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Saturday, September 10, 2022
Permits Filed For 2336 Valentine Avenue In Fordham, The Bronx
Permits have been filed for a seven-story residential building at 2336 Valentine Avenue in Fordham, The Bronx. Located between East 183rd and East 184th Streets, the lot is near the 182-183 Streets subway station, serviced by the B and D trains. Mendy Tessler is listed as the owner behind the applications.
The proposed 74-foot-tall development will yield 7,907 square feet designated for residential space. The building will have 17 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 465 square feet. The steel-based structure will also have a penthouse and a 45-foot-long rear yard.
Nikolai Katz Architect is listed as the architect of record.
Demolition permits have not been filed yet. An estimated completion date has not been announced.
Statement from Comptroller Lander on Approval of a Merchant Category Code for Gun and Ammunition Retailers
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander issued the following statement on the announcement by Amalgamated Bank that their application to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was approved to establish a merchant category code for gun and ammunition retailers:
“Stopping the scourge of gun violence will take action on the part of everyone, and I’m pleased that the ISO voted to advance a key step to prevent the next tragedy. American Express, Mastercard, Visa and other credit card companies now have a responsibility to implement the new merchant category code, so that financial institutions can do their part to flag suspicious activity and save lives.
“I am grateful to Amalgamated Bank, the broad coalition of advocates, elected officials and fellow investors who have advocated for years to make this a reality.”
Comptroller Lander and trustees of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System and Board of Education Retirement System filed shareholder resolutions at Mastercard and American Express requesting transparency around the companies’ decision-making relating to the creation of the merchant category code and sent a letter alongside the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) to American Express, Mastercard and Visa.
Attorney General James Applauds Requirement for Credit Card Companies to Categorize Gun Sales
New York Attorney General Letitia James today applauded the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for requiring credit card companies to create a merchant category code (MCC) on gun and ammunition purchases. Attorney General James released this statement in response:
“Today’s decision requiring credit cards to categorize gun sales is a big victory that will help us better address gun violence and avoid tragedies. Labeling gun and ammunition sales is a responsible, common-sense way to help protect Americans and I thank Amalgamated Bank for their bold leadership on this critical issue. I urge credit card companies to take the next step and flag suspicious transactions on gun and ammunition sales, like they do for fraud and money laundering. By working together and using the tools at our disposal, including this new categorization, we will help protect our communities and save lives.”
Today's decision follows a letter sent last week by Attorney General James and California Attorney General Bonta calling on credit card companies to take this common-sense step to help address gun violence and prevent tragedies.
BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR HAVING GUNS AND HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES IN HIS CAR
Police Found Defendant Parked in Bus Lane
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to four years in prison for second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon for having five handguns, an ammunition feeding device and high-capacity magazines in his car.
District Attorney Clark said, “If you are planning to illegally bring firearms that can drive up violence in the Bronx, you will be prosecuted. The defendant pleaded guilty to having guns and ammunition feeding devices in his car. Thankfully, an alert patrol officer intercepted this cache of weapons.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Tyrell Livingston, 29, last of East 143rd Street, was sentenced today to four years in prison by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo. The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon on July 25, 2022.
According to the investigation, on November 18, 2020 in front of 436 East 149th Street, Livingston was in a 2007 Mercedes Benz with dark tinted windows that was double-parked in an active bus lane when NYPD Officers approached him and told him to move the car. The defendant told them he did not have his license on him and that it was suspended. As Officers proceeded to arrest him, they found under the driver’s seat a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, loaded with seven rounds.
The defendant’s vehicle was taken to the 40th Precinct and during an inventory search, Officers found a .9 mm Taurus Pistol with three magazines, a .9 mm Glock with 15 cartridges in the magazine, a .9 mm Taurus pistol containing two magazines, and a .9mm Millennium pistol inside a backpack in the trunk of the defendant’s car. Officers also found a drum feeder with 41 .40 mm cartridges, 14 .9mm cartridges, one magazine, and one high-capacity magazine.
District Attorney Clark thanked arresting NYPD Officer Bismal Tineo of the 40th Precinct.
Pill Mill Operator Convicted For Oxycodone Diversion
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a jury returned a guilty verdict yesterday against PURIFICACION CRISTOBAL for her participation in a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose acting outside the usual course of professional practice. CRISTOBAL was also convicted of two counts of oxycodone distribution pertaining to specific prescriptions. She was found not guilty of other counts of oxycodone distribution pertaining to other prescriptions. CRISTOBAL will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who presided over the approximately two-week trial.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Purificacion Cristobal prescribed powerful medications to patients, some of whom had no medical need for them and were likely selling them, thereby contributing to the flow of highly potent drugs into the black markets of New York. We trust medical professionals to responsibly handle potentially harmful drugs, and this Office will not turn a blind eye to those professionals who break that trust.”
As proven at trial, PURIFICACION CRISTOBAL, a licensed nurse practitioner purporting to specialize in psychiatry, operated a clinic on Westchester Avenue in the Bronx. Between approximately June 2019 and June 2020, CRISTOBAL prescribed tens of thousands of doses of oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose outside of the usual course of professional practice. Oxycodone is a highly potent and addictive opioid that commands high prices in the black market because of demand by drug abusers. CRISTOBAL often prescribed oxycodone in combination with Xanax (alprazolam) and/or Adderall (amphetamine), controlled substances that are themselves frequently abused and resold illicitly.
CRISTOBAL never performed physical examinations or medical tests, often asked patients to take their pick among different narcotics, and was repeatedly warned by others that her patients were reselling or abusing the drugs she prescribed. She encouraged existing patients to recruit others, regularly accepted cash, and charged different cash “fees” depending on how many prescriptions she wrote for a particular patient. CRISTOBAL also coordinated with a nearby pharmacist, to whom she referred many of her patients, to shield her unlawful prescribing practices from law enforcement scrutiny.
CRISTOBAL, 75, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, was convicted of one count of conspiring to distribute oxycodone and two counts of distributing oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose acting outside the usual course of professional practice. Those counts carry, in the aggregate, a maximum potential sentence of 60 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad in the New York Field Office, which is comprised of agents and officers from the DEA, the New York City Police Department, the New York City Department of Investigation, Health & Hospitals Office of the Inspector General, the New York State Department of Health Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the New York National Guard.
SENATOR GUSTAVO RIVERA ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL DECLARING POLIO STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR NEW YORK STATE
"Governor Hochul has made the right decision by declaring a state emergency for polio in New York State. It is frankly alarming that polio has been identified not only in New York City and Rockland County but also in Sullivan, Orange and Nassau Counties. This emergency declaration will allow our vaccination efforts to ramp up, including requiring healthcare providers to send polio immunization data to the state to ensure that our response as it relates to vaccination is targeted.
As Health Chair, I urge all New Yorkers to ensure their polio vaccines and that of their children and other vulnerable loved ones are up to date. As I have said before, the polio vaccine has and continues to be our only and safest tool to prevent polio. I highly encourage those New Yorkers who have not received the polio vaccine and may be hesitant to get it, to speak with their medical provider and get informed about the benefits of this vaccine, especially as the school year begins."
NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE'S STATEMENT ON THE WATER ISSUES AT JACOB RIIS HOUSES FOLLOWING NEW NEGATIVE TESTS
"NYCHA has again failed a test of its management. Tenants who have lived with fear for the last week, and cloudy water weeks before that, need full answers and accountability. From the first complaint of water issues to today’s results, NYCHA has mismanaged this moment as the same kind of issues we highlighted in our recent report continue from crisis to crisis.
"NYCHA does need funding, but its management failures in this incident and in countless before it have led to a bankruptcy of tenant trust. Rebuilding that trust is a long process that relies on truly listening to and working directly with tenants. NYCHA must immediately start proving its commitment to repairing both its buildings and the trust of the tenants paying to live there."