Current mayor de Blasio releasing convicted recidivist criminals on purpose in the effort to close Rikers

 

NY Post 

Hundreds of inmates serving time on Rikers Island are set to be sprung prematurely as part of a desperate bid by Mayor Bill de Blasio to deal with the shortage of correction officers willing to work there, The Post has learned.

The horde of ex-cons — who could be freed starting Tuesday — would comprise the second wave of convicted criminals granted early release since last year, when officials used the COVID-19 pandemic to justify putting around 300 jailbirds back on the streets.

Those inmates were among more than 1,500 who were freed last year due to the coronavirus crisis, reducing the city’s jail population to 4,363 — a level not seen since in more than 70 years.

The latest plan comes amid a surge in shootings and serious assaults that helped push the average daily jail population to 5,730 in July, its highest in more than a year, according to the most recent statistics compiled by the state Department of Criminal Justice Services.

The newest batch of early releases were set to start last Thursday but were delayed when the remnants of Hurricane Ida struck the Big Apple and killed 13 people, law enforcement sources said.

“The mayor wants to close Rikers and he will use any opportunity to release the prisoners,” one source said.

“He is leaving in three-plus months and he wants to release as many prisoners as he can.”

The inmates under consideration include Allen Nimmons, 56, a career burglar who’s served seven prison sentences and is locked up for violating parole, sources said.

Another is Rashawn Powell, 30, who’s serving a sentence for three counts of dealing drugs on school grounds, in addition to bail jumping, sources said.

But officials are keeping the names of those set for early release closely guarded because de Blasio “doesn’t want the pushback that he got last time when he released dangerous felons,” a source said.

“There are only the worst kind criminals left in jail — people with gun arrests, shootings, sex crimes, etc. No one is in for shoplifting,” the source added.

 

Eric Adams goes to the Hamptons and The Blaz goes to a concert in the Bronx as C.O.'s and nurses protest against horrible and dangerous working conditions at Rikers Island

PIX News 

  Correction officers protested outside Rikers Island on Monday over what they described as dangerous working conditions. 

AIR11 was over the scene around 2:45 p.m. as several hundred people gathered outside the jail complex holding signs.

A Correction Officers Benevolent Association spokesperson told PIX11 News the protest was not a walkout of on-duty guards. It was not immediately clear if inmates were left alone.

In a tweet on Monday, the Correction Officers Benevolent Association urged retired and off-duty city Department of Correction members and their families to join the protest.

“We’re calling on ALL retired and active, off-duty DOC Uniformed members and your families to meet COBA at the bridge on Monday, August 16th at 3PM. We’re joining forces with our union brothers and sisters from across NYC and we will make our voices heard!” the union tweeted.

The tweet also included a flyer that suggested members of the Correction Captains’ Association and Assistant Deputy Wardens Association would also join the protest.

“We need safer jails now. Enough is enough! City Hall has failed to protect us. Their reckless policies have put our lives in jeopardy,” the flyer read. 

COBA filed a lawsuit against the New York City Department of Correction in Queens Supreme Court last month, calling conditions for officers at D.O.C. facilities nothing short of a human rights emergency requiring immediate attention.

The complaints include back-breaking triple shifts of 24 hours or more, with few breaks or access to food and water, shortages of PPE to protect against COVID-19, and increased violence against officers and within the inmate population.

Veteran nurse Paulette McGee has spent 20 years working at Rikers in what she described as an environment of constant fear.

“We are now faced with urine being thrown at us, knives held to our neck,” McGee said. “I was assaulted in 2018: punched so hard in my jaw I was knocked out straight on my back.”

Joseph Russo, who’s with he Assistant Deputy Wardens Union, said inmates get away with things all the time. He said they’re not afraid to commit crimes and acts of violence behind bars.

“Our hands are tied. We cannot defend ourselves,” Russo said. “We’re here because of conditions on Rikers are outrageous; this is a chaotic gangland controlled area.”

 NY Post

Mayoral hopeful Eric Adams hit the Hamptons over the weekend, where his political talks — and outfit — impressed East End insiders.

The candidate attended a Water Mill fundraiser — wearing a bright red blazer that would’ve made The Weeknd jealous — on Sunday at a private home. The bash was hosted by a group including Democratic backer businessman Dennis Mehiel and Republican billionaire John Catsimatidis, as well as Victoria Schneps and Todd Shapiro. 

Two media owning oligarchs raising money for the news media's prematurely anointed predetermined mayor of NYC. This is some fucked up shit right here.

City O.E.M. is letting an LLC profit from housing homeless people,released prisoners and frontline workers in hotels

THE CITY

In recent weeks, the city has placed hundreds of vulnerable homeless shelter residents, frontline hospital workers and recently released Rikers Island inmates into hotel rooms to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

And every time one of these temporary guests check in, a company down in Texas pockets a $27 per room, per night fee.

The firm, Crewfacilities.com LLC, also bills the city $18 for every breakfast, $19 for every lunch and $34 for every dinner provided to the guests, according to records obtained by THE CITY.

And then there’s the actual hotel rooms. The city Office of Emergency Management blacked out the room rates spelled out in Crewfacilities’ contract, arguing the information was protected from public disclosure as a “trade secret.”

But according to an unredacted copy of a related document obtained by THE CITY, nightly room rates range from $128 for a room in Queens to $163 to spend the night near Times Square.

A review of Hotel.com Thursday showed much lower rates available at struggling hotels all over the city. A Hilton Garden Inn in Tribeca, for example, was offering a discounted rate of $89 per night, while rooms at a Best Western in Herald Square were going for $75.

So far, taxpayers have shelled out about $15.5 million for more than 8,600 rooms booked by Crewfacilities in hotels around town. That includes the per room, per night fee and the thousands of meals for guests who request them at the rates set by Crewfacilities’ contract.

In an interview with THE CITY Friday, Councilmember Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), chair of the city contracts committee, questioned Crewfacilities’ $27 per room, per night fee, noting that the industry norm for such a booking fee is typically 10% of the room rate. That would come out to $12 to $16. As of last week, Crewfacilities had charged $2.5 million in these fees.
 

Kallos called on OEM to cancel the contract, estimating that between the $27 fee and the $71 per-day meal charge, Crewfacilities could be charging taxpayers $3,000 per month — above the cost of hotel rooms — for each guest.

“At the height of the pandemic we were desperate for hotel rooms and we got ripped off by a contract with $27 overhead,” he said. “We can and must do better by cutting out the middleman and going directly to the hotels. We can use the savings to fund essential services for youth and seniors this summer.”

As for the cost of an $18 breakfast, he added,  “That better be one fancy breakfast. If it’s $18 for a bagel and coffee, that’s expensive even for New York City.”

A few days ago it was revealed a company from Texas got a contract to build a hospital that was never used, now we got another Texas firm profiting from a pandemic.

What is up with these Texas connections? Could this be tied anyway to de Blasio's farcical presidential run last summer when he was traversing the nation for donations to his PAC's?