Via Dealbreaker Looks like we can officially call today Sexual Harassment Saturday. Two former employees of Titan Capital have filed a suit against President Russell Abrams , saying he repeatedly hit on them and called them derogatory names. Danielle Pecile and Cristina Culicea were fired from the company claimed they were called “idiots” by both Abrams and his wife, Sandra, and Pecile claims Abrams made her print topless photos of his wife. Pecile claims Abrams asked, “You liked them, didn’t you?” after she printed a photo of Abrams and his wife in a hot tub. She called it, “creepy and embarrassing.” However, Sandra Abrams won’t stand for this treatment. She has filed a suit against Pecile and Culicea, claiming the two are refusing to return the topless photos unless the company pays them $2.5 million. In her $1 million suit, she calls the demand “nothing short of blackmail.” Pics or it didn’t happen?
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Hedge Fund Honcho Hit With Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
A former security guard of the NBA Properties office in Secausus, NJ has been arrested after making multiple bomb threats against the building. Officials say Jose Quesada, 19, left at least seven threatening voicemails, including one which warned , “Leave the building. It’s gonna blow up…No where to go. It’s gonna go up. It’s gonna go ‘Boom!’” He turned himself in yesterday, and is being held at $100,000 bail. Man, some people are just not taking this whole LeBron thing easily.
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Security Guard Arrested for NBA Office Bomb Threats
The redevelopment of the Domino Sugar Factory will destroy everything indie and everything hip in South WIlliamsburg. At least that’s what the folks at Guest of a Guest are saying. On the hit list of cool things that are gonna get whacked: DIY music venues; indieScreen (a small independent music venue and theater) and public waterfront access because we all know that rich people ruin things for everyone else by their presence. [Guest of a Guest]
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Photograph of Rep. Rangel leaving his Congressional office for a vote yesterday by Alex Brandon/AP In an interview to be broadcast tomorrow and Monday, President Obama tells CBS News that the ethics charges that Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) are “very troubling” and says he hopes Rangel will end “his career with dignity.” However, Obama didn’t give a timetable—which is just as well, since a source told Politico that the longtime House member “doesn’t give a damn about what the president thinks about this” and isn’t resigning. In the clip that CBS News previewed, Obama says, “I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served his constituents very well, but these allegations are very troubling, and, you know, he’s somebody who is at the end of his career, 80 years old. I’m sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity, and my hope is that happens.” While Politico’s source said that Obama’s comments are not surprising to the Rangel camp, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus was angry that Obama spoke out against the longserving—and decorated war veteran—Democrat, “Charlie Rangel has served our nation with honor and distinction for more than four decades — before I was born and the president was a twinkle in his parents’ eye. He should be treated with honor and respect. In fact, Mr. Rangel made my service in Congress and Mr. Obama’s presidency possible.” This comes as a Democratic investigator found that Rangel’s punishment should be a reprimand , but since House Republicans are ready for a fight, Rangel could go on trial this fall—unless he strikes a settlement. One House member told the Daily News, “Everybody is hoping he cuts a deal and puts everybody else out of their misery.” Well, if he cuts a deal, then the Democrats will have the trial of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California), who is also facing ethics violations !
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Obama Hopes Rangel Will End "Career With Dignity"
The troubled Battery Park conversion at 225 Rector Place aka Rector Square is likely to be taking the auction route in the not too distant future. Anglo Irish Bank is planning to auction off the remain 230 unsold units in a bulk sale in September. The bank foreclosed on the property in 2009 after the developer defaulted on about $117 Million in loans. The developer, Yair Levy , has seen his fair share of controversy in the past. Most recently, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sought to ban Levy from sales of any condos and filed a $7.1 Million suit claiming that Levy took the money from the Rector Square reserve fund and used it for his personal expenditures. Some analysts are putting the pricing at $400 per square foot. This is a pretty stark drop from the over $1,000 per square foot the units that actually sold back in 2008 were asking. According to The Real Deal, “Analysts estimate that the unsold 230 apartments (some of which have affordable housing tenants in them) are worth no more than 40 percent of their prior market value.” · Rector Square’s Unsold Units Near Auction [The Real Deal] · Rector Square Coverage [Curbed]
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Rector Square Units Getting Auctioned : Unsold Units at Rector Square to be Auctioned
The Woodbridge township just doesn’t know how to party. Police have charged Stanley P. Misiuk with promoting prostitution, claiming he provided members of the Avenel-Colonia First Aid Squad with strippers at their crazy late-night parties—some willing to go the extra mile for some extra cash. Over the past two years, the ambulance company hosted parties “with knowledge of members of the board and/or high-ranking officers of the squad.” And township officials think these raucous parties, one which involved trespassed in an old roller skating rink while the members were on duty , is putting the public at risk. Livinia Lee Mears, an attorney for the ambulance squad, said the allegations are just part of a “public smear” campaign. She said, “It is very disappointing that the township’s public officials will stop at nothing, including unnecessarily trying to ruin the members’ reputation and abusing the criminal process, to turn the tide of public opinion against the squad when all the squad wants to do is serve the community.” Yes, because if there’s one thing American’s love to hate, it’s those dastardly ambulance squads.
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Strippers! Trespassing! New Jersey First Aid Squad!
Police on the scene after the incident (WPIX) Yesterday morning, a 6-year-old boy died after being struck by a MTA tow truck in East Harlem near the RFK Bridge. Max Mendez and his mother, Erika Lorenzo, who were walking to the Wagner Pool on East 124th Street for swim lessons, were both struck. Lorenzo, 7 months pregnant, told the Post , “I will never recover from the death of my son, but I do want justice.” According to the Wall Street Journal, “The pair were apparently crossing a stretch of road without a crosswalk, a path that many nearby residents and workers use, but say is unsafe. As the truck began moving toward them, Ms. Lorenzo held her son’s hand, trying to run to avoid being hit… Ms. Lorenzo said she was waiting for the light to change and that she lost her son’s grip when she was hit.” However, she told the Post that she was holding Max’s hand, “I wouldn’t let go of my son for nothing in the world.” The MTA Truck was heading to the RFK Bridge to attend to a disabled vehicle and the MTA said that the driver tested negative for alcohol. Some witnesses told the WSJ the driver looked behind him to make sure he wasn’t pulling in front of traffic—but ended up not seeing Lorenzo and her son in front of him; some told the Post that he was on his cellphone. Police do not believe any criminality was involved). The boy’s legs were crushed and his body had to removed from the truck’s wheel. One driver jumped out of his car to perform CPR on him before EMT arrived. A neighborhood resident said , “There should be a light before you make the turn onto the ramp… It’s really hard to get across there for grownups and kids.” Another said a crosswalk would be good, “People come speeding around when they get ready to go onto the bridge.”
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After Boy’s Death, Residents Say Light, Crosswalk Needed
We heard you liked arresting cops… There should probably be a bit more inter-departmental communication: two cops from the 81st Precinct were arrested yesterday after barging in on an Internal Affairs Bureau sting operation and arresting an undercover officer on bogus charges. Sgt. Raymond Stukes and Officer Hector Tirado barged in on the “integrity test” in Brownsville, where an undercover IAB officer was speaking to another, unknowing officer. Stukes and Tirado began questioning the IAB officer about the cigarettes and his backpack, and arrested him on charges of trying to sell bootleg cigarettes to two people. We thought they backed down on going after cigarette smugglers ? The two officers pleaded not guilty to felony perjury charges, but Assistant District Attorney Gregory Marshall said , “The (arrest) paperwork was inconsistent with the events that took place on that date.”
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Cops Arrested For Arresting Cop
If reading The Hunt stokes your deepest hopes that someday everything in life could work out, then you, too, are obsessed with the New York Times Sunday Real Estate section. Join us as we venture into the depths of this weekend’s installment, figuring out along the way what the subtext of each story tells us about the state of the NYC real estate market using our bona fide Market Point system. 1.) After last week’s piece on the rise of short sales in Manhattan, we could use some good news for the market. Of course, the Times delivered with a recession-busting article on condos that maintained their pre-recession prices. – 180 East 93rd Street bolsters our faith in the return of the market, as the developers did not lower prices and their patience paid off when showings of the model unit began. The Broker in charge of handling sales at the building says “We hid for about a year and a half, but the minute we had this model apartment we tallied two sales”. Both were close to the asking prices of $5.4 Million a piece. +3MP – District NY on Fulton Street didn’t lower their asking prices either (although they did cut common charges by 6.5%). Rather, they changed the focus on who they were marketing the units to. A representative of the marketing group for the building says “What I think we did very well is reposition the building for all the families coming to the area, we got away from the glitz and glamour of the Calvin Klein commercials.” +3MP – 211 East 51st Street hit a bump in the road after only selling 30 of its 70 units. Instead of cutting prices, they decided to combine some units. For example, the developer combined “a two-bedroom unit with a studio to create a smaller three bedroom.” He also added, “If I was to drop my price by $100 a square foot I’d be taking a loss of about $5 million”. Five units have gone into contract since March. +1MP – A condo close to the High Line, +aRt (that’s “plus art” for the hoi polloi) has had a harder time than the aforementioned developments. The 90 unsold units were taken off the market in November of 2008 and just came back on the market. However marketing has now continued, but “brokers at a grand reopening gala suggested that prices remained too high”. The developer says that “several units had since gone into contract” only after some price cuts. -1MP [ What Recession? Condo Prices That Held Up ] 2.) The Hunt this week featured Patrick Shindell who was looking to get out of the East Village “party heaven” and begin a more adult life by purchasing a starter apartment with a little help from his parents. -In a rare moment of New York and Phoenix Real Estate Market marriage, Patrick’s mother says “I used my Phoenix way of looking at things, you can buy a really great, really big house with a swimming pool if you are willing to drive an hour into work. I applied that theory, which was that location was the most important thing.” Mother knows best! +1 MP -Looking mostly in Kips Bay/Murray Hill he had a lot of letdowns mostly due to high monthly charges or depressing views. In regards to his extensive search, the piece says “After more than six months — and 59 apartments — Mr. Shindell was finding that the frustration of the hunt outweighed the fun of it.” -1 MP -As always, the Hunt ends in success with Patrick finding his perfect apartment. “Mr. Green took Mr. Shindell to apartment No. 60, in the Riverview East on East 32nd Street. The 550-square-foot alcove studio, listed at $379,000, had plenty of storage and a sliding door that screened off the sleeping area, yet let light into the living room. The maintenance fee was around $1,000.” Congratulations Mom, Dad, and Patrick! +1MP [ A Studio For a Shoestring Budget ] Those stubborn condo prices really helped market confidence! Plus 7 MP , a new record!
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Times-O-Matic Real Estate Radar: Condos That Didn’t Cut Prices; A Starter Apartment
Snooki leaving jail (via the AP) Yesterday Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi kept the shores of Jersey classy by staggering around drunk at 3:30 in the afternoon. The Jersey Shore star was arrested for her antics, which were well-documented since the pint-sized Polizzi is easily recognized at this point (the cameras were also rolling for Season 3 of the show). A little taste of what got her arrested for disorderly conduct below (and TMZ has the arrest video). Reportedly she was so drunk “she couldn’t stand up,” and had been drinking with other castmates all day. A bartender at Aztec Ocean Resort says she had “three shots of Patron Tequila and a Long Island Iced Tea” there (and didn’t tip!). The Seaside Heights Borough Administrator told the Star-Ledger , “She was being very disorderly on the beach, bothering other patrons there. When our police went to deal with the situation—not Mike ‘The Situation’—they found they needed to arrest her.” She was issued a summons and released around the time J-WOWW announced on her Twitter , “Going to bail @Sn00ki out of jail… The things I do for this girl I swear.” More photos of Snooki’s snookered adventures at TMZ —but be warned: her skirt isn’t always covering all the right places.
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More Details On Snooki’s Drunken Arrest!