THANK YOU
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Monday, September 19, 2016
Ischia Bravo for Assembly - THANK YOU
Those Who Make Money Out of the Suffering of the Poor and the Homeless
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
By Senator Rev. Rubén DÃaz
District 32 Bronx County, New York
You should know that there are many people who are making a lot of money out of the suffering of the poor and the homeless.
It is important for you to know that as the homeless population in the City of New York nears 60,000 and everyone talks about ways we can help the homeless – and even though the City and State spend exorbitant amounts of taxpayer dollars on homeless families, the money doesn’t really go to the homeless. It goes to people who are taking advantage of the situation, who will go
Some individuals who are exploiting the homeless situation are landlords, who raise the rents higher and higher until they push their tenants out onto the streets. This way, their empty apartments can be converted to “cluster sites” or shelter units.
Whereas in the past, a landlord may have been charging $1,000 per month for an apartment for a lease-holding tenant, under these new circumstances, that same landlord can get $109 per night, in some cases up to $3,400 per month to use these same apartments as municipal shelters.
Those landlords have many friends in high places, and they are protected by powerful people.
You should also know that throughout the City of New York, they are building more and more self-storage facilities than housing units. There are places where every two blocks you will find a self-storage facility being built. These storage facilities are a growth industry that feed off the homeless situation.
The owners of these storage facilities don’t have to employ too many people, pay workers insurance, health insurance and unemployment benefits, because the homeless people who use the facility have to do all of the manual labor themselves to store their furniture and belongings.
As you can see, my dear friend, the self-storage facilities not only feed off of the homeless but also use them to do work for them.
While families are being displaced from their apartments and are being thrown into the streets, the City of New York will place them in cluster site shelters and at the same time, the City will pay the storage costs for the families’ furniture and belongings.
My dear friend, it is important for you know that each storage unit can cost up to $150 to $200 per month. Add that to the moving costs the City pays to relocate the evicted family from their home to a shelter – which can run between $500 to $1000 per move, plus the $3,400 landlord charge and the administrative costs to run the shelter. Wow!
Some New York City cluster site shelters only permit families to reside there for 6 months, and if the family continues to remain homeless, more money is spent to transport the families to yet another shelter or cluster housing site. The tax dollars that New Yorkers pay to transport and shuttle homeless families from shelter to shelter continue to keep homeless families with no stability while making other people rich.
My dear reader, it’s not just me who says this. The Coalition for the Homeless website states: “The City’s “cluster-site” program creates powerful, perverse incentives for owners to displace lease-holding tenants in favor of lucrative shelter deals with the City.”
It is important for you to know that there are motels throughout the City of New York that are being transformed into cluster housing shelter sites for families. Without kitchen facilities available, additional funds have to be provided to feed families in those sites. These meals may merely consist of cold sandwiches, and again, the providers get to make even more money.
Instead of using our taxpayer dollars to make some people rich, like paying landlords three times the rent in cluster sites and shelters, and paying for the cost of storage units, along with any number of other expenses that don’t directly help our families, the City of New York should be building long-term permanent housing for our families.
Ladies and gentlemen, taking some words out of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s Drum Major Instinct Sermon, I would like to say:
You don't have to have a college degree. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics. You only need to have common sense to know that the City of New York is spending so much money to help some people get rich at the expense of the suffering of the poor and the homeless. Common sense tells us that taxpayers would save so much money and help our families and communities if they would use our money to help provide permanent housing for the homeless.
I am Senator Reverend Rubén DÃaz, and this is what you should know.
DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION RELEASES MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016
Decreases in emergency response times, murders, traffic fatalities
Increases in graduation rates, IDNYC cardholders, construction inspections, housing & preservation starts under Housing NY
The de Blasio administration today released the Mayor’s Management Report (MMR) for fiscal year 2016, an analysis of City agencies’ performance from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. In fiscal year 2016, 59% of indicators show improved or stable performance, compared to 57% in fiscal year 2015 and 56% in fiscal year 2014. For critical indicators, which are key measures of agency performance, 56% show improved or stable performance in fiscal year 2016, compared to 56% in fiscal year 2015 and 55% in fiscal year 2014. The MMR presents more than 2,000 metrics from City agencies, showing the City’s performance in providing services to New Yorkers.
“From increases in the number of IDNYC cards and graduation rates, to decreases in murders and emergency response times, we’re seeing improvements across the board in key areas,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This MMR highlights all of the hard work we’ve done to lift up all New Yorkers and make this city a stronger and more equitable place to live.”
“The MMR is a vital instrument of public accountability, transparency, and data-driven performance management, and we’re proud of its evolution under Mayor de Blasio’s leadership,” said Mindy Tarlow, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations. “From fundamental service delivery that New Yorkers count on every day, to innovative, multi-agency initiatives such as ThriveNYC, the MMR reflects the far-reaching work of City government.”
Key Improvements Include:
· NYPD: Murder and non-negligent manslaughter decreased 2% (from 348 to 341); murder related to domestic violence decreased 13.1% (from 61 to 53); major felony crimes in schools decreased 13.4% (from 614 to 532); other criminal activities in schools decreased 2.9% (from 2,286 to 2,219); and burglary decreased 8.6% (from 15,828 to 14,463). End-to-end average response time decreased for all crimes in progress by 23 seconds (from 10:58 to 10:35); for critical crimes in progress by 20 seconds from (7:29 to 7:09); and for serious crimes in progress by 14 seconds (from 9:38 to 9:24)
· FDNY: End-to-end combined response time to life-threatening medical emergencies by ambulance & fire units decreased by 1 second (from 8:18 to 8:17) and by ambulance units by 4 seconds (from 9:13 to 9:09); structural fires decreased 1.0%, (from 27,189 to 26,922).
· DOT: Citywide traffic fatalities decreased 5.2% (from 249 to 236); traffic fatalities of motorists and passengers decreased 6.7% (from 90 to 84); lane miles resurfaced citywide, in-house plus contracted, is 1,281 – the largest number of lane miles resurfaced citywide in more than 25 years; Staten Island Ferry ridership increased from 21,911,000 to 23,067,000, a change of 5.3%; Citi Bike trips increased 39.6% (from 8,765,000 to 12,234,000); annual Select Bus Service ridership increased 27.8% (from 45,200,000 to 57,762,000).
· DOE: The four-year graduation rate in School Year 2015 rose two percentage points to 70.5%; English results increased in each of the City’s 32 Community School Districts across all five boroughs; students in grades 3 to 8 meeting/exceeding standards in Math increased 1.2 percentage points (from 35.2% to 36.4%) and meeting/exceeding standards in English increased 7.6 percentage points (from 30.4% to 38%); students in grades 3 to 8 scoring below standards and progressing into a higher level in English increased 8.8 percentage points (from 29.5% to 38.3%); students in grades 3 to 8 progressing from below standards to meeting standards in English increased 6.2 percentage points (from 12.2% to 18.4%); parents attending parent-teacher conferences increased 3.8% (from 1,910,000 to 1,983,000).
· DPR: Capital projects completed increased 15.5% (from 84 to 97); total recreation center attendance increased 25.0% (from 3,422,683 to 4,277,349).
· DOHMH: New tuberculosis cases (CY preliminary) decreased 1.7% (from 585 to 575); new HIV diagnoses (CY preliminary) decreased 9.9% (from 2,718 to 2,449); childhood blood lead levels decreased 4.2% (from 818 to 784); and units of supportive housing available to persons with serious mental illness increased 5.3% (from 5.7 to 6.0).
· ACS: Substantiated abuse and/or neglect reports for children in child care decreased 12.5 percentage points (from 27.6% to 15.1%).
· HPD: Affordable units completed under Housing NY jumped 395% (from 2,079 to 10,292); affordable units completed jumped 82.1% (from 10,128 to 18,442); heat and hot water complaints reported fell10.3% (from 122,612 to 109,950).
· NYCHA: Applicants placed through Section 8 vouchers increased 91.3% (from 892 to 1,706); resident job placements increased 30.1% from (1,084 to 1,410); time to resolve emergency service requests decreased 11.0% (from 14.7 to 13.1 hours); turnaround days for vacant apartments decreased 14.0% (from 58.1 to 50.0).
· DOC: Serious injury to staff as a result of inmate assault on staff decreased by 42.9%. Total inmate assault on staff decreased by 8.5%.
· DHS: The percentage of households and people who returned to shelter within one year after exiting to permanent housing decreased by 6.5 percentage points for families with children (from 16.5% to 10%); by 5.5 percentage points for adult families (from 14.2% to 8.7%); and by 0.3 percentage points for single adults (from 3.6% to 3.2%).
· DEP: Water main breaks decreased 29.8% (from 563 to 395).
· EDC: Businesses served by industry-focused programmatic initiatives (including NYCEDC’s incubator network and centers for excellence, technology competitions, partnership funds and programmatic ventures) nearly doubled (from 1,366 to 2,722); average monthly ridership on the East River ferry increased 16.3% (from 113,366 to 131,896).
· TLC: Active medallion taxis that are accessible increased 53.1% (from 572 to 876); Active Boro Taxis that are accessible increased 12.3% (from 1,240 to 1,393).
· DSNY: Streets rated acceptably clean increased 2.3 percentage points (from 92.7% to 95.0%).
· HRA: SNAP application timeliness rate increased 12.5 percentage points (from 81.4% to 93.9%); cash assistance application timeliness rate increased 3.1 percentage points (from 94.4% to 97.5%).
· 311: Wait time for calls decreased 7 seconds, from 23 to 16 seconds.
· IDNYC: total number of IDNYC cards issued increased 62.5% (from 334,794 to 544,083).
Mosholu Parkland 1st Annual Fall Festival Saturday, Oct 8th, 12PM-4PM @ Mosholu Playground
The Mosholu Parkland 1st Annual Fall Festival is being held on Saturday, October 8th 12PM-4PM at the Kossuth Playground, East Mosholu Parkway North between Jerome Avenue and Van Cortlandt Ave.
Join your neighbors and friends for a fall fun day of activities that include - a giant spider web obstacle, games, crafts and prizes, daffodil planting project, and guitar by Steve Oates.
This is being hosted by the Friends of Mosholu Parkway.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
CORRECTION OFFICERS SENTENCED IN ASSAULT OF INMATE AND ATTEMPT TO COVER IT UP
Former Department of Correction Security Chief Receives 6 ½ Years in Prison,
Captain Gets 5 ½ Years in Beating of Inmate Who Glared at Chief
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that eight New York City
Department of Correction Officers—including a former DOC security chief—have been
sentenced for their roles in assaulting an inmate and attempting to cover up the beating in a
Rikers Island jail.
District Attorney Clark said, “I hope these sentences will deter those who think a
uniform and a badge gives them license to brutalize inmates or cover for officers who do.
A security chief and a captain received 6 ½ and 5 ½ years respectively, proving that neither
rank nor position will protect you from prosecution. These Correction Officers must now
pay the price, as will anyone who commits a crime of violence or corruption on Rikers
Island.”
District Attorney Clark said Eliseo Perez Jr., former Assistant Chief for Security who
ordered the beating of Jahmal Lightfoot, was sentenced to 6½ years in prison and three
years post-release supervision, and Captain Gerald Vaughn was sentenced to 5½ years in
prison and three years post-release supervision. Correction Officers Alfred Rivera, Tobias
Parker, David Rodriguez and Jose Parra were sentenced to 4½ years in prison and 2 ½
years post-release supervision.
District Attorney Clark said that the defendants were convicted in June after a 12-
week trial before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett of first-degree Attempted
Gang Assault, first-degree Attempted Assault, second-degree Assault, first-degree
Falsifying Business Records, and Official Misconduct. Rivera, Parker, Rodriguez, and
Parra, were also found guilty of first-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing, and
Vaughn was also convicted of first-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing and
Official Misconduct.
Correction Officers Harmon Frierson and Dwayne Maynard, convicted of Official
Misconduct, a Class A Misdemeanor, were sentenced to one-year Conditional Discharge
and 500 hours of community service.
According to trial testimony, on July 11, 2012, Perez, while overseeing an
institutional search of the jail, ordered members of the Emergency Services Unit to
assault inmate Jahmal Lightfoot in the intake area at the George R. Vierno Center.
According to testimony, after Lightfoot locked eyes with him, Perez said, “This guy
thinks he’s tough; when you get him to the intake area, take him to the Intake Search Pen
and knock his ------ teeth out.”
Minutes later, Rivera, Parker, Parra, and Rodriguez carried out the order in the
Intake Search Pen, which was covered with a sheet and had no video surveillance
cameras. An officer held down Lightfoot’s arms, another held down his legs and the
other three kicked Lightfoot in the face with their boots about a dozen times, causing
fractures to both of his eye sockets and other facial bones. While the beating was taking
place, Perez, Vaughn, Frierson, and Maynard stood guard directly outside the search pen.
The defendants were convicted of falsifying their DOC Use of Force Reports.
They had claimed that Lightfoot had attacked Rivera with a sharpened piece of metal
and they used force to restrain Lightfoot. Frierson and Maynard, who did not
participate in the beating, were found guilty of Official Misconduct for making false
entries in their reports to conceal the commission of the crime.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Lawrence Piergrossi,
now Deputy Chief of Trial Bureau 50; Pishoy Yacoub, now Deputy Director of the
Litigation Training Unit; and Raymond Valerio, Director of DNA prosecutions. They
had tried the case as assistants in the Public Integrity Bureau.
News From - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman
Protecting Children From Online Tracking Technology
This week, Attorney General Schneiderman announced settlements with Viacom, Mattel, Hasbro and JumpStart Games for their violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). In a two-year investigation called “Operation Child Tracker,” the Attorney General’s office found that websites operated by these companies had tracking technology that illegally enabled third-party venders to track children’s online activity, which is in violation of COPPA. The office will continue its investigation to hold accountable those who violate the law by tracking children online.
Speaking On Civil And Religious Rights
On Thursday evening, Attorney General Schneiderman co-hosted a community forum on civil and religious rights in Westchester. At the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Attorney General addressed religious freedom and the Religious Rights Initiative, a project of the Civil Rights Bureau that addresses religious rights issues and enforces anti-discrimination laws.
Remembering the 1971 Attica Prison Uprising
On the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, Attorney General Schneiderman, Director of the New York State Archives Thomas Rullers and State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, announced the creation of a new public website that hosts a digital collection of documents relating to investigations and litigations arising from the 1971 prison uprising and its aftermath. The Attica uprising began when inmates took several prison guards hostage and took control of parts of the prison. After a four-day siege, the prison was retaken by state police and prison officers. This accessible database will allow all to pay homage to the lives lost and those forever changed as a result of the uprising.
Have a question, comment, or complaint? Click here. You can also learn more about the various initiatives of the Attorney General's office by visiting our website at ag.ny.gov. You can also call our General Hotline: 800-771-7755.
MAYOR DE BLASIO, COMMISSIONER O’NEILL, AND COMMISSIONER NIGRO RE: EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA
We are going to provide an update. I want to go over a couple of key points, and you are going to hear from NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill, Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro. We will be joined momentarily by FBI Assistant Director Bill Sweeney who will be available for questions.
Tonight New York City experienced a very serious incident. All elements of our first responders have been a part of the operation here: NYPD, FDNY, Office of Emergency Management, obviously our federal partners, FBI and others working with us. So all hands are on deck. Injuries are significant. You will hear from Commissioner Nigro on the details of the injuries. But at this point we can confirm that none of those injured are likely to die.
We also want to be upfront saying that there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident. This is preliminary information. It’s something we will be investigating very carefully but there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection. I also want to affirm that based on what we know at this hour, there is no specific connection to the incident in New Jersey. It is again too early to say anything definitive on those questions, but there is no specific evidence of a connection at this point. I want to say more broadly, there is no specific and credible threat against New York City at this point in time from any terror organization. So as we are analyzing what happened here, we are doing against the backdrop but we have no credible and specific threat at this moment. But we do want to be very clear, the early indications – the initial indications is this was an intentional act. We are going to have a lot more to say in the coming hours as we have more – a detailed analysis – but we believe at this point in time this was an intentional act.
I want to assure all New Yorkers that the NYPD and all other agencies are at full alert and that our anti-terror capacity in particular is at full alert, our Critical Response Command and our other key units, our Strategic Response Group, our Emergency Services Unit – all are on alert and all are dealing with this situation and being vigilant all over the city at this point in time. And we have in this city the most advanced anti-terror capacity of any city in this country and obviously the largest police force of any city in the country – all ready to ensure our safety.
Now, I want to be clear whatever the cause, whatever the intention here, New Yorkers will not be intimidated. We are not going to let anyone change who we are or how we go about our lives. We have the best police force in the country and a number of other key agencies, FDNY, OEM, etcetera making sure we will be safe. We are at this point of course tracing every lead and every potential – it’s too early to give you any details of the investigation because it has just begun over the last few hours. I want to say up front we are not going into a lot of details about what we are finding so far. It is an investigation that will take certainly a few more hours before we can give you more. But, we do want to urge all New Yorkers, anyone who may have information related to this incident, anyone who is an eyewitness, anyone who may have video, the NYPD needs that. Please reach out immediately if you have any information that we can use, call 1-800-5-7-7-TIPS, 1-800-5-7-7-T-I-P-S, if you have any pertinent information.
Finally, a second site as we speak, is being treated by NYPD. It is 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. There is an investigation underway and a substantial NYPD presence on that street and that street has been cleared as this investigation continues. With that I want to turn it over to Commissioner James O’Neill.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill: Thank you Mr. Mayor. At approximately 8:30 this evening, officers from the 10th Precinct ground patrol, driving westbound on West 23rd Street when they witnessed a large explosion – in front of 1-3-1 West 23rd Street. The officers immediately called for additional units and ambulances. The NYPD Bomb Squad and the FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force were requested to respond.
As of this time, the exact cause of the explosion has not been determined. The investigation into this incident is active and at this time an extensive search is being conducted. As the Mayor spoke, there is an ongoing situation on 27th Street right now. The area around the explosion site is being treated as a crime scene. As of this time there is no evidence to indicate that this explosion is the result of any natural gas cause. Again, the exact nature and cause of this explosion has not yet been determined. As of the most recent information, there have been 29 injuries reported. One of these injuries may be considered serious. Commissioner Nigro will talk about that in a couple of minutes.
The Fire Department is currently assessing the extent of any possible structural damage resulting from this explosion. And as further information is developed, we will provide it and give you updates. Commissioner Nigro.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro: Well our units heard this actually from their locations and joined the NYPD members on the scene, searched the buildings that were affected and as Commissioner O’Neill said there were 29 injuries here, one considered serious. Twenty–four of these people have been transported to area hospitals with various degrees of scrapes, abrasions from glass, from metal. Thankfully, none of these are life-threatening injuries and the 24 patients that have been removed are not in serious condition, other than the one patient with a puncture.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
A second suspected explosive devise was found, and was dismantled before it could explode.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Sudanese Man Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To 7 Years In Prison For Bank Fraud, Credit Card Fraud, And Identity Theft Schemes Exceeding $3 Million
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ASHRAF LAKOU was sentenced to seven years in prison for bank fraud, credit card fraud, passport fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges in connection with orchestrating a scheme to use stolen victim identification information to make fraudulent credit card purchases and to defraud financial institutions by depositing counterfeit checks into accounts controlled by LAKOU and his co-conspirators. Through these schemes, LAKOU and his co-conspirators attempted to defraud individuals, businesses, and financial institutions out of more than $3 million. On April 12, 2016, LAKOU pled guilty before United States Magistrate Judge James L. Cott. United States District Judge Victor Marrero imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Ashraf Lakou engaged in all means of fraud, from bank and credit card fraud to identity theft and passport fraud. Today, Lakou received a significant sentence matching the seriousness of his crimes.”
According to the criminal complaint, indictment, and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, as well as statements made at related court proceedings:
From September 2013 through July 2015, LAKOU and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to defraud businesses and financial institutions by obtaining checks made out to legitimate businesses, opening fraudulent bank accounts in the names of the victim businesses, depositing the checks into the fraudulent accounts, and withdrawing funds from the fraudulent accounts. LAKOU and his co-conspirators carried out this scheme by, among other means, stealing checks from the mail, submitting false documentation in connection with bank account applications, and forging the signatures of other actual persons.
From May 2014 through July 2015, LAKOU and his co-conspirators also engaged in a scheme to commit credit card fraud by using stolen credit card information to make fraudulent purchases of jewelry and other merchandise. LAKOU and his co-conspirators carried out this credit card fraud scheme by, among other means, adding their own names as authorized users of pre-existing victim credit cards without the knowledge or consent of the victims and by submitting fraudulent applications for new credit card accounts in the names and identities of their victims.
In addition to the prison term, LAKOU, 27, of Manhattan, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $557,894.50 in restitution, $557,894.50 in forfeiture, and a $600 special assessment.
Zoheb Qamran, 29, of Manhattan, and Jessica Hattar, 26, of Manhattan, have been separately charged in connection with the bank fraud and credit card fraud schemes. On May 19, 2016, Qamran pled guilty to credit card fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges before United States Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses. On May 6, 2016, Hattar pled guilty to credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft charges before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, in the investigation.