11/03/2007

Question #3: yes or no

Voters to consider approving funds for open space on Election Day

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer

This Election Day, citizens of Hudson County and across the state will be faced with four statewide ballot questions at the polls.

One of those is Question No. 3, which asks voters to approve the Green Acres, Farmland, Blue Acres and Historic Preservation Bond Act of 2007.

If passed, it would authorize the state to issue $200 million in general obligation bonds to provide funds to continue New Jersey's open space, farmland and historic preservation programs for a year or more, and to support the state's Blue Acres program to purchase flood-prone properties.

Funds provided over the past ten years from the Garden State Preservation Trust (GSPT), a financing authority that manages funds for the highly-successful Green Acres and the farmland and historic preservation programs, dried up after Governor Jon Corzine and the N.J. Legislature were unable to agree on funding for the trust.

And it was only apropos that a press conference last Monday was held at Jersey City's Reservoir No. 3 to tout the benefits of Question No. 3, and to encourage the public to answer "yes" to the question.

Speakers for the event included Mayor Jerramiah Healy, City Council President Mariano Vega (in his role as the head of the Hudson County Department Of Parks, Engineering & Planning), State Assemblyman Louis Manzo (N.J.-31), Hackensack Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan, NY/NJ Baykeeper Greg Remaud, Gary Rice of the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, Steve Latham of the Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance (responsible for the upkeep of Reservoir No.3) and Kevin Moore of Newark's Weequahic Park Association.

Also in attendance were members of various open space preservation groups both on a local and state level.

Among them was Eric Stile of the N.J. Audubon Society, one of the spokespersons of the N.J. Keep It Green Campaign, a consortium of over 90 environmental groups working to promote Question No. 3.

"It's fair to say the gas tank is empty," Stile said. "A vision without funding is a hallucination...bottom line is we're out of money."

Why Question No. 3?

The "question" of Question No. 3 is - why is it on the ballot?

In June, Governor Jon Corzine and the N.J. Legislature agreed to leave it up to voters to decide whether or not they want to continue funding the GSPT for another year.

Ballot Question No. 3, if approved by voters, would allow the State Legislature to issue bonds that would be paid back in the next 30 years from existing revenue sources, such as the state's income tax and sales tax. Thus, it will require a tax increase.

The $200 million gained from the sales of the bonds would be allocated as follows: $109 million for open space and park development, $73 million to preserve farmland, $6 million for historic preservation and $12 million to acquire flood-prone properties along the Passaic, Raritan and Delaware rivers and their tributaries.

Local municipalities usually apply for grants from the state's Green Acres program in order to use the grants for the acquisition of open space for new parkland or preservation of existing land from any pending development.

According to Gary Rice of the DEP, who cited the data on grants issued by the Green Acres Program in 2004, the last year when data was collected on the amount of money municipalities were given, Jersey City received $1.5 million. The monies have gone to the development of such parks as Bayside Park, located off Garfield Avenue, currently undergoing renovation.

But Question No. 3 is facing opposition from various groups such as Americans for Prosperity, led by Bogota Mayor and longtime Republican activist Steven Lonegan. Lonegan claims that there should be no bonding by the state government when it is currently over $33 billion in debt. He also said that the state will increase taxes in the future to pay off the debt incurred from paying off the bonds.

Their answers to the question

With the backdrop of Reservoir No. 3, its lake and the birds that occupy the reservoir, speakers touted the importance of answering Question No. 3.

Healy said the funds that would be generated from bonding if Public Question No. 3 passes is money "well-spent" to develop open space.

Jersey City has plans to develop the reservoir in future years as a passive recreation site, and will depend on Green Acres funding for that endeavor. The city also completed a recreation master plan for the renovation and development of all the city's parks.

"Those funds can be used to maintain [Reservoir No. 3], make it more accessible so it can be used by more people and make it safer," Healy said.

Manzo said voters should "feel good" about voting for the ballot issue on Election Day.

"It's something that will pay back dividends for Jersey City and for the residents living in the urban areas in one of the state's most densely populated areas," Manzo said.

Latham said the funding will not only benefit the development of Reservoir No. 3, but also other open space in years to come.

"Future generations are going to look back and wonder why we didn't save things," Latham said. "To say we didn't have enough money is a ridiculous thing to say."

Comments on this story can be sent to: Ricardo Kaulessar at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

Greenville Hospital is saved - for now

State health board puts off recommendation to close

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer

Greenville Hospital has two deadlines: Six months if Jersey City can come up with $1.5 million to keep it open, or 90 days if the city can't.

That was the outcome of a hearing at the Hyatt Regency in Princeton Thursday, when the NJ State Health Planning Board convened to make a determination on the closing of the 100-bed hospital located in the southern part of Jersey City.

LibertyHealth Systems, the organization that operates Greenville Hospital, has looked to close it since April, citing a $3 million deficit. LibertyHealth also claims a duplication of medical services offered by the Jersey City Medical Center, the other Jersey City hospital it operates.

The company filed a certificate of need application with the NJ Department of Health and Human Services to close the hospital. If the board decided that the hospital should be closed, members would have recommended their decision to the state's Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs.

Instead, the board took Mayor Jerramiah Healy up on his offer made during the meeting to commit $1.5 million to keep the hospital open for another six months. But the board added a condition: if the city did not produce the money within 90 days, they will convene another meeting to decide whether or not to recommend closing Greenville Hospital.

The board made the decision after four hours of hearing public comments which unanimously opposed closure, as well as presentations from those who advocated for closing.

The result was that the 200 people who showed up to save Greenville Hospital got something of a minor miracle. And it didn't go unappreciated, as members of the public offered rousing applause and handshakes to the board members.

After the meeting, Healy was happy, but remained realistic about the board's decision.

"Today, the decision bought extra time," Healy said. "Now we must work with the city's business administrator and the City Council to locate additional funds to try to keep Greenville Hospital open."

Just some more time and accuracy

For those who wanted the hospital to stay open, one key word was time.

Mayor Healy and other officials at the meeting pleaded with the health board to offer a little more time before they made a decision, to allow Jersey City government to work with elected officials on county, state and federal levels to find fiscal and operational solutions to keep the hospital alive.

For officials, and especially for patients, it was the time that would be tacked on if they had to travel the extra three miles to the Jersey City Medical Center. It could make the difference between life and death, some said as they cited the problems with daily traffic and the decreases in public transportation.

That was the sentiment expressed by local resident Linda Jackson, who credited Greenville Hospital for saving her life when she suffered from a staph infection. She claimed she could have had tougher time she had to travel to the Medical Center.

"My health does not depend on a clock," Jackson said. The other word bandied about during the meeting was inaccurate.

As in state Senator-elect Sandra Bolden Cunningham made a plea for the board to delay their decision, she said testimony from a number of speakers at the meeting would shed light on "a lot of inaccurate and misleading information" in the certificate of need filed by LibertyHealth.

Lorenzo Richardson, aide to City Councilwoman Viola Richardson (also a relative), pointed out that by closing the Greenville Hospital, LibertyHealth has projected spending $6 million total for retirement benefits and the commercial mortgage of the hospital building if they close - twice the amount of the hospital's deficit. It doesn't "add up," he said. He also added that other information provided by LibertyHealth to close Greenville Hospital, ranging from the claims of duplication of services and the convenience of public transportation for patients to travel to other hospitals, should be scrutinized further.

Still making his case

After the hearing ended, LibertyHealth CEO Stephen Kirby tried to mask his frustration when he was told that plans to close the hospital would have to wait. He decided to play the role of the good sport.

"I'll work with Mayor Healy starting tomorrow, and will continue to work with him if he can put up the $1.5 million," Kirby said. "But even if the hospital survives, it won't be an acute care facility because there would be too many beds."

Kirby also said that he would like to see a federally qualified health center (FQHC), which is a clinic receiving funding from the U.S. government, take over the Greenville Hospital space.

Kirby said he was "most sensitive to lies" from various speakers during the public comment portion, who criticized him for everything from fiscal mismanagement to insensitivity, to the plight of the patient, to not reaching out to the community enough.

But he also appeared to have earned accolades from the board for detailing the financial plight of the LibertyHealth system, only for the same board to question whether or not LibertyHealth has done enough to keep it from closing.

Comments on the story can be sent to: rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

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Honestly , not affiliated, just a very happy member!

Hi,

We've got a huge cherry tree in our backyard (near Hamilton Park) that could use a good trim. Is there anyone who can recommend a good (and reasonably priced) tree service?

Thanks,

-- mark

I do like how the cop on the latest video asking questions or answering questions refused to continue when he noticed the camera was 'on'.

Considering the cops job is mostly done out in public or in a public space what did he fear - accountability!

If you're referring to property tax liens and foreclosures, the City currently does not advertise those on the official website.

The City Tax lien sale usually takes place in June, just prior to the end of the fiscal year (Jul 1 - Jun 30). There may also be a water lien sale during the year. Lien sales are required to be advertised twice in the local paper of record, and property owners are required to be noticed twice. Note, these are for municipalities on the state fiscal year. Calendar year municipalities can advertise 4 weeks prior to the sale, but since the fiscal year process can't start until the 11th day of the 11th month of the fiscal year, it's called an "accelerated sale".

If an outside buyer (investor) purchases a tax lien, they may foreclose after 2 years, providing they have also paid the subsequent taxes. It's the subs and the time that make this a tough game for the individual investor, although there are several small investors who do quite well and who are familiar attendees at Jersey City's, Newark's, and other sales.

In my experience, tax collectors make it clear prior to the start of the sale that "if you're here to buy your neighbor's house and evict them, you have a misconception about the process". At this point, several people get up and leave.

At any time (and often even after - called a vacated judgment) up to the time of foreclosure, the property owner can redeem the tax sale certificate and pay the back taxes, fees, and interest.

If the lien is held by the City (those properties for which liens are not purchased during the lien sale), foreclosure proceedings can begin after 6 months. Again, the property owner always has the right of redemption.

Foreclosures are also required to be advertised, but currently not on the website. That is the perogative of the Tax Collector and the Administration.

Again, if you're looking to obtain a property for unpaid taxes, you have to purchase the lien, pay the subs (otherwise some else can purchase the following year's lien), and see it through to the end.

Now, if you're referring to missed mortgage payments, the City would have no info on that.

N.J.S.A. 54 covers taxation in more detail than you'd ever want to know, and the legislature's website is not terribly user friendly.

Kudos and more kudos to you guys and all the good decent folk who are bringing this story into the daylight of public scrutiny where it belongs. An earlier post likened the ?Drunken Cops? story to a tangled thread that once tugged begins to unravel a tapestry of , well, who knows what at this point? If you ask me, their particular peccadillo seems to nestle rather cozily within a larger culture of corruption that is apparently making Jersey City world famous. Which may explain to some degree why the story was ignored from the outset by at least some of the press. Corruption in Jersey City? Where?s the news in that?

How long till the next election?

Hey

I learned that you can search for foreclosures on city websites. Or really cases that will turn into foreclosures because somebody missed a payment or something.

What is the jersey city site for that?

it has reached a plateau.

Biscuit, does your love for Zipcar still grow?

About 10 years ago I had a guy busted for breaking into cars on my street. When he got out of jail about 2 years later he got a job with the JCPA thanks to his Dad, the Rev. Colon, and his political connections. Needless to say that didn't last once the papers got hold of the story.

Just got an email from Zipcar that they're billing me $64 for an unpaid JC parking ticket.

On the day in question, I was parked at a meter (which I paid).

Ironically, I was parked in front of the JC Parking Authority, getting a visitor's pass that I'm not even sure I needed, but that's a different headache.

There was no ticket on the car when I returned, and like I said, I had filled the meter with plenty of quarters. But how can I prove this to Zipcar when they're getting notice of an unpaid ticket?

Don't know if this was just another random incident of JCPA ineptitude, or if they spotted the big green Zipcar logo and somehow knew that the ticket would be automatically paid and charged back to me, with no proof whatsoever.

Got a bogus ticket on my sister's car, too, and I'm convinced that her out-of-town plates brought it on. Who's going to fight a parking ticket from three states away.

That's 2 bogus tickets in 3 months, and I don't even own a car.

Do they have a proper pec deck? I have been trying to get Newport to buy one for 3 years (and 3 managers) now...all I get are excuses and it is becoming a deal breaker for me and I get re-pissed off with every monthly payment.
They've got a DOZEN ways to do bench presses but not one way to properly do pecs.

I know, I know...
But different things are important to different people.

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YEA RIGHT!!!!!

Does it really even matter if you are affiliated with the Gym
Who Cares... Your report gave a lot of useful info.

This gym is fantastic, a great addition to the neighborhood.

Spacious and naturally lit, beautifully designed, with a large variety of top notch equipment.

Loads of free weights, all kinds of weight lifting machines and every kind of cardio machine, with personal TV's on each machine!

The locker room is beautifully tiled with steam room, sauna, and private showers.

The class space is huge offering everything; Yoga, Spinning, Step, Sculpting, Martial Arts-Karate etc., etc.

The Karate class on Weds and Fri at 6:30 has an awesome instructor who studied under Aaron Banks. That class alone is worth the price of the gym.

The gym is even a nice place to just hang out, with a juice bar set up like a real bar. Lounging areas and TV's all over the place.

It's only one block from the Grove St. Path station and
they have an arrangement with the parking lot across the street for free parking.

I have no affiliation with the gym..

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And one home on Palisades Avenue was in during the Revolution.

But one house, or one block "does not a Heights make."

I take issue only with the statement:
"MOST homes in the Heights were built between 1860 and 1920."

Indicted in beating of gay couple

Saturday, November 03, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

UNION CITY - Two former employees of a Burger King on Bergenline Avenue have been indicted on hate crime charges in connection with the vicious beating of a same-sex couple outside the restaurant earlier this year, officials said yesterday.

Angel Caraballo, 28, of Duncan Avenue, and Christopher Soto of Prospect Street, both of Jersey City, were charged with aggravated assault and a first-degree hate crime in connection with the July 22 beating, officials said. The hate crime offense carries a possible sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.

The two victims, Union City men in their early 40s, were in the Burger King, on the 3500 block of Bergenline, when they asked someone behind the counter for a refund for an item that was not available, officials said.

One employee allegedly asked the other who was asking for the refund and he replied with a derogatory term for a homosexual, according to a news release issued by the gay rights advocacy group Garden State Equality.

The couple left the restaurant, but a group of Burger King employees followed them outside, where "they beat them mercilessly," while repeating anti-gay slurs, the news release says.

"Even in New Jersey, arguably the most progressive state in the country, a state we call the state that doesn't hate, too many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people live in fear," said Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality.

The victims are represented by Nutley lawyer James F. Fine and River Edge lawyer Joseph Donahue. Burger King officials could not immediately be reached for comment last night, nor could the defendants' attorneys.

Garden State Equality and Hudson Diversity Action Council will hold a rally against hate on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Pride Connections Center, 32 Jones St., Jersey City.

CLERK A KILLER?
Lawyers: Feds know accused Hudson man was cleared

Saturday, November 03, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A law enforcement source, according to a report published yesterday, says a man arrested in Downtown Jersey City on immigrations charges in May is wanted in Pakistan for assassinating a Muslim cleric.

The man's lawyers say, though, he's been cleared of that charge - and that federal authorities know it.

Akhtar Hussain Muawia was arrested in his brother-in-law's Mashaallah Grocery, on Grove Street at Christopher Columbus Drive, on an immigration violation, according to both his lawyer, Amy Gell, and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Michael Gilhooly.

But the New York Daily News, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported yesterday that the real reason he was picked up was because he was the alleged gunman who killed Shia leader Mahmood Shah in Pakistan in 1997.

Muawia's brother-in-law, Mumtaz Ahmed, was arrested as part of a money laundering investigation in October 2006 and Muawia was picked up at the same time on an immigration violation, Gilhooly said. After that arrest, Muawia posted $10,000 bail and was freed.

Then in May, a New York police analyst connected him to the assassination and tracked him to Jersey City, according to sources cited by the Daily News.

Sources told the newspaper that the Grove Street grocery laundered money for the Sunni terrorist organization Sipah-e-Sahaba/Pakistan and called Muawia "a favored assassin" of the group, according to yesterday's article.

Gilhooly said that after Muawia's arrest in May, the New York Police Department passed along the information about the assassination. Muawia's situation was re-evaluated by a judge and Gell presented to the court papers from Pakistan saying Muawia was cleared of the murder and three unrelated men were convicted. A judge set his bail at $50,000, Gilhooly said, and he remains there on immigration violations.

The Department of Homeland Security immediately appealed the bail ruling but the Board of Immigration upheld it, saying "he was not a risk," according to Gell. The next hearing was scheduled for this past Tuesday, but the government attorney said she couldn't make it and it was rescheduled for Nov. 13, Gell said.

Yesterday afternoon, men leaving the Sunni Rizvi Jamia Mosque on Grove Street, where Muawia worshipped, said they doubted he would be involved in an assassination.

"He is a calm, gentle man," said Angel Cruz as he left Friday prayers. "He helped anybody in the neighborhood."

Gell accused the government of leaking the story about the assassination to strengthen its case.

"They don't have any evidence and they haven't charged him with anything," Gell said. "I think that they knew that they couldn't prove their case in court, in any way, shape or form, and they wanted to try it in the court of public opinion."

Gell said that at the next hearing she is going to argue that Muawia should be granted political asylum because he would not be safe if he went home to Pakistan after what has been reported about him here.

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NYPD: We knew of militant group in '03

Saturday, November 03, 2007

An Islamic militant group caused a previously undisclosed scare in 2004 when a man in a truck took cell phone photos of the under-structures of the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges, a police official said yesterday.

The New York Police Department uncovered the suspected reconnaissance mission in Manhattan while investigators already were on alert that Pakistani immigrants loyal to the radical Sunni group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, were in the city "and possibly up to no good," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's top spokesman.

The spokesman detailed the bridge episode in response to a report yesterday in the Daily News that the NYPD was involved in the detention of an alleged member of the group who is purportedly wanted in Pakistan for an assassination of a Shiite leader.

The NYPD has credited one of its intelligence analysts with piecing together evidence that the suspect, Akhtar Hussain Muawia, had used an alias to slip into the United States after the 1997 assassination and was working as a clerk at a Jersey City grocery.

Investigators from the NYPD's Intelligence Division first became aware of a Sipah-e-Sahaba presence in the city in the summer of 2003, Browne said.

Commuters scramble when jitneys yanked

Jersey Journal
Saturday, November 03, 2007

If commuters in North Hudson noticed fewer jitney buses on the streets Thursday, it's because authorities towed nearly half the ones pulled over for targeted vehicle checks, prompting others to be taken out of service, officials said.

The privately run jitneys, popular among commuters to New York as an alternative to NJ Transit buses, were being stopped by police on Boulevard East near the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken during the morning and early afternoon, part of a joint operation conducted by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Insurance Fraud Unit, and the state Department of Transportation, officials said.

Of the 19 buses checked, 11 had to be towed due to various safety violations, such as bald tires and emergency doors not working, said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio.

He said the percentage of failing buses was about average for such inspections.

The first driver stopped had a warrant from municipal court for various motor vehicle violations, DeFazio said. Although the checks were timed to start after the rush hour, the companies started taking other buses off the streets, leaving commuters to cram onto packed NJ Transit buses.

"We learn from experience that once they start stopping vans, the drivers notify the radio dispatcher, and that causes a disruption or misdirection of services," DeFazio said.

CHARLES HACK

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No, that's ok, we'll blame it on you.

This is why we need strict immagration laws.

The one arm man was always nice to me, but I felt like a traitor when I realized that their store was funding a terrorist group in pakistan. I think of all the money I have spent there and how it was going to fund radical islamist groups that kill innocent people.

I will never ever shop there again, and I'm surprised it is still open.

I'm also surprised that people on this site are not trying to blame this on George Bush.

Ray-Ray was a reputed gang member killed in a payback murder in the late summer of 2005. My daughter, who was four at the time, heard the shooting. As a result of our conversations following Ray Ray's death, I wrote the following piece. It gives the perspective of another type of victim of urban violence - the children who witness the crimes around us. You will also find these gang memorials on Franklin Avenue, the closest corner to Webster.
.........................................................................................

My young daughter was poised at her desk, coloring the whimsical pictures conjured up in the minds of little girls when the shots echoed into her bedroom.

Pajama-clad feet padded quickly down the staircase and her anxious face greeted me in the living room. ?Mama, I heard a gun.?

Ray-Ray had barely shed the skin of his teenage years when six bullets stole his last breath steps from our house in Jersey City Heights. The day after his death, I walked by the spot on Palisade Avenue where his bloody body had fallen to the sidewalk, the hard faces of kids who were too young for such loss stared back at me like some kind of unwelcomed stranger.

But their pain, was my pain, and as I soon discovered, my daughter?s. ?Mama, did the boy down the street die?? By now, I had to tell my little girl that a bad person had shot someone to death. She had heard the sirens, heard the sobs of Ray Ray?s people wrap around him like a burial shroud.

My daughter, who wasn?t allowed to watch violent television shows or play with toy guns, who had been sheltered and protected as much as a mother could in a place like Jersey City, was suddenly enrolled in a crash course about gang warfare and murder. And I reluctantly became her professor.

I chose my words carefully and tried to deliver the facts as gently as I could. The newspapers reported that Ray-Ray may have had a beef with a local gang, and his murder was payback for some incident from the past. A life snuffed out in a minute. My daughter wanted to know if he would go to heaven. ?Of course,? I reassured her. And then a quiet pause came as she thought some more. ?What about the man that shot him?? she wondered aloud to me. ?Will he go to heaven??

A profound sadness snatched my voice and twisted my gut into knots. ?It?s too damn early for this talk,? I cried silently. ?She?s four, she?s four years old. Why should I have to be explaining death, and heaven, and hell, and the meaning of gangs to a child??

And with her brown eyes searching mine, I took a breath and continued.

?No, honey, the bad man probably won?t be going to heaven. Only good people go to heaven,? I told her patiently.

Her wheels were turning now. She wanted to know about hell, what it looked like, what it felt like, and who all got in. Then as quickly as we covered that, she wanted to know about heaven. ?Can you talk underwater in heaven?? she wondered to me. ?Of course,? I told her. ?You can do whatever you want in heaven.? ?Even have lollipops for breakfast?? she asked. ?Yup,? I said solemnly, thinking that if I could run away from this conversation, I would, soon and fast.

And if bad people go to hell, what about everything else? Just when you think you can shield your children from the world, wrap your hands over their eyes, and close their ears to harm, you learn, that somehow, they figure out the world pretty much by themselves. ?What about the pit bulls, Mama?? her small voice asked next. ?You know you tell me to stay away from them, and that they?re bad,? she told me. ?Mama, do the pit bulls go to heaven??

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Graffiti on a wall that does not belong to those vagrants. I wish someone would convert all the apartments to condos. Then we can get rid of the low/no class jerks. It's just another inner city brawl.

is that what a rebate on the happy meal looks like? think about it.

During the early 2000's there was a battle in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was a defining moment in the largest NJ Arts facility as well as being representative of what happens to arts communities throughout the U.S. We are thrilled to have brought this issue and documentary into the light. It documents what was behind the scenes of the "Drunk Cops" video. This story still needs to be told...for the first time. We intend to make sure it is. In peace and service, s6k Media

I wonder if Tara and Sonia will apply for the 2 open positions at Burger King?

Official: Militant Pakistani group causes terror concerns in New York

The Associated Press - The International Herald tribune
November 2

NEW YORK: A follower of an Islamic militant group caused a previously undisclosed scare in 2004 when someone in his truck took cell phone photos of the support structures of the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges, a police official said Friday.

The New York Police Department uncovered the suspected reconnaissance mission in Manhattan while investigators already were on alert that Pakistani immigrants loyal to the radical Sunni group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, were in the city "and possibly up to no good," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's top spokesman.

The spokesman detailed the bridge episode in response to a report on Friday in the Daily News that the NYPD was involved in the detention of a member of the group who is purportedly wanted in Pakistan for the assassination of a Shiite leader.

The NYPD has credited one of its intelligence analysts with piecing together evidence that the suspect, Akhtar Hussain Muawia, had used an alias to slip into the United States after the 1997 assassination and was working as a clerk at a Jersey City, New Jersey, grocery, across the Hudson River from New York.

Muawia, 33, was detained in May and is fighting deportation. His attorney has denied he was involved in the killing or any acts of terrorism.
Today in Americas

The NYPD's involvement in the Muawia case reflects its concerns that U.S. followers of lesser-known radical groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba could pose a threat to the city. The Pakistani government outlawed the group after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in an effort to purge the country of extremism, much of it anti-American.

Tthe group also has been designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.

Investigators from the NYPD's Intelligence Division first became aware of a Sipah-e-Sahaba presence in the city in the summer of 2003, Browne said. That fall, acting on an unfounded tip about a potential plot against the subways, police and the FBI that fall raided a Brooklyn apartment where they discovered membership applications and other documents related to the group.

In 2004, a truck traveling on the FDR caught the attention of an off-duty police officer by pausing to let someone inside "photograph the supporting structures underneath the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges," Browne said. It was later learned that the truck was registered to Tariq Javid, whose name was on a Sipah-e-Sahaba membership list found in the Brooklyn apartment.

Under questioning, Javid first denied knowing anything about the group, then admitted he had signed a membership form, according to court papers. However, he denied knowing anything about photographs of the bridges.

Last year, Javid pleaded guilty to making a false statement and was sentenced to one year probation.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/1 ... N-US-Pakistani-Threat.php

Indictment In Anti-Gay Burger King Beating -- Rally against hate in Jersey City

A Hudson County grand jury drew up an indictment against two Burger King employees accused of an anti-gay hate crime.

Garden State Equality chairman Steven Goldstein provides the details, after the jump…

A grand jury in Hudson County has just handed down an indictment of two men, then employees of the Burger King on 3501 Bergenline Avenue in Union City, charging that the employees committed a vicious anti-gay beating of a same-sex male couple on July 22, 2007.

The indictment, State of New Jersey v. Angel Caraballo and Christopher Soto, charges the employees in six counts, the most serious being a first-degree hate crime. The other counts include second- and third-degree aggravated assault.

When the couple asked for a refund for a menu item that the counter person discovered was not available, another counter person then asked who wanted the refund – “The faggots over there?”

The couple left the restaurant. A group of Burger King employees followed them to a side street and beat them mercilessly, though not fatally.

The employees made repeated anti-gay slurs during the beating.

Garden State Equality has also learned that the defendants were named in a police report for an alleged stabbing in November 2006, though the charges emanating from that police report were ultimately dismissed.

“Even in New Jersey, arguably the most progressive state in the country, a state we call the state that doesn’t hate, too many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people live in fear,” said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality.

“Part of the problem is the law,” said Goldstein, “for even though New Jersey’s hate crimes law is one of the oldest in the country, it’s now been surpassed in its scope,” said Goldstein. “We expect that state legislators, with whom Garden State Equality has been working closely, will shortly introduce a bill to remedy the problem.”

Walt Boraczek, co-chair of Hudson Diversity Action Council, said: “Hudson Diversity Action Council is shocked that a tragedy such as this could happen in Hudson County, where the embrace of diverse communities has always been a hallmark of what makes our county great.”

“We look forward to working with the people of Union City and across Hudson County,” Boraczek said, “to demonstrate that we won’t tolerate this type of criminal behavior.”

Garden State Equality and Hudson Diversity Action Council will hold a rally against hate next Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at 6:00 pm, Pride Connections Center of New Jersey, 32 Jones Street, Jersey City.

http://www.queerty.com/news/indictmen ... er-king-beating-20071102/

I must admit -- they were never overly friendly in that Bodega -- I guess I will stop shopping there -- I will miss the 75cent pastries filled with potato, peas and spices and the cheap bottles of 100% pomegranate juice.

BTW. Wikipedia has him living in Greenville near Bayonne.

"...Yousef, in his Pamrapo Avenue home in Jersey City, began assembling the 1,500-lb urea nitrate-fuel oil device for delivery to WTC on February 26, 1993..."

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