News From Congressman Eliot Engel

Engel Statement on National Gun Violence Awareness Day

  Congressman Eliot Engel, a Member of the Congressional Gun Violence Protection Task Force, issued the following statement on National Gun Violence Awareness Day:

“Today, I am wearing orange to honor the victims of gun violence, including Hadiya Pendleton who, at fifteen years old, was shot and killed a week after performing at President Obama’s 2013 Inauguration. This movement was started when Hadiya’s friends wore orange to commemorate her life, and the lives of so many others that were cut short by gun violence.

“National Gun Violence Awareness Day brings attention to the 33,000 Americans who are killed by guns every year. And for every one person killed with a gun, two more are injured. Our country faces a gun violence epidemic. It is long past time we come together to pass responsible gun safety laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. In Congress, I’m fighting to keep our schools, streets, playgrounds, and homes safe. I’ve worked to ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and armor-piercing bullets, institute universal background checks, adopt extreme risk protection orders, and restore funding for gun violence research.  

“It is my hope that National Gun Violence Awareness Day will bring us one step closer to curbing gun violence in America.”

Engel, 64 House Dems Call Upon Trump To Stop Raising Health Care Costs

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel joined 64 House Democrats to urge President Donald Trump to end his campaign of intentional sabotage of the Affordable Care Act.

The Representatives sent their letter as a growing number of states face premium spikes that insurers have directly attributed to the Trump Administration’s acts of sabotage. These actions include the GOP tax scam – which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts will lead to millions more uninsured Americans – and moving to once again allow insurance companies to sell “junk plans.”

The Representatives wrote:

“We are deeply concerned by your Administration’s actions, which both trigger higher health insurance premiums as well as undermine access to high-quality, affordable health care for millions of hard-working Americans. The reporting of early filings by health insurers shows that healthcare premiums will rise sharply next year. Their justifications reveal that your Administration’s actions are to blame.”

A signed copy of the letter is available here.

NEW YORK CITY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT INTRODUCES NEW PHASE OF “KNOW YOUR ZONE” CAMPAIGN TO RAISE AWARENESS OF HURRICANE RISKS DURING THE 2018 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON

  To mark the beginning of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, the New York City Emergency Management Department today launched a new phase of the Know Your Zone hurricane awareness campaign to encourage New Yorkers to find out whether they live in one of the city’s six hurricane evacuation zones. Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30. The 2018 Know Your Zone campaign includes new video public service announcements (PSAs)* demonstrating that New Yorkers have the power to prepare for hurricanes by knowing the hazards they may face, having a plan, and staying informed.

“Start preparing for hurricane season now so you’ll be ready long before a hurricane threatens New York City,” saidNew York City Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Esposito. “Find out whether you live in a hurricane evacuation zone, and make an emergency plan with your family by visiting NYC.gov/knowyourzone or calling 311.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued its 2018 Atlantic hurricane season outlook with forecasters predicting a near or above-normal season. NOAA’s forecasters predict a 70 percent likelihood of 10 to 16 named storms of which 5 to 9 could become hurricanes (winds of 74+ mph), including 1 to 4 major hurricanes (category 3, 4, or 5; winds of 111+ mph).

To help raise awareness of hurricane season, Know Your Zone advertisements will be displayed on bus shelters and Link NYC kiosks and will run in newspapers throughout the five boroughs beginning in June. Through the Know Your Zone campaign, NYC Emergency Management aims to reach the roughly three million New Yorkers living within the city’s hurricane evacuation zones. Areas of the city subject to storm surge flooding are divided into six evacuation zones

(1 through 6) based on risk of storm surge flooding. The City may order residents to evacuate depending on a hurricane’s track and projected storm surge.

New Yorkers should take key steps to prepare for the start of hurricane season:

·         Know your zone – Find out whether you live in one of the city’s six hurricane evacuation zones. Use the Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder at NYC.gov/knowyourzone or call 311 (212-639-9675 for Video Relay Service, or TTY: 212-504-4115) to find out if your address is located in an evacuation zone. If you live in an evacuation zone, have a plan for where you will go if an evacuation order is issued for your area

·         Know what to do – Make a plan so you know what to do, how to find each other, and how to communicate if a hurricane strikes. Use the Ready New York: My Emergency Plan at NYC.gov/myemergencyplan, or use the Ready NYC mobile application, available for smartphones and tablets.

·         Stay informed –Sign up for Notify NYC to receive free emergency notifications and updates via email, phone, SMS/text, or Twitter. Messages are also available in American Sign Language (ASL). Get the free mobile application, visit NYC.gov/notifynyc, call 311, or follow @NotifyNYC on Twitter.

In preparation for the upcoming hurricane season, NYC Emergency Management released the 2018 edition of the “Ready New York: Hurricanes and New York City” guide, available in print and in 13 languages and audio format. The guide offers instructions for preparing an emergency plan, and features a map of the City’s six hurricane evacuation zones and a list of hurricane evacuation centers in all five boroughs. Visit NYC.gov/knowyourzone to download the guide, or call 311 to request a copy.

DOI ANNOUNCES INITIATIVE TO STRENGTHEN ANTI-FRAUD TRAINING AT NYC’S SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES

--This Project Stems from a DOI Investigation Exposing a Half-Million-Dollar Theft from a City-Funded Nonprofit --

  Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today that DOI is strengthening anti-fraud training for more than six dozen auditors at the City’s social service agencies through a two-hour workshop that will help auditors better spot and act on potential fraud and compliance issues involving City-funded nonprofits. Over the coming months, DOI will conduct these trainings at agencies that oversee $3.8 billion in City-funded nonprofit human services’ contracts, specifically the City Department for the Aging (“DFTA”), City Administration for Children’s Services (“ACS”), City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“DOHMH”), City Department of Social Services, which is comprised of the City Human Resources Administration (“HRA”) and the City Department of Homeless Services (“DHS), and the City Department of Youth and Community Development (“DYCD”). The trainings will include how compliance can be tested and confirmed, weaknesses and red flags can be identified, relevant records can be chosen for review, and indicia of fraud can be spotted, such as altered and falsified invoices, missing payroll checks and other documentation, and weak internal controls. 

 DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters said, “This comprehensive anti-fraud training will provide essential tools to professionals safeguarding billions of dollars in taxpayer funds. These frontline auditors know the nonprofits they do business with better than anyone and are likely the first to see evidence of potential fraud. This proactive approach will ensure everyone is on the same page: Each and every one of us can be the answer to stopping corruption and fraud. I commend DFTA, in particular Commissioner Donna Corrado, for acting on DOI’s recommendations.”

 DOI decided to establish this systemic initiative following its 2016 investigation that exposed a halfmillion-dollar theft from a City-funded nonprofit that served senior citizens in upper Manhattan, and led to the conviction and incarceration of that nonprofit’s executive and spouse. DOI documented its findings in a report that revealed the City agency overseeing the nonprofit, DFTA, did not have adequate auditing resources to successfully monitor and review the numerous nonprofits with which it contracted. As a result, DOI recommended that DFTA strengthen its auditing protocols and hire additional staff. DFTA agreed to DOI’s findings and recommendations in that 2016 report and successfully requested and received additional auditor positions. DFTA has since enhanced its auditing operations, including through conducting more targeted and thorough audits.

 As the City’s Inspector General, when DOI makes recommendations in one case, it looks Citywide to see if there are other agencies where these reforms would be useful. DOI saw that the recommendation for training at DFTA would be helpful at other human services agencies and reached out to provide the training to ACS, DOHMH, HRA, DHS and DYCD. Each of these agencies has agreed to have their auditors participate in the training.

 DOI’s first training workshop is taking place today, May 30th, at DFTA, with subsequent trainings scheduled throughout the summer at the other social service agencies as a means towards ensuring audit staff across the City can identify red flags for fraud and abuse during the course of their audits. DOI will provide refresher courses on an as needed basis.

 This initiative is an expansion of the specialized anti-corruption training that DOI has conducted since 2010 for City Council-funded nonprofit organizations, presenting at a special session during the Capacity Building Training for Council-Funded Community Partners, hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services and funded by the City Council. This training also resulted from DOI investigations. Nonprofit organizations must complete the Capacity Building Training to be eligible for more than $10,000 in City Council funding. The Capacity Building Training for Council-Funded Community Partners was designed to provide nonprofit executive staff and board members with tips and tools for effective implementation of best practices and legal requirements. The full-day curriculum includes legal compliance and governance, internal controls, nonprofit accounting, and managing city contracts, in addition to the DOI anti-corruption session. DOI has trained over 5,000 attendees though these in-person sessions and through the online curriculum.

Cuny Medgar Evers College Lecturer Pled Guilty To Wire Fraud For Selling Fake College Certificates

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MAMDOUH ABDEL-SAYED, a tenured lecturer at the City University of New York’s Medgar Evers College (“Medgar Evers College”), pled guilty yesterday in Manhattan federal court to wire fraud related to his selling of sham Medgar Evers College certificates that purported to represent the completion of health care courses at the College.  ABDEL-SAYED pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick.    

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As he admitted in court, Mamdouh Abdel-Sayed abused his position on the CUNY faculty to enrich himself by creating and selling fake health care program certificates.  In so doing, Abdel-Sayed put public health at risk.  I commend our partners at the New York State Inspector General and the Department of Education Office of Inspector General for their continued commitment to rooting out corruption at federally funded New York schools.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint, the Indictment, and statements made in court and publicly available documents:

MAMDOUH ABDEL-SAYED is a tenured lecturer in the Biology Department at Medgar Evers College.  From at least 2013 through 2017, without authorization from Medgar Evers College, ABDEL-SAYED purported to teach health care courses at the College on topics such as Electrocardiograms, Phlebotomy, and Sonography, and provided students with sham certificates of completion for the courses, in exchange for which ABDEL-SAYED charged fees of up to $1,000 per certificate, which money he kept for himself.  ABDEL-SAYED attempted to avoid scrutiny from the College’s security guards in conducting the unauthorized courses.    

In addition to charging fees for the unauthorized courses and sham certificates, ABDEL-SAYED encouraged students to use the certificates in obtaining employment in the health care field, including at New York City-area hospitals.  When asked by employment agencies to verify the authenticity of the certificates, ABDEL-SAYED falsely informed the agencies that the certificates were issued by Medgar Evers College.  In fact, ABDEL-SAYED created the sham certificates himself, and provided them to students even if the students did not attend his unauthorized courses, so long as the students paid ABDEL-SAYED for the certificates.  In addition, ABDEL-SAYED distributed copies of purported national certification examinations – which he informed students on a recorded conversation it was “illegal” for them to possess – in order to assist the students in passing licensing examinations supposedly administered by the State for certain medical techniques. 

After ABDEL-SAYED became aware of the investigation, he instructed an undercover law enforcement investigator, who had posed as a student and purchased several unauthorized certificates from him, to provide false information to federal law enforcement agents and to conceal those certificates from the agents.    

ABDEL-SAYED, 68, of Kearny, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud,  which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.

ABDEL-SAYED is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Broderick on September 7, 2018.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the New York State Inspector General’s Office and ED-OIG. 

Head Of Pakistani Drug Trafficking Network Pleads Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Conspiring To Import Heroin Into The United States

Shahbaz Khan Conspired to Send Tens of Thousands of Kilograms of Heroin to the United States for Distribution in New York City

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Raymond P. Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) Special Operations Division, announced today that SHAHBAZ KHAN pled guilty to conspiring to import heroin into the United States, and to attempting to import heroin into the United States.  KHAN was taken into custody by Liberian authorities on December 1, 2016, and expelled to the United States later that same day based on a pending Complaint in this District.  He pled guilty today to a Superseding Indictment in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield.   

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman stated:  “Shahbaz Khan boasted to an undercover officer about his ability to smuggle drugs anywhere in the world without detection.  The DEA put the lie to that boast.  Khan has now admitted to conspiring and attempting to import massive quantities of heroin into the United States, and this international narcotics kingpin is now a convicted felon awaiting what could be a substantial sentence.”           

Special Agent in Charge Raymond P. Donovan stated:  “The arrest of Shahbaz Khan was a result of DEA’s relentless pursuit of global drug traffickers and other dangerous transnational criminal networks with our partners across the world.  Khan led a massive and sophisticated heroin network based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the vast majority of drug trafficking proceeds have historically been used to finance terrorist insurgencies against the U.S. and our global allies.  He agreed to send huge amounts of deadly drugs to American streets and neighborhoods, which would have fueled the current opioid epidemic and facilitated addiction and abuse by supplying huge amounts of heroin to New York and nationwide.  We are pleased he is facing American justice in a United States court of law.”

According to the, Complaint, the Superseding Indictment, statements made during the plea proceeding, and other filings in this case:

KHAN, a Pakistani national, was the leader of a drug trafficking organization (the “DTO”) based in Afghanistan and Pakistan that produced and distributed massive quantities of heroin around the world.  In 2007, KHAN was designated a Narcotics Kingpin under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act by then-president George W. Bush.  Between approximately August 2016 and October 2016, KHAN conspired to send tens of thousands of kilograms of heroin hidden in maritime shipping containers and air cargo shipments to New York City. 

Beginning in August 2016, KHAN began communicating in a series of telephone calls and in-person meetings in countries in Southwest Asia with individuals whom KHAN believed were heroin traffickers interested in purchasing kilogram quantities of heroin for importation into the United States.  Those individuals were, in fact, working at the DEA’s direction, and included an undercover law enforcement officer (the “UC”). 

In late September 2016, KHAN traveled to a country in Southwest Asia where KHAN met with the UC and others.  During the meeting, KHAN agreed to provide the UC with an initial shipment of five kilograms of heroin for importation into the United States.  KHAN informed the UC that, once the five kilograms of heroin successfully arrived in New York City, KHAN would begin supplying the UC with larger quantities of heroin on a regular basis, including up to 10,000 kilograms of heroin at a time.  KHAN assured the UC that the heroin KHAN would provide was 100% pure.  In describing his history as a narcotics trafficker, KHAN explained he had done work that “had not been done in the past hundred years,” including supplying 114 tons of heroin and hashish to a customer over a one-year period.  KHAN explained that he could ship drugs “anywhere in the word,” hidden in maritime shipping containers or in air-cargo shipments. 

In early October 2016, one of KHAN’s employees, acting at his direction, delivered the five-kilogram initial shipment of heroin in the same country in Southwest Asia.  Through a series of recorded telephone calls, KHAN confirmed with the UC that the heroin his employee had provided was KHAN’s, that the heroin was to be transported to New York City, and that KHAN would be paid for the heroin once it arrived in the United States.

In December 2016, KHAN traveled with the UC to Liberia to inspect a warehouse that could serve as a transshipment point for maritime heroin shipments between Pakistan and New York.  KHAN was arrested by Liberian authorities upon his arrival in Liberia and expelled to the United States. 

KHAN, 70, of Pakistan, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to import one kilogram and more of heroin into the United States, and to one count of attempting to distribute one kilogram and more of heroin, knowing and intending that it would be imported into the United States.  KHAN faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.  Sentencing is scheduled for October 9, 2018, before Judge Schofield. 

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division’s Bilateral Investigations Unit; the DEA Accra, Canberra, Sydney, Dubai, Islamabad, Kabul, Nairobi, and New Delhi Country Offices; the DEA New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Financial Investigative Team; the Government of Liberia; the Liberian Drug Enforcement Agency; the DEA Nairobi Country Office Kenyan Police Vetted Unit; the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission; and the Maldives Police Service.  The defendant’s arrest and subsequent expulsion are also the result of the close cooperative efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.

A.G. Underwood Announces Criminal Indictment Of Queens Investment Advisor For Defrauding Elderly Clients Of Nearly $5 Million

Dean S. Mustaphalli — Owner And Operator of Mustaphalli Capital Partners Fund, LP — Arraigned On 99-Count Indictment Charging Securities Fraud, Grand Larceny, Forgery, and Scheme to Defraud

Underwood: Mustaphalli Deceived and Took Advantage of Clients’ Trust – Looting and Squandering Millions from Senior New Yorkers Who Relied on Those Savings

  Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today announced a 99-count criminal indictment charging Queens investment advisor Dean S. Mustaphalli —  the owner and operator of Mustaphalli Capital Partners Fund, LP — with operating a multi-million dollar securities fraud scheme.  

Mustaphalli allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud investors — many of whom were elderly and at or near retirement — out of their savings by investing them in his hedge fund without their knowledge or consent. During the relevant time period, Mustaphalli’s hedge fund collapsed, losing 92% of its value. The Attorney General’s indictment, unsealed in Queens County Supreme Court, charges Mustaphalli with Grand Larceny, Forgery, and Securities Fraud violations under the Martin Act, among other charges. If convicted, Mustaphalli faces up to 10 to 20 years in prison.

According to the Attorney General’s criminal indictment, Mustaphalli’s scheme brought in more than $5 million from 22 victims between June 2014 and March 2017 alone — including many southeast Queens residents, including a number who live in Rochdale Village, a Mitchell-Lama affordable housing complex. A separate civil lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s office in June 2017 alleges that Mustaphalli fraudulently solicited an additional $7 million from prior investors between 2012 and 2014. In total, Mustaphalli allegedly fraudulently solicited his former clients to invest over $12 million – and lost over $11 million of their hard-earned money.

“New Yorkers should be able to trust the people they turn to for investment advice,” Attorney General Underwood said. “Yet, as we allege, Dean Mustaphalli deceived the clients that trusted him – looting and squandering millions from senior New Yorkers who relied on those savings. Our office will continue to crack down on unscrupulous financial advisors who scam and swindle New Yorkers out of their hard-earned money.”

In June 2017, after a years-long investigation, the Attorney General’s Investor Protection Bureau filed a civil complaint in New York County. In February 2017, the Attorney General’s Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau commenced a criminal investigation into Mustaphalli’s conduct, resulting in the 99-count criminal indictment.  

As set forth in court documents and according to statements made by prosecutors at arraignment, Mustaphalli’s scheme allegedly targeted elderly New Yorkers who had been his investment advisory clients for many years before he opened his own hedge fund, and who had very little prior investment experience.  As their investment advisor, Mustaphalli knew that these investors had relatively conservative investment objectives.   

Nevertheless, beginning in 2010, Mustaphalli allegedly moved his clients’ assets to a platform that would conceal his risky trading activity. Without explanation, and simply saying that the fund would be “better” for clients, Mustaphalli allegedly diverted his clients’ relatively safe investment portfolios to a hedge fund run solely by Mustaphalli.  

As further set forth in the civil complaint, Mustaphalli allegedly targeted his first wave of investors beginning in 2012, moving $7.1 million into his hedge fund, Mustaphalli Capital Partners Fund, LP (“MCPF”). Mustaphalli then allegedly engaged in a series of high-risk investment strategies, and by the end of that year, MCPF lost 92% of its value. In one instance, Mustaphalli allegedly bet $2.5 million on the volatility of the price of Mastercard stock, which lost his clients over $2 million in a single trade. By 2014, only $200,000 was left in the fund.  

As set forth in the criminal indictment and according to statements made by prosecutors at arraignment, after losing almost $7 million of investor monies, Mustaphalli then allegedly brought 22 new clients into his hedge fund by 2015, collecting $5 million in additional investor funds or monies’. Once again, Mustaphalli allegedly targeted mostly elderly individuals who had been his clients for many years and trusted him. To effect these transfers, Mustaphalli allegedly forged account opening documents and submitted fake email addresses for his clients, many of whom did not even know how to operate a computer. 

According to court filings and statements made by prosecutors, Mustaphalli’s clients allegedly had no idea that their retirement monies were being transferred into an extremely high-risk investment, much less to a hedge fund. To further his scheme, the defendant allegedly provided his clients with only the signature pages of fund documents, and forged his client’s initials next to the portion of the documents entitled “Accredited Investor Status,” which falsely stated the investors’ net worth was over $1 million dollars. In fact, almost none of the defendant’s clients had a net worth of over $1 million dollars; indeed, a few investors live in Rochdale Village, a Mitchell-Lama Cooperative located in Queens, which sets aside affordable housing for moderate and middle-income residents. Notably, it is a requirement that hedge fund investors meet the definition of an “accredited investor,” which is a person whose net worth exceeds $1 million.

By December 2015, MCPF had lost approximately 80% of its value, again because Mustaphalli allegedly engaged in extremely high-risk and unauthorized trading strategies, including speculative options trading.  

According to prosecutors, most of the 22 investors named in the indictment allegedly lost all or most of their retirement savings, with losses totaling over $4 million.   

Mustaphalli allegedly sought to deflect blame for the losses by telling investors that the losses were due to “oil, bad markets, and the election.” Mustaphalli allegedly promised one investor, “if Hillary wins, you’ll get your money back,” and told another that “Brexit” was to blame for the Fund’s losses.

In the aftermath of these devastating losses, Mustaphalli allegedly used shell companies that he created to divert $100,000 of the remaining fund balance to himself, leaving investors with at best 20 percent of their original investment.

The Attorney General’s 99-count criminal indictment, unsealed late yesterday in Queens Supreme Court, charges the defendant with: 18 counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a Class “C” felony); one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a Class “D” felony); 12 counts of Forgery in the Second Degree (a Class “D” felony); 23 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a Class “D” felony); 22 counts of  Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (a Class “E” felony); 21 counts of securities fraud under the Martin Act (a Class “E” felony); and two counts of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (a Class “E” felony).

Mustaphalli was arraigned yesterday in Queens County Supreme Court before the Honorable Judge Wong. Bail was set in the amount of $2 million cash or bond, and the defendant was ordered to surrender any travel documents.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Attorney General thanks the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and, in particular, its Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group for their valuable assistance on this case. 

Engel on Trump Rolling Back Protections for Federal Workers

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel issued the following statement on President Trump issuing executive orders to roll back protections for federal workers:

"This move by the Trump Administration to crack down on Federal Workers' Unions is just their latest attempt to weaken workers' rights in this country. For decades, Republicans have sought to destroy unions because they believe corporate interests should be put before those of the American worker. It was shameful when Reagan did it in the 80's and it is just as shameful now with President Trump, who has a long history of stiffing working-class folks going back to his days in Atlantic City. 

"During my time in Congress, I have voted against amendments which sought to curtail official time, and against measures designed to expedite the firing of federal employees within the VA, because our federal workforce should be free from political pressures and whims. Labor has always been the backbone of our country and the true engine that drives our economic prosperity. Our leaders in government should be working to strengthen our unions, not bring them to their knees." 

TRANSCRIPT: MAYOR DE BLASIO, COMMISSIONER TROTTENBERG ANNOUNCE EXPANDED ACCESS TO CARSHARE

  Mayor Bill de Blasio: I want to start at the beginning and tell you what these signs really are going to mean for New Yorkers.

So look, if you live in any neighborhood of this city you deal with the reality of congestion. I want to make that really clear from the beginning. Some people I think harbor the assumption that congestion is just a Midtown, Manhattan problem. No, congestion is a New York City problem. Pollution is a New York City problem. These are things that we have to address every day, every way we can.

It’s about protecting our city and our people in so many different ways. We have to protect our environment, and our health. We have to make sure people can get around. We have to make sure that New Yorkers have more options for getting around. Right now the status quo isn’t acceptable. So our job is to create more and better options for New Yorkers to get around. And that’s why this announcement to me is very exciting, because for so many New Yorkers there is tremendous frustration when it comes to owning a car. And I experienced it myself, and I’ve talked to countless neighbors but also the people all over the city. When you own a car in this city you got a whole set of challenges that come with it. Obviously, the cost of insurance, fuel, repairs, but particularly the challenge of parking in New York City. There are just too many cars here. And to make matters worse, we’re growing, population is growing, number of jobs is growing, number of tourists is growing, everything is growing. I am thrilled we’re growing, there’s a lot of good things that come with that but there is also going to be even greater challenges in terms of addressing congestion.

So, we have to give people new options. We have to give people another way to get around. And if people only sometimes really need a car, let’s make it easier for them to get the car only when they need. And not have to pay all those other costs all year long for something they don’t need a lot of time, and certainly to get cars off the streets out of parking spaces. There is a lot of people who have their car in a parking space all week long and only use it really on the weekend. That’s not an optimal situation. So what we want to do is make it easier for people who only need a car a small amount of the time to have a great new option. And this is where this new initiative comes in. I think there is tremendous potential here. And I’ll just speak to some of the key points, and Commissioner Trottenberg will go into more of the details. But I am very excited about this because I am think it’s going to open up a whole new world of possibilities for eight million New Yorkers. Now, this is consistent with efforts we’ve made previously. And I want to thank all of the different leaders in this administration and all the agencies and all our partners – non-profit partners, private sector partners who have helped us to expand the number of options. Clearly that has happened with Citi Bike, it has happened with NYC Ferry. In a public sector way it’s happening with select bus service. These are all in the same vein - giving new options to New Yorkers making it easier for them to get around.

I want to thank everyone who’s been a part of that. And I want to offer some particular appreciation today to our partners in this initiative around car sharing.  I want to thank and they’re here with us – Paul Metz the CarShare group manager for Enterprise and Justin Holmes the director for of corporate communications and public policy for Zipcar. Thank you both for being here, and thank you for the great service that you’re providing to New Yorkers. Also, this as I mentioned is very important to our overall efforts to create sustainability, to protect our environment, to have a city that is more and more built for the future – for a sustainable future. So I want to thank the person who I rely on to help us do that kind of planning, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, Mark Chambers. And another important feature, because we believe in making opportunities like this available to a wide range of New Yorkers regardless of income. There is a great partnership here with these two companies and the New York City Housing Authority to make sure that housing authority residents have opportunity to take advantage of this service. I want to thank from the housing authority we have Executive Vice President for External Affairs Dave Pristin, I want to thank you for being with us as well. So, put this in the same vein. You’ve got Citi Bike, you’ve got NYC Ferry, you’ve got select bus service, now car sharing all pointed in the same direction. And it’s a really simple idea. You go online, you reserve a car, you go to where the car is, you unlock it, you drive away, couldn’t be simpler. It’s simple, it’s convenient, it allows people to get a car they need quickly and easily. It’s a lot less complex than traditional car rental systems are.

So in partnering with these two companies – this is something we’re going to start right away. So the partnership with Zipcar and with Enterprise literally begins Monday, this coming Monday more than 300 dedicated parking spots will be available around New York City. 24 of them in lots in the public housing developments and in addition, I mentioned for public housing developments I want to make these available and a good option. NYCHA residents will have the ability to join these car sharing services for free. The membership fee will be waived, and they will get discount rates. Also, for IDNYC holders they will get a one year free membership with Zipcar.

So, these are really great benefits. Also, in the category of news you can use, I want people to understand how affordable these services can be.

So, they start at $8 an hour and at $69 a day to rent these vehicles. And I can say as – from the early years of parenthood when Chirlane and I needed to, before we had a car, when we needed to do something with Chiara, our only choice was to call a car service and the car services were great but $8, you know $8 was for a ten-minute ride. You’re talking about here $8 for an hour, again, $69 for a day. This is a very affordable service for a lot of New Yorkers.

Again, the idea is you wouldn’t need a car that you have every day, all year round for when you only need to use it a few days a week or a few times during the week. It really makes sense. And here’s some of the example of what it could mean for the city going forward.

Every New Yorker – I guarantee you this, if you said to New Yorkers, what if we had a plan to get a lot of cars off the roads and off the streets and open up a lot more parking spaces, would you like that idea?

I bet you, you would get close to a universal yes. Here’s what studies have shown. For each shared car available, a city can take up to 20 cars off the road. Think about that. Twenty cars that will not be purchased or will no longer be necessary because the shared service is available.

Think about where that could lead us in terms of clearing up congestion, in terms of making more parking spaces available in the long term. So, this is very exciting and years from now if this goes well, I see tens of thousands – hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers using this service and not needing to have a car and that making this a much better city.

Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Department of Transportation: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I am excited and thank you for your enthusiasm. You have long been interested, I know, in seeing if the City could find a way to come up with an alternative that would enable people, perhaps, to give up owning cars but give them a practical and affordable way to use a car when they needed one. And we’re here with our leader from the Council – Council member Levine, who championed this legislation; Chairman Rodriguez; Borough President Brewer; my colleague from the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability; and our private sector colleagues, Justin Holmes and Paul Metz. It’s great to have you all here. We are excited about this partnership.

Under the legislation that Council member Levine got passed we are now going to be opening up 285 parking spaces across the four boroughs, 230 on street – and some of you saw today the Mayor stood at where those spaces will be here up on the Upper West Side – and another 55 spots in DOT municipal lots as well as the 24 NYCHA spots.

The pilot will really, we think, serve potentially two kinds of neighborhoods – one the Mayor sort of mentioned, a neighborhood where people are not using their cars to commute to work every day, they’re just using them occasionally on weekends but they’re keeping the car in the neighborhood, it’s very expensive, it’s very inconvenient. They’re very much a group that potentially could just benefit tremendously from Zipcar. And then in another neighborhoods, for example, like the Rockaways where there are fewer transit options, people perhaps don’t want to have the expense of owning a car but they need, from time to time, to have access to one.

Studies have shown that owning a car in New York City right now is about $9,000 a year with car payments, insurance, maintenance, as well as the hassles of parking, potential tickets, all the inconveniences of owning a car here.

So, these car sharing models give people potentially a chance to save dramatic amounts of money – just to put some math to what the Mayor said. The car-share prices can range from $8 to $15, $70 to $121 per day. So if you used a car, let’s say, four hours a week twice a month to run errands or visit family outside the city, you could be spending in the ballpark of about $1,500 a year as opposed to the $9,000 for owning a car full-time.

So that can be a real dramatic savings. And as the Mayor said, research has shown – and we’ve looked at a bunch of studies over the course of years – that in the long run car-share can induce people to give up cars. That eases congestion, tackles air quality problems, and we hope will really actually ease the competition for parking at the curb.

So, for those of you who saw today, we’ve put up specific signage at the curb and car-share companies will be parking their cars in those spaces. We’ve worked with local community stakeholders, community boards, elected officials to pick the areas. We went with a coalition of the will in neighborhoods that were very interested in doing this. And we will be doing a big effort of public outreach, social media, etcetera to make sure local residents are aware of the pilot.

This is going to be a two-year pilot. We will be evaluating as we go. We will be seeing how the cars are being used, talking to our private sector partners and of course obviously surveying the users and seeing if they’re liking the service and it’s working as well as it should be. And then over the course of the pilot, we’ll see if we’re interested in expanding or what steps we might take next.

I think, as the Mayor said, if the pilot goes well this has real potential to offer New Yorkers a much more affordable way to have access to a car when they need it. I just want to give a thanks particularly to a couple members of my team – Alex Keating and Laura MacNeil who did a lot of the yeoman’s work of putting this together, William Lee and Tony Galgan from our borough engineering shop as well.

So, thank you, Mr. Mayor. We are excited.