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Monday, November 4, 2019
Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr. - Commissioner O’Neill Resign because the Lack of Support from the Mayor
MAYOR DE BLASIO APPOINTS DERMOT SHEA NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER
New Commissioner is a 28-year NYPD veteran, currently Chief of Detectives, plans focus on gangs and gun violence
Mayor de Blasio today announced that Dermot Shea will be the next Commissioner of the New York Police Department. Shea began his service as a police officer in 1991, a year New York City faced more than 2,000 murders, and rose through the ranks to become Chief of Detectives, where he has overseen the criminal investigations in the city in addition to targeted efforts to prevent crime from happening.
As the next Police Commissioner, Shea will apply precision policing and Neighborhood Policing to target gang-related violence, take guns off the streets and continue the city’s remarkable reduction in crime. He will take office on December 1st.
“Dermot Shea is a proven change agent, using precision policing to fight crime and build trust between police and communities. As Chief of Crime Control Strategies and then Chief of Detectives, Dermot was one of the chief architects of the approach that has made New York City the safest big city in America. Dermot is uniquely qualified to serve as our next Police Commissioner and drive down crime rates even further,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “On behalf of all New Yorkers, I want to express deep gratitude to Jimmy O’Neill for dedicating his entire career to keeping our city safe. Jimmy transformed the relationship between New Yorkers and police, and helped to make the Department the most sophisticated and advanced in the country.”
“This is a tremendous honor and a tremendous responsibility and I’m grateful to the Mayor for this privilege to serve,” said Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea. “Police Commissioner O’Neill has been a mentor and a friend to me, and I am committed to building on the incredible success of Neighborhood Policing and precision policing, while continuing my life’s work to eradicate gangs and guns from our streets. Every New Yorker deserves to be safe and feel safe, and that has been my mission since I took the oath and became a police officer 28 years ago. As Police Commissioner, this will be what drives me.”
“Dermot Shea has exactly the experience and skill to continue to drive down crime, strengthen relationships with the community members we serve and make sure every neighborhood has the safety they deserve," said Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “We cannot take the historic crime reductions in New York City for granted, and Dermot’s understanding of the complex issues that lead to crime and disorder, as well as the most effective strategies for addressing these issues, is as good as it gets in policing today.”
Commissioner James O’Neill has presided over the lowest crime rate in New York City since the NYPD started tracking major crime, as well as the fewest number of homicides recorded since the 1950s. The architect of Neighborhood Policing, he oversaw the expansion of Neighborhood
Coordination Officers to every precinct, Police Service Area and transit district as well as reforms to department policy that drove down crime and simultaneously reduced arrests for low-level offenses.
About Dermot Shea:
Shea began his service as a police officer in 1991, a year New York City faced more than 2,000 murders. He rose up the ranks to serve as precinct commander of the 44th and 50th precincts in the Bronx where he oversaw a dramatic reduction in gun violence.
In 2014, Shea was appointed Chief of Crime Control Strategies and Deputy Commissioner for Operations, where he oversaw the CompStat system and honed a new generation of precision approaches that helped drive crime to record lows. He focused the Department not just around arrests, but around intelligence-driven prosecutions in close cooperation with District Attorneys to take dangerous criminals off the street. Shea’s role required him to constantly shift resources to respond to real-time crime trends. In 2018, Shea was promoted to Chief of Detectives, where he oversaw all of the Department’s investigatory operations, including every criminal investigation in the city. Shea overhauled the Special Victims Division to strengthen NYPD’s commitment to survivors of sexual assault.
Shea grew up in Sunnyside, Queens, the son of Irish immigrants. He holds a Bachelor of Science from SUNY Oneonta. He and his wife Serena live in Manhattan and have three children: Jackie, Lauren and Richie, as well as grandson, Aidan, and a dog named Miley.
Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez to Congress Campaign Kickoff
Giving the Bronx 'X' Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez held a Bronx kickoff to his campaign for Bronx Congressional District 15 currently occupied by Congressman Jose Serrano who has made it known that he is ending his long career in congress. Councilman Rodriguez joins two other current City Council members Ruben Diaz Sr. and Ritchie Torres and former City Council Speaker Mellisa Mark-Viverito. Also in the race is Assemblyman Michael Blake and a number of first timers.
At Sunday's event attended by over seventy-five people, it seemed to be more of a meet and greet for Rodriguez. While he ran for Public Advocate in the recent special election, he is trying to capitalize on his number of votes. However the main supporter of Councilman Rodriguez in the special election is running against him in the 15th Congressional Democratic Primary.
Candidate for Congress Rodriguez is using much of his strategy from the Public Advocate race that being he is the only immigrant in the race in a district loaded with immigrants. Former 15th City Council candidate Joel Rivera who lost to Ritchie Torres sees another battle with Torres, but as a campaign manger not a candidate. There seems to be a connection to Congressman Adriano Espaillat, as Councilman Rodriguez announced his candidacy after State Senator Gustavo Rivera dropped out of the congressional race. Both Rivera and Rodriguez have ties to Espaillat.
A photo of those on hand Sunday at the Grand Slam Catering Hall located on East Tremont Avenue.
A photo of those on hand Sunday at the Grand Slam Catering Hall located on East Tremont Avenue.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association Community Meeting - Tuesday Nov.12
The next meeting of the Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association will be on Tuesday Nov.12 at Bronx House,990 Pelham Parkway South at 7:15 pm.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY SETTLES FRAUD SUIT AGAINST AHERN PAINTING CONTRACTORS FOR FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS PARTICIPATION ON FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Ahern Painting Contractors Agrees to Pay $3 Million and Admits Conduct Alleged in the
Complaint
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York,
Douglas Shoemaker, regional Special Agent-in-Charge of the United States Department of
Transportation Office of Inspector General (“USDOT-OIG”), Margaret Garnett, the
Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), and Carolyn
Pokorny, Inspector General of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA-OIG”),
announced today that the United States has settled civil fraud claims against New York-area
painting contractor AHERN PAINTING CONTRACTORS CO. (“AHERN”). The settlement
resolves the United States’ allegations in a False Claims Act lawsuit that AHERN fraudulently
obtained payments on two federally funded construction projects by misrepresenting compliance
with Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (“DBE”) rules, which require participation of
businesses owned by women and minorities. Specifically, the United States alleged that
AHERN misrepresented that co-defendant TOWER MAINTENANCE CORP. (“TOWER”), a
certified DBE, was solely performing millions of dollars of work on the two projects when in
fact much of that work was performed by co-defendant SPECTRUM PAINTING CORP.
(“SPECTRUM”), a non-DBE. As part of the settlement approved by U.S. District Judge
Deborah A. Batts, AHERN admits and accepts responsibility for conduct alleged in the Government’s complaint and agrees to pay $3 million to the United States. The case against
defendants TOWER and SPECTRUM is ongoing
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Contractors who exploit the
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program to unlawfully obtain millions of dollars in federal
funding will be held to account. Today’s settlement reflects this Office’s commitment to root out
fraud in federally funded contracts, so that legitimate minority- and women-owned businesses
can participate in public construction projects.”.
USDOT-OIG regional Special Agent-in-Charge Douglas Shoemaker said: “Today’s
settlement is a positive step on the way to closing the chapter on this egregious fraud scheme
involving federally funded contracts administered through the New York City Department of
Transportation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. While the damage to the integrity
of DOT’s DBE program in this instance has been done, it only serves to strengthen our resolve in
pursuing those whose greed prevents the legitimate participation of disadvantaged businesses in
federal contracting on public transportation projects.”
DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett said: “Today’s multimillion-dollar settlement
demonstrates that law enforcement has its sights on exposing fraud by companies that exploit
City and Federal programs aimed at increasing the participation of disadvantaged businesses in
public construction projects. DOI and its partners will continue to protect the integrity and
effectiveness of these programs with investigations that uncover and deter dishonest conduct.”
MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny said: “Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
regulations enable honest competition in construction contracts by ensuring an equal and
inclusive playing field for all. Today’s DBE fraud settlement highlights the commitment of the
Office of the MTA Inspector General, along with all of our prosecutorial and investigative
partners, towards prohibiting and rooting out discrimination.”
As alleged in the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court on March 2, 2019, AHERN
was a contractor on two federally funded steel painting projects to renovate the Brooklyn Bridge
and Queens Plaza. Contracts for both projects required AHERN to hire DBEs to do a percentage
of the work involved and adhere to the DBE regulations. Instead of hiring qualified DBEs to
perform the allotted DBE work, AHERN allowed SPECTRUM and TOWER to use TOWER’s
status as a DBE to take credit for millions of dollars of work performed, managed, and
supervised by non-DBE SPECTRUM. To conceal this scheme, SPECTRUM employees
repeatedly identified themselves as TOWER employees in documents that AHERN passed along
to supervisors on the project. AHERN and TOWER repeatedly submitted false statements and
records to NYC-DOT and MTA misrepresenting that TOWER alone did all of the work allocated
to DBEs and that TOWER did not hire a subcontractor to perform any of that work.
As part of the settlement, AHERN admits, acknowledges, and accepts responsibility for
conduct alleged in the complaint as described below:
In March 2010, AHERN’s superintendent met with a TOWER manager and a
SPECTRUM manager to do a walk-through of the Brooklyn Bridge worksite.
AHERN’s superintendent understood that the SPECTRUM manager would assist
TOWER in preparing the bid TOWER submitted for its work as a DBE
subcontractor on the Brooklyn Bridge Project;
o I
In documents that AHERN received from TOWER and then submitted to Skanska
in 2010, TOWER identified the individual who AHERN knew to be a
SPECTRUM manager as a “TOWER VP” or as a TOWER employee working on
the Brooklyn Bridge Project. In documents AHERN received from TOWER and
then submitted to the MTA in 2011, TOWER identified the individual AHERN
knew to be a SPECTRUM manager as TOWER’s superintendent for the Queens
Plaza Project;
Throughout the Brooklyn Bridge and Queens Plaza Projects, AHERN managers
communicated directly with the SPECTRUM manager regarding the management
and supervision of the projects, including scheduling and inspecting TOWER’s
DBE work, ordering materials for TOWER’s DBE work, and payment for
TOWER’s DBE work. An AHERN executive also communicated directly with
SPECTRUM’s owner regarding the Brooklyn Bridge and Queens Plaza Projects.
AHERN recklessly disregarded facts showing that SPECTRUM managed and supervised
TOWER’s DBE work on the Brooklyn Bridge and Queens Plaza Projects.
AHERN failed to seek clarification regarding the financial and other
arrangements between TOWER and SPECTRUM or request a copy of any
contract or agreement between TOWER and SPECTRUM regarding
SPECTRUM’s role. If AHERN had done so, and TOWER had responded
truthfully, AHERN would have learned that TOWER and SPECTRUM had
entered into written agreements specifying that SPECTRUM would provide
project management support and furnish equipment on the Brooklyn Bridge and
Queens Plaza Projects, that TOWER and SPECTRUM would split any profits
from the TOWER DBE work on the Brooklyn Bridge and Queens Plaza Projects,
and that in addition to the SPECTRUM manager, two other individuals AHERN
believed to be TOWER managers were in fact employed by SPECTRUM.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the USDOT-OIG, DOI, and
MTA-OIG.
Friday, November 1, 2019
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez Halloween Party
With a line continuously down the block as children and their parents came from all directions it was questionable if Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez would attend due to an impeachment vote in Washington, and bad weather in both Washington and New York.
Above and Below - Children go around and play in the middle area set up waiting for AOC.
Above and Below - Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez would make the event by the midway mark, and everyone wanted their picture with AOC.
Al Shaib Community Peace Meeting
Al Shaib President Yaseen Shaibi tells of some of the accomplishments of guest Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark at the monthly community meeting. DA Clark would then get up to speak about her first term as Bronx DA, and what lies ahead for her next term. DA Clark is running on the Democratic Party line with no opposition.
Above - District Leader John Perez a regular at the community meetings gives some insight as to what is going on in the area.
Below - Shiek Musa gives an overview of the job of Bronx District Attorney.
Above - Bronx District Attorney Clark took questions, here answering a question about the new no cash bail law recently passed in Albany, When questioned about repeat offenders, she said that she did not write the new laws, but has to be guided by said new criminal laws,
Below - A group photo with DA Clark.