| African
Burial Ground
Closure of
Ancestral
Chamber Due to
Hairline
Fractures
Highlighted
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video Q&A
FOLEY SQUARE /
SDNY, May 10 – The new
Congressman representing lower
Manhattan, Dan Goldman
(NY-10), announced on Monday
he will be introducing the
African Burial Ground
International Memorial Museum
and Educational Center Act
along with Congressman Jerrold
Nadler (NY-12), who used to
represent the area before
redistricting.
Inner City
Press stepping out from the
SDNY courthouse to cover the
announcement and asked where
the museum would go - video here.
Now on May 10, Rep. Dan
Goldman has written to Charles
F. Sams III, Director of the
National Park Service "to urge
you to take swift action to
make the much-needed repairs
to the African Burial Ground
National Monument so that the
closed Ancestral Chamber can
reopen to the public.... I
recently toured the site to
see for myself that this
critical feature within the
African Burial Ground National
Monument’s outdoor memorial is
temporarily closed due to
safety concerns at the
Ancestral Chamber. I
understand that multiple
hairline fractures along the
foundation need to be
addressed so that this feature
can safely reopen to the
public. Please update me on
your budget estimate and
timeline for these
renovations, as well as your
target date to reopen it to
the public." Watch this site.
Previous
Inner City Press / Downtown
News Service (TM) coverage:
Ivan Nieves was charged with
vandalism and disorderly
conduct for racist graffiti on
the African Burial Ground,
specifically with writing the
N-word preceded by "Kill" on 1
November 2018 on a sign on
Duane Street.
On August
8, 2019 after spending a week
in the Metropolitan
Correctional Center on a
charge of failure to report to
the Probation office, Nieves
pleaded guilty to one of two
Violations of Supervised
Release specifications. In
exchange, the U.S. Attorney's
office dropped the other
specification.
Nieves was
no longer subject to any
supervised release, to which
he proved to not be amenable.
His total punishment, for the
graffiti and the lone
"specification," would be the
week in the MCC. Magistrate
Ona T. Wang after noting to
Nievies "our rather lengthy
history for this misdemeanor"
revoked the terms of his
probation and said Time
Served, No Supervised Release.
Both
the prosecutor
and Nieves
second defense
attorney
Bennett
Epstein looked
relieved.
Previously after
a nearly full day bench trial,
Nieves was found guilty of
vandalism, and not guilty of
disorderly conduct. He was
sentenced on July 18 to a
month's home confinement with
a location monitoring
bracelet. Periscope video here.
On August
1, 2019 in the SDNY
Magistrates Court with Inner
City Press the only media
present Nieves re-appeared, in
custody. He had refused the
location monitoring bracelet
that Magistrate Ona T. Wang
had ordered. When she asked
Probation if it could be put
on today they said no, Nieves
was not "amenable" to it and
refused to return their calls.
Judge Wang
ordered Nieves detained, along
with his prostate medicine.
Nieves got a new lawyer, a Mr.
Epstein, who said since he
will be in the SDNY courthouse
next Thursday anyway, why not
another Nieves hearing then?
Inner City Press will be
there. Nieves' Federal
Defender lawyer previously
said, "Nieves is now working
for the Parks Department. The
vandal had refused to
participate in court-ordered
mental health assessments.
Nieves’s brother died at a
young age after being abused
at a mental health clinic,
Weinstein said. The tragedy
left Nieves with a lifelong
aversion to therapy, but now
Nieves plans to receive grief
counseling through a church
program, according to his
public defender."
If he can
say that publicly, what was
the basis for withholding the
entire sentencing submission?
And why has Judge Wang, who as
Inner City Press reported
initially asked to prior
restrain reporting from the
trial, not denied or modified
the implicit request for total
secrecy and privatization of
the sentencing process?
Only from
Nieves' lawyer is it said that
Nieves got thirty days home
confinement. Inner City Press,
working perched over the 500
Pearl Street PACER terminal
that at least for 17 hours had
no update on the sentences,
has been advised to not ask so
many questions. The US
Attorney's Office did not
(yet?) send out a press
release, as it did after Judge
Wang's verdict. We'll have
more on this.
Back in
April after the choppy
evidence portion of a bench
trial on April 11, U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York
Magistrate
Judge Ona Wang
told the press
in the
courtroom not
to publish
Nieves' home
address which
had been said
out loud by
one of the
three
government
witnesses.
Judge Wang
immediately
agreed, then
after
press-back
tried to say
there is an
injunction
pending
briefing.
But
that is prior
restraint.
Nieves'
Federal
Defenders
lawyer Philip
Weinstein, who
made the
request to
seal in an
"off the
record"
sidebar the
legitimacy of
which
was also
disputed,
tried to use
the gag order
against Roger
Stone as
precedent. But
Stone is
before a
court, in a
way the media
and people
present in the
courtroom are
not. Judge
Wang argued
that people
are under her
jurisdiction
merely by
entering her
court room.
For prior
restraint?
Resuming for
summations at
3 pm, Judge
Wang
acknowledged
that to direct
the
information
not be
reported would
be prior
restraint. She
therefore
shifted to
requesting
that it not be
published,
since Nieves
says he has
faced threats.
Okay.
***
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