Swastikas and hate messages found on L.I. home

Four young men are in custody on Long Island, after a bizarre attack on a family’s home in Suffolk County.

The message of hate was loud and clear, multiple swastikas, and profanity, was plastered on a Rocky Point home.

Police caught four teens literally wet-handed with paint, they also allegedly torched the homeowner’s car.

“I don’t understand this. I’m Italian. I’m not Jewish,” said Frank Marciano, the homeowner.

Marciano says this is no case of bias.

It’s the latest round of an escalating war against his neighbor’s son.

It may be hard to imagine images much more hateful than these.

But believe it or not, police say this is not a hate crime.

In the state of New York, police have to be able to determine the victim was targeted specifically for his religion.

Because Marciano wasn’t, experts say it’s just a nasty case of vandalism.

This afternoon, the Marciano’s started to clean up the mess, as shadowy figures watched from the windows across the street, where no one came to the door to tell Eyewitness News their side.

Now, police are trying to determine how to charge the teens.

NY: SI man accused of killing parents called unfit for trial

The Staten Island man accused of butchering his parents inside their home and then fleeing to Israel is unfit to stand trial, it was announced today.

Eric Bellucci, 31, was ordered into the custody of high-security state psychiatric facility after two court-appointed psychiatrists determined he doesn’t understand the charges against him and can’t assist in his own defense, state Supreme Court Justice Leonard P. Rienzi ruled this morning.

Bellucci is charged with two counts of murder for the Oct. 13 stabbing death of his parents, Arthur, 61, and Marian, 56, inside their Annadale home.

His bizarre behavior while in police custody has included his refusal to be fingerprinted, not entering the courtroom for scheduled appearances and declining to discuss his case with his attorney.

“We consulted our own psychiatrist and after careful deliberation, agreed not to contest the state’s findings,” said DA Daniel Donovan. “The defendant will undergo comprehensive evaluation and treatment at a secure state facility until such time as he is deemed fit to stand trial and face justice for his brutal crime.”

Bellucci is due back in court on April 26, 2012.

Prosecutors say he stabbed his parents to death inside their posh Poillon Avenue home and then drove to Newark, where he hopped a flight to Tel Aviv.

He was arrested at Ben Gurion International Airport attempting to buy a ticket for a Turkish Airlines flight to Beijing, with a layover in Istanbul.

Israeli authorities shipped the accused killer back a few days later.

Bellucci’s father was a Corcoran real estate executive, and his mother ran a health-care business. They had been expecting their first grandchild when they were killed.

“My heart goes out to the family and friends of Marian and Arthur Bellucci, who continue to suffer from this unspeakable tragedy,” said Donovan.

Kosher hummus war rocks NY

Retailers at Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood refuse to sell Sonny and Joe's chickpea spread until manufacturer settles dispute with former workers

Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood is known across the United States as a calm and serene place, and in recent years has even been ranked one of the 10 best places to live in, but the New York Post says a recent war over kosher hummus has been rocking the neighborhood’s tranquility.

The Royal Supermarket chain, owned by Zaid Sarsor, had joined a growing list of Park Slope groceries which are refusing to sell one of New York’s veteran chickpea spread brands – Sonny and Joe’s.

As opposed to the recent boycott on Sabra Hummus, Sarsor is not protesting the Israeli-Arab conflict but rather a work dispute involving Sonny and Joe’s manufacturer Flaum’s Appetizing.

The boycott was initiated by several of the neighborhood’s grocery owners after learning that Flaum’s owes $260,000 in back wages to former employees.

Sarsor, who has switched Sonny and Joe’s with Israeli-made Sabra Hummus, say Royal will carry Sonny and Joe’s again when the company settled with its workers.

“If the owner does the right thing, which he should have done by now, we’ll bring it back,” he said.

Park Slope Green member Joseph Sanchez, who according to the NY Post is spearheading the campaign, said he would make do with other appetizers in the meantime.

“I enjoy any spreads and snacks that are made by companies that treat workers with dignity and respect,” he told the newspaper. “The strong support from Park Slope retailers shows that this neighborhood won’t condone the selling of sweatshop products.”

The chickpea spread is one of scores of kosher food products made at Flaum’s Appetizing’s Scholes Street factory since 1918.

Flaum’s owner, Moshe Grudhut, lost a court battle about two years ago and was ordered to pay his former workers $260,000 in back wages. According to a company official, however, the management is still negotiating with the workers.

Second Female ‘Rabba’ To Be Ordained

second woman will soon be ordained under the title “rabba”.

Quoting the Jewish Week, the JTA reports that the Academy of Jewish Religion in Riverdale is set to ordain Kaya Stern-Kaufman, 47, of Great Barrington, Mass., at a ceremony on May 12.

Her ordination comes a year after Rabbi Avi Weiss, who heads the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, conferred the title rabba on Sara Hurwitz, who serves the congregation, causing controversy throughout the Orthodox world.

A month after ordaining Hurwitz, Weiss said that he would no longer ordain women with the title rabba.

The article says that Weiss is not affiliated with the Academy of Jewish Religion.

Before giving her the title Rabba, she was given the title “Maharat”. When making that change, Weiss stated that the change in title is designed to “make it clear that Sara Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic staff, a rabbi with the additional quality of a distinct woman’s voice.”

Following the ordaining of Hurwitz, The Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of America released a statement condemning Weiss and his Rabba.

“These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox,” the statement read

NYPD Investigating Diddy Vehicle Escort

NYPD Investigating Diddy Vehicle Escort: MyFoxNY.com

The NYPD insists that an unauthorized police escort of Sean "Diddy" Combs lasted only lasted one block -- from a theater on West 34th Street to the Lincoln Tunnel entrance.

The NYPD is investigated why on-duty cops helped Diddy's car caravan get to the tunnel.

Sources close to Diddy said he never personally made any request, although people with him did.

The entertainment mogul's former security director said that is not Diddy's style.

"I've worked with Sean for close to 20 years, and never once has he or anyone close to him asked me to call the NYPD for a special favor," said Mike Zimet, an executive protection specialist.

The NYPD would not provide us with a list of dignitaries who do qualify for escorts, but it doesn't appear that Diddy's ride did. In his case, the request came from a local businessman who said he didn't see anything wrong with asking for a favor.

Zimet said the pros would never make that mistake.

"It's astounding how many celebrities, a-list and b-list, are in the city every single day," Zimet said. "If the NYPD extended themselves to help every celebrity, they wouldn't be able to do their real job."

The NYPD did not respond to Fox 5's request for an explanation of its dignitary protection guidelines..

The department does have a program for uniformed cops to get paid by private businesses in extra duty work, but no one is saying that was the case here.

'There's been a shooting': Driver 'fakes' 911 call... to stop police giving him a speeding ticket

A Florida motorist has been arrested after apparently attempting to escape a speeding ticket by making a false 911 call.

Jonathan Paul Rorech was caught driving at 45mph in a 30mph zone and was about to be handed a ticket when he allegedly made the false call to divert the approaching police officer.

The driver was pulled over at 1am on Monday in Naples, Florida, by a Sheriff's deputy, and claimed he had left his driving licence at home.

When the officer returned to his vehicle to run his details through a computer, Rorech allegedly reported a shooting in the area with a victim on the floor.

Deputies were given a report of a shooting with 'one subject on the ground' at South Street Bar & Grill in North Naples.

The emergency call was sent to the deputy, who stopped what he was doing a sped to the alleged scene, leaving Rorech to pull away in his gray Toyota.

When police arrived at the fake shooting and found no sign of trouble, officers became suspicious and allegedly traced the 911 call back to Rorech.

The officer who pulled Rorech over drove to his home and waited outside until he returned home at 2.25am.

Police then promplty arrested the motorist on suspicion of making the false 911 call and two counts of driving under a suspended licence - once while speeding and once on the way home.

mazel tov! "to William and Kate

Prince William and Kate Middleton have been wished a hearty mazel tov

The Board of Deputies said they were sending "congratulations and every good wish" to the royal couple on "the joyous occasion of their marriage".

"We add the traditional Jewish greeting “ mazel tov!"

NYPD ‘Tix-Fix’ Now Involves NYSP, PAPD, & TBTA

This NYPD scandal is spreading like a malignant tumor.

Brazen city cops were caught on wiretaps calling in ticket-fix favors to the State Police, Yonkers PD, Port Authority PD and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, The Post has learned.

"They have cops on wires talking about fixing tickets with other agencies," a police source said yesterday.

The Bronx DA's Office, which is leading the probe, will deal with the city cops who made the calls, but information about the officers who fixed the tickets are being passed on to the relevant agencies, the source said.

Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone said his department has launched an investigation.

"I hope anyone with information about this would come forward and report it anonymously to Internal Affairs," said the mayor's spokesman, David Simpson.

The other agencies didn't respond to requests for comment.

As the scandal broadened, so did the level of panic inside the 12 Bronx precincts at the center of the probe.

Cops are afraid to use cellphones or landlines in the station houses, and many are wondering when -- not if -- they will get swept up by Internal Affairs, sources said.

"Everyone is a nervous wreck," said a police source. "Almost every cop has fixed a ticket somewhere along the line; it was never seen as a bad thing."

Anxious cops don't know who among their colleagues might be wired or which phone lines are tapped

"Nobody's using their cellphones, and no one will talk in the precinct. It's like a mob movie where they go outside and walk down the block," the source said.

"As soon as it hit the papers, everybody was like, 'Oh, God.' No one wants to discuss it because they think you might be wired," said another police source.

"You can see it in everybody's face -- there's a lot of tension if somebody brings it up. All the guys in all the precincts are on eggshells."

And many cops fear the worst.

"There's going to be a lot of indictments. People are really nervous," the source said. "No one knows what's coming down."

'War of the Roses' over as sweater-mogul Simon Taub, wife Chana finalize epic, nasty divorce

Simon and Chana Taub's divorce was finalized Wednesday, ending an epic standoff that resulted in the couple partitioning their home when neither would move














The Brooklyn couple whose epic six-year divorce battle played out like "The War of the Roses" has officially untied the knot, but the settlement is sparking a new war.

A judge Wednesday finalized the divorce of Simon and Chana Taub, ending a bitter standoff that included the installment of a partition inside their Borough Park home when both refused to move.

It took two trials and endless sniping - which even marred their daughter's wedding last year - to resolve the fierce feud and divvy up the property between the sweater mogul and his homemaker wife.

Their infamous three-story brownstone on 49th St., where the couple set up a court-approved Sheetrock divider in 2007, must be sold and the profits split evenly, a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge decreed.

"It's not final at all," an angry Chana Taub told the Daily News, adding she is "outraged" that the judge ordered her and ex-husband to sell their house and three other marital properties.

"I'm still living here with my children and my elderly father," Chana Taub said in front of her brownstone. "My house should not be sold. It's impossible that the judge should want to throw me out on the street. I'm going to appeal it, definitely."

The caustic couple still shares the home.

The unique setup earned them the "War of the Roses" label, a reference to the 1989 flick in which Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner play battling spouses who similarly halve their home.

The court ruling also orders Simon Taub to pay his ex about $1.5 million plus a $6,000 monthly stipend, but he can keep three other buildings he owns.

"My client was very happy with the decision," said his lawyer Abe Konstam. "I hope it ends the litigation of Taub vs. Taub."

He said that Chana Taub inflated the value of properties and filed numerous suits in multiple jurisdictions against "everybody who ever said 'hi' to her," but they were all dismissed.

The couple has four kids, the youngest turning 21 in six months, sparing the court a ruling on child support and visitation, the judge wrote in his decision.

After a jury rejected the couple's first stab at divorce in 2007, they agreed to separate in 2008, but remained in the home squabbling over their property.

"Trial testimony was confused and muddled. Claims on both sides were unsubstantiated," wrote Justice Matthew D'Emic.

"Nevertheless, it is the court's obligation to find the credible facts and equitably lay to rest this twenty-six-year partnership," he added.

Yankees pitcher 'to blame' for fatal crash that brought plane down on Manhattan apartments

Fatal crash: Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and Tyler Stanger died








Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle made a series of errors before the plane he was piloting crashed into a Manhattan apartment building, a court has heard.

Mr Lidle, 34, and his instructor Tyler Stanger, 26, were killed when their plane came down on the Upper East Side in October 2006.

The pair made several mistakes as they tried to make a sharp ‘high performance’ turn in one of the busiest air corridors in the country, said a lawyer for the plane manufacturer in the opening statements of a lawsuit.

Mr Lidle’s widow Melanie and the family of Mr Stanger are suing plane manufacturer Cirrus Design Corp for more than $100 million.

The jury heard that the plane crashed after the men took a detour past the Statue of Liberty and up the East River on a flight to California, days after the baseball season had ended.

Mr Lidle had bought the plane months earlier and had flown it for only four hours before the accident.

Patrick Bradley, representing the Minnesota-based manufacturer, said the company was ‘genuinely sorry’ that its Cirrus SR-20 was involved in the ‘terrible tragedy’, but it ‘is wrong an unfair to blame someone for something they didn’t do.’

He compared the manoeuvre that brought down the plane to trying to make a sharp left turn while driving a car at 55 to 65mph.

He said the pilots could have started the turn from an altitude of up to 1,200ft, but instead were only at about 600ft, about half the eight of the Empire State Building.

But Todd Macaluso, representing the families, argued it was a design flaw that caused the crash.

‘The plane could have made the turn, but the flight controls were jammed,’ he told Manhattan Federal Court.

Mr Macaluso told the jurors that he would prove that the company rushed the plane into production a decade ago with an inferior control system.

Mr Lidle and Mr Stanger desperately tried to re-engage a jammed steering system as the plane went out of control, rolling and dropping altitude in the last 45 seconds before the crash, he said.

Mr Macaluso used satellite images and animation to show Mr Lidle's final 45 seconds of life.

He said the plane ‘was all over the place’ and that the parachutes also malfunctioned.

‘If you can't control the airplane, you can't be at fault,’ he said.

At one point, Mr Lidle’s widow dabbed tears in her eyes as Mr Macaluso showed photographs taken inside the apartment that the plane crashed into.

The flight had taken off from a New Jersey airport after Mr Lidle and Mr Stanger’s had families enjoyed a visit to the top of the Empire State Building.

The men's wives and children were going to board commercial jets to California, while Mr Lidle and Mr Stanger flew the private plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the two men misjudged the turn and did not realise their mistake until it was too late. That conclusion was not told to the jury.

The case continues.