Friday, October 7, 2016
BP DIAZ HOSTS ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE CELEBRATION
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. hosted his annual celebration of Italian-American Heritage & Culture Month, "Mese della Cultura Italiana,” at the Schiff Family Great Hall on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo Thursday night.
This year’s honorees included President of the New York State AFL-CIO, Mario Cilento; Bronx County Public Administrator, Frank C. Randazzo, Esq.; and owner of Sanitation Salvage Corp., Steven Squitieri.
Above - BP Diaz with Honoree Frank Randazzo.
Below - BP Diaz with Honoree Mario Cilento.
Above - BP Diaz with Honoree Steve Squiteri.
Below - Honorees Steve Squiteri and Frank Randazzo with Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj.
Bronx Council for Environmental Quality - The Harlem River, the Land and the Watershed 2016
The time has come to get ready for the DEP to study our river!
Join us as we celebrate the River and the Land surrounding the River.
Below you will find our Schedule of Events where we share ON THE WATER fun with schools and the community. If you are interested in attending or volunteering to help out, please register at rsvp@bceq.org
- We will be at Roberto Clemente on Monday October 10 (Columbus Day) for the community and on Tuesday October 11 for the Schools. Volunteers are needed and if partners what to take a ride on the Harlem River it is schedule for Tuesday afternoon.
- We will be at Van Cortlandt Park Lake on Thursday October 13 and Friday October 14 for the Schools. Volunteers are needed and if partners what to take a ride on the Lake in Van Cortlandt Park it is schedule for Friday afternoon.
- Finally, the BCEQ Mini Water Conference is on Thursday, October 20. Please attend to learn about the River, the Land and the Watershed. Refreshments will be served.
Monday, October 10: Community Canoemobile with the Wilderness Inquiry
- Location: Roberto Clemente State Park, 301 W Tremont Ave, Bronx, NY 10453
- Schedule & Participants:
- COMMUNITY EVENT 12:00-4:00pm Open To The Public
- Open to the public, canoeing only
Tuesday, October 11: School children
- Location: Roberto Clemente State Park, 301 W Tremont Ave, Bronx, NY 10453
- Schedule & Participants:
- DAY SESSION: 10:00am-2:00pm (150 participants)
- PARTNER PADDLE: 3:00-5:00pm
Thursday, October 13: School children
- Location: Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY 10462
- Schedule & Participants:
- DAY SESSION: 9:00am-2:00pm (100 participants)
Friday, October 14: School children
- Location: Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY 10462
- Schedule & Participants:
- DAY SESSION: 9:00am-1:00pm (100 participants)
- PARTNER PADDLE: 2:00-4:00pm (100 participants)
Saturday, October 15: Community Canoemobile
- Location: Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY 10462
- Schedule & Participants:
- COMMUNITY EVENT: 12:00-4:00pm Open To The Public
Thursday, October 20: Harlem River: Clean Water Quality/Quantity Program & Breakouts
• Location: New Settlement School, 1501 Jerome Ave. (at 172nd Street), Bronx, NY 10452
• Schedule & Participants:
- COMMUNITY EVENT: 6:00-8:00pm Open To The Public
- Bronx Council for Environmental Quality (BCEQ) Mini Water Conference on the Harlem River: Clean Water Quality/Quantity Program & Breakouts
- Sponsored by: Harlem River Working Group, BCEQ, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (SWIM) and NYC Parks.
- Topic: Community Meeting and Breakouts for Harlem River Watershed Parks and Natural Resources Management Plan for the Bronx side of the Harlem River Watershed/Sewershed: Vision and Goals
This qualifies for the BCEQ Board of Directors
October Meeting:
NOTE CHANGE OF DATE AND DAY
FREE October Events at KRVC!
Don't Miss these Great FREE
October Events at KRVC!!
October Events at KRVC!!
Check out the flyers below and click
HERE for more details.
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman - Bronx Housing Conference this Saturday
On behalf of the Office of the Attorney General, we would like to invite you to a Bronx Housing Rights and Services Conference this Saturday, October 8, 2016. Our office will be joined by community groups, as well as city and state agencies, to discuss important housing issues affecting Bronx residents. The event will take place at the Holy Spirit Church, located at 1940 University Avenue in the Bronx. For more information, please see the flyers below.
Please share with others that might be interested. To confirm your attendance or for more information, please email Lilliam.Perez@AG.NY.GOV or call 212-416-8754.
ASSEMBLYMAN DINOWITZ AND LOCAL LEADERS DEMAND ACTION TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC SAFETY AT PS 81
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Congressman Eliot Engel, a representative of Council Member Andrew Cohen, along with local community leaders and residents of Netherland Gardens, Riverdale Gardens, Skyview and 5601 Riverdale Avenue attended a press conference today demanding that the city install a left turn signal at the intersection of Riverdale Avenue and West 256th Street. This intersection has been plagued with numerous traffic accidents and enormous traffic. The 50th precinct reports that there have been 6 accidents at this intersection alone since January of this year. Several times a day there are significant traffic backups which impede motorists, particularly those who are making a left turn.
“Safety has to be our number one priority. The intersection of Riverdale Avenue and West 256th Street is dangerous and very congested. Alleviating the congestion by installing a left turn signal for north bound traffic will go a long way to improving safety at that intersection. Residents of Skyview, Riverdale Gardens, and Netherland Gardens all turn left there to go west on West 256 Street. Many scores of parents drive to PS 81 to drop off and pick up their children. Traffic backup has gotten out of control and the time is now to take a very simple step to improve the situation,” said Assemblyman Dinowitz.
“Currently, cars turning left onto West 256th Street from Riverdale Avenue are too often jumping the light in hopes of beating the southbound traffic and avoiding a prolonged wait. This is very dangerous for obvious reasons, not the least of which is because hundreds of children cross that street every day to attend school at P.S. 81,” said Congressman Eliot Engel. “But simple traffic calming measures could fix the problem. A left-turn signal for northbound traffic at this intersection would go a long way toward alleviating congestion while also improving motorists and pedestrian safety. I hope DOT heeds our call and works expeditiously to make this area safer for our school children.”
Above - Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz with Congressman Eliot Engel at the corner of Riverdale Avenue and West 256th Street with community residents.
Below - Congressman Engel says while this is not a federal issue, that he supports Assemblyman Dinowitz and the community in trying to get a left turn arrow northbound on Riverdale Avenue at West 256th Street.
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO AND FIRST LADY CHIRLANE MCCRAY ON HURRICANE MATTHEW
“The impact of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean, as well as Colombia and the U.S., is devastating. Many have lost their homes and their loved ones, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time.
As the extent of damage continues to be assessed, the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit is working with members of the Caribbean community in New York City and beyond to coordinate resources and relief efforts. The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City is directing those who can make contributions to reputable humanitarian organizations already working on the ground.
At this time, we ask New Yorkers to do what we do best and show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in their time of need. To donate click here."
Twenty-Two Members Of Bronx Drug Trafficking Organization Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Narcotics Trafficking And Firearms Offenses
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging 22 members of the “Flybridge” drug trafficking organization with narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge Gregory H. Woods. The defendants will be presented before United States Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis later this afternoon.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “With the indictment of 22 alleged members of a violent drug trafficking group, we seek to stem the flow of drugs and the cycle of violence in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. As alleged, these defendants trafficked in all types of drugs – heroin, crack cocaine, cocaine, oxycodone, and marijuana – peddling it from restaurants, convenience stores, and apartment buildings and protecting their illegal trade with guns and violence. I thank our partners at the FBI and NYPD for their work in this investigation and for their commitment to making our city safer and drug-free.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “As alleged, the ‘Flybridge’ crew conspired to sell narcotics including crack cocaine, cocaine, heroin, oxycodone and marijuana in the Highbridge neighborhood out of the Bronx. Selling out of restaurants, convenience stores and apartment buildings, the Flybridge crew brought in violence too. The FBI New York Metro Safe Streets Task Force will continue to go after gangs to clear our communities of violence and drugs.”
Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill said: “These defendants treated a segment of the Highbridge section of the Bronx as their own supermarket for illegal drugs, including marijuana, pills, heroin and cocaine without any regard for the adverse impact on the residents and businesses in the area. As is usually the case, this drug activity went hand-in-hand with illegal firearms and associated violence. Exceptional investigative and case development work went into building the case against these defendants. Once again, the combined efforts of our law enforcement and prosecution partners have paid off with the indictment of those responsible for infecting this Bronx community with the poison of drugs and violence.”
As alleged in the Indictment and in other court papers[1]:
The “Flybridge” drug trafficking organization (the “Flybridge DTO”) is a group of individuals who are engaged in narcotics trafficking and violence in the vicinity of 165th Street and Woodycrest Avenue, in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. From at least in or about 2014, up to and including in or about September 2016, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, MARC BENVENUTTI, JONATHAN PEREZ, a/k/a “G,” KENNETH LACEN, a/k/a “Montana,” VERDELL PICKNEY, a/k/a “Verdell Davis,” a/k/a “V-12,” PAUL GIST, a/k/a “Peewee,” a/k/a “Sweet Pea,” ROBERT GIST, a/k/a “G-Baby,” CICERO WILLIAMS, a/k/a “Tubes,” a/k/a “Boobie,” JOSEPH ENCARNACION, a/k/a “Cabeza,” KELVIN POLANCO, a/k/a “Psycho,” a/k/a “Fresh,” JABARI ADAMS, a/k/a “Flea,” a/k/a “Bari,” BRANDON SMITH, a/k/a “B Skillz,” JOSEPH RIVERA, a/k/a “Jojo,” LANCE WRIGHT, CYNTHIA WOODS, a/k/a “Brooklyn,” JUNIOR GRIFFIN, KEITH NESBITT, a/k/a “Baldy,” GREGORY HERNANDEZ, a/k/a “Kane,” EDUARDO ROSA, a/k/a “Lil Bro Ed,” LUIS CABAN, a/k/a “Jay,” DANIEL RENVILL, a/k/a “D,” AMANDA LOPEZ, and MADELINE OLIVARES conspired to distribute significant amounts of narcotics, including crack cocaine, cocaine, heroin, oxycodone, and marijuana, in and around, among other places, the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, on a daily basis. The Flybridge DTO controlled narcotics sales between 164th Street and 165th Street, between Ogden Avenue and Anderson Avenue, including by selling out of restaurants, convenience stores, and in and around apartment buildings in that area.
In addition, members of the Flybridge DTO protected and maintained their drug business through firearms and acts of violence. For example, in or about March 2016, KENNETH LACEN, a/k/a “Montana,” the defendant, bragged about an incident in which he had attempted to shoot at another individual because of a drug debt. In or about March 2014, JONATHAN PEREZ, a/k/a “G,” the defendant, engaged in a dispute with rival drug dealers that culminated in a shootout on the Major Deegan Expressway, during the course of which PEREZ was himself shot. Other members of the Flybridge DTO, such as VERDELL PICKNEY, a/k/a “Verdell Davis,” a/k/a “V-12,” ROBERT GIST, a/k/a “G-Baby,” PAUL GIST, a/k/a “Sweet Pea,” a/k/a “Peewee,” and AMANDA LOPEZ, stored firearms in the area in which the Flybridge DTO operated, in order to, among other things, protect their drug turf.
Count One of the Indictment charges MARC BENVENUTTI, JONATHAN PEREZ, a/k/a “G,” KENNETH LACEN, a/k/a “Montana,” VERDELL PICKNEY, a/k/a “Verdell Davis,” a/k/a “V-12,” PAUL GIST, a/k/a “Peewee,” a/k/a “Sweet Pea,” ROBERT GIST, a/k/a “G-Baby,” CICERO WILLIAMS, a/k/a “Tubes,” a/k/a “Boobie,” JOSEPH ENCARNACION, a/k/a “Cabeza,” KELVIN POLANCO, a/k/a “Psycho,” a/k/a “Fresh,” JABARI ADAMS, a/k/a “Flea,” a/k/a “Bari,” BRANDON SMITH, a/k/a “B Skillz,” JOSEPH RIVERA, a/k/a “Jojo,” LANCE WRIGHT, CYNTHIA WOODS, a/k/a “Brooklyn,” JUNIOR GRIFFIN, KEITH NESBITT, a/k/a “Baldy,” GREGORY HERNANDEZ, a/k/a “Kane,” EDUARDO ROSA, a/k/a “Lil Bro Ed,” LUIS CABAN, a/k/a “Jay,” DANIEL RENVILL, a/k/a “D,” AMANDA LOPEZ, and MADELINE OLIVARES with participating in a conspiracy to distribute narcotics, including crack cocaine, cocaine, heroin, oxycodone, and marijuana.
Count Two of the Indictment charges KENNETH LACEN, a/k/a “Montana,” VERDELL PICKNEY, a/k/a “Verdell Davis” a/k/a “V-12,” and CICERO WILLIAMS, a/k/a “Tubes,” a/k/a “Boobie,” with possessing firearms in furtherance of the narcotics conspiracy charged in Count One, which were discharged.
Count Three of the Indictment charges JONATHAN PEREZ, a/k/a “G,” ROBERT GIST, a/k/a “G-Baby,” PAUL GIST, a/k/a “Sweet Pea,” a/k/a “Peewee,” and AMANDA LOPEZ with possessing firearms in furtherance of the narcotics conspiracy charged in Count One.
The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentences imposed on the defendants will be determined by the Court.
A chart containing the names of the defendants, and the charges and maximum penalties they face, is attached.
Mr. Bharara thanked the FBI and the NYPD, in particular, the New York Metro Safe Streets Task Force, as well as the Criminal Investigators at the United States Attorney’s Office, for their work on the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebekah Donaleski, Kimberly J. Ravener, and Jilan J. Kamal are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.