Two New York City Employees Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Theft Of Government Funds And Wire Fraud

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mark G. Peters, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced the arrest of ERIC LUNA, an employee of the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (“DYCD”), and IGOR GOLDSHTEYN, an employee of the New York City Fire Department (“FDNY”), for the theft of government funds and wire fraud.  GOLDSHTEYN was arrested at his residence in Staten Island, New York, and LUNA was arrested outside the Manhattan headquarters of the DYCD.  Both men were presented today before Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox in Manhattan federal court.  

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As alleged, Eric Luna and Igor Goldshteyn, New York City employees, betrayed the trust placed in them and abused their powers to make purchases for their respective City agencies.  They allegedly sold over the internet hundreds of mobile phones intended for official use, and pocketed the proceeds of those illegal sales.  Now, thanks to DOI investigators, Luna and Goldshteyn are charged with serious crimes.”

Commissioner Mark G. Peters said:  “Abusing their authority to make purchases for their agencies, these defendants acted in separate schemes to greedily line their own pockets, by stealing hundreds of mobile devices meant for City use and selling them on online marketplaces for hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit, according to the charges. DOI thanks the United States Attorney for the Southern District and Verizon Wireless for their assistance and partnership in this investigation.”

According to the allegations in the Complaints[1]:

In April 2017, DOI investigators discovered that from at least in or about August 2015, hundreds of mobile telecommunications devices purchased by the FDNY and DYCD for use by agency personnel were being improperly diverted by LUNA and GOLDSHTEYN.  Both the FDNY and DYCD receive federal funds – the FDNY through grants from the Department of Homeland Security, and DYCD through grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  LUNA and GOLDSHTEYN offered the devices for sale through third-party vendors over the internet.  The proceeds from the sales of these mobile devices went into LUNA’s and GOLDSHTEYN’s personal checking and online accounts.  

In separate complaints, GOLDSHTEYN, 42, of Staten Island, New York, and LUNA, 35, of Bronx, New York, are each charged with the theft of federal funds, and wire fraud.  The maximum statutory penalty for the theft of federal funds is 10 years in prison, and the maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison.  The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants would be determined by the judge.

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

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Record $42 Million Settlement With Bank Of America Merrill Lynch Over Fraudulent “Masking” Scheme In Electronic Trading Division

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Admits To Systematically Misleading Clients About How Stock Orders Were Handled; Admits to Violating New York’s Martin Act

$42 Million Penalty Is Largest Ever State Recovery In Connection With An Electronic Trading Investigation

  Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced today that Bank of America Merrill Lynch (“BofAML”) will pay a record $42 million penalty to the State of New York to settle an investigation into fraudulent practices in connection with BofAML’s electronic trading services. As part of the settlement, BofAML admits that, pursuant to undisclosed agreements with so-called electronic liquidity providers (“ELPs”) such as Citadel Securities, Knight Capital, D.E. Shaw, Two Sigma Securities, and Madoff Securities, BofAML systematically concealed from its clients over a five-year period that it was secretly routing its clients’ orders for equity securities to such firms for execution. Attorney General Schneiderman’s investigation uncovered that BofAML made other misleading statements to its clients regarding several aspects of its electronic trading services—statements that made BofAML’s electronic trading services appear safer and more sophisticated than they really were. In addition to paying a penalty to New York State, BofAML admitted that it violated the Martin Act, New York’s securities law, and New York Executive Law § 63(12). 

“Bank of America Merrill Lynch went to astonishing lengths to defraud its own institutional clients about who was seeing and filling their orders, who was trading in its dark pool, and the capabilities of its electronic trading services,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “As Wall Street firms offer increasingly complex electronic trading services, they cannot use new technology to exploit their clients in service of their business relationships with large industry players, like Bank of America Merrill Lynch did here.”

The Attorney General’s investigation revealed, and BofAML admits, that BofAML engaged in a multi-year fraud in connection with the operation of its electronic trading division. Beginning in 2008, BofAML intentionally and methodically concealed from its clients that it was routing millions of their orders for equity securities to ELPs like Citadel, Two Sigma, Knight, and others. Instead, BofAML told its clients that those orders were executing in-house at BofAML. The company  accomplished its fraud by re-programming its electronic trading systems to automatically doctor the trade confirmation messaging sent back to its clients after executions by these firms, in a process that BofAML employees referred to internally as “masking.” “Masking” involved replacing the identity of the ELP to whom the order was routed with a code indicating that the trade occurred in-house at BofAML. BofAML applied its “masking” strategy to over 16 million client orders between 2008 and 2013, representing over 4 billion traded shares.   

In order to avoid detection, BofAML also altered post-trade reports called “transaction cost analysis” reports, which are meant to help clients understand where and how their orders are executed. BofAML generated reports that reflected that BofAML was the venue where clients’ trades had executed, even though the trades had actually been executed by ELPs. BofAML also altered client invoices and other written documentation that would ordinarily reveal to clients where their trades had executed.

As set forth fully in the Settlement Agreement, the Attorney General’s investigation also uncovered that BofAML made other inaccurate representations to investors about BofAML’s electronic trading services, in an effort to make the firm’s electronic trading services look more sophisticated and safer than they really were: 

• BofAML inflated its claims about the amount of retail orders routed to and executed in its dark pool, called “Instinct X.” Over several years, BofAML claimed that 20% or even 30% of the orders in its dark pool came from retail traders. OAG’s investigation determined that, in reality, BofAML’s retail client orders typically accounted for no more than 5% of the orders in Instinct X. BofAML also significantly overstated the number of retail orders that were in fact executed in Instinct X once routed there. 

• BofAML touted a “Venue Analysis” that it purportedly used to find the best trading venue for its clients’ orders, and to avoid low-liquidity or otherwise “toxic” trading venues. Over several years, BofAML distributed marketing materials that purported to represent how BofAML’s trading algorithms made  “strategic” and “tactical” decisions about how and where to route client orders on an “order by order” basis. In fact, BofAML did not use that analysis to route client trades, and BofAML’s algorithms and order router did not access the analysis, or the data underlying it, to make trading decisions for clients. In addition, although the underlying data reflecting the performance of various venues changed over time, BofAML did not update the analysis it distributed to its clients.

A copy of the settlement agreement can be found here.

Today’s settlement is the latest in a series of actions arising from the Attorney General’s Investor Protection Bureau’s initiative related to electronic and high frequency trading. In connection with those efforts, the Attorney General filed an action against Barclays in 2014, after uncovering evidence that Barclays made knowing and systematic misrepresentations to investors about how, and for whose benefit, Barclays operated its dark pool, and that Barclays exposed its clients to the predatory traders from whom it promised to protect them. As a result of its fraud, Barclays grew its dark pool to be the second largest in the United States.  In January 2016, Barclays settled with the NYAG for $35 million, admitted that it violated securities laws, and agreed to install an independent monitor to ensure the proper operation of its electronic trading division.

Also in January 2016, the Attorney General resolved an investigation of Credit Suisse’s practices relating to the operation of its dark pool, then the largest in the United States. The Attorney General found that Credit Suisse had made numerous misrepresentations regarding the operation of its dark pool, leading Credit Suisse clients to believe that they had the ability to avoid trading with high-frequency trading firms whose order flow Credit Suisse itself considered “opportunistic” and detrimental to institutional investors. Credit Suisse settled with the NYAG for $30 million.

In December 2016, the Attorney General announced the resolution of its investigation of Deutsche Bank, which revealed that it too had engaged in fraud in connection with its electronic trading services, in particular in its order routing practices. Deutsche Bank settled with the NYAG for $18.5 million and admitted that it violated New York State securities laws.

Barclays, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank also settled parallel investigations into these matters with the SEC. 

As a result of Attorney General Schneiderman’s investigations regarding electronic trading at major Wall Street financial institutions, four firms have now agreed to pay $125.5 million in penalties to the State of New York for their wrongful conduct. 

“I urge all members of the financial community to evaluate and if necessary reform your practices around electronic trading services, to ensure that you treat each and every client, big and small, ethically and loyally. For those financial institutions that refuse to do so, we will hold you accountable,” said Attorney General Schneiderman.

Comptroller Stringer: Late Night Subway Service Drops 80% As Off-Peak Ridership Soars

Low-Wage Earners and Immigrants Stranded Most by Subway Crisis During Hours Outside “9 to 5”

Stringer Calls for Increased Service in the Early Morning and Evening and for the City to Immediately Fund the Lhota Emergency Plan

  A new report by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released today revealed a new, less visible but deeply alarming aspect of the MTA subway crisis: the massive drop-off in “off-peak” service. Comptroller Stringer’s new report – “Left in the Dark: How the MTA is Failing to Keep Up with New York City’s Changing Economy” – illustrates that while commuting patterns across New York City have changed, subway service has not. Despite 57 percent of all job growth in the last decade happening in the healthcare, hospitality, retail, restaurant, and entertainment industries, MTA subway service has failed to adapt to spiking ridership among those who don’t work a traditional “9 to 5”. These massive drop-offs in after-hours service affects lower-income, New Yorkers of color, and immigrants most.

 This new Comptroller Stringer analysis shows how New York City’s millions of service sector workers are being left in the dark by a subway system that isn’t just deteriorating during rush hours, but fundamentally failing to meet the needs of those who commute early in the morning and later into the evening. Today, the healthcare, hospitality, retail, food services, and entertainment industries account for 40 percent of private sector employment in New York City. Up until 2010, the MTA routinely added trains in the early morning to keep up with increasing ridership. Since the Great Recession, however, while ridership continued to surge between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., the MTA did not respond accordingly—leaving riders to wait longer periods for trains that are more crowded.

Subway service to and from the Manhattan hub has not kept pace with growing ridership in the early morning (5 a.m. to 7 a.m.)

• In New York City, these commuting and work patterns have been changing for decades. In 1985, half of the daily ridership into the Manhattan central business district occurred between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. By 2015, this share dropped to just 28 percent.
• Driven by the expansion of the city’s service sector, growth in tourism, and changing leisure patterns, off-peak subway ridership has rapidly expanded in the early mornings (5-7 a.m.) and evenings (7-11 p.m.). The MTA, however, has failed to respond to these trends. The MTA runs 60 percent fewer trains citywide from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. than it does from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., and 38 percent fewer from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The number of trains beginning their route each hour

“During rush hour, we’re packed into subway cars like sardines. But outside traditional “9 to 5” travel, off-peak service is fundamentally failing to meet demand. It’s a crisis within a crisis, because over the past decade, the nature of our economy has changed and ridership late-nights and early mornings has risen while actual service to match it has not. That means that those who need service to get to work during non-traditional hours are stuck with a crisis not of overcrowding, but of infrequency,” Comptroller Stringer said. “We’ve looked at the human impacts of delays, the economic cost of slow-downs, and the crisis above ground with our bus system. Now, we’re showing how immigrants, New Yorkers of color, and lower-income neighbors are disproportionately affected by the off-peak subway crisis. The time for action is now. We need more service in the early morning and evening and we need to immediately fund the Lhota emergency plan to ensure those trains are actually running on time. Now more than ever, New York City needs to step up to support the MTA in this time of crisis.”

 Off-Peak Service is Failing to Meet Demand

 From 2010 to 2016, ridership in and out of the Manhattan hub jumped by 14 percent in the early morning and by 13 percent in the evening. The number of trains supplied by the MTA, however, did not keep pace, falling by three percent between 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and rising by a meager three percent between 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Subway service in and out of the Manhattan hub did not keep pace with growing ridership in the early morning and evening from 2010 to 2016

Jobs during Non-Traditional Hours are Rising

 Many jobs in New York’s growing service sector operate outside of the traditional 9-to-5, with employees serving customers, clients, and patients early in the morning and late into the evening. As these sectors have grown – adding more than 350,000 employees in the last decade – it has had a profound effect on commuting patterns and subway ridership.

The share of subway and bus commuters departing for work during “traditional hours” (7-9 a.m.) is falling

 

Those traveling to work off-peak now account for nearly half (47 percent) of all subway and bus commuters, up from 39 percent in 1990. Further, in the last quarter century, the number of transit commuters departing for work outside of “traditional hours” (from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.) rose by 39 percent, while the number of “traditional” commuters grew by only 17 percent. That means demand for off-peak service is rising faster than demand for rush-hour service.

Yet service is dramatically diminished during early morning (5:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.) and later evening (8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.) travel – just when many service sector workers depend on public transit. During these times:

• In the early morning, only 43 percent of train lines have wait times of less than 10 minutes and zero have wait times of less than five minutes.
• In the evening, under half of subway lines maintain wait times of less than 10 minutes and only 10 percent maintain frequencies of less than 5 minutes.

The problem is particularly acute in neighborhoods with significant retail, restaurant, health, hotel, and cultural employment.

• The neighborhoods most adversely impacted by infrequent train service include Lenox Hill-Roosevelt Island, East Harlem, Washington Heights South, Borough Park, Flushing, Forest Hills, Elmhurst, and Jamaica.
• These are neighborhoods with over 10,000 service sector jobs, which constitute more than half of total employment in the area, and receive 50% less subway service during the early morning (5:30-6:30 a.m) than in rush hour (7:30-8:30 a.m.).

Lower-Income New Yorkers Hurt Most by Subway Crisis

Those departing for work during “traditional” hours (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) have very different economic profiles than “non-traditional” subway and bus commuters.

New Yorkers commuting between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. earn $7,000 less than their rush hour counterparts and are more likely to be foreign born, a person of color, without a bachelor’s degree, and working in the service sector

Economic Profile of Traditional and Non-Traditional Subway and Bus Commuters

	“Traditional” Commuters	“Non-Traditional”        Commuters
	(departs 7am-9am)	(departs 5am-7am)
Median Income	$42,300.00	$35,000.00
Bachelor’s Degree or Higher (Age 25+)	52.00%	31.00%
Foreign Born	47.00%	56.00%
Person of Color	64.00%	78.00%
Work in Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, Food Services, or Cultural industries	36.00%	40.00%
Growth in the Last Quarter Century	39.00%	17.00%

DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION RELEASES ANNUAL VISION ZERO REPORT

Year Four Report details comprehensive citywide efforts made around engineering, enforcement and education; in 2017, New York City had its fourth consecutive year of declining traffic fatalities, strongly countering national trends

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced the release of the City’s Vision Zero Year Four Report, a comprehensive review of the first four years of the groundbreaking safety initiative. In 2017, New York City experienced its safest year on record with the fourth straight year of fatality declines.  Since the program’s inaugural year in 2014, when New York City became the first American city to adopt Vision Zero, the city’s traffic fatalities have declined 28 percent with a 45 percent decline in pedestrian fatalities — bucking national fatality trends, which have increased 15 percent over the same period.

“Vision Zero is working. We have lowered the speed limit, increased enforcement and created safer street designs, efforts that build on each other to help keep New Yorkers safe,” said Mayor de Blasio. “The report we are releasing today shows the promising results so far, but also illustrates how far we must go to deepen this work. Not even a single tragedy on our streets is acceptable, and we’ll keep fighting every day to protect New Yorkers.”

The report illustrates several of the elements of the data-driven Vision Zero initiative that have delivered results:

·    Using detailed crash and injury data, New York City created Borough Pedestrians Safety Action Plans, directing its investments at high priority locations across the five boroughs. The original priority locations introduced in 2015, based on 2009-2013 data, averaged 142 traffic deaths per year in that period. In 2017 that number was 100 deaths, a 30 percent decline.

·      Pedestrian fatalities have seen the greatest fatality decline among all modes of travel, dropping by 45 percent, from 184 in 2013 to 101 in 2017.

·    The Year Four report takes a closer look at demographic groups, types of locations or periods in the day which carry a disproportionate concentration of severe and fatal crashes.

·   The report look at the myriad ways agencies implement the initiative and a look ahead to new initiatives launching in 2018.

“Thanks to the incredible work of everyone at DOT, the NYPD, and our agency partners, the first four years of Vision Zero have been the safest ever on our city streets.  Vision Zero has truly saved lives — of family members, friends, neighbors and fellow New Yorkers,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “In 2017, under the Mayor’s leadership, DOT's work helped fuel a historic drop in pedestrian fatalities, including through a record number of safety redesigns and by reprogramming a record number of traffic signals that give pedestrians a head start in crosswalks.  However, the number of lives lost on our streets is still too high, including the increases in fatalities we saw last year among cyclists, drivers and motorcyclists.  We know we have much more work to do to fully achieve Vision Zero.”

“Four consecutive years of decreasing traffic fatalities in the City is a good indication that the Vision Zero Initiative is working,” said Chief Thomas Chan, the NYPD’s Chief of Transportation. “This Mayoral initiative owes its life saving successes to the collaborative effort of its Vision Zero inter-agency oversight.  The “Vision Zero Year Four Report” highlights some of the great work that laid the groundwork for these successful results. In 2017, the NYPD again increased its enforcement against dangerous driving violations identified as the leading causes of traffic fatalities; speed enforcement increased 9.2%, texting while driving increased 36.3%, and failure to yield to pedestrians increased 22%.  In 2018, the NYPD looks forward to working with the Vision Zero team to reach yet another traffic safety landmark.”   

“Professional drivers are pivotal to the Vision Zero work ahead of us, and the TLC has continued its extensive, multilingual outreach to drivers and bases on important safety issues like fatigue,” said TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi.  “More than 35,000 drivers completed the TLC Driver Education course last year.  Since taxi and for-hire vehicle drivers use our streets significantly more than other drivers, we hold them to a high standard and TLC enforcement continues to focus on traffic safety.  Our staff are highly responsive to public complaints and worked hard to hold drivers accountable for safety violations.  We also celebrated the accomplishments of more than 400 of our safest drivers, who completed millions of miles of safe trips last year without violation or injury.”

“NYC operates the largest fleet in the City and is working to make it the safest,” said DCAS Commissioner Lisette Camilo. “In 2017, DCAS completed a first Safe Fleet Transition Plan for our fleet which will ensure we specify and procure the safest possible fleet vehicles possible, including automatic braking, truck side-guards, and backup cameras, and will serve as a model for other public and private fleets.  We will continue to work with all our partner agencies to achieve Vision Zero.”

“The Vision Zero Year Four report highlights the extraordinary work accomplished by the City and our partners,” said Emily W. Newman, Acting Director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations. “But as we enter year five we know there is much more work to be done to make our streets safer and protect the lives of New Yorkers. As the Chair of the Vision Zero Task Force, we remain focused on one vision: vision zero.”

“Vision Zero has made a real difference in driving down the number of traffic deaths in New York City,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. “However, traffic deaths and injuries remain a serious public health concern, particularly among cyclists, drivers and motorcyclists. I commend Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Trottenberg for their work to protect New Yorkers through Vision Zero.”

Street Design

DOT continues to focus on proven methods of reducing fatalities and serious injuries through the implementation Street Improvement Projects (SIPs), installation of Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs), addressing left turns at intersections and building out the on-street bike network, particularly Protected Bike Lanes.  In the fourth year of Vision Zero (2017) DOT made major advances on these fronts:

·         Completed 114 SIPs, 76 of them in Vision Zero Priority Locations, a 138 percent increase over the five year average leading up to Vision Zero.

·      Added 832 LPIs, giving pedestrian a head start where drivers are turning and preserving their right of way. With over 2,000 of these installed under Vision Zero, pedestrian and cyclist KSI numbers have declined 37 percent at these locations.

·     Continued to implement Left Turn Traffic Calming interventions. Over 200 intersections have received this treatment, including 110 in 2017.

·    Continuing to build out the bike network. Last year DOT added over 77 lane miles to the bike network, including a record of 25 Protected Bike Lane miles.

·      A continued success of the agency camera enforcement program: speed camera, bus lane cameras and red light cameras.  The City is currently advocating in Albany for legislation expanding the speed camera program in an effort to increase and broaden the school zones.  Speed cams have proven to reduce speeding in school zones by 63%.

Enforcement

In 2017, the NYPD focused its enforcement to affect a change in the behavior of persons who disregard the importance of traffic safety. The NYPD officers issued 684,910 Vision Zero summons which were issued to drivers who violated the traffic laws identified as the primary causes  of collisions with the most catastrophic results, these violations included Speeding, Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian, Utilizing a Cell Phone While Driving and Texting while Driving. This is up 7.3% from 2017 and 20.2% from 2014. In addition, the NYPD continued to target drivers who violated the crime AC.19-190 which is violated when drivers fail to exercise due care and cause an injury to a pedestrian or bicyclist who has the right of way. In 2017, the NYPD took 2,255 total enforcement actions against these violators an increase of 12.5% from 2016. 

For-Hire Vehicles

In 2017, TLC field enforcement officers issued 59% more traffic safety summonses compared to 2016, with significant emphasis on speeding and distracted driving.  The TLC also pursues complaints from the public about safety infractions that include vehicles stopped in bike lanes and blocked crosswalks, a valuable complement to field enforcement and driver education efforts. TLC has held more than 500 Vision Zero driver outreach meetings and honored 420 drivers and 25 businesses last fall for their impeccable safety records, the highest number of honorees in all four years of the event.  The TLC also held a Fatigue Prevention Outreach Week last spring to educate driver about the risks of driving while tired and to raise awareness about new rules to keep tired drivers off the roads. 

Leading the Way with the City’s Fleet

In 2017, DCAS published its Safe Fleet Transition Plan in conjunction with the US DOT Volpe Center in May 2017. This plan stipulates that all vehicles purchased for Fiscal Year 18 and beyond must include the best available safety technology including, where applicable, automatic emergency braking, rear and side truck guards, and back up cameras. In addition, the City has installed over 1,350 truck sideguards on NYC Fleet vehicles, making it the largest program of its kind in the nation. Sideguards have been shown to reduce the deadliness of truck collisions with pedestrians by 20% and with bicyclists by 60%.

Using Data to Guide Efforts and Understand Crashes as a Public Health Imperative

In 2017, DOHMH completed a data matching process to link hospital records with crash reports. Using the linked dataset, staff identified patterns of injuries, injury type, body part injured, and injury severity associated with crash characteristics. These patterns can help describe, among other things, the disproportionate impact of traffic injuries on particular populations, such as children and older adults. Among the matched cases, injury severity is higher among older adults, pedestrians, and motorcyclists.

Select Year 5 New Initiatives

·         Update Borough Pedestrian Safety Action Plan priority maps based on an analysis of KSI data from 2014-2016, the first three years of Vision Zero

·    Intensify street safety improvements in areas with high senior citizen concentrations and pedestrian injuries to seniors

·    Implement Bicycle Priority Districts to increase lane network mileage in areas demonstrating disproportionate KSIs relative to their infrastructure

·     Convene a working group to develop a Vison Zero-based driver education program for those under age 25

·      Proactively identify intersections at which new traffic signals would likely be warranted by using data analysis

2,500 Children Have Received Grant-Funded Dental Care at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx

$2.5 Million Was Provided by HRSA to Modernize Outpatient Dental Care Services

   NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx have provided dental care to 2,500 children who might otherwise not have received care over the past two years, thanks to grant funding received from the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the Affordable Care Act. Focused on preventing and detecting oral disorders, starting treatment earlier, and reinforcing good oral hygiene practices, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration granted the hospitals $2.5 million to expand their pediatric dental clinics and integrate the practices with primary care.

Tooth decay is the most prevalent childhood disease, affecting more youngsters than asthma or hay fever. This issue is particularly prevalent in low-income communities, as dental services generally aren’t provided under Medicaid and other public health insurance programs. According to a report from the American Journal of Public Health in 2005, more than half of low-income children without health insurance had no preventive dental care.                                                                                                                                        

This began to change in 2007, following the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy in Maryland, who suffered a brain infection that originated as a tooth infection—a death that many believe would have been preventable with routine dental care. As a result of the boy’s death, SCHIP was expanded in 2009 to include dental benefits.

These benefits were then included as essential health care requirements in the Affordable Care Act. To maximize the impact of these services, the Health Resources and Services Administration established funding sources to help facilities obtain the capital to modernize their facilities.

Following receipt of grant funding in 2015, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx were able to make a number of improvements to better serve their patients. They were able to recruit and employ two additional pediatric dental residents in addition to dental assistants and a registered dental hygienist. They equipped two new operatories at NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx to expand outpatient care. They expanded hours to provide additional access to care. And they coordinated programing and expansion of educational opportunities to the hospitals’ Women’s Infants and Children program and to the Illyria Clinic (dedicated to the Albanian community) at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, as well as through collaborations with Sapna, a community-based organization serving the South Asian community in the Castle Hill and Parkchester neighborhoods.

These improvements have resulted in over 2,500 high-risk children receiving care over the past two years, a major milestone in dental care for the Bronx and for public health overall.

“This grant and the great work done by our dental team represent the commitment of our health system to provide world-class outpatient care to all New Yorkers,” said Christopher Mastromano, executive director of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi.

“These funds have been vital in expanding our outreach at both NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, as well as to increasing our ability to serve populations in need of dental services,” said Nadia Laniado, DDS, MPH, of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi’s Dentistry Department.  “Evidence shows that it’s critical that children establish a dental home by their first birthday in order to maintain good dental health. By collaborating with our partners and primary care, we are helping more families achieve this goal.”

“This HRSA funding has allowed us to expand services and provide cultural sensitivity training to our residents so that they might better understand the needs of our patients,” said Victor Badner, DMD, chair of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi’s Dental Department.

Overall, since 2016, more than 13,000 patients of all ages have received dental care at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and more than 9,000 have received such care at NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx.

Those interested in scheduling a dental appointment for their children should contact NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi at (718) 918-3422 or at (718) 918-5636.

Bronx Jewish Community Council - Volunteer Recognition Breakfast April 22, 2018

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Councilmember Rafael Salamanca - CITY COUNCIL APPROVES “LA PENINSULA” DEVELOPMENT AT FORMER SPOFFORD SITE

The City Council passed the redevelopment proposal for the site of former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the South Bronx’s Hunts Point. The $300 million project, dubbed “La Peninsula,” includes the construction of a five-building, mixed-use development over three phases to be completed by 2024. The five-acre plan is comprised of 740 affordable units with rents as low as $396 per month, 54,000-square-feet of open and recreational space, 14,000-square-feet of fenced, green space, 49,000-square-feet of light industrial space, 48,000-square-feet of community facility space and 21,000-squre-feet of commercial and retail space. 

 

“La Peninsula will be a transformative project for Hunts Point and the South Bronx, adding 100% affordable housing and new jobs while spurring economic growth through the creation of a vibrant hub for my community,” said Council Member and Land Use Chair Rafael Salamanca, Jr. “Together with organizations such as Urban Health Plan, The Point CDC and many others we’ve advocated tirelessly to ensure that this project thoughtfully incorporates the much-needed community amenities to the neighborhood – and we got them. I’m grateful to our community leaders and partners who’ve helped take this incredible project one step closer to reality and look forward to our continued partnership to see this development to completion.”

 

Led by Gilbane Development Company, the site will be redeveloped by a team of developers, including the Hudson Companies and Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY). The consortium has committed to working closely with community stakeholders and groups, such as The Point Community Development Corporation, Urban Health Plan, Sustainable South Bronx, The Knowledge House, Casita Maria, Rocking the Boat, and BronxWorks. The master plan is designed by Body Lawson Associates and WXY.

 

The site will also feature a food step-up space for local entrepreneurs, a 15,000-square-foot early childhood education facility, and an 18,000-square-foot health and wellness center operated by Urban Health Plan. The project also commits to providing adequate lighting and security around the development site, repairing and widening the sidewalk on part of Tiffany Street and hiring a Bronx-based security firm to provide security during demolition.

 

The former detention center closed in 2011 and has remained vacant except for a Head Start (Pre-Kindergarten) facility operated by the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS).

UPCOMING EVENTS FROM COUNCILMAN MARK GJONAJ