NYPD can seal Muslim spy info

ALBANY — New York’s highest court on Thursday allowed the NYPD to hide from public view records it might have about the surveillance of Islamic organizations.

In a 4-to-3 decision, the Court of Appeals sided with the NYPD’s argument that to even acknowledge the existence of such records could jeopardize the department’s anti-terrorism activities and endanger the public.

The decision stemmed from cases brought by a Harlem imam, Talib Abdur-Rashid, and Rutgers University student Samir Hashmi, who believed the NYPD monitored them as part of a broad campaign of spying on Islamic organizations and sought records from the department detailing its activities.