Free Republic

Full title of article: "Michael Avenatti’s Lonely Fall The disgraced lawyer wanted to be a legal celebrity. Now he’s not even the most famous defendant on the block." Excerpt: Over the last year or so, the swift and not particularly surprising fall of lawyer Michael Avenatti has descended through the circles of bankruptcy, alleged domestic violence, banishment from cable television, and separate indictments for tax fraud, extortion, and cheating Stormy Daniels, his most important client. In mid-January, federal agents arrested Avenatti in the middle of a disciplinary hearing before the State Bar of California and charged him with violating his...

Albany, N.Y. (WHAM) - Two New York State legislators are planning to launch a effort to determine the causes behind the state's population loss. Federal estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau show New York has lost 76,790 people from 2018 to 2019 - making it the fourth largest state in the country. This also makes the fourth straight year of a population decline for New York.

Police in New York are increasing their presence in subways Friday after members of the far-left Antifamovement called for a mass protest against law enforcement and transit fares. The Police Benevolent Association of New York City issued a strong warning ahead of Friday’s Antifa demonstration, urging New Yorkers to “pay close attention.” “This is [the] true endgame of the anti-police movement, an end of all policing & destruction of public order,” the group said in a tweet. “Our members have spent their careers -- and in some cases given their lives -- to bring public safety back to NYC. We can't go backwards.” Days earlier,...

Two state lawmakers want to find out why people are leaving New York faster than almost any other state in the country. The latest census numbers show New York's population dropped by 77,000 between 2018 and last year. According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, 1.4 million people have left New York since 2010. The report shows the majority of people who left moved to Florida, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania. Republican Sen. Jim Tedisco and Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, who chairs the Commission on Rural Resources, say they will put a questionnaire online and hold roundtable meetings across the...

ITHACA, N.Y.(WENY) - The City of Ithaca is now looking for a Director of Sustainability to help launch the city into a organizational transformation initiative. This position was created to help meet the goals of the city's Green New Deal. WENY News Spoke with Ithaca City Mayor, Svante Myrick, to find out what he is looking for. "So we're looking for somebody with a particular set of skills, somebody who understands both environmental justice, as well as racial and social justice. Somebody who is capable of leading a broad community conversation around those issues, and somebody who's willing to work...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- There are alarming new details from the MTA about doors opening on some moving subway cars, prompting the MTA to order that each train car to be inspected. The MTA says it was forced to pull its entire fleet of R179 subway cars, the newest model, the over ongoing door problems. Both of the incidents happened on the southbound C train less than two weeks apart. The first was December 24 on a C train heading south of High Street, and the train's doors opened about four inches while the train was moving. Bombardier, which made...

ALBANY, NY -- It may be one of the few taxes in which New York state’s bite doesn’t rank among the nation’s highest. Now, some New York City lawmakers want to more than double the state’s beer excise tax to provide more money for the State University of New York system. The excise tax, paid by beer distributors, is currently 14 cents per gallon. Bills introduced ahead of the upcoming State Legislature session would raise that to 30 cents per gallon (that matches the state’s current excise tax on wine). The Assembly sponsor of the bill, Brooklyn Democrat Harvey Epstein,...

THIS is why DMV Lines are so long in states that have allowed illegal aliens to obtain drivers licenses

New Yorkers are fleeing the state in drove due to high taxes. The result is an overabundance of home few can afford. Bloomberg reports Manhattan’s Flood of New Condos Could Take Six Years to Sell. “ Manhattan is glutted with even more luxury condos than most apartment-shoppers realize. The borough has 7,050 unsold, newly built units, according to a report by Halstead Development Marketing. The bulk of those -- almost 6,000 -- haven’t been formally listed for sale, creating an under-the-radar “shadow inventory.” The secret supply is a heavy weight on a market in which sales, especially of higher-end...

The U.S. is on heightened alert after Iran vowed 'harsh retaliation' for an American airstrike in Iraq and that killed a top Iranian general - as it is feared that sleeper cells may be ready to attack in major cities. **SNIP** NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said they would be protecting key locations from 'any attempt by Iran or its terrorist allies to retaliate against the U.S.' 'We have to assume this action puts us in a de facto state of war,' he told a press conference on Friday. It comes amid fears that the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which...

With Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial slated to begin within days, two dozen of his accusers have issued a statement about the disgraced movie producer, signaling their intentions to continue to speak out. “Next week, the world will be watching as Harvey Weinstein walks into court to stand trial for a fraction of the egregious crimes he has committed,” said the Silence Breakers, a group comprised of many of his accusers, in a statement Friday. ”Weinstein is a serial predator who sexually abused women for decades, taking advantage of his power and connections to systematically silence the women who could bring...

A former high-ranking city Education Department official who interacted daily with the chancellor invited a 14-year-old boy to a “whirlpool suite” in a Wisconsin hotel, prosecutors revealed Friday, slapping the former principal with enticement of a minor and possession of child porn charges. David Hay, 39, was busted in an undercover operation led by cops in the Neenah Police Department, which is 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Until he was fired earlier this week, Hay served as deputy chief of staff for city schools Chancellor Richard Carranza. He lives in Brooklyn but has roots in the Badger State. SNIP “Into...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A Monroe County Judge Thursday ordered the release, without bond, of Tyquan Rivera, the man once convicted and imprisoned for the shooting of a Rochester policeman, in a drug case influenced by New York’s new law doing away with cash bail for many crimes. “Our hands are certainly tied,” Matthew Schwartz, Monroe County Assistant District Attorney said. “This is somebody who has previously been convicted of shooting a police officer. He has a prior violent felony conviction on his record and was currently faced with allegations of selling fentanyl."

A Republican Assembly member says Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb should resign his leadership post after he crashed his state-owned SUV into a ditch and was charged with DWI on New Year’s Eve. “That he hasn’t done so already is a disgrace,” Assemblyman Kieran Lalor of the Hudson Valley said in a tweet. A Republican Assembly member says Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb should resign his leadership post after he crashed his state-owned SUV into a ditch and was charged with DWI on New Year’s Eve. “That he hasn’t done so already is a disgrace,” Assemblyman Kieran Lalor of the...

When Democrats pushed through a law last spring that sharply curtailed cash bail for nonviolent defendants, they hailed it as a landmark measure to stop the poor from being jailed before trial simply because they had few resources. Now, as the rules take effect on Jan. 1, a backlash has arisen among numerous district attorneys, judges, county legislators and law enforcement officials, who are sounding alarms and raising the specter of dangerous criminals on the loose. Some Republicans are using the issue to paint Democrats as soft on crime. “Estimates of what’s going to happen have ranged from ‘Much Ado...

The man who was arrested for sucker-punching an NYPD cop in Brooklyn was back at his old stomping ground Sunday — just two days after being released without bail despite a slew of charges. Steven Haynes, 40, returned to Livingston and Court streets in Downtown Brooklyn — where police say he slugged and brawled with one of New York’s Finest on Thursday — after being cut loose, irritating local merchants who say he’s been a troublesome presence on the block for months.

Full title: NYPD officer violently attacked while 'partner' politely asks criminal to stop. Suspect released with no bail. Video: https://twitter.com/SBANYPD/status/1210935475168567297BROOKLYN, NY – It’s open season on cops in New York City, and an incident this past Thursday shows that criminals no longer care about assaulting them, especially since in the state of New York, assaulting a police officer is not considered a serious enough crime to warrant cash bail. In downtown Brooklyn, 40-year-old Steven Haynes apparently sucker punched the unsuspecting officer for no reason. The officer fell to the ground, at which point Haynes continued punching the officer in the...

NEW YORK CITY – People are fleeing New York much faster than any other state in the nation, figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau show. More than 76,000 people packed up and shipped out of New York during 2019, heading to states such as Florida, Georgia and Texas — which were among the fastest-growing areas. After New York, the states that saw most people leaving were Illinois, with 51,250 departees; West Virginia, with 12,144; and Louisiana, with 10,896.

Albany, NY – Under New York’s " justice reforms," criminals must be provided with the names and contact information of victims and witnesses involved in the case against them. Effective January 1, 2020, prosecutors will have just 15 days from the time of arraignment to hand over all evidence pertaining to a case – including victim and witness information, WSTM reported. Cases can be dismissed if prosecutors fail to meat the deadline, Albany County District Attorney David Soares told the news outlet. “’By the way, I have to provide your cell phone number to his lawyer in a few weeks,’”...

MONSEY (VINnews) — Multiple people were stabbed Saturday night in a synagogue. According to reports, a black male entered Rabbi Rottenburg’s Shul, located in the Forshay neighborhood in Monsey, and pulled out a machete. He pulled off the cover and stabbed at least 3 people. One of the victims was stabbed in the chest. The perpetrator then ran out and escaped in a vehicle. His plates were spotted before he left, and the police are currently searching for him.