NYC Metro and LI news thread Aug 28.

[hrmjustin]

Video Shows Fake Cab Driver Wanted in Woman's Attack
http://www.ny1.com/content/news/214566/video-shows-fake-cab-driver-wanted-in-woman-s-attack/

Oversight Hearing to Examine NYPD Retraining Program
http://www.ny1.com/content/news/214608/oversight-hearing-to-examine-nypd-retraining-program/

MTA Safety Panel Cites Need for "Fundamental Rebuilding"
http://www.ny1.com/content/news/214572/mta-safety-panel-cites-need-for--fundamental-rebuilding-/

Stop-Work Notice Issued for Pacific Park Tower
http://www.ny1.com/content/news/214602/stop-work-notice-issued-for-pacific-park-tower/

Police Seek Man in Connection With Brooklyn Forcible Touching Incidents
http://www.ny1.com/content/news/214585/police-seek-man-in-connection-with-brooklyn-forcible-touching-incidents/

Stunning video captures attempted rape, attack on kids in Queens
http://7online.com/news/stunning-video-captures-attempted-rape-attack-on-kids-in-queens/282737/

Sketch released of suspect in violent Brooklyn robbery
http://7online.com/news/sketch-released-of-suspect-in-violent-brooklyn-robbery/284618/

[hrmjustin]

1. m8re

De Blasio to rip lingering scaffolding off housing
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140827/BLOGS04/140829863/de-blasio-to-rip-lingering-scaffolding-off-housing

Bill Bratton and other top de Blasio appointees are worth millions
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/bill-bratton-top-de-blasio-appointees-worth-millions-blog-entry-1.1919485

Sergeants Benevolent Association President hits Mayor de Blasio for chokehold response
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/sergeants-benevolent-association-president-hits-mayor-de-blasio-chokehold-response-blog-entry-1.1918590

Melissa Mark-Viverito tours 'heartbreaking' children's immigration docket
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/melissa-mark-viverito-tours-heartbreaking-children-immigration-docket-blog-entry-1.1917850

New Yorkers see no excuse for police actions in chokehold death: new poll
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/poll-excuse-actions-garner-death-article-1.1918981

[hrmjustin]

2. Brooklyn principal used DOE workers as his personal shoppers: Conflicts board

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/brooklyn-principal-doe-workers-personal-shoppers-blog-entry-1.1920333

[hrmjustin]

3. 66-year-old man faces hate crime charges in bank, insurance company graffiti incidents

Eddie DAnna | [e-mail]

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – A 66-year-old man from New Dorp Beach faces hate crime charges after authorities allege he painted vulgar and hate-filled messages on two bank branches and an insurance company on the East Shore targeting their executives.

http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2014/08/66-year-old_man_faces_hate_cri.html#incart_river

[hrmjustin]

4. East Side garbage foes hide behind loophole

Chris Bragg

Boutique law firm Marquart & Small doesn't seem like the sort of business that could give $690,000 to a lobbying group. It has three employees, is just a year old and operates out of a shared "work collective" office in Manhattan's Flatiron district.

Yet within six months of its founding, the fashion, arts and media specialist law firm had given that amount to a nonprofit called Pledge 2 Protect, which is fighting the building of a waste-transfer plant on the Upper East Side. Marquart & Small made its initial, $177,000 donation just two weeks after the limited liability partnership was formed in July 2013.

But there's a way a startup law firm could muster that kind of money: if it were acting as a "pass-through" to shield Pledge 2 Protect contributors from public scrutiny.

Lobbying compliance lawyer David Grandeau, who represents Pledge 2 Protect, wouldn't say whether Marquart & Small is a conduit for donors but pointed out that only the "first level" of funding given to lobbying groups must be disclosed.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140828/BLOGS04/140829860/east-side-garbage-foes-hide-behind-loophole#.U_-bfvVWu3Y.twitter

[hrmjustin]

5. Mayor De Blasio Signs Bill To Require Tracking Use Of Solitary Confinement

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/mayor-de-blasio-defends-plan-scrap-test-only-admissions-elite-high-schools-blog-entry-1.1920767

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — The mayor has signed a bill requiring New York City correction officials to track and publish information on the use of solitary confinement.