Wave Hill Events Jul 7–Jul 14 Midsummer Mints Day!

  Once July 4 is behind us, I always feel we are approaching high summer, and I need refreshing! As if a Sunset Wednesday and late hours on Thursday were not enough, Sunday, July 8 we celebrate the mint family (Lamiaceae), with a special walk, a workshop and a sale on mint plants in The Shop.

SAT, July 9    Family Art Project: Wet Felting Florals

Wave Hill 2017 Winter Workspace artist Crystal Gregory returns to take us through the simple steps of wet felting. Pull from bright colors of wool roving, as well as your own outdoor sketches of the flowering garden, to make an eye-popping, floral-fabric landscape. Free, and admission to the grounds is free untilnoon. 

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 10AM‒1PM

SAT, July 8    Wellness Workshop: Herbal Soap-Making

From peppermint to lavender and sage to thyme, the mint family (Lamiaceae) includes many herbs with the power to heal, soothe, awaken and relax. Explore cold-processed soap-making while learning about the health benefits of mints and their fragrant kin. Melissa Rivera from Essence and Aroma leads this hands-on workshop; participants go home with several bars of all-natural vegan soap. Ages 12 and older welcome with an adult. $55/$45 Wave Hill Member. Registration required, online at wavehill.org or onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center. Midsummer Mints Day event. 

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 10AM–1PM

SAT, July 8    In The Shop: Buy one Mint Plant, Get One 50% Off

Stop in The Shop to select a plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae), and go home with a second half off! Midsummer Mints Day event.

PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 10AM–4PM

Sat, July 8    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, July 8    Gallery Tour

Wave Hill’s Curatorial Fellow will lead a tour of current 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, Sonya Blesofsky’s sculptural installation is inspired by the history of Glyndor House, while Sindy Butz’s includes enlarged photographs and videos of her performing with Wave Hill fireplaces. Free with admission to the grounds.

GLYNDOR GALLERY, 2PM

Sat, July 8    Mint Family Reunion Walk

Spearmint, basil, coleus and lemon balm are just a few members of the mammoth mint family (Lamiaceae). Meet and greet some of these handsome and hard-working herbs and ornamental “mints” on a midsummer stroll through the gardens with Horticultural Interpreter Charles Day. You’ll be surprised to find who’s related! Free with admission to the grounds. Midsummer Mints Day event.

MEET AT THE PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 2PM

Sun, July 9    Summer Birding

Naturalist Gabriel Willow contributes his extensive knowledge of diverse bird species and their behavior on these captivating walks through the gardens and woodlands. Observe the plants, insects and habitats at Wave Hill that make it an appealing destination for such a wide variety of birds. Birders of all levels welcome!Ages 10 and older welcome with an adult. Free with admission to the grounds. NYC Audubon Members enjoy two-for-one admission to the grounds.

ON THE GROUNDS, 9:30AM

Sun, July 9    Family Art Project: Wet Felting Florals

Wave Hill 2017 Winter Workspace artist Crystal Gregory returns to take us through the simple steps of wet felting. Pull from bright colors of wool roving, as well as your own outdoor sketches of the flowering garden, to make an eye-popping, floral-fabric landscape. Free with admission to the grounds. 

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 10AM‒1PM

Sun, July 9    Yoga in the Garden

Enjoy a morning yoga class on the lawn. Participants should bring a mat, dress appropriately and expect to be outside, unless precipitation or excessive humidity occurs. Classes are offered in partnership with Yoga Haven. All levels welcome. $25/$15 Wave Hill Member. Pre-registration recommended at wavehill.org or onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center.

ON THE GROUNDS, 10AM–11AM

Sun, July 9    Family Nature Walk

Join naturalist and educator Gabriel Willow on a family-friendly walk through the gardens or woodlands. No registration required. Children ages six and older welcome with an adult. Severe weather cancels. Free with admission to the grounds. 

MEET AT WAVE HILL HOUSE, 12:30PM

Sun, July 9    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, July 9    Meet the Artists: Evie McKenna & Cheryl Molnar

Join us for this talk with two 2014 Winter Workspace artists who currently have exhibitions up in Wave Hill House. Evie McKenna pairs photos of her Jackson Heights neighborhood with those of Wave Hill and Nevada. Cheryl Molnar’s painted collage works portray landscapes inspired by locations she has visited but reimagined to address human manipulation of nature. Free with admission to the grounds.

WAVE HILL HOUSE,  3PM

Mon, July 10    

Closed to the public.

Tue, July 11    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, July 11    No Gallery Tour

Tours in Glyndor Gallery resume Tuesday, July 18.

Wed, July 12    Sunset Wednesdays Outdoor Music: Lyndon Achee Quintet

A Brooklyn-based steel pan artist/composer/performer/educator, Lyndon Acheecollaborates often with Oliver Lake, Bobby Sanabria, Eli Fountain and Anthony Braxton, among others. He has been a band member for five albums with Oliver Lake’s ensemble. Achee is the musical director of Village Drums of Freedom and Calendula, an NYC-based world music/jazz band. Recent appearances include those at NJPAC and the Paramount Theater. He earned a BFA at the New School Jazz Program. At Wave Hill, he offers original tunes, “African Flower” by Duke Ellington, “Little Sunflower,” “Black Narcissus” and “Hibiscus,” with band membersAdam Kliple, keyboards; Pheeroan Aklaff, drums; David Achee, percussion;Hilliard Greene, bass; and special guest Nick Semenykhin, guitar. Free with admission to the grounds. On Sunset Wednesdays, admission is $10, $6 for students and seniors 65+, and $4 for children ages six to 18. Free to Members and children under six.

ON THE GROUNDS, 7PM

Thu, July 13    Evening Garden Walk

Enjoy an evening stroll in the gardens with a Wave Hill Garden Guide. Free with admission to the grounds.

MEET AT THE PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 6:30PM

Thu, July 13    Evening Yoga

Enjoy yoga on the lawn select Thursday evenings. Participants should bring a mat, dress appropriately and expect to be outside unless precipitation or excessive humidity occurs. Classes are offered in partnership with Yoga Haven. All levels welcome. $25/$15 Wave Hill Member. Pre-registration recommended, online atwavehill.org or onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center.

ON THE GROUNDS, 6:30PM–7:30PM

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 Tuesday mornings 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.

FACT SHEET: SMALLER, SAFER, FAIRER: A ROADMAP TO CLOSING RIKERS ISLAND

  Under the de Blasio administration, fewer people are going to jail and those who do are getting more support while incarcerated to support successfully re-integrating into society when they leave. New York City is safer than it has ever been thanks to precision policing and better law enforcement strategies. The City has already added more than $1 billion in funding to the Department of Correction’s capital plan to improve conditions inside the jails.

Because of this progress, a long-awaited goal is in sight. For the first time in history, the City has a plan to close Rikers Island. We will do that by making our jails smaller, safer and fairer.

The first step is to continue to reduce the size of the jail population, which today makes closure impossible. The current citywide jail population is around 9,400, and there is capacity to house only 2,300 in existing facilities in the boroughs. By 2021, through implementing new strategies to reduce the number of people who enter jail and how long they stay, the City’s goal is to reduce the average daily jail population by 25% to 7,000 people. With 7,000 individuals in city jails, New York City will be using jail almost exclusively for individuals facing serious charges or who pose a high risk–making further safe reductions difficult. Closing the jails on Rikers Island for good requires a daily jail population of just 5,000, and to get there the City will work with every part of the criminal justice system to develop strategies to further reduce violent crime and address the problem of chronic offending, which to date has been intractable nationwide.

An unjust history

Historically, Rikers Island was neither safe nor just:  

·                  Too many low-level offenders incarcerated

·                  Long case delays causing too many to wait for trial for too long

·                  Dilapidated jails with minimal supports in place

·                  A culture of violence and neglect that fostered violence

The de Blasio Administration has already made sweeping changes: 

·                  18 percent reduction in jail population through less enforcement, expanded alternative to jail programs and reducing case delay

·                  More than $1 billion added to the Department of Correction’s capital plan to improve the physical conditions in the City’s jails

·                  $52.5 million investment in expanded educational, vocational and recreational programming for detainees

·                  Crime at record lows – New York continues to be the safest big city in the country

·                  Serious injuries to correction officers (down 38%) and use of force resulting in serious injury to incarcerated individuals (down 51%) declined significantly between 2014 and 2016

·                  8 percent decline in number of individuals in jail for longer than one year and 18 day drop in average length of a Supreme Court case, both as result of efforts to reduce case delay and how long people stay in jail.

Smaller: Reduce the number of inmates by 25 percent, to around 7,000 a day 

By working with courts, defense attorneys, service providers and the state, we will reduce the population to 7,000 by 2021 and then to 5,000. 

·                  Help people pay bail (bail expeditors and expansion of charitable bail funds)

·                  Replace short jail sentences with programs that reduce recidivism

·                  Reduce the number of people with mental illness and substance disorders; parole violators; women and young adults in jails

·                  Speed up case processing times for felonies and expedite transfers to state custody

Safer: Humane and productive conditions for staff and incarcerated individuals

The long-term plan is to close Rikers Island. But we must ensure that staff and those who are incarcerated are safe by 1) investing in upgraded facilities and 2) making sure that every corrections officer has the tools to do their jobs safely and effectively.

·                  Bring all existing jails, both on- and off-Island, to state of good repair within the next five years

·                  Improve officer safety by build a new training academy to ensure all corrections officers receive best possible training

·                  Triple the number of dedicated housing units designed for individuals with serious mental illness, which have been shown to reduce violence

·                  Promote safety by ensuring full camera coverage in all city jails by end of 2017

Fairer: Change the culture inside jails to better support officers and create pathways to stability for detainees 

We will support officers to serve the public at the highest levels of integrity by expanding professional development opportunities and supportive services. And we will reduce recidivism by making sure that those who leave City jails are equipped to succeed so they don’t return.

·                  Everyone in city custody will be offered five hours per day of education, vocational, and therapeutic programming by end of 2018

·                  Help incarcerated individuals serving a city sentence re-enter society with support by trained, formerly incarcerated mentors; transitional employment; higher education

·                  Foster connections to families and community by improving visitation

·                  Further reduce punitive segregation

·                  Better support correctional officers by offering peer mentoring for new recruits to reduce attrition and supportive services for staff to deal with distress and trauma

Visits

 ·                  Pilot new dedicated bus routes

·                  Extended visit duration

·                  Renovations to visit facilities

·                  Increased staffing and training for visit staff

Mental Health

 ·                  Triple the number of dedicated housing units for individuals with serious mental health needs, which have better outcomes for incarcerated people and less violence

·                  Expanding diversion for people with mental health needs

Renovations

 ·                  Renovations in all existing city jails will address architectural issues, fire safety, ADA compliance, air conditioning, bathroom fixtures

·                  Physical improvements to programming areas and health care clinics

Projected Reductions in Population

 ·                  Population when Mayor de Blasio took office: 11,478

·                  Average population in 2017: 9,400

·                  Five year population reduction goal: 7,000 (25% reduction from 2017 average)

·                  The following reductions in population are anticipated as a result of these strategies:

·       Improved risk assessment: - 710

·       Making it easier to pay bail: - 200

·       Expanded pretrial diversion to allow defendants to wait for trial at home: - 500

·       Replace short jail sentences with programs that reduce recidivism: -300

·       Reduce number of individuals with behavioral health needs in city jails: -50

·       Reduce number of women in city jails: -20

·       Reduce number of state technical parole violators in city jails: -170

·       Speed up case processing time: -450

·                  To reduce the population to 5,000 over the next 10 years, City putting together Task Force of experts to identify additional strategies for reducing the population

 ·       At 7,000, 94 percent of the pretrial population will be facing felony charges (60 percent facing violent felony charges)

·       City will need to develop strategies to further reduce violence beyond currently historic lows and develop solutions for issues like chronic offending

MAYOR DE BLASIO AND SENIOR ADVISOR GABRIELLE FIALKOFF ANNOUNCE GAINS IN SUMMER JOBS FOR NEW YORK CITY’S MOST VULNERABLE YOUTH

The number of vulnerable youth enrolled in the Summer Youth Employment Program triples from 1,000 to 3,000

  Celebrating two years of progress, the Center for Youth Employment (CYE), a public-private partnership between the de Blasio administration and local private sector leaders, tripled the number of summer jobs for New York City’s most vulnerable youth—New Yorkers ages 14 to 24 who are or have been involved in the shelter, justice or foster care systems.

Further, the administration has built and strengthened an inter-agency ecosystem of policies and programs to meet the unique needs of LGBTQ youth, who make up a large share of the City’s vulnerable youth population. Through a $100,000 grant from the Arcus Foundation, CYE in concert with the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), other agencies, and community-based partner the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) assessed how New York City could increase LGBTQ youth employment and support them once employed. This research will inform a first-of-its-kind comprehensive LGBTQ Youth Employment Best Practices Manual.

“We are extremely proud of this program, and look forward to its continued success. Creating opportunities for our most vulnerable children facilitates personal growth for them, and economic growth for the City. We all benefit from the accomplishments made possible by the Center for Youth Employment,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio

“Since its inception, the Center for Youth Employment has delivered on its promise to support NYC’s most vulnerable youth,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray, who serves as Chair of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. “LGBTQ youth, in particular, are often plagued with obstacles that include homelessness, stressful academic environments and abandonment. LGBTQ youth have more support when City agency partners and local private sector leaders work collaboratively and there is better access to jobs and stable employment. Precious lives are saved and nurtured."

“We are committed to building a strong safety net to support our young people and giving them the tools to launch successful careers. These programs reflect the innovative and dynamic ways the public and private sectors can work together to ensure we are creating access and opportunity for all New Yorkers, especially our most vulnerable communities,” said Gabrielle Fialkoff, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Vice-Chair of the Mayor’s Fund.

CYE was created in 2015 with a focus on building support systems for vulnerable youth, who are at higher risk of negative economic outcomes, including low educational attainment, unemployment, low earnings, incarceration and homelessness, and ultimately providing them with universal access to summer jobs. Since the establishment of CYE, the number of vulnerable youth enrolled in the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) grew from 1,000 in 2014 to 3,000 in 2016. This growth was fueled by increased public and private investments, including support from Astoria Energy II, LLC. Updated figures for 2017 will be released in July and are expected to continue this upward trend.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth comprise a large share of the vulnerable youth population. Over the past few years, Mayor de Blasio’s administration has intensified efforts to meet the unique needs of LGBTQ youth. For instance, in 2015, the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City in partnership with CYE, received a $100,000 grant from the Arcus Foundation to understand common challenges and unmet needs for LGBTQ youth in NYC’s workforce. Working in collaboration with the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), other agencies, and community-based partner the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), CYE assessed how New York City could increase LGBTQ youth employment and robustly support them once employed.

Using this research, CYE provided recommendations to the Children’s Cabinet, DYCD, the Human Resources Administration and HMI to produce a first-of-its-kind comprehensive LGBTQ Youth Employment Best Practices Manual. This manual will ensure all City youth workforce programs are affirming and accommodating of LGBTQ youth. Further, CYE and its partners will develop an outreach strategy to increase recruitment of LGBTQ applicants for SYEP; make recommendations for supports to ensure a quality experience for participants via the vulnerable youth working group; and eventually track the number of LGBTQ applicants and participants in SYEP by modifying the application process to capture additional, voluntarily provided information about applicants.

In addition, this summer, CYE in partnership with the Young Men’s Initiative and DYCD, will launch a pilot program to support a targeted group of 50 vulnerable youth in Queens who are not yet work-ready. Participants will develop critical thinking and communications skills through work-based learning activities designed and supervised by The LAMP, a nonprofit focusing on digital literacy and media awareness.

 “Addressing the needs of our most vulnerable young people, especially in the context of their job market prospects, is critical for the City’s economic future. Through the Summer Youth Employment Program, Ladders for Leaders and other City-funded programs, teens and young adults have been exposed to everything from crime scene forensics to computer coding to advertising,” said Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Bill Chong. “DYCD continues to work with the Center for Youth Employment to ensure all young New Yorkers have equal access to internships, jobs, and career training opportunities that are crucial to their success.”

Operation Pipeline: A.G. Schneiderman Announces Take Down Of Heroin Trafficking Ring – Marking Fifth Surge Initiative Drug Bust

16 People Indicted And Charged With 103 Crimes In Investigation That Uncovered Over 2.8 Pounds Of Heroin

Schneiderman: We’re Committed To Cutting off the Pipeline That Fuels The Epidemic

  Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the indictment of 16 individuals for trafficking heroin throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Monroe County, and elsewhere in New York State – marking the fifth drug bust in his crackdown on suburban and upstate opioid and narcotics trafficking.

The 16 individuals arraigned today include both alleged narcotics suppliers and customers who resold the drugs. The indictments are the result of the Attorney General’s and New York State Police Department’s joint investigation, “Operation Pipeline,” part of Attorney General Schneiderman’s Suburban and Upstate Response to the Growing Epidemic “SURGE” initiative – a multi-pronged effort to target gangs and individuals who funnel heroin and other narcotics into suburban and upstate communities across New York State. Previous SURGE narcotics operations, such as “Operation Gravy Train” and “Operation Bricktown,” have recovered huge amounts of drugs, guns, and other paraphernalia related to drug trafficking.

“The opioid and narcotics crisis is destroying families across New York State – and we’re committed to cutting off the pipeline that is fueling this epidemic,” said Attorney General Schneiderman “Operation Pipeline and our S.U.R.G.E. Initiative demonstrate the productive partnership we’ve built with local law enforcement as we tackle this crisis head on.”

“Investigations into complex drug trafficking rings are most effective when law enforcement agencies work together, and this case is no different,” said State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II. “Through these partnerships, we will continue to target those who are bringing these dangerous and often deadly drugs into our neighborhoods.”

The indictment was unsealed today in Monroe County Supreme Court, with arrests made in a series of raids in Rochester, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, as well as in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, and California.

Like many suburban and upstate communities, Monroe County has seen a significant escalation in heroin-related deaths in recent years. According to a Rockefeller Institute for Government report, overall deaths from drug overdoses and chronic drug abuse in New York has increased 71% between 2010 and 2015.

Over the course of the investigation, which was led by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) and the New York State Police Department, authorities monitored phone conversations between members of the heroin ring and their associates. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants conducted drug deals using cryptic and coded terminology –such as “a bomb” to refer to good quality heroin and number of “legs” to refer to the amount of heroin in each deal—transported narcotics from New York City to Rochester, and sold a total of $75,000 worth of heroin. Investigators seized over 2.8 pounds of heroin during the arrests.

The indictment charges the 16 individuals with a total of 103 crimes, including Operating as a Major Trafficker and various counts of Criminal Sale and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance (class A and B felonies), as well as Conspiracy to commit those crimes. Attorney General Schneiderman drafted the Operating as a Major Trafficker statute (P.L. 220.77) when he was a state senator. The law went into effect in November 2009 as part of reforms to the Rockefeller-era drug laws, and is the only felony narcotics charge in the state that carries a possible life sentence.

Those charged in the Monroe County June 9, 2017 indictment include:

Juan Carlos Romero Gomez a/k/a “Pancho”– Brooklyn, NY and Miami, FL

Omar Hernandez a/k/a “Buti”– Brooklyn, NY and California

Daniel Polanco a/k/a “Tito”– Brooklyn, NY

Santiago Waldron a/k/a “Santiago”– Bronx, NY

Angel D. Abreu a/k/a “Gordito” – Bronx, NY

Angel Colon, New York City area

Larry M. Polanco-Rodriguez – Perth Amboy, NJ

Julio Jonquet Castillo a/k/a “Julito” – Rochester, NY (currently incarcerated on unrelated charges)

Dagoberto Miranda a/k/a “Octavio” – Irondequoit, NY

Rafael Rodriguez – Rochester, NY

Jose Falcon a/k/a “Andy” – Rochester, NY

Rafael Montoya Morales – Rochester, NY

Samuel Maldonado – Rochester, NY

Miguel Rodriguez a/k/a “Gordo” – Rochester, NY

Jose Abril – Rochester, NY

Luis A. Rodriguez-Figueroa a/k/a “Colorao” – Rochester, NYand Springfield, MA

The investigation was conducted by the New York State Police and the Organized Crime Task Force Special Investigator Phillip Sindoni, under the supervision of Supervising Investigator Peter Talty and Deputy Chief Eugene Black, and the overall supervision of Dominick Zarrella. 

Attorney General Schneiderman Announces Guilty Verdict For Brooklyn Landlord Who Harassed Rent Regulated Tenants

Daniel Melamed Found Guilty On Three Counts Of Unlawful Eviction; Could Face Up To One Year In Jail

The Case Marks A Victory For The Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force, An Unprecedented Collaboration Between City And State Agencies

  New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the guilty verdict of Crown Heights landlord Daniel Melamed, and the corporation that he controlled, on three counts of Unlawful Eviction of rent stabilized tenants. Melamed will be sentenced on September 13, 2017; he could face up to one year in jail.

The guilty verdict follows a months-long investigation into Melamed’s ownership and management of an apartment building at 1578 Union Street, where the Attorney General found evidence that Melamed used construction and deprivation of services in an attempt to get rent stabilized tenants to give up their apartments. Melamed’s June 2015 arrest was the first resulting from the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force, a collaboration between State and City agencies announced by Attorney General Schneiderman, Mayor de Blasio, and Governor Cuomo in February 2015.

“We won’t hesitate to bring the full force of the law against anyone who harasses, intimidates, and jeopardizes the health and safety of tenants,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Daniel Melamed intentionally endangered rent-stabilized tenants in order to push them out – and line his own pockets. Today’s guilty verdict marks another win for our Tenant Harassment Task Force and the strong partnership we’ve created between the state and the city to hold bad landlords accountable.”

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, “Today’s Melamed verdict is the result of the strong partnership between the state, the Attorney General, and city to hold bad landlords accountable for breaking the law. In the five years since the Governor’s Tenant Protection Unit was created, it has made numerous criminal referrals of landlords that have led to convictions and jail, negotiated multi-million dollar settlements, returned 60,000 units to regulation, and recovered more than $4 million in overcharges to tenants. Unscrupulous landlords will not be able to hide wrongdoing from the Tenant Protection Unit and their partners in law enforcement, and working together they are not going to allow vulnerable tenants to be harassed and preyed upon.”

NYC Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer said, “Today’s verdict is a victory for all those who champion fair housing and responsible ownership. This is a clear message that we will not stand idly by and allow landlords to take advantage of their residents. I want to thank my staff for their continued work for tenants on a daily basis. I want to applaud Attorney General Schneiderman for his dedication to the residents of New York City. We look forward to our continued collaboration as we do everything in our power to fight on behalf of tenants across our city.”

“Mr. Melamed was the first landlord indicted by our Tenant Harassment Task Force – a distinction he richly earned by tearing apart his own building to force out a family with a young child. Other landlords who put money ahead of people’s lives should take warning: we will not tolerate tenant abuse in New York City. I thank the Attorney General, our agency partners at HPD and DHCR, the office of the Buildings Marshal, and DOB staff for their great work in securing today’s verdict,” said City Buildings Commissioner Rick D. Chandler, PE.

Prosecutors from the A.G.’s office proved that Melamed presided over a disturbing pattern of dangerous and unlawful construction that jeopardized the health and safety of building tenants with the intent of evicting the remaining rent stabilized tenants. The evidence presented at trial showed that Melamed illegally shut off heat to rent regulated tenants, even when temperatures dropped below freezing; repeatedly exposed tenants to lead dust that exceeded acceptable levels by as much as eighty-eight times the permissible threshold; and removed the boiler in the middle of winter from the building without permission from any City or State agencies.

As proven at trial, almost immediately after buying the building, Melamed embarked on a campaign to rid it of rent stabilized tenants by cutting essential services such as heat, performing illegal construction and failing to contain and clean toxic lead dust.  The three remaining tenants testified against their landlord and detailed how they adapted to life under his ownership, including using ovens to heat their apartments, bathing using buckets, and covering their noses and mouths to protect themselves against the lead dust.  This trial exposed the lengths that Melamed went to force these tenants to leave their rent stabilized apartments. 

After taking part in a joint task force inspection of 1578 Union Street in Brooklyn and observing the extremely troubling conditions, such as a lack of heat and hot water, exposed friable asbestos in the basement, and a thick layer of dust that was present throughout the building, the TPU conducted tenant interviews and reviewed various records and then formally made a criminal referral to the Attorney General.

SAGE - Trump to Trans Elders: Drop Dead

Last night, SAGE made history: We forced President Trump to back down. Sometimes we sign petitions or letters and never see results. But last night we saw a victory -- sort of. 

A few months ago, the Trump administration took the unprecedented step of eliminating LGBT elders from a federal aging survey that is used to determine how billions of dollars are spent on elder services, erasing any opportunity for LGBT older adults to self-identify. 

We know that when the money is distributed, those who aren't counted simply don't count. So SAGE mobilized more than 15,000 LGBT elders and allies who said loud and clear: We refuse to be invisible. 

Late last night, we learned that we made a difference. That's right, SAGE and our allies triumphed over the Trump administration! 

But it was only a partial victory, because although sexual orientation was added back into the survey, the revised survey continues to exclude transgender elders, and that is unacceptable.  

Once again, the Trump administration has picked on the most vulnerable among us. If they believe that a partial reversal of course will convince SAGE to abandon our transgender constituents, they are in for a big surprise. Their intimidation tactics won't diminish our sense of duty and loyalty to all our trailblazing pioneers, many of whom are the very members of the transgender community who stood firm at Stonewall nearly 50 years ago.  

We will not rest until all of our community is counted, included, and supported. But we only have 30 days to tell the Trump administration that we will not be slapped down. Over the next 30 days, SAGE and our allies will rally our voices to tell Trump that our older trans community cannot be pushed around.  

We will not be erased. 

We will not be eliminated. 

We will not go quietly.

We refuse to be invisible.

Send a letter to the Trump administration today.