Bronx Board of Elections Completes Count of Absentee Ballot and Affidavit Ballots

 Thursday afternoon shortly after 12:30 PM there was a roar of accomplishment as the Bronx Board of Elections completed counting the last Absentee Ballot, and the last Affidavit Ballot. Just under fifty-thousand ballots had to be counted from the eleven assembly districts in the Bronx. The last Assembly District that was counted was the 79th Assembly District which held the suspense in the 15th Congressional and other races to the last vote that was counted. Manhattan and Brooklyn remain the only two boroughs not to have finished counting all the ballots yet. Official results should be in no later than August 4th due to party and judicial calls. 

One major problem the Board of Elections is going to have is how to declare the party position winners of the Male and Female District Leaders and Male and Female State Committee members from the 79th Assembly District, as well as the Male District Leader and Male State Committee member from the 87th A.D. Slates of candidates in the 79th and 87th Assembly Districts were knocked off the ballot by the Board of Elections on what is known as a technicality. Those candidates went to court and were then placed back on the ballot. 

In what is usually the job of a candidate, the Board of Elections appealed the judge's decision to place these candidates back on the ballot. BOE spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez-Diaz told me that the primary day ballots had to be made up before the appeal decision date, and it was not known if the BOE would win their appeal, so the names of the candidates in question were placed on all primary day ballots. At first she said that those ballots would not be counted, then later saying the votes for those candidates would not count. I asked Ms. Vazquez-Diaz to inform me when the BOE had ever challenged a judge's decision to place a candidate back on the ballot since I could not remember when I ever saw it happen. That was ten days ago, and I have not heard back from Ms. Vazquez-Diaz nor the BOE. 

In looking at the recap of the Absentee ballot count in the 79th A.D. all four of the candidates who appeared on the ballot, but were knocked off on the appeal by the BOE were leading in all four party positions. These candidates appear in the recap of the vote, because the ballot scanner counted each and every vote for each and every candidate that was on the ballot. Thus there can not be winners declared in the 79th A.D. party position for Male and Female District Leaders and both State Committee members, as well as the position of Male District Leader and Male State Committeeman in the 87th Assembly District where these candidates changed the outcome of the election if they did not come out the winners. 

There is also the question of why the BOE allowed 79th Assembly District candidate Elvis Santana to be placed on the ballot while he did not meet the residency requirement of five years residency in New York State to run for the State Assembly. In a check of Mr. Santana's voter registration he only had three years of residency in New York having put a Connecticut address for the two years prior to that. From the unofficial results of the 79th Assembly race Mr. Santana being on the ballot effected the chances of winning by another candidate. 

Current City Councilman Ritchie Torres kept his lead over second place finisher soon to be former Assemblyman Michael Blake. A surprise here was that current City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. who was the favorite to win this race appears to have fallen into fourth place behind Samelys Lopez. It has been reported that Blake and now Lopez have not conceded the election yet. Once Councilman Torres leaves office the mayor will have forty-five days to call a special election to replace him. The winner of the special election will then have to run again if challenged in the June primary, and the November general elections in 2021. 

More about the counting of the Absentee and Affidavit ballots in the next article.

AOC-Endorsed Local Candidates Sweep New York Primary

Progressive candidates have increased their representative voice in the New York State Legislature. 15 out of the 15 candidates endorsed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez swept the New York primaries. The candidates’ victories were made official this week after a delayed verification of absentee ballots from the June 23rd Primary. Candidates Nathalia Fernández, Gustavo Rivera and Jamaal Bailey ran unopposed. “On behalf of our campaign, I’d like to extend our sincere congratulations to these leaders fighting for bold progressive change.” Said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Campaign Manager,  Rebecca Rodríguez. “The results of the 2020 Primary Election are a clear mandate to continue fighting for issues like housing as a human right, defunding the police and a Green New Deal that puts working people first and that’s exactly what these candidates intend to do.” The following local New York candidates have been endorsed by Ocasio-Cortez. New York State Senate: Jamaal Bailey, Bx (SD 36)* Alessandra Biaggi, Bx (SD 34) Jabari Brisport, Bk (SD 25) Michael Gianaris, Qns (SD 12) Robert Jackson, Man (SD 31) Jessica Ramos, Qns (SD 13) Gustavo Rivera, Bx (SD 33)* Julia Salazar, Bk (SD 18) New York State Assembly: Catalina Cruz, Qns (AD 39) Nathalia Fernández, Bx (AD 80)* Ron Kim, Qns (AD 40) Marcela Mitaynes, Bk (AD 51) Yuh-Line Niou, Man (AD 65) Karines Reyes, Bx (AD 87) Phara Souffrant, Bk (AD 57) EDITOR'S NOTE: We would like to remind Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez that not all of the candidates she endorsed were winners. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez endorsed candidate Samelys Lopez in the neighboring 15th Congressional District who did not come away with a victory. Ocasio-Cortez backed candidate Samelys Lopez finished third or forth in the 15th Congressional race where current Councilman Ritchie Torres pulled off an astonishing win. A recount is expected.

Former Supervisory Committee Member Of Municipal Credit Union Sentenced To 27 Months In Prison For Embezzlement

  Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Joseph Guagliardo, a/k/a “Joseph Gagliardo,” a former New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) officer and former member of the supervisory committee (the “Supervisory Committee”) of Municipal Credit Union (“MCU”), a non-profit financial institution, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 27 months in prison for abusing his leadership position at MCU to embezzle more than $400,000.  Guagliardo previously pled guilty to defrauding a federally insured credit union before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote, who imposed today’s sentence.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “For years, Joseph Guagliardo betrayed the trust of MCU’s members, who elected him to supervise and protect MCU, by abusing his position to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Guagliardo did so with the complicity of the now imprisoned former CEO of the credit union, whom he provided with a steady stream of painkillers.  Guagliardo will now serve a substantial prison sentence for his crime.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint, the Information, other filings in Manhattan federal court, statements made in court, and publicly available documents:           

MCU is a non-profit financial institution headquartered in New York, New York, which is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (“NCUA”).  MCU is the oldest credit union in New York State and one of the oldest and largest in the country, providing banking services to more than 500,000 members, and with more than $2.9 billion in member accounts, each of which is federally insured for at least $250,000 by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which is administered by the NCUA.  Membership in MCU is generally available to employees of New York City and its agencies, employees of the federal and New York State governments who work in New York City, and employees of hospitals, nursing homes, and similar facilities located within New York State.

GUAGLIARDO is a former officer with the NYPD and a former Supervisory Committee member of MCU, a volunteer position.  In or about 1993, GUAGLIARDO joined the Supervisory Committee, and remained in that position until he was removed from that position by the New York State Department of Financial Services on or about May 24, 2018, except for a brief period of time when he served as a member of MCU’s Board of Directors in or about 2008. 

Under New York banking law, the Supervisory Committee’s duties included supervision of the actions of MCU’s Board of Directors and officers.  MCU’s written conflict of interest policy, which was regularly distributed to Board members, Supervisory Committee members, and others, provided, among other things, that members of MCU’s “Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee may not do business with the Credit Union, either individually or as representative of any business entity.”

From 2009 through May 2018, in violation of MCU policy and his fiduciary duty as a member of the Supervisory Committee, GUAGLIARDO engaged in a scheme to obtain money from MCU to which he knew he was not entitled, and took steps to conceal his efforts.  Among other things, GUAGLIARDO caused MCU to direct more than $250,000 to a security company created and controlled by GUAGLIARDO, but operated in another’s name, and then directed that money from that company be paid to him and to his family members.  GUAGLIARDO also over-billed MCU more than $200,000 for purported web advertising services provided by a non-profit organization that GUAGLIARDO also controlled.

In addition, during substantially the same period in which GUAGLIARDO was committing these offenses, GUAGLIARDO unlawfully distributed controlled substances to the former chief executive officer of MCU, Kam Wong, in the form of prescription drugs, some of which were obtained from GUAGLIARDO’s spouse, who worked as a doctor affiliated with a public hospital, and some of which were obtained from a different doctor affiliated with the NYPD.

In addition to his prison term, GUAGLIARDO, 63, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to two years of supervised release, and was ordered to forfeit $425,514, and to pay $468,189 in restitution to MCU and a fine of $10,000. 

Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding work of the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office.  Ms. Strauss also thanked the New York County District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Department of Financial Services, and the New York City Police Department Internal Affairs Bureau for their assistance.  She noted that the investigation is ongoing.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces $49 Million Settlement With Biotech Testing Company For Fraudulent Billing And Kickback Practices

Progenity Inc. Admits to Fraudulently Using Wrong Billing Code, Paying “Draw Fees” to Physicians, and Providing Meals and Happy Hours to Physicians and Their Staff

  Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health, Office of Inspector General (“HHS OIG”), Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Field Office of the U.S. Department of Defense - Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (“DCIS”), and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office (“VA OIG”), announced today a $49 million settlement with PROGENITY, INC. (“PROGENITY”), a San Diego-based biotechnology company that provides molecular and diagnostic tests.  The settlement resolves claims that PROGENITY fraudulently billed federal healthcare programs for prenatal tests and provided kickbacks to physicians to induce to them to order PROGENITY tests for their patients.  The Office’s lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court alleges that PROGENITY overbilled Medicaid and the VA by fraudulently using a billing code that misrepresented the tests provided.  The lawsuit further alleges that PROGENITY provided illegal kickbacks in the form of excessive “draw fees” to physicians, meals and happy hours for physicians and their staff, and the improper reduction or waiver of patient coinsurance and deductible payments.   

Under the settlement approved today by U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, PROGENITY will pay $19,449,316 to the United States to resolve the kickback claims and the Medicaid and VA fraudulent billing claims, and also makes extensive admissions regarding the company’s conduct.  PROGENITY will also pay $13,150,684 to various states to resolve these claims.  In addition, PROGENITY will pay $16.4 million to resolve similar fraudulent billing claims related to TRICARE and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program through a separate civil settlement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California (“USAO SDCA”), and has entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement with that office.  

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “Progenity received millions of dollars from federal healthcare programs through its fraudulent billing and kickback schemes.  The company misrepresented the tests it performed, and tried to get doctors to order Progenity tests by paying them excessive fees and providing meals and happy hours for them and their staff.  Our Office will continue to hold healthcare providers accountable when they engage in fraud and other illegal conduct.” 

HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert said:  “Kickbacks and fraudulent billing schemes undermine the integrity of our healthcare system, compromise patient care, and increase the financial burden on taxpayers.  Along with our law enforcement partners, HHS-OIG will continue to ensure that those billing federal health insurance programs do so in an honest manner.” 

DCIS Special Agent in Charge Leigh-Alistair Barzey said:  “Ensuring the integrity of TRICARE, the U.S. Defense Department's healthcare system for military members and their families, is top priority for the DCIS.  This settlement agreement is the result of a joint effort and demonstrates the DCIS’s commitment to work with the USAO-SDNY and its law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute kickbacks and other fraudulent schemes that impact TRICARE.”

VA-OIG Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri said:  “VA OIG will vigorously pursue those who engage in unjust kickback and billing schemes, which generate profits at the expense of veterans and taxpayers.  We appreciate the United States Attorney’s Office and our agency partners for this collaborative effort.”

As alleged in the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court:

Fraudulent Billing

When submitting claims for payment, healthcare providers use Current Procedural Terminology (“CPT”) codes to identify the nature of the medical procedure or services rendered.   Government healthcare payors rely on the CPT code to determine whether the procedure or service is covered, as well as the level of reimbursement.  From March 2014 through April 2016, PROGENITY fraudulently used CPT code 88271 to seek reimbursement for noninvasive prenatal tests (“NIPTs”) that screen for genetic disorders and abnormalities when this code misrepresented the services PROGENITY actually provided.  As a result, PROGENITY received payments for non-reimbursable tests, or received substantially higher payments than it was entitled to receive.  PROGENITY knew that many patients did not meet the medical necessity criteria for NIPTs, and that it could circumvent those requirements by billing under the incorrect billing code. 

Kickbacks

PROGENITY induced physicians to order PROGENITY tests by engaging in three kickback schemes.  First, from January 2012 through March 2016, PROGENITY paid “draw fees” to physicians or physician offices for blood specimens collected for PROGENITY tests.  These fees exceeded the fair market value of the services performed.  The total draw fees paid to physicians depended on the volume of blood specimens collected, so physicians would receive more money if they ordered more PROGENITY tests.

Second, from 2012 through 2018, PROGENITY sales representatives provided food and alcohol to physicians and their staff at gatherings, including happy hours and birthday or holiday parties, that often involved little or no educational content.  For the vast majority of the relevant period, PROGENITY did not limit or even monitor the total amount its sales representatives spent on a physician.  One former sales representative spent $65,658 on meals and alcohol for physicians during a single year.

Third, from January 2012 through April 2018, to market its expensive tests, PROGENITY routinely reduced or waived coinsurance and deductible payments without making the required individualized determination of financial need or reasonable collection efforts.  Sales representatives informed physicians and their staff, as well as patients, that PROGENITY would waive coinsurance and deductibles, or limit the patient’s payment to a certain maximum out-of-pocket amount.  And PROGENITY had agreements with several physicians that it would not collect any payments from their patients.

As part of the settlement approved today by Judge Preska, PROGENITY admits, acknowledges, and accepts responsibility for the following conduct: 

Miscoding:

• From March 2014 through April 2016, PROGENITY knowingly submitted false claims for payment to Medicaid and the VA by using CPT code 88271 to obtain reimbursement for NIPTs.
   
• PROGENITY improperly used CPT code 88271, which applies to fluorescence in situ hybridization (“FISH”) procedures, knowing that its genetic tests were cell-free DNA sequencing-based NIPTs that are not FISH procedures and that CPT code 88271 did not accurately represent the tests performed. 
   
• As a result of fraudulently using CPT code 88721 and misrepresenting the type of test performed when submitting claims for payment to Medicaid and the VA for NIPTs, PROGENITY received payments for non-reimbursable tests, or received substantially higher payments than it was entitled to receive for the genetic testing services provided.  

            Kickbacks:

• From January 2012 through March 2016, PROGENITY knowingly made “draw fee” payments to physicians or physicians’ offices for the collection of blood specimens for PROGENITY tests performed on federal healthcare program beneficiaries.  In total, PROGENITY paid over $1.7 million in draw fees during this period. 
   
• The draw fees paid by PROGENITY exceeded the fair market value of the services performed when collecting blood specimens.  PROGENITY frequently paid physicians $20 or more for each blood draw.  PROGENITY paid dozens of physicians and physician offices thousands of dollars in above fair market draw fee payments during the relevant time period.

• From 2012 through 2018, PROGENITY knowingly provided meals and happy hours to physicians who ordered PROGENITY tests for federal healthcare program beneficiaries, as well to individuals who worked in physicians’ offices.  The value of these meals and happy hours exceeded Stark Law limits.  In total, PROGENITY expended millions of dollars on food and drinks for physicians and their staff during this period.

• During the vast majority of the relevant period, PROGENITY did not have effective systems in place to ensure that the company’s expenses for meals and happy hours for physicians and their employees complied with the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute.  For example, PROGENITY did not (i) reliably track the amount it spent on meals and happy hours for physicians or their staff, (ii) maintain accurate sign-in sheets reflecting attendance at PROGENITY-sponsored gatherings, (iii) keep records of materials or topics that were discussed during PROGENITY-sponsored gatherings, and (iv) implement and enforce limits on the total nonmonetary compensation that could be provided to physicians.

• From January 2012 through April 2018, PROGENITY knowingly routinely reduced or waived federal healthcare program beneficiaries’ coinsurance and deductible payments without making the required individualized determinations of financial need or reasonable collection efforts.  PROGENITY offered to reduce or waive coinsurance and deductible payments as part of its sales efforts. 
   

In connection with the filing of the lawsuit and settlement, the Government joined a private whistleblower lawsuit that had previously been filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act, which alleged that PROGENITY engaged in illegal kickback schemes.  PROGENITY has also entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement (“CIA”) with HHS-OIG.  The CIA promotes compliance with the statutes, regulations, program requirements, and written directives of federal healthcare programs.  Among other things, the CIA requires that for the next five years PROGENITY must retain an Independent Review Organization to annually review the accuracy of the company’s claims for services furnished to federal healthcare program beneficiaries and monitor its arrangements with other individuals and entities.

Ms. Strauss thanked HHS-OIG, VA-OIG, DCIS, USAO SDCA, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the New York State Attorney General’s Office for their assistance with the case. 

MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF THE NYC RECOVERY DATA PARTNERSHIP WITH OPEN CALL FOR DATA

Initial cohort includes LinkedIn, StreetEasy, Foursquare and more; City invites community, non-profit, and private organizations to join partnership to inform Covid-19 recovery efforts

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced the NYC Recovery Data Partnership and called on community, non-profit, and private organizations to share data with the City to aid in Covid-19 response and recovery efforts. The Partnership will be a first-of-its-kind effort for the City, centered on principles of privacy, fairness, accountability, and transparency. Partner organizations are providing data free-of-charge to bolster understanding of how New Yorkers have been impacted by Covid-19, and will help to inform programmatic and policy decisions for an equitable recovery.

"As we recover from COVID-19 and build a fairer city, it's essential that we make decisions based in data, facts, and an understanding of the lived experiences of all New Yorkers," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "That's why we're launching the NYC Recovery Data Partnership to harness data from partner organizations that will help us identify and support local industries and communities that are most in need.  I call on other civic-minded organizations to join the Recovery Data Partnership as a way to contribute to the City's recovery efforts."

The Recovery Data Partnership will be chaired by the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning, the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, and the Mayor’s Office of Operations, with counsel from the City’s Chief Privacy Officer.

The City takes protecting and being a custodian of New Yorkers’ information very seriously. All partners have agreed to adhere to City privacy and confidentiality guidelines. The Recovery Data Partnership team will review all proposed City uses of data, and will make information about how this data is being used available to New Yorkers.

The founding cohort of the NYC Recovery Data Partnership includes:

·      StreetEasy, Zillow Group’s NYC brand ·      LinkedIn ·      Foursquare ·      Upsolve ·      ioby

·      OATS ·      Kinsa ·      BetaNYC and a coalition of community organizations ·      Cuebiq ·      Urban Systems Lab

“We can’t do this alone – the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics knows firsthand that high frequency data and insights are pivotal for Covid-19 crisis response and recovery,” said Kelly Jin, NYC Chief Analytics Officer and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics. “Better data makes for better analysis, and this economic and community data will empower our analysts and policymakers as NYC continues to recover. Thank you to all of the partner organizations that have agreed to share data already, and I look forward to welcoming more partners in the months to come.”

“I am proud that the Mayor's Office of Operations is providing legal, privacy, and data analytics expertise to the Recovery Data Partnership. Building on our strong past data sharing and standards work with agencies, the partnership will help power an equitable recovery by providing City analysts with data that reflects the diverse experiences of New Yorkers while protecting individual privacy. I look forward to seeing innovative ways that City agencies will use partner data,” said Jeff Thamkittikasem, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations.

“The Recovery Data Partnership will provide the City with essential indicators of the economic well-being of our communities,” said Dominic Williams, the Chief Policy Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning. “The insights we derive from the data shared by partners will be used to strengthen the City’s recovery initiatives and inform our long-term planning.”

“In this critical time we are excited and grateful to have the support of community, non-profit and private organizations willing and able to share their data in order to support the City's COVID-19 recovery efforts, and continue providing the programs, benefits and services that New Yorkers need. As the City’s Chief Privacy Officer, I know data can be a powerful tool as we work to inform fair and equitable programs through this initiative – and of paramount importance, our privacy protection values have been made an integral part of the Partnership's design. Our response and recovery efforts will be strengthened as we learn more about the lived experiences of New York residents during this time while protecting their privacy and building public trust through transparency and accountability," said Laura Negrón, Chief Privacy Officer.

The goal of the Recovery Data Partnership is to responsibly build a repository of data to help serve communities most in need, with the knowledge that new potential uses of data to support Covid-19 response and recovery will continue to emerge over time. The types of data being shared by the initial cohort include:

·            Weekly real estate market metrics from StreetEasy, Zillow Group’s NYC brand

·            Real-time measures of hiring activity from LinkedIn

·            Rates of illness from aggregated smart thermometer readings from Kinsa

·            Sociodemographic information about New Yorkers seeking personal bankruptcy services from Upsolve

·            Foot traffic data aggregated by neighborhood and business type from Foursquare

The City is particularly interested in data in the categories below that reflect communities and industries that have been acutely impacted by the pandemic or are traditionally underrepresented in data:

housing and accommodations food/beverage industry retail purchasing arts and entertainment

transportation public safety public health experiences of children and elderly

To support the Recovery Data Partnership, the City has also engaged advisors who are data experts and practitioners from academic institutions and community-based organizations to draw on their expertise to provide input on potential data uses. A list of these advisors is available at nyc.gov/recoverydata.

“New Yorkers have come together throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to support one another, highlighting yet again that the City is made stronger through collaboration,” said Adrienne Schmoeker, Deputy Chief Analytics Officer, and Director of Civic Engagement and Strategy, for the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics. “The City has shared data with New Yorkers for over a decade via the NYC Open Data program, and we're excited to announce the NYC Recovery Data Partnership as a new program for data collaboration with NYC communities, companies, and organizations to inform Covid-19 recovery efforts powered by NYC data.”

“It is through collaboration that society accomplishes its grandest goals and solves its hardest challenges. The NYC Recovery Data Partnership exemplifies how industry and government can combine their unique strengths to collaboratively respond to and recover from a world-changing crisis,” said John Paul Farmer, Chief Technology Officer of New York City. “This effort will provide critical data to help City agencies accomplish their missions and provide essential services to people in need, while keeping privacy and the digital rights of New Yorkers at the forefront.”

“Data is power – and the more that we share data, the stronger we are and the faster we recover. The NYC Recovery Data Partnership will help us see what is working - and what isn’t - across many sectors and communities. This unique partnership will generate new ideas, perspectives and solutions to address today’s and tomorrow’s unprecedented challenges. I have no doubt that when we plan together, we create a stronger, more equitable and more resilient New York City,” said Marisa Lago, Director of the Department of City Planning.

“Older Adults Technology Services is proud to partner with NYC in its Recovery Data Partnership by supplying data to provide insight into how older adults are remaining connected to critical technologies, resources, and support services during Covid-19,” said Alex Grazebrook, Director of Operations at Older Adults Technology Services (OATS).

“The City’s commitment to transparency and education resonates with us. One of our core values at StreetEasy is to turn on the lights, empowering New Yorkers with data-driven insights so it’s easier to make informed real estate decisions day in and day out," said StreetEasy Economist Nancy Wu. “As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, real-time data is critical to help inform the city’s recovery. We appreciate the opportunity to contribute our data and be a part of these efforts to better understand the pandemic’s impacts on the NYC housing market, the real estate industry and local communities.”

“As we navigate massive changes to how we work and live, it’s more critical than ever that leaders have access to the most detailed and dynamic data,” said Nick DePorter, Public Policy Lead at LinkedIn. “We’re thrilled that LinkedIn's real-time hiring insights will help the City of New York build policies for an equitable, speedy economic recovery for all New Yorkers.”

"We want to thank the 100s of volunteers who continue to contribute their time, knowledge, and edits to produce hyper-local datasets documenting thousands of local businesses," said Noel Hidalgo, Executive Director of BetaNYC. "Over the last four months and with 10 community partners, we have translated hand written notes and social media posts into mobile friendly maps and community databases featuring the accessibility of food distribution locations, opening hours and senior hours! Through the uprising, we noted businesses owned or operated by neighbors who are women, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQ. Together, we are maintaining and sharing community knowledge to rebuild and support each other. We are honored to support City analysts in their efforts to move our city forward — Pal'ante!"

"We’re extremely proud to be a part of this opportunity — we fully believe that our data will be critical when it comes to guiding policy decisions, specifically to benefit New Yorkers who have been affected significantly by COVID-19. As a New York based company, we firmly believe in the principles of this partnership and recognize the importance of working with the city to support its recovery," said Antonio Tomarchio, CEO of Cuebiq.

“This partnership is a big step forward on the journey towards healing and ioby is excited to be a part of it. Everyday neighbors are key to a just and equitable recovery, and we look forward to sharing our expertise in community-led change with the City," said Erin Barnes, CEO of ioby.

"Recovery in NYC — economic and otherwise — will require our government to work closely with the private sector and other city stakeholders toward shared goals, and we are glad to see that happening with the launch of the Recovery Data Partnership," said Julie Samuels, Executive Director of Tech:NYC. "We applaud Mayor de Blasio and his administration for this important effort that will help foster equitable growth, and we hope that the trend toward responsible and transparent data sharing will continue throughout our recovery and beyond."

"Inefficiencies in data collaboration lead to costly delays in response times, lost opportunities to save lives and livelihoods, and a persistent lack of preparation for future threats. As a society we need to find new partnership models to leverage data for the public good in more systematic, sustainable and responsible ways. The Recovery Data Partnership provides a unique and exciting approach to meet those ends,” said Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder of The GovLab, Lead of its Data Collaboratives Program, and Recovery Data Partnership Advisor.

"As we work to rebuild a more resilient New York City in the wake of COVID-19, data will play a critical role. At Urban Tech Hub @ Company, we are working alongside entrepreneurs and startups that make up the fabric of this city and whose insights and perspectives will be invaluable in driving recovery," said Robinson Hernandez, Executive Director of the Urban Tech Hub @ Company, and Recovery Data Partnership Advisor.

Virtual Wave Hill

The countdown begins! We can't wait to welcome the public back on July 30. For social distancing, and everyone's safety, pre-registration for your visit will be required. Learn more about what to expect when you visit at wavehill.org. While we wait for the special day, our virtual programs for the week will help you stay connected to Wave Hill in the meantime. Check out what's new this week:

Nature Expeditions

Friday, July 24

Join naturalist Gabriel Willow on another virtual walk. This time, he's back on the grounds of Wave Hill! Find the video on our website this Friday.

Family Art Projects

Saturday, July 25, 10AM

In this week's Family Art Project #depthindistance series, create your own clay and plant pulp sculptures of nests modelled after the expert home-making of swallows, orioles, kingfishers, wasps and termites.

Virtual Programs for Eco-Urgency Exhibition

Tuesday, July 28, NOON

Join Artist Alison Moritsugu on a studio visit as she discusses two of her paintings, We are the ash (Remnant) and We are the ash (Vestige), with Eileen Jeng Lynch, Wave Hill’s Curator. Both paintings were made in response to the presence of the invasive emerald ash borer, an insect destroying North America’s ash tree forests. They will also explore the linguistic and logistical parallels between the invasive ash borer and the current pandemic.

A 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River  and Palisades, Wave Hill’s mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscape, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts.

HOURS: Open all year, Tuesday–Sunday and many major holidays: 9AM–5:30PM; Nov 1–Mar 14, closes 4:30PM. Special restricted hours as New York City recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic: NOON–5:30PM;Thursday–Sunday, effective July 30, 2020.

Information at 718.549.3200. On the web at www.wavehill.org.