The New York Times published three articles in three days about the taxi medallion 'industry' in New York City. The first two articles published solid reporting describing how the City sold taxi medallions to immigrants who took out loans they could not afford in a business where regulators apparently looked the other way as a habit. Only the first article mentioned the name of Michael Cohen, and then only in passing to mention that one of his partners was involved in a big way in the taxi medallion business. See Brian M. Rosenthal, "They Were Conned": How Reckless Loans Devastated a Generation of Taxi Drivers, New York Times online Sunday, May 19, 2019 (the New York Times may charge a subscription or other price for online access); Brian M. Rosenthal, Taxi Drivers Fell Prey While Top Officials Counted the Money, New York Times, Monday, May 20, 2019, p. A1 (the New York Times may charge for online access).
The third article, also published on the front page of The Times, told how many New York City and New York State officials announced within a day that they were looking into these possible irregularities. The foremost of these officials, and the one reflected in the article as the most likely to succeed, is the New York State Attorney General. For some of these other officials, it was a new sensation to investigate the selling and money-lending operations that surround taxi medallions in New York City. See Brian M. Rosenthal, New York's Top Lawyer Begins Inquiry Into Reckless Taxi Loans, New York Times, Tuesday, May 21, 2019, p. A1 (to say again, the New York Times may charge for online access).
Yet for all his famous involvement with shady figures dealing with taxi medallions, Michael Cohen is conspicuous by his near-absence in this reporting.
Hmm. Brian Rosenthal, who wrote both articles, is too good a reporter to overlook something so obvious as mentioning Michael Cohen more than just in passing in an article or two or three about the business of buying and selling taxi medallions in New York City.
Does this reporter know something that we don't know?
I recall that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York was not thrilled with Mr. Cohen, to say the least, at Mr. Cohen's sentencing hearing last year. In fact, they went so far as to imply at least, or even to say outright, that Michael Cohen was holding out on them about some of the criminal investigations they were conducting into affairs in New York City.
Hmm. Watch this space as they say -- and watch for Mr. Rosenthal's future reporting on the NYC taxi medallion 'industry.'
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