Comptroller Stringer Finds Hundreds of Potentially Dangerous, Recalled Vehicles in City’s Fleet

Audit of Department of Sanitation shows DSNY has kept over 500 vehicles in use despite federal recall orders

With employees at risk, Comptroller Stringer calls for ‘top-to-bottom’ review of the city’s vehicle fleet

   New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer today uncovered that the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has kept hundreds of federally-recalled, defective cars in use, putting the safety of sanitation workers, drivers, and the public at risk. Despite federal recall orders from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as recently as January 2017 the DSNY was using 509 cars that may have had dangerous flaws. After discovering these hundreds of recalled vehicles in the DSNY’s fleet alone, Comptroller Stringer called for an immediate top-to-bottom review of the City’s entire fleet of cars to ensure other departments are not utilizing vehicles that have been federally recalled.

The NHTSA issues national recalls only in the most serious cases for vehicles with problems that could cause harm or injury to drivers and passengers. Recalled City-owned vehicles still in use by DSNY during the audit period had various issues, including seatbelt failures, defective brakes, airbags that deploy randomly, and ignitions that continued to run even after the keys were removed. The vehicles included Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota cars and trucks with model years between 1997 and 2015. The oversight was discovered during a routine audit of the City’s Department of Sanitation’s oversight of E-ZPass and parking pass use.

“This should be common sense. It’s almost hard to believe this is happening. Defective seatbelts, broken airbags, and brake failures aren’t minor issues – they’re potentially deadly problems, both to city workers and to everyday New Yorkers on the street,” New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said. “When a recall occurs, the City needs to act. We uncovered more than 500 recalled vehicles during this audit at just one agency, and there may be more in the City’s fleet at other agencies. City government must do a top-to-bottom inventory to find out how many more recalled vehicles are in use and make sure all of them are fixed.”

According to NHTSA, vehicles that are on the recall list must be repaired and NHTSA must be notified by the manufacturer. As of January 2017, neither DSNY nor the NHTSA were able to provide any evidence the 509 vehicles had been repaired or retired.

BOROUGH PRESIDENTS ADAMS & DIAZ TO HOST ‘GIFTED & TALENTED TASK FORCE’ HEARINGS

   Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. have announced the dates of the upcoming public hearings of their recently announced “Gifted & Talented Task Force,” which will study issues surrounding gifted and talented education in New York City public schools, as well as the admissions process for the city's specialized high schools.

The first public hearing will take place in Brooklyn on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street. The Bronx will host a second hearing on Monday, March 20, 2017, at the Bronx High School of Science, 75 West 205th Street. Both hearings will run from 6:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.

“I look forward to hearing a diverse set of voices at our gifted and talented education hearings in the Bronx and Brooklyn,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. "This input will be integral to shifting the delivery of specialized instruction in our city, as we push for reforms that gives every child high-quality opportunities in a more equitable and prosperous system.”

“Students all over this city have for too long been denied the opportunities to which they are entitled when it comes to gifted education,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.“Through these hearings, we are hoping to hear directly from parents, educators and other stakeholders about the challenges and successes they have experienced with the public school system, and we will use this information to craft positive changes on gifted education, test prep and other resources that our students deserve to have equal access to.

The task force, which was launched in January, is comprised of government officials, community members and parents who are familiar with the issues gifted students face in New York City schools.  The task force will release a set of recommendations for the future of gifted education in New York City later this year.

Statement from Councilman Eric Ulrich on Mayor de Blasio's Homeless Plan

   "Mayor de Blasio set expectations so incredibly low today that you have to wonder if he was even being serious.  Over the next four years, he aims to move a mere 2,500 people out of the shelter system.  This is an insult to the 60,000 plus New Yorkers who are desperately waiting for permanent housing. 

"Homelessness is at an all-time high. It is a serious issue and deserves serious, thoughtful solutions. Instead of feuding with the Governor, the Mayor should be fighting in Albany to bring back Section 8 vouchers. Instead of building more shelters, the Mayor should be investing in transitional housing programs that actually work by encouraging rehabilitation and upward mobility. The Mayor should also fire his DHS Commissioner, Steven Banks, for doing an abysmal job running this Agency. Until there are real programs, real solutions and real accountability - we will not see real progress or help for the people who need it the most."

ENGEL REMARKS ON ATTENDING THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS AND STATEMENT IN RESPONSE

   Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a senior member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, today delivered the following remarks in the House of Representatives:

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have long prided myself on working across the aisle to get things done for my constituents and all the American people. That’s what most people want: a government that grapples with tough issues in a constructive way. Unfortunately, since January 20th, the new Administration has shown no interest in working with the Congress on both sides to tackle problems, including Russia’s unlawful interference in last year’s election. That’s why I’ve decided not to stand on the aisle of the House chamber to shake the President’s hand during this joint session of Congress, as I have done in the past through Democratic and Republican administrations alike.  This will be the first time during my 29 years in the House that I’ve made this decision.

“I have deep respect for the Presidency, and I will attend the joint session. But that respect between branches must be mutual. The President has attacked the free press by calling it the ‘enemy of the people.’ He’s rejected America’s traditional role welcoming refugees, which have helped to make our country great. He’s cozied up to Vladimir Putin, the strongman who attacks our democracy. He’s moved to gut the Affordable Care Act and looked the other way when threats against the Jewish community have increased in recent year.

“This isn’t part of our normal political discourse.  This goes beyond ideological and political differences. The President needs to work with all people. And therefore, I will listen to what he has to say today, but I will not greet him and shake his hand. Thank you.”

Engel Statement In Response To The President’s Address

Congressman Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a leading member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement in response to the President’s address before a joint session of Congress:

“There were few surprises in President Trump’s speech tonight. I do appreciate that he started his speech by acknowledging the recent spike in anti-Semitic violence in this country, and we all must work together to put a stop to this troubling trend.

“As for the rest of the speech, it was heavy on rhetoric and light on details. It described a country that is both crumbling and prospering, limping along in despair while sprinting to new heights since his election. Sadly, the truth about our country’s true standing was left out, and as a result the American people are no closer to understanding how the President plans to deal with the real issues facing our nation.  

“President Trump’s rhetoric on immigration continues to be deeply troubling. I have spoken out for weeks against his dangerous and unconstitutional policy against Muslims, and tonight he added a troubling new dimension: a plan to publicly highlight crimes committed by immigrants for political purposes. His stories tonight left out any mention of people like Jeanette Vizguerra, a working mother of four from Denver who was called before an ICE hearing this month to await deportation. She’s currently taken sanctuary at a church in Denver and her story, though disheartening, is not unique.

“On health care, President Trump promised a system that will ‘expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better health care.’ Yet seconds later, he touted policies that do nothing to achieve those goals.

“We cannot hope to ‘expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted’ while simultaneously gutting the law that ensures coverage for substance abuse treatment. Defunding an organization that provides comprehensive reproductive health care is antithetical to the goal to ‘invest in women’s health.’ And “access to coverage” for Americans with pre-existing health conditions means nothing without the Affordable Care Act’s protections that keep insurers from charging those consumers more for care. Democrats have long pointed to the problems with such policies. Yet the President and Congressional Republicans remain more concerned with scoring political points than building on the ACA’s progress to address the challenges facing American families.

“President Trump was right to call education a civil rights issue, but the solution he offered only serves to set us backward. His call to take funding away from our public schools and divert it to private, charter, magnet, and religious schools will not lead to greater achievement. As a former public school teacher, I know that vouchers threaten our public schools by diverting valuable resources away from our education system and offer no real ‘choice’ for the overwhelming majority of students. We must continue to invest in public education and ensure that all Americans have access to free, quality schools.

“I’ve always prided myself on working across the aisle, and if there is one thing on which we can all agree it’s that our country faces some real challenges. But tonight’sspeech did little to address those challenges in a meaningful way.”

DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PLAN TO TURN THE TIDE ON HOMELESSNESS WITH BOROUGH-BASED APPROACH; PLAN WILL REDUCE SHELTER FACILITIES BY FORTY FIVE PERCENT

City will end the use of 360 hotel and cluster shelter sites; Administration projects first reduction in New York City’s shelter population in a decade 

   Mayor Bill de Blasio, standing alongside faith and community leaders, today unveiled a comprehensive borough-based plan to reduce the footprint of New York City's homeless shelter system and drive down the population of homeless New Yorkers relying on shelter.

In a speech at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, before an audience of nonprofit service providers, community leaders, and homeless New Yorkers, the Mayor outlined the timing and logistics of his plan to end the use of 360 cluster sites and commercial hotel facilities. Replacing the sites will be 90 traditional shelters distributed across the five boroughs. The new network will be able to more effectively house the homeless near the communities, jobs, school, houses of worship and support systems needed to help them get back on track. 

This announcement builds on reforms underway as a result of the Mayor’s 90-day review of homeless services, which comprehensively examined City homeless policies for the first time in decades. This review, which included focus groups and feedback from both nonprofit service providers and homeless New Yorkers, produced 46 critical reforms now underway to increase prevention, address street homelessness, improve shelter conditions and strengthen supports to help homeless New Yorkers transition from shelter to permanent housing.

“Today, we turn the page by launching a new, 21st century response to the 21st century reality of homelessness,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “For years, too many families have struggled against rising rents to stay in the homes and communities they love. Our plan will continue to bring more people off the streets, reduce the number of shelter sites by almost half, while strengthening services and keeping homeless New Yorkers closer to the supports they need to help them get back on their feet. It will take a united effort and the help of many New Yorkers, but together will turn the tide of homelessness.”

“This is the next phase of our administration’s comprehensive efforts to better serve the homeless and communities across New York City,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services. “We will end the use of cluster apartments and commercial hotels, implement a borough-based placement system, and forge a new compact with communities.  Homelessness is a is citywide problem that requires a citywide solution, and we ask all New Yorkers to lend their compassion and support to their homeless neighbors as we work to implement this plan.”

“Homelessness increased 115 percent in New York City between 1994 and 2014,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks. “In response, this administration implemented an aggressive prevention-first strategy that provided rental assistance to 161,000 households for whom an emergency could have resulted in eviction and increased funding for legal services tenfold that helped reduce evictions by 24 percent and keep 40,000 New Yorkers in their homes. At the same time, we provided rental assistance to help 51,000 New Yorkers move out of shelter and avoid coming into shelter and redoubled our efforts to help our homeless neighbors off the streets, including nearly 700 individuals since the launch of HOME-STAT. This plan is the next step in that systematic approach—a citywide roadmap for more effectively addressing the homelessness impacting all five boroughs.” 

The City's 114-page plan outlines a vision that relies on three key strategies to address the homelessness crisis, integrating current successful tactics with a new, reimagined shelter strategy:

·         Continue to implement an aggressive prevention-first strategy that keeps more people in their homes by making housing more affordable, stopping illegal evictions, and connecting New Yorkers who are struggling to resources that will help them stabilize their lives;

·         Continue to actualize the 46 reforms identified throughout the 90-day review of homeless services, making long-needed operational and other reforms to better serve New Yorkers on the verge of homelessness and homeless New Yorkers in shelter;

·         Launch today's reimagined shelter strategy that will:

(1) Completely eliminate the use of cluster apartment units by the end of 2021 and commercial hotel facilities by the end of 2023;

(2) Reduce the current number of shelter sites by 45 percent; and

(3) Keep homeless New Yorkers closer to their communities and supports that they need.

The City will eliminate the use of 360 cluster sites and commercial hotel facilities and replace them with approximately 90 new shelter facilities and 30 expanded existing sites. The City estimates opening about 20 new shelters annually over the next five years, which will require a combination of building new locations and renovating existing buildings. At the same time, prevention and rehousing initiatives will reduce the current number of homeless New Yorkers in shelter by 2,500 people over five years – the first projected systemic reduction of New York City’s homeless shelter population in a decade.

The plan acknowledges that in the past, the City has not always sufficiently brought communities to the table as partners in addressing homelessness. Homeless shelters would often be opened in the middle of the night with little or no notice provided to surrounding communities. This administration pledges to continue its commitment to providing at least 30 days’ notice to the surrounding community prior to opening a new shelter, while maintaining robust engagement throughout the process that is responsive to community input and creating a community advisory board after the site opens. For the first time, the administration will also notify communities simultaneously when renting rooms at commercial hotels during this transition period while new shelter capacity comes online.

Click here to access a copy of the full plan, "Turning the Tide on Homelessness, Neighborhood by Neighborhood." 

Housing New Yorkers: Keeping People in Their Homes, Enhancing Street Outreach, Securing Permanent Housing

Homelessness in New York City is a challenge that has grown over decades, with the Department of Homeless Services shelter census increasing 115 percent between 1994 and 2014. Since 2014, the de Blasio Administration has worked to systematically address the city’s homelessness problem:

·         Launched HOME-STAT, the nation’s most comprehensive street outreach program, doubling the number of street homeless outreach workers from 191 to 387 and increasing the availability of case management and other targeted services tailored to the individual needs of homeless New Yorkers. The City’s HOME-STAT outreach teams—mobilized citywide 24 hours per day, seven days a week—help bring homeless individuals into shelter, including 690 individuals helped off the streets last year.

·         Increased investments in rental assistance, eviction prevention services, and other rehousing programs since 2014, including a tenfold increase in legal services for tenants from $6.4 million to $62 million – which helped more than 50,000 New Yorkers transition to or keep their permanent housing, with evictions down 24 percent between 2013 and 2016.

·         Implementing a 15,000-unit supportive housing plan, the largest municipal commitment ever to build and expand housing with supportive services, including mental and physical healthcare access, alcohol and substance use programs, and other social services. It is a proven, cost-effective approach to delivering stability and permanently housing New Yorkers who struggle with mental illness, homelessness and substance use while reducing reliance on homeless shelters, hospitals, and mental health institutions. 

Assemblyman Dinowitz, Joined by Fellow State Lawmakers and Riders Alliance, Protests the Executive Budget Proposal to Cut MTA Budget by $65 Million.

Assemblyman Dinowitz, Joined by Fellow State Lawmakers and Riders Alliance,  Protests the Executive Budget Proposal to Cut MTA Budget by $65 Million.

   Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz attended a press conference hosted  by the Riders Alliance to protest of the Executive Budget proposal to reduce the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) budget by $65 million.

This year, the Executive Budget Proposal outlined a plan to provide the MTA  $244 Million for the Payroll Mobility Tax transfer. A reduction of $65 million dollars from the anticipated $309 million. Even with this reduction, the Governor’s office argues that overall the MTA budget is being increased. However this “increase” does not account for the funds the MTA would have made if not for the Governor’s 2011 cut to the Payroll Mobility Tax transfer that helps to fund the MTA.

In 2011, the Governor Cuomo and lawmakers scaled back the Payroll Mobility Tax transfer that but promised to replace the missing funds every year “dollar for dollar”. The tax contributed around $1.5 billion to the MTA but was reduced to $1.2 billion after the scale-back.  

Every year since that time, the State has largely kept that promise, contributing approximately $309 million a year to offset the funds lost from the 2011 tax cuts.

This year the proposed $244 million falls far short of the funds the MTA would have had if the Payroll Mobility Tax had remained in place.

As the newly appointed Chairman of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, which oversees the MTA, Assemblyman Dinowitz believes this proposed cut to be untenable and has written a letter cosigned 45 other Assembly Members opposing the proposal.

“A promise is a promise. When we restructured the Payroll Mobility Tax in 2011, the Governor, the Legislature promised to make up the funds to the MTA. Each year we have kept that promise, budgeting $309 million annually on replacement funds. This year, however, the Executive Budget cuts that amount by 21%, which is $65 million dollars. That is unacceptable. The promise must be kept. The money must be restored and that is what I will fight to do as we negotiate a state budget,” said Assemblyman Dinowitz.

The MTA, which has been experiencing an overall decline in ridership as well as general service problems and delays needs this money badly. Now is not the time to make cuts to the organization relied upon by 9 million people.

SENATOR KLEIN HONORS MONTEFIORE SURGICAL TEAM THAT SEPARATED CONJOINED TWINS

Members of the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Were Presented with Resolution for Separating Conjoined Twins Anias and Jadon McDonald

Senators Jeff Klein and  David Valesky, Senate Health Committee Vice-Chairman, honored the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore’s team of surgeons, doctors and nurses for successfully separating craniopagus conjoined twins Anias and Jadon with a Legislative Resolution on the Senate floor today. The team, made up of approximately 50 highly-skilled medical professionals and led by renowned neurosurgeon Dr. James T. Goodrich, included  Dr. Oren Tepper, Dr. Joaquim Farinhas, and nurse practitioner Kamilah A. Dowling, among many others.

The McDonald twins are the seventh pair of craniopagus conjoined twins Dr. James T. Goodrich and the team at CHAM have separated with various surgical teams around the world and the second ever in The Bronx. Dr. Goodrich is widely considered a leading expert on this immensely complicated procedure, however, this particular case proved to be the most challenging because of the degree at which the boys brains were intertwined.

Anias and Jason McDonald were conjoined at the brain and skull when they were born near Chicago and traveled all the way to The Bronx to receive care. At just thirteen months old, the twins underwent a harrowing and awe-inspiring 27-hour surgery that has given them a chance to live relatively healthy lives. Despite the challenges of the surgery, the McDonald twins made history and surprised many experts with the fastest recovery times ever with a procedure of this nature.

“I am so proud of the level of innovation, professionalism and expertise that exists at Montefiore, right here in my backyard in The Bronx. Doctors Safyer, Goodrich and Tepper are truly leading the way in the healthcare field through a constant quest for advancement and they are proving it with every life they save, like those of Anias and Jadon. Thanks to this wonderful team at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, the McDonald boys will share the inseparable bond of twins through happy separate lives,” said Senator Klein.

“The incredibly talented team at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore is a perfect example of the high-quality health care that can be found in New York. Today reminds us of the lives we can change when we continue to invest in our hospitals and improve the delivery of care for our residents throughout the state. I am thrilled to stand with Senator Klein in congratulating this group of professionals,” said Senator Valesky.

“We are humbled and grateful that our friends in the Legislature are recognizing our work today. This operation represents the best of what Montefiore is and does. The separation of Jadon and Anias required teamwork on every level, along with clinical excellence and expertise, innovative research, and a profound commitment to the entire McDonald family,” said Steven Safyer M.D., President & CEO of Montefiore Medical Center.

Through the use of cutting edge, three-dimensional imaging of the boys’ brains and skulls, the surgical and medical teams were able to carefully plan each step of the highly complex procedure well in advance.

The story of such a medical feat and the inspiring story of the McDonald twins captured an audience of millions around the globe and many continue to watch the progress of the two.

Medical Doctor Charged In Manhattan Federal Court For Fentanyl-Related Overdose Death

   Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing of a complaint charging AVINOAM LUZON with selling fentanyl that resulted in the death of an Upper West Side man.

The complaint alleges that, on or about October 22, 2016, LUZON distributed fentanyl that resulted in the death of Gabriel Tramiel, age 32, of Manhattan. LUZON was arrested this morning and will be presented today before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As a medical doctor and graduate student in public health, Avinoam Luzon was supposed to help the sick get healthy, but instead he allegedly helped fuel the nation’s most serious health crisis, the opioid abuse epidemic. As an alleged drug dealer with a medical degree, Luzon sold fentanyl to Gabriel Tramiel, a 32-year-old New Yorker, and it allegedly killed him.”

NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said: “We will continue to investigate every single overdose across this city and to make arrests like this. Our goal: to protect life and deter those who peddle these deadly opioids.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint[1] filed in federal court:

Gabriel Tramiel was found dead by his wife in the early morning hours of October 23, 2016. Tramiel was transported to the hospital and was examined by a medical examiner from the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner who determined that a fentanyl overdose was the cause of Tramiel’s death. Text messages recovered from Tramiel’s phone show a conversation with LUZON the evening of October 22, 2016, in which LUZON requested payment from Tramiel for narcotics and the two arranged a meeting to exchange narcotics for payment. Surveillance video recovered from the apartment building where Tramiel died shows Tramiel inhaling the contents of a nasal spray bottle in the building elevator several hours before he was found dead.

LUZON, 32, of New York, New York, has been charged with one count of narcotics distribution resulting in the death of another, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentence for the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding work of the NYPD for its investigative efforts and ongoing support and assistance with the case. He also thanked the New York State Department of Health’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement for their assistance with this investigation.

The prosecution of this case is being overseen by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin Portlock is in charge of the case.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

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[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the descriptions of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.