“The Brooklyn Supreme Court Guardianship Program has been hijacked by Mafia-style crime”, charges Reverend Samuel Boykin, court-appointed guardian for Judge John Phillips, the “Kung Fu Judge.” Phillips was a Brooklyn Civil Court Judge for 13 years serving two terms between 1976 and 1994. Boykin is the first family member in a long line of court-appointed guardians to take charge of Judge Phillips’ estate after he was declared mentally incompetent by District Attorney Charles Hynes’ office in 2001.
His story should serve as a cautionary tale for all.
“Judge John L. Phillips said to me regularly that if all of these illegal activities can be successfully committed against a judge, they can be committed against anyone,” says Reverend Boykin.
That the tale is long and sordid is a matter of record. Writing in Our Time Press in 2007, reporter Mary Alice Miller has chronicled many of the misdeeds and charges. The New York Law Journal has had extensive coverage. In the hands of judge-appointed guardians, the estate has gone from a value of over $10 million to $18,000 and three properties, including the famous Slave Theater on Harriet Ross Tubman Avenue, aka Fulton Street.
So far only Maria Leyna Albertina and attorney Emani P. Taylor have paid a price for their roles in the saga. Ms. Albertina was sentenced in January to 5-15 years for mortgage fraud activity, some of which involved Judge Phillips’ property. Attorney Taylor, a former interim guardian for Judge Phillips, has been suspended from the practice of law. As reported in the New York Law Journal, January 2008, a unanimous panel of Justices in the Appellate Division wrote that, “At a minimum, [Taylor] withdrew funds from the guardianship account as legal fees without court permission, at worst, she intentionally converted guardianship funds.” She was later ordered to repay $403,149 for mishandling the Judge’s affairs. An application has been made to The Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection to recoup those monies. The fund responded on April 23rd of this year that in addition to needing proof of payment and various other conditions met, “The Fund must await the conclusion of the underlying disciplinary matters pending against Ms. Taylor before proceeding further.”
Of larger concern is what has happened to judicial oversight of the court-appointed guardians and of the whole Guardianship program. As Boykin says in his complaint to Comptroller William Thompson, “There were 12 judges involved in the Judge John L. Phillips Guardianship case, either involved in overseeing the case as presiding judges, issuing decision orders, judicial hearing judges, administrator judges, judges sealing records. We believe none of these judges are legally able to state they were not aware of the illegal activities going on in the Judge John L. Phillips Guardianship case, we believe the case is a good example” of the need for oversight of the Guardianship program.
Reverend Boykin has also filed a complaint with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s Public Integrity Bureau. They, in turn, have referred the matter to Ms. Sherrill Spatz, Inspector General of the New York State Unified Court System, writing, “After careful review of the documents, we have determined that the issues mentioned pertain to your office….for whatever action you deem appropriate.”
In his letter to Assistant District Attorney Robert Renzulli in the Asset Forfeiture Bureau of D.A. Charles Hynes’ office, Boykin outlines how the Phillips estate has been systematically looted by mortgage fraud including “illegal conveyances, illegal sales and forgery of deeds.” And he asks if anyone is going to pay for these crimes?
We should start to hear other shoes dropping in this case. If not, then the silence will mark the all clear for business as usual, and the only thing sure other than death and taxes will be mortgage and financial fraud as legal vultures pick over the estates of primarily the weak and sick, but really, anyone at all.
The Disturbing Case of the Estate of Judge John L. Phillips
How to Survive a Double Whammy? Keep the Faith
P.G. Wodehouse once wrote, “You can’t make an omelet unless you break a few eggs,” and in order to get to a sound economy, we first have to go through transformative times. “We needed to get here,” said Zane Tankel, owner of 34 Applebee’s on the East Coast, including the one we were sitting in at Restoration Plaza, on Harriet Ross Tubman Avenue, aka Fulton Street, the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant, where all the workers called him Zane. “I’m a student of the economy,” said the Wharton School of Business graduate. Toxic mortgages are only Phase 1, according to Tankel. “Phase 2 will be when the good mortgages begin to respond to rising unemployment”, which he predicts will be about 11%-12% nationally.
“And we needed to get here,” says Tankel, speaking of a consumption-driven system that had become unsustainable. “The consumer in America had too much choice” with the only difference between products being brand names, contends Tankel. But with brand names clamoring for attention, retailers were forced to carry large inventories, across too many brands and “inventory is money sitting in a box”, he says.
Tankel’s comments were born out in a just-released report by the NFIB survey on small businesses. “Small business owners continued to liquidate inventories. A net negative
27 percent of all owners reported gains in inventory stocks (more firms cut stocks than added to them, seasonally adjusted), unchanged from April and May which posted record lows. Inventories have been reduced at a record pace, continuing 25 months of negative readings in a row. It is hard to believe there is anything left on the shelves.”
For those looking for a quick turnaround, quick being a year, there will only be disappointment he says. “An upturn is always triggered by the consumer, but with the high unemployment, there’s no one to buy. Retail sales are still struggling.” Tankel says that “this system will be going through a resetting process” as a new reality takes hold.
“For retailers, that means closing unprofitable stores, stocking less and hiring fewer stock clerks.” This, in turn, cascades down through all of the industries and job descriptions that are interconnected in varying degrees. Whether it’s fewer truckloads, fewer dockworkers or fewer patrons at the highway diner, there will “simply be less of everything” and we’re gong to have to ride it out.
As Tankel says, “All of these changes are happening underneath”, and that’s the problem the Obama Administration is working with. “I know some of the real players, Obama’s right-hand people” who are tasked with managing the economy, he says. “Most of the Geithner team projections dealt with the most optimistic turnaround in the economy. “We’re going to have to do another trillion in” as a stimulus, he says. “I said about a year ago that we’re not coming out of this soon.”
And of course, mixed in with all of this, is that across all businesses, particularly small businesses that hold the bulk of the national hiring, there is the increased use of technology as a means of production, consolidate professions and job slots into computer programs and longer nights.
Tankel insists he is not a “doomsayer” but an optimist who is also a realist. “In a best-case scenario, we’ll bump along on the bottom like we are now for maybe another year or so.”
That Zane is an optimist cannot be denied, because he is putting his money on the table, opening three restaurants at the very moment the nation is going through this economic storm. “It helps to be a little crazy,” he says by way of explanation. “I’m by nature a risk-taker,” not a surprising statement from someone who has climbed Mt. Everest on an expedition without Sherpas, they call it traveling light. “I’m not driven by money but by excellence. This is an opportunity to get some great sites at strategic pricing. We’re going to Jamaica Avenue in Queens where the rents a year ago were literally double what they are now. So if I can get in at half-price, I have to do it. If unemployment goes to 15%, that means 85% are working. I like those odds. That’s how I do it and that’s what I tell our people. Right now with unemployment at 9.5%, that means 90.5% percent of people are working. We can’t be down or depressed about that. Ninety percent of the people we need to put in our restaurants can come there. “It’s all about the attitude. Maybe if you see me driving a delivery truck in a few years, you’ll know I guessed wrong.”
Carl, a manager, was leaving and stopped at the table and Tankel asked about his daughter. After Carl left Zane said, “He’s a single father, I saw him shopping at Atlantic Terminal with his daughter and we had lunch.” Actually, Carl was only one of a succession of hellos and hugs as employees stopped by and were greeted by name. Zane takes pride in knowing the names of almost 4,000 employees. “I work at it and I know how important it is to them,” said Zane, noting that as he said to them at the initial training sessions with employees, “I know if you’re happy, the guest will be happy. I know if you’re unhappy, the guest will be unhappy.”
Helping with morale is the prospect of a career with the company, moving from server into management. Doshia King (See sidebar) is the young woman from Bed-Stuy to go into our management program.
Asked about Applebee’s reputation for giving formerly incarcerated people a fair chance at being hired, Zane says he’s had good experiences “and that’s why I continue to reach out. Do we win every time? No.”
We suggested that most people see “formerly incarcerated” on a resume and it’s the kiss of death. “We don’t do it that way. People are able to pay a price and move on. When we opened this restaurant, more than half were formerly incarcerated.”
What is most surprising about that is the level of competition faced in the initial hiring. “We interviewed several thousand people for what wound up to be seventy jobs,” and as he told them at that first meeting, they had not just been hired, but rather selected. He reminded them that they were special.
We asked Zane why he came into Bedford-Stuyvesant with unemployment so high.
“There has always been a high unemployment rate in Bed Stuy, we knew that coming in. we weren’t strangers here. I spent more time in Bed-Stuy than any site we had. Most people were running from Bed-Stuy. I would come here at all hours and watch the traffic flows and the people and found that most folks were pretty nice. 99% of the people are families just want what every other people do. And you don’t turn your back on a neighborhood because of a bad 1%. We felt this could be a paradigm for Bed-Stuy. I tell people if they want to see a really well run restaurant, go to Bed-Stuy.
“Look, there’s about 150,000 people in Bed-Stuy, and if 50% are unemployed that mean 75,000 are employed. That’s more than enough for us. We can only seat 200.
I did not do this philanthropically on the one hand, but on the other hand I thought it was good give and take. Service a community, make money, without ripping people off.
Zane acknowledged that business has fallen off with the construction going on and a shroud-like netting over the entrance. “Look, when this Restoration Plaza gets finished, it’s going to be so “out of sight, it’s going to be worth the wait. It’s going to be over the top. We wanted to have a jazz combo on the terrace, but we’ll do it next year. Nothing comes without sacrifice so we’re sacrificing now. We just have to grin and bear it.”
Sidebar:
On A Career Path- Doshia King
Doshia attended Ebenezer Preparatory School and Boys and Girls High School during the Mickens era. She says, “Frank Mickens was the most incredible educator I’ve ever come in contact with. He always wanted not only his students to succeed but the Black and Hispanic community. He was a father figure to a lot of people.” She attended Medgar Evers College for 2 years then got her Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management from New York College of Technology where she had the opportunity to intern at Disney World to complete her degree. “I got hired in 2006 and started as a server for about three months, then moved to bartending for about a year-and-a-half. Then I became a Neighborhood Expert, someone who trains new people and then moved on to supervisor.” She then moved to the “back of the house,” where she cooked, broiled and prepared food for the plate. After 8 weeks in the MIT, (Managers-in-Training), Doshia is an official manager in Astoria. And will be the service manager of a restaurant opening in the Bronx. “I’ve been with the company for 3 ½ years and I guess my progression has been fast. I want to be a general manager of a store and eventually perhaps an area manager in years to come.”
Asked what she liked most about the company, Doshia replied, “They appreciate the work you do.”
Year-by-Year Analysis of the Bush Tax Cuts Shows Growing Tilt to the Very Rich
A study released June 12, 2002, by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Children=s Defense Fund, reveals for the first time who stands to benefit from the 2001-enacted Bush tax cuts in each year from 2001 through 2010. Among the key findings:
* Over the ten-year period, the richest Americans–the best-off one percent–are slated to receive tax cuts totaling almost half a trillion dollars. The $477 billion in tax breaks the Bush administration has targeted to this elite group will average $342,000 each over the decade.
* By 2010, when (and if) the Bush tax reductions are fully in place, an astonishing 52 percent of the total tax cuts will go to the richest one percent, whose average 2010 income will be $1.5 million. Their tax-cut windfall in that year alone will average $85,000 each. Put another way, of the estimated $234 billion in tax cuts scheduled for the year 2010, $121 billion will go just to 1.4 million taxpayers.
* Although the rich have already received a hefty down payment on their Bush tax cuts–averaging just under $12,000 each this year–80 percent of their windfall is scheduled to come from tax changes that won=t take effect until after this year, mostly from items that phase in after 2005.
* In contrast, the vast majority of taxpayers have already received most of their tax cuts from the 2001 legislation.
* For the four out of five families and individuals making less than $73,000 this year, three-quarters of the tax cuts–averaging about $350 this year–are already in place.
* Tax cuts for the 19 percent of taxpayers making between $73,000 and $356,000 this year will grow a little over the next four years as the cuts in the upper tax rates continue to kick in, but then will dwindle thereafter. By 2010, the tax cuts for this group will be no bigger as a share of income than they are now.
*As a result, freezing the Bush tax cuts at their 2002 levels would have little or no effect on 99 percent of the taxpayers, whose tax cuts are already mostly or completely Afrozen.@ Only the best-off one percent of the taxpayers will receive significant additional tax cuts if the rest of the Bush tax program continues to be implemented.
Citizens for Tax Justice
THE PARENT'S
NOTEBOOK
The Systems Formula for Child Rearing
We often hear the words, AToday=s young folk are so different,@ usually followed by descriptions of negative attitudes and behaviors. Many elders have given up on young people. Do we resign ourselves and accept this as the new reality?
I=m afraid we=ve become spectators to our own lives. Chart our family and community practices from Africa to present. They, too, are different. While the dominant culture perceives events as isolated, unrelated occurrences, we must know they are related. Dr. Asa Hilliard offers guidance to parents on the importance of socialization in his book The Maroon Within Us.
African cultures revered children and involved them in daily life. Africans believed the infant to be a returning ancestor, hence the reverence and they realized that the infant would grow up to become caretakers of the village. You may not believe in reincarnation, but nurturing those who will lead your community and world makes sense today. Rituals, rites of passages, time spent with elders and family duties groomed African children for responsible adulthood. What can we do today?
Our role as parents has not changed. The job is more difficult now because the village has been replaced. If we accept as valid the African proverb AIt takes a village to raise a child@ and if we can=t identify the village, do we resign ourselves to being unable to raise our children or do we re-create the village?
From conversations with individuals who work effectively with youth and my own experiences, young people respond positively to respect, individual attention and recognition of their ability. Adults who listen to them, assist in clarifying their purpose and involve them in real-life problem- solving, gain their trust and respect.
The question, AWhat can we do today?@ is probably similar to the one that was answered with, AA journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.@ Each one of us can apply the systems formula – input plus process equals output – to rearing or relating to children.
If we bake a cake and it turns out hard, we know to make adjustments in ingredients, the temperature of the oven or the length of time it baked. If a plant dies, we know that the growing conditions were not adequate – the soil or the amount of light and water.
While Arecipes@ and Ahow to grow tags@ don=t come with children, social scientists have validated human needs. They align with values of African social systems which we credit for our ability to not only survive but thrive in spite of slavery and oppression. The input for child rearing would include spending time, involving the child in family activities, listening, communicating, instilling values, recognizing and developing talents/skills. A commitment to yielding a good product requires a commitment to make adjustments. The formula works if you work it.
Since this is the last month of summer vacation, I suggest a project for parents of children five years and over. Plan with your child a family calendar of activities for the upcoming school year. Be sure to include activities that develop any interest that you=ve noticed in the child.
Teach your child the art of brainstorming and negotiation as the process begins as a wish list and becomes the to-do list after surviving work, school schedules and other commitments and subjected to a values inspection.
Parents and children each take an activity and research what=s needed to make it happen. Reports can be made and input added at family meetings. Weekly family meetings are a great way to connect if the dinner table is no longer the gathering place. Time and length of meetings can be set according to the family=s schedule. Children learn research, planning and reporting skills in a real-life family situation. They are involved and their opinions are being heard.
A project for non-parents is to select one or two children and each time you encounter them; inquire about their day, their likes and dislikes, ask their opinions, acknowledge them for accomplishments – get to know them.
Monitoring the output and making needed adjustments will move parent and child from the spectator stands onto the courts and they will be in the process of transforming their lives and re-creating the village.
Next time we=ll look at ways to enjoy after-school hours. E-mail comments, questions to parentsnotebook@yahoo.com.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Be Safe Out There
By Erma Williams
For the most part, life is full of second chances. We needn=t worry if we have not yet engaged in daring activities like skydiving or bungee-jumping because, more than likely, there=s always tomorrow. The same cannot be said about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). It doesn=t matter whether the disease is treatable or nontreatable; once you have been infected, your life will never be the same. In some instances, tomorrow never comes. In those instances that it does, it isn=t the same as yesterday.
Both domestically and abroad, sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise. The July 3rd issue of The New York Times reports that AAIDS is the fourth leading cause of death in the world….[a]lmost 12 million young people now have H.I.V., and an additional 6,000 young adults become infected everyday.@ Even more startling is that many people are unaware themselves of being infected. This is largely because they are not clear on the causes, effects, and symptoms of STDs. If this is true of you or someone you know, read ahead and pass along the info.
HIV/AIDS is arguably the most dangerous epidemic of all time. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS, and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the incurable disease. This terrifying twosome puzzles doctors and researchers alike because they attack without warning. Slowly but surely, the virus weakens the body=s immune system and makes it less possible for infected persons to fight off other infections and diseases. People with HIV are diagnosed as having AIDS when CD4 cells (immune cells) fall below 200, or if the cells develop any of the conditions associated with HIV infection. These conditions include a number of Aopportunistic@ infections and cancers, as well as brain and nervous system disorders. Symptoms vary from person to person; in fact, some people have none. However, you can be affected for years without having symptoms. Generally speaking, common symptoms include:
? swollen glands in the neck, armpit or groin
? continued fever or night sweats
? weight loss of more than 10 pounds which is not due to dieting or
increased physical activity
? heavy, continual dry cough that is not from smoking or that has lasted too long to be a cold or flu
? increasing shortness of breath
? continuing bouts of diarrhea
? thrush, a thick whitish coating on the tongue or in the throat, which may be accompanied by a sore throat
? recurring vaginal yeast infections
? unexplained skin rashes like psoriasis
or seborrhea
? herpes infections that last longer than
usual
STDs, also known as STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections), increase your chances of developing HIV/AIDS because, among other things, they raise the amount of HIV in the semen and vaginal fluids of people infected with HIV. STDs can be passed from one person to another through vaginal, anal or oral intercourse. They can also be passed through sharing needles for injection of drugs, steroids, vitamins, body piercing or tattoos. There are many STDs. Besides HIV/AIDS, the most common ones are chlamydia, herpes, HPV, gonorrhea, syphilis, and hepatitis B.
1. Chlamydia:
-The fastest-growing STD in the U.S.
-Most people with chlamydia don=t have symptoms
-Possible symptoms include an unusual
genital discharge, pain and burns
during urination
-Treated and cured with antibiotics
-Can cause sterility in both men and women if not treated
2. Herpes:
-Can be passed through kissing,
intimate touching and unprotected sex
-Symptoms include an itching or