The precise charges against Steven Croman weren’t yet clear, but the state attorney general’s office is expected to file a Manhattan civil suit today accusing him of unlawfully deploying a former NYPD cop to harass and coerce rent-stabilized tenants into vacating their apartments, said a source close to the investigation.
EXCLUSIVE: Landlord arrested after threatening, trying to force out rent-stabilized tenants https://t.co/HvT4xg0fUi pic.twitter.com/EWFCYRHK4y
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 9, 2016
Mr. Croman’s business came to embody in many ways how rent regulations have eroded in the city, putting housing out of reach for more and more New Yorkers. He was able to deregulate most of his rent-stabilized apartments within just a few years of buying the buildings, enabling him to reap much higher rents.
On Monday morning, though, his fortunes took a different turn. Mr. Croman, 49, turned himself in around 7 a.m. at the First Precinct in Lower Manhattan. He was charged with 20 felonies, including grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, falsifying business records and a scheme to defraud, relating to accusations he inflated his rental income to secure more than $45 million in bank loans. He faces up to 25 years in prison. His mortgage broker, Barry Swartz, 53, was charged with 15 felonies.
The New York State attorney general’s office, which investigated Mr. Croman for almost two years, also sued Mr. Croman on Monday, seeking to force him to give up his real-estate business and pay millions of dollars in restitution to tenants and penalties.
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The forecast for tomorrow is partly cloudy, so we will just have to watch the skies for an opportunity to witness the transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun. Mercury will begin crossing at 7:13 in the morning, reach the mid-point at 10:57 am, and conclude at 2:42 in the afternoon.
I hope to show it for a couple of hours in the morning, take a lunch break, and then resume showing at 1 pm. My usual location at Second Avenue and East Third Street, or down at First Street by the F Train stop if the buildings are getting in the way of the sun. And yes, a very thick filter will be in place to reduce the bright light of the sun — that is the only safe way to view this unique event.
Known until a few years ago as “Cures Not Wars,” and now as the NYC Cannabis Parade, New York’s annual rally in support of legalization has been held in various forms since the early 1970s. This year, the event culminated in a gathering at Union Square. As blunts and pipes were passed around, speakers attempted to educate the crowd about the Marijuana Taxation and Regulation Act (S. 1747/A. 3089A) that is currently stalled in the state legislature.
“We’ve been doing this for four decades. If we don’t get involved and do the hard work, it’s not going to go anywhere,” said Doug Greene, legislative director of Empire State NORML, the New York chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “Just coming here and listening to me speak and getting high is not going to change anything.”
Some would say the fact that the NYPD did not seem interested in arresting anyone who was getting high at the event was a major shift in and of itself. Although the NYPD cut its marijuana arrests in half last year, 16,590 people were still cuffed for low-level marijuana possession, about 88% of whom were black or Latino.
A group of structures known collectively as Design Pavilion will take over the newly renovated Astor Place Plaza. Highlights include an installation by Snarkitecture for the condominium development 125 Greenwich Street; a structure designed by Harry Allen with the biomaterials company Ecovative; the DuPont Corian Blur Bar by Joe Doucet; and Growth, a show of new objects curated by the American Design Club.
