Legislators in Albany have apparently taken to playfully “frisking” one another, according to a New York Times report.

The practice comes at a time when several lawmakers have been indicted on federal charges of corruption, and were caught due to incriminating conversations recorded on wires worn by colleagues.

“You run into them, and you feel them up and down,” said Queens Assemblyman David Weprin.

All four lawmakers involved in the recent corruption scandals hail from the five boroughs of New York City. They are also all Democrats.

Queens Sen. Malcolm Smith is charged with bribery in an attempt to run for city mayor.

Two assemblymen from the Bronx, Eric Stevenson and Nelson Castro, are also in hot water. Steveson is accused of taking bribes from developers of adult day care centers in his district. Castro resigned in a deal where he agreed, in exchange for avoiding prosecution for perjury, to wear a wire to record conversations with fellow lawmakers.

And Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland was recently taken in for bribery, among several other charges.

Weprin, a Democrat, noted the need to “make light of” the situation, as other Congress members similarly complained of the frustration caused by their allegedly felonious colleagues.

“These people make our lives impossible,” said state Sen. Martin Dilan, reportedly over a game of darts and some drinks with a fellow senator, 28-year-old Rafael Espinal. The two both hail from Brooklyn.

Espinal agreed: “We’re all angry. We’re angry at the fact that we have to, the good ones or most of us, deal with the backlash.”

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Albany lawmakers defuse tension with playful ‘frisking’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Initial reports indicated that 41-year-old NYPD officer Miguel Gomez was allegedly videotaping a neighbor coming and going from her apartment, but the Daily News reported that the NYPD officer arrested for “illegal surveillance” last week was apparently spying on his own stepdaughter.

According to The Daily News, court documents revealed that the 21-year-old was, in fact, his stepdaughter who lived in the same home as Gomez and her mother, and that Gomez spied on the young woman for more than a month, between May 28 and July 15, as she got dressed and had sex.

Gomez’s lawyer reportedly said prosecutors actually only have one recording.

According to defense attorney Mark Panzavecchia, the video was taken in the bathroom and no sexual activity was recorded.

Gomez is an eight-year veteran in the police force. He was reportedly released without bail, but barred from being in contact with his stepdaughter.

Neighbors allegedly expressed shock at the allegations.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Voyeur cop was spying on stepdaughter appeared first on Metro.us.

The City Council may pass legislation requiring the NYPD to have an inspector general, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said today.

Quinn said the Council is negotiating legislation regarding cops’ interaction with New Yorkers, including reaching “broad agreement” on the proposal of an inspector general.

“We’re in ongoing negotiations on several significant proposals that will work to improve police-community relations throughout our city,” she said in a statement this afternoon.

Public Advocate Bill De Blasio held a press conference Tuesday to press the Council on details that he said should be included in the legislation.

The Community Safety Act would require the NYPD to have an independent monitor, someone to review the department’s actions.

The NYPD needs “an inspector general with teeth,” de Blasio said in a letter sent to Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Tuesday.

In the letter, he noted that advocates reported the NYPD’s five millionth stop-and-frisk last week. The department is facing a trial that began this week about the stop-and-frisk practice.

“These two milestones are closely linked — with the overuse and misuse of its stop-and-frisk policy, the NYPD has risked department policy being set by judicial decree,” he wrote in the letter. “That is no way for a government agency to operate.”

An inspector general would specifically help reform the stop-and-frisk program, he said.

De Blasio said any appointed inspector general needs an independent budget and subpoena powers. Without those, a court ruling could limit his powers, he said.

“We have seen this movie before — assurances that reform is on the way only to see the council substitute a half-measure for true change,” he said at the conference. “This time must be different.”

The NYPD has been criticized for recent practices like stop-and-frisk and its surveillance of Muslims in and around New York City.

The NYPD’s top spokesman told Metro the suggestion of an inspector general was “wasteful and duplicative.”

The post As council mulls NYPD inspector general, de Blasio calls for one ‘with teeth’ (UPDATE) appeared first on Metro.us.

An NYPD officer was arrested early Friday morning for allegedly spying on his female neighbor, police reported.

41-year-old officer Miguel Gomez was allegedly videotaping his neighbor coming and going from her apartment.

Cops said he was “absolutely not” using police equipment.

Gomez is being charged with “unlawful surveillance,” which means videotaping someone without their knowledge, without “legitimate reason,” cops said.

Gothamist reported the neighbor was 21 years old, and that it was “unclear” what the officer’s relationship to the girl was.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Cop arrested for spying on neighbor appeared first on Metro.us.

Muslim community members do not feel comfortable in their own mosques after finding out about NYPD surveillance, according to a new report released today.

Groups like the Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund released the report at 1 Police Plaza today, accusing the NYPD of spying on the religious, political and community lives of the Muslim community, which they said “creates a pervasive climate of fear and suspicion that encroaches upon every aspect of American Muslims’ lives.”

A series of Associated Press reports revealed that the NYPD collects documents about Muslims in New York – and even outside the state – that many say are wrongfully spying on the community.

“This report is critically important reading for all Americans concerned with freedom, justice, and equality in 21st century America,” said Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, who chairs the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York. “It is the authentic voice of real people impacted by unjust policies and procedures.”

The group said it interviewed 57 Muslim Americans, many of which attended mosques or owned businesses that were directly mentioned in leaked NYPD documents.

One chaplain for a Muslim group said that the week the Associated Press report came out, students avoided the prayer room. 

“They felt they couldn’t meet in their own space,” he said. “The idea of being surveilled, for a 19 or 20 year old, is a terrifying thing.”

The report also notes that interviewees felt they could not grow a beard or wear a hijab, because they feared attracting police attention.

And many mentioned being more careful with their words in religious spaces.

“I have to think twice about the sentences I say just in case someone can come up with a different meaning to what I’m saying,” one 22-year-old Sunday school teacher told researchers.

The NYCLU has blasted the surveillance and filed a lawsuit to try and stop it.

Some New Yorkers call the NYPD surveillance appropriate, including local Muslims, but many criticized the NYPD for what they call surveillance for no reason.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have defended the program, saying that police officers only follow leads. Last year, Bloomberg blamed the media for the uproar.

“The NYPD protects the rights of all New Yorkers and has made certain both its counterterrorism and intelligence programs and procedures pass constitutional muster,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said in a statement today. He added that “misinformation” has been “spewed inaccurately and unfairly against police protecting all New Yorkers.”

“The NYPD has been involved, along with our federal partners, in thwarting very real plots against the city since 9/11,” Browne said. “At the same time, we respect and protect  individual rights, including religious liberty.”

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter: @reporteralison

The post Muslim groups release report on NYPD surveillance appeared first on Metro.us.