When Transparency Takes a Vacation Amid the swaying palms of Puerto Rico, New York City officials and their growing entourages continue their annual ritual of luxury networking at taxpayer expense. The SOMOS conference, nominally about Hispanic legislative priorities, has devolved into New York’s premier Caribbean junket – where politicians and their staffs strike poolside deals […]
NYC: Where Transparency Takes a Vacation Read More »
CorruptionA Study in Strategic Opacity Despite today’s expectations of government transparency, the New York City Council under Speaker Adrienne Adams has mastered financial opacity. This persists even with oversight from City Comptroller Brad Lander and Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan – both wielding significant fiscal authority yet remaining silent on how council funds vanish into
NYC Council’s $1.2M Black Box: A Study in Financial Opacity Read More »
CorruptionThe trend of violent crime victimization in New York City up to September 2024 highlights persistent racial disparities and troubling trends. During this nine-month period, violent crime victimization increased by 5.4% in 2024 compared to the same timeframe in 2023. This rise has disproportionately impacted different communities, with minority groups experiencing the majority of the
Racial Disparities in NYC Violent Crime Victimization Read More »
CrimeThe Investigation A thorough examination of public records has revealed a questionable expense in the NYC Council’s spending: a car service bill that raises significant questions about the use of public funds. After multiple unanswered requests for explanation, the matter has escalated to a formal Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to uncover the details
NYC Council Speaker’s $1,393 Car Service: Questions of Coincidence Read More »
CorruptionPart 3 of “NYC’s Creative Accounting Chronicles” – Following “Fiscal Follies: Unveiling NYC Officials’ Creative Accounting Circus” and “NYC’s Financial Circus Continues: Board of Elections’ $29M Car Service Splurge“ Introducing Our Latest Discovery Welcome to New York City’s most impressive disappearing act yet. Following our previous exposés of fiscal acrobatics and car service extravaganzas, we
The $4.2 Billion Vanishing Act: NYC’s Creative Accounting of 2023 Read More »
CorruptionA Continuing Investigation into NYC’s Creative Accounting When I examine New York City’s accounting practices, I feel like I am swimming in raw sewage. In my last blog post, titled “Fiscal Follies: Unveiling NYC Officials’ Creative Accounting Circus,” I investigated the accounting practices of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
NYC’s Financial Circus Continues: Board of Elections’ $29M Car Service Splurge Read More »
CorruptionSetting the Stage: A Tale of Fiscal Smoke and Mirrors Welcome to New York City’s fiscal funhouse, where transparency vanishes, and accountability takes an indefinite vacation. We’re exposing creative accounting practices of Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, whose offices have elevated questionable bookkeeping to high art. Prepare for murky expense reports where
Fiscal Follies: Unveiling NYC Officials’ Creative Accounting Circus Read More »
Corruption, CrimeIntroduction In a recent blog post, I explored the FBI’s underreporting of violent crime in New York City for 2023, raising concerns about the reliability of its national crime statistics. John Lott, writing for the New York Post, revealed that the FBI quietly revised its national violent crime rates for 2021 and 2022 in its
Inevitable Upward Revision in FBI Violent Crime Numbers Read More »
CrimeIn the recent vice presidential debate, Tim Walz made a troublingly disingenuous claim about gun violence research, stating, “And we can start to get data, but here’s the problem, if we really want to solve this, we’ve got folks that won’t allow research to even be done on gun violence.” (57:49 into debate video) Walz’s
VP Debate Fact Check: Walz’s Misleading Claims and Adams’ Data Suppression Read More »
CrimeIntroduction This essay examines crime victimization rates among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States from 2009 to 2023, spanning the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations. The data is sourced from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and presents rates of violent victimizations per 1,000 people aged 12
Crime Victimization by Racial/Ethnic Group Across U.S. Administrations (2009-2023) Read More »
Crime