Latest news with #PryorCashman
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Private NYC special ed school owes $800K in legal fees over sex harass, health violations: suit
A private special education school on the Upper East Side is accused of skipping out on $800,000 in legal bills to defend against sexual harassment claims and health violations, a new lawsuit claims. But its founder blames the city's Department of Education for the debt, claiming that any lapse in payments is because of $6 million in funding that the Big Apple owes them. The International Institute for the Brain, or iBRAIN, a specialty school for children with brain injuries and disorders, hired the elite law firm Pryor Cashman to solve a slew of legal headaches with the city, plus state and federal courts, back in 2023. While the school has paid the firm roughly $81,000, it still owes a whopping $815,000, the suit claims. 'Despite Pryor Cashman's repeated good faith attempts to obtain payment from iBrain, iBrain has failed and refused to make payment,' reads the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court. The firm did not respond to a message seeking comment. Pryor Cashman's legal work for iBrain took place during 2023 and ranged from advice on what to do about a former worker 'publicly disparaging' the school to helping 'resolve' unspecified health code violations. iBrain was also represented by Pryor Cashman in a salacious civil lawsuit in state court in 2023, where a former employee claimed that the school was 'extremely filthy and unsanitary' — with dead rats visibly rotting and roaches crawling on students. iBrain also sued the same 'disgruntled' worker in federal court for libel and 'malicious' copyright infringement, claiming she 'used and exploited copyrighted photographs of iBrain's disabled students as poster-children and pawns for her social media campaign of defamation.' Both suits settled out of court, according to records and Pryor Cashman's lawsuit. And when the firm sent iBrain its invoices, the school happily received them and partially paid up, but has been mum since. iBrain never 'disputed the Invoices at any time,' the suit claims, adding that the firm has demanded the school pay up. 'iBrain has not responded to these demands.' School founder Patrick Donohue told The Post that while he couldn't comment yet on the suit, he blamed the city's DOE for 'continued and purposeful delays.' iBrain's students are all 'non-verbal and wheelchair-dependent, many of whom require nursing due to their complex medical conditions,' he said. 'The NYC DOE has a long history of withholding funds for special education students, and they are currently withholding over $6 million in tuition and related service funds for our students for just this school year,' Donohue said. DOE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claim. 'We intend to fulfill any and all of our obligations as soon as the NYC DOE fulfills their legal and financial obligations to the families of iBRAIN,' Donohue said. The single father — once a finance director for former Gov. George Pataki's winning campaign — founded the school after his newborn daughter suffered brain damage when her baby-nurse brutally attacked her. According to court papers, iBrain charges 'only a $100 refundable deposit for enrollment,' with parents obtaining funding from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, in addition to public and private funding. The school now has locations on the Upper East Side, Brooklyn and Washington, DC. On Monday, the school held its inaugural iBrain Gala at the Central Park Boathouse — intentionally contrasting with the Met Gala — where their students made their way down a red carpet, some with the aid of futuristic exoskeleton devices.
Associated Press
16-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Pryor Cashman Welcomes Partner Paul Proulx to its Leading Real Estate Group
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 16, 2025-- Pryor Cashman is pleased to announce that Paul J. Proulx has joined the firm's New York office as a partner in the Real Estate Group and Land Use + Zoning Practice. Paul comes to Pryor Cashman from Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, where he advised New York's most respected developers on sophisticated land use and real estate transactions. With a practice focused on land use, zoning, and urban development matters, Paul counsels clients through a range of transactions including joint venture deals and site acquisitions and dispositions. He advises on both as-of-right solutions and discretionary procedures under the New York City Zoning Resolution and Administrative Code, and frequently represents purchasers and sellers of development rights in transactions between adjacent property owners. Drawing on his background as an urban planner, Paul has extensive experience leading teams in making changes to the Zoning Resolution and other land use controls that determine the shape of development projects. He often drafts and prosecutes land use applications and the restrictive declarations that accompany them. In parallel with his land use entitlement work, Paul provides counsel on New York tax incentive programs. 'Paul has had a hand in some of New York's largest assemblages of the last two decades—projects that have transformed our city,' said David C. Rose, managing partner of Pryor Cashman. 'Paul's extensive experience across land use matters strengthens the premier real estate practice for which our firm is known. With his mastery of both the big picture and technical details, Paul will add immediate value to our clients' development projects.' 'We're excited to welcome Paul to the firm,' said Dennis Sughrue, co-chair of the firm's Real Estate Group. 'He has a deep understanding of the New York City real estate market and a strong track record of guiding developers, lenders, and other key players through complex land use matters. His practical, business-minded approach and entrepreneurial spirit make him an ideal fit for our practice and our clients.' 'I'm delighted to join Pryor Cashman,' said Paul. 'The firm's Real Estate Group is known for providing end-to-end services for even the largest transactions, and I have long admired the creative and efficient approach of the firm's lawyers.' Paul serves on the New York City Bar's Committee on Land Use Planning and Zoning. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Detroit Mercy, his M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute, and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Before entering private practice in 2006, he briefly spent time in government and worked in-house at a hotelier and real estate development firm. About Pryor Cashman Pryor Cashman is a premier, midsized law firm headquartered at 7 Times Square in New York with offices in Los Angeles and Miami. With broad and sophisticated transactional and litigation practices, Pryor Cashman provides a full range of services to meet the complex legal needs of institutions, mid-market businesses, bold emerging entities, entrepreneurs, and individuals. View source version on CONTACT: Media Contact Margaret Bontemps Pryor Cashman [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES COMMERCIAL BUILDING & REAL ESTATE LEGAL CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY URBAN PLANNING SOURCE: Pryor Cashman Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 04/16/2025 09:30 AM/DISC: 04/16/2025 09:30 AM
Euronews
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
ChatGPT's viral Studio Ghibli-style images: 'An insult to life itself'
ADVERTISEMENT You may have noticed this week that everything from historic photos, classic film scenes, internet memes and recent political moments have been reimagined online as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral, all thanks to ChatGPT and the OpenAI chatbot's latest update, which launched on Tuesday (25 March). The latest addition to the GPT-4o has meant users can replicate the distinct artistic style of animation studio co-creator and legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki ( My Neighbor Totoro , Spirited Away ). "Today is a great internet day," one user declared as he shared popular memes in the Ghibli format. That's all well and good, but the trend has also highlighted ethical concerns about artificial intelligence tools trained on copyrighted creative works and what that means for the livelihoods of human artists. Not that that's a concern for ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which has largely encouraged the 'Ghiblification' experiments. Its CEO Sam Altman even changed his profile on social media platform X into a Ghibli-style portrait. What started as another example of how OpenAI doesn't care about the work of artists went straight to the White House, with Donald Trump's administration exploitating the trend in the most insulting and tone-deaf of ways. Indeed, Trump's administration jumped onto the trend bandwagon, using the White House's official X account to post a Ghibli-style image of a weeping woman from the Dominican Republic recently arrested by US immigration agents. Sickening. Miyazaki, 84, known for his hand-drawn approach and whimsical storytelling, has expressed skepticism about AI's role in animation. His previous comments on AI animation have resurfaced and also gone viral, with the animator saying he was 'utterly disgusted' by an AI demo. The video is from 2016. The person demonstrating the animation, which showed a writhing body dragging itself by its head, explained that AI could 'present us grotesque movements that we humans can't imagine.' That prompted Miyazaki to tell a story. 'Every morning, not in recent days, I see my friend who has a disability,' Miyazaki said. 'It's so hard for him just to do a high five; his arm with stiff muscle can't reach out to my hand. Now, thinking of him, I can't watch this stuff and find it interesting. Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is.' He said he would 'never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all.' 'I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,' he added. ADVERTISEMENT The clip ends with a voiceover from Miyazaki saying: 'I feel like we are nearing the end of times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves.' Check it out: Josh Weigensberg, a partner at the law firm Pryor Cashman, said that one question the Ghibli-style AI art raises is whether the AI model was trained on Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli's work. That in turn 'raises the question of, 'Well, do they have a license or permission to do that training or not?'' he said. Weigensberg added that if a work was licensed for training, it might make sense for a company to permit this type of use. But if this type of use is happening without consent and compensation, he said, it could be 'problematic.' ADVERTISEMENT Again, 'problematic' doesn't phase Sam Altman. Even if ChatGPT's increasingly popular new image generation tool has led to OpenAI putting in place "temporary" limits on how many are generated, Altman has stated that the unspecified cap 'hopefully' won't be in place for very long. "It's super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT, but our GPUs are melting," said Altman. Let them melt. And thankfully, some X users are speaking out: ADVERTISEMENT Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by directors Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. It has produced some of the most acclaimed animated films of all time, including My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), and Spirited Away (2004), which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Their most recent film was 2023's The Boy And The Heron - which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar last year.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ChatGPT's viral Studio Ghibli-style images: 'An insult to life itself'
You may have noticed this week that everything from historic photos, classic film scenes, internet memes and recent political moments have been reimagined online as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral, all thanks to ChatGPT and the OpenAI chatbot's latest update, which launched on Tuesday (25 March). The latest addition to the GPT-4o has meant users can replicate the distinct artistic style of animation studio co-creator and legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away). "Today is a great internet day," one user declared as he shared popular memes in the Ghibli format. That's all well and good, but the trend has also highlighted ethical concerns about artificial intelligence tools trained on copyrighted creative works and what that means for the livelihoods of human artists. Not that that's a concern for ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which has largely encouraged the 'Ghiblification' experiments. Its CEO Sam Altman even changed his profile on social media platform X into a Ghibli-style portrait. What started as another example of how OpenAI doesn't care about the work of artists went straight to the White House, with Donald Trump's administration exploitating the trend in the most insulting and tone-deaf of ways. Indeed, Trump's administration jumped onto the trend bandwagon, using the White House's official X account to post a Ghibli-style image of a weeping woman from the Dominican Republic recently arrested by US immigration agents. Sickening. Miyazaki, 84, known for his hand-drawn approach and whimsical storytelling, has expressed skepticism about AI's role in animation. His previous comments on AI animation have resurfaced and also gone viral, with the animator saying he was 'utterly disgusted' by an AI demo. The video is from 2016. The person demonstrating the animation, which showed a writhing body dragging itself by its head, explained that AI could 'present us grotesque movements that we humans can't imagine.' That prompted Miyazaki to tell a story. 'Every morning, not in recent days, I see my friend who has a disability,' Miyazaki said. 'It's so hard for him just to do a high five; his arm with stiff muscle can't reach out to my hand. Now, thinking of him, I can't watch this stuff and find it interesting. Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is.' He said he would 'never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all.' 'I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,' he added. The clip ends with a voiceover from Miyazaki saying: 'I feel like we are nearing the end of times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves.' Check it out: Josh Weigensberg, a partner at the law firm Pryor Cashman, said that one question the Ghibli-style AI art raises is whether the AI model was trained on Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli's work. That in turn 'raises the question of, 'Well, do they have a license or permission to do that training or not?'' he said. Weigensberg added that if a work was licensed for training, it might make sense for a company to permit this type of use. But if this type of use is happening without consent and compensation, he said, it could be 'problematic.' Again, 'problematic' doesn't phase Sam Altman. Even if ChatGPT's increasingly popular new image generation tool has led to OpenAI putting in place "temporary" limits on how many are generated, Altman has stated that the unspecified cap 'hopefully' won't be in place for very long. "It's super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT, but our GPUs are melting," said Altman. Let them melt. And thankfully, some X users are speaking out: Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by directors Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. It has produced some of the most acclaimed animated films of all time, including My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), and Spirited Away (2004), which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Their most recent film was 2023's The Boy And The Heron - which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar last year.
