Bronx Man Charged With Stealing Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars’ Worth Of Construction Utility Vehicles From NYCHA Housing Developments

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Jocelyn E. Strauber, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the unsealing of a Complaint charging MAXIMO NUNEZ with theft of government property and conspiracy to commit theft of government property in connection with a years-long scheme in which he and others stole valuable construction utility vehicles (“Utility Vehicles”) from New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) developments.  NUNEZ was arrested this morning and will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn later today.  

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, the defendant and others carried out a brazen scheme for years, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in valuable construction equipment that NYCHA needed to maintain the many public housing developments that thousands of New Yorkers call home.  Thanks to the persistent efforts of the New York City Department of Investigation and the Special Agents and career prosecutors of my Office, this man now stands charged with this bold scheme.”

 

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said: “As charged, Nunez and other co-conspirators stole at least 16 utility vehicles worth over several hundred thousand dollars from NYCHA.  These vehicles are used to maintain NYCHA facilities for residents.  NYCHA referred this matter to DOI and cooperated in this investigation, which involved the placement of GPS tracking devices on certain NYCHA utility vehicles and allowed law enforcement to recover one of the allegedly stolen vehicles.  I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their partnership in this investigation and their commitment to hold accountable those who steal valuable government property.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint:[1]

From in or about January 2021 through in or about September 2022, on at least 13 different occasions, NUNEZ and three other co-conspirators (“CC-1,” “CC-2,” and “CC-3”) stole at least 16 Utility Vehicles from over a dozen NYCHA developments throughout New York City.  Utility Vehicles are pieces of heavy equipment that NYCHA uses to complete regular construction and maintenance tasks. 

NUNEZ and others stole the Utility Vehicles in the middle of the night when NYCHA employees were not present.  They often used large trucks to carry out their scheme so that they could steal more than one Utility Vehicle at a time.  Photographs taken from surveillance video of two of the thefts are below:

Utility Vehicles often retail for anywhere from $25,000 to $65,000 each.  NUNEZ and others made hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling the Utility Vehicles to individuals who did not know that they were stolen. 

NUNEZ, 28, of the Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government property, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison, and one count of theft of government property, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of DOI and the Special Agents and Investigative Analysts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jackie Delligatti is in charge of the prosecution. 

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.

MAYOR ADAMS LEADS COALITION OF MORE THAN 60 MAYORS IN URGING U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER JOHNSON TO PASS ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

 

Letter to Speaker Johnson Follows Mass Shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Where Shooter Used Assault Weapon To Kill 18 and Wound 13 More 

 

Mayors: “Congress Must Act To Get Weapons of War Off Our Streets” 

Following another mass shooting in recent weeks — this time in Lewiston, Maine, where 18 people were killed and 13 more were injured by a shooter with an assault rifle — New York City Mayor Eric Adams today led a coalition of 62 mayors from cities across the nation in drafting a letter urging new Speaker of the House U.S. Representative Mike Johnson to pass a strong federal assault weapons ban. The signatories include mayors of cities like Buffalo, New York and Highland Park, Illinois that have experienced mass shootings perpetrated with assault weapons. 

 

“In some states in this country, it’s easier to buy a weapon of war than it is to buy a Sudafed,” said Mayor Adams. “As a result, we can’t feel safe in the places where we should feel safest — our movie theaters, our music festivals, our houses of worship, and even our schools. Just a few weeks ago, 18 Mainers were stolen from us by yet another disturbed man, wielding an assault rifle that had no business on our streets. And no matter how strong some state gun laws are, we’re only as safe as the weakest link. We will continue to work tirelessly in New York City and in cities across the nation to drive shootings down and prevent every form of gun violence — whether it’s the mass shootings that make the headlines or the daily gun violence and gun suicides that don’t. But we need our partners in Washington, DC to do their part as well. That’s why we’re coming together to let Speaker Johnson know that we need a federal ban on assault weapons now.”  

 

“Weapons of war have no place on the streets of New York City or anywhere else in the nation,” said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, co-chair, Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “In the fight to end gun violence and save lives, we must use every tool at our disposal, including the power of Congress. This administration stands in solidarity with this coalition to deliver real action and results in stopping mass shootings.” 

 

"It doesn’t take a career law enforcement professional to understand that assault weapons have no place on our streets and that we must prioritize the safety and well-being of our communities above all else,” said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phillip Banks III. “In the wake of another horrific mass shooting, we must redouble our efforts to prevent these senseless tragedies and pass this commonsense measure to create a safer America for all. An assault weapons ban made our streets safer once before; it can do so again." 

 

“Semiautomatic assault weapons — designed solely to kill as many people as quickly and efficiently as possible — have no place in our communities because they pose an obvious, outsized risk to our police officers and all the people we serve,” said New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “Passing a federal assault weapons ban is a crucial step toward ensuring that our cities do not surrender the crime-fighting gains of recent years. Failing to act means that gang members, drug dealers, terrorists, and others will continue to have ready access to these weapons of war.” 

 

“From mass shootings in Maine and Texas to everyday gun violence, communities are being torn apart by these heinous acts. As President Biden has said, this is not normal, and it does not have to be this way. This Biden-Harris administration and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention is committed to taking every step we can to invest in proven solutions and implement laws like the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” said White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Deputy Director Rob Wilcox. “But we continue to call on Congress to pass more commonsense gun laws, such as reinstating the ban on assault weapons, passing universal background checks, and enacting a national red flag law to save lives. We can and must do more to protect individuals, families and kids from this epidemic of gun violence.” 

 

Of the 10 deadliest mass shootings that have taken place since 2015, eight involved an assault weapon. Between 1994 and 2004 — when the federal assault weapons ban was in effect — there were 137 mass shooting deaths; but in the 10 years after the ban expired, there were 326. Mass shooting deaths were 70 percent less likely to occur when the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was in effect. While New York State does have strong gun laws, including a prohibition on assault weapons, those weapons are legal in nearby states, including Rhode Island, Vermont, and Pennsylvania, and they can easily be brought across state lines. 

 

The Adams administration has systematically driven down homicides and shootings in New York City through an approach that utilizes both prevention and intervention strategies. This summer, Mayor Adams’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force released “A Blueprint for Public Safety,” outlining a forward-thinking roadmap with upstream solutions to address gun violence throughout the five boroughs. The report built upon all the work the Adams administration has undertaken to reduce gun violence by double digits and culminated months of engagement with communities most impacted by gun violence, including young people, whose feedback was critical in shaping the strategies and recommendations that will ensure the city continues to build on the public safety gains made since January 2022. 

 

Co-chaired by First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Man Up! Inc. Founder A.T. Mitchell, the task force represents a multi-agency, cross-sector effort to address the root causes of gun violence and develop recommendations to promote long-term safety across all communities. As part of this effort, more than 50 members of the task force, representing 20 city agencies, engaged roughly 1,500 community residents over the course of spring 2023 through community convenings and youth town halls. 

 

In his first month in office, in January 2022, Mayor Adams released the “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” — laying out his priorities to immediately address the crisis of guns on New York City streets. In March 2022, Mayor Adams and the NYPD also created Neighborhood Safety Teams to focus on gun violence prevention, and, early in the administration, Mayor Adams funded the city’s Crisis Management System — which brings teams of credible messengers to mediate conflicts on the street and connect high-risk individuals to services that can reduce the long-term risk of violence — at a record $86 million for Fiscal Year 2024. Over the course of the administration, the NYPD has removed nearly 13,000 illegal guns from New York City streets. 

 

During National Family Caregivers Month NYSOFA Announces New Offerings for Family Caregivers Using Free NYS Online Support Portal

 

Highlights include sitewide Spanish language translations, new community chat rooms, mental health content, caregiving for kids with complex needs

During National Family Caregivers Month, the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) today announced several new offerings for subscribers of New York’s Caregiving Portal – a powerful resource that is available free of charge for any person in New York State providing unpaid caregiving supports to a family member or friend. New offerings include sitewide Spanish language translations, community chat rooms, mental health content, and tools to help caregivers of children with complex needs. 

The New York Caregiving Portal is made possible through a partnership of NYSOFA, the Association on Aging in New York (AgingNY), and Trualta, which developed and operates the portal. Funding support was provided in the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget.

The New York Caregiving Portal helps families build skills to manage care at home for loved ones of any age. It also connects to local resources and support services by delivering personalized education, training, and information links.

New Yorkers can access the service at https://newyork-caregivers.com. To create a free user account, select “Sign Up.” Once registered, caregivers can select personalized training and track their progress on topics like self-care, stroke recovery, dementia care, medication management, and more. Users can log-in from any computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Some new highlights include: 

• Site-wide Spanish translations. While audio and PDF translations were previously available throughout the platform, a new site-wide toggle provides a more inclusive experience for Spanish speakers.

• Community Chat Rooms. The portal now offers topic and condition-specific chat rooms, moderated by Trualta, where caregivers can post tips, success stories, and offers of encouragement to others in similar situations. Each chat room centers on high-level learning topics, such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, Depression and Anxiety, Heart Health, Parkinson’s, Caring for Kids, LGBTQ+ Support and more.

• New Mental Health Content, including Depression and Bipolar Disorder Care, Anxiety & PTSD Care, Mental Health 101. Each new toolkit builds caregiver knowledge and strength in disproving mental health myths, building a strong support network, and becoming more aware of how to care for one’s own mental health when providing care for others.

• Caring for Kids. Parents and guardians of children with complex needs – including grandparents who are "kinship caregivers" – now have content to help them manage stress, confidently navigate through school and health care systems, advocate for the child’s needs, establish necessary community relationships, and build resiliency.

• Virtual Support Groups: Trualta's online support groups bring together caregivers and a Trualta facilitator for engaging discussions about caregiving experiences, tips, and challenges. The small groups meet weekly and are a judgement-free zone with time for everyone to share.

There are an estimated 4.1 million caregivers in New York State who provide 2.68 billion hours of unpaid care. Sixty-one percent worry about caring for a loved one and 70 percent reported at least one mental health symptom during the pandemic. The caregiving portal teaches critical skills to reduce caregiver stress levels and increase confidence in one's caregiving abilities.

A 2021 study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports found a high rate of retention and engagement among caregivers who used the Trualta-developed platform to support their care for loved ones with dementia:

• 84% of participants reported using at least one skill they learned from the Caregiving Portal.

• More than half of caregivers (56%) reported allocating more time for self-care after using the portal.

• 75% reported that the platform helped keep their care recipient at home longer.

NYSOFA Director Greg Olsen said, “New York’s Caregiving Portal is providing even more ways for caregivers to connect with one another, learn evidence-based skills, relieve personal stress, and improve quality of life when navigating the complexities of caregiving for a loved one of any age. Nobody should have to go through the caregiving process alone. New York’s Caregiving Portal provides tools and information to help validate the caregiver experience, connect caregivers with support resources, and build confidence in day-to-day tasks and decision-making to help care for a loved one at home.”

New York City Fails to Comply with “Fair Share” Requirements for City Services and Facilities, New Audit & Analysis by Comptroller Lander Reveals

Some neighborhoods have 100x shelter beds than others; 3-out-of-4 neighborhoods with no shelters are predominantly white. Waste transfer stations, parks, and social services are also inequitably distributed

Audit also finds that the City fails to provide a basic level of transparency about concentration of services or public outreach as required by the City Charter

While New York City has a Charter mandate to locate City services and facilities equitably, a new audit and report from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander found that the City unevenly distributes City facilities, while keeping critical data on the concentration of services in neighborhoods unavailable and failing to produce mandated analyses of neighborhood impact.  

Adopted in the 1989 City Charter Revision, “Fair Share” provisions require the City to make a concerted effort to ensure that communities are both getting their fair share of amenities like parks and libraries and doing their fair share to confront citywide problems like homelessness. When facilities are sited unfairly, the burdens and benefits of those City facilities are unevenly distributed, exacerbating racial and economic disparities. 

“New York City’s wellbeing rests upon an extensive array of municipal services that should be sited equitably, but our office found that it fails to live up to its ‘Fair Share’ obligations, said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Some neighborhoods have far more than their share of homeless shelters and waste transfer sites, and the differences are often along lines of race and income. As we tackle issues from housing affordability to climate change while building a compassionate and inclusive city, the City’s siting decisions cannot be driven by not-in-my-backyard politics and path-of-least-resistance planning, which solidifies and deepens racial and economic disparities.”  

The Comptroller’s Office review consisted of both an audit of Fair Share statements over the past 5 years, and a geospatial analysis of a wide range of City facilities.  

The audit analyzed 170 Fair Share (or Article 9) statements – these must be submitted to support the siting of City facilities that will be run through contracts with private providers, such as homeless shelters – and siting decisions made between Fiscal Year 2018 through 2022. Of the 170 Article 9 statements, 166 were for Department of Homeless Services (DHS) facilities. Auditors found significant noncompliance with the Charter’s Fair Share requirements: 

• 67 (40%) were for shelter sites in community districts that already had a high concentration of shelter beds to the population living in the district. 
• Only one (0.5%) included an assessment of the facility’s impact on the neighborhood.  
• According to the City Charter, an annual Citywide Statement of Needs (SON) must identify all new and significantly expanded City facilities proposed by agencies for the next two fiscal years. DHS listed none of the 166 shelter sites in the SONs by borough and community district (CD); DHS only listed 6 sites as ‘to be determined.’  

Initially, the City only gave 28 Article 9 statements to auditors; neither the Department of City Planning (DCP) nor the Mayor’s Office tracked or maintained copies of all Article 9 submissions. Of the 28 Article 9 statements submitted, auditors found that agencies did not adequately consider that some neighborhoods have a disproportionate number of residential facilities. The City aimed to place 18 out of the 28 sites (64%) in CDs with a high shelter Bed to Population (BTP) ratio.  

• Manhattan CD 11 (East Harlem, Harlem, Randalls Island, Wards Island) already had 17 shelters. 
• Two of the Article 9 statements proposed new shelters within Bronx CD 6 (Bathgate, East Tremont, Belmont, West Farms), which would bring the total number of shelters up to 24.  
• Brooklyn CD 3 (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Heights, and Ocean Hill) had 16 shelters. 

Auditors found no evidence that 14 of the 28 Article 9 statements were submitted to community boards, in spite of requirements that DHS hold at least one public information session for new homeless shelters.  

DCP has not updated the BTP ratio since 2015, leaving it outdated and inaccurate. According to the Fair Share Criteria, DCP must publish an annual index of beds per thousand residents by type of facility and total number in each CD. The City has not reevaluated the Fair Share Criteria since 1995, neglecting significant shifts in technology and services such as universal Pre-K and 3K. 

These findings are especially relevant at this moment, as New York City welcomes upwards of 100,000 asylum seekers, and the housing affordability crisis continues to worsen. Siting new facilities is critical to meeting the City’s Right to Shelter obligation. 

To evaluate the current make-up of facilities across the City, the Comptroller’s office also took a wider view of Fair Share through a geospatial analysis. The analysis found: 

• Three facility types are generally distributed fairly—childcare and early childhood education facilities, fire stations, and police precincts.  
• Four facility types are distributed unfairly—parks, waste transfer sites, homeless shelters (including sanctuary sites and HERRCs) and social services (including mental health centers and substance use disorder treatment programs).  

• Homeless shelters are heavily concentrated with some communities taking on 100 times more shelter beds than others. Three-out-of-the-four community districts that have no shelters are predominately white. To date, the City has not produced Fair Share analyses for any of the City’s 20 HERRCs or 129 sanctuary sites. 
• Waste transfer sites with high volume of truck traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, particulate matter, and noise are more likely to be in communities with a higher percentage of people living below the poverty line. 73% of the total capacity for waste disposal is allocated to stations in five CDs in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the South Bronx.  
• Neighborhoods with significant Asian populations in Eastern Queens and Southern Brooklyn have less access to parks, which are essential for physical, mental, and social health as well as protect from the impacts of extreme heat.  

• Social services, such as mental health centers and substance use treatment programs, are much more likely to be in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of people living below the poverty line. Manhattan CDs 10 and 11 (Harlem & East Harlem) are doing far more of their fair share than the rest of the borough. 

Comptroller Lander continued, “Fairness must be embedded in how we build our city, share opportunities, and rise to challenges. That begins with a commitment to basic public transparency, which the City has long ignored. Failing to attend to fairness and transparency erodes public trust and makes it harder to meet our collective needs.” 

Based on its review, the Comptroller’s Office recommends that the City: 

1. Establish clear, centralized City oversight over Fair Share compliance 
2. Improve and regularly update the Fair Share Criteria, including the BTP ratio 
3. Improve public access to information on sitings, facility capacity, and concentration 
4. Reform the Citywide Statement of Needs 
5. Prohibit unfair sitings in oversaturated districts 
6. Clarify that Fair Share should be applied to City facilities sited through emergency procurement

“Building a more equitable city requires a fair distribution of resources and development. We cannot continue to allow certain communities to maintain exclusionary boundaries; nor can we continue to shortchange historically marginalized communities that need long overdue investment in public infrastructure and facilities,” said Emily Goldstein, Director of Organizing & Advocacy at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. “The lack of transparency and accountability revealed in the Comptroller’s report is further evidence of the urgency to fundamentally transform New York’s approach to planning and investment by prioritizing the needs of BIPOC, immigrant, homeless, and low income New Yorkers.”

“New York needs more green spaces and Fair Share is supposed to ensure that by requiring the City to make a coordinated and comprehensive effort to ensure that all communities are getting equitable access to parks. Parks and greenspaces are critical infrastructure that needs to be maintained and adequately funded that is why NY4P calls for 1% of the city budget to be allocated for parks. Our parks help improve the resiliency of our communities and offer New Yorkers so many benefits. New Yorkers for Parks hopes the Comptroller’s audit outlining the major disparities in critical infrastructure like parks drives the urgency to fully fund our parks system, building more parks and open spaces, and empowers our communities with fair and equitable access to parks,” said Adam Ganser, Executive Director for New Yorkers for Parks. 

“The Comptroller’s finding that environmental ‘goods’ like parks and environmental ‘bads’ like waste transfer stations are far from equally distributed in New York City is disappointing.  Mayor Adams and the City Council have immediate opportunities to correct these ongoing injustices.  For example, we should be rapidly constructing composting and recycling facilities throughout the city to lessen the amount of garbage being trucked in and out of the most environmentally overburdened communities” said Justin Wood, Director of Policy at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.   

“It is outrageous that the Comptroller’s analysis found that waste transfer stations are concentrated in low-income communities and that the City’s own Waste Equity audit found that 75% of the City’s average daily throughput of waste is concentrated in four community district of color in SE Queens, North Brooklyn, and South Bronx – still.  For over 30 years – and with five different NYC mayors – NYC-EJA, our members and I have fought for a fairer and more sustainable solid waste management system that does not disproportionately harm Black and Brown New Yorkers.  From the 2006 Solid Waste Management Plan, to the 2018 Waste Equity Law to the 2019 Commercial Waste Zones Law, we have fought for and have been promised a reduction of this capacity and the resulting negative health impacts associated with the voluminous waste-related truck traffic – yet this insidious expression of environmental racism persists. Environmental justice delayed is justice denied – we call on the Adams Administration and City Council to honor past commitments to Black and Brown New Yorkers long burdened by our City’s solid waste system,” said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director for NYC Environmental Justice Alliance.