MAY 15, 2014 EAST VILLAGER

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The Paper of Record for East and West Villages, Lower East Side, Soho, Noho, Little Italy and Chinatown

May 15, 2014 • FREE Volume 4 • Number 13

A.G. keeps going after Airbnb to turn over rental records BY SAM SPOKONY

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AIRBNB, continued on p. 10

East Village radical attorney pleads guilty to tax obstruction BY SARAH FERGUSON

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e’s defended everyone from Lower East Side squatters and the homeless denizens of Tompkins Square Park to the leaders of Hamas and most recently Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law.

Now friends and supporters of radical attorney Stanley Cohen are coming to his defense in the wake of Cohen’s decision to plead guilty to a felony charge of “impeding” the Internal Revenue Service. On April 14, Cohen appeared in U.S. District COHEN, continued on p. 11

PHOTO BY SAM SPOKONY

t ended up being a short break for the nation’s most talkedabout short-term apartment rental Web site. Just one day after a judge blocked state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s subpoena of Airbnb — the popular “home-

sharing” site — based on a technicality, Schneiderman issued a new subpoena that purportedly addresses that technical matter. Through the subpoena, the attorney general seeks to force Airbnb — a San Francisco-based company that operates in cities around the globe — to

Interfaith leaders prayed at the East Village’s Middle Collegiate Church on May 13 for the safe return of 276 Nigerian girls kidnapped last month. One young worshiper filmed the service on her phone, above. See Page 2 for more photos.

Jurors, advocates, a few pols call for clemency for McMillan BY GERARD FLYNN

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urors who convicted Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan aren’t the only voices calling for leniency in the sentencing of the 25-year-old New School graduate student, who is facing between two and seven years in prison for elbowing a police officer in the face at an O.W.S. protest on March 2012. Last week, nine of the 12 jury mem-

bers petitioned Judge Ronald Zweibel to “consider probation with community service” when McMillian is sentenced on Mon., May 19. This past Monday, on the steps of City Hall, a handful of city councilmembers followed suit. Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, who was arrested while protesting with the Occupy movement — his charges were later dismissed — condemned the Police Department for

what he called its tendency to use “excessive force” at protests. He said the effort to keep McMillan incarcerated is an attempt by the powers that be to chill free speech. “Many of the arrests at Zuccotti Park were provoked by the police and unnecessary,” he said, adding that protesters often were charged afterward with assaulting a police officer. MCMILLAN, continued on p. 2

Professor Corey, going strong at 99..................page 12 D.A. adds murder charge....page 5 Hoylman gets tough on hit-run cyclists.............page 20 www.EastVillagerNews.com


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