Thursday, March 5, 2020
STATEMENT FROM COUNCILMAN MARK GJONAJ REGARDING 2500 WILLIAMSBRIDGE ROAD
Tuesday, March 03, 2020,
Today, my office was informed that the property at 2500 Williamsbridge Road was recently sold. I have reached out to the purchaser to discuss their intentions for the site and they would not confirm the final use of the property. We have been informed by the New York State Office of Government Affairs and Federal Policy that no application has been filed for this site at this time. While we are not able to confirm the intended use of this location, my opposition to it being used as a treatment center remains firm.
This site is in close proximity to a school, house of worship and a residential community – which makes its use as a treatment center a nonstarter. I will continue to work with elected officials, government agencies and local leaders to explore all available means to ensure that this property is used in a way that is consistent with its surroundings and wishes of the community.
We will continue to keep you informed as we learn more.
If you have any questions, please contact our office at 718-931-1721 or Mgjonaj@council.nyc.gov
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Councilman Mark Gjonaj on the Proposed 200 Adult Men's Shelter for Blondell Avenue
There has been a proposal by the NYC Department of Social Services for a placement of a 200-men homeless shelter at 1400 Blondell Avenue. On Monday, February 24, 2020, Councilman Gjonaj is hosting a Community Town Hall with Assemblyman Benedetto and Bronx Community Boards 10 and 11 to discuss the proposed site for the shelter from 6PM to 8PM at the Jacobi Hospital Rotunda (Adjacent to Building 4) located at 1400 Pelham Parkway South, Bronx, NY 10461.
Are you opposed to the proposed site of the shelter?
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
Since there was very short notice about the meeting at Jacobi Hospital it gave the appearance that Councilman Mark Gjonaj wanted a low turnout (which he got). Several people said that they were opposed to an Adult Men's Homeless shelter, but would be in favor of a family homeless shelter since Community Board 11 is responsible for 394 Homeless families or 849 homeless people that have been placed in other community boards.
We have taken out the select option and suggest that you call Councilman Mark Gjonaj's office at 718-931-1721, and let Councilman Gjonaj that you are not opposed to a family shelter being placed at 1400 Blondell Avenue, and you want Councilman Gjonaj to have compassion for those who are less fortunate and the families which have become homeless.
If Councilman Gjonaj continues with this lack of concern for the community the city will have the 200 Adult Men placed on Blondell Avenue, just like Morris Park Avenue was changed over Councilman Gjonaj's unwillingness to come up with a different solution.
2nd Annual Bay Plaza 5K Run-Walk
March is here that means Daylight Savings and 2nd Annual Bay Plaza 5K!
American Cancer Society Partners with The Mall at Bay Plaza to Present the 2nd Annual Bay Plaza 5K Run-Walk! We would love to have your Bronx community members join us. Please see attached flyer and Press release.
March is Colo-rectal Cancer Awareness Month and we are thrilled to announce that The Mall at Bay Plaza will present the 2nd Annual 5K Run-Walk to benefit programs at the American Cancer Society, such as cancer research and early detection and prevention for Bronxites.
Join us On Sunday, March 29th . We will come together to honor cancer survivors, raise awareness about reducing risks and raise funds to fight this horrible disease. This timed 5k run/walk will travel through the beautiful Bay Plaza property and will engage the Bronx as a whole.
Participants will enjoy snacks, activities, cancer information, and live music throughout the morning. Awards for fastest runners and top fundraisers will also be presented immediately following the run.
Sign up today! 2nd Annual Bay Plaza Run
Nitisha Moore
Community Development Manager
(718) 517.3206 | m: (570) 982.7609 | f: (718) 886.8981
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American Cancer Society, Inc. | Northeast Region
132 west 32nd Street New York, NY 10001 | |
KZA Realty Group Helps Bring Full-Service Health Care Center to Tremont Renaissance with a Major Leasing Deal
KZA Realty Group helped improve the quality of life in the Tremont section of the Bronx by bringing a full-service family health center to the new Tremont Renaissance building at 1910 Webster Avenue.
Kathy Zamechansky, owner and president of KZA Realty Group, represented Mastermind, Ltd . in the 15-year lease deal with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. Michael Dubin and Hector Rodriguez at Savitt Partners, LLC, represented the city.
“Mastermind Development’s investment strategy requires us to add value to the communities we serve. This has been fundamental, and natural, to our vision as a lifelong New York, Bronx based company,” said Radame Perez, Chief Operating Officer. “From
the inception of planning Tremont Renaissance, our aim was to develop a property that addressed 3 critical areas that are in crisis throughout the city as a whole, but severely impact many neighborhoods in the outer boroughs - those would be, access to quality, sufficient, and affordable – housing, nutrition, and health care.“
The 15-year lease is valued at $14,146,767.86 and covers 21,643 square feet on the ground floor of one the most exciting new developments in the Bronx, a borough that is undergoing rapid transformation as the borough’s real estate boom continues.
“As soon as the developers started building the Tremont Renaissance, excitement began to ripple throughout the neighborhood,” said Kathy Zamechansky, owner and president of
KZA Realty Group. “The building is a catalyst and a reflection of the vitality that is energizing the Bronx.”
The Health and Hospitals Corp. plans to open a comprehensive family health center to provide pediatric, primary, urgent and elder care. Amenities at the pace-setting Tremont Renaissance, a mixed-income residential development consisting of 256 apartments and a
parking garage, include a fitness and yoga studio, a children’s play area, an internet lounge and rooftop terraces.
Radame Perez also added “With over 60% of our 256 apartments already occupied, 15,000 square feet of our 40,000 square foot commercial space open for business as a supermarket, and now a signed lease commitment for a full service Health Care Center to assume the remaining commercial space, we feel we’ve done well with Tremont Renaissance and are eternally grateful for KZA bringing the last piece of the puzzle to us with New York Health and Hospital.”
The location is a half-block from the Metro-North Tremont station (less than eight miles from Grand Central Terminal), two subway lines and several bus routes.
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR DE BLASIO ON NEW CORONAVIRUS CASE IN NEW YORK CITY
“Three family members of the Westchester resident who was diagnosed yesterday with the Coronavirus have tested positive for the Coronavirus. A female child attends SAR Academy and High School in the Bronx. A male child attends Yeshiva University in Manhattan and has not been on campus since February 27. Both children and their mother, who also tested positive, remain in home isolation in Westchester.”
“Yeshiva University is working closely with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of students and the community. City disease detectives are on campus to identify close contacts of the student and connect those individuals to testing immediately. As of this morning, two contacts have transferred to Bellevue hospital for testing. We will continue working closely with our State partners to ensure we are doing everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe.”
Honduran Drug Trafficker Arrested In Florida On Drug Trafficking And Weapons Charges
Geovanny Daniel Fuentes Ramires Allegedly Conspired with High-Ranking Honduran Politicians and Members of the Honduran National Police to Operate a Cocaine Lab in Honduras and Distribute Cocaine Using Air and Maritime Routes
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Wendy Woolcock, Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced today that GEOVANNY DANIEL FUENTES RAMIREZ was charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related weapons offenses involving the use and possession of machineguns and destructive devices. DEA agents arrested FUENTES RAMIREZ on March 1, 2020, at Miami International Airport as he attempted to depart the United States, and was presented yesterday afternoon in Miami federal court.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, Geovanny Daniel Fuentes Ramirez was, up until his arrest by the DEA two days ago, a prolific, powerful, and murderous cocaine trafficker in Honduras. As further alleged, Fuentes Ramirez paved the way for unimpeded shipment of multi-ton loads of cocaine by bribing police and a high-ranking Honduran politician, and reporting directly to Tony Hernandez, another co-conspirator in the scheme and himself a former Honduran congressman. Thanks to the DEA, a key player in the unholy alliance of Honduran officials and drug traffickers is now in custody and facing a possible life behind bars.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Wendy Woolcock said: “The arrest of Geovanny Daniel Fuentes Ramirez is yet another example of DEA’s perseverance to bring to justice criminal associates of corrupt Honduran public officials and law enforcement officers who enabled the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine headed to the United States. These corrupt arrangements resulted in horrible violence in Honduras and beyond. The DEA will continue to aggressively pursue and bring to justice those who participated in these activities, threatened the rule of law, and operated with complete disregard for human life for their financial gain.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint[1] charging FUENTES RAMIREZ, evidence presented at the October 2019 trial of Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado in the Southern District of New York, and statements in open court during the prosecution of Hernandez Alvarado:
Between approximately 2004 and 2020, multiple drug trafficking organizations in Honduras and elsewhere worked together, and with support from certain prominent public and private individuals, including Honduran politicians and law enforcement officials, to receive multi-ton loads of cocaine sent to Honduras from, among other places, Colombia via air and maritime routes, and to transport the drugs westward in Honduras toward the border with Guatemala and eventually to the United States. For protection from law enforcement interference, and in order to facilitate the safe passage through Honduras of multi-ton loads of cocaine, FUENTES RAMIREZ and other drug traffickers paid bribes to Honduran public officials, including certain members of the Honduran National Police and the Honduran National Congress. For example, following an October 2019 trial in the Southern District of New York, former Honduran congressman Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado was convicted of drug trafficking, weapons, and false statements charges related to his role in this scheme. Hernandez Alvarado is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel on April 15, 2020.
Beginning in or about 2009, FUENTES RAMIREZ and others established and operated a cocaine laboratory in the Cortés Department of Honduras, where they produced hundreds of kilograms of cocaine each month. FUENTES RAMIREZ worked with others to receive cocaine shipments and transport cocaine that he produced, including using planes that landed and departed from a clandestine airstrip that he operated near the Cortés Department. In order to protect these large quantities of cocaine and his foothold as a large-scale drug trafficker in Honduras, FUENTES RAMIREZ and his workers used firearms, including 9 millimeter handguns, AK-47 assault rifles, and AR-15 assault rifles, and resorted to significant acts of violence, including murder. In or about 2012, for example, after FUENTES RAMIREZ’s cocaine laboratory was raided by law enforcement, FUENTES RAMIREZ participated in the stabbing murder of a law enforcement official who FUENTES RAMIREZ believed to have been involved in the investigation of the laboratory.
In or about 2013, FUENTES RAMIREZ paid at least approximately $25,000 to a high-ranking Honduran official referred to in the Complaint as “CC-4,” in exchange for protection from further interventions by law enforcement targeting FUENTES RAMIREZ and his drug trafficking activities. Around the time of the bribe, during a series of meetings between FUENTES RAMIREZ, CC-4, and others, CC-4 expressed interest in access to FUENTES RAMIREZ’s cocaine laboratory because of its proximity to a major commercial shipping port, agreed to facilitate the use of Honduran armed forces personnel as security for FUENTES RAMIREZ’s drug trafficking activities, and instructed FUENTES RAMIREZ to report directly to Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado for subsequent drug trafficking activities.
The Complaint charges FUENTES RAMIREZ, 50, with: (1) conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, (2) using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices during and in relation to, and possessing machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the cocaine importation conspiracy; and (3) conspiring to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices during and in relation to, and to possess machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the cocaine importation conspiracy. If convicted, FUENTES RAMIREZ faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison on Count One, a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison on Count Two, a maximum term of life in prison on Count Three.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit and Strike Force.
The charges in the Complaint are merely accusations, and FUENTES RAMIREZ 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 should be treated as an allegation.
BRONX MAN INDICTED IN MURDER OF INFANT SON BY PLACING PILLOWS ON HIS HEAD, SMOTHERING HIM
Defendant Also Indicted for Beating the Infant’s Mother
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
indicted on Murder and Manslaughter charges in the death of his six-week-old son.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant had complete disregard for the life of his infant
son and allegedly killed him by smothering him with a pillow. We will hold him accountable for
the death of this six-week-old defenseless child named Kaseem. The defendant is also charged
with assaulting Kaseem’s mother last year while she was pregnant with him.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Teshawn Watkins, 27, of 3642 Holland Avenue,
was arraigned today on two counts of second-degree Murder, first and second-degree
Manslaughter, two counts of Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation, first-degree
Reckless Endangerment, Attempted Assault in the second degree, Endangering the Welfare of a
Child and third-degree Assault before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. The
defendant was remanded and is due back in court on May 20, 2020.
According to the investigation, in the early morning of January 29, 2020, the defendant
was in the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Celicia Reyes, and their three children when
his six-week-old son, Kaseem Watkins, began to cry. The defendant allegedly became irate with
the baby’s crying and placed pillows on the infant, blocking his nose and mouth. The defendant
went back to sleep and when he woke up, he saw the infant unconscious. The mother called 911
and the child wastaken to Montefiore Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy
report revealed the child died of asphyxia due to smothering.
According to the investigation, the defendant allegedly placed pillows over Kaseem’s head
on at least one other occasion prior to the fatal incident, sometime between December 9, 2019
and January 29, 2020. Video from a baby monitor camera allegedly shows Watkins grabbing
Kaseem by the head and spinning his head, causing the child’s body to flail into the air, and then
covering the baby with pillows. Another video allegedly shows the defendant smothering and
punching Reyes inside their home on October 27, 2019, while she was pregnant with Kaseem.
District Attorney Clark also thanked
Detective Robert Regnier of the 47th Precinct and Detective Sean Butler of the Bronx Homicide
Squad.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.