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.
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?