FIVE MEN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER IN STABBING OF LESANDRO “JUNIOR” GUZMAN-FELIZ

DARCEL D. CLARK 
DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BRONX COUNTY

  Today a jury has found five defendants, Jonaiki Martinez Estrella, Antonio Rodriguez Hernandez Santiago, Manuel Rivera, Jose Muniz and Elvin Garcia, guilty of first-degree Murder, second-degree Murder, second-degree Conspiracy and second-degree Gang Assault in the death of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, 15, on June 20, 2018. 

The defendants will be sentenced on July 16, 2019.

Statement from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on the Signing of Rent Law Legislation

  "At the beginning of this legislative session, I called for the most sweeping, aggressive tenant protections in state history. I'm confident the measure passed today is the strongest possible set of reforms that the Legislature was able to pass and are a major step forward for tenants across New York.

"As the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Clinton, I know full well the importance of affordable housing and with the existing rent laws set to expire tomorrow, I have immediately signed this bill into law - avoiding the chaos and uncertainty that a lapse in these protections would have caused for millions of New Yorkers.

"This year we have passed more impactful progressive legislation than any time in modern political history, but as we enter the last week of session, we must not rest on our laurels. We must pass the unfinished items on our agenda and continue the work that the people of this great state sent us here to do."

Attorney General James Announces More Than $2.5 Million In Debt Relief For New York Itt Tech Students

Multistate settlement delivers justice for students in 43 states and DC

Credit Reports for all students affected will be repaired

  New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that her office obtained an agreement to provide $2.58 million in debt relief to 288 former ITT Tech (“ITT”) students in New York as part of a settlement with 44 State Attorneys General. The agreement was made with Student CU Connect CUSO, LLC (“CUSO”), which was created for the sole purpose of providing private student loans to students at ITT — the now defunct for-profit college.

“Instead of helping students further their education, CUSO and ITT targeted, exploited, and bullied young people into taking predatory loans that would have lasting impacts on their lives,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “This settlement will ensure these students are not saddled with a lifetime of debt and bad credit, providing relief to hundreds of low-income New Yorkers.”

The investigation revealed that ITT — with CUSO’s knowledge — targeted low-income students and specifically offered them a “temporary credit” upon enrollment to cover the gap between the maximum amount of federal student aid available and the full cost of attending ITT. However, unlike typical financial aid or student loans offered by most colleges and universities, this “temporary credit” was due to be repaid before the student’s next academic year. Both ITT and CUSO knew or could easily deduce that most students would not be able to repay these “temporary credits” when due, and, instead of giving students time to pay off the credits, ITT pressured students into accepting loans from CUSO. Some of the high-pressure tactics ITT used included pulling students out of class and threatening to expel them if they did not accept the CUSO loans. Many students were forced to choose between taking unwanted loans from CUSO and dropping out of school. 

CUSO then specifically preyed upon these students, many of whom could not pay off their loans and who would likely default on them. More than 90-percent of students defaulted on their loans, and those defaults — which have generally not been dischargeable in bankruptcy — continue to affect students’ credit ratings today.

Under the settlement, CUSO has agreed to forego collection of the students’ outstanding loans and will cease to do business. CUSO’s loan servicer will send notices to borrowers about the cancelled debt within 30 days and will ensure that automatic payments are cancelled. The settlement also requires CUSO to provide updated information to Credit Reporting Agencies for affected borrowers — effectively deleting the loans from the students’ credit reports — so that any students’ credit affected by defaulted loans to CUSO are repaired and restored to their previous states.

The investigation was conducted in conjunction with 44 State Attorneys General across the nation, and its subsequent settlement will result in debt relief of more than $168 million for over 18,000 former ITT students, who took out loans between March 2009 and December 2011. The agreement is contingent upon federal court approval of a related settlement between CUSO and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Students with questions about the settlement can contact the New York State Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-771-7755.

ITT filed for bankruptcy in 2016, and had 149 campuses across the country. The three ITT campuses in New York were in Albany, Liverpool, and Getzville.

SENATOR RIVERA CELEBRATES THE PASSAGE OF HISTORIC MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN RENT LAWS AND PROTECT NEW YORK STATE TENANTS

  Today, State Senator Gustavo Rivera, along with members of the Senate Majority Conference, proudly voted for bill S.6458. After the historic vote, Senator Rivera released the following statement regarding the landmark piece of legislation that will implement a series of long-awaited reforms to strengthen New York's rent laws and provide adequate protections to tenants across our State. 

"For a long time, tenants in rent-regulated apartments have faced extraordinary challenges due to the greed of unscrupulous landlords who have held an unfair amount of power over them. They have had to fight against poorly maintained and dilapidated units, unfair overcharges, unwarranted eviction notices, and sudden and inexplicable rent hikes. New Yorkers, especially those in working-class neighborhoods such as the ones I represent, have felt the brunt of these injustices.

My district has the second highest number of rent-regulated units in the state. Unaffordable and perilous housing is, without a doubt, the number one issue affecting my constituents. In fact, since my election in 2010, thousands of them have visited my district office desperate to find solutions to their housing-related problems, only to find that the law was working against them. I am incredibly proud that we have finally passed pro-tenant, affordable housing legislation that truly protects New Yorkers and helps them stay in their homes.

These reforms are the result of the diligence of thousands of brave, unrelenting tenant advocacy groups, including Bronx organizations such as CASA New Settlement and Northwest Bronx Community Clergy Coalition. I sincerely thank them for their efforts and support. This is truly a win for the residents of the 33rd Senate District and tenants across New York State." 

Highlights included in the historic affordable housing, pro-tenant bill:

• Extends rent regulations laws and makes them permanent

• Repeals high rent vacancy deregulation and high income deregulation

• Repeals of the vacancy bonus and longevity bonus

• Makes preferential rents the base rent for lease renewal increases

• Extends rent overcharge four-year look-back period to six years

• Reforms rent increases for Major Capital Improvements (MCIs)

• Reforms rent increases for Individual Apartment Improvements (IAIs)

• Prohibits rent guidelines board from setting class-specific renewal increases

• Establishes stronger housing security and tenant protections

MAYOR DE BLASIO AND SPEAKER JOHNSON REACH EARLY HANDSHAKE AGREEMENT FOR A BALANCED FISCAL YEAR 2020 BUDGET

  Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Finance Chair Daniel Dromm and members of the City Council today announced an agreement for an on-time and balanced City budget for Fiscal Year 2020. The budget protects the City’s fiscal health by maintaining record levels of reserves and a robust Citywide Savings Program.

The agreement on the approximately $92.8 billion budget includes funding to place 200 additional social workers in public schools, including specialists working within Thrive who will help students experiencing crisis and mental health issues. Further, the City is expanding its commitment to Senior Housing by adding $275 million over Fiscal Years 2020 through 2023. These resources will help generate an additional 800 affordable senior homes. This will raise the total City commitment for newly constructed senior housing to $687 million from now to the end of the housing plan.

“The Fiscal Year 2020 Adopted Budget creates greater fairness for all New Yorkers. We’ve reached an agreement that promises to create a pathway to pay parity for our early childhood education providers to address recruitment and retention issues, expands services that prevent unnecessary detention and fights the widespread national attack on access to abortion care,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We’re also strengthening our support services in schools by providing over 200 social workers for students who need them most, fulfilling our commitment to senior affordable housing and putting our new expanded speed camera program into action. We’re accomplishing all of this while protecting the City’s fiscal health by increasing savings and adding $250 million to our already historic levels of budget reserves. I want to thank Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Finance Chair Daniel Dromm and the rest of the City Council for their partnership.”

As part of the budget agreement, the City is making a commitment to work with early childcare providers and their labor unions to create a pathway to pay parity to address recruitment and retention issues through collective bargaining. Similarly, in recognition of critical role legal defense attorneys play in the justice system, the City will continue conversations with providers to address compensation, recruitment and retention.

The Administration and the City Council have jointly funded justice reform initiatives that address historic disparities in the justice system. This includes an expansion of criminal justice related diversion programs, such as post-arrest diversion, supervised release and transitional housing.

In order to make sure that every New Yorker is counted in the 2020 Census and the city gets its fair share, theAdministration has deepened its investment in outreach staff and public awareness campaigns.

The FY20 Adopted Budget also maintains $1.15 billion in General Reserve, an increase of $150 million, $4.57 billion in Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund, an increase of $100 million, and $250 million in the Capital Stabilization Reserve.

As part of the City’s aggressive savings program, the Adopted Budget includes over $300 million in new savings, on top of the $2.5 billion achieved in the Citywide Savings Program over Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020 since last Adoption. These savings were, in part, attained through the Administration’s first Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG), and a permanent reduction of 2,600 City-funded positions. 325 additional vacancies will be reduced in this plan, adding $25 million in savings. The Citywide Savings Plan is an element of strong fiscal management, and helps balance the City’s budget and finance initiatives in an era of slowing revenue growth.

Highlights of the Fiscal Year 2020 Adopted Budget include:

• Placing 200 additional social workers in DOE schools, including mental health specialists, to help support students and provide necessary social and emotional support ($26 million).
• Investing jointly with the City Council in an expansion of criminal justice related diversion programs, such as post arrest diversion, supervised release and transitional housing.
• Installing low noise “rumbler” sirens on FDNY vehicles to help reduce noise pollution ($1.5 million).
• Funding for Vision Zero public awareness campaigns to educate drivers and support pedestrian and cyclist safety ($5 million).
• Launching NYC Care to guarantee healthcare access for 600,000 uninsured New Yorkers and enhance MetroPlus, NYC’s Public Option, by increasing enrollment and improving access to care, including mental health services ($25 million in Fiscal Year 2020, ramping up to $100 million in Fiscal Year 2022).
• Expanding 3-K for All by funding 1,900 new seats in the Bronx (District 8) and Brooklyn (District 32) for next school year. This investment brings 3-K to 14 districts and 20,000 children by September 2020, and includes the 10 highest-need districts in the city ($25 million).
• Increasing Mayoral funding for 2020 Census outreach staff and public awareness campaigns to ensure a fair and accurate count that gives New York City its fair share ($22 million for a total Mayoral investment of $26 million).
• Fulfilling a commitment to energy efficiency with green technology by retrofitting City buildings as part of NYC’s Green New Deal ($60 million).
• Providing annual funding for the “Bridging the Gap” program that provides social services and academic support for students in shelters ($14 million).
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MAYOR’S OFFICE OF THRIVENYC ANNOUNCES FIRST MAJOR CHANGES SINCE BECOMING MAYORAL OFFICE

Following months of planning, ThriveNYC adds 85 social workers to schools, announces redesign of Mental Health Service Corps program 

  The de Blasio Administration announced today two significant programmatic changes taking place through the Office of ThriveNYC. The Office will fund 85 social workers for schools in Fiscal Year 2020, bringing to 200 the total number of social workers the Administration is adding to schools in the next fiscal year. ThriveNYC also announced a redesign of its mental health training program, the Mental Health Service Corps, which will partner with NYC Health + Hospitals to streamline the program’s operational efficiency starting in 2020. In restructuring the program, the City will save $20 million starting in FY20, $11 million of which will be reinvested into the social worker program. 

“The Office of ThriveNYC seeks to address mental health issues for all New Yorkers, and today’s announcement shows Thrive’s commitment to transforming and strengthening its programs to best serve all of our communities,” said Mayor de Blasio. “These changes will help us reach New Yorkers wherever they are, from our schools to our public hospitals.”

“ThriveNYC’s goal is to ensure that every New Yorker who needs mental health support has access to it,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray. “Redesigning the Mental Health Service Corps and adding social workers to schools in need will increase the effectiveness of current services and go even further to reach New Yorkers where they are, ensuring that people have access to services in familiar settings and often in their primary language.”

“ThriveNYC is not only committed to innovation, but also to strengthening our approach as we learn. The important investments announced today will bring new clinicians to high-need schools and communities, putting New York City on a path to even greater success,” said Susan Herman, Senior Advisor to the Mayor and Director, Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC.

In School Year 2019-2020, the Department of Education (DOE) will add 85 licensed social workers to provide direct clinical mental health services to students and schools at times of crisis from the borough level. Hiring for the positions is expected to begin this summer.

Beginning on January 1, 2020, NYC Health + Hospitals will oversee all components of the redesigned Mental Health Service Corps, an innovative treatment and training program that builds a diverse, multi-lingual mental health workforce and integrates mental health into routine medical care. Under the renovated program, NYC Health + Hospitals will supervise the early-career mental health clinicians participating in the program and will manage their placement in behavioral health settings, as well as medical settings, where mental health services have not been traditionally provided. This groundbreaking program was launched in 2016 and will continue in its current form until December 31, 2019. It is currently managed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and operated by the City University of New York (CUNY).

In the first three years of operation, the Mental Health Service Corps provided clinical services to over 62,800 individuals at sites serving high-need neighborhoods – 76 percent of which are in federally designated mental healthcare shortage areas – and helped participating early-career mental health clinicians earn over 300,000 hours toward their clinical licensure.

For several months, the City has been carefully considering how to improve the MHSC and has determined that moving the program to H+H will enhance the program’s most promising elements.

Moving the Mental Health Service Corps to Health + Hospitals will consolidate all aspects of program management into one entity, enhancing efficiency and resulting in a more streamlined and cost-effective program model. The annual budget for the program will decrease from $38.5 million in Fiscal Year 2019 to $26 million in Fiscal Year 2020. Once the transition is complete, the annual budget in Fiscal Year 2021 will be $13 million. Additionally, the redesigned program will be smaller in scale, with 60 corps members instead of the current 250, to ensure the strongest possible program.

The redesigned program is an opportunity to enhance the most promising elements of the program, including:

·         Increased focus on supervision and training: To ensure the Mental Health Service Corps is a strong, competitive training program, the redesigned program will include a lower supervisor-to-Corps member ratio and add rotations so Corps members can develop an array of different skills over the course of the three-year program. This resource intensive training model builds on current system-wide efforts within Health + Hospitals.

·         Commitment to innovation: Health + Hospitals, because it operates a vast healthcare network that serves millions of New Yorkers, is uniquely positioned to integrate behavioral health into its range of medical services. As examples, Corps members may provide treatment as part of mobile teams, screening and substance use interventions in emergency departments, or psychotherapy for women with postpartum depression in pediatric care units. Health + Hospitals is committed to matching services to meet complex and multifaceted patient needs.

·         Dedication to high need communities: Health + Hospitals will conduct an in-depth needs assessment over the summer to determine sites for its program and will continue to focus on high need communities and historically underserved neighborhoods. The needs assessment will consider the prevalence of mental illness in various neighborhoods, the capacity and need of possible sites, and opportunities for innovation.

“ThriveNYC’s work across agencies maximizes the city’s capacity to provide mental health care,” said First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan. “These initiatives bring critical resources to our schools and our health care system and will help more New Yorkers get access to services they need.”

“The Mental Health Service Corps will now be woven into the future of NYC Health + Hospitals, playing a role in widening the safety net for millions of New Yorkers,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services.

“Schools must be safe havens for all students, and these 85 new social workers will serve students and foster safe and supportive school environments in every borough every day,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “ThriveNYC has been a strong partner in our schools, and we’re thrilled to be expanding our work together. This is an important step forward in meeting all children where they are, providing them with critical services, and connecting them to long-term support.”

“This cadre of highly skilled social workers will strengthen our efforts to integrate mental health care with physical care and our ability to provide comprehensive and unique behavioral health services to all New Yorkers,” said Dr. Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals.

“Mental Health Service Corps is an innovative approach to invest in the next generation of mental health clinicians,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “Thank you to CUNY and to the Corps members for being valuable partners in this work. I look forward to seeing the next iteration of this program as it continues to address workforce shortages and help populations with the highest need.”

About the Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC:

The overarching aim of the new Mayoral Office of ThriveNYC is to ensure that every New Yorker who needs mental health support has access to it, where and when they need it. The Office addresses needs that have gone unmet by traditional services and pilots innovative strategies. This includes new services for historically underserved special populations, expanding the range of mental health support available to New Yorkers, and enhancing mental health equity across the city. The Office works with City agencies and strategic partners to implement Thrive’s programs, maximize their effectiveness and ensure sustainability.

Third Avenue Business Improvement District - 1 Bronx World Pride: Celebrating LGBTQ Diversity