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Monday, April 24, 2017
This Week at KRVC
Bronx Council for Environmental Quality - Please ATTEND - Losing Public Parks - Tues 4.25
Did you know that the City is proposing to use public parkland for private gain?
They want to give the people’s parkland to a private entity for a large mixed use complex for housing and commerce.
Come out Tuesday, April 25th, 2017
to share your concern and opinions!
Bronx Community Board 4 Public Hearing
Date: Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Time: 6 pm – please, arrive early
Bronx Museum of the Arts.
1040 Grand Concourse (corner of 165th St)
Bronx, NY 10456
Note: Please, arrive early as you have to sign in. Be prepared, you only have 2 minutes, bring a written statement. Ask the Community Board to please vote against using waterfront parkland for housing and economic development.
Here are flyers in English and Spanish to share with your friends and neighbors: http://www.bceq.org/2017/04/
In addition to emails and phone calls, here is the beginning of some citywide news: http://sohojournal.com/
NEW SUNY CHANCELLOR CALLED ON TO SUPPORT DIVERSITY ISSUES
Statement from Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, Chair of the Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force on the selection of Kristina Johnson to be the next Chancellor of the State University of New York
“On behalf of the Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, I welcome Dr. Kristina M. Johnson to New York and wish her tremendous success in her new capacity as Chancellor of the State University of New York. For over a decade, the Task Force has worked directly with SUNY chancellors, its Board of Directors and top staff to correct decades of neglect and disinterest in issues of diversity, minority student success, and inclusion. There are now over 123,000 minority students in SUNY and its 64 campuses are experiencing increased growth in minority student enrollment that will become the norm.
This collaboration has yielded considerable results which include:
· the creation of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion;
· the creation and adoption of the most ambitious and comprehensive diversity policy of any public college system;
· the creation of the Hispanic Leadership Institute to address the absolute absence of Latinos in executive level positons on any of its 64 campuses;
· co-hosting the Latino Leadership in Higher Education Summit;
· the naming of the first Latino to a post of Vice Chancellor;
· increased funding for the minority graduate fellowship program; and
· a focus on improving the ranks of minority faculty and staff throughout the system.
We are grateful to Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, Board Chairman Carl McCall, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Dr. Alexander N. Cartwright and Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Carlos Medina for the strong leadership they have exhibited in embracing and delivering on issues that spell success for our communities.
The SUNY Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has become a national model of best practices and has received national awards for its groundbreaking work. In addition, the recently adopted diversity policies by the Board of Trustees to improve inclusion and address the lack of minority faculty and professional staff are just now beginning to be fully implemented.
Unequivocal support for the full and forceful implementation of the adopted diversity policies, increased attention to the financial resources needed by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and expanding the capacity of the newly created Hispanic Leadership Institute are actions we look forward to seeing from Dr. Johnson.
The Task Force stands here as a resource and a partner in SUNY’s work to showcase the strength that diversity brings to academia, student success and our society as a whole. We look forward to working with the new chancellor on all these fronts.”
MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES 3-K FOR ALL
City launches plan to bring free, full-day, high-quality early childhood education to every three-year-old, building on success of Pre-K for All
Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced 3-K for All, the most ambitious effort in U.S. history to provide universal, free, full-day, high-quality early childhood education for every three-year-old child regardless of family income. 3-K for All will build on the success of Pre-K for All – through which the City has more than tripled the number of four-year-olds enrolled in free, full-day, high-quality Pre-K – and is part of a broader effort to create a continuum of high-quality early care and education programs for New York City children from birth to five years old. Research has found every dollar invested in high-quality early education saves taxpayers as much as $13 long-term.
New York City is starting the path to 3-K for All for fall of 2017, aiming to serve over 11,000 three-year-olds in new and enhanced free, full-day, high-quality seats. This includes the first year of a two-year expansion to create hundreds of new, free, full-day, high-quality seats in District 7 in the South Bronx and District 23 in Brownsville. By fall of 2018, we will have a seat for every three-year-old living in those districts that wants one, and project we will serve 1,800 children in those two districts – triple the number enrolled today. At the same time, we will help families enroll in existing seats for 3-year-olds in New York City and provide additional support and enhance quality for over 11,000 three-year-olds currently enrolled in those will also strengthen existing programs serving children from six-weeks-old through three-years-old.
3-K for All is part of the Mayor’s Equity and Excellence for All agenda, which aims to ensure that by 2026, 80 percent of students graduate high school on time and two-thirds of graduates are college ready. At the completion of the financial plan FY 2021, this effort will cost a total of $177 million.
“The research is clear – investment in early childhood education reaps benefits for students, families and communities for years to come. Using the successful model we developed for Pre-K for All, we are doubling down with free, full-day, high-quality 3-K for All for our three-year-olds. This extra year of education will provide our children with a level of academic and social development that they cannot get later on, while at the same time, alleviating some of the strain New York City’s working families face today,” said Mayor de Blasio.
“As a lifelong educator, I understand just how much and how fast our youngest children can learn – a level of learning that you can’t make up later on. In free, full-day, high-quality 3-K, our students will build their vocabulary, a love of learning, and start to develop the social and behavioral habits they need to succeed in pre-K and kindergarten. It’s an essential step in building Equity and Excellence for All across the five boroughs, and we are hitting the ground running with the lessons that we’ve learned from the Pre-K for All expansion,” said Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña.
Like Pre-K for All, 3-K for All will be a unified system of DOE district schools and NYC Early Education Centers – community-based organizations experienced in providing high-quality early childhood education and care. Like Pre-K for All, the DOE will use data to provide differentiated support to all 3-K for All programs with instructional coaches and social workers to support high quality instruction. The City’s Pre-K for All outreach team, which helped triple the number of four-year-olds enrolled in free, full-day, high-quality pre-K, will also reach out to families in their own communities and in the language they speak to help them enroll in 3-K for All.
There is extensive research supporting the transformative value of free, full-day, high-quality 3-K, including the following:
· Several studies have found that students who attend two years of preschool compared to one are better prepared for kindergarten, and that they perform significantly higher on academic and social outcome measures.
· A study of the two-year Abbott Preschool Program in New Jersey found persistent gains in language arts and literacy, mathematics, and science through 4th and 5th grade, with larger test score gains for children who participated in two years of preschool. In addition, Abbott Preschool Program participation was linked to lower grade retention rates and fewer children needing special education.
· A study of Head Start found that families of children who attended for two years were more likely to engage in recreational activities together that supported child development, and were likely to spend more hours reading together at home.
· A Chicago study found that children who attended two years of public preschool were significantly less likely to receive special education services, to be abused or neglected, or to commit crimes in adulthood.
According to the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity, delivering 3-K for All to every three-year-old child in NYC will provide every eligible family an extra year of high-quality education, saving them an annual cost of over $10,000. Approximately one in four families who will take advantage of 3-K for All are likely to benefit from being able to work an average of four more hours per week, resulting in an estimated $2,400 in additional income per family.
As part of its commitment to free, full-day, high-quality 3-K for All, the City will also provide additional support to the public early childhood center programs currently serving over 11,000 three-year-olds across the City, by bringing those classrooms into the same set of supports for teacher training, family engagement, and social work support as Pre-K for All. The Pre-K for All outreach team will also assist programs in enrolling children. These programs are currently part of EarlyLearn – the contracted-care and education system managed by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) that includes Head Start centers, center-based childcare, and family childcare networks – and are available to families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
With support from ACS, Human Resources Administration (HRA), and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and a planning process involving providers and early childhood care and education experts, these programs will shift to management by DOE as part of 3-K for All, enabling consistent high-quality standards under a single agency by the fall of 2018. This will also provide greater curricular alignment through second grade, a single contracting relationship for early childhood education providers, integrated data collection, and seamless connections between early childhood development and 3K-12 education. EarlyLearn programs serving children from six-weeks-old through three-years-old will also shift to management by DOE.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
How to Watch Manhattan College Students
The Annual Manhattan College Spring Fling is upon the community around Manhattan College. This could mean any one of many things to area residents, and complaints about what the college students may do.
So what is the commanding officer of the local police precinct to do?
Cameras are a nice answer, but if it is dark cameras can not get a good photo of anyone, let alone any possible mischief makers. Below is one answer that Deputy Inspector O'Toole the current commanding officer of the 50th Precinct has done for the Annual Manhattan College Spring Fling.
With the lights on the West 235th Henry Hudson Parkway pedestrian overpass back in operation the above police tower light is not needed at the overpass anymore. As you can see it is now placed at the corner of Fieldston Road and West 238th Street ready to light up any Spring Fling activities that may occur in this area so any mischief maker can readily be identified on cameras in the area.
Maybe this is one reason crime is so low in the 50th Precinct, and that the only safer place seems to be Trump Tower the home of President Donald Trump.
19 Members And Associates Of Violent Street Gang In The Bronx Charged In Federal Court With Racketeering, Narcotics, Robbery, Extortion, And Firearms Offenses
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the Police Department for the City of New York (“NYPD”), Angel M. Melendez, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and James J. Hunt, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced charges yesterday against 19 members and associates of the “Slut Gang,” a violent street gang operating in the Bronx, New York, primarily at the Boston Secor public housing development (“Secor”). The defendants are charged with racketeering conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, robbery conspiracy, extortion, and firearms offenses.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “Today’s indictment charges members and associates of a violent street gang with allegedly wreaking havoc on the streets of the Northern Bronx for years, committing countless acts of violence against rival gang members and innocents alike. Thanks to the terrific investigative work of the NYPD’s Bronx Gang Squad, HSI’s Violent Gang Unit, and the New York Field Division of the DEA, these alleged criminals will face justice in federal court.”
NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said: “This gang allegedly acted with impunity in the Bronx. But this morning, detectives and agents carried out precise, targeted arrests against the defendants who, as alleged, committed robberies, shootings, and other violence to protect their drug trade. Tonight, the Bronx will be even safer because of the persistence of our detectives, DEA and HIS agents, and prosecutors in the Southern District who brought today’s charges.”
HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Angel M. Melendez said: “Drugs, guns, and robbery are just the beginning of the charges faced by members of the Slut Gang. This is a violent street gang with alleged involvement in shootings, stabbings, and beatings over several years. The collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies is paramount to gang investigations in New York and forcing gang members to face charges for their actions.”
DEA Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt said: “Gangs in New York that allegedly traffic drugs throughout our city streets fuel addiction and violent crime. Law enforcement’s focused efforts to reclaim our city from these gangs have led to numerous takedowns over the past three years and yesterday’s arrests.”
According to the Superseding Indictment[1] unsealed in Manhattan federal court and other publicly filed documents:
The Superseding Indictment arises from a joint investigation, beginning in 2014, by the NYPD, HSI, the DEA, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives into a number of warring street gangs in the Northern Bronx. On April 27, 2016, 120 members of two of these gangs – the Big Money Bosses (“BMB”) and the 2Fly YGz (“2Fly”) – were charged in two cases pending now before United States District Judges Alison J. Nathan and Lewis A. Kaplan – U.S. v. Nico Burrell et al., and U.S. v. Laquan Parrish et al. Forty-seven of 63 defendants in Burrell have already pled guilty, and 49 of 57 defendants in Parrish have already pled guilty.
One of the primary rivals of BMB and 2Fly was the Slut Gang. The Superseding Indictment charges members and associates of the Slut Gang with numerous acts of fatal and non-fatal violence during last several years, including shootings, stabbings, slashings, beatings, extortion, and robberies, as well as drug dealing.
To date, agents and officers have seized, among other evidence, quantities of crack, heroin, MDMA, and marijuana, as well as firearms and ammunition. During the investigation, pursuant to court-authorized electronic surveillance, agents and officers also intercepted hundreds of phone calls, during many of which various members and associates of the
Slut Gang discussed their racketeering and narcotics activities.
In a coordinated operation, 12 defendants were arrested in New York Wednesday and yesterday. They were presented yesterday afternoon in Manhattan federal court. Defendant KERMIT IRIZARRY was in custody on state charges and was transferred to federal custody. Defendant MAURICE STEELE was arrested and was presented yesterday in the Middle District of Florida. Defendant STEVE BORIA was already in federal custody on a related charge. The following defendants are still being sought: NIORGE LOPEZ, JONATHAN FERRELL, DAYVON WILSON, and ISAIAH GRANT.
Charts identifying each defendant, the charges, and the maximum penalties are in the indictment below.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams.
Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD’s Bronx Gang Squad, HSI’s Violent Gang Unit, and the New York Field Division of the DEA, as well as the United States Marshals’ Service, New York State Office of Probation, and New York State Division of Parole for their assistance in yesterday’s arrests. He also thanked the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Investigation for their support in this ongoing investigation.
The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Superseding Indictment, and the description of the Superseding Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.