A Brooklyn man taken into custody in East New York late on Sunday has been charged in the killing of imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant Thara Uddin outside the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in Ozone Park, Queens, on Saturday. Oscar Morel is charged two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, police said Monday night.
A six-month-long New York Times investigation has found that New York City’s system of “three-quarter houses” preys on those it ostensibly exists to help—recovering addicts and alcoholics. One sober-housing operator reportedly told residents to relapse and return to certain outpatient treatment programs, so he could receive Medicaid-fee kickback. If they refused, he would evict them.
Occupy Wall Street is taking it to the streets of areas hit hard by foreclosures around the country today. In New York, protesters are taking a tour of foreclosed homes in East New York, which will ultimately end with them "occupying" a property in an attempt to keep its residents from being evicted.
When Nick Denton took over as managing editor of Gawker yesterday (it feels like an eternity ago!) he "let go" of many, if not all, of our columnists. The cast-offs included Tionna "Tee" Smalls, whose advice column "Ask Tionna" was beloved by most of Gawker's readers, some fervently some tepidly but really most fervently. Anyway, she's steamed she got fired and she's not going to take it lying down. In the early hours of January 3rd, she sent out an "Official Statement Regarding dismissal of Ask Tionna," that is just as raw, moving, insightful and controversial as her advice was.
