The Brooklyn bar owner who accused ousted police commissioner Edward Caban's twin brother of trying to “blackmail” him feels “vindicated” after the investigation expands into City Hall. He says there is.
“The truth is coming out and people are being held accountable, so I'm going to stand by my side,” former Juice and Moore bar owner Shamel Kelly said Tuesday after holding a press conference about his allegations in front of City Hall. was right,” he told the Post.
Kelly's Coney Island business, which operates as a juice bar by day and a bar and lounge by night, had all necessary permits and liquor licenses, but faced a slew of noise complaints in the summer of 2023. I was doing it.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Kelly's attorneys, Harry Daniels and Bernarda Villalona, said that Kelly was asked by James to assist with the continued police presence. After refusing to hand over $2,500 to Caban, he was subject to a “shakedown” and “pay-for-play” scheme.
James Caban, himself a former NYPD officer, is the twin brother of Edward Caban, who resigned as NYPD commissioner last month.
The twins are ensnared in a wide-ranging federal corruption investigation that includes key aides to Mayor Eric Adams and top NYPD officials. Neither brother was suspected of wrongdoing in the investigation.
A series of videos shot between April and August 2023 and provided by Kelly's attorney show police gathered outside the Brooklyn facility to respond to noise complaints.
In one video, a female officer claims that the person who filmed the video “called 911” to take the officer to the bar because of the noise. In another video, a male police officer says he received several 311 calls about deafening music.
Villalona said the noise complaints did not require excessive law enforcement, and the responding officers “didn't have to come search, go through cabinets, or harass them.” [and] Please remove the item. ”
Daniels added, “It makes no sense to have 50 uniformed police officers standing in front of a building for noise complaints after coming to the facility multiple times.”
Kelly claimed that when she first started receiving noise complaints, she was referred to staff at the Mayor's Office of Entertainment and Nightlife.
He said he hoped the staff would help deal with the near-constant police presence at the bar, which he said was having a negative impact on business.
It was after this meeting that Kelly and his brother, James Caban, a former police commissioner, allegedly spoke.
Caban allegedly told Kelly that if he paid $2,500, he would resolve the police matter. Kelly said when he refused, police presence at his bar increased almost constantly, eventually leading to his closing.
“I lost my business, I lost my livelihood, I lost a part of myself,” Kelly said.
“That would just be excessive police force and kind of mistreatment of some of my clients.”
The allegations come amid an ongoing corruption scandal that erupted last week when Mayor Adams was indicted by the federal government on charges of bribery, campaign financing, and conspiracy involving foreign entities.
James Caban's attorneys, Sean Hecker and David Patton, told the Post that Caban “unequivocally denies any wrongdoing.”
James Caban's attorney said, “His work as a consultant and liaison between city officials and private companies is completely legal, especially given his past career as an NYPD officer.” .
