Hydrant outside burning church was frozen shut

From NBC:

Members of Deliverance Tabernacle Church in South Ozone Park, Queens are optimistic they'll rebuild after a fire ripped through their house of worship. Rob Schmitt has more.

QNS 2-ALARM 144-01 SUTTER AVE, HOUSE OF WORSHIP FIRE IN BASEMENT & 1ST FLR, UNDER CONTROL

Bunch of lawyers arrested for immigration fraud

From NY Times:

They invented woeful tales of persecution for their Chinese clients. Prepped them on how to lie about having had a forced abortion. Even tutored them on religion.

In all, 26 people, including 6 lawyers, were charged Tuesday with helping Chinese immigrants submit false asylum claims in an effort to stay in the United States, law enforcement officials said.

The indictments describe elaborate schemes based in law offices in Manhattan’s Chinatown and in Flushing, Queens, which involved teams of paralegals and office managers, translators and a church official, who conspired to dupe immigration officials by inventing stories of political and religious persecution for their clients, officials said.

The indictments say female clients who sought asylum based on China’s one-child policy were encouraged to prepare for asylum interviews by watching Chinese soap operas so they could describe the experience of a forced abortion. Some paralegals were called “story writers” for their knack for inventing detailed tales of persecution. A church official in Flushing prepared clients for questions on religion by offering basic instruction in Christianity.

More than 20 defendants were arrested in raids in Manhattan’s Chinatown and in Flushing, capping a three-year investigation.

Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, accused the defendants of “weaving elaborate fictions” and making it “more difficult for those who are legitimately seeking refuge in this country.”

The indictments charged employees of at least 10 law firms, the authorities said. In the past few years, the firms filed more than 1,900 asylum applications, according to the indictments; officials did not say how many they believe were fraudulent.

No good deed goes unpunished

From the Queens Courier:

Leaders of a local Christian church are bemoaning an act of kindness after spending $2,000 in legal fees and close to two years to try to evict a pair of stubborn squatters they say have no plans to leave.

The Queensboro Hill Community Church of Flushing opened its doors to two homeless women and their dog a year-and-a-half ago when church officials found the down-on-their-luck duo sleeping on a mat in a 4×8 room in the basement, said Joe Illigasch, who has close ties with the church.

The pair, Illigasch said, promised they only needed a short amount of time to get back on their feet. But five months later, it was clear to the congregation the mooching mates had no plans to hit the road, Illigasch said.

Illigasch, 70, said he went to the police, who told him the church could not legally boot the ladies after housing them for more than 30 days. The church, he said, then hired a lawyer who said the unwelcome, non-rent paying tenants might not have to leave until an agreement is reached between them, the church and housing courts on a mutually agreed upon date.

The two women have until Friday, August 3 to move out, according to an order by a Queens County Housing Court judge.

“It’s incredible what they’ve done to us,” Illigasch said. “That church will never let anybody in again.”