A lawyer for Facebook argued in court Wednesday that the social media site’s users “have no expectation of privacy.”

According to Law360, Facebook attorney Orin Snyder made the comment while defending the company against a class-action lawsuit over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

“There is no invasion of privacy at all, because there is no privacy,” Snyder said.

In an attempt to have the lawsuit thrown out, Snyder further claimed that Facebook was nothing more than a “digital town square” where users voluntarily give up their private information.

“You have to closely guard something to have a reasonable expectation of privacy,” Snyder added.

Although Snyder said that the social media site would be focusing more on privacy in the future, U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria reportedly pushed back on Facebook’s argument.

“What you are saying now sounds contrary to the message that Facebook itself disseminates about privacy,” Chhabria said, according to Law.com.

The Daily Dot reached out to Facebook for comment but did not receive a reply.

Synder’s statement came just hours before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told company shareholders during their annual meeting Thursday that Facebook would become a “privacy-focused social platform.”

The meeting, held at Hotel Nia in Palo Alto, California, was also met with protest by civil liberties groups calling for the CEO’s firing.

A proposal at the meeting to have Zuckerberg step down as CEO was voted down, however, given that the Facebook co-founder currently controls the majority of voting shares.

Original

The emergency-brake-yanking scoundrel who has been scuttling subways during rush hour is responsible for hundreds of commute-crushing train delays since March alone, according to a report.

The rail reprobate, who sources say has been using an MTA master key to sneak into conductor cabs and grind trains to a halt, has caused 747 delays or cancellations in the last three months, Jalopnik reports.

His subway-stopping antics caused bottlenecks that rippled through the system and caused delays on other trains, the report said.

The MTA is investigating “dozens of incidents” since the beginning of the year, officials confirmed to The Post.

In some instances, he was able to delay more than 100 trains in a single spree, Jalopnik reported.

Incident reports shared with The Post show just how nefarious the subway saboteur can be.

In one instance, on May 15, he managed to personally cripple two trains within two minutes of one another, the papers show.

At 9:10 p.m., he slinked aboard a southbound No. 2 train at Brooklyn’s Winthrop Street station, unlatched security chains on the back car and popped open the storm door to gain entry to an empty conductor cab, where he pulled the emergency brake and scampered off.

While the train’s conductor and motorman were scratching their heads over the inexplicable stop, the rogue was tearing over to a northbound train at the same station — which he halted at 9:12 p.m., records show. The M.O. was the same: He unchained a back door, cracked it open and yanked the brake before vanishing.

Regular service resumed 10 minutes later, but the damage was done.

Police released security footage of the suspected delay-causer Thursday showing the man — wearing a black shirt with red and white letters that read, “SWAG DON’T COME CHEAP” — riding on the outside of a northbound No. 2 train near 14th Street and 7th Avenue on Tuesday night that was later delayed when he pulled the e-brake.

The NYPD is investigating the pattern, and NYC Transit chief Andy Byford on Wednesday pledged: “We’re going to hunt them down. We intend to nail them.”

Original

Many sellers across New York City cut prices on their homes this February as winter brought a chill to the sales market. In Manhattan, more than 1 in 10 homes had their prices cut, and inventory increased by 11.7 percent from last year. With inventory levels and the share of price cuts high across the borough, prices cooled, too. The StreetEasy Manhattan Price Index [i] dropped 4.3 percent to $1,119,183, its lowest level since July 2015.

Even with prices down and an abundance of inventory, buyers continued to hesitate to make deals. Manhattan homes spent a median of 117 days on the market — up 27 days year-over-year, and the highest level in seven years. This trend appeared in all areas and price points across the borough. Downtown Manhattan [ii] saw the largest increase in median days on market — up 31 from last year, to 117 days total.

“With a strong economy and home-shopping season right around the corner, plenty of New Yorkers are well-positioned to buy this spring. However, many are willing to walk away from deals that just aren’t financially attractive and continue renting instead — creating a market poised to punish sellers who don’t price their homes sensibly,” says StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. “When the inevitable wave of new inventory hits the market this spring, interested buyers should expect to see an uptick in price cuts as the market forces ambitious sellers to accept reality.”

Original

New York City is officially the most financially distressed metropolis in America, according to local debt counselors and financial analysts.

The city’s credit card delinquency rates and level of bad personal debt are the highest in the nation, which saw household debt and credit soar by $219 billion, or 1.6 percent, to $13.51 trillion, in the third quarter of 2018 — a record $837 billion more than its previous peak in 2008.

Facing an environment of mounting personal bankruptcies and financial meltdowns, unprecedented numbers of local residents are just one paycheck away from total monetary disaster.

The latest surge in toxic debt is blowing a huge hole in New Yorkers’ personal finances, these experts say. Forty percent of Americans recently said they could not cover a $400 emergency — and that proportion may be even higher in New York City, analysts say.

“It’s really bad right now,” Kelly Figueroa, a consumer debt counselor in New York at GreenPath, a national nonprofit, told The Post.

“Like the rest of the nation, most New Yorkers are living paycheck to paycheck,” she added. “But in New York, the situation is even worse because of the city’s higher — and rising — cost of living.”

From low-income to highly paid consumers, Kelly says, local clients’ unsecured distressed household debt ranges from an average of $20,000 per individual to as high as $100,000.

Credit card debt troubles in particular have jumped in New York City, from 30 percent of client caseloads at GreenPath to 40 percent in the past few years, even as housing and mortgage stress cases stemming from the financial crisis have ebbed.

New York City is now its No. 1 metro market, followed by Atlanta and Los Angeles, as measured by the sheer volume of distressed consumers seeking assistance and relief, according to Money Management International, a nationwide credit-counseling network.

“New York has the second-most expensive housing market in the US; rents are rising along with interest rates and credit card and other debt, including auto loans,” said Thomas Nitzsche, a consumer debt expert at Money Management International, citing some of the nonprofit’s latest findings.

A large population with average wages well above the national average — and a low unemployment rate — can give residents the courage to take on large credit card balances and debt, analysts say.

However, since 2010, rents in New York City overall have jumped 31 percent — and even as much as 45 percent in some neighborhoods, according to the StreetEasy Rent Indexin late 2018.

This may explain why many city consumers are sinking in card and other debt, say analysts.

A New York Fed study shows average credit card balances alone in Manhattan hit $7,400 by 2016, compared with the nation’s $5,400.

Credit card delinquency rates for holders 90 days late on payments reached a stunning 15.1 percent for the Bronx and nearly 10 percent citywide, compared with 8.3 percent nationwide.

Analysts figure those balances and delinquency rates have since ticked up further in New York.

Original

Rich New Yorkers are getting hit hard with record tax bills — unquestionably among the nation’s steepest, according to tax preparers and planners.

The tab is so high that analysts see the tax shock propelling the flight of wealthy New York residents to states with lower taxes, and a much cheaper cost of living.

“Many are selling securities in order to pay their tax bill,” John Graziano, an accountant and financial planner who handles returns for numerous New York City residents. “Some have discussed moving to a so-called lower-tax state.”

And while none of his tax-choked clients have yet loaded up the moving truck, many are mulling whether purchasing a second home in Florida now makes financial sense, as the reality of local and federal laws finally take a deeper bite. Last year was the first full year of the federal tax reform, which limited state and local tax deductions, or SALT, to a $10,000 maximum.

“A self-employed New York City businessperson client who earned about $1 million in 2018 now owes the Federal government $48,000 more this year than last,” Graziano told The Post. “Those who were getting $5,000 to $10,000 back are now getting less than $5,000.”

Other preparers report similar large surges in tax bills for rich Gotham clients filing their returns this year on 2018 income. And while some middle-class residents may be ahead when their previous 2018 tax payments on salary and the like are factored, many preparers are not holding their breath.

“A lot of otherwise well-off people who were used to getting $4,000 to $5,000 back, are now scrambling to pay their tax bill,” said financial adviser Gary Schwartz of Madison Planning Group. “They’re tapping savings and/or borrowing from wherever they can.”

By contrast, taxpayers in a nationwide survey — likely underlining the stark regional differences in taxation outcomes by state — are sounding almost chirpy.

Of the 74 percent of US adults who’ve filed taxes in 2019, 2 in 5 are “happy with the outcome,” and an additional 25 percent “are neither happy nor unhappy,” according to the survey by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). Thirty-three percent are “unhappy.”

“The results don’t seem to align with what we’ve been hearing anecdotally about people’s feelings of filing taxes under the new tax law,” said Billy Hensley, president and CEO of NEFE. “Despite a perceived unhappiness, the good news is the largest proportion of people say they’re satisfied with their tax filing outcome,” he added. “More good news is that people continue to report they are doing positive things with their refunds, like building savings and paying down debt.”

According to the NEFE survey, a mere 7 percent of filers paid more on their federal taxes this year than they typically paid in the past.

Put many New York City and State residents in the unhappy category. “Since the tax code was changed so quickly, many were caught off-guard and are complaining that their taxes are subsidizing corporations,” said Schwartz. “It’s a double whammy when you factor in the impact of the SALT cap.”

Original Article

The NYC Council announced that they just passed bills prohibiting marijuana testing being required as part of the hiring process in New York City, and banning the City from requiring marijuana testing for people on probation.

‘This bill will close one trap door that trips people up,” said the council’s Public Safety Committee chair Donovan Richards. “Too many people come out, they are trying to do better, and they get busted for marijuana and go back into jail or prison. This sets them back.”

The city conducts hundreds of such tests each year.

The official announcement for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival is 10 days away, but Paramount’s Elton John hybrid biopic-musical — starring Taron Egerton as the iconic British singer-songwriter — is poised to descend on the south of France, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Paramount declined comment.

The film’s addition to the lineup had been widely speculated given its official release on the very Cannes-friendly date of May 24 (the fest is set to run May 14-25). Its screening — and any potential parties — will likely be among the hottest tickets at Cannes, which is also set to feature Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The news comes just days after a six-minute montage of Rocketman — directed by Dexter Fletcher, who stepped in to finish Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer’s departure — drew loud applause at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The footage spanned John’s days as a child at the Royal Academy of Music to his early career, including his first U.S. concert at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and how after he grappled with fame and addiction before transforming into a global superstar.

Original

New York City is careening closer to all-out financial bankruptcy for the first time since Mayor Abraham Beame ran the city more than 40 years ago, experts say.

As tax-fleeced businesses and individuals flee en masse, and city public spending surges into the stratosphere, financial analysts say Gotham is perilously near total fiscal disaster.

Long-term debt is now more than $81,100 per household, and Mayor de Blasio is ramping up to spend as much as $3 billion more in the new budget than the current $89.2 billion.

“The city is running a deficit and could be in a real difficult spot if we had a recession, or a further flight of individuals because of tax reform,” said Milton Ezrati, chief economist of Vested.

“New York is already in a difficult financial spot, but it would be in an impossible situation if we had any kind of setback.”

De Blasio has detailed $750 million in savings for the preliminary fiscal 2020 budget, but that won’t be enough to stave off a bloodbath if New York’s economy is hit by financial shocks — including a recession, which some see on the horizon — analysts warn. Gov. Cuomo’s preliminary budget has $600 million in city cuts in the coming year.

But city spending, up some 32 percent since de Blasio took office — triple the rate of inflation — may need to be cut deeper, these analysts add. The city’s long-term pension obligations have escalated, as well, as its workforce has soared by more than 33,000 in the last five years.

Other startling indicators:

• New York state — and city — are ranked No. 1 nationwide in state and local tax burden.
• Property taxes, almost half of the city’s revenue, is rising faster than any other revenue source — squeezing businesses and forcing homeowners, already hit by federal property tax deduction changes, to relocate to lower-tax states.
• The top 1 percent of New York City earners pay some 50 percent of Big Apple income tax revenue.

“New York City could go bankrupt, absolutely,” said Peter C. Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research.

“In that case, the city would get temporary protection from its creditors, but it would be very difficult for the city to take on new debt.”

Original Article