NEW YORK — A Brooklyn juice bar owner is claiming former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban’s brother and the former City Hall nightlife czar shook him down for thousands of dollars, promising to get the police off his back if he paid up.
He sat down with CBS News New York on Tuesday after sharing his story with federal investigators on Monday.
“‘Hold up, I think they’re extorting me'”
Shamel Kelly says soon after he opened his juice bar in Coney Island two years ago, NYPD officers were regularly harassing him about noise complaints, even though the court never upheld any violations against him.
“It started to get more about money and I started to realize, ‘Hold up, I think they’re extorting me,'” Kelly said.
He says last year a friend put him in contact with Ray Martin, a former community affairs aide to Mayor Eric Adams, who had been working in the mayor’s Entertainment and Nightlife Unit.
Kelly said Martin connected him with James Caban, the twin brother of former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, who resigned two weeks ago after being raided by federal agents as part of a corruption probe, according to sources.
Kelly claims James Caban offered to take care of his problems with the NYPD in exchange for $2,500.
“Ray Martin told me he was the assistant of Eric Adams. That’s how he introduced himself to me,” Kelly said. “He went into the idea of how New York runs in regards to if you have a bar restaurant in New York, it’s not like every other place. It’s like you gotta know the right people so you can avoid issues with police like this like the issues I was having.”
Asked what he made of the comment that the city doesn’t run like other cities, Kelly said, “I grew up in a rough neighborhood so I understand the language. The language wasn’t professional.”
City Hall says Ray Martin was investigated and fired
Kelly said he never ended up paying the men and and claims police continued to assert their presence at his business until he was forced to close earlier this year.
A spokesman for Mayor Adams said earlier this month that the city investigated the complaints against Martin and fired him the same day.
“We appreciate a news outlet bringing this information to our attention. After receiving this inquiry, we immediately began an internal review and found that Mr. Martin violated the terms of his employment. Mr. Martin was terminated for cause that same day. We expect all city employees to act ethically and in the public interest. Because news outlets have reported that both the DOJ and DOI are investigating this matter, we are unable to comment further out of sensitives to their investigations,” City Hall said in a statement.
An attorney for James Caban has said he denies any wrongdoing.
