MAYOR ADAMS APPOINTS JESSICA TISCH AS COMMISSIONER OF DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION

 

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the appointment of Jessica Tisch as commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). Tisch brings over a decade of experience transforming government agencies to work more efficiently and effectively for New Yorkers. As deputy commissioner of Information Technology at the New York City Police Department (NYPD), Tisch led the department into the 21^st century — modernizing systems to strengthen public safety and improve communications. Most recently, Tisch served as commissioner for the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT), where she launched the modernization of the city’s information technology infrastructure and managed critical COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. As DSNY commissioner, Tisch will manage the city’s waste collection, recycling, and disposal, as well as cleaning and snow removal for approximately 6,500 miles of city streets.

“Jessica’s knowledge, experience, and unwavering commitment to New York City cannot be overstated,” said Mayor Adams. “Put plainly, Jessica is a ‘Get Stuff Done’ leader, who has delivered continuous results on behalf of all New Yorkers throughout her career. From revolutionizing policing technology in the NYPD, to overseeing critical pandemic programs to support New Yorkers in need, Jessica’s work has touched millions. All New Yorkers deserve clean, safe, and welcoming streets, and I know Jessica will bring the same energy and deliver results leading the sanitation department as we continue building a just and prosperous recovery for all. I also want to thank Commissioner Grayson for his decades of service — all New Yorkers owe him a debt of gratitude for his unwavering leadership throughout the pandemic.”

“Jessica Tisch brings years of experience navigating city government, and I look forward to working with her as commissioner for the Department of Sanitation,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “As the leader for the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, she delivered results, and I know she will work hard to keep our streets clean, make waste collection greener, and keep our roads clear when the winter returns.”

“Clean, safe neighborhoods will power New York City’s recovery, and innovations in composting, recycling, and collection will secure our future,” said DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “The Department of Sanitation is essential to building the comeback New Yorkers deserve, and I thank Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Joshi for entrusting me to helm New York’s Strongest. I’m honored to help the mayor realize his vision for a safer and more welcoming city.”

 

“New York City deserves public servants like Jessica Tisch, who work hard, solve problems creatively, and take public service seriously,” said former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “For nearly 15 years, from her time in my administration up through today, Jessie has devoted her life to strengthening New York City and improving the lives of its people. She is a fantastic choice to lead DSNY and will throw herself into the mission of keeping our communities clean, fighting climate change, and bringing innovations and new ideas to this important agency. Delivering essential services is government’s number one job and I know Jessie is more than up to the task.”

 

“Sanitation is fundamental to a livable city and Jessica Tisch knows how to deliver timely and effective services,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. “Her tenure at DoITT demonstrates that she is the kind of problem solver our city needs — from her work to create a text-to-911 system to installing broadband in family shelters. I applaud the appointment of Jessica Tisch to lead the Sanitation Department.”

 

“Our borough knows firsthand the importance of the Department of Sanitation in our communities and the need for clean streets and neighborhoods,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “While working alongside Jessica Tisch during my time as chair of Public Safety, she oversaw the rollout of body cameras, the 911 call system, and other important new technologies that have helped to make us a safer city. I believe she has the commitment, dedication, diligence, and tenacity to lead the Department of Sanitation and enact incredible change for our borough and city.”

 

“We wish Commissioner Grayson nothing but the best and are grateful for his years of service to the city,” said Harry Nespoli, president, Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association – Local 831. “I look forward to working together with Commissioner Tisch to support our members who keep the city moving every day and to build a cleaner, safer New York City for all.”

 

“Jessica Tisch ‘Gets Stuff Done,’” said former NYPD Commissioner William J. Bratton. “She has the quality of leadership, the creativity to imagine how to do things that have never been done before, and the management ability to make those things happen. At NYPD, Jessie led change that most in the industry thought would never be possible, and she did it at the largest police department in the country.”

 

“I welcome Jessica Tisch to the Department of Sanitation,” said Kathryn Garcia, operations director, New York State; and former commissioner, DSNY. “Through her work at the NYPD, DoITT, and during the pandemic, she has fearlessly tackled complex problems and delivered for New Yorkers. I know she will bring her creativity to the challenges of climate change and keeping New York safe and clean. I also want to applaud outgoing Commissioner Grayson for his 20 years of service to New Yorkers and dedication to the agency.” 

 

“We welcome Jessica Tisch as the 45^th commissioner of the Department of Sanitation,” said Eric A. Goldstein, New York City environment director, Natural Resources Defense Council. “We know of her passion and commitment to public service and her love of New York City.  And we look forward to collaborating with her, the department’s dedicated sanitation workers, and the Adams administration to advance critical initiatives, including commercial waste zone implementation, citywide curbside composting collection, and other Zero Waste programs.”

 

“Jessica Tisch has the management skills and indomitable spirit required to lead the fight for the cleaner and more environmentally responsible city that New Yorkers are clamoring for,” said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO, Partnership for New York City. “She is a terrific pick for this job.”

 

About Jessica Tisch

 

Jessica Tisch was appointed DoITT commissioner and citywide chief information officer in December 2019. As commissioner, she ran the largest municipal IT organization in the country, with a wide portfolio, ranging from public safety to human services to economic development, as well as New York City 311.

 

Tisch served as a core member of the team that managed the city’s COVID-19 pandemic response — building and managing critical programs that tangibly served New Yorkers, including the city’s vaccination system. The results included:

 

• Over 4 million vaccination appointments scheduled through the Vax4NYC platform,
• 50 million calls processed through the 311 Call Center,
• 2 million cases and contacts processed through the contact tracing system,
• 2 million downloads of the NYC Covid Safe app,
• Half a million New York City public school students doing schoolwork remotely during the darkest days of the pandemic on city-issued iPads,
• 300 million meals delivered to food insecure New Yorkers through the GetFood program,
• 600,000 $100 incentives claimed by New Yorkers through the vaccine incentive portal, and
• Tens of thousands of marriage licenses and wedding ceremonies performed online.

 

Tisch also kickstarted the buildout of 5G across the city, more than quadrupled DoITT’s spending with minority and women owned businesses, put in place 10 new commercial and residential broadband franchise agreements, rolled out text-to-911, began a wholesale modernization effort of the city’s IT infrastructure, and led the rollout of Wi-Fi in all homeless shelters that serve families with children.

 

Prior to joining DoITT, Tisch served as deputy commissioner of information technology at the NYPD, where she spearheaded efforts to use technology to transform the NYPD's fundamental business processes, including how officers are dispatched and respond to 911 calls, take crime reports, investigate, and search for wanted or missing persons.

 

She managed the development and implementation of the flagship Domain Awareness System, which is at the heart of the NYPD's crime fighting and counterterrorism operations. Under her leadership, every officer was equipped with a smartphone, giving them access to real-time information in the field, as well as improving their accessibility to the public.

 

Tisch also managed the implementation of the NYPD's body-worn camera program and drove additional efforts to improve transparency and public access, including creating online platforms to deliver timely crime and traffic statistics and implementing secure systems to allow people to access vehicle accident reports, pistol permits, and Crime Stoppers information.

 

Tisch began her public service career in 2008, when she joined the NYPD. She is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Business School, and is a lifelong New Yorker.

 

State Inspector General Lucy Lang makes public additional investigative letters

 

Letters are disclosed as part of ongoing commitment to transparency

 State Inspector General Lucy Lang announced that her office has released publicly, as part of its ongoing commitment to transparency, more investigative letters issued during the first quarter of 2022. These letters, which the Inspector General sends to public officials and employees regarding allegations of misconduct or wrongdoing, provide information on the investigative findings by the Inspector General during the time period.

“Since day one in November when I first took office as Inspector General, I have been clear about my commitment to ensuring that state government is held to a higher standard of accountability and transparency,” said Inspector General Lucy Lang. “We announced transformative steps to increase transparency by making resources publicly available about the IG’s work historically, and going forward. Today’s actions mark an important step in our ongoing efforts to hold officials and entities accountable, and to rebuild trust with the people of New York State.”

These advisory letters to state agencies and authorities outline relevant investigatory findings and recommendations of matters that were referred to the office. The materials are now available on the “Public Information” page of www.ig.ny.gov (note the filters for “Reports” and “Letters” on the left-hand column).

• 02.16.22 NYC HRA letter re: Public assistance
• 02.17.22 Gaming Commission letter re: Equine veterinarian
• 02.17.22 OPWDD letter re: Fuel card purchases
• 03.03.22 DOT letter re: Engineers’ outside employment
• 03.09.22 DEC letter re: Misconduct complaint
• 03.31.22 DMV letter re: Improper vehicle inspection certificates
• 03.31.22 DOCCS letter re: Medical notes excusing absences
• 03.31.22 NYSTA letter re: Engineer’s outside employment

The Office of Inspector General is charged with the mission of monitoring, investigating and combating fraud, waste and abuse with over a hundred agencies in state government. The ongoing proactive publication of such materials is part of the Inspector General’s Government Transparency Initiative, as mandated by Governor Kathy Hochul. Portions of the records have been redacted due to privacy concerns and exemptions from disclosure as mandated by New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz Digest: Budget Summary, Subway Shooting, LG Resignation, & More

 

• GET VACCINATED AND BOOSTED! •

What's Happening in the 81st Assembly District?

Happy and Healthy Holiday to Everyone Who is Celebrating During This Festive Season Thoughts on Arrest and Resignation of Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin Terrorist Attack on Brooklyn Subway Rent Guidelines Board Proposes Huge Rent Increase Albany Update: Budget Compromise Details: Billions of Dollars for Childcare, Healthcare, the Environment, Schools, Housing Support, Mass Transit, and More Poll of the Week: Affordable Housing Tax Incentives REMINDER: MetroCard Van Services in Woodlawn and Central Riverdale Next on Friday, April 29 Updates from Government & Community Partners

‌  ‌  ‌

Happy and Healthy Holiday to Everyone Who is Celebrating During This Festive Season

Spring is a wonderful season of many important holidays to many people. To everyone who is celebrating (and even if you don't celebrate any of these holidays), I hope you can enjoy time with family and friends, and I wish everyone a happy spring season!

This week I was delighted to join Riverdale Senior Services at their seder meal, as well as an interfaith coalition at the Riverdale Y for an iftar feast. Speaking picture above: Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz addresses older adults at Riverdale Senior Services to celebrate the seder. Group pictured above: (l-r) Council Member Eric Dinowitz, Sheikh Musa Drammeh, myself, Imam Yassine Taoufik, Jewish Community Relations Council CEO Gideon Taylor, and JCRC Board President-Elect Ben Golub attend an interfaith iftar feast at the Riverdale Y.

Thoughts on Arrest and Resignation of Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin

I am appalled and disappointed that the now former Lt. Governor has been accused of corruption. I am glad that given the circumstances he has tendered his resignation immediately. One of the most common questions on this subject seems to be about Mr. Benjamin’s status on the upcoming Democratic primary ballot. As of now, he will still be appearing on the ballot. Under current state law, there are only three ways to remove somebody from a ballot after they accept a nomination: moving out of state, being nominated for another office, or death.

Terrorist Attack on Brooklyn Subway

We have witnessed yet another heart-wrenching and deeply unnerving act of terror in New York City. On Tuesday, a lone gunman went on a shooting spree from inside of a northbound N train in Brooklyn. At least 23 people were injured, 10 from being hit by bullets with the rest being injured in the chaos and from smoke inhalation from a pair of smoke canisters that the terrorist set off inside the subway car. These senseless acts of gun violence must stop. Nationwide, there have been 271 mass shootings since 2009 – resulting in 1518 people shot and killed and 980 people shot and wounded. More than half of these mass shootings were done by someone who clearly had dangerous warning signs before the shooting, including this one. In our own state, an average of 870 people die and 2,607 people are wounded each year from guns. Guns are the third-leading cause of death among children and teens in our state, with an average of 65 kids being killed by guns every year. I am committed to continue working towards increased gun dealer accountability, microstamping to help trace gun crimes, and expand access to victim compensation funding for gun violence incidents. However, this particular terrorist purchased his weapon legally in Ohio. We need national action to promote gun safety in New York, and everywhere in our nation. As we continue to pray and hope for full recoveries from everybody who was injured in this terrorist attack, let’s also reflect on the miraculous fact that nobody appears to have been killed. In those moments of chaos, we witnessed New Yorkers rush to the aide of those who were hurt. We watched first responders work hard to save lives and bring order to the situation. And we have seen the NYPD identify and capture a suspect. Our thoughts are with the survivors of this act of gun terror, and our deepest gratitude goes out to those who worked to help those in need and the tireless efforts made to track down the shooter and bring him to justice.

Rent Guidelines Board Proposes Huge Rent Increase

This week, the NYC Rent Guidelines Board proposed rent increases for rent stabilized tenants. This is a departure from recent years where the Rent Guidelines Board has approved rent freezes in multiple years. The proposed rent increases are: • 2.7% to 4.5% for a one-year lease renewal • 4.3% to 9% for a two-year lease renewal These would be huge rent increases, and it is outrageous that anyone would think that a 9% rent hike for more than a million rent stabilized New Yorkers is appropriate as we continue to struggle with economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. I understand that property owners have also been hit hard by the pandemic, with reduced rent receipts and higher building costs due to global price increases and stronger laws governing building safety. However, our top priority needs to be keeping people in their homes. I have dedicated a significant amount of my time and effort as your Assemblyman to prevent evictions and housing instability throughout the pandemic and before. I am gravely concerned that a 9% rent hike will cause thousands of New Yorkers to be unable to afford to stay in their homes, forcing people into homelessness due to actions from our own government. This is unacceptable and the Rent Guidelines Board needs to come up with more reasonable numbers to help New Yorkers stay in their homes.

Albany Update: Budget Compromise Details: Billions of Dollars for Childcare, Healthcare, the Environment, Schools, Housing Support, Mass Transit, and More

Last week, I talked generally about the passage of the state budget being a compromise document that reflects the consensus of 150 Assemblymembers, 63 State Senators, and the Governor. To reiterate what I said last week, the budget process is messy and can get downright ugly at times. Even though we no longer have the proverbial “three-men-in-a-room” making decisions in Albany, the underlying process does not change. Both houses of the Legislature choose their leaders – Speaker Carl Heastie in the Assembly and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in the State Senate. These leaders, similar to how unions conduct collective bargaining negotiations, are who we ask to be responsible to represent our conference’s views on every issue in the budget. In a world where it can be hard enough to get a group of three people to agree on where to eat dinner, I do not envy the job of our legislative leaders who have to navigate the often disparate opinions of every Assembly Member and State Senators. This being said, I continue to believe that overall this is the best budgets that we have passed since I first began serving as your Assemblymember. Of course we did not get everything we wanted, and there are many items that we did want which were left out, but on the whole – we have created a budget that meets the needs of many hard-working New Yorkers. Here are some highlights from our budget this year:   ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE We allocated $4.2 billion to the Environmental Bond Act of 2022, which will be on the November ballot this year. This funding would include $1.5 billion for climate mitigation, $1.1 billion for restoration and flood risk reduction, $650 million for open space conservation and recreation, and $650 million for water quality projects. We also significantly raised our investment in the Environmental Protection Fund (increase of 33%, to $400 million), and we are investing tens of millions of dollars towards electric vehicles and charging infrastructure throughout the state. HOUSING STABILITY We allocated $1.1 billion to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and Landlord Rental Assistance Program (LRAP). This will help many families in New York pay off the arrears that they may have due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also are making massive investments in affordable housing ($5.5 billion), public housing ($350 million), Mitchell-Lama housing ($100 million), and legal services to help prevent foreclosures and evictions ($50 million). EDUCATION We are investing a total of $31.2 billion in state funding for school aid, including another $1.5 billion for Foundation Aid. We are on track to fully phase in Foundation Aid by the 2023-24 school year, which should create immediate and tangible improvements in our City’s public school system. We also are making huge investments in higher education, with hundreds of millions of dollars going towards CUNY and SUNY to close the TAP gap and to expand TAP eligibility to 75,000 additional students as well as people who are currently incarcerated. CHILDCARE We are doubling our state’s investment in childcare over the next three years, allocating $3 billion in additional funding so that subsidized childcare eligibility will increase from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level before the start of next school year. We also allocated hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funds towards childcare stabilization grants, capital needs of childcare providers across the state, and for children and youth services to support community non-residential programs. HEALTHCARE We are investing nearly $2 billion in additional funding to the Medicaid program and safety-net and public hospitals. We also are allocating tens of millions of dollars for residential healthcare facilities and adult care facilities. Additionally, the budget raises the minimum wage for home care workers by $3 over the next two years, and gives every full-time health and mental hygiene frontline worker who earn less than $125,000 a one-time bonus payment of $3,000.   JUSTICE & SAFETY This was one of the most controversial areas of the budget, and I dislike that the legislature was put in a position where we included criminal justice policy changes in our budget. However, I am very proud that we allocated more than $100 million to combat hate crimes, to support district attorneys' offices who need to hire more staff and expand technological capacity, for capital grants to support parole services and re-entry programs, alternatives to incarceration, and public defenders. In terms of the policy changes we made, we strengthened our laws restricting the sale of firearms by lowering the required thresholds for various degrees of criminal charges of illegal firearm sales. We also made adjustments to our 2019 bail and discovery reforms. Judges will now be able to set bail in cases where non-negligible harm was caused to a person or property as a result of the crime, as well as in cases where a desk appearance ticket was issued previously but the defendant has not yet been tried. Additionally, discovery requirements were modified so that good faith omissions do not cause a trial calendar to restart.   OTHER We are investing more than $6 billion in the MTA, which is an increase of 20% over last year's spending. We are also investing nearly $40 billion in capital aid to localities and the NYS Department of Transportation capital plan. Additionally, New Yorkers will receive a gas tax holiday between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 – which should result in savings of sixteen cents per gallon with the option for individual counties to cap their sales tax for additional savings. We are also dedicating $250 million for residential gas and utility arrears, $250 million for a new tax credit program to help small business owners cover the costs of COVID-19 related expenses, and $250 million to increase the New York City Earned Income Tax Credit. The elephant in the room of this budget is the $600 million that is going towards a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. As I mentioned previously, I strongly oppose this funding – however I believe that this bad idea is far outweighed by all of the good that we accomplished this year.

REMINDER: MetroCard Van Services in Woodlawn and Central Riverdale Next on Friday, April 29

At our request, the MTA has agreed to provide their MetroCard van in central Riverdale and in Woodlawn once again during the months of March, April, and May. This is an easy way for you to apply for a reduced-fare MetroCard, to refill a MetroCard (including reduced-fare MetroCards), or to deal with any other MetroCard-related issue you may be having. The MetroCard van will be available at West 235th Street and Johnson Avenue between 9:30am and 11:30am, and will be available at the Woodlawn Library (Katonah Avenue and East 239th Street) between 12:30pm and 2:30pm on the following dates: • Friday, April 29 • Tuesday, May 31 As a reminder, the MetroCard van is also available on a recurring basis at the following locations: • Riverdale at Skyview Shopping Center (Riverdale Avenue between West 256th Street and West 259th Street) on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month between 10:30am and 12:30pm • Kingsbridge at West 231st Street and Broadway on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month between 1:30pm and 3:30pm • Knolls Crescent Mall (11-21 Knolls Crescent) on the 2nd and 4th Friday between 10am and 12pm My office will continue to advocate for the restoration of MetroCard van service to the Van Cortlandt Senior Center as well as the permanent addition of the locations in central Riverdale and Woodlawn to their regular schedule. The MTA has also indicated that riders can refill their MetroCards at participating retailers throughout the city. For a list of these retailers, please visit: tripplanner.mta.info/metrocardmerchants/BoroughMetroCardMap.aspx?zone=BX. Additionally, for those who are comfortable with online payments, the MTA will continue rolling out OMNY (which is their new fare payment system to replace the MetroCard). Using OMNY, you can pay for your transit fare using you contactless card (check your credit or debit card for what looks like a series of increasingly large closed parentheses), your smart device (such as a smart phone or smart watch that has been set up as a digital wallet). You may also now get a physical OMNY card (available currently at several retailers in our community, shown here: omny.info/retail-locations). These physical OMNY cards are able to be connected to a debit or credit card as well as refilled using cash at participating retailers. Beginning on February 28, 2022, the MTA is launching their pilot program to offer customers a weekly fare cap option. Basically, if you participate in this program through OMNY, after 12 subway or local bus trips tapping with the same card or device, you will automatically ride free for the rest of the week (defined as Monday through Sunday). For more information, please see the MTA's website here: https://omny.info/ Additionally, you can also apply for EasyPay Express using traditional MetroCard technology. This option allows you to connect a credit or debit card to your MetroCard so that it automatically refills either a 30-day unlimited plan or to maintain a $20 minimum balance on your MetroCard. For more information, please see the MTA's website here: https://www.easypaymetrocard.com/vector/static/faq/XpressFaq.shtml

Brooklyn Puppy Seller Ordered to Pay More Than $2.1 Million in Sales Tax Fraud Case

 

Puppy Petite, Inc. pleaded guilty to criminal tax fraud

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today announced that Puppy Petite, Inc., located at 8002 17th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, paid $2,113,538.66 in restitution, penalty and interest following a guilty plea to fourth-degree criminal tax fraud, a felony.

Puppy Petite, Inc., and Quality Canines, Inc., failed to remit more than $805,000 in sales tax collected from customers between December 2013 and August 2019, and failed to file most of the sales tax returns it was required to file during this period.

Tax Department investigators also found that those sales tax returns that were filed by both businesses grossly underreported the amount of sales tax collected.

“Business owners who steal sales tax paid by their customers deprive their communities of revenue for vital public programs and services and put law-abiding businesses at a competitive disadvantage,” said Acting New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Amanda Hiller. “We’ll continue to work with all our partners in law enforcement to uncover tax evasion and level the playing field for all businesses.”

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.

Report fraud

You can report tax evasion and fraud online at the Tax Department's website or by phone at 518-457-0578. The information is kept confidential. The Tax Department promptly reviews each complaint and takes corrective action when appropriate.