BYE BYE, CARS!: DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS JOIN ADVOCATES FOR A BICYCLE RIDE BEHIND LAST CAR DRIVING THROUGH CENTRAL PARK

World's most iconic green space goes permanently and officially car-free tomorrow; Only Central Park’s four transverse roads will now be open to private vehicles, returning park to its original purpose as an urban refuge and recreational space

  Officials from the de Blasio Administration will join parks and cycling advocates on Tuesday evening for a bike ride behind the last car driving through Central Park.  As of 7pm this evening, the park is now entirely and permanently car-free, restored to its original use as an urban refuge and recreation space.

“Back on Earth Day, we announced that this summer, Central Park would be once and for all dedicated to people, not cars,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.  “For more than a century, we had turned parts of the world’s most iconic park into a highway – and starting tonight, we have officially taken it back for good. We are prioritizing the safety and the health of the millions of people who flock to Central Park.  A special tonight goes to those advocates, pedestrians, cyclists and park lovers who fought for decades for a priceless policy change.”

In April, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that as of June 27, the last sections of Central Park’s loop drives in the southeastern corner of the park -- that had remained open to cars during weekday rush hours -- would become permanently car-free. Tomorrow was chosen as the first car-free day because public school classes concluded today and outdoor pools open tomorrow across the city.   The transverse roadways at 97th, 86th, 79th and 65th Streets are unaffected by these changes, as they were built into the park’s original design as fully-separated, below-grade streets to accommodate thru-traffic.  This past January, Mayor de Blasio had also designated Brooklyn’s Prospect Park permanently car-free. Both of the city’s iconic 19th century parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux are permanently car-free.

“We are thrilled to be here tonight to take an evening bike ride and wave goodbye to Central Park’s final car  -- ushering in a new era for one of the world’s most iconic green spaces,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “This change in Central Park, as well as in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park earlier this year, will make all the difference to pedestrians and cyclists, and everyone who loves our parks.  We thank the Mayor for his leadership, along with Transportation Alternatives and other advocates who fought for decades to make this day a reality.”

“Making Central Park traffic-free shows the country and the world how clean, accessible, and safe an urban park can really be,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “Thanks to the Mayor, DOT, and our friends at the Central Park Conservancy, we can enjoy this beloved, historic park in a whole new way.”

“Central Park is an oasis of open space in our concrete jungle, an urban landmark in which cars have felt out of place for some time now,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “I am thrilled we are taking this final step in returning Central Park to its original intentions, and I encourage all New Yorkers – and tourists too – to enjoy this incomparable, and now car-free, park to the fullest this summer and forever after.”

EDITOR'S NOTE:

We can only count the days down until we can say 'BYE BYE' to our current mayor.

State Senator Jeff Klein and Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. 'Annual Fireworks at Orchard Beach'

MAYOR DE BLASIO AND DC 37 ANNOUNCE TENTATIVE CONTRACT AGREEMENT, PROVIDING A FAIR WAGE TO 100,000 EMPLOYEES

Costs partially offset by new health savings deal with Municipal Labor Committee – also announced today

  Continuing the Administration’s promise to provide a fair contract to its workers, Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced that the City of New York has reached a tentative contract agreement with DC 37. The union represents almost 100,000 municipal employees – about one quarter of the City’s workforce. The tentative agreement is retroactive, beginning on September 26, 2017, and expiring on May 25, 2021. It includes wage increases of 2.00 percent, 2.25 percent, and 3.00 percent and establishes a framework for the 2017-2021 round of bargaining.

“When I came into office, the relationship between the City and its workforce was difficult at best. Four and half years later, not only did we bring over 99 percent of municipal workers under fair contract, we’re now starting again and ensuring people are paid fairly,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I’m thankful to DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido for his continued partnership and to my Labor Relations Commissioner Robert Linn for ensuring that we continue to be a City that strikes the balance between being fair to our workers and fair to our taxpayers.”

“Thank you to DC 37 Executive Director Garrido for working with the City on this contract that is both fair to workers and New York City tax payers. This second agreement continues the respectful dynamic between the City, its workers and the unions that represent them,” said Robert Linn, Commissioner of the Office of Labor Relations.

"This agreement is a clear example of the importance of collective bargaining and what can be achieved when the employer and employees negotiate in good faith,” said District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. “This administration has shown that, at a time when forces across the country are trying to degrade the value of the collective bargaining process, you can tackle big problems when you approach workers with respect.”

The agreement must be ratified by DC 37’s membership. This settlement continues the Administration’s promise to restore a productive relationship with the City’s workforce, all of whom were not under contract at the beginning of the Mayor’s first term.

Continuing to build off the health care savings reached during the first four years, today the Mayor announced a second health savings agreement with the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC). The agreement, voted on earlier today by the MLC’s membership, will provide total healthcare savings of $1.7 billion through the Fiscal Year 2022 financial plan, $600 million of which will recur annually. Savings will be found through a series of measures, including a cap of city healthcare increases of 3.5 percent next year and 3 percent the following year. These savings are guaranteed and enforceable through arbitration. The Committee will meet for the first time this summer, and is chaired by labor arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman, Esq. This is in addition to savings from the 2014 healthcare savings agreement between the Municipal Labor Committee and the City, bringing total savings from the two agreements through Fiscal Year 2022 to $10.3 billion, with annual recurring savings of $1.9 billion in Fiscal Year 2021 and beyond.

The total cost of the tentative DC 37 settlement through Fiscal Year 2021 is $1 billion, which is offset by substantial healthcare savings and funding already in the City’s Labor Reserve, for a new net budget impact of $307 million over 44-month contract period.

The deal includes:

Paid Family Leave: The City and DC 37 will apply to opt into New York State’s Paid Family Leave program. Under this program, eligible employees will be allowed to take up to 10 weeks of paid family leave in 2019, which will go up to 12 weeks of paid family leave in 2021. In 2019, during the 10 weeks of paid family leave, employees will receive 55 percent of their average weekly wage and cannot receive more than 55 percent of the New York State average weekly wage. The program is expected to be implemented by January 2019. This benefit is funded entirely by employee payroll deductions, and therefore imposes no costs on the City.

Education Fund: As part of the settlement, the City will increase its contribution to the DC 37 Education Fund, which provides work-related training and educational opportunities for members to help advance their employment.

Equity Fund: The City will provide resources and collaborate with DC 37 to help recruit and retain employees in certain hard-to-fill positions.

Direct Deposit Savings: New DC 37 members beginning employment the day after ratification will be paid exclusively by direct deposit, which is efficient, environmentally sound and will help move the City payroll into the 21^st century.

Union access and reporting: There will be more efficient procedures for the City reporting new members to the union, and provisions that will provide the union better access to new employees so that they can enroll them as union members. These measures will help reduce the impact of the Supreme Court’s likely decision in Janus.

DC 37 employees will receive the following compounded wage increases:

• September 26, 2017    2.00 percent
• September 26, 2018    2.25 percent
• October 26, 2019        3.00 percent

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR DE BLASIO ON SCOTUS DECISION ON MUSLIM TRAVEL BAN AND OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO -  “This ban is institutionalized Islamophobia, promoted under the guise of national security. Banning people from our country on the basis of religion is an affront to our founding ideals. With this decision, the highest court in the land has sent a message of exclusion and division across the globe. As our President tries to build walls, New York City will continue to welcome people from all over the world to our shores, from all faith traditions. Our values have helped make our city the safest big city in the United States – and they are what make America great.”

CONGRESSMAN JOE CROWLEY - “This decision will be remembered as one where the Supreme Court of the United States legitimized discrimination and religious intolerance. This is a deeply shameful decision that strikes at the heart of the principles our nation was founded on and the values we hold dear as Americans.

“Instituting a religious test and vilifying refugees seeking asylum is immoral, ignorant, and hateful. President Trump’s Muslim Ban is the antithesis to everything we stand for, and we will continue to fight against this policy and this administration’s xenophobic and intolerant agenda.”

Council Member Andy King - "I have heard many today call the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the President's travel ban 'un-American'.  This is because we are a nation of values, and in a nation of many racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds, we hold the value of pluralism paramount.  The President clearly stated he wanted to ban individuals from Muslim countries, so I agree with Justice Sotomayor's dissent that it's ridiculous to ignore this reality despite tacking on North Korea and Venezuela to the list.  At this time of national conflict, let us not forget our national history of segregation and attempts to legally divide us to strengthen white, Christian communities.  From the origins of the 3/5th Clause in our constitution, some of us have been legally defined as less than, utilized to justify behavior from the discriminatory to the inhumane.  As a black man whose ancestors were kidnapped, shackled and lynched, I stand with my Muslim brothers and sisters in solidarity against efforts to allow the cancer of white supremacy into our policies and statutes to discriminate."

STATE SENATOR GUSTAVO RIVERA - "I am profoundly appalled and disgusted, but not surprised, by today's Supreme Court 5-4 ruling to uphold the Trump administration's restriction on travel to the United States from 7 countries, including 5 majority Muslim countries. I unequivocally condemn and denounce this hateful immigration policy as it will limit the granting of visas to travelers from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

While there is no question that our national security is of great importance, we cannot mask this racist policy as an attempt to better secure our borders. It was carefully designed to blatantly discriminate against people of certain religions and nationalities, which goes against the principles and values embedded in our Constitution. We are closing our doors to individuals who not only want to see and experience our country, but more importantly, to those escaping extreme physical and economic strife.

I remain committed to resisting this administration's efforts to discriminate against people, whether it be based on their nationality, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. #NoTravelBanEVER."

Council Member Jumaane D. Williams - "The Supreme Court's ruling today enables institutionalized bigotry, codified racism. The Muslim Ban, or so-called travel ban, is unconscionable, a denial of rights and of humanity on the basis of a person's faith. The policy is as vicious, illogical, racist, and inexcusable today as when it was first enacted and protestors flooded airports across the country."

"Just two weeks ago, the Supreme Court found a "hostility" towards religion in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. Now, given the President's past hate speech and hateful policies, they found none, and it seems clear that this depends on the religion in question."

"The conservative takeover of this court is disastrous and dangerous. I suspect that today's court would have ruled against Oliver Brown in 1954, Homer Plessy in 1896, or  Dred Scott in 1857, when it was argued that Scott had "No rights which the white man was bound to respect," enabling injustice against vulnerable populations, as they have today."

I am committed to continuing this fight in New York and across the country."

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW By Councilman Rev. Ruben Diaz

FBI INVESTIGATES THE MAYOR OF SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

You should know that rumor has it the National Puerto Rican Day Parade Board of Directors has quietly decided to dedicate next year’s parade to the Mayor of San Juan Puerto Rico, the Honorable Carmen Yulin Cruz, in order to help her aspiration of becoming the Governor of Puerto Rico.

But now, it is important for you to know the Mayor of San Juan Puerto Rico, Carmen Yulin Cruz, and her administration are being investigated by the FBI for corruption - according to many Puerto Rican news media outlets.

Among the Puerto Rican news media outlets reporting this conduct are: El Vocero de Puerto Rico, theBlaze.com, Telemundo PR and many others.

Mayor Yulin Cruz and her administration are under fire for allegedly obstructing critical supplies from reaching victims of the Category-4 Hurricane, Maria, that leveled much of the small island of Puerto Rico less than a year ago. 

You should know my dear reader that for many weeks after Hurricane Maria, Mayor Yulin Cruz made headlines for her comments about President Trump and the Governor of Puerto Rico’s administration slow response to the victims of Puerto Rico. It now appears it was not Governor Rosello and President Trump’s slow aid keeping the supplies from reaching the residents of San Juan, but hers, according to the Epoch Times report.

I don’t know how the FBI investigation will affect the future plans to dedicate next year’s National Puerto Rican Day Parade to Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz. Nor do I know if Mayor Yulin Cruz’s aspiration to run for Governor of Puerto Rico will have to be put on ice.

As I used to say, back in those days to my friends Jose Rivera and Isreal Martinez “We’ll see”.

This is Councilman Rev Ruben Diaz, Sr and this is what you should know.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Reverend Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr., you should tell your son Ruben Diaz Jr., and Bronx Democratic County Leader Marcos Crespo of this.

Didn't your son Ruben Diaz Jr. help remove your friend Jose Rivera as the Bronx Democratic County Leader?

That is what you need to know.

A.G. Underwood Announces Sentencing Of Registered Nurse Who Stole Over $390,000 From Medicaid

Private RN Collins Anyanwu-Mueller Defrauded Medicaid by Submitting False Claims for Severely Disabled Patients for Nearly Five Years 

Anyanwu-Mueller Sentenced to 1 Year in Jail, Agreed to Pay Full Restitution 

  Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today announced the sentencing of registered nurse Collins Anyanwu-Mueller, 48, of Seymour, Connecticut, for stealing over $390,000 from Medicaid. On November 2, 2017, Anyanwu-Mueller pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, after an investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s office revealed that, over the course of nearly five years, Anyanwu-Mueller submitted false claims for private duty nursing services that he never provided to severely disabled patients.

Anyanwu-Mueller was sentenced in Westchester County Court in White Plains by the Honorable Barry H. Warhit to one year in jail. Prior to sentencing Anyanwu-Mueller paid the State of New York $25,000 and has agreed to pay the remaining $367,954 in restitution owed.

“The Medicaid home care program is meant to provide vital care to severely disabled New Yorkers,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Fraudsters who rip off Medicaid will be caught and prosecuted.”

An investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) uncovered that between August 2010 and January 2015, Anyanwu-Mueller submitted claims for payment to Medicaid in which he falsely represented that he provided private-duty nursing services to two severely disabled Medicaid recipients. Anyanwu-Mueller’s false claims included instances when the recipients were in the hospital, when another nurse provided the care, when he was in Europe, when he was caring for another Medicaid recipient, and for an extended period when he sent an unlicensed person to the recipient’s home but billed Medicaid as if he provided the care himself. Both Medicaid recipients required around-the-clock care at their respective homes located in New Rochelle and Pleasantville, New York.

The Attorney General thanks the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General for its referral in this matter.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Sues Herbal Drug Manufacturer For Selling Misbranded And Unapproved Drugs In Violation Of The Federal Food, Drug, And Cosmetic Act

  Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Melinda Plaisier, Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), announced today the filing of a Complaint against defendants RAHSAN A. HAKIM (“Hakim”) and ADONIIAH A. RAHSAN (“Rahsan”) for repeated violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  HAKIM and RAHSAN do business as Sundial Herbal Products. 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said:  “As alleged in the complaint, the defendants are the modern incarnation of snake oil salesmen, selling the unsuspecting public unapproved or misbranded drugs that they claim, without basis, will cure cancer, diabetes, and other serious illnesses.  They have repeatedly been warned that their conduct violates the law, yet have continued to sell unapproved, adulterated, and misbranded drugs.  Our lawsuit seeks an injunction preventing them from continuing this illegal conduct.”

FDA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs Melinda Plaisier said:  “Dietary supplements pose a public health risk when they claim to treat medical conditions, such as asthma, diabetes or cancer, which puts them into the category of misbranded and unapproved drugs.  The FDA will continue to take action to protect the public when companies violate the law.”

The Complaint, filed today in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that defendants manufacture and sell various unapproved drugs and dietary supplements that claim to cure, treat, and/or prevent numerous diseases and conditions, including but not limited to syphilis, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, asthma, heart disease, and cancer.  None of their products has been tested or approved by the FDA for safety or effectiveness.  Their sale of such products poses a threat to public health because the products’ disease treatment claims may cause consumers to delay appropriate medical care for the serious medical issues described above.  Further, defendants cannot guarantee the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their dietary supplements.

Defendants have been inspected by the FDA multiple times, and, despite repeated promises to do so, have failed to correct their violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.           

The Complaint seeks an order enjoining defendants from manufacturing and selling drugs and dietary supplements in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Mr. Berman thanked the FDA for its work leading to the Complaint.

A.G. Underwood Announces Election Day Hotline To Protect Voter Access During June Federal Primary Election

Voters Experiencing Problems Can Call 800-771-7755 Or Email civil.rights@ag.ny.gov Between 6AM And 9PM On Election Day

Attorney General’s Hotline Troubleshoots A Range Of Election Day Issues

  Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced her office’s Election Day Hotline, which will help troubleshoot and resolve a range of issues encountered by voters at the polls during the federal primary election on Tuesday, June 26^th. The Attorney General urges voters experiencing problems or issues at the polls to call the office’s hotline at 800-771-7755 or email civil.rights@ag.ny.gov at any time between 6:00 AM and 9:00 PM on Tuesday. The hotline will be staffed by attorneys and staff in the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau.

“All eligible voters deserve equal access at the polls,” Attorney General Underwood said. “Any New Yorker who encounters barriers to voting should immediately contact our office.”

Voters registered in New York City trying to find their poll site can click here. Voters registered outside New York City trying to find their poll site canclick here. 

The Attorney General’s Office has operated the voter access hotline since November 2012. During previous elections, the office fielded hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of complaints from voters across the state and worked with local election officials and others to address issues. The Election Day hotline is part of the office’s ongoing effort to reduce barriers to voting.

Attorney General Underwood reminds all registered voters that they have the right to accessible elections. In addition, all registered voters have the right to vote free from coercion or intimidation, whether by election officials or any other person.

The office will receive and respond to election-related complaints relating to any of the statutes that the office enforces.