New York bar owner says disgraced former NYPD commish James Caban's brother tried to extort him for police protection: report

A New York bar owner has claimed that the brother of disgraced former Police Commissioner Edward Caban attempted to "extort" him when he sought help from the NYPD last year, according to a report from the New York Post. Shamel Kelly said that he was at one time introduced to the commissioner's brother, James Caban, by a staffer at New York City Hall. The staffer was fired on Wednesday after Kelly's allegations about extortion. 

Kelly reportedly said that James Caban told him his problems with the NYPD would go away if he paid the commissioner's brother $2,500. “He said he will mediate my issues,” Kelly said of the interaction. “He said he could bring the NYPD to me and resolve our issues is what he said he could do.” 

However, Kelly said he refused to participate in the alleged arrangement and claimed that afterwards the police presence by the bar only got worse to the point where he was forced to shut down the business. Kelly said of the alleged extortion, “After he said I had to pay him for it, I felt like he was trying to extort me and I said, ‘Nah I’m good. I’ll just deal with how I’m gonna deal with it,’ and it got worse." 

The business, Juice and Moore Bar, which served juice drinks in the daytime and would turn to a bar and lounge in the later hours, had all necessary permits. However, the bar started facing a large amount of noise complaints during summer 2023.  

He said that the constant police presence at the bar was hurting business and took the issue to Ray Martin, a staffer from the Mayor’s Office of Entertainment and Nightlife. Martin allegedly acted like the fixer for James Caban. 

“He went on about how he thinks I should just close the bar, and if I don’t close the bar, there’s only one way to get the police to stop doing what they are doing, which was to speak to one of his friends, which was the James Caban guy,” Kelly said.  

James is the twin brother of Edward Caban, the NYPD Police commissioner who resigned earlier this week after his home was searched by the FBI and his phone was seized. Several officials close to NYC Mayor Eric Adams have had their homes raided by the FBI, including Edward Caban. Both twins are being investigated as part of a federal corruption probe but neither has been accused of wrongdoing yet in the investigation.  

Kelly told reporters that during communication with James Caban in August 2023, the arrangement was discussed. He accused Caban of asking him for the $2,500 payment.  

"I felt it was like I got an ultimatum. It’s like either you gonna get with this — or you gonna get shut down,” Kelly said. The bar was closed in February after he said he didn't pay, alleging that it led to an even greater police presence around the bar.  

City Hall fired Martin after the allegations from Kelly came out. Deputy Mayor of Communications Fabien Levy said in a statement on Thursday, "Mr. Martin was terminated for cause yesterday. We expect all city employees to act ethically and in the public interest. Because WNBC just reported that both the DOJ and DOI are investigating this matter, we are unable to comment further out of sensitives to their investigations.”