Crime Watch

Paul Bisceglio — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:48:19 +0000

PART HIT MAN, PART SPAMBOT

A 50-year-old West End Avenue resident reported to police last Thursday that he received repeated e-mails from an unknown man threatening to kill him. In the messages, the perp explained that someone had offered him $2,000 (half given in advance) to execute the Upper West Sider, and that the resident could only subvert his pending demise by paying the perp $1,000. Concerned for his safety, the resident reported the threats to the FBI, who told him to go to local authorities. Police filed the case as attempted grand larceny.

CELLPHONE SWIPE

An unknown man stole an iPhone from an unsuspecting woman late last Thursday night at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 80th Street. The thief snuck up behind the 28-year-old woman at the intersection, smacked her on the side of her head, then snatched her phone while she was stunned. The woman was unable to retrieve the phone’s serial number from her wireless provider for tracking purposes, but police nevertheless reportedly recovered video of the man, a 6-foot-tall Caucasian in his mid-30s, attempting to sell the phone at a hostel on Amsterdam Avenue. The suspect is still at large.

BACKDOOR ROBBERY

An unidentified burglar stole money and electronics from a clothing store on Columbus Avenue last Friday by sneaking in through a basement back door. The thief managed to access to the basement’s storeroom from an outside alley, then charged upstairs into the store when a young female employee opened the usually locked door to go downstairs. He locked the employee in the basement, then headed to the store’s office, where he grabbed a safe, two iPhones and an iPad with a combined worth around $2,000. No security cameras were in place to pick up the thief’s details, and he made a clean escape.

KNIFE-WIELDING CROOK

On Wednesday last week, an unidentified man burst into a chain store on Broadway between West 81st and 82nd streets and demanded the cash drawer. “Give me the money,” he said, and withdrew a knife as two employees ran away. The robber snatched the bottom part of the register, which held an unknown amount of cash, then rushed out of the store. Video surveillance showed that he was Caucasian in his mid-40s, wearing glasses, jeans, a waist length jacket and brown dress shoes.

HURRICANE HEIST

In the middle of a hurricane, probably the absolute last thing you want to worry about is someone breaking in and stealing your stuff. But that’s exactly what some rude New Yorker did to a local newsstand vendor, who returned to his kiosk on Broadway after the storm on Tuesday to find a broken lock on his front gate and thousands of dollars of merchandise missing. Gone were lottery tickets, phone cards and cigarette cartons along with $2,000 cash, together setting the salesman back over $10,000.

KEY BETRAYAL

The owner of a commercial building on Columbus Avenue got a sad surprise when he watched the surveillance video of a burglar robbing his store from the front door. In the early hours of Friday, Nov. 2, an unidentified man approached the store and used keys to unlock the main entrance and an interior security gate. Once inside, the perp put on rubber gloves and pried open the cash register with an unidentified sharp object. He then fled the scene, leaving the sharp object behind. He wore a brown hoodie that obstructed the camera’s view of his face.

Searching for Answers in the Sands of Time

NYPress — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:58:21 +0000

Childhood is where the seed of corrupt politicians is planted

By Alan S. Chartock

A long, long time ago, I spent the summers on Fire Island with my family. My best friend, now passed, was Jon Lipsky, who went on to develop a tremendous reputation as a teacher and a playwright of the first order. His older brother, Michael, became an eminent professor at MIT and a formidable administrator at the Ford Foundation. Their younger brother, David, became a scientist and was largely responsible for the New York City water supply. Their father, Eleazar, was the author of many important novels and an assistant district attorney in the office of the legendary DA Frank Hogan. My friend’s cousins included the son and daughter of a publicist, “Uncle David.” Publicist David Lipsky’s daughter, Lisa, ran the Fire Island movie house. The youngest son, young enough for me not to have really known him, was Richard Lipsky. I just remember Richard as a little kid with his stomach hanging out over a bathing suit, walking barefoot in Ocean Beach. For a while it looked like Richard would follow in the footsteps of his distinguished cousins. He did well at college and then went on to earn a Ph.D. in political science.

The next time I heard about Richard Lipsky, I was publishing The Legislative Gazette in Albany and teaching at SUNY New Paltz and Albany. Instead of sticking with an academic career, Richard became a lobbyist and enjoyed some success. He was terrific at gaming the press. He would call the editors and offer them tidbits and stories. Like his dad, he had a temper. Eventually, his success as a lobbyist began to wane, and he fell in with Carl Kruger, the man I have always called the “Bad Kruger.” The “Good Krueger” is Sen. Liz Krueger, a brilliant public servant who seems earnestly devoted to the public good. The Bad Kruger is a complicated man, apparently shaped by a very hard childhood. Today he is seemingly uncommitted to contemporary ethical standards. As you probably know by now, the Bad Kruger took a turn for the worse when he deserted his professional responsibilities and went on the take. People would go to a designated lobbyist—none other than the kid in the bathing suit, Richard Lipsky—and give him money to put the fix in with the Bad Kruger, who would make things happen. When the FBI apprehended Richard Lipsky, there was money all over his home at the prestigious Normandy apartments on the West Side.

This is all a matter of public record. Both the Bad Kruger and Richard Lipsky were caught so red-handed that denial was impossible. They both pleaded guilty and are off to prison. Both made a public show of remorse. At his sentencing, the lawyer for the Bad Kruger made the defense that his client wasn’t as bad as some of the others in politics. I am sure that this did not sit well with the members of the Legislature. The U.S. district judge in the case, Jed S. Rakoff, took note of the good things that the Bad Kruger had done and let him off with a lighter sentence than the federal prosecutors were seeking. Richard Lipsky, the little kid in the blue bathing suit, will also go to prison.

I guess the point is that when you see some kid on the beach, maybe sucking his thumb, it’s possible that 50 years later that kid may turn out to be a brain surgeon or he may turn out to be a crook. The whole thing gives me the shivers. When I talked to my best friend Jon just before he passed and mentioned what was happening to his cousin Richard, Jon said, “Yeah, I know.” I’ve been wondering whether he saw it coming.

Unlike others who have no empathy, I just hate to see this happen to anyone. If you look into the childhoods of Carl Kruger and Richard Lipsky, you might find some clues about what was going to happen.

Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.

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Crime Watch

Searching for Answers in the Sands of Time