Join us this evening for the grand opening of Manhattan's third Apple Retail Store. Do your holiday shopping in style and explore three floors of all things Apple, including an entire floor dedicated to free workshops, technical support, and the all-new Pro Labs.* Be sure to get here early for commemorative T-shirts and other Apple gifts while they last.**
Where: West 14th Street and 9th Avenue
When: 6:00 p.m. to midnight
Friday, December 7, 2007
Be SALTE
Stylaholic style maven Najwa Moses has dropped an eclectic series of earrings just in time 4 the holidays.
My pic is The Agent.
But look 4 urself.
SALTE SHOP
Ear 2 The Streets
8thW1
Love Money & Music is filled with soulful grooves. With 8thW1 applying lyrics that, well... speak of Love, Money and Music. Something we all can relate to. Surely a good listen, especially if u are a hip hop head that needs a lil presto chango for the rap scene.
Get ur listen on:
8thW1 Music Page
Toy Tokyo Jimmy Jam
FRIDAY DEC 7, 2007 7-11 PM
TOY TOKYO 117 Second Av second floor NYC
FREE BEER BY SINGHA
If god forbid you can't come to the party, the gallery will be open
Saturday Dec 8 and Sunday Dec 9
1-7 PM
Check The Commercial
http://suckadelic.com/Realms.html
TOY TOKYO 117 Second Av second floor NYC
FREE BEER BY SINGHA
If god forbid you can't come to the party, the gallery will be open
Saturday Dec 8 and Sunday Dec 9
1-7 PM
Check The Commercial
http://suckadelic.com/Realms.html
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Opening of a solo exhibition of new works by artist Jackson Brown @ World
The exhibition will open on December 6th, 2007, with a reception from
6pm -10pm.
WORLD is located at 187 Chrystie Street , New York, NY.
For more information, contact World 212-677-4296
6pm -10pm.
WORLD is located at 187 Chrystie Street , New York, NY.
For more information, contact World 212-677-4296
Patricia Fields introduces her Barbie Luxe collection
December 6th....Patricia Fields will unveil her personally designed collection for Barbie.
The collection will include casual wear, accessories and handbags. Patricia will be there along
with Mickey Boardman (Paper Magazine). The kick of will take place @ Macy's 34th Street in the
Impulse section 2nd Floor.
The collection will include casual wear, accessories and handbags. Patricia will be there along
with Mickey Boardman (Paper Magazine). The kick of will take place @ Macy's 34th Street in the
Impulse section 2nd Floor.
Counterfeit Smuggling Ring Busted
Seizing $200 million in fake goods, Federal officials in New York on Wednesday broke up what they called one of the largest-ever counterfeit smuggling rings for apparel, shoes and accessories.
The products seized included items labeled Chanel, Nike, Burberry, Polo Ralph Lauren and Baby Phat. Federal officials in Manhattan arrested and arraigned 10 people on Wednesday, including a licensed customs agent. The busts occurred after a one-year investigation that included an undercover agent. The goods were discovered in more than 100 shipping containers packed full of fake cases of sneakers, handbags, jeans and other apparel.
“These criminal charges follow a long-term undercover investigation into an elaborate scheme to defeat federal border and port security measures,” said U.S. attorney Michael Garcia during a press conference in the lobby of the U.S. attorney’s office in lower Manhattan.
The raid reflects stepped-up efforts by federal and local officials in seizing counterfeit goods. In October, a raid was carried out by the New York Police Department at a commercial building in the College Point section of Queens that resulted in 13 arrests and the seizure of an estimated $4 million in counterfeit apparel.
The $200 million port raid involved smugglers bringing in fake goods through metro area ports inside shipping containers. The items were mislabeled, and bills were falsified to get the goods through. Nike-branded sneakers, for example, were labeled as “refrigerated noodles.”
The defendants were charged with attempting to smuggle more than $200 million in counterfeit apparel through Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal from China by circumventing border security. The goods seized were bound for retail outlets in Brooklyn and Queens, not street vendors, investigators said.
Federal officials announced the seizure during a low-key press conference in the lobby of the U.S. attorney’s office. When questioned over whether there’s a gap in port security, Garcia said, “It shows a risk, not a gap.”
The smugglers also were charged with attempting to bribe an undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent posing as a corrupt longshoreman‘s union official by offering $500,000 in cash bribes.
Investigators’ initial contact with the smugglers was through Michael Chu, 70, who solicited the help of the undercover agent to move containers through the Newark port last August. Chu continued to provide the agent with container numbers and bribes since then, and allegedly worked with several associates.
Additionally, Chu asked the agent to help him smuggle in at least one container of goods for Hsi Feng Li, who was called “The General.” Li was also named as a defendant in the case.
Other defendants named in legal proceedings included Grace Qeuzon, Yee Khiong Ting, Troy King, Wing Ki Lee and Dick Ong. All had multiple aliases. Robin Huff, a licensed customs agent, was charged with exploiting his access to the Customs and Border Protection database in addition to the smuggling and trafficking accusations. Chi On Wong and Man Wai Cheng, operators of Brooklyn-based trucking company KT Express Inc., allegedly charged the smugglers a premium to transport the containers of counterfeits.
According to the complaint unsealed Wednesday, the defendants imported counterfeit apparel through Port Newark in sea containers by falsifying bills of lading and inaccurately labeling containers.
The charges are the culmination of more than a year of investigation into the ring. Four search warrants were executed Wednesday morning in the New York metropolitan area. In addition to counterfeit merchandise, two trucks used to transport goods were seized.
Shipments of good were disguised in different ways. According to court documents, the smuggling ring planned to mislabel products to avoid quotas and detection. For example, the smugglers told the undercover agent they planned to label jeans as pants and leather sneakers as PVC. Cases of Nike sneakers were found labeled as “refrigerated noodles” on a number of occasions during the investigation.
The smuggling ring enlisted the help of a federally licensed customs broker to track containers through the ports. Among other things, a customs broker is able to keep track of whether or not a case has been opened as it passes through customs.
After the counterfeits cleared customs, a Brooklyn-based husband and wife trucking company moved them to warehouse locations for storage. The goods were distributed from there to retail outlets in Brooklyn and Queens.
The complaint contains allegations of conspiring to smuggle goods into the U.S., smuggling goods into the U.S., and trafficking in counterfeit goods. If convicted, the members of the smuggling ring could face a maximum sentence of 35 years in jail and fines of up to $2.4 million and an obligation to pay restitution to the brand owners of the goods that were counterfeited.
During the press conference, Garcia called the group a “major smuggling” outfit and said the case does highlight a risk that exists at the country’s ports. In this instance, he said, that risk was identified and addressed.
Garcia said that regardless of the categories of goods being smuggled into the U.S., it is “deeply troubling” whenever a criminal organization tries to circumvent the Customs process, he said.
“It’s not good enough to just keep counterfeits off the street. We need to dismantle the organizations,” said Kyle Hutchins, special agent-in-charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Newark Field Office. He also spoke at the press conference.
At the press conference, Hutchins issued a special thanks to Nike unveiling the indictments for the company’s technical expertise and patience in assisting with the case. “It is important that companies work together with law enforcement to protect the public from inferior products entering the marketplace while also upholding their trademarks,” said Dave Simpson, director of corporate security at Nike, in a statement about the raid.
The products seized included items labeled Chanel, Nike, Burberry, Polo Ralph Lauren and Baby Phat. Federal officials in Manhattan arrested and arraigned 10 people on Wednesday, including a licensed customs agent. The busts occurred after a one-year investigation that included an undercover agent. The goods were discovered in more than 100 shipping containers packed full of fake cases of sneakers, handbags, jeans and other apparel.
“These criminal charges follow a long-term undercover investigation into an elaborate scheme to defeat federal border and port security measures,” said U.S. attorney Michael Garcia during a press conference in the lobby of the U.S. attorney’s office in lower Manhattan.
The raid reflects stepped-up efforts by federal and local officials in seizing counterfeit goods. In October, a raid was carried out by the New York Police Department at a commercial building in the College Point section of Queens that resulted in 13 arrests and the seizure of an estimated $4 million in counterfeit apparel.
The $200 million port raid involved smugglers bringing in fake goods through metro area ports inside shipping containers. The items were mislabeled, and bills were falsified to get the goods through. Nike-branded sneakers, for example, were labeled as “refrigerated noodles.”
The defendants were charged with attempting to smuggle more than $200 million in counterfeit apparel through Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal from China by circumventing border security. The goods seized were bound for retail outlets in Brooklyn and Queens, not street vendors, investigators said.
Federal officials announced the seizure during a low-key press conference in the lobby of the U.S. attorney’s office. When questioned over whether there’s a gap in port security, Garcia said, “It shows a risk, not a gap.”
The smugglers also were charged with attempting to bribe an undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent posing as a corrupt longshoreman‘s union official by offering $500,000 in cash bribes.
Investigators’ initial contact with the smugglers was through Michael Chu, 70, who solicited the help of the undercover agent to move containers through the Newark port last August. Chu continued to provide the agent with container numbers and bribes since then, and allegedly worked with several associates.
Additionally, Chu asked the agent to help him smuggle in at least one container of goods for Hsi Feng Li, who was called “The General.” Li was also named as a defendant in the case.
Other defendants named in legal proceedings included Grace Qeuzon, Yee Khiong Ting, Troy King, Wing Ki Lee and Dick Ong. All had multiple aliases. Robin Huff, a licensed customs agent, was charged with exploiting his access to the Customs and Border Protection database in addition to the smuggling and trafficking accusations. Chi On Wong and Man Wai Cheng, operators of Brooklyn-based trucking company KT Express Inc., allegedly charged the smugglers a premium to transport the containers of counterfeits.
According to the complaint unsealed Wednesday, the defendants imported counterfeit apparel through Port Newark in sea containers by falsifying bills of lading and inaccurately labeling containers.
The charges are the culmination of more than a year of investigation into the ring. Four search warrants were executed Wednesday morning in the New York metropolitan area. In addition to counterfeit merchandise, two trucks used to transport goods were seized.
Shipments of good were disguised in different ways. According to court documents, the smuggling ring planned to mislabel products to avoid quotas and detection. For example, the smugglers told the undercover agent they planned to label jeans as pants and leather sneakers as PVC. Cases of Nike sneakers were found labeled as “refrigerated noodles” on a number of occasions during the investigation.
The smuggling ring enlisted the help of a federally licensed customs broker to track containers through the ports. Among other things, a customs broker is able to keep track of whether or not a case has been opened as it passes through customs.
After the counterfeits cleared customs, a Brooklyn-based husband and wife trucking company moved them to warehouse locations for storage. The goods were distributed from there to retail outlets in Brooklyn and Queens.
The complaint contains allegations of conspiring to smuggle goods into the U.S., smuggling goods into the U.S., and trafficking in counterfeit goods. If convicted, the members of the smuggling ring could face a maximum sentence of 35 years in jail and fines of up to $2.4 million and an obligation to pay restitution to the brand owners of the goods that were counterfeited.
During the press conference, Garcia called the group a “major smuggling” outfit and said the case does highlight a risk that exists at the country’s ports. In this instance, he said, that risk was identified and addressed.
Garcia said that regardless of the categories of goods being smuggled into the U.S., it is “deeply troubling” whenever a criminal organization tries to circumvent the Customs process, he said.
“It’s not good enough to just keep counterfeits off the street. We need to dismantle the organizations,” said Kyle Hutchins, special agent-in-charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Newark Field Office. He also spoke at the press conference.
At the press conference, Hutchins issued a special thanks to Nike unveiling the indictments for the company’s technical expertise and patience in assisting with the case. “It is important that companies work together with law enforcement to protect the public from inferior products entering the marketplace while also upholding their trademarks,” said Dave Simpson, director of corporate security at Nike, in a statement about the raid.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
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