Ralph's deli has re-opened on Lafayette Avenue, even the owner remains on Riker's Island on drug and gun charges by the 'alleged' NYPD. Today the NY Times reported on the Thursday raid netting two guns, a pound of weed, and 'supposedly' several hundred prescription pills. Their reporter and blogger, J. DAVID GOODMAN, wrote 'all the news that is fit to print' according to the new NY Times.
He was right about the money confiscated from the safe, but his comments about the police having purchased marijuana from Ralph is strictly hear-say until the Brooklyn DA brings the case before the grand jury tomorrow. Yesterday I spoke with a local criminal attorney, who said that Mayor Bloomberg's mandatory gun penalties could threaten the deli owner with 2-5 years in prison.
Hopefully the DA will not seek punitive punishment for the well-loved bodega owner and drop the felony gun possession to misdemeanors, thus freeing Ralph from the threat of a long sentence.
The New York Times writer seemed to have been instructed to paint a slightly dark portrait of the neighborhood, which was once known as the notorious 'Strip', but the streets are mostly devoid of drugs dealers to my eyes, however the reporter ended this article by resorting to the comments of three 'outsiders' trying to get a laugh. He fails, but serves Bloomberg's anti-drug campaign well with his reporting the young female from Tribeca saying about Ralph's, “I’m afraid to go in there.”
Not me.
Ralph's my friend.
Unlike the New York Times and the NYPD.
FREE THE RALPH.
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