KLEIN APPLAUDS DECISION TO KEEP WESTCHESTER SQUARE MEDICAL CENTER OPEN

   In a statement released Thursday, State Senator and Deputy Majority Leader Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) applauded the New York State Department of Health’s decision to extend a permanent operating certificate to Westchester Square Medical Center, thus removing it from the Berger Commission list:

         STATEMENT FROM SENATOR JEFF KLEIN

    

    "For more than four years, I have fought tirelessly to make clear to the New York State Department of Health that closing Westchester Square Hospital would be a severe miscalculation and have devastating consequences for thousands of New Yorkers. Saving this hospital from the chopping block means nearly 700 New Yorkers will keep their jobs and that the roughly forty-thousand New Yorkers each year who rely on Westchester Square Hospital will continue to have the vital health care and treatment they deserve."

BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ TO HOST HEARING ON “JOBS FOR THE 21^ST CENTURY” 

  

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and New York State Senate President Malcolm A. Smith will host a joint legislative hearing on “Jobs for the 21^st Century,” a public meeting organized by the New York State Tri-Level Legislative Task Force to receive input from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to better determine what local, state and federal government can do to create jobs and put New Yorkers back to work.

Bronx business’ owners and local entrepreneurs will testify in front of the task force, which will compile the information received during the hearing to better determine what can be done to attract companies and create jobs in the borough.

The Tri-Level Joint Legislative Task Force is a collective effort by New York Federal, State and City elected officials formed in 2007 with the mission of putting people back to work in New York State by taking a fresh approach to increasing opportunities, accountability and efficiency.  

Friday, October 1, 2010

851 Grand Concourse- Bronx Borough Hall Rotunda- 1^st floor 

10:00 am to 12:00 pm  

Call  718-590-2509 for more information.

Community Events

1-   New York State Senator Jeff Klein and KRVC invite you to attend a

Community Vision Meeting on Wednesday, September 29 at 7PM at Riverdale
Neighborhood House, 5521 Mosholu Avenue, Bronx, NY 10471.

Bring your community ideas and concerns to improve North Riverdale!
This is your chance to be heard! Together we can keep our community
strong and vibrant!

For more information, please contact Senator Klein's Office at (800) 718-2039

or you can contact Tracy Shelton of KRVC at 718-543-7100.

2- The Kingsbridge-Riverdale-Van Cortlandt Development Corp./KRVC and Citibank will be holding an event to release a listing of the full service bank branches available in the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, Marble Hill, Riverdale, Van Cortlandt and Woodlawn.  The first edition of the handy brochure and the release event have been generously sponsored by Citibank.  KRVC will reach out to all the banks in our community to produce the second version of the bank guide and the online version of the bank guide, which will include more detailed information and more bank advertisements.  Refreshments will be served at this event and it is open to the whole community and to the media. Members of the community who attend this event may also pick up a Restaurant Guide, which was recently produced by KRVC and which was funded by Council Member Oliver Koppell.

    Thursday, September 30, 11 am
   Citibank Kingsbridge Branch, 5660 Broadway (near Staples) 
   Call KRVC at  718-543-7100 for more information.
   

Army Corps awards $10.6 million contract for shoreline protection project at Orchard Beach in the Bronx

   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has awarded a $10.6 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill., to place approximately 250,000 cubic yards of beach fill onto Orchard Beach in the Bronx and to repair the beach's existing south groin.

    The work will help combat erosion at Orchard Beach by replacing lost sand and repairing the south groin to inhibit future erosion. It will also make the beach safer by relieving overcrowding and eliminating dangerous drop-off zones.

   "This project represents an outstanding investment of public dollars to provide the great people of the Bronx with a first-class recreational beach in these tough economic times," said New York District Commander Col. John R. Boulé. "We're excited to be partnering with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to restore Orchard Beach."

    The project is a cost-sharing partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, with 50 percent being federal funding provided by the Corps of Engineers and 50 percent being funding provided by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

   Work will begin in October and will be completed before the beginning of the 2011 summer beach season. This summer, over 1.4 million New Yorkers visited Orchard Beach.

Rick Lazio Withdraws From Conservative Line for Governor

   It is official now, Rick Lazio has withdrawn his name from the Conservative Party line in the 2010 New York State Governors race. It is said that he will be offered the 12th Judicial nomination by either the Bronx Republican or Bronx Conservative parties. New York State Conservative Party Leader Mike Long has made that announcement, and has said that he (Long) will now push for the State Committee of the Conservative Party to place Carl Palidino as the choice of the party for governor. We spoke to Bronx Conservative Party Chairman Bill Newmark on Saturday, and Mr. Newmark told us that he was offering the 12th Judicial line to Lazio. Newmark also said that he hopes Lazio withdraws, because he (Newmark) is a Palidino supporter. 

   It looks like Andrew Cuomo will have the Democratic, Independence, and Working Family lines, while Carl Palidino will have the Republican, and Conservative lines. Palidino will also have the non recognized Tea Party line, while Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barrons will have the non recognized Freedom Party line. 

   While it was said by Palidino supporters that they needed Lazio out of the race to insure that Andrew Cuomo did not win because of Lazio syphoning votes from Palidino. The question now is will Charles Barrons do the same to Andrew Cuomo to allow Carl Palidino to win the governors race?

New York State Stands to Loose Two Congressional Seats Due to Reapportionment

   When the census data comes out in December there could be a change to 12 congressional districts. New York and Ohio are expected to loose two seats each, while the states of Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are expected to loose one seat each.

   Texas is expected to pick up four new seats in congress, while Florida is expected to pick up two new seats, and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington are expected to pick up one seat each.

   This could mean a shift in monies that are given to the states from the federal government, as well as political pull by state or states that either gain or loose seats in the house.

   It was predicted that New York would loose only one seat as the census was being taken, but that may be only the half of it. Locally Congressman Eliot Engel is hoping not to loose any of the Bronx, but does expect to go further up into Rockland County. It is expected that Congressman Crowley may loose the Bronx part of his Bronx-Queens district, but Congressman Crowley denies that could happen. We asked Congressman Serrano about his district, and he said he will run for re-election even if his district goes up to Riverdale or where ever the  new boundaries are.

COMPTROLLER LIU UNCOVERS PENSION FRAUD – SUSPECTS CASH IN ON DEAD PENSIONERS

    NYC Comptroller John C. Liu joined by NYC Department of Investigation (DOI) Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn announced today that the Comptroller’s Office has uncovered nearly a half-million dollars in suspected pension fraud.

   “Fraud and waste anywhere in city government cannot and should not be tolerated,” Comptroller Liu said.  “This suspected pension fraud wastes the public’s money and undermines security for the city’s workers and retirees". "We will work with the DOI to aggressively investigate the suspected abuse of the public’s money.”

   As part of Comptroller Liu’s efforts to root out waste and fraud, the Comptroller’s Office applied cutting-edge use of data analysis earlier this year to match pension payments against death records from 2007 to 2009.  Upon examination, the Comptroller’s Office found 14 specific cases where either a person or persons continued to cash the dead pensioner’s checks, or pension checks continued to be deposited into the dead pensioners’ bank accounts. Comptroller Liu's Office will work with DOI to further investigate the 14 cases of potential pension fraud. Along with the 14 cases, the Comptroller’s Office uncovered 171 additional cases totaling nearly two million dollars where pension payments were issued to deceased pensioners from 2007 to 2009.  The Comptroller’s Office will continue its examination to determine why the checks were still issued to the deceased pensioners.

   Chief among the findings:
• One person or persons cashed 38 pension checks totaling $139,818 after the pensioner died in 2007, using the dead pensioner's NYS driver's license. When the license expired in 2010, it was renewed and the person or persons continued to cash the dead pensioner’s checks.
• Another person or persons cashed or deposited 25 pension checks totaling $9,696 after the pensioner died in 2008.
• The remaining 12 cases involved pension payments to dead pensioners totaling $310,456.

   The Comptroller’s Office began matching pension payments against social security death records in February shortly after Comptroller Liu took office. Total pension payments between 2007– 2009 totaled $29 billion. The Comptroller administers pension payments as the custodian of the New York City Employee Retirement System (NYCERS). Comptroller Liu will conduct regular reviews of pension payments to prevent further waste and fraud in city pensions.
   

COMPTROLLER LIU UNCOVERS POSTMORTEM PENSION PAYMENTS

   New York City Comptroller John C. Liu will be joined by New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn for an announcement on pension fraud.

   The announcement on the details will come on Monday, September 27, 2010 at 11:00 AM. Comptroller Liu, Deputy Comptroller H. Tina Kim, and DOI Commissioner Gill Hearn will be in attendance.This will happen at the Office of the Comptroller Municipal Building - Room 530 - 1 Centre Street New York, NY 10007.