Monday, July 19, 2021

THENEWBXCC - Bronx Business News You Can Use

 

Legislative Updates, New Grants, Events and Much More
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Upcoming Events
NYC SBRN + 5 Chamber of Commerce: Amazon Black Business Accelerator Webinar
Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator is dedicated to helping build sustainable equity and growth for black owned businesses that sell or wish to sell on Amazon. Register for the Network’s free webinar at https://bit.ly/3xyfvnr to learn more about this program!
Summer Sunset Networking Event
Join us at our first in-person networking event on Thursday, August 12, 2021 6pm - 8pm

Enjoy a cool drink and lively conversation with fellow Bronx Businesses.

Upcoming: Bronx Chamber of Commerce Annual Gala
Mark Your Calendars
For Our 2021 Gala on
September 30th:
The Bronx Is Back In Business


We're going to make it a night to remember! 

Honoring:
Ruben Diaz Jr. - Bronx Borough President
Lucy McMillan - Arnold & Porter
Aurelia Greene - Former Deputy Bronx Borough President (posthumously)
many more to announce
Available Growth & Recovery Grants
The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by SIA Scotch
Starting July 13, 2021, eligible small business owners can apply to The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by SIA Scotch. Twenty-five recipients will each receive a $10,000 grant, plus mentorship with Carin Luna-Ostaseski, the founder of SIA Scotch Whisky and a first-generation Cuban American entrepreneur who overcame a myriad of challenges during her entrepreneurship journey. Apply and share with us how a grant would grow your business and help you achieve the unexpected.

For more information click HERE
$800 Million Small Business Recovery Grant Program
Click Here for a helpful webinar on the $800 million small business recovery grant program, which will provide funding to small and micro businesses and small for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations to help them recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.

Bronx Chamber Member Spotlights
The Bronx Collab
Join our member The Bronx Collab on July 24th from 12pm - 5:30pm for “The Come Up” Business Expo located on 3866 White Plains Road, Bronx NY 10467.

Check out vendors in the nail industry, music, dance and entertainment, inspirational and Christian merchandise, skin and healthcare, artistry, custom creations, soul food and healthy juices!!
Job Opportunities
The following companies are currently hiring:

What You Should Know
Summer Restaurant Week 2021
This Monday, NYC Restaurant Week 2021 will kick off and will feature 5 Bronx restaurants. Coordinated NYCGo, the summer version of the dining program runs from Monday, July 19 through Sunday, August 22. Pricing options this year include three tiers — set meals for $21 or $39 — for lunch, dinner or both. Click here to learn more and support our local restaurants this summer. 
Free Business Courses for Small Businesses
Sign up for one of these upcoming business assistance webinars.

Legal
  • REGISTER       Commercial Lease Strategies (7/19/2021)

Sales and Marketing Courses
  • REGISTER      Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (7/13/2021) 
  • REGISTER      GO Digital! (7/15/2021) 
ANYC Department of Finance
Join NYC Department of Finance and the Office of the Parking Summons Advocate (OPSA) on July 21 at 1:00pm, on a webinar “For Your Benefit” session to provide help with parking and camera violations.

Registration required: http://nyc.gov/dofevents
Amazon's Black Business Accelerator
Amazon - one of our newest Bronx Chamber Corporate members - recently announced their new, multi-year, multi-million dollar initiative, the Black Business Accelerator: aimed at supporting, promoting, and growing small, Black-owned businesses. The financial grant applications open up July 1.
 
Amazon is committing $150 million over the next four years to help thousands of Black entrepreneurs reach hundreds of millions of customers. This program, created in partnership with Amazon’s Black Employee Network, the U.S. Black Chamber Inc., and others acknowledges that Black entrepreneurs have less access to capital, mentorship, and growth opportunities, and have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Amazon is optimistic about the potential for this program to help generate wealth for Black entrepreneurs, their employees, their families, and their communities. To learn more, visit sell.amazon.com/BBA
NYC Business Quick Start Program
NYC has launched NYC Business Quick Start, a concierge service for small businesses that provides sole point of contact to help navigate City regulations, as well as a public dashboard. The program guarantees a 48-hour response to all small business inquiries and will cut processing time by 50 percent.
The new program will help you: 
  • Understand key City rules and requirements to avoid fines and violations
  • Connect to government agencies to get the permits and licenses you need for your business
  • Learn how to resolve any violations your business has received

425 Grand Concourse Will Debut As The Country’s Largest Passive House High-Rise, In Mott Haven, The Bronx

 

Rendering of 425 Grand Concourse - Courtesy of Dattner Architects

The Bronx will soon be home to the country’s largest Passive House high-rise development. Located at 425 Grand Concourse in Mott Haven, the 26-story building will create 277 units of affordable housing, a neighborhood supermarket, a community health center, a cultural center, and a 30,000-square-foot educational facility for CUNY’s Hostos Community College.

The 277 apartments at 425 Grand Concourse will be reserved for low- and moderate-income households and individuals. Residential amenity spaces will include an outdoor recreation deck on the 25th floor, two communal lounges, a fitness room, laundry rooms, bike storage, and a landscaped roof terrace on the third floor.

As a Passive House building, the structure incorporates a high-performance envelope that provides greater airtightness compared to typical building and construction standards. This results in a reduction of heat loss or temperature gain, improved temperature control, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The building will also feature energy-efficient lighting systems, building mechanicals, and facilities. For tenants, this is expected to result in lower monthly utility bills.

Sustainable design features at the 425 Grand Concourse tower - Courtesy of Dattner Architects

Designed by Dattner Architects, the structure will eventually comprise 310,000 square feet. The building’s superstructure topped out early in January, and today, construction is 75 percent complete. The project is on track to debut in spring 2022.

“A large multi-family development such as 425 Grand Concourse is the ideal project for employing Passive House design, because the ratio between envelope size and enclosed building volume is very favorable,” said Christoph Stump, vice president of design and construction for Trinity Financial in New York, one of three developers responsible for the project. “Energy-recovery ventilation, heat-recovery heating and cooling, and the added work that goes into creating an airtight building with minimal thermal bridges adds relatively little cost to a project.”

The development team also includes MBD Community Housing Corporation and New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Monadnock Construction is the general contractor.

“Our rapid progress on 425 Grand Concourse is exciting to watch each day, and it is truly energizing the entire Mott Haven community in the Bronx,” said Thomas Brown, vice president of development for Trinity Financial, who oversees the company’s New York operations. “The residents who will occupy the 277 units of affordable housing will form the heart and soul of what we are creating.”

Comptroller Stringer Audit Finds the City Lost $179 Million Due to Mismanagement of DOE Medicaid Reimbursement Claims for Special Education Services

 

An audit of the New York City Department of Education found the agency did not adequately collect documentation to verify special education services claims for Medicaid reimbursement and does not perform routine collection for a variety of reimbursable services

DOE did not submit the necessary documentation for Medicaid reimbursement claims for the 2018-2019 School Year that totaled as much as $179,688,706 in costs for services for occupational, physical, and speech therapy

Comptroller Stringer recommended improvements to the DOE’s handling of claims including meeting all State and federal requirements and ensuring all documentation is collected appropriately for every eligible service

New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released an audit of the New York City Department of Education’s (DOE) management of Medicaid reimbursement claims for special education services that provide students with special needs with occupational, physical, and speech therapy services. The audit found that the DOE’s failure to perform the due diligence necessary to meet State and federal requirements to receive Medicaid reimbursement for claims on services performed resulted in the agency losing an estimated $179 million in the 2018-2019 school year alone. The findings concluded that the DOE did not perform the necessary steps to receive reimbursement from the federal government for claims submitted to the DOE including obtaining written orders or referrals for services, verifying provider credentials, recording session notes, and obtaining parental consent to bill Medicaid. In response to this mismanagement, Comptroller Stringer recommended steps the DOE should undertake to ensure the agency receives all the federal Medicaid reimbursement funding that it is entitled to enshrined in the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).

“New York City’s students with disabilities deserve the best quality education and every opportunity to succeed. Our audit found the DOE’s mismanagement of Medicaid claims for special education services resulted in the City losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars from a lack of accountability. This is money that could be in our classrooms supporting our children when they need it most,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “This mismanagement is unacceptable, and the DOE must improve its process to capture every last dollar eligible for reimbursement. The stakes couldn’t be higher and our children deserve nothing less.”

The DOE is entitled to submit Medicaid reimbursement claims for covered services provided to Medicaid eligible students with disabilities who are between the ages of 3 and 21. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) jointly developed the Preschool/School Supportive Health Services Program (SSHSP) to help school districts obtain Medicaid reimbursement. The DOE Office of Medicaid Operations (OMO) is responsible for the coordination of programmatic and administrative efforts to maximize Medicaid reimbursement claims for related services including Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT), and Speech Therapy. OMO is charged with ensuring that Medicaid reimbursement claims submitted by DOE meet federal and State requirements, and with finding efficiencies to increase claims.

Comptroller Stringer’s audit found the following lack of controls with regard to the DOE’s management of maximizing Medicaid reimbursement claims for special education services:

  • DOE did not have adequate controls in place to ensure that student occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and Speech Therapy service encounters met all of the federal and State Medicaid reimbursement documentation requirements including obtaining written orders or referrals for services, verifying provider credentials, recording session notes to document that diagnostic and/or treatment services were provided to students, and obtaining parental consent to bill Medicaid. As a result, DOE could not submit Medicaid reimbursement claims for those services.
  • For the 2018-2019 School Year, DOE did not realize gross Medicaid reimbursements totaling as much as $179,688,706, for OT, PT, and speech therapy services.
  • DOE does not submit any Medicaid reimbursement claims for the following covered services including valuations and reevaluations, Psychological Counseling, certain speech services, Special Transportation, and Skilled Nursing provided to public and non-public school students; and covered services provided to pre-school students who attend public schools and private schools other than NYSED-approved pre-school special education programs, and pre-school students who receive instruction at home.
  • For the 2018-2019 School Year, DOE did not realize gross Medicaid reimbursements totaling as much as $9,966,540 for Psychological Counseling, certain Speech Therapy services, and covered services provided to pre-school public and non-public school students.
  • DOE did not maintain evaluation and re-evaluation data, and did not provide the Comptroller’s audit team with students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) data including service start and end dates, frequency, or duration of recommended services for Special Transportation and Skilled Nursing.

In response to these findings, Comptroller Stringer recommended the following:

  • Perform a systematic analysis of those OT, PT, and Speech Therapy service encounters that do not pass the claim validation process to determine why those encounters did not meet Medicaid claiming requirements and to identify and prioritize corrective actions to maximize future Medicaid reimbursement revenues;
  • Submit Medicaid reimbursement claims for Psychological Counseling service encounters which meet State and federal requirements;
  • Ensure that evaluations are conducted and documented in a way that allows DOE to claim for covered services and submit Medicaid reimbursement claims for those services where appropriate;
  • Reconsider the feasibility of submitting Medicaid reimbursement claims for Speech Therapy services provided under the supervision of a licensed provider and provided to students in all public and non-public schools, including but not limited to, running a pilot with adequate staffing levels and compliance with timely and complete session note;
  • Ensure that contracted providers maintain electronic transportation logs which include Medicaid required elements for each trip and submit Medicaid reimbursement claims for Special Transportation services where appropriate;
  • Immediately start claiming for Skilled Nursing services which meet federal and State requirements; and
  • Take all necessary steps to ensure that Medicaid documentation claiming requirements are met for covered services provided to preschool-age students and submit Medicaid reimbursement claims for those services where appropriate.

To read Comptroller Stringer’s audit of the DOE’s Medicaid reimbursement program for special education services, click here.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

NYPD and FBI New York Fight Asian Hate with New Joint Public Awareness Campaign

 

 The NYPD and our FBI New York partners announced a joint public service announcement (PSA) to encourage the reporting of anti-Asian hate crimes and to stand in solidarity with the Asian community. The NYPD and FBI encourage all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, to report any bias or hate crime incident – and it will be vigorously investigated.

The PSA's are spoken in English, Korean, Tagalog, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. They will be posted on the NYPD and FBI social media channels and disseminated across New York City communities. Leadership from the NYPD and FBI, as well as detectives and agents and former acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim, participated in these videos to increase awareness of anti-Asian hate crimes and encourage New Yorkers from communities across the city to report any crime.

The NYPD and FBI need the help of all New Yorkers to bring justice to those that are victimized and so that the NYPD and FBI can hold perpetrators to account. Year-to-date as of July 11, 2021, as compared to last year, anti-Asian hate crimes have increased by 395% (104 v. 21).

"NYPD detectives work around the clock to prevent anti-Asian hate crimes from occurring, and vigorously investigate them if they do," said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. "We need all New Yorkers to help to stop these hateful acts. We must continue to work together, with our federal partners and community members, to ensure safe communities for everyone. This public awareness campaign is another way we can reach New Yorkers and stop hate.”

“We each have a role to play to reverse the trends we’ve seen in New York City and beyond—let’s set the example,” said FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. “Pay attention to what’s going on around you and do what’s right. You may be surprised how big of a role you can play in keeping our communities safe.”

Doctor Selling COVID-19 “Cure” Pleads Guilty

 

 Jennings Ryan Staley, a physician who attempted to profit from the pandemic by marketing a “miracle cure” for COVID-19, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he tried to smuggle hydroxychloroquine into the United States to sell in his coronavirus “treatment kits.”

Staley, the former operator of Skinny Beach Med Spas in and around San Diego, also admitted in his plea agreement that he abused his position of trust as a physician in making the extreme claims, and that he lied to the FBI when confronted about it.

The doctor pleaded guilty to one count of importation contrary to law, admitting that he worked with a Chinese supplier to try to smuggle into the United States a barrel that he believed contained over 26 pounds of hydroxychloroquine powder by mislabeling it as “yam extract.”  Staley admitted that he intended to sell the hydroxychloroquine powder in capsules as part of his 2020 business venture selling the COVID-19 “treatment kits.”

In his plea agreement, Staley also admitted that he wrote a prescription for hydroxychloroquine for one of his employees and then misused the employee’s name and personal identifying information and answered questions as though he were the employee to fill the prescription, all without the employee’s knowledge or consent. Staley agreed that he engaged in this conduct in order to obtain more of the drug for his enterprise. 

In late March and early April 2020, Staley marketed and sold his treatment kits to Skinny Beach customers.  According to the plea agreement, he described his products—which included hydroxychloroquine—as a “one hundred percent” cure, a “magic bullet,” an “amazing weapon,” and “almost too good to be true,” and stated that the products would provide at least six weeks of immunity. Staley admitted that these statements were material to his potential customers, and that as a doctor he abused a position of public trust. An undercover agent purchased six of Staley’s treatment packs for $4,000. 

Staley also admitted that he willfully impeded and sought to obstruct the federal investigation into his conduct by lying to federal agents.  Specifically, he falsely denied ever claiming that his treatment packages were a “one hundred percent effective cure,” adding “that would be foolish.”  Staley likewise falsely claimed that his medical practice would “absolutely” get all relevant information about each family member when sending out medications for a family treatment pack, when just a week earlier, he had dispensed a “family pack” of hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, generic Viagra, Xanax, and azithromycin to the undercover agent without collecting any medical information from the agent or his five supposed family members.

“While healthcare workers around the world selflessly labored on the frontlines of an international pandemic, this doctor used his position of trust to cash in on COVID-19 fears,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “We are committed to protecting the American people from such scams and holding the scammers accountable.” Grossman commended the federal agents from FBI and FDA-OCI, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas Pilchak and Jaclyn Stahl, who worked hard pursuing justice in this case.  He also commended U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its assistance with the investigation. 

“Dr. Staley offered a 'magic bullet' - a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a quick buck. The FBI will continue to vigorously pursue doctors who abuse their professions to defraud innocent victims with gimmicks of false hope and promises.”

“The FDA continues to work with its law enforcement partners to protect the public health by identifying, investigating and bringing to justice those who attempt to profit from the pandemic by offering and distributing COVID-19 treatments with unproven ‘miracle cure’ claims to American consumers,” said Special Agent in Charge Lisa L. Malinowski, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Los Angeles Field Office.

Staley’s next court date is October 8, 2021 before U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel.

On May 17, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, led by the Deputy Attorney General, to bring together the full resources of the federal government to bolster fraud enforcement efforts.

If you think you are a victim of COVID-19 fraud, immediately report it to the FBI (visit ic3.gov, tips.fbi.gov, or call 1-800-CALL-FBI). The public is also urged to report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19 by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or by e-mailing the NCDF at disaster@leo.gov.

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Importation Contrary to Law, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 545

Maximum Penalty: Twenty years in prison; fine; special assessment.