Office of the New York State Comptroller - Celebrating Lunar New Year in Manhattan’s Chinatown

 

Celebrating Lunar New Year

in Manhattan’s Chinatown

State Comptroller DiNapoli visited Manhattan's Chinatown this week to meet with Chinatown business owners, community members and advocates. He also returned $46,000 of unclaimed funds to local businesses. He later joined Assemblymember Grace Lee and Vic Lee, co-founder and CEO of Welcome to Chinatown, on a tour of neighborhood businesses.

As the Lunar New Year festivities come to a close, State Comptroller DiNapoli celebrated this remarkable community whose unity and resiliency helped keep Chinatown strong during the pandemic’s challenges. Given Chinatown’s trajectory of economic recovery, he is confident that it will come back even stronger than before.

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Comptroller DiNapoli and Assemblymember Lee stopped for lunch at the Golden Unicorn restaurant after returning $9,552.20 in unclaimed funds to this local business.   Comptroller DiNapoli and Assemblymember Lee, at New Kam Man Supermarket, the first Chinese supermarket opened on the U.S. east coast.

New York City's Budget Outlook Improves

Better-than-projected revenues and planned cost savings benefited New York City’s budget outlook for Fiscal Year 2025, but funding for education and social services remain uncertain in the future, according to State Comptroller DiNapoli’s analysis of the city’s latest financial plan.

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Comptroller DiNapoli, Manhattan D.A. Bragg Announce Guilty Plea of Former NYU Director of Finance for Major Fraud

State Comptroller DiNapoli and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced the guilty plea of Cindy Tappe, 57, for orchestrating an approximately $3.5 million 6-year fraud relating to two New York University (“NYU”) programs. Tappe used her position as the Director of Finance and Administration for NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation of Schools to divert approximately $3.5 million intended for minority and women owned businesses. 

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DiNapoli Releases Bond Calendar for March and April

State Comptroller DiNapoli announced a tentative schedule for the planned bond sales for New York State, New York City and their major public authorities during the months of March and April of 2024.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

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• Comptroller cites 'lax oversight' in state Medicaid program 

• New York state comptroller’s report underscores need for housing  
  
  

• Former NYU official pleads guilty in $3M fraud to fund home renovations, swimming pool

Post of the Week
Tom DiNapoli @NYSComptroller 

QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE

 

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Umar Khan was charged with criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving and speeding for driving at nearly 100 mph on the outbound JFK Expressway ramp before losing control of the car, which went over a cement retaining wall and landed on the Belt Parkway below, killing his two teenage passengers.

DA Katz said: “The lives of two young people were cut short in a collision we allege was the result of reckless driving. The rules of the road are meant to keep drivers, passengers and everyone else on the highway safe and disregarding them all too often ends in tragedy. We will seek justice for the young victims and their loved ones.”

Khan, 21, of 219th Street in Queens Village, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on a five-count indictment charging him with two counts of criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, driving in excess of the maximum speed limit and operating a vehicle at unreasonable speed. Justice Marcia Hirsch ordered Khan to return to court on March 4. If convicted, Khan faces up to four years in prison.

According to the charges:

• On January 29, 2023, at approximately 11:44 p.m., Khan was operating a white 2011 BMW traveling eastbound on an elevated portion of the JFK Expressway and driving at a high rate of speed.
• Khan entered a curve at approximately 98 mph. He veered left and hit the retaining wall causing the car to go over the barrier and flip multiple times before landing on the Belt Parkway.
• The front passenger, Sukhmani Singh, 18, of 87th Drive in Bellerose, who was pinned inside of the vehicle, was extracted and removed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.
• The rear passenger, Ronish Kush, 16, of Erick Lane in New Hyde Park, was ejected from the vehicle onto the roadway and was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS.
• The victims were picking up Khan from an incoming flight at JFK Airport.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Cox, of the District Attorney’s Vehicular Homicide Unit within the Homicide Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Selkowe, Unit Chief, John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, and Karen Ross, Deputy Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.

D.A. Bragg Announces Prison Sentence For Driver Who Killed Two Pedestrians

 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the sentencing of LEANDRO DIAZ-RAMIREZ, 29, for speeding through a red light in Inwood and causing a crash that killed two pedestrians in August 2022. DIAZ-RAMIREZ was sentenced to 5-15 years in state prison. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of Manslaughter in the Second Degree on February 1, 2024. 

“Leandro Diaz-Ramirez’s reckless driving caused the tragic death of two pedestrians. Leandro Diaz-Ramirez appropriately received the maximum sentence for Manslaughter in the Second Degree, but nothing can bring back Joel Adames and David Fernandez, whose lives were cut short. We cannot allow this type of speeding to become normalized because of the grave consequences it has on public safety, and my Office will continue to hold accountable drivers who harm pedestrians,” said District Attorney Bragg. 

According to court documents and statements made on the record, DIAZ-RAMIREZ was driving a BMW at approximately 59 miles per hour in at 25 mile per hour zone at 4:00 am on August 3. He sped through a red light at the intersection of Sherman Avenue and 207th Street and T-boned a Subaru that was driving through a green light at the same intersection. 

The impact of the crash caused the Subaru to skid onto the sidewalk and crush two pedestrians, while the driver broke several ribs and his pelvis. 

The two individuals killed were David Fernandez and Joel Adames, aged 40 and 31. They were friends and local Inwood residents. 

DIAZ-RAMIREZ was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash. 

Stevenson Square Breaks Ground At 755 White Plains Road In Soundview, The Bronx

 

Community leaders and elected officials celebrated the groundbreaking for Phase One of Stevenson Square, a new affordable housing development at 755 White Plains Road in Soundview, The Bronx. Spearheaded by Camber Property Group, this first phase will involve two projects: a multifamily rental building for seniors and a homeownership complex with affordable co-ops, both of which were designed by WXY Architecture. The broader Stevenson Square development, which plans to create nearly 1,000 affordable units in total, represents is a $1 billion investment in the Soundview neighborhood.

The first project in phase one, called Building 4 in plans, will be a six-story residential building that will offer 117 studio units of affordable senior living. The multifamily rental building will provide a wide variety of amenities including a gym, roof terrace, and patio.

Render of Building 4, courtesy of WXY Architects 

Funding for Building 4 was secured through a partnership with Regional Aid for Interim Needs, which is a Bronx-based nonprofit that specializes in senior care. It is anticipated to cost $76 million and complete construction in January 2026. 

Render of Building 4, courtesy of WXY Architects

  The second project in phase one will see the construction of two buildings, called Building 5 and Building 6 in project plans. This project plans to focus on homeownership and will create 58 affordable co-op units. Units will be offered in one to three-bedroom configurations and will be priced for households earning between 70-80 percent of the area median income. Amenities will include dishwashers, in-unit laundry, and bike storage.

“Stevenson Square represents an opportunity for us to reimagine housing in our borough by ensuring accessibility, affordability, homeownership, and support for our most vulnerable residents are at the forefront of our housing priorities,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “This $1 billion project will help transform the Soundview neighborhood and ensure our seniors can age in place with dignity and respect, residents living with disabilities will have units dedicated to their unique needs, and families can have ownership of where they live and enjoy building amenities without having to leave their neighborhood. I want to thank Camber Property Group, my colleagues in government, and everyone else responsible for bringing this project one step closer to completion.”

Release of Body Worn Camera Footage from an Officer Involved Shooting that Occurred on December 23, 2023 in the confines of the 52nd Precinct

 

The NYPD is releasing today body-worn camera footage from an officer-involved shooting that occurred on December 23rd, 2023 in the confines of the 52nd Precinct..

The video includes available evidence leading up to the incident as well as during the incident. The NYPD is releasing this video for clear viewing of the totality of the incident.

All NYPD patrol officers are equipped with body-worn cameras. The benefits of cameras are clear: transparency into police activity, de-escalation of police encounters and accountability for police officers, through an independent account of interactions between the police and the citizens they serve. Body-worn cameras serve as a vital part of ongoing efforts to increase trust between the police and all New Yorkers.

You can find the video here