Records, Peter Gotti (1939 – 2021)
| Tracking # |
2021-827-00094 |
| Submitted | May 7, 2021 |
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Communications
From: T. McElwee
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:
The personnel records of Peter Gotti, a deceased sanitation worker who served as boss of the Gambino family of Cosa Nostra. To identify records and rule out duplicate names, Peter Gotti's year of birth was 1939.
Gotti is known to be deceased (see attachment); privacy interests are diminished and all records should be released in public interest.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
T. McElwee
From: Department of Sanitation
Your request FOIL-2021-827-00094 has been successfully submitted to the Department of Sanitation (DSNY).
The details of your request are shown below.
Request Title: Records, Peter Gotti (1939 – 2021)
Request Description: To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:
The personnel records of Peter Gotti, a deceased sanitation worker who served as boss of the Gambino family of Cosa Nostra. To identify records and rule out duplicate names, Peter Gotti's year of birth was 1939.
Gotti is known to be deceased (see attachment); privacy interests are diminished and all records should be released in public interest.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
T. McElwee
Attachments:
https://cdn.muckrock.com/outbound_composer_attachments/LXHXZZTVENTLKU/96382/Inmate20Locator20Peter20Gotti.pdf
Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://www.muckrock.com/
Attached File: Inmate20Locator20Peter20Gotti.pdf: Inmate20Locator20Peter20Gotti.pdf (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/response/1569611)
Requester's Contact Information
Name:
T. Mcelwee
Title:
Not provided
Organization:
Not provided
Email:
requests@muckrock.com (mailto:requests@muckrock.com)
Phone Number:
Not provided
Fax Number:
Not provided
Street Address (line 1):
Not provided
Street Address (line 2):
Not provided
City:
Not provided
State:
Not provided
Zip Code:
Not provided
You can view the request and take any necessary action at the following webpage: https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-827-00094. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-827-00094)
From: Department of Sanitation
The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has denied your FOIL request FOIL-2021-827-00094 for the following reasons: (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-827-00094)
Requests for employment records must be accompanied by a properly executed authorization for the release of such records and must be sent to:
NYC Dept. of Sanitation
Bureau of Legal Affairs
125 Worth Street, Room 710
New York, NY 10013
Please note employment records will not be released without the properly executed authorizations.
Please visit FOIL-2021-827-00094 to view additional information and take any necessary action. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-827-00094)
From: T. McElwee
To whom it may concern:
I appeal this denial, on grounds that it is improper.
Please note first: the individual whose records I am seeking (Peter Gotti) is widely known to be deceased. A record of the subject's death was provided (to wit, a PDF generated from the United States Bureau of Prisons's Inmate Locator). Under the Freedom of Information Law as interpeted by multiple precedents, the privacy interests of the deceased are diminished. There is no justification for the agency to demand authorization for release.
Further, the public interest outweighs the privacy interest in these records outweighs any remaining privacy interest, as Peter Gotti was the widely acknowledged boss of the Gambino family of La Cosa Nostra.
Finally, under established precedents set by the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, the Freedom of Information Law provides me (as requester and member of the public) a "liberally construed" right to access these records under the Freedom of Information Law. The agency is only granted "narrowly interpreted" grounds for denial (see Washington Post v. New York State Insurance Department et al., 61 NY 2d 557 - NY: Court of Appeals 1984.)
The Records Access Officer fails to appropriately cite grounds for the denial recognized under the FOIL (narrow or otherwise). This denial is thus defective.
My prayer for relief to the Appeals Officer is that this matter be remanded to the Records Access Officer with the clear instruction to release the requested records.
Sincerely,
T. McElwee
From: Department of Sanitation
The Department of Sanitation thanks you for your e-mail. This e-mail box is solely for the purposes of receiving Freedom of Information Law requests and does not respond to e-mail messages. A Freedom of Information Law request is a request for records. If you have not submitted such a request, please submit your inquiry here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildos.html.
If you have filed a Freedom of Information law request through your e-mail, a Department of Sanitation employee will contact you regarding your request. To expedite processing of your request, you may wish to submit your request through the New York City OpenRecords Portal here: https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/
From: Department of Sanitation
Please see attached.
Files
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