the Sean Bell verdict? It’s a question that’s more than just academic, given the potential for racially fraught episodes just like this one to have a defining impact on a mayoral legacy – and on a mayor’s political fortunes moving forward.

According to veteran New York political reporter Andrew Kirtzman, who I emailed for his take on the question, Bloomberg has been more lucky than skillful in presiding over what has been, so far, a restrained fallout.

Here’s Kirtzman’s take, from early this weekend:  read more »

 

Tomorrow, Al Sharpton and others will meet at SEIU local 1199’s headquarters to plan citywide protests in light of the Sean Bell verdict, which seems to put the city’s most powerful union right at his corner.  read more »

 

City Councilman Tom White said today he didn’t think the Sean Bell case is “black against white,” citing the racial diversity of two of the officers on trial (two were black, one was white).

Some, like State Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., think otherwise.

When asked, State Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith seemed to disagree with White, and quickly moved on to the next question.

Shortly after Sean Bell was killed, Michael Bloomberg told reporters, "It sounds like to me like excessive force was used."  read more »

Councilman Leroy Comrie is taking a hard line against the police officers and officials involved in the Sean Bell shooting.

Speaking to reporters after a press conference in Jamaica, Comrie said the Police Department should “remove the lieutenant, the commanding officer, the head of the division. They all need to be, I think, fired."

Later, he added, “We cannot look for the commissioner to do anything less than the full intent to show that he wants to have a professional Police Department with the best tactics and the best resources available.”  read more »

Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. told me just now, "Once again it's a travesty of the judicial system where it seems like this verdict is going to have black and Latino communities feel like the system works for some but not for all."

"What do we do now? What do we do now? What now?" Diaz asked rhetorically.  read more »

New York 1 News is reporting that all three of the police officers charged in the Sean Bell shooting have been acquitted.  read more »

Al Sharpton just finished a press conference with friends and family of Sean Bell, saying they hoped justice would be dispensed by the trial judge, who will announce a verdict Friday.

Sharpton also refuted the notion that their supporter need to be reminded not to act violently if they are unhappy with the decision.

He went on to say that it was the police who acted recklessly when they approached and fired on Bell and his friends without just cause.  read more »

Phil Foglia, a lawyer in the Bronx is up for a Republican commissioner slot on the Board of Elections.

If he passes a background check, the City Council would have to vote to confirm him. And normally, confirmation of someone in decently good standing is a breeze.

Here’s the catch. Foglia works at a law firm that is currently defending police officer Michael Oliver, who fired 31 of the shots that killed Sean Bell.

Foglia, for what it's worth, doesn't seem concerned that his appointment process will attract undue attention.

“I wouldn’t think so,” Foglia told me just now. “I don’t know why it would. One has nothing to do with the other.”

Added bonus: Foglia lost a City Council race against Jimmy Vacca.  read more »

Hillary Clinton's DC fund-raiser last night raised $2.7 million.

Hillary downplayed that anonymously authored 1984-themed attack video.

Al Gore returns to the Senate for the first time since certifying the electoral college victory of George W. Bush in 2000.

Mayor Bloomberg stood by his comments that the Sean Bell shooting was "inexplicable."

Critics say Bloomberg hasn't addressed the factors that led to the Sean Bell shooting.

The city approved line-of-duty death benefits for the police officer who began working at Ground Zero in December of 2001.

In a message directed at Joe Bruno, Governor Spitzer said, "Smoke and mirrors isn't going to get us a budget."

The public talks about the state budget are stalled; the private talks are about school funding and Medicaid.

A lobbyist's law suit claims the state's lobbying watchdog had a "vendetta" against him.

Freshman Representative Kirsten Gillibrand learns how to earmark.

And the former Brooklyn judged caught on tape accepting a bribe referred to litigants in his chambers as "schmucks," "hustlers" and "crazy and stupid."

-- Azi Paybarah

It's a mash-up mash-up! Barack Obama is now the subject of a 1984-style video too.

Police Commission Ray Kelly briefly discussed the Sean Bell shooting in an interview with Lx.tv.

The city's new transportation commissioner is Michael Horodniceanu, according to Streetsblog.

The folks who disrupted Joel Klein's meeting last night got a thumbs up from the blogger at Pissed Off Mom.

There's a write-in Assembly candidate on Staten Island.

The head of the state's lobbying commission stepped down.

The Nassau County Comptroller's audit of Maureen O'Connell was finally released.

MoveOn.Org is coming under fire from other anti-war activists for supporting an insufficiently aggressive plan for ending the Iraq War.

And above is Mr. Met at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Queens.

-- Azi Paybarah

Al Sharpton doesn't think that the indictment of three of the five officers involved in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell goes far enough.

"All officers in fact shot. All officers in fact should have been charged. All officers acted in concert," Sharpton said at a news conference just now.

He also said the demand for the trial to be conducted elsewhere, as it was in the Amadou Diallo case that led to the acquittal of the officers involved, was "insulting."

"We will not participate, attend or cooperate" with a trial outside of Queens County, Sharpton said.  read more »

UPDATE: Here's a statement from the Queens District Attorney who said the investigation "was as thorough and complete as I've ever participated in."

-- Azi Paybarah

New York 1 News is reporting that the grand jury in the Sean Bell case will announce its decision on Monday.

UPDATE: The station and NYT are reporting that at least indictment will be announced.

UPDATE II: WCBS is reporting three indictments will be announced. -- Azi Paybarah

Mike Bloomberg went out to two predominantly black churches in Queens yesterday to talk about schools, and to make the case that his reforms are both effective and necessary.

While he was there, he also addressed another issue of concern to many of his black constituents: the police shooting death of Sean Bell.

Here he is assuring his audience at Mount Moriah AME Church in St. Albans, Queens, that he's not sure what happened that night, but that he has faith in the Queens District Attorney who is investigating it.

-- Azi Paybarah

The City Council will hold a hearing on the City's failure to implement its emergency subway communication plan.

Activists are set to protest what they call a landlord's harassment of two lesbian tenants in Brooklyn.

The New Black Panther Party will rally against the police shooting of Sean Bell at the Queens Courthouse.

New York University will hold a panel discussion on "Global Warming and Human Health: Moving Beyond Rhetoric and Toward Solutions" in the Woolworth Building.

Harper's Magazine will host a lecture on "Reporting On Religion: How Faith Gets Covered" at the Small Press Center.

Rent-stabilized tenants will file a lawsuit against Nassau County landlords to stop them from collecting what they call "invalid rent hikes" at the Nassau County Supreme Court Building.

Quinnipiac University releases its latest poll of Ohio voters, asking their opinions about 2008 presidential hopefuls.

Brooklyn's Deputy Borough President, Yvonne Graham, will host city religious leaders and disaster-readiness professionals to announce a new tool in the campaign to ensure New York City's emergency preparedness.

—Nicole Brydson

Andrew Cuomo is going to have some company when he pays his respects to the fiance of Sean Bell, the Queens man killed by police hours before his wedding.

Al Sharpton, Cuomo's one-time running mate Charlie King and attorney Sandford Rubenstein will also be at the 4:30 meeting in Queens with Cuomo, according to a statement from Sharpton's people.

"We requested the meeting to to talk about policing procedures and to ask Cuomo to review the Sean Bell case which is presently before a Queens grand jury," Sharpton said in the statement.

Cuomo's spokesman John Milgrim indicated that his boss is leaving the door open to launching his own investigation into the incident, but wouldn't say anything more specific about whether he'll actually do it. "Right now, we're waiting for the findings of the investigation," he said.

UPDATE: Through a spokesperson, Sharpton said, "If the case is not handled properly, we will ask Cuomo for a special prosecutor."

-- Azi Paybarah

Charles Barron is now vowing to lead the Sean Bell marchers to the United Nations.

The last time I saw Barron at the U.N., he was protesting in favor of Robert Mugabe, who is actually quite in favor of shooting innocent people multiple times. (Sorry, subscription required.) -- Andrew Rice

The City Council's "Republican trio" released a letter today announcing their continued support of Police Commission Ray Kelly in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting, which occured, oh, almost a month ago. No word on their stance on the consolidation of Brooklyn into New York City in 1898.

The letter reads, in part:

Again, some will continue to publicly call for your ouster and criticize you and the department in harsh terms. Despite the voices lined up against you, the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers fully support you and the men and women of the department. You can count us among that number.

The key number, at least when it comes to Council Republicans, being three. --Andrew Rice

Sharpton Continues His Self-Serving Charade    read more »

Sharpton Continues His Self-Serving Charade    read more »

Sharpton Continues His Self-Serving Charade    read more »

Tomorrow, on the day Sean Bell's daughter turns four years old, Rev. Al Sharpton and others will silently march down Fifth Avenue to protest police misconduct in minority communities and press City Hall to implement changes they say were supposed to be in place after the killing of Amadou Diallo.

Sharpton said everything from the 50 shots fired at Sean Bell to a double parking ticket given to Rev. Calvin Butts weeks earlier are "indicative of a problem that is a pattern in this city" with the police department.

Butts referred to some officers as "ignorant savages" who are "culturally ignorant" and "racially insensitive."

Noting that the officers involved in the Sean Bell killing were black, Hispanic and white, Sharpton said, "If they were all black, we would be marching tomorrow."

-- Azi Paybarah

UPDATE: In response to the Butts comments, mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser said, "We don't dignifiy remarks like that with a response."

Here is a 45-minute video from Flex Your Rights about how to interact with police, with advice from former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser.

It may come in handy in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting, subsequent protests, and accusations that police are too aggressively looking for a fourth suspect involved in that incident.

-- Azi Paybarah

On Saturday at 11 a.m., the NAACP protests the police shooting of Sean Bell, at 168th Street between Jamaica and Archer Avenues.

At 11 a.m., Councilman Bill de Blasio discusses the need for "e-waste" legislation, outside P.S. 321 in Park Slope.

At noon, Manny Innamorato will announce his candidacy for Staten Island City Council seat being vacated by Andrew Lanza. [added]

At 1 p.m., the New York Society for Ethical Culture hosts an impeachment forum, with Cindy Sheehan and Elizabeth Holtzman, at 2 West 64th Street.

Also at 1 p.m., high school students host a mock session of the City Council in the Council chambers.

At 3 p.m. a march against "police terrorism," organized by the New Black Panther Party, starts at 125th Street and 7th Avenue.

At 8 p.m., the CEO of Google discusses politics and the Internet on C-SPAN. At 8:35 p.m., there is a discussion about ethics and journalism on C-SPAN.

On Sunday, South African President Thabo Mbeki meets George Bush in D.C.

Potential 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards gets the Paul Wellstone award from the AFL-CIO at their meeting in D.C.

At 6:30 p.m., Evan Bayh appears on a segment of Road to the White House.

And two Democratic clubs, Broadway Democrats and Ansonia Independent, have separate holiday parties.

On Monday at 8 a.m., the Drum Major Institute hosts a discussion about the cost or prescription drugs at The Harvard Club (27 West 44th Street).

At 9:30, housing advocates rally on the city hall steps before the 10 a.m. hearing on the 421-a housing program.

And at 8 p.m., the Bill Clinton presidency is discussed on C-SPAN 3.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's the City Council chamber moments ago, packed with advocates and critics of a plan to build four schools on a contaminated site in the Bronx. Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott and education officials are trying to quell fears about health issues that may arise from developing the site.

The meeting doesn't seem likely to wrap up anytime soon, which, for those of you keeping track, will probably force the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus to relocate a scheduled meeting about the Sean Bell shooting.

-- Azi Paybarah

On Saturday, the Independent and Small Press Book Fair takes place at Small Press Center (20 West 44th St.). At 11 a.m., a protest over the Sean Bell shooting starts at Kalua Cabaret (143-08 94th Ave.,) in Jamaica.

At 11 a.m., Congressman Charles Rangel speaks at the New York Synagogue (124 East 58th St) in Manhattan.

Also at 11 a.m., Councilman Tony Avella and members of Juniper Park Civic Association protest prolific real estate developer Tommy Huang, at 57-39 Mazeau St., in Maspeth, Queens.

And DNC Chairman Howard Dean speaks to the DNC Executive Committee in Washington, DC

On Sunday, former Sen. John Edwards signs copies of his book, "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives," in CA.

And C-Span goes in depth with Jimmy Carter.

On Monday, Barack Obama comes to New York to attend a children's charity.

And Sen. Evan Bayh is scheduled to make another trip to Iowa.

What else is happening?

-- Azi Paybarah

Pictured here are attorneys Charlie King and Chase Caro, who said today they are representing five eye-witnesses to the Sean Bell shooting and are withholding their names from the police because the witnesses fear police intimidation.

The two lawyers, who are working pro bono, said their clients are cooperating with the Queens DA, who is also investigating the incident.

Notice the incredulous looking reporter in the blue shirt: Henry Goldman of Bloomberg News.

King and Caro criticized the "aggressive" way in which they said police were looking for a supposed fourth witness to the shooting who can supposedly corroborate the police version of what happened that night.

King said the son of the bishop who was supposed to officiate at Bell's wedding was arrested yesterday at his home around 6 a.m. on a year-old traffic violation. At the station, police only questioned the man about the shooting, not the traffic violation, said King.

Intimidation, or thorough investigation?

Goldman led the questioning to get at that distinction. Here's part of the exchange:

CK: Here is the concern. Everybody that is a friend of the victims in this horrible shooting are being pressured to come before the police to tell them what they know about anything in a way that frightens them.

HG: What is that way?

CK: If a police officer, like I said before, threatens an individual in police custody who is neither charged with a crime or a witness to the event, that in my view is the kind of climate that is being created that puts in fear those witnesses, like mine, who see the kind of pressure that is being put on people.

HG: What's the substance [of that pressure]?

CK: We can talk about it after.

[skip]

CC: The threat is clearly the appearance of the police at the home. If you read the constitution, there is a very specific phrase: rights of persons to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and affects shall not be violated by unreasonable search and seizure.

HG: What did the people search?

CC: It is a search to come to people's home and make them feel insecure.

-- Azi Paybarah

Happy December!

The First Lady of Zambia delivers the keynote address and receives the International AIDS Trust and World Vision New York's 2006 award at Tavern on the Green.

CUNY hosts a conference on the Spellings Commission report on higher education at John Jay College.

Baruch College hosts conference titled "An Avian Flu Pandemic: How Would Business Respond?"

The Assembly holds a hearing on the consolidation of the health industry and its impact at 250 Broadway.

Assemblyman Karim Camara and day care providers protest the closing of day care centers at the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building.

100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care and the mother of Timothy Stansbury (fatally shot by police in 2004) light a candle at the site where Sean Bell was shot by police.

The wake for Sean Bell will be held at Community Church of Christ in Jamaica.

John Bolton speaks at the New York Synagogue.

Marty Golden hosts the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in McKinley in Brooklyn.

—Nicole Brydson

It's been something a testament to Mike Bloomberg's handling of the Sean Bell shooting that there's been no real pressure for any outside official, like incoming governor Eliot Spitzer, to weigh in on the situation.

And when Spitzer finally did weigh in, it was nearly indistinguishable from what the mayor said.

From spokesperson Christine Anderson: "At first glance, 50 shots seems excessive, but he'll wait for the results of the investigation before passing judgment."

-- Azi Paybarah

So does this press release from Councilman Hiram Monserrate ("Monserrate, Latino Elected Officials to Visit Shooting Victims") represent the politicization of the shooting death of Sean Bell?

Or has that happened already?

-- Azi Paybarah

The Berger Commission will recommend closing five hospitals in New York City and four more statewide, according to The Times and The Sun.

They are: St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital and Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan; Victory Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn; New York Westchester Square Medical Center in the Bronx; and Parkway Hospital in Queens.

Stephen Berger, the commission's chairman and David Sandman say that closing hospitals is just one step, and that reimbursement policies must also be fixed.

Mike Bloomberg's meeting yesterday in City Hall with black leaders to discuss the police shooting of Sean Bell was "extraordinary."

The Post looks at the cop who fired 31 of the 50 shots at Bell and his friends.

The Sun looks at Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott's role in City Hall's response.

Errol Louis says Ray Kelly is failing in his job to protect the public.

Some state employees in Albany were given "survival packages," on how to get health insurance in case they're not retained under the incoming administration.

Some Republicans hope for another Jeanine Pirro candidacy.

Two Democrats in the City Council turned down their pay raises.

State lawmakers may vote to give themselves a 20 percent pay raise.

Joseph Mondello of Nassau will be unopposed when GOP leaders gather in Albany Thursday to pick a new state chairman.

George Pataki is headed to Afghanistan.

2008 Democratic contenders have to adjust to a new timetable of early caucuses and primaries.

The WSJ [subscription] looks at four of the president's options for Iraq: withdraw troops, add troops, leave them unchanged, or start a draft.

The Justice Department will examine its warrantless surveillance program.

And Foreign Policy magazine has a list of this year's political assassinations.

-- Azi Paybarah