New York State Supreme Court Judge Jill Konviser-Levine today in Brooklyn denied bail to Anthony Fortunato, one of the three remaining defendants facing trial in the October 2006 hate crime murder of Michael Sandy.
Fortunato’s family had raised $1.3 million hoping to gain his release should bail be granted.
Judge Konviser-Levine received appeals arguing for and against Fortunato’s release, including a letter from Clarence Patton, Executive Director of the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project.
In it Patton stated, “…when defendants are young, facing a long sentence, and have families with relatively significant resources, there is a disincentive to stand and face trial, and the risk of flight is therefore heightened.”
The letter went on to characterize Fortunato’s role in Sandy’s death as cowardly. “…by engaging Mr. Sandy on the internet, luring him to a secluded area, ganging up on him, further harming and victimizing him after he’d been grievously injured, and finally fleeing the scene leaving him to suffer – sends a clear message that these men acted solely in their own self interest, but also in ways that betray an unremitting desire for self-preservation, even at the highest cost to another human being.”
NY Times - Emotions Run High at Hearing in Bias Killing
Oct. 11 - Four Arrested for Luring, Attacking Gay Man in NYC
Oct. 13 - Michael Sandy dies
Oct. 15 - Michael Sandy’s Fateful Moment
Oct. 17 - Gathering in Michael’s Name
New York City is awash in jazz musicians, jazz fans and jazz news this week.
First, some 8,000 educators, musicians, industry executives, media and students from 45 countries are in town through Saturday for the 34th Annual Conference of the International Association for Jazz Education.
The four-day conference will feature a 75,000 square-foot music industry exposition, commission premieres, technology presentations, research papers, award ceremonies, and performances by over 500 of the world’s most respected professional jazz groups and musicians. In addition, a number of top school groups from France, Denmark, Australia, United Kingdom, Israel, Kazakhstan, Canada, and the United States are scheduled to perform.
On Friday, January 12, the IAJE Conference will host the 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Awards Concert. Beginning in 1982, and every year since, the NEA Jazz Masters Award has been conferred on a handful of living legends that have made major contributions to jazz. Recognized as the nation’s highest honor for the field of jazz, the award to date has been given to 87 great figures in American music. The awards concert will feature performances by The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, under the direction of Slide Hampton, and the Clayton Brothers Quintet.
Jazz fans that can’t be there in person can hear on-site reports and interviews with musicians by listening to Newark, New Jersey-based jazz radio station WBGO, either locally or over the Internet.
Had you been listening this morning, you would have heard the announcement that Wynton Marsalis, the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the musical director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, will be taking over as host of the center’s syndicated radio program, “Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio.” The weekly broadcast heard on over 240 public radio stations, had been hosted for 14 years by newsman and jazz fan Ed Bradley, who passed away last November.
Finally, Lincoln Center was the site earlier today of the unveiling of a new United States Postage Stamp honoring the “First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald. The new 39-cent stamp bearing her likeness becomes the 30th in the Black Heritage commemorative series, which includes among others, James Baldwin, Alvin Ailey and Paul Robeson, noted on these pages at the time of their unveiling. One of Fitzgerald’s musical collaborators on several truly memorable recordings, the great pianist Oscar Peterson, was also honored with a postage stamp in his native Canada.
How to Order the First Day of Issue Postmark
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at The Postal Store Website at www.usps.com/shop, by telephone at 800-STAMP-24 and at their local Post Office. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others) and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
ELLA FITZGERALD STAMP
POSTMASTER
421 EIGHTH AVE RM 2029B
NEW YORK NY 10199-9998
After applying the first day of issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by March 10, 2007.
One hundred and fifty million Ella Fitzgerald stamps were printed.