A Letter For Ralph

Last October Ralph Jawad of Ralph's Meats on Lafayette Street in Fort Greene was arrested by the NYPD for possession on marijuana and two guns. The neighborhood mayor is out on bail after a period of incarceration on Riker's Island. The NY Post today heralded the approach of legal marijuana sales in New York, yet Mayor Bloomberg continues to target smokers and low-level dealers rather than the pharmaceutical companies selling oxycondin and countless other prescription killer drugs. We demand freedom for Ralph. If you live in Fort Greene, please write a letter to Ralph to help his defense with your contact information and bring it to Ralph's asap. Just follow the steps below. 1. Introduction: Who You Are. What you do for a living and for how long. 2. How You Know Ralph: For how long, and relationship, neighbor, landlord, 3. Give Specific Examples: i.e. good things he’s done, his reputation, honest etc. 4. Provide a good contact number, email, & / or address" Free the Ralph. It's the neighborhood thing to do.

The Ralph Is Free

lph I just saw Ralph on the corner. He's been freed on bail. Everyone in the neighborhood is showing the love, but his troubles are not over so keep the support strong. Ralph is one of us. He's no Emily Worthington, a Tribeca girl from the NY Times article on 'the Beard's arrest, who was scared on her own shadow. 420. Free the Weed. Free Ralph.

All The News

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.