The Bronx Chamber of Commerce and McHale Energy invite you to attend a free presentation: "A Business Case for LED Lighting - Why Now!"

STATEMENT FROM STATE SENATOR GUSTAVO RIVERA ON SINGLE PAYER BILL PASSING THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE

"I applaud the efforts of the California State Senate in approving a bill that aims to create a single-payer system in the state. While this proposal still needs to pass the California State Assembly and will likely go through further amendments as it continues through the legislative process, this vote represents a huge step forward in ensuring access to affordable health insurance to every Californian. 

In the face of federal efforts to strip health coverage from millions of Americans with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, states have the obligation to do what is right and implement adequate measures to safeguard the health of every resident within their state.

As the Ranking Member of the Senate Health Committee and the proud sponsor of this bill in the New York State Senate, I will continue to work tirelessly to follow in the footsteps of legislators in California, as well as my colleagues in the New York State Assembly, and pass the single payer bill in my house."

June Greenmarket Openings

Seasonal Greenmarkets Opening in June

To market, to market, to buy... a bunch of delicious, locally-grown food! June 1         Water Street, Mhtn June 4         Bensonhurst, Bk June 6         Bronx Borough Hall, Bx June 6         Elmhurst, Qns June 6         Ft. Washington, Mhtn    June 7         Fordham, Bx June 11       Parkside Plaza, Bk         June 14       Mt. Sinai Hospital, Mhtn  June 16       Parkchester, Bx June 20       Poe Park, Bx June 24       Sugar Hill, Mhtn June 25       92nd Street, Mhtn June 29       175th St, Mhtn June 30       Lincoln Hospital, Bx

MAYOR DE BLASIO, SPEAKER MARK-VIVERITO, AND CITY COUNCIL REACH EARLY AGREEMENT ON FY2018 BUDGET, MARKING EARLIEST HANDSHAKE SINCE 1992

Highlights include increased investments in our schools, youth, seniors and veterans

  Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Finance Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and members of the City Council today announced an agreement for an on-time and balanced City budget for Fiscal Year 2018, marking the earliest handshake since 1992. The agreement on an approximately $85.2 billion budget builds on the Administration’s ambitious plan for investing in our public schools, youth workforce development, seniors and veterans, while protecting and strengthening the City’s long-term fiscal health.

The FY18 Adopted Budget accounts for $1.2 billion in General Reserve, $4.2 billion in Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund and $250 million in the Capital Stabilization Reserve. This allows the City to retire debt in the face of potential federal cuts or an economic downturn. The Adopted Budget also recognizes $100 million in savings from the partial hiring freeze, as well as debt service savings.

“This budget is aimed at addressing the economic realities of everyday New Yorkers,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Life in this city is too hard for too many, but with this budget it is our goal to alleviate some of those pressures. We are adding 5,000 additional Summer Youth Employment slots, creating a property tax exemption for veterans how have fought for this country, and eliminating the waitlists for senior case management and home care. We’re doing this all while maintaining the fiscal responsibility raters and monitors have come to expect and adding to our rainy day reserves.”

Among a variety of initiatives, today’s agreement includes:

·   $105.53 million in capital funding and $1.8 million in expense to ensure Universal Physical Education by 2021.

·   $23 million to eliminate the Home Care and Case Management waitlists, create a new program to offer relief to caregivers, provide weekend meals to seniors utilizing Senior Centers or the Home Delivered Meals programs, and enhance rates paid to senior centers.

·    A Veterans Property Tax Exemption for any veteran who served during a war, saving an average of $443 per year, per person at a cost to the city of $25 million annually.

·    $20 million to provide 6,500 year-round jobs through the Work, Learn and Grow.

·    $9 million to expand the Summer Youth Employment Program from 65,000 to 70,000 slots.

·   $30 million in FY18 growing to $104 million in FY22 to provide enhanced resources and support to our nonprofit service providers.

·  $6.4 million to continue deployment of rapid-response “Fly Cars” in the Bronx, continue strategic placement of emergency vehicles in high-need locations, place EMS personnel at Bronx hospitals, and $17 million in capital to replace the existing EMS 17 facility.

·   $7.2 million – an increase of 15% from last year’s spending – for the Emergency Food Assistance Program to address the projected demand.

·   $2.1 million to expand Breakfast in Classrooms to an additional 303 buildings, bringing the total to 833.

·  $10.4 million to expand the Free School Lunch program in schools.

·   $110 million to assist with capital projects in libraries across the city.

Budget monitors have validated the judicious way in which this administration has protected the City’s fiscal health. As recently as February, all three major rating agencies affirmed the City’s strong, stable ratings.

friends of ritchie torres 17 - Re-Election Campaign Kick-off Celebration!

  I want to thank you for all the support you've shown me in the past. With your help, we've been able to accomplish so much in the last four years. I hope to continue our hard work as I seek re-election for City Council this fall. 

Please join me this Monday at our Re-Election Campaign Kick-off Celebration! I will share my vision for the next four years and discuss how we can come together to bring positive changes to District 15, the Bronx, and New York City. 

Monday, June 5th, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

The Blend Café, 582 East Fordham Road

Hope to see you there!

Ritchie

Drug Dealer Charged With Heroin Overdose Deaths In The Bronx And New Rochelle

   Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Patrick Carroll, the Commissioner of the New Rochelle Police Department (“NRPD”), announced the arrest of and unsealing of an indictment against FRANKIE BEQIRAJ charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, and alprazolam. The indictment alleges that heroin distributed by BEQIRAJ and his co-conspirators resulted in the deaths of Robert Vivolo and Leonides Madrid.

BEQIRAJ was presented in federal court in Manhattan before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses today and ordered detained. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim stated: “As alleged in the Indictment, Frankie Beqiraj worked with others to sell a whole range of drugs, including heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, and alprazolam. As alleged, two young people are dead, victims of Beqiraj’s alleged heroin dealing and of the opioid epidemic that is sweeping the country. Thanks to the exceptional work of our partners at the New York City Police Department, the New Rochelle Police Department, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Beqiraj will be held accountable for the drugs he allegedly peddled and the tragic deaths that resulted.”

NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill stated: “The defendant in this case faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison – and a maximum of life behind bars – after investigators linked the heroin that he distributed to two overdose deaths, one in the Bronx and one in New Rochelle. It is the latest example of our commitment to holding drugs dealers criminally responsible. I want to thank the NYPD and the New Rochelle PD investigators, as well as the Southern District, for their work on this case.”

NRPD Commissioner Patrick Carroll stated: “The arrest and indictment of Frankie Beqiraj, holding him accountable for the death of New Rochelle resident Leonides Madrid, is an example of the New Rochelle Police Department’s commitment to fight against the opioids epidemic that our community faces today. Working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners, the NYPD, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Attorney sends a strong message to drug dealers that we will do all we can to arrest and prosecute those selling drugs in our community.”

As alleged in the Indictment against BEQIRAJ [1]:

From July 2016 up to January 2017, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, FRANKIE BEQIRAJ and others conspired to sell one kilogram and more of heroin, as well as cocaine, oxycodone, and alprazolam. The use of heroin distributed by BEQIRAJ and his co-conspirators resulted in the deaths of Robert Vivolo, 25, of the Bronx, New York, on October 21, 2016, and of Leonides Madrid, 28, of New Rochelle, New York, on January 9, 2017.

FRANKIE BEQIRAJ, 27, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a mandatory sentence of 20 years in prison.

The statutory maximum sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for information purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD, the NRPD, and the Westchester County Overdose Response Initiative. Mr. Kim thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for its assistance in the investigation.

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

 

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

Bronx Man Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison For Sex Trafficking Of Minors And Related Offenses

   Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DAVID HOPE, a/k/a “Capo,” was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in prison for running a criminal sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise involving minor girls, as well as possession of child pornography and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. In addition, KEMAR WILLIAMS, a/k/a “K-bag,” a co-defendant in the case, was sentenced yesterday to 42 months in prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors with Hope. HOPE and WILLIAMS pled guilty on December 1, 2016, and December 8, 2016, respectively, before United States District Judge Sidney H. Stein, who also imposed yesterday’s sentences.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “David Hope sexually exploited and trafficked vulnerable women and minor girls, and Kemar Williams assisted in the exploitation. Hope and Williams used physical violence, weapons, coercion, and intimidation to exert control over their trafficking victims. Both have now received the significant sentences that their crimes deserve.”

According to the Indictment, Complaint, and other documents filed in the case, as well as statements made during the plea and sentencing proceedings:

Since at least 2013, HOPE directed and conducted a criminal sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise (the “Enterprise”) that recruited and exploited minor girls and young women, and then prostituted them using an online classifieds website for his own profit. HOPE, who was wheelchair-bound, operated the Enterprise at his apartment in the Bronx, New York (the “Hope Apartment”), Connecticut, and elsewhere. WILLIAMS participated and engaged in the Enterprise and facilitated the prostitution of minor girls.

HOPE recruited minors who looked up to him to participate in the Enterprise and other criminal activity. HOPE, who was known to carry a firearm, employed myriad tactics – including manipulation, intimidation, coercion, threats, and violence – to recruit and maintain the girls and young women he sold for sex. For example, on at least two occasions, HOPE physically beat one of the adult women he prostituted, and on at least one occasion, threatened that victim with a firearm. At least four minor victims were exploited by HOPE’s Enterprise.

In or about November 2015 when he was arrested, HOPE also possessed on his cellphone a sexually explicit video of one of the minor girls whom he trafficked.

In or about January 2015, HOPE possessed a defaced firearm (the “Firearm”) after he had been previously convicted of a felony crime. Specifically, on January 16, 2015, when New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) officers were executing a search warrant at the Hope apartment, HOPE instructed a minor female to throw the loaded Firearm out the rear window of the HOPE Apartment. Before it was thrown out the window, the Firearm was in the bed where HOPE was sleeping.

Mr. Kim praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He thanked the NYPD for its assistance throughout the investigation, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut and the Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force for their assistance with investigating HOPE’s operations in Connecticut. Mr. Kim also thanked the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) and the ATF/NYPD Joint Robbery Task Force (SPARTA) for its assistance in the early stages of the investigation.

Any individuals who believe they have information concerning the exploitation of children may contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 1-212-384-1000 or https://tips.fbi.gov/.

School Security Guard Charged In White Plains Federal Court With Four Murders In Connection With Cocaine Distribution Conspiracy

  Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), George P. Beach II, the Superintendent of the New York State Police (“NYSP”), and Peter J. Graziano Jr., Chief of the Village of Chester Police Department (“Chester PD”), announced the arrest of JOSEPH BIGGS, a security guard at a school in Hastings-On-Hudson, New York, for a quadruple murder committed in Chester, New York in April 2016. BIGGS was charged in a 17-count Superseding Indictment, along with NICHOLAS TARTAGLIONE, a retired police officer who was previously arrested and charged in this case, for their participation in a conspiracy to distribute five kilograms and more of cocaine and for the murders of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez in furtherance of that conspiracy. The new indictment also includes firearms and kidnapping charges against both defendants in connection with the murders.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim stated: “As alleged, Joseph Biggs, a school security officer, participated in the brutal drug-related kidnapping and murder of four people in a bar in Chester, New York. Biggs allegedly committed these cold-blooded crimes with Nicholas Tartaglione, a retired police officer. Murders are always frightening, but when allegedly committed by people entrusted with the safety of others, it is all the more disturbing.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. stated: “The FBI and our law enforcement partners in this investigation are following leads wherever they take us, and we will continue to search out any information that will help us solve the case. We are purposefully methodical, and careful about gathering facts and evidence, and we won’t stop until we bring to justice all of those responsible for the murders of these four men.”

NYSP Superintendent George P. Beach II said: “I praise the work of law enforcement in bringing these two suspected men to justice. Illicit drugs can not only be fatal to their users, but the crimes that surround these illegal operations are deadly and dangerous to our communities. With these two alleged actors charged, dangerous drugs are not making it to our streets, and those streets are now safer. The State Police pledge to continue to work and partner with other law enforcement agencies. The work we are doing will make a difference in the lives of the people we serve.”

Village of Chester Police Chief Peter J. Graziano Jr. said: “We are fortunate and humbled to be able to work with such talented people as a team in the arrest of Mr. Biggs in connection with the unspeakable and callous murder of these victims. That Mr. Bigs is alleged to be involved in a case such as this and be entrusted with the safety of children defies explanation.”

As alleged in the Indictment filed today in White Plains federal court[1]:

From at least in or about June 2015 up to and including April 2016, NICHOLAS TARTAGLIONE, JOSEPH BIGGS, and others conspired to sell five kilograms or more of cocaine. In April 2016, NICHOLAS TARTAGLIONE and JOSEPH BIGGS participated in the killing of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez in furtherance of that cocaine distribution conspiracy. Specifically, on April 11, 2016, TARTAGLIONE and BIGGS lured Martin Luna to a bar called the Likquid Lounge in Chester, New York under false pretenses, where he was held captive and killed. The other three victims – Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez – accompanied Martin Luna to the bar, where they were then held captive, shot, and killed.

JOSEPH BIGGS, 55, of Nanuet, New York, was taken into federal custody this morning. BIGGS was presented in White Plains federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith McCarthy and ordered detained. His case has been assigned to United States District Judge Kenneth M. Karas. NICHOLAS TARTAGLIONE was previously arrested on December 19, 2016, and has been detained in federal custody since that date.

A chart containing the charges and maximum penalties the defendants face is attached. The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the New York State Police, and the Village of Chester Police Department. Mr. Kim also thanked the City of Middletown Police Department for its assistance in the case.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Maurene Comey and Michael Gerber are in charge of the prosecution.

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

United States v. Nicholas Tartaglione and Joseph Biggs, S3 16 Cr. 832 (KMK)

COUNT		CHARGES		MAXIMUM PENALTIES
1		Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.		Life in prison Mandatory minimum: 10 years in prison
2		Murder of Martin Luna in furtherance of a conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.		Life in prison or death Mandatory minimum: 20 years in prison
3		Murder of Urbano Santiago in furtherance of a conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.		Life in prison or death Mandatory minimum: 20 years in prison
4		Murder of Miguel Luna in furtherance of a conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.		Life in prison or death Mandatory minimum: 20 years in prison
5		Murder of Hector Gutierrez in furtherance of a conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.		Life in prison or death Mandatory minimum: 20 years in prison
6		Use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime resulting in the death of Urbano Santiago.		Life in prison or death   Mandatory minimum: 10 years in prison
7		Use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime resulting in the death of Miguel Luna.		Life in prison or death   Mandatory minimum: 10 years in prison
8		Use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime resulting in the death of Hector Gutierrez.		Life in prison or death   Mandatory minimum: 10 years in prison
9		Kidnapping conspiracy.		Life in prison
10		Kidnapping resulting in the death of Martin Luna.		Life in prison or death   Mandatory minimum: Life in prison
11		Kidnapping resulting in the death of Urbano Santiago.		Life in prison or death   Mandatory minimum: Life in prison
12		Kidnapping resulting in the death of Miguel Luna.		Life in prison or death   Mandatory minimum: Life in prison
13		Kidnapping resulting in the death of Hector Gutierrez.		Life in prison or death   Mandatory minimum: Life in prison
14		Travel or use of interstate facility with intent to commit crime of violence, resulting in death of Martin Luna.		Life in prison
15		Travel or use of interstate facility with intent to commit crime of violence, resulting in death of Urbano Santiago.		Life in prison
16		Travel or use of interstate facility with intent to commit crime of violence, resulting in death of Miguel Luna.		Life in prison
17		Travel or use of interstate facility with intent to commit crime of violence, resulting in death of Hector Gutierrez.		Life in prison

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