FERNANDEZ’S CASE IS NOW BOGGED DOWN IN APPEALS
The Guardian covered the legal case of Luis Fernandez, the longtime waiter at the Square Diner. In it, they explain that the Department of Homeland Security went further than just making him ineligible for bond; the agency has deployed “a rarely used maneuver to pause the immigration judge’s bond ruling while it appealed his ruling. Federal regulations allow the agency to automatically stay an immigration judge’s bond decision while they appeal the case to the board of immigration appeals. The maneuver means Fernandez will remain detained while his case is pending before the board of immigration appeals. Since the board is being bogged down with appeals, it’s unclear how long it could take to resolve the case, said Craig Relles, an immigration attorney representing Fernandez.”

TRINITY MUSIC DIRECTOR IS CHARGED
NPR reports that the former music director at Trinity Wall Street, Julian Wachner  — he left the church in 2022 — has been charged in Indiana with 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material depicting children younger than 12 years old, and an additional count of cocaine possession. Wachner has pleaded not guilty and posted a bond. Until his arrest, Wachner was a fourth-grade math teacher at Invent Learning Hub, a charter school in Indianapolis.

AT&T BUILDING IS STRUGGLING AT 57 PERCENT OCCUPANCY
Crain’s reports that the AT&T building at 32 Sixth, at Walker and stretching to Church, has a $425 million mortgage due in November, which has been transferred to “special servicing” for troubled loans. From Crain’s: “Rudin, which owns the building, said it requested the transfer to special servicing so that it could begin discussions on a potential modification…It was acquired in 1999 by the Rudins, who invested $100 million in renovations. The Art Deco building was reimagined as a data hub and a decade ago was 99.6% occupied with tenants including CenturyLink and a subsidiary of iHeartMedia. Since 2020, however, the building seems to have become less compelling and as of June it was only 57% occupied, Fitch said.”

BROOKLYN JAIL STARTS CONSTRUCTION
G. sent this along and it’s the canary for us: Yimby reports that construction has started at the borough-based jail for Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Detention Center will be 15 stories, 339 feet tall, 712,000 square feet and with a capacity of 1040 inmates. For comparison, ours is 16 stories, 295 feet tall, 1.2 million square feet and will house 1440 inmates.