New York Paralegal Blog

Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, today announced that the United States has intervened in the matter of Ohlmeyer ex rel United States of America v. City of New York, an action brought pursuant to the qui tam whistleblower provisions of the federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-33. In its complaint, the United States alleges that the City of New York Department of Education (DOE) submitted false claims to Medicaid for psychological counseling services to special education students in the New York City public schools.

By ADAM KLASFELD MANHATTAN (CN) - A federal judge slapped New York City with a $10,000 penalty for withholding demanded evidence pertaining to the alleged assault of a teenage inmate at the juvenile prison on Rikers Island.

I hung out at the Kush Bar in New York City last Saturday night and it was popping, off, the hook! Check it out at, 191 Chrystie Street New York, NY 10002 Tel: 212.677.7328. For good food, a great time and a Hookah I give it 5 stars.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. today announced the sentencing of FREDERICK GIUNTA to 3 1/2 years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision for committing an act of bias-related violence in the West Village. On February 15, 2011, GIUNTA pleaded guilty to all of the charges in his indictment, including Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree and Assault in the Third Degree as a Hate Crime. “Today’s sentencing serves as a reminder that there is no tolerance for bias-related violence,” District Attorney Vance said. “Our Office’s Hate Crimes Unit, formed a few months prior to the crime that led to today’s sentencing, will continue to support the diverse communities of New York by aggressively investigating and prosecuting hate-motivated offenses.”

DA: Part of Comprehensive Initiative to Break-Up Gangs Terrorizing Neighborhoods With Shooting and Drug Dealing Most Serious Offenders Face Life in Prison Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced indictments of 14 members of a violent criminal street gang on charges including charges of conspiracy to commit narcotics and weapons offenses, and in the case of certain individual defendants, charges of attempted murder, attempted assault, firearms possession, and narcotics sale. Five of the defendants are charged with Conspiracy in the First Degree, a class A-1 felony. With the others, each defendant is also charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony. [1] The defendants are expected to be arraigned today in New York County Supreme Court, Part 93, before the Honorable Edward J. McLaughlin. “This type of violent street gang terrorizes the hardworking residents of our City who ask for no more than a safe place to raise their families,” said Dist...

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced charges against five members of an al Qaeda plot to attack targets in the United States and United Kingdom. The charges reveal that the plot against New York’s subway system uncovered in September 2009 involving Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi was directed by senior al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, and was also directly related to a scheme by al Qaeda plotters in Pakistan to use Western operatives to attack a target in the United Kingdom. The superseding indictment, which was returned and unsealed today in the Eastern District of New York, charges the following defendants each with several terrorism violations: Adnan El Shukrijumah, also known as “Hamad;” Adis Medunjanin, also known as “Mohammad;” Abid Naseer; Tariq Ur Rehman; and a fifth defendant known as “Ahmad,” “Sohaib,” or “Zahid.” Each of the defendants faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today appointed Art Chang to the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB). An independent and non-partisan agency, the Campaign Finance Board monitors City candidates' campaign contributions and expenditures, enforces the City's campaign finance law, and provides public funding to candidates who choose to participate in the City's public financing system. The Board also makes public disclosure of candidates' campaign finances, publishes a non-partisan Voter Guide for each regularly scheduled City election, and administers a mandatory debate program for candidates for citywide office who seek public funding for their campaigns. "Art Chang's political independence and entrepreneurial experience will be a real asset to the Campaign Finance Board," said Mayor Bloomberg. "As someone who is beholden to no party or special interest, he will help the Board administer the law in a fair and nonpartisan fashion. His diverse public ...

Standing before a historic New York Central steam locomotive, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe today joined City Council Member Gale Brewer, Riverside Park Fund President James Dowell, Extell Development Corporation President Gary Barnett, and local children to drive the last spike into the ground to open the fourth and final waterfront phase of Riverside Park South. The 3.5-acre park is one of the last remaining links in a continuous Hudson River Greenway and was once the site of the New York Central Railroad’s 60th Street yard. “Today’s historic ribbon cutting connects Riverside Park with Hudson River Park in the same way the railroads connected the nations’ two coasts and creates a continuous greenway from Battery Park to 83rd Street,” said Commissioner Benepe. “In addition to new walkways and landscaping, the park’s grandest feature is a 60-year old, 95-ton, retired locomotive. This unique artifact is a reminder of the site’s industrial past as a rail yard, and as ...

NEW YORK - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris, Public Art Fund President Susan K. Freedman, and artist Olafur Eliasson today launched The New York City Waterfalls, a major work of public art that will be on display through October 13. The exhibition of four man-made waterfalls of monumental scale are on view on the shores of the New York waterfront: one on the Brooklyn anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge; one on the Brooklyn Piers, between Piers 4 and 5 near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade; one in Lower Manhattan at Pier 35 north of the Manhattan Bridge; and one on the north shore of Governors Island. The Waterfalls, which have been designed to protect water quality and aquatic life, will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, except Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they will run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Waterfalls will be lit after sunset. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor Harris and Ms. Freedman were joined by Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin, ...