MAYOR DE BLASIO WELCOMES FIRST DAY OF PROSPECT PARK’s CAR FREE SUMMER

East Drive from Park Circle to Grand Army Plaza, previously open to vehicles during weekday morning rush hours, is car-free 24-7 for two months from today through the weekend after Labor Day

  Today marks the first day of Prospect Park’s car-free summer, announced by Mayor de Blasio last week. Previously open to northbound traffic during the morning rush-hour, Prospect Park entire loop drive is car-free 24/7 from today until Monday, September 11^th. The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), in coordination with NYC Parks, has been publicizing  Prospect Park East Drive’s new hours to affected drivers. 

“It’s a great day for Prospect Park. For kids and families using the park as their summer oasis, it just got quieter, healthier and safer” said Mayor de Blasio. 

“We are delighted to announce that Prospect Park for the rest of the summer will be completely car-free for the first time,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.  “Cyclists, joggers and pedestrians, young and old, can rejoice during these next couple warmer months in a safer and quieter park.”   

“New Yorkers look to their parks for green space and fresh air, especially in the heat of the summer,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP.  “Completely removing car traffic from Prospect Park turns one of our most historic sites back over to the kids, joggers, ball players, picnickers, and amblers who love it.  This summer, all visitors to Prospect Park will enjoy cleaner air, improved safety – and peace and quiet.”

In 2015, Mayor de Blasio announced that the West Drive of Prospect Park would be permanently car-free. Since that time, DOT has received a number of requests from the community and local officials to expand car-free hours to all of Prospect Park, which during the summer sees increased recreational use, including by several children’s day camps.  DOT is coordinating its efforts this summer with NYC Parks and the Prospect Park Alliance.

 According to DOT data, vehicle volumes on the East Drive are consistently lower during summer months: during a peak morning hour in the summer, fewer than 300 vehicles use the East Drive (a decline from over 400 hourly vehicles on a fall morning) while during a peak morning hour, the drive is used by nearly 1,000 pedestrians, joggers and cyclists.

The summertime car-free hours are also anticipated to have a negligible effect on travel times on alternative routes on streets around the park.  After the closure of the West Drive in June 2015, DOT studies showed that the most affected alternative southbound route saw an increased travel time of less than a minute after the West Drive went car-free, where other afternoon drivers actually saw travel times improve.  During the period of this summer’s East Drive closure, DOT will similarly collect data and conduct ongoing observations to determine the effect on alternate northbound routes during the morning rush period. 

EDITOR'S NOTE:

We can do the same thing here in Van Cortlandt Park. Just close down the Deegan Highway, but then again this is the Bronx.

MAYOR DE BLASIO, NYPD UNVEIL NEW 116TH PRECINCT STATIONHOUSE TO AID WITH RESPONSE TIME AND JURISDICTION LINES IN SOUTHEAST QUEENS

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Police Department today unveiled the site for the new 116^th Precinct located at 242-40 North Conduit Avenue in the Rosedale neighborhood of Queens. The siting of the future 116^th Precinct is a decades in the making accomplishment, born out of calls from local communities to cut down on response times and better allocate public safety resources across the 105^th Precinct’s vast geography.

“Thanks to the tireless efforts of the NYPD, New York City is the safest big city in America. Every New York City neighborhood deserves the same quality of service and safety we’ve come to expect from the NYPD. That is why we are making unprecedented investments in establishing high-quality precincts,” said Mayor de Blasio. “The future 116^th Precinct will help reduce current response times in Southeast Queens and expand coverage throughout the community.”

The 105^th Precinct is the fifth largest in the City, covering 12.43 square miles and 354 miles of roadway in Southeast Queens. The new 116^th Precinct will assume over half of the 105^th Precinct’s territory. While the citywide average emergency response time is approximately seven minutes, the 105th’s response time averages closer to nine minutes. The addition of the 116^th Precinct, which will be located at the 105^thPrecinct’s satellite building, will allow officers to respond more quickly and maintain a significant police presence in the southernmost part of the jurisdiction. Last March, the NYPD created a satellite precinct to assist with its coverage and service in the 105^th Precinct, which included 18 new officers, two new sergeants and a 24-hour operation to aid with the case loads and stretched jurisdictions.

The NYPD will conduct an analysis to determine the precinct’s eventual borders. The study will consider factors such as geography, population, 911/311 calls, crime and quality of life issues with the goal of increasing services while distributing workload as equitably as possible. In connection with this analysis, stakeholders – including residents and elected officials – will be consulted.

Staffing levels and operating costs for the 116^thPrecinct will be determined as the process moves along, boundaries are determined, designs are completed and construction gets underway.

"We are excited to be here in Queens as we announce the site of the new 116 Precinct," said NYPD Commissioner James P. O'Neill. "This new investment will reduce response times and inevitably enable us to even further reduce crime."

 

Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner O’Neill also announced that the City will invest $1.3 million to retrofit all 72 command vehicles following the death of Officer Miosotis Familia, who tragically lost her life while on duty in the Bronx. The retrofits will be funded by a combination of City Tax Levy funds and asset forfeiture funds. 

Following the tragic deaths of two NYPD officers in late 2014, the City allocated $6.8 million to outfit the NYPD’s 3,813 patrol cars with bullet-resistant panels to protect the doors. To date 2,100 vehicles have been installed with bullet-resistant door panels and the City is on track to have bullet-resistant door panels installed in every patrol vehicle by end of 2017. After an initial bullet-resistant window pilot program, additional funding of $10.4 million dollars was allocated for the installation of bullet-resistant window inserts for patrol vehicles. The first 500 NYPD patrol car bullet-resistant window insert installations are expected to be completed this month.

Rudolph Giuliani -vs- Preet Bharara - WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz 
District 32 Bronx County, New York 

 You should know that both Rudy Giuliani and Preet Bharara became famous and powerful during the times they served as United States Attorneys.  Both of them came in like gangbusters, indicting anyone from left to right, anyone who stood in their way, including elected officials.

Due to the fact that the press does not have much love for elected officials, the media has helped to create an aura about these two prosecutors, making Rudy Giuliani the Mayor of the City of New York, and making Preet Bharara arrogant enough to confront the President of the United States of America in what appears to be an act of insubordination, when he said that he would not return his boss’ phone call.

It is important for you to know that after Rudy Giuliani and Preet Bharara left their offices at the US Attorney, some of their overcharged indictments that were fueled by the media to make them famous and powerful, were eventually thrown out of court.

In 1988, former US Attorney Rudy Giuliani indicted Congressman Robert Garcia, along with his wife, Jane Lee Garcia, and attorney Ralph Vallone, Jr. on the charges of corruption in a bribery-extortion scheme involving the WedTech Corporation. During the arraignment, former US Attorney Giuliani went so far as to accuse Congressman Garcia of “the sale of his office.”

You should know that Congressman Robert Garcia spent 3 months in prison awaiting decision on appeal, which was then overturned.  Even after his case was retried, that second conviction was overturned. The case was never re-tried a third time.

In other words, the charges against Congressman Robert Garcia by former US Attorney Rudy Giuliani, in his grand role as crime-buster against political corruption, and with all of the hype and media any publicity hound could ever want, were eventually thrown out of court.

Additionally, two of former US Attorney Giuliani’s other convictions, also related to the WedTech case, were overturned. John Marriotta, the former president of the company, had had two out of four convictions overturned; and E. Robert Wallach's conviction for receiving illegal payments was also reversed.

Now, Preet Bharara, who has left the US Attorney’s office only months ago, is already finding that his so-called great achievements “cleaning-house” in Albany, especially his highly-touted prosecution of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, is also getting thrown out of court.

A string of reversals of former US Attorney Giuliani’s convictions (and his staff of 150 attorneys) that were high profile, white collar cases and were partially or completely overturned include:

The various WedTech-related convictions of Richard Biaggi, son of former Congressman Mario Biaggi; Peter Neglia, former Administrtor of the US Small Business Administration; and California Attorney E. Robert Wallach, friend of former Attorney General Edwin Meese III;

The conviction of James T. Sherwin, President of the GAF Corporation;

The security fraud conviction of Wall Street trader Ivan Boesky's stock speculator John Mulheren;

The tax fraud conviction of Princeton/Newport Partners were overturned on appeal, and the IRS found the investment firm had actually overpaid its taxes.

The Federal judge ruling that threw out accusations that the Genovese crime family controlled the main union at the Fulton Fish Market; 

  

The Federal judge ruling that threw out the charges against seven of 14 defendants in the Pizza Connection involving heroin-trafficking case.

This makes me think that the power of the US Attorney, especially those high profile prosecutors who crave media attention, are the ones the media is afraid to go against to see the realities and expose the truth to the public.

Ladies and gentlemen, Preet Bharara has only been out of office a few months, so who knows how long it will take for his cases to be overturned. It’s too early to say, so stay tuned.

I am Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Settles Civil Fraud Lawsuit Against Narco Freedom, Joining Hands Management, And Devorah Haigler For Engaging In Schemes To Defraud Medicaid

Settlements Bar Narco Freedom from Federal Healthcare Programs, Obtain a $50.5 Million Claim in Narco Freedom Bankruptcy, and Require Joining Hands and Haigler to Pay $300,000

   Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Scott Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s (“HHS-OIG”) New York Region, announced today that the United States has settled its claims brought under the False Claims Act against NARCO FREEDOM, INC. (“NARCO FREEDOM”), a former operator of outpatient chemical dependency clinics, and separately has settled its claims against JOINING HANDS MANAGEMENT INC. (“JOINING HANDS”), an operator of short-term residences known as “three-quarter houses,” and DEVORAH HAIGLER, co-owner of JOINING HANDS. The consent orders were approved yesterday by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl. Pursuant to the settlement, the three defendants admit and accept responsibility for conduct alleged in the Government’s complaint-in-intervention, the United States will receive a $50.5 million allowed claim in the Narco Freedom bankruptcy proceeding, and Joining Hands and Haigler will pay $300,000 to the United States and the State of New York, the federal portion of which is $141,180.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “Narco Freedom not only defrauded Medicaid, it also victimized vulnerable low-income patients who were attempting to recover from drug and alcohol addictions. Particularly in light of the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities, we will act aggressively to stop such abusive conduct.”

HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert said: “This settlement puts an end to a greed-fueled scheme that callously compromised patient care and took advantage of an extremely vulnerable population. Health providers engaging in such behaviors should contemplate facing Narco Freedom’s fate – exclusion from all government health programs.”

The complaint-in-intervention filed by the United States alleged three separate fraud schemes. First, the complaint alleged that NARCO FREEDOM, JOINING HANDS, HAIGLER, and others were engaged in a kickback scheme, whereby NARCO FREEDOM made monthly cash payments to JOINING HANDS in exchange for HAIGLER and others referring residents of JOINING HANDS’ three-quarter houses, almost all of whom were Medicaid recipients, to NARCO FREEDOM outpatient programs and enforcing attendance at those programs, for which NARCO FREEDOM billed Medicaid. Second, the complaint alleged that NARCO FREEDOM and others were engaged in a kickback scheme whereby NARCO FREEDOM provided below-cost housing in its own three-quarter houses, known as “Freedom Houses,” to induce residents of those houses to enroll in and attend NARCO FREEDOM’s outpatient programs, and then evicted the residents as soon as NARCO FREEDOM had collected the maximum available Medicaid funds. Both schemes exploited vulnerable individuals who were forced to comply with NARCO FREEDOM’s rules because they lacked stable housing options. Third, the complaint alleged that NARCO FREEDOM and others directed and paid employees of its outpatient program in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to create false treatment records for certain patients and to backdate records.

As part of the NARCO FREEDOM settlement, NARCO FREEDOM, which is currently in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, has agreed (through the Chapter 7 Trustee) that the United States has a general unsecured claim for damages in the amount of $50,509,440, which will be paid through the bankruptcy proceeding on a pro rata basis with other general unsecured creditors. As additional terms of the settlement, NARCO FREEDOM will be excluded from all federal health care programs for 50 years, and the Chapter 7 Trustee will take steps to dissolve NARCO FREEDOM. NARCO FREEDOM, through the Chapter 7 Trustee, also has admitted, acknowledged, and accepted responsibility for the following conduct:

• Between 2006 and 2014, NARCO FREEDOM operated short-term residences known as “Freedom Houses.” As a condition of residence at the Freedom Houses, NARCO FREEDOM required residents to enroll in and attend a NARCO FREEDOM outpatient program. One purpose of the Freedom Houses was to induce Medicaid recipients to use NARCO FREEDOM’s outpatient programs by providing those individuals with subsidized housing.
• Between 2008 and 2011, NARCO FREEDOM made monthly payments to operators of three-quarter houses pursuant to purported “lease agreements” executed by NARCO FREEDOM, but these payments were not actually part of a legitimate lease arrangement, and instead were paid to incentivize the operators to require the residents of their houses to attend NARCO FREEDOM outpatient programs.
• In 2010, NARCO FREEDOM directed and paid counselors employed in its outpatient treatment programs in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to perform “corrective action and maintenance” on patient records, which included creating records reflecting that counselors had treated certain patients that the counselors had not in fact treated; claims based upon these false records were submitted to and paid by Medicaid.

NARCO FREEDOM’s conduct also was the subject of a lawsuit brought by this Office in October of 2014, United States v. Narco Freedom, Inc., 14 Civ. 8593 (JGK), in which the United States obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining NARCO FREEDOM from using the Freedom Houses to induce people to enroll in outpatient treatment programs. That suit ultimately resulted in the Court appointing a temporary receiver who oversaw the transition of NARCO FREEDOM’s clinics and Freedom Houses to other health care providers.

As part of the JOINING HANDS and HAIGLER settlement, they must pay a total of $300,000 to resolve the United States’ claims along with related claims asserted by the State of New York, of which the federal portion is $141,180. JOINING HANDS and HAIGLER also are enjoined from making or receiving payments of any kind in exchange for referrals or recommendations for any medical care or service, and from requiring residents to provide information relating to enrollment or attendance at an outpatient program. 

JOINING HANDS and HAIGLER also admitted, acknowledged, and accepted responsibility for conduct alleged in the Government’s complaint, including the following: 

• In 2008, JOINING HANDS and NARCO FREEDOM reached an agreement whereby NARCO FREEDOM would make monthly payments to JOINING HANDS and in exchange, JOINING HANDS would refer individuals residing in its three-quarter houses to NARCO FREEDOM outpatient programs.
• HAIGLER was aware of, and consented to, this agreement.
• Between 2008 and 2011, pursuant to this agreement and subsequent agreements, NARCO FREEDOM made monthly payments to JOINING HANDS, in amounts ranging from $4,000 to $15,000 per month, per house. 
  This case arose, in part, from a complaint filed under seal by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act.

Narcotics Dealer Pleads Guilty To Sale Of Heroin And Fentanyl That Resulted In Manhattan Man’s Overdose Death

  Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the plea today by DASHAWN HAWKINS, a/k/a “Jhonny Cash,” of New York, New York, to the sale of heroin and fentanyl that resulted in the overdose death of Colin Cameron, 29, of Manhattan, on September 2, 2016.  HAWKINS pled guilty earlier today before U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods in Manhattan federal court.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim stated:  “As he admitted today, Dashawn Hawkins sold fentanyl-laced heroin that killed Colin Cameron, a young resident of New York City.  The opioid epidemic is devastating our communities, and this Office is committed to aggressively prosecuting dealers like Hawkins who fuel it.”

According to the charging documents filed in the case, as well as statements made during the plea proceedings and earlier court appearances:

On or about September 1, 2016, DASHAWN HAWKINS, a/k/a “Jhonny Cash,” sold a mixture of heroin and fentanyl to Colin Cameron.  The next morning, New York City Police Department officers responded to Cameron’s apartment on the Upper West Side, where they found Cameron dead from a drug overdose.  After identifying HAWKINS as the dealer who sold Cameron the fatal dose of drugs, the NYPD arrested HAWKINS on October 20, 2016, and searched his apartment.  During the search, officers found, among other things, additional bags of heroin and substances used to cut heroin, fentanyl packaging, and a short-barreled rifle with a high-capacity magazine loaded with 34 rounds of ammunition.

HAWKINS faces a maximum term of life in prison and a mandatory minimum term of 20 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as the defendant’s sentence will be determined by a judge.  HAWKINS is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7, 2017, by the Honorable Gregory H. Woods, U.S. District Judge.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD.

Long Island Man Sentenced To Over 9 Years In Prison For Defrauding South Korean Religious School Of More Than $5 Million

   Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that WILLIAM COSME, a/k/a WILLIAM COSMO, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court today to 111 months in prison for orchestrating a scheme to defraud a Christian missionary school in South Korea of $5.5 million.  On March 21, 2017, a jury convicted COSME of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, who also imposed today’s sentence.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “William Cosme defrauded an international school in Korea of more than $5 million by telling a series of brazen lies, many that he continued to tell on the stand at trial. Instead of investing the school’s money meant for educating children as he had promised, Cosme spent it on himself, on a Lamborghini, Ferrari, gambling, and other personal expenses. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, Cosme will now spend time in a federal prison.”

According to the Indictment and other filings in Manhattan federal court, statements made in connection with COSME’s sentencing proceedings, and evidence admitted at trial:

COSME purported to operate a “privately held, global, private equity family practice with a concentration on it’s [sic] own family’s private wealth management, commercial [real estate], physical gold trade and business consulting.”  COSME further claimed that the entity through which he did business “manage[d] family assets with a net asset value in excess of USD $11b on a global basis” and that his clientele included royalty and the families of royalty. 

In January 2011, COSME, acting through his company Cosmo Dabi International Trading Group Inc. (“Cosmo Dabi”), entered into an agreement with an international school located in South Korea (the “International School”) whereby Cosmo Dabi would lend the International School approximately $55 million and the International School would make a deposit of approximately $5.5 million (the “Equity Deposit”), which COSME would invest in order to generate funds to loan the International School.  The International School sought to use the proceeds of the loan to expand its operations in South Korea.

In January 2011, the International School sent by wire transfer approximately $5.5 million to an account maintained by COSME at a bank.

Thereafter, COSME transferred the funds that the International School had entrusted to him into other accounts, including accounts in his own name rather than that of his company.   From the other accounts, COSME began a run of unauthorized personal spending, including a Lamborghini costing nearly $314,000 (which itself was meant to secure COSME a preferred spot on a waiting list to purchase an even more expensive Lamborghini); a Ferrari costing nearly $287,000; a Cadillac Escalade; a sport utility vehicle for a family member of COSME’s; a 110-day gambling trip to Las Vegas; gaming losses while on that trip in excess of $200,000; paying for his girlfriend’s rent; and otherwise funding a lavish lifestyle.  All the while, COSME made a series of misrepresentations to the leadership of the International School as to why they had not been issued their promised loan payments, and devised and executed a sham audit process in order to convince the International School that they were in default of their agreement and that COSME could keep the school’s deposit for himself. 

In addition to his prison sentence, COSME, 51, of Jericho, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit, among other things, the contents of two financial services accounts containing more than $2 million, as well as the luxury automobiles he purchased with the stolen funds.  Restitution was also ordered in the amount of $5.5 million.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding efforts of Federal Bureau of Investigation in the investigation. 

RICHARD ROJAS INDICTED FOR MURDERING 18-YEAR-OLD PEDESTRIAN, INJURING 18 OTHERS IN TIMES SQUARE

  Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., has announced the indictment of RICHARD ROJAS, 26, for intentionally driving his car into a crowd of pedestrians in Times Square, fatally striking an 18-year-old woman and injuring 18 others. The defendant is charged in New York State Supreme Court with Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, and Assault in the First and Second Degrees.[1]  

“The site of this rampage is one of the busiest in New York City: more than 300,000 pedestrians visit Times Square every day,” said District Attorney Vance. “As is alleged in the indictment, this defendant put the lives of each person who had the misfortune to cross his path in danger when he intentionally drove his car onto the sidewalk, striking and killing a young woman visiting our city and injuring 18 others. My heart goes out to the victims, many of whom are in various states of recovery, and their families.”

According to documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court, at approximately 11:55 a.m. on May 18, 2017, ROJAS drove his Honda Accord south along 7th Avenue in Times Square. Then, at a high rate of speed, he made a U-turn, driving his car onto the sidewalk from 42nd Street to 45th Street, hitting many pedestrians along the way. Among those struck was Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old young woman from Michigan. The crash killed her and severely injured her 13-year-old sister. Additionally, ROJAS struck and injured 17 other pedestrians, and only stopped when he crashed into a metal pillar. 

Following the crash, the majority of the victims had to be hospitalized – five in critical condition – and one remains hospitalized. 

District Attorney Vance also thanked Detective James Meehan of the Midtown South Detective Squad. 

^[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.

Defendant Information:

RICHARD ROJAS, D.O.B. 7/31/1990

Bronx, NY

Charged:

Murder in the Second Degree, a class A felony, 2 counts
Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a class B felony, 18 counts
Assault in the First Degree, a class B felony, 20 counts
Assault in the Second Degree, a class D felony, 18 counts

Opening of State Senator Jamaal Bailey's Office

  If it seemed like former State Senator's Ruth Hassel=Thompson's old state senate office, that is because it is. On hand was an almost who's who of Bronx Politics from Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to City Councilman Andy King. Even former State Senator Hassel-Thompson was all smiles telling me that she not only enjoys her new job with the governor's office, but that she loves it. The former senator had no regrets about leaving the state senate also saying "sometimes you have to know when it is time to let others take over".

  Having been in the South Bronx with State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. and Assemblyman Sepulveda, I missed the beginning, but I was able to see State Senator Keith Parker, Councilman Ritchie Torres, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, and former State Senator Ruth Hassel-Thompson. Below are some photos I was able to get of the event.

Above - This is what you saw, a block long celebration in front of State Senator Jamaal Bailey's office.

Below _ State Senator Keith Parker talks about the state senate and what Senator BAiley will face. Former State Senator Ruth Hassel-Thompson os also in the photo.

Above - Councilman Ritchie Torres who is the youngest member of the city council, is glad to be on hand to help the youngest state senator officially open his district office.

Below - State Senator Bailey is with Ms. Sandra Pabon who received a citation from the senator for her community involvement.