Friday, July 15, 2022

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Bronx Business News You Can Use

 

Upcoming Events, Legislative News, Grant Opportunities, & More
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(Friday) Extra, Extra
  •   Mott Haven Tour with Commissioner Kim, Deputy Speaker Ayala, Bronx District Attorney Clarke & NYPD
  •   NYC Redistricting: Draft Maps Released
  •   NYC Liquor License Surcharge Suspended

  •   Legislative News
  •   Important NYS Remote Work Survey
  •   New Regulations from Dept. of Consumer Affairs & Worker Protection

  •   Upcoming Events
  •   Member Spotlight
  •   Western Governor's University Workforce Workshops
  •   Manpower Hiring Initiative
  •   I Love Small Business Concert Series with E218 Events Management
MOTT HAVEN COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS TOUR WITH NYC LEADERSHIP
The Bronx Chamber of Commerce team led by Chamber President Lisa Sorin and Avenue NYC Program Manager Tony Billups hosted a tour of Mott Haven commercial districts in the South Bronx. Joined by NYC Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Kevin Kim, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clarke, New York City Council Speaker Diana Ayala, NYPD, and Third Avenue Business Improvement District Board Chair Linda Ortiz, the afternoon focused on the needs and opportunities of the historic 138th Street commercial corridor and the emerging Bruckner Boulevard commercial corridor. Collectively, these areas represent 400 small businesses. During the tour the team visited Valencia Bakery, Rite Check, and Bar 47.

Under the Avenue NYC Program, funded by New York City Department of Small Business Services, the Bronx Chamber of Commerce completed year one of a three year grant program with the completion of the Mott Haven Commercial District Needs Assessment (CDNA)The CDNA highlights the existing business landscape, consumer characteristics, physical environment, and unique character of the commercial corridors and local businesses that make up the identity of each neighborhood.

To view the preliminary CDNA presentation, Click HERE
NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL REDISTRICTING DRAFT MAPS RELEASED
The NYC Redistricting Commission today released draft maps of proposed changes to New York City Council district lines. It is vitally important that we pay attention to these proposed changes and provide feedback. The Bronx and New York City need you to be engaged in drawing the lines for our government's City Council district maps.
About the Redistricting Process:
The U.S. Constitution requires a census or count of the population every ten years. This census triggers the redistricting of federal, state and local legislative districts across the nation. New York City’s population grew from 8.2 million people in 2010 to 8.8 million in 2020. That’s roughly 630,000 people new to the city throughout 51 City Council districts.

In New York City, the City Charter assigns the task of drawing 51 new New York City Council maps to the Districting Commission. For more detailed information read the Redistricting Commission Primer Guide, Click HERE

The commission has 15 members. Seven are appointed by the mayor. Eight are appointed by the New York City Council. Five are appointed by the Council majority and three by the Council minority. Learn who your Commissioners are, Click Here

View the Redistricting Draft Maps, Click HERE

Provide Feedback:
Public testimony can be submitted by email to publictestimony@redistricting.nyc.gov or by mail: 253 Broadway, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10007. The Commission can be followed on Twitter at @districtingNYC.
NYC LIQUOR LICENSE SURCHARGE SUSPENDED
New York City Mayor Eric Adams hailed a new law he actively and strongly pushed for that suspends the city's liquor license surcharge and puts money back into the pockets of small business owners. The legislation – sponsored by New York City Councilmembers Keith Powers and Justin Brannan – suspends the city's 25 percent surcharge businesses pay on state liquor licenses for a year and is retroactively effective June 1, 2022.

It is estimated that the legislation will help businesses citywide save $6.5 million over the next year. The legislation fulfills a key commitment made in Mayor Adams' "Renew, Rebuild, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City's Economic Recovery" plan released earlier this year.
RECENT CHANGES TO NYC REGULATIONS & ADDITIONAL SERVICES
New York State Remote Work Survey for Businesses
As the COVID-19 pandemic ingrains itself into our way of life, it is clear that many companies are actively deciding on their future plans with respect to remote/ hybrid work, which will have significant implications on our economy. Over the past two years, the State has conducted two surveys on this topic, most recently in the spring of 2021. However, as the pandemic has continued to evolve, many businesses’ plans have evolved as well.

To understand NY companies’ latest plans for remote/ hybrid working, we have partnered with Empire State Development to launch a new survey and hope your firm would provide feedback by completing the survey. The survey will ask about current approaches to remote/ hybrid work, plans moving forward, and any associated operational changes such as hiring practices or changes in physical office space. To complete the survey, CLICK HERE
DCWP Hosts Hearing on License Renewal Extension
The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection proposed rules relating to an extension on time to renew certain licenses that were subject to term extensions created by emergency executive orders. The hearing for this rule will be held on Thursday, August 4 at 11:00am.

Find more information related to the rule, Click HERE 
SAVE THE DATE - 2022 GALA: CELEBRATING OUR MEMBERS
Thursday September 29 - 6:30PM
Marina Del Rey, Bronx NY

Celebrating Our Members

Join us for fun, networking and fundraising at this can't-miss Bronx Chamber Signature Event recognizing the importance of Chamber members and the vital services the Bronx Chamber of Commerce provides to the borough and New York City.

Take a look at the 2021 Gala - Click HERE


For more information, email dolores@bronxchamber.org
Upcoming Events
Thursday, July 20 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Pride 365: LGBTQIA+ Business Reception

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce supported by Ponce Bank, The Bronx Community Foundation, Third Avenue Business Improvement District, and the Office of the Bronx Borough President will announce a first of its kind Pride 365: LGBTQIA+ business empowerment initiative on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 6:00pm at Ponce Bank, located at 980 Southern Boulevard in the Bronx.
 
The initiative seeks to empower LGBTQIA+ businesses and residents while building localized community wealth in the Bronx.


Wednesday, July 27 at 2pm
Twitter Ad Talk: Adding Twitter to Your
Holiday Marketing

Heads-down in planning for Q4, or just getting started? We're hosting #TwitterAdTalk to show you what Twitter has in store for your brand during the holiday season.

  •   Connecting with Twitter’s plugged-in audience
  •   Driving people to buy
  •   Leveraging Twitter's ad products suite 
  •   Live Q&A

Don't miss out on hearing directly from the experts.

Thursday, July 28 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Summer BBQ
Networking Event

Join us for a summer celebration barbeque at the Pelham Split Rock Golf Course! Enjoy fresh barbequed food, smores, drinks and speed networking with your fellow Bronx businesses and chamber staff.

For the complete Bronx Chamber Events Calendar, featuring educational workshops, networking events and other opportunities hosted by the Chamber, its members, & partners, please visit and bookmark our website events calendar link in your browser - new events are added weekly!

State Senator Gustavo Rivera - TODAY: NYC Department of Health To Open Vaccine Appointments For Monkeypox for Eligible New Yorkers

 

GOVERNMENT HEADER

Monkeypox vaccine appointments are now available by the New York City Department of Health to eligible New Yorkers at https://on.nyc.gov/3yCdwA4. The site at the Bronx High School of Science will open this Sunday, July 17. For more information, text "Monkeypox" to 692692 or visit http://nyc.gov/monkeypox.


As Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Rivera recently joined the efforts led by Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez Rojas and State Senator Brad Hoylman asking the Center for Disease Control for more monkeypox vaccines and the antiviral needed to treat this disease effectively, TPOXX. The health of New Yorkers comes first, and that means that we need to do everything we can to keep New Yorkers informed and protected against this epidemic.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson - Monkeypox Vaccination Site (Register Today)



Dear Neighbors,
 
The Bronx will have a Monkeypox Vaccination site for ONE DAY ONLY at the Bronx High School of Science on Sunday, July 17th.

Slots will fill up quickly - sign up today using this link at 6pm.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 718-590-3500 or email us at webmail@bronxbp.nyc.gov.
 
In partnership,
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson













NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE RESPONDS TO THE ELEVENTH DEATH THIS YEAR IN CITY CUSTODY

 

"Last week, our city learned that ten deaths in only seven months is not enough loss, enough grief, enough pain for our jails to finally change. After the loss of Elijah Muhammad, we joined together in mourning and to demand more and demand better, and to hope that ten deaths would bring about the bold reforms New York City jails need, that this moment commands. 


"Today, an eleventh person died while Rikers remains in crisis, a moral blight on our city and an immediate danger to everyone on the island. Another family is grieving, another community is in crisis, trauma endlessly compounding trauma. This is the fourth death in city custody since the courts approved the mayor’s action plan.


"It’s being reported that the eleventh death, like the tenth last week, was an overdose. There is no reason someone should die of an overdose while in city custody. It’s a failure on so many levels: a failure to keep opiates from entering the facility, a failure to properly supervise detainees, and a failure to swiftly provide lifesaving medical care to those who need it. To stop the endless loss, New York city jails must immediately expedite decarceration efforts, resolve significant staffing shortages and finally end solitary confinement. We must protect our neighbors’ lives and safety as we work toward ultimately closing Rikers permanently. 


"Today, I pray eleven deaths is enough for urgent and radical reform." 


Governor Hochul Signs Legislation to Expand Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety

 Close Up Pens

Legislation S.1078B/A.5084A Requires Instruction in Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety as Part of Drivers Pre-licensing Course


 Governor Kathy Hochul today signed legislation S.1078B/A.5084A, which requires new drivers to learn about pedestrian and bicyclist safety awareness as a component of the pre-licensing exam and as a prerequisite for obtaining a license to operate a motor vehicle.

"My top priority as Governor is to keep New Yorkers safe, and it is common sense to make pedestrian and bike safety education mandatory for drivers," Governor Hochul said. "This law will help prevent crashes and save lives, and I thank my partners in the Assembly and Senate for passing this legislation to make our streets safer."

Legislation S.1078B/A.5084A adds curriculum to the pre-licensing course that includes an overview of traffic laws governing motor vehicle operators' duty to exercise care with respect to pedestrians and bicyclists. This legislation also requires that pedestrian and bicyclist safety be added to the Department of Motor Vehicles instruction handbook.

The signing of this legislation is Governor Hochul's latest action in expanding traffic safety. In June, Governor Hochul signed legislation to reauthorize and expand the use of New York City school zone speed cameras to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Last October, Governor Hochul signed legislation establishing a school bus motorist education fund, which served to protect the safety of school children. Last summer, Governor Hochul announced the completion of $11.3 million in pedestrian safety projects in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Nigerian Man Extradited For Multimillion Dollar Fraud Scheme In Which He Impersonated Procurement Officials Of U.S. State And Local Governments And Educational Institutions

 

Defendant Impersonated the Chief Procurement Officer of New York State to Fraudulently Obtain Medical Equipment During COVID-19 Pandemic

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that FATADE IDOWU OLAMILEKAN, a/k/a “Fatade Olamilekan Idowu,” a/k/a “Olamilekan Idowu Fatade,” a/k/a “Idowu Fatade,” a citizen of Nigeria, was extradited and arrived in the United States yesterday evening.  OLAMILEKAN was extradited on fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain and attempt to obtain millions of dollars of medical equipment, laboratory products, computer equipment and hardware, and other merchandise from suppliers of such merchandise across the United States by impersonating, among other individuals, procurement officials of U.S. state and local governments and educational institutions.  OLAMILEKAN  will be presented later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James L. Cott.  The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Fatade Idowu Olamilekan is alleged to have carried out a sprawling criminal scheme to fraudulently obtain medical equipment and other merchandise. Olamilekan allegedly identified U.S. procurement officials, including the Chief Procurement Officer for New York, to then impersonate them and use their credentials to request millions of dollars in equipment shipments from various suppliers without advance payment.  Olamileken has now been extradited to the U.S. for his alleged attempt to illegally profiteer from the worldwide pandemic.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said:  “We allege Olamilekan impersonated state procurement officials during the height of the pandemic and stole critically-needed medical equipment that was in high demand and short supply. Fraud can have immediate and direct impacts on people, and we remain determined to bring those who commit it to justice.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court[1]:

From at least in or about 2018 through at least on or about September 14, 2020, OLAMILEKAN engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain and attempt to obtain millions of dollars of medical equipment, laboratory products, computer equipment and hardware, and other merchandise from suppliers of such merchandise across the United States by impersonating, among other individuals, procurement officials of U.S. state and local governments and educational institutions.  In particular, during the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, OLAMILEKAN impersonated the Chief Procurement Officer of New York State in an effort to fraudulently obtain medical equipment, including defibrillators.  OLAMILEKAN engaged in the following conduct to carry out his criminal scheme:

First, OLAMILEKAN engaged in extensive research to identify specific procurement officials of U.S. state and local governments and educational institutions to impersonate and U.S. suppliers of medical, laboratory, and computer equipment to target as part of the scheme.  This research included obtaining information about the current suppliers to the state and local governments and educational institutions OLAMILEKAN sought to impersonate and targeting those suppliers in order to avoid arousing suspicion.  For example, OLAMILEKAN appears to have specifically targeted a medical supplier that was already providing medical equipment to New York State in or to avoid suspicion when OLAMILEKAN, who was impersonating the Chief Procurement Officer of New York State, contacted the supplier to obtain medical equipment.

Second, after OLAMILEKAN identified procurement officials to impersonate, he used aliases and a Lithuanian web hosting company to register email accounts with domains that had slight variations from the legitimate email accounts used by procurement officials in order to “spoof” or impersonate those officials’ email accounts (the “spoofed emailed accounts”).  The spoofed email accounts used by OLAMILEKAN usually had the same username as the procurement official’s email account but added an extra letter or common domain name to the domain of the email account.  These spoofed email accounts were therefore specifically designed to trick suppliers to impersonated procurement officials into thinking the spoofed email accounts were authentic.  In total, OLAMILEKAN registered and used spoofed email accounts impersonating at least (i) eight different procurement officials of state and local governments in California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont; and (ii) three procurement officials of educational institutions located in Georgia and New York.

Third, OLAMILEKAN used the spoofed email accounts to send emails impersonating the procurement official and seeking quotes for medical, laboratory, and computer equipment from targeted suppliers.  These emails typically indicated that the payment terms would be “net 30 days,” which is a standard term of trade credit for government and educational entities that only requires payment for the goods within 30 days of delivery.  OLAMILEKAN therefore impersonated the identities of procurement officials of government entities and educational institutions in order to exploit this industry standard and fraudulently obtain equipment without providing any advance payment information or deposit prior to delivery of the equipment.

Finally, once OLAMILEKAN received a response from a targeted supplier, he provided the supplier with a purchase order containing the forged signature of the impersonated procurement official and an address for a warehouse located in the United States for delivery and storage of the equipment purchased.  Once the purchased items shipped to the warehouse provided by OLAMILEKAN, he typically had the warehouse re-ship the items to another warehouse and, ultimately, from the United States to locations in Australia, the United Kingdom, and/or Nigeria.  OLAMILEKAN also coordinated with the warehouses receiving the shipments from the targeted suppliers using the stolen identity of at least one U.S. resident, thereby further concealing his own identity and avoiding detection of his criminal activity.  Because payment was not due to the suppliers until 30 days after delivery of the equipment, OLAMILEKAN was able to take possession of the equipment prior to detection of the fraud, which typically occurred after payment was not received by the supplier within the 30-day period.

OLAMILEKAN, 40, of Lagos, Nigeria, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 27 years in prison, one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, which carries a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison, and 12 counts of aggravated theft, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison to be run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.

The maximum and minimum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of the FBI.  Mr. Williams also thanked Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (“EFCC”), the Central Authority Unit of Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice, and the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for their assistance in the investigation.  The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s extradition from Nigeria.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.