AG: Drug rehab scam gave duo $hot in arm
Photographers and hawk lovers watched the tragic scene last month as the female died slowly and her mate continued to work on their nest atop an air conditioner at the Health Department building in lower Manhattan.
A necropsy released by the state Department of Environmental Conservation showed the hawk died from poisoning due to an anticoagulant rodenticide.
“That was just so wrenching,” said Anne Baxter, 60, a longtime neighborhood resident. “People were just delighted to see them - workers from the court buildings and everyone. It was a community experience.”
The incident has sparked calls from Baxter and other animal lovers who say the city should use other methods to control the booming rat population.
The female hawk had likely eaten a rodent that ingested poison.
Adding to the tragedy, she had already laid one egg that rolled off an air conditioner and the necropsy showed she was ready to lay more eggs.
Photographer Laura Goggin captured the sad scene on March 30 as the male hawk continued to bring twigs to the nest as his mate slowly died on a tree branch. He even tried roust her with no success. THE OWNER of a Brooklyn chain of government-funded flophouses has allegedly been living large on the backs of downand-out drug addicts.
Photos from the home of 65-year-old Yury Baumblit show the owner of the socalled three-quarter houses enjoyed all manner of creature comforts while residents of the homes lived in squalor.
Authorities seized a slew of designer bags and fur coats from the couple’s $3 million Manhattan Beach home, as well as a Mercedes. The opulent, waterfront home boasted a full bar decorated with tacky tchotchkes.
On Wednesday, Baumblit and his wife, Rimma, 59, were slapped in handcuffs and charged with running an illegal Medicaid kickback scheme in which residents of the flophouses were forced into drug treatment programs regardless of their medical needs.
Authorities found “numerous expensive jewelry items, expensive cars, sport paraphernalia, fur coats, expensive liquor and the works,” Assistant State Attorney General Megan Friedland said during the Baumblits’ arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court. “Ostentatious lifestyle paid for by the state, in essence.”
The numerous charges brought by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman against the Baumblits carry up to a 15-year sentence.
The couple recently sold co-op apartments for $345,000, Friedland said, raising concern they were planning to flee to Russia.