BRONX MAN INDICTED FOR CARJACKING, SHOOTING SPREE

Defendant Wounded Postal Worker, Robbed Two People of Their Cars at Gunpoint

  Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Bronx man has been indicted on 39 counts including Attempted Murder, Assault, Robbery and Criminal Possession of a Weapon stemming from a violent crime spree in the Wakefield section of the Bronx that left a U.S. Postal Service employee grazed by a bullet. 

  District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly turned the streets of Wakefield into a chaotic, dangerous place as he carjacked two vehicles at gunpoint and fired a shot into a U.S. Postal Service truck, wounding the Postal Service employee. He allegedly fired a shot that ended up in someone’s living room. He now faces charges that, upon conviction, could put him in prison for 25 years to life.” 

  

  District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Clarence Brooks, 27, of East 229th Drive, was arraigned yesterday, May 2, 2017, before Bronx Supreme Court Justice William Mogulescu. He was continued remanded and is due back in court on July 26, 2017. 

  Brooks was indicted on Attempted Murder first and second degree, Attempted Assault first degree, second and third-degree Assault, three counts of second-degree Menacing, first and second-degree Reckless Endangerment, first-degree Criminal Use of a Firearm, two counts each of second-degree, third-degree and fourth-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, two counts each of first, second and third-degree Robbery, two counts of fourth-degree Grand Larceny, two counts of Petit Larceny, two counts each of fourth-degree and fifth-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, two counts of third-degree Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, five counts of fourth-degree Criminal Mischief. 

  According to the investigation, on April 4, 2017, at Carpenter Avenue and East 232nd Street, Brooks allegedly approached the driver in a 2004 Honda Accord and tapped on the glass with a silver firearm, went to the driver’s door and ordered him out and then drove away. A short time later, Brooks allegedly leaned out the driver’s door of the stolen vehicle and fired a bullet at the windshield of a U.S. Postal Service truck. The bullet grazed the worker’s upper right arm. 

  Brooks then allegedly went to a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder, opened the passenger side door and told the driver to drive him, then he entered the vehicle and put a silver gun against her torso. She refused and Brooks ordered her out and drove away in the vehicle.

  Brooks then allegedly caused a collision with another vehicle, and he fired multiple shots through the driver’s window of the Pathfinder and then exited the vehicle, fleeing police officers pursuing him. The shots he fired to break the window struck an adjacent parked vehicle and one went through the window of a first floor apartment, where a man was watching television. He was not injured.

  An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

Bronx Chamber of Commerce Best of the Bronx Annual Golf Outing

Trump’s Executive Order Puts Older LGBT Americans’ Liberty in Peril

LGBT elders threatened by Administration’s license to discriminate

  Today, President Trump issued an Executive Order that dangerously sets the table for future government-supported religious discrimination  against LGBT people, especially our elders. This Executive Order gives Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a long-time opponent of LGBT equality, sweeping discretion to authorize religious-based discrimination in all federal agencies, threatening a dramatic expansion of religious exemptions in federally funded services and programs. It would also allow religious organizations lobbying for the right to discriminate a different set of rules that favor them. SAGE is one of many secular non-profits that opposes discrimination and will now be forced to operate on an unfair playing field.

SAGE CEO Michael Adams states: “Anti-LGBT religious leaders and denominations are aggressively lobbying the federal government to authorize religious-based discrimination against LGBT people, including elders who rely on federally funded services. SAGE was founded to fight that discrimination, which LGBT elders face every day. We will do everything in our power to fight efforts by the Trump Administration to facilitate religious-based discrimination against our older community members, who have fought for decades for the equality that we have gradually won.” 

Given the history of religion-based anti-LGBT teachings, LGBT elders have every reason to be deeply concerned by the Trump Administration’s attempt to favor religious voices over all others. Tragically, religious-based discrimination too often forces LGBT elders who need care and services back into “the closet” in order to protect themselves from mistreatment.

This forced self-erasure of LGBT elders, combined with a recent Trump Administration plan to erase LGBT elders from a critically important federal survey on who receives government-funded elder services, represents a dangerous threat to LGBT elders.   

SAGE will continue to stand with and for our LGBT pioneers. We will not back down. We refuse to be invisible.

ABOUT SAGE

SAGE is the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in New York City, SAGE is a national organization that offers supportive services and consumer resources to LGBT older adults and their caregivers, advocates for public policy changes that address the needs of LGBT older people, provides education and technical assistance for aging providers and LGBT organizations through its National Resource Center on LGBT Aging, and cultural competence training through SAGECare. With offices across the country, SAGE coordinates a growing network of local affiliates. Learn more at sageusa.org.

Wave Hill Events May 19–May 26

  When the spring exhibition in Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery was being planned more than a couple of years ago, we had no inkling that issues of gender equality would once more take center stage as they have since last fall. Our intention was that Outcasts: Women in the Wilderness would provide a safe space to explore what it means to each of us, whether in political, cultural, religious or ideological terms, to be an “outcast”―and what sometimes happens, creatively and rapturously, when women are forced to the margins.

Building off the Outcasts exhibition, we have also planned an afternoon on May 21 devoted to a conversation and performance that will expand on themes in Outcasts. Given the timeliness of the subject, we thought you might like to bring it to your audience’s special attention. Most are local to New York City, if not, specifically, the Bronx. If you would like to speak with any of them about their lives as female, and often minority or immigrant, artists in this political landscape.

And here are captions for the two photos for May 21

Conversation:

Left to right: Deborah Frizzell, Harry Weil, Fay Ku (credit Katherine Helen Fisher), Samira Abbassy (credit Janette May), Scherezade Garcia (credit William Vazquez)

Performance:

Left to right: Natalie N. Caro (credit Hnazario), Jess X. Snow (credit Patrick Weishampel), Mahogany Browne, Jane Gabriels (credit Marisol Diaz), Caridad De La Luz

SAT, MAY 20    FAMILY ART PROJECT: STARTING SEEDS WITH THE NEXT EPOCH SEED LIBRARY

Join Winter Workspace Session 1 artists Ellie Irons and Anne Percoco of the Next Epoch Seed Library for a spring planting project. Sow the seeds of tasty, wild edibles and decorate containers and labels to hold and protect them. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon. 

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 10AM‒1PM

SAT, MAY 20    GARDEN HIGHLIGHTS WALK

Join us for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon.

MEET AT PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 11AM

SAT, MAY 20    WAVE HILL HISTORY WALK

Discover the fascinating history of Wave Hill’s architecture and landscape on a walk with a Wave Hill History Guide. Hear about the people who once called Wave Hill home, among them Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Bashford Dean and Arturo Toscanini. Free with admission to the grounds.

MEET AT PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 1PM

SAT, MAY 20    GALLERY TOUR

Wave Hill’s Curatorial Fellow will lead a tour of the spring exhibitions in Glyndor Gallery. The group show,Outcasts: Women in the Wilderness, explores how women have been treated and portrayed as outcasts in history, myth and biblical legend. In the Sunroom Project Space, Borinquen Gallo’s imaginary hive interior is informed by Wave Hill’s beehives. Free with admission to the grounds.

GLYNDOR GALLERY, 2PM

SUN, MAY 21    FAMILY ART PROJECT: STARTING SEEDS WITH THE NEXT EPOCH SEED LIBRARY

Join Winter Workspace Session 1 artists Ellie Irons and Anne Percoco of the Next Epoch Seed Library for a spring planting project. Sow the seeds of tasty, wild edibles and decorate containers and labels to hold and protect them. Free with admission to the grounds. 

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 10AM‒1PM

SUN, MAY 21    YOGA IN THE GARDEN

Enjoy the garden as the setting for your yoga practice as you find your breath and become connected to the landscape. Classes are led by certified Yoga Haven instructors, for all levels. Please bring a mat and be on time. This class is held indoors in case of rain. Drop-in rate is $30/20 Wave Hill Member; series fee is $210/$130 for eight weeks.

ON THE GROUNDS, 10–11AM

SUN, MAY 21    OUTCASTS: FINDING HER VOICE

Guest co-curators and art historians Deborah Frizzell and Harry J. Weil lead a conversation with artists Samira Abbassy, Scherezade Garcia and Fay Ku who are exhibiting as part of Outcasts: Women in the Wilderness. The artists speak about how they use ancient and modern mythologies as a source to create artwork that explores hybrid alternatives to the social and cultural order. Samira Abbassy’s self-portraiture and mixed-media sculptures explore cultural identity, knitting together disparate visual languages, conventions and myths drawn from Arab-Iranian, Persian, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist traditions. Interdisciplinary visual artist Scherezade Garcia addresses contemporary allegories of history and the processes of colonization and migration, which frequently evoke memories of faraway home and the hopes that accompany relocating in a new land. Fay Ku layers her drawings with hybrid animal, human and vegetal forms, her archetypes comment on cultural identity and tradition through a delicate sense of line and a sensitivity to surface. Following the conversation, hear spoken-word artists and poets perform on the grounds. Free with admission to the grounds.

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 1PM

SUN, MAY 21    GARDEN HIGHLIGHTS WALK

Join us for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights. Free with admission to the grounds.

MEET AT PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 2PM

SUN, MAY 21    OUTCASTS: USING HER VOICE, A PERFORMANCE

As part of Outcasts: Women in the Wilderness, the spring show in Wave Hill's Glyndor Gallery, spoken-word artists and poets perform on the grounds, bringing their voices into the open air. Their work aims to heal and empower by way of inclusiveness, resistance and recovery from loss and trauma. ArtistsMahogany L. Browne, Natalie N. Caro, Caridad De La Luz and Jess X. Snow will offer their own works, share works by kindred spirit poets and writers, or perform new works that respond to the artwork on view in the gallery. The artists were selected for their unique voices that draw on personal experience, cultural context with a drive to communicate. Bronx-based artist and curator Jane Gabriels serves as host for the program.  As a champion of cultural production in the Bronx, Gabriels puts the works in context, providing a reference point for these powerful messages. With its strong Bronx focus the program showcases the creativity of our borough and beyond and introduces these visionary artists. Find out more about the performers here. Come early to explore the grounds and hear curators and visual artists speak about their work. Free with admission to the grounds.

ON THE GR OUNDS, 2:30PM

MON, MAY 22    

Closed to the public.

MON, MAY 22    MEMBERS TRIP: WOODLANDS AND WILDLIFE OF CORNWALL, NY    SOLD OUT

Spend a fine spring day exploring woodland trails, meadows and the extensive natural habitats of theHudson Highlands Nature Museum and adjacent Black Rock Forest with Nature Museum educators and Wave Hill staff. Visit the resident animals and displays at the Museum’s Wildlife Education Center, tour the old farm and fields of the Outdoor Discovery Center and take a scenic hike in the Black Rock Forest to enjoy lofty views of the Hudson River. Expect to see a wide variety of birds and other wildlife on this trip. $60 Wave Hill Member. Lunch on your own in Cornwall. Registration required, online atwavehill.org or onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center, starting April 26.

MEET AT FRONT GATE, 9AM–5:30PM

TUE, MAY 23    GARDEN HIGHLIGHTS WALK

Join us for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon.

MEET AT PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 11AM

TUE, MAY 23    GALLERY TOUR

Wave Hill’s Curatorial Fellow will lead a tour of the spring exhibitions in Glyndor Gallery. The group show,Outcasts: Women in the Wilderness, explores how women have been treated and portrayed as outcasts in history, myth and biblical legend. In the Sunroom Project Space, Borinquen Gallo’s imaginary hive interior is informed by Wave Hill’s beehives. Free with admission to the grounds.

GLYNDOR GALLERY, 2PM

THU, MAY 25    SPECIAL EARLY CLOSING

The gardens close at 3PM today to dress for our annual Spring Gala.

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 through Sunday and many major holidays: 9AM–5:30PM, starting March 15.  Closes 4:30PM, November 1–March 14.

ADMISSION  $8 adults, $4 students and seniors 65+, $2 children 6–18. Free Saturday and Tuesdaymornings until noon. Free to Wave Hill Members and children under 6.

PROGRAM FEES  Programs are free with admission to the grounds unless otherwise noted.

Visitors to Wave Hill can take advantage of Metro-North’s one-day getaway offer. Purchase a discount round-trip rail far and discount admission to the gardens. More at http://mta.info/mnr/html/getaways/outbound_wavehill.htm

DIRECTIONS – Getting here is easy! Located only 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, Wave Hill’s free shuttle van transports you to and from our front gate and Metro-North’s Riverdale station, as well as the W. 242nd Street stop on the #1 subway line. Limited onsite parking is available for $8 per vehicle. Free offsite parking is available nearby with continuous, complimentary shuttle service to and from the offsite lot and our front gate. Complete directions and shuttle bus schedule at www.wavehill.org/visit/.

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

April Continues New York City’s Sustained Overall Crime Reduction

Fewest index crimes of any April in the modern CompStat-era. Eight fewer Murders compared with April 2016

  New York City experienced 540 fewer index crimes, or -6.8%, in April 2017, compared with April 2016.  This is the safest April in the history of the modern CompStat-era. This reduction in crime contributes to the 1,611 fewer overall index crimes year-to-date in New York City, compared with 2016, making the year-to-date reduction -5.2%.

For the month of April 2017, there were 7,377 overall index crimes reported, compared with 7,917 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 540 crimes, or -6.8%. There were 20 murders reported in April 2017, compared with 28 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 8 crimes, or -28.6%. There were 124 rapes reported in April 2017, compared with 119 in April 2016. This is an increase of 5 crimes, or +4.2%. There were 1,031 robberies reported in April 2017, compared with 1,204 in January 2016. This is a reduction of 173 crimes, or -14.4%. There were 1,501 felonious assaults reported in April 2017, compared with 1,616 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 115 crimes, or -7.1%. There were 899 burglaries reported in April 2017, compared with 964 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 65 crimes, or -6.7%. There were 3,423 grand larcenies reported in April 2017, compared with 3,540 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 117 crimes, or -3.3%. There were 379 grand larceny autos reported in April 2017, compared with 446 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 67 crimes, or -15.0%. There were 68 shooting incidents reported in April 2017, compared with 67 in April 2016. This is an increase of 1 crime, or +1.5%.

“The continued reduction of crime in New York City is the result of the great work being done by the men and women of the NYPD,” said Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill.  “Using precision policing, we continue to focus on the few responsible for most of our violence. And Neighborhood Policing is strengthening our relationships with every community, building trust that is critical to further reducing crime.”

"Commissioner O’Neill and the brave men and women of the NYPD have built on the unprecedented achievements of the safest first quarter in recorded City history by delivering the safest April the CompStat-era has ever seen,” said Mayor de Blasio. "The City is on pace for a record year in lows for shootings and homicides. These trends are a testament to the NYPD's effective precision and neighborhood policing models that aim to root out violent crime in the small pockets where it still exists and work with the public to build trust and stop crime before it starts. The recent introduction of body cameras into the patrol force will play an important role in bolstering the trust that has grown between police and community, helping to make our city even safer."

There were 174 crimes reported in the Transit Bureau in April 2017, compared with 186 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 12 crimes, or -6.5%. There were 394 crimes reported in the Housing Bureau in April 2017, compared with 399 in April 2016. This is a reduction of 5 crimes, or -1.3%.

Note: All crime statistics are preliminary and subject to further analysis, revisions, or change.

Engel Votes Against Trumpcare, Responds to House Passage

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a top member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today voted against the American Health Care Act, also known as Trumpcare. He released the following statement in response to the Republicans’ passage of the bill:

“Last month, when House Republicans failed to pass the first iteration of Trumpcare, I’d hoped that the embarrassment of that failure would mark a turning point. Following such resounding opposition from the American people, one would think that the Republican Majority might end its senseless crusade against the Affordable Care Act and, at long last, work with Democrats to improve the ACA and build on its progress.

“Sadly, that was not the case.

“Today, House Republicans successfully voted to strip health care away from millions of Americans, raise costs for working families and seniors, and put insurance companies back in charge of health care decisions – contrary to everything the President said he would do.

“The version of Trumpcare that passed today is, shockingly, even worse than its predecessor: it guts protections for those with preexisting conditions, allowing insurers to once again discriminate against people based on their health status. It lets states eliminate essential health benefits, resulting in paltry plans that cover very little. And it gives insurers free rein to levy an unlimited ‘age tax’ on older Americans.

“In a pathetic attempt to placate worried constituents, Republicans added $8 billion to their plan at the last minute to help cover those with pre-existing conditions. But estimates suggest that this eleventh-hour addition constitutes a mere fraction of what’s needed. No matter what the Republicans say, millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are still left without the protections they need under Trumpcare. This change is too little, too late.

“Now, there are no illusions regarding the GOP’s answer to the Affordable Care Act, which they criticized and voted to repeal repeatedly for seven years.  Their plan is simple: pay more and get less.  Not an appealing alternative.

“How anyone can claim to be a ‘compassionate conservative’ while actively working to take health care away from another human being – and for a political end, no less – is beyond me. I am deeply saddened by House Republicans’ actions today.”

CONGRESSMAN ADRIANO ESPAILLAT STATEMENT ON REPUBLICAN TRUMPCARE BILL TO REPEAL THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) released the following statement on today’s House vote on the Republican Trumpcare bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and strip health insurance coverage from more than 24 million hard-working Americans.

“Protecting the ACA is the top issue for my constituents. Constituents like Ms. Leslie Gauthier, who without the protections of the ACA, would not have received treatment for Leukemia when she was diagnosed at the age of 22. Leslie is now in remission. For her and individuals like her, the ACA’s protections, like the essential health benefits, were a matter of life and death. This Republican Trumpcare bill will destroy those patient protections that Leslie relied upon and for millions of hard-working Americans. 

“From the beginning, we have known that this bill will be a poison pill and will mean higher health costs for American families. Trumpcare is disastrous and will be a gut punch to pregnant women seeking health care, patients with preexisting conditions, senior citizens who will pay more for less, and more than 24 million people, including 6.5 million Latinos, who will lose their health coverage. This bill is frightening and will cut $880 billion in Medicaid over ten years, having a devastating impact on families who need affordable, dependable health care the most.

“The damage this bill will cause is even worse than the last version Republicans put forth and will put our country on a fast track to disaster.”

CITY ANNOUNCES MAJOR EXPANSION OF ACTIONNYC IMMIGRATION LEGAL SERVICES AT NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

City to expand access to legal support at NYC Health + Hospitals locations in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx

ActionNYC to award 20 fellowships to provide organizing and legal training to community-based organizations that meet New Yorkers where they live, work and learn

  Mayor Bill de Blasio and Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Nisha Agarwal announced today that ActionNYC, the City’s premier program providing free and secure immigration legal help to immigrant New Yorkers, has launched a $1.3 million expansion in legal assistance and training capacity for the city’s immigrant communities. This week, in partnership with the New York Legal Assistance Group, ActionNYC opened a new legal screening site at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, in Queens, which is now accepting appointments. ActionNYC will open an additional site at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur, in Lower Manhattan, on May 15th and a third ActionNYC site will open at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, in the Bronx, in the coming weeks. ActionNYC is also granting 20 fellowships for legal and outreach training and technical assistance to community-based organizations across the city. Alongside last week’s announcement of $16.4 million in new funding for New Yorkers facing deportation and other pressing immigration challenges, this legal services expansion demonstrates the City’s commitment to serving immigrant New Yorkers in need.

These expansions will help ActionNYC and its partners provide additional assistance to immigrant New Yorkers. The added investments will also increase New Yorkers’ access to essential legal and informational resources from community partners they trust, where they live, learn and work.

“We are committed to expanding services for our fellow New Yorkers, especially in the face of the Trump administration’s extreme anti-immigrant policies,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Now, through this partnership between ActionNYC and NYC Health + Hospitals, New Yorkers will have greater access to high-quality legal assistance and healthcare in their communities. At the same time, organizing and legal fellowships will support organizations with strong ties to vulnerable immigrant communities to more effectively engage and serve these groups. ActionNYC is yet another way we welcome immigrant communities whose contributions help make this the greatest city in the world.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of the work ActionNYC is doing to get legal assistance to more and more immigrant communities across the city, and these expansions will build on our great track record,” said Commissioner Nisha Agarwal of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “Expanding our sites in partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals makes our immigrant communities stronger and healthier. Helping immigrant-focused community organizations get the mentorship and technical training they need to be more effective is a boon to the whole city. Immigrants are a great source of vitality to New York City and ActionNYC will be there with the legal assistance our communities need.”

“Uncertainty and fear should not stop immigrant New Yorkers from seeking out vital services like medical care,” said Commissioner Steven Banks of the Department of Social Services. “New York City has made an unprecedented commitment to provide legal assistance to those who need it and we are proud to be a part of this effort to expand these services for immigrants to more communities and hospitals where they are desperately needed.”

“Today, ActionNYC takes another important step to ensure all New Yorkers have the immigration legal help they need and that it is readily accessible,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “ActionNYC’s partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals will leverage City resources to meet the health and legal needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

“Through our experience with ActionNYC at our hospitals and long-term care facilities in our public health system, as well as the series of Immigrant Health Care Rights forums we’ve hosted since March around the city, we know that these legal services meet an important need,” said Stanley Brezenoff, interim President and Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals. “We are pleased to partner with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the New York Legal Assistance Group on this significant expansion of ActionNYC, which will make a real difference in the lives of some of our most vulnerable New Yorkers.”