CITYWIDE

Maloney Suggests Using IRS to Bring Down Sex Traffickers

In an effort to crack down on the prevalence of sex trafficking, Rep. Carolyn Maloney said she hopes to borrow from the same aggressive playbook used to take down gangster Al Capone by proposing federal legislation to sic the Internal Revenue Service and the tax code on pimps and sex traffickers. Her bill would authorize $2 million to fund a sex-trafficking prosecution office at the IRS. Ms. Maloney scolded Hollywood for bestowing an Academy Award earlier this year on “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” the theme song from the film “Hustle and Flow.” “The words in it were demeaning to women and exploitative of women,” the congresswoman said, criticizing the glamorization of sex trafficking. Meanwhile, Council Member Helen Sears of Queens announced that she would hold a hearing in City Hall Thursday to examine sex trafficking on the city level.

— Special to the Sun

Youth Services Chairman Wants to Broaden Anti-Poverty Efforts

The chairman of the City Council’s Youth Services Committee is urging the Bloomberg administration to broaden its anti-poverty efforts to target Hispanic, runaway, and homeless youths in New York. The chairman, Council Member Lewis Fidler, is also calling on the administration to reopen and expand alternative-to-incarceration programs that it closed earlier this year. Mr. Fidler presented his proposals at a hearing yesterday on “disconnected youth.” City agencies have until November to devise strategies for implementing recommendations by the mayor’s Commission on Economic Opportunity.The commission focused its recommendations in part on young New Yorkers, but its report made little mention of the groups Mr. Fidler cited.Administration officials testifying at yesterday’s hearing gave little indication that Mr. Fidler’s proposals would be implemented, saying only that they would be considered.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Veteran Officer Named Commissioner Of Operations

A veteran police officer with an extensive counterterrorism background was named the police department’s new Deputy Commissioner for Operations yesterday. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly appointed Assistant Chief Phil Pulaski, an officer with 26 years of experience and the current commanding officer of the NYPD’s Intelligence Division. Previously, Chief Pulaski, an attorney and civil engineer, headed up the department’s FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force, as well as various counterterrorism and investigative commands throughout the city. In a statement, Mr. Kelly said Chief Pulaski will “play a central role in the Police Department’s continued effort to suppress crime and quality of life violations.” Chief Pulaski succeeds Garry McCarthy, the nominee for Newark’s police director, who has been criticized for a 2005 altercation with a New Jersey officer who issued a parking ticket to his teenage daughter.

— Special to the Sun

Transit Authority Union Members Announce Runs for President

Vice President of Local 100 Ainsley Stewart announced his candidacy for president of the Transport Workers Union yesterday, promising to run a campaign based on the “transparency and accountability” that has been abandoned under the leadership of Roger Toussaint. Mr. Stewart plans to campaign for wage increases for union members. Mr. Stewart said that with money coming into the Transit Authority “like waves at a seashore,” union members should not be forced to give back 1.5% of their wages—equal to one week’s vacation—that Mr. Toussaint signed into their contract last December. Mr. Stewart voted against the strike last winter because he believed “the information made available wasn’t sufficient for a strike. Mr. Toussaint failed to realize that the threat of a strike is much more effective than a strike itself.” Vice President of Local 100 Barry Roberts also recently announced his candidacy for union president. The vote will be held in December.

— Special to the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

Unidentified Man Found Dead in Central Park

A man believed to be homeless was found dead, slumped against a wall adjacent to Central Park yesterday, police said. Police said a passersby called police at approximately 1 a.m. after spotting the man unconscious, leaning against a wall on Fifth Avenue near East 79th Street. According to police, emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene. Yesterday, police reported no signs of trauma to the man, whose body was found without identification. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death, police said.

— Special to the Sun

One Shot, Two Stabbed In Separate Far Rockaway Attacks

Police responded to two Far Rockaway attacks they initially labeled as separate incidents yesterday, although they occurred blocks – and minutes – away from each other, police said. The attacks left one man shot, and two stabbed, police said. Around 3:48 p.m., police were called to Mott Avenue and Beach Channel Drive after a man was reported to have been shot. The man, who was not immediately identified, was taken to an area hospital in serious condition as the suspects fled, police said. Minutes later, at 3:55 p.m., police were called to another incident located several blocks away on Mott Avenue near Central Avenue, where two men were stabbed in their torsos, police said. Last night, police said both male victims were in stable condition at Jamaica Medical Center. An investigation is ongoing.

— Special to the Sun