Federal prosecutors charged 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority, the largest public housing agency in North America, on Tuesday with taking bribes in exchange for awarding no-bid contracts.
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, called it “the largest single-day bribery takedown” in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The current and former NYCHA employees, 66 of whom were arrested on Tuesday morning, according to Williams’ office, are each charged with extortion as government workers, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and with soliciting and receiving bribes. Some of the accused also face additional conspiracy charges.
NYC is such a corrupt place. You feel it in every facet of life when you live there. The average NYC resident has a long commute with regular delays while the MTA eats billions of tax dollars per year. Renters get gouged by slumlord landlords and pay a 15% real estate broker fee for the privelege. The NYPD spends $121 mil in taxpayer dollars per year to operate lawlessly while solving fewer crimes and locking up anyone who tries to call them out for it.
still… I fucking love living in nyc. it’s got many, many flaws, but, also, so many benefits— and they’re worth fighting for. fighting against the may shitty things.
NYC used to be sooooo much fucking worse. you don’t have to goal around much or even ask too many people to know that - even in the 90s - the crime and murder rate are 5-10x what they are today. You may hear on the news hat NYC is some mad haven for crime and murder, but, truth is, it’s one of America’s safest cities, and has been for almost 20 years! Especially considering certain statistics like gun and drug crimes, NYC is, per capita, particularly low down the list of troublesome cities with regards to crime.
Sure, NYC has its troubles, as any big city does. But its troubles with street-level/vice/violent crimes are vastly overblown. It’s actually a very safe city, far more so than most American cities, especially when compared to nearby cities like Jersey City, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, ect… As you mention, most crime in NYC white collar crime, like financial crime, real estate or other administrative or even political crime. that sort of thing.
I’ve always been really underwhelmed every time I’ve visited NYC (particularly Manhattan). Lots and lots of other cities seem as good or better. What do you find that you love about it so much, other than being relatively safe at this point?
Many museums, tons of Broadway shows, tons of restaurants, many huge parks, many stores, the best people watching, the biggest Christmas tree, famous architecture, public transit to all of it, plus a beach and pizza.
What other city in the world has that?
It’s still less corrupt than most cities and towns in the US. It just does everything big, like Texas . You won’t see corruption like in Kansas that raids a newspaper in NYC
70 that they can prove
It’s almost as if when money enters government it stops working for the people.
Its almost like that’s a meaningless thought-terminating cliché.
What’s the alternative? Private enterprise, which is built on the idea of making the most money possible?
Why the downvotes?
