Latest news with #RobMenendez
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Acting NJ U.S. Attorney Alina Habba says Rep. LaMonica McIver indicted
A grand jury has indicted U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver on charges related to an incident at Delaney Hall in Newark last month, said a social media post by acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba. McIver was at Delaney Hall with Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez to "inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall." All three are Democrats. The congresswoman said in a statement that the 'facts of this case will prove I was simply doing my job and will expose these proceedings for what they are: a brazen attempt at political intimidation." 'This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump's administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do,' McIver said. 'But it won't work — I will not be intimidated. The facts are on our side, I will be entering a plea of not guilty, I'm grateful for the support of my community, and I look forward to my day in court.' Habba said the federal grand jury 'returned a three-count indictment' against McIver for 'forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers.' 'It is my constitutional obligation as the chief federal law enforcement officer for New Jersey to ensure that our federal partners are protected when executing their duties,' she said. 'While people are free to express their views for or against particular policies, they must not do so in a manner that endangers law enforcement and the communities those officers serve.' The three counts have a maximum penalty of eight years for count one, an additional maximum penalty of eight years for count two and a maximum penalty of one year for count three. McIver's lawyer, Paul Fishman, who served as U.S. attorney in New Jersey during the Obama administration, said June 10 that the "legal process will expose this prosecution for what it truly is — political retaliation against a dedicated public servant who refuses to shy away from her oversight responsibilities." Earlier: NJ Rep. LaMonica McIver makes court appearance for assault charges in Newark ICE incident McIver said in a statement on May 19 that she and her colleagues were "fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short." "Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka," she said. "The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight." Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested at Delaney Hall on charges of trespassing, but the charges have since been dropped. He is suing Habba alleging 'false arrest and malicious prosecution.' Fishman said in May that the "decision to charge Congresswoman McIver is spectacularly inappropriate." "She went to Delaney Hall to do her job. As a member of Congress, she has the right and responsibility to see how ICE is treating detainees," Fishman said. "Rather than facilitating that inspection, ICE agents chose to escalate what should have been a peaceful situation into chaos. This prosecution is an attempt to shift the blame for ICE's behavior to Congresswoman McIver. In the courtroom, facts — not headlines — will matter." Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@ This article originally appeared on NJ U.S. Attorney Alina Habba: Rep. LaMonica McIver indicted
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
4-year-old Mexican girl facing deportation at risk of losing lifesaving medical treatment
A four-year-old Mexican girl is facing deportation and is at risk of losing lifesaving medical treatment due to President Trump's immigration crackdown. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) joins Ana Cabrera to discuss the policies, saying "no one is safe in Trump's America."
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NYC helicopter tours would be banned under new federal bill –proposed a month after fatal Hudson River crash: ‘Owe it to the victims'
Helicopter tours around New York City would be banned under a federal bill recently introduced by local Congress members — less than a month after a fatal crash killed a Spanish family and their pilot. The proposed bipartisan Improving Helicopter Safety Act — introduced May 5 by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) — would bar all 'non-essential' helicopters within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty. The bill — targeting flights used for recreation, tourism and luxury commuting – was introduced after the tragic crash in the Hudson River that killed a tourist mom, dad and their three young kids, as well as the pilot, April 10. The legislation would take effect 60 days after being signed into law. 'While we have consistently worked to address the impact of non-essential helicopters on our communities, last month's tragic crash should be a clarion call for every level of government to take action on helicopter safety,' Menendez said in a statement. 'Rising congestion of non-essential helicopters, coupled with concerning safety records of air tourism operators, are causing a direct threat to public safety. 'Along with my colleagues from New Jersey and New York, we're doing what is necessary to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,' the rep said. Choppers that would still be allowed to fly around the city under the bill include those used by police, disaster response, medical and other emergency crews and those employed for research, news and film. The Big Apple sightseeing company New York Helicopter Tours shut down days after the deadly crash involving one of its choppers. New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth confirmed to The Post that his company was ceasing operations at the demand of the Federal Aviation Administration. The doomed helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day when it broke apart in the air and crashed into the Hudson, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The last inspection date for the chopper was March 1. After the crash, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) applauded the move by the FAA but noted, 'much work remains to be done.' Schumer said the FAA must conduct more inspections of tourist helicopter companies and consider other questions about the industry going forward. The grassroots organization Stop The Chop, which has sought for years to ground the city's roughly 30,000 tourist helicopter flights over environmental impacts and noise, hailed the federal bill. The proposal is 'common sense federal legislation that will, when passed, finally put an end to the dangerous helicopter conditions in the New York metropolitan area,' the group said in a statement. Last month, the New York City Council passed a bill banning non-essential helicopter flights from city-owned heliports unless they meet FAA noise standards, although the law won't take effect until December 2029. Supporters of a tourist-chopper ban argue that the tragic incident last month wasn't an isolated incident, with at least 38 fatalities tied to helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977, according to The Associated Press. 'It was the latest in a long line of preventable tragedies in the New York metropolitan region's increasingly crowded and poorly regulated airspace,' Nadler said. 'For far too long, non-essential helicopter flights have endangered public safety and shattered the peace of our neighborhoods. We owe it to the victims, and to every resident living beneath these flight paths, to put safety first and prevent future disasters.' — Additional reporting by David Propper
New York Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Chopper tours around NYC would be banned under new federal bill: ‘We owe it to the victims'
Helicopter tours around New York City would be banned under a federal bill recently introduced by local Congress members — less than a month after a fatal crash killed a Spanish family and their pilot. The proposed bipartisan Improving Helicopter Safety Act — introduced May 5 by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) — would bar all 'non-essential' helicopters within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty. 4 Helicopter tours around New York City would be scrapped for good under a new federal bill introduced earlier this month. PhotoSpirit – The bill — targeting flights used for recreation, tourism and luxury commuting – was introduced after the tragic crash in the Hudson River that killed a tourist mom, dad and their three young kids, as well as the pilot, April 10. The legislation would take effect 60 days after being signed into law. 'While we have consistently worked to address the impact of non-essential helicopters on our communities, last month's tragic crash should be a clarion call for every level of government to take action on helicopter safety,' Menendez said in a statement. 'Rising congestion of non-essential helicopters, coupled with concerning safety records of air tourism operators, are causing a direct threat to public safety. 'Along with my colleagues from New Jersey and New York, we're doing what is necessary to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,' the rep said. Choppers that would still be allowed to fly around the city under the bill include those used by police, disaster response, medical and other emergency crews and those employed for research, news and film. 4 How The Post reported Manhattan's latest chopper tragedy. The Big Apple sightseeing company New York Helicopter Tours shut down days after the deadly crash involving one of its choppers. New York Helicopter Tours CEO Michael Roth confirmed to The Post that his company was ceasing operations at the demand of the Federal Aviation Administration. The doomed helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day when it broke apart in the air and crashed into the Hudson, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The last inspection date for the chopper was March 1. After the crash, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) applauded the move by the FAA but noted 'much work remains to be done.' Schumer said the FAA must conduct more inspections of tourist helicopter companies and consider other questions about the industry going forward. 4 The doomed helicopter was on its eighth flight of the day when it broke apart in the air and crashed into the Hudson, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. AP The grassroots organization Stop The Chop, which has sought for years to ground the city's roughly 30,000 tourist helicopter flights over environmental impacts and noise, hailed the federal bill. The proposal is 'common sense federal legislation that will, when passed, finally put an end to the dangerous helicopter conditions in the New York metropolitan area,' the group said in a statement. Last month, the New York City Council passed a bill banning non-essential helicopter flights from city-owned heliports unless they meet FAA noise standards, although the law won't take effect until December 2029. 4 At least 38 people have died in chopper crashes in the Big Apple since 1977. ozerkina – Supporters of a tourist-chopper ban argue that the tragic incident last month wasn't an isolated incident, with at least 38 fatalities tied to helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977, according to The Associated Press. 'It was the latest in a long line of preventable tragedies in the New York metropolitan region's increasingly crowded and poorly regulated airspace,' Nadler said. 'For far too long, non-essential helicopter flights have endangered public safety and shattered the peace of our neighborhoods. We owe it to the victims, and to every resident living beneath these flight paths, to put safety first and prevent future disasters.' — Additional reporting by David Propper
American Military News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
After fatal crash, proposed law would ban tourist helicopter flights around NYC
New Jersey and New York congressional members have proposed a bill that would ban 'non-essential' helicopter flights like the one that crashed on April 10. The bill comes at the same time a citizens group has asked federal officials for an immediate ban. Roughly a month after a tourist helicopter plunged into the Hudson River near Jersey City, killing all six people aboard, a federal bill has been introduced that would ban tourist and other 'non-essential' helicopter flights within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty. The bipartisan bill, proposed by U.S. Reps. Rob Menendez (D-8th Dist.), Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island), would ground non-essential helicopter flights starting 60 days after it is signed into law. The bill exempts police, medical, disaster and emergency response, infrastructure maintenance and other helicopter flights deemed to be in the public good, including news media helicopters. A bi-state citizen group, Stop the Chop, asked for an 'immediate ban' on non-essential flights over the New York Metropolitan area in a May 21 letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau. A tourist helicopter broke apart into three pieces in midair and crashed into the Hudson River near Jersey City at 3:15 p.m. on April 10. All six people on board were killed, including a family of five from Spain visiting New York City and the pilot. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause. That crash involved a tourist helicopter that was based in Kearny and flew over densely populated Jersey City and Hoboken neighborhoods to reach Manhattan. 'In light of the recent tragedy on April 10 and the ongoing Air Traffic Control shortages in the area, the risks of having more than 100 of these flights cross right over our heads every day is undeniable and needs to be put to an end,' Nick Wierda, a Stop the Chop member and Jersey City resident, said. 'We are urging the federal government, the only body with real regulatory power over our skies, to do just that.' The letter supports the Menendez bill and made it clear that 'we support and respect the vital role of helicopters in medical, law enforcement, military, and emergency operations. We are not calling for any changes to flight paths or rules governing essential aircraft.' Hoboken, Jersey City and New York City councils passed resolutions calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to ban non-essential helicopter traffic over and near populated urban areas in the wake of the crash. The FAA has jurisdiction over the nation's airspace. The FAA took similar action on March 14 in the wake of a deadly collision between a military helicopter and a commuter jet that killed 67 people on Jan. 29 by banning helicopter traffic from the busy airspace near Reagan Airport in Washington. That ban exempted presidential flights, law enforcement and air ambulance flights. It also resulted in the FAA convening a helicopter safety roundtable in April with safety experts, government and industry representatives, where the Hudson River crash was mentioned. Residents said the FAA needs to do the same thing in New York and New Jersey, citing air space that is as congested as in Washington D.C., and the safety risk of flights over densely populated neighborhoods. 'For years this has been a major quality of life issue that has continued to worsen,' said Melissa Elstein, Stop the Chop board chair. 'On high-traffic days, usually weekends when the weather is clear, we see many times north of 100 helicopters zipping out to the Hudson and back in, skimming our roofs, shaking our houses, so close you can see the passengers inside.' Bailey Wood, a spokesperson for Vertical Aviation International, an association of helicopter operators, pilots, owners and manufacturers said accident data says the fatality rate per 100,000 hours of flight are the lowest since 2007. 'The legislation is as misguided as it is short sighted as the future of vertical flight is about to take off in ways we only once imagined,' he said. Advanced air mobility aircraft, like those from Joby, Archer, Supernal and others, will grow the existing helicopter industry to connect people more efficiently across urban, suburban, and rural area, reducing travel time, easing congestion, and creating a new paradigm of accessible and sustainable transportation, Wood said. A total of 8,848 flights went over New York City land or water in May 2023, and a large portion of these flights are non-essential, Menendez said in a March letter to Duffy. An estimated 43% are tours originating from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, the Kearny Heliport and Linden Airport. Helicopters are subject to different minimum altitude restrictions than airplanes, said an FAA spokesperson. Airplanes must fly at least 1,000 feet above the nearest obstacle when over densely populated areas. Helicopter pilots must fly so they don't pose a hazard to people or property on the ground, said Rick Breitenfeldt an FAA spokesperson. 'Helicopters typically fly over the New York and New Jersey area using Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and just outside Newark (airport) Class B airspace,' he said. 'Pilots operating VFR use the see-and-avoid method to conduct their flights. The responsibility for flying neighborly resides with the pilot operating the helicopter.' But residents familiar with the fly neighborly program said that isn't being adhered to, given the low altitudes they said they've observed. 'People in the helicopter industry claim that they do everything they can to 'fly neighborly,' but that has not been our experience,' Wierda said. 'They fly loud and low, with no regard for our safety or sanity.' Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Larry Higgs may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry. ©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
