Thursday, September 14, 2017

CONGRESS MEMBERS ENGEL & LOWEY MEET WITH USPS DEPUTY POSTMASTER STROMAN TO DISCUSS POSTAL ISSUES IN WESTCHESTER, ROCKLAND, AND THE BRONX


Congressman Eliot Engel and Congresswoman Nita Lowey met with United States Postal Service Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman in Congressman Engel’s Washington office to discuss the systemic issues plaguing the post office branches in Westchester, Rockland, and Bronx Counties. The Congress Members presented Deputy Postmaster Stroman with a list of complaints they had received from constituents, including reports of late or missing deliveries; inconsistent or false information from postal officials; post offices not open during the listed opening hours; and phone calls that are routinely unanswered or ignored throughout the day in the post office. The Congress Members made clear that this type of service is unacceptable and the response from postal officials has been inadequate. They were told by Mr. Stroman that steps are being taken to improve service and that additional resources have been allocated to the area.

“We have been reassured by Mr. Stroman that he will return in 30 days to assess the progress that has been made. We hope for positive improvement, but our offices will continue to work with constituents to resolve their complaints. The system is broken, and we were very clear with Mr. Stroman that it needs to be quickly fixed. We remain cautiously optimistic, but will also continue to hold postal officials accountable at the highest level to ensure improved service for our constituents,” Engel and Lowey said.

Bronx Council for Environmental Quality - Fall Events and Actions



SAVE THESE DATES
Monday, September 18 City Council Hearing 1 pm
The Role of the Parks Department in Regulating Recreational Waterfront Access.
250 Broadway - Committee Rm, 14th Fl.

Tuesday, 9/19 at 6:30 pm Tibbetts Brook Community Meeting
The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation will present the latest Tibbetts Brook wetland restoration design at Manhattan College - Leo School of  Engineering, 3825 Corlear Avenue (Rm: 215).  RSVP https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tibbetts-brook-wetland-restoration-community-meeting-tickets-37464934628

Wednesday, October 25, 2017 Save Our Watershed
Attend the Harlem River Water Conference
Bronx Museum of the Arts
6 to 8:30 pm – Doors open at 5:30 pm

Canoe mobile in the Bronx on October 25

ACTION ITEMS

Save Pier 5! The city is taking parkland, promised to the community, to build 2 high-rise apartment buildings.  Our community needs more parks to address the poor air quality in the South Bronx!
Ask your Council Member to Please vote NO to taking our parkland!

Contact Your Council Member
Mail, Phone, Fax, Email info on the web page:

District   Member                  Internet Info

11           Andrew Cohen      council.nyc.gov/district-11
12          Andy King          council.nyc.gov/district-12
13          James Vacca      council.nyc.gov/district-13
14          Fernando Cabrera      council.nyc.gov/district-14
15          Ritchie J. Torres      council.nyc.gov/district-15
16         Vanessa L. Gibson      council.nyc.gov/district-16
17         Rafael Salamanca Jr.      council.nyc.gov/district-17
18         Annabel Palma                  council.nyc.gov/district-18
8           Melissa Mark-Viverito        council.nyc.gov/district-8

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Primary Day Results Bronx


  You may know by now just who won what election, but here are the percentages.

Mayor  - Bill de Blasio 75 % the four others 25%.

Bronx Borough President - Ruben Diaz Jr.  86%, Carmella Price 12%, Avery Selkridge 2%

City Council

District 12 - Andy King 69%, Pamela Hamilton Johnson 27%, Karee-lyn Gordon 4%

District 13 - Mark Gjonaj 39%. Marjorie Velazquez 34%, John Doyle 19%, Victor Ortiz 5 %, Egidio Sementilli 3 %.

District 14 - Fernando Cabrera 55 %, Randy Abreau 35 %, Felix Perdomo 10 %

District 17 - Rafael Salamanca 73 %, Helen Hines 27 %

District 18 - Ruben Diaz Sr. 42 %, Amanda Farias 21 %, Elvin Garcia 15 %, Michael Beltzer 14 %, William Moore 9 %.

District 8 - Manhattan/Bronx -to close to call, absentee ballots have to counted only 122 votes separate Diana Ayala at 44 % and Robert Rodriguez  at 42 %, Tamika Mapp 10 %, and Israel Martinez 4 %.

Monday, September 11, 2017

United States Citizen Pleads Guilty To Providing Material Support To Al Shabaab


Maalik Jones Trained and Fought with the Terrorist Organization’s Specialized Fighting Force, Jaysh Ayman

  Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Dana J. Boente, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced that MAALIK ALIM JONES pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe to conspiring to provide material support to al Shabaab, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization based in Somalia, conspiring to receive military training from al Shabaab, and carrying and using an AK-47 machine gun, rocket-propelled grenades, and other destructive devices in furtherance of his support for al Shabaab. In 2011, JONES, a United States citizen, traveled to Somalia, where he took up arms and provided military support to al Shabaab for approximately four years.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “As he admitted in court today, Maalik Jones traveled to Somalia, was trained by al Shabaab in the use of an AK-47 and rocket-propelled grenades, and took up arms for four years as a terrorist fighter. For his allegiance to this lawless, terrorist organization that vows to destroy America and its values, Maalik Jones been held to account in an American court of law. All that is left is for him to be sentenced for his crimes.”

Acting Assistant Attorney General Dana J. Boente said: “Jones pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to al Shabaab, by traveling abroad to join and fight on behalf of the foreign terrorist organization for four years. I want to thank the many prosecutors, agents, and analysts who made this result possible.”

According to the Complaint, the Indictment, the Superseding Information, and statements made in court proceedings, including today’s guilty plea:

In February 2008, the U.S. Department of State designated al Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Al Shabaab has used violent means – including targeted assassinations of civilians and journalists, and the use of improvised explosive devices, rockets, mortars, and automatic weapons – to, among other things, destabilize the government of Somalia, quell the Somali population, and force the withdrawal of foreign troops in Somalia. A former leader of al Shabaab, whose exhortations were echoed by the leadership of al Qaeda, called for foreign fighters to join al Shabaab in a “holy war” in Somalia. As a result of al Shabaab’s recruitment efforts, men from other countries – including the U.S. – have traveled to Somalia to engage in violent jihad.

Since al Shabaab’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2008, it has made several public statements demonstrating its intent to harm U.S. interests. For example, in or about April 2008, al Shabaab released a statement declaring a campaign against the U.S. Similarly, after an al Shabaab member was killed in May 2008, al Shabaab leaders announced that the mujahideen would “hunt the U.S. government” and that governments supporting the U.S. and Ethiopia should keep their citizens out of Somalia. In April 2009, al Shabaab claimed responsibility for mortar attacks against a U.S. congressman who had been visiting Somalia, and in February 2012, the then-Emir of al Shabaab swore allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Emir of al Qaeda, stating that al Shabaab “will hereby merge into al Qa’ida.”

Al Shabaab also maintains a specialized fighting force, known as Jaysh Ayman, that is responsible for carrying out commando-style attacks and cross-border raids in which fighters, among other things, travel across the land border between Somalia and Kenya to target individuals and conduct attacks against civilian and military targets in Kenya. Among the attacks executed by Jaysh Ayman fighters are: (i) a June 16, 2014, attack in which al Shabaab fighters opened fire in a hotel bar in Mpekatoni, Kenya, killing approximately 40 people; (ii) a July 2014 attack in Hindi, Kenya, in which approximately 12 al Shabaab fighters opened fire at a trading center and set fire to government buildings and a church, killing nine people; and (iii) a June 14, 2015, attack in which al Shabaab fighters ambushed a Kenyan Defense Force base in Lamu County, Kenya, using various weapons, including AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades and killing two Kenyan Defense Force soldiers (the “Lamu Attack”).

In or about July 2011, JONES left Baltimore, Maryland, with the intent to join al Shabaab in Somalia. JONES traveled to New York City, from where he flew via commercial aircraft to Kenya, with stopovers in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. After arriving in Kenya, JONES traveled by land from Kenya to Somalia, which is a common travel route for foreign fighters traveling to Somalia to join al Shabaab.

In Somalia, JONES joined al Shabaab and was a member of the terrorist organization for approximately four years. During this time, JONES trained, worked, and fought with al Shabaab in Somalia. Among other things, JONES received three months of military training at an al Shabaab training camp, where he learned, among other things, how to operate an AK-47 assault rifle and rocket-propelled grenades. Upon completion of this training, JONES also was assigned to al Shabaab’s specialized fighting force, Jaysh Ayman, and participated in combat against soldiers of the Kenyan government on behalf of al Shabaab.

In particular, after joining Jaysh Ayman, JONES and his Jaysh Ayman unit participated in a battle in Afmadow, Somalia, against Kenyan government soldiers. JONES, armed with an AK-47 rifle, engaged in the fighting until he was injured by a missile and then hospitalized. After his release from the hospital, JONES returned to his service with al Shabaab and, in particular, Jaysh Ayman.

JONES has appeared with other al Shabaab fighters in videos that were recovered from an al Shabaab fighter who participated in and was killed during the aforementioned Lamu Attack. In one of the videos, JONES possessed a firearm, and is seen with several al Shabaab fighters. The al Shabaab fighters are depicted greeting each other, hugging each other, and carrying firearms.

On or about December 7, 2015, JONES was taken into custody by Somali authorities while he was attempting to procure a boat to depart Somalia for Yemen.

JONES, 32, a United States citizen who resided in Maryland until 2011, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to al Shabaab; one count of conspiring to receive military training from a designated foreign terrorist organization; and one count of possessing, carrying, and using a machine gun and other destructive devices during and in relation to a crime of violence. The material support count carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The military training count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The machine gun count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other sentence. The minimum and maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the Court. JONES, who has been detained since his arrest in December 2015, will be sentenced by Judge Gardephe on January 25, 2018.

Mr. Kim praised the investigative work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force – which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division and Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Department of State, for their assistance.

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Election Day Hotline To Ensure Voter Access During September Primary


Voters Experiencing Problems Can Call 800-771-7755 Or Email civil.rights@ag.ny.gov Between 6AM And 9PM Tuesday

  Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman reminded voters today that his office has created a hotline to help troubleshoot and resolve a range of issues and barriers encountered by voters at the polls during the primary election on Tuesday, September 12, 2017. The Attorney General urges voters experiencing problems or issues at the polls to call the office’s hotline at 800-771-7755 or email civil.rights@ag.ny.gov at any time between 6:00 AM and 9:00 PM on Tuesday. The hotline will be staffed by attorneys and staff in the office's Civil Rights Bureau.

“The right to vote is at the heart of American democracy, and my office is deeply committed to ensuring that all eligible voters have equal access at the polls,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “I urge all New Yorkers to immediately contact my office should they face any barriers or issues when trying to cast their vote.”
Voters registered in New York City trying to find their poll site, click here.
Voters registered outside New York City trying to find their poll site, click here
New Yorkers should be aware that New York has a closed primary system. In order to vote in a party’s primary election, a voter must be affiliated with that party. 
In New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Erie, polls open at 6:00 AM and close at 9:00 PM. In all other counties, polls open at 12:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM. 
Attorney General Schneiderman has operated the voter access hotline since November 2012. During previous efforts, the office fielded hundreds of complaints from voters across the state and worked with local election officials and others to promptly address issues encountered by voters at the polls. The Election Day hotline is part of Attorney General Schneiderman's ongoing effort to reduce barriers to voting.
Attorney General Schneiderman also reminds all registered voters that they have the right to accessible elections. This means that voters with disabilities or language access issues have the right to request assistance from any person of their choice. In addition, all registered voters have the right to vote free from coercion or intimidation, whether by election officials or any other person.
The office will receive and respond to election-related complaints relating to any of the statutes that the office enforces. The Attorney General’s Election Day Hotline is being coordinated by Assistant Attorneys General Ajay Saini and Diane Lucas of the Civil Rights Bureau, led by Bureau Chief Lourdes Rosado. The Social Justice Division is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General Alvin Bragg.

Statement From A.G. Schneiderman On The Anniversary Of 9/11 Attacks


Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman released the following statement today on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks:

  "As New Yorkers and Americans, we stand united in remembering the lives lost 16 years ago today. We grieve alongside those who lost loved ones; we pledge never to forget their names, and recommit to honoring their memory. 

September 11th was an affront to all that New York represents. Yet through the hurt and devastation of the tragedy, we have healed together, grown stronger together, and rebuilt together. Each and every New Yorker was impacted – but as we've shown, we are stronger than the hate and terrorism that sought to tear us apart.
The strength and heroism of New Yorkers on that day and in its aftermath – including that of our first responders – should inspire us all to continue to work towards a more just and peaceful world." 

ASSEMBLYMAN LUIS SEPULVEDA, SENATOR RUBEN DIAZ ANNOUNCE $4 MILLION IN SCHOOL FUNDING


   Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda and Senator Ruben Diaz today announced $4 million in funding for schools in their overlapping districts, and said they wished more schools had applied.


The money will go for a wide variety of classroom equipment, security cameras and much needed physical upgrades.

Sepulveda said that while his 87th Assembly District, covering mostly Parkchester, Castle Hill and West Farms, has a large number of schools, only 15 school principals met with him to discuss their school's needs and apply for the funding, through the State and Municipal Facilities Program.

"It is a shame that many other schools passed on this opportunity," said Sepulveda. "I hope that as we go into the next legislative session in Albany that more school principals will join in seeking funds on behalf of their students."

Sepulveda said a lion's share of the funding will go to buy laptop computers and Smart Boards for classrooms at the schools.
 
"We need to help our students learn to live in the new digital world," said Sepulveda. "That is so important not just for jobs, but for their future lives in general."

The Assemblyman added that "I can't imagine a classroom where a teacher still has to work with a blackboard and chalk, rather than a computer-connected Smart Board. That is shameful."

He noted that Mayor de Blasio recently announced the $81 million Computer Science for All educational initiative requiring all city public schools to office computer science to all students by 2025.

"Children in the Bronx and other poor neighborhoods across the city are in danger of being left behind in this rapidly changing digital society," said Senator Diaz.

 "I want to see the day come when the schools in my district receive the same funding and resources as children in more affluent districts across the city," said Diaz. "It is urgent that they are prepared to be competitive in the rapidly changing work place.We need to catch up now."

Both electeds thanked a number of school principals who attended the press conference for "their dedication and hard work on behalf of their students."
 
Assemblyman Sepulveda represents the 87th Assembly District covering Parkchester, Castle Hill, West Farms, Van Nest and Stratton Park.

Senator Diaz represents the 32nd Senate District covering Castle Hill, Parkchester, Morrisania, Hunts Point, Melrose, Longwood and Soundview.

SCHOOLS RECEIVING STATE FUNDING:

PS 119X, Principal Michelle Montana; PS 182, Principal Anne O'Grady; Bronx Community High School (08X377), Principal Flora Greenaway; Emolior Academy, Principal Michael Abbey; P.S. 138 The Samuel Randall School, Principal Jeanna  A. Dickerson.

The Parkchester School - PS 106, Principal Eugenia Montalvo; P.S. 36X, Principal Elvira Maresca;The Lorraine Hansberry Academy - Public School 214, Principal David Cintron; The Bronx Compass High School,Principal Brett Roer; The Antonia Pantoja Preparatory Academy.
 Principal Nalini Singh.

  J. H. S. 125 Henry Hudson, Principal Michael Collins; Blueprint Middle School, Principal Tyneka Harrington; Public School 47, Principal Thomas Guarnieri; Archer Elementary School PS 531, Principal Zakariah Haviland, and PS 6X- The West Farms School, Principal Tiawana Perez.

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