MICHAEL A. CARDOZO Corporation Counsel

THE CITY OF NEW YORK LAW DEPARTMENT

100 CHURCH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10007

RYAN G. SHAFFER Assistant Corporation CounselE-mail: rshaffer@law.nyc.gov

Phone: (212) 788-1041 Fax: (212) 788-9776

July 6, 2011 BY ECFHonorable James Orenstein United States Magistrate Judge Eastern District of New York 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, New York 11201 Re: Tzvi Hasenfeld v. City of New York et al., 11 Civ. 1786 (KAM)(JO) Your Honor: I am the Assistant Corporation Counsel representing defendant the City of New York in the above-referenced matter. I write to advise the Court that pursuant to the Court’s May 4, 2011 Order, defendant City, upon information and belief, hereby identifies the following individuals as being involved in plaintiff’s arrest:

1. Detective Victor Paribello, Shield No. 4516, Brooklyn Special Victims Squad Brooklyn, 653 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11238.

2. Detective Giovanni Talavera, Shield No. 1022, 66th Precinct Detective Squad, 5822

16th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11218.

As an additional matter, the undersigned has attempted to identify the individual described in plaintiff’s complaint as “Police Officer C.” However, upon speaking with the above-named detectives, neither was able to identify the individual as described in plaintiff’s complaint. Plaintiff simply describes “Police Officer C” as the “chief of detectives.” (See Plaintiff’s Complaint at ¶¶25). Upon information and belief, there is only one Chief of Detectives, and that individual does not work out of the 66th Precinct Detective Squad. Moreover, it does not appear from plaintiff’s complaint that the individual identified as “Police Officer C” was involved in plaintiff’s arrest. In fact, plaintiff’s only alleges against “Police Officer C” are that he was approached by “Police Officer C” in a holding cell following his arrest.

Nonetheless, it appears that plaintiff is seeking to impose supervisory liability on “Police Officer C”. Plaintiff does not have any basis for naming the individual he describes as

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“Police Officer C” as a defendant in this matter. Wright v. Smith, 21 F.3d 496, 501 (2d Cir. 1994) ("It is well settled in this Circuit that 'personal involvement of defendants in alleged constitutional deprivations is a prerequisite to an award of damages under § 1983.'") (quoting Moffitt v. Town of Brookfield, 950 F.2d 880, 885 (2d Cir. 1991)), and there is no supervisory liability under Section 1983. Russo v. City of Bridgeport, 479 F.3d 196, 210 (2d Cir. 2007) (A supervisor may not be held liable under § 1983 simply because one or more of his subordinates committed a constitutional tort). Therefore, unless directed to do so by the Court, defendant City will take no further action with respect to identifying “Police Officer C” as plaintiff could not maintain a claim against that individual.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Respectfully Submitted, /s Ryan G. Shaffer

cc: Marshall Berger, Esq. (By ECF) Attorney for Plaintiff

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