Robert Pizarro And Juan Rivera Convicted Of Kidnapping And Murdering Federal Cooperating Witness

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that earlier today, ROBERT PIZARRO and JUAN RIVERA were convicted of murdering a witness to prevent reporting to law enforcement, kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping resulting in death, robbery conspiracy, robbery, and firearms offenses, arising out of the murder of federal cooperating witness Robert Bishun on September 20, 2016. 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Just over two years ago, Robert Bishun was violently kidnapped and brutally murdered by the defendants because he was a federal cooperating witness.  Today, the jury in this case returned a unanimous verdict holding the defendants accountable for their heinous crimes.  We hope that today’s result brings some small measure of peace to Robert Bishun’s family.”

According to the proof introduced at trial:

On September 20, 2016, PIZARRO and RIVERA attempted to rob Robert Bishun at gunpoint inside his auto body shop in the Bronx; during the attempted robbery, two customers were bound with zip ties and locked in the trunks of separate vehicles inside the shop.  Upon learning that Bishun was a federal cooperating witness, PIZARRO and RIVERA kidnapped Bishun from his shop and strangled him to death with a plastic zip tie, before abandoning Bishun’s body in the back of his own vehicle on the side of the road.

On a prior occasion, in January 2015, PIZARRO and another accomplice stormed into Bishun’s auto body shop and robbed Robert Bishun at gunpoint, taking approximately $10,000 in cash from Bishun.  During the course of the robbery, two customers were bound with zip ties.

PIZARRO, 38, of the Bronx, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison plus 32 years.  RIVERA, 41, also of the Bronx, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison plus 7 years.  

Mr. Berman praised the investigative efforts of the DEA and the NYPD, and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

A.G. Underwood Announces Record $148 Million Settlement With Uber Over 2016 Data Breach

Settlement with 50 States & DC Also Requires Uber to Adopt Model Data Breach Notification and Data Security Practices, Corporate Integrity Program; Hire Independent Third Party to Assess Data Security

  Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today announced an agreement with ride-sharing company Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber) to settle allegations it intentionally concealed a 2016 data breach in violation of state data breach notification laws. The settlement, which was reached with all 50 states and the District of Columbia, requires Uber to adopt model data breach notification and data security practices and a corporate integrity program for employees to report unethical behavior, and hire an independent third party to assess its data security practices. It also requires Uber to pay a record penalty of $148 million.

“New Yorkers deserve to know that their personal information will be protected – period,” said Attorney General Underwood. “This record settlement should send a clear message: we have zero tolerance for those who skirt the law and leave consumer and employee information vulnerable to exploitation. We'll continue to fight to protect New Yorkers from weak data security and criminal hackers.”

In November 2016, hackers based in the United States and Canada secretly informed security officials at Uber that they had downloaded the personal information of 57 million riders and drivers, 25 million of whom were in the United States and 7.7 million of whom were drivers. The information stolen included names, email addresses, and mobile phone numbers; drivers’ license information pertaining to approximately 600,000 drivers nationwide was also stolen. After providing proof of the massive data breach, the hackers demanded “six figures” to delete the data and not disclose the breach. Uber ultimately paid the hackers $100,000 to conceal the breach. 

In the spring of 2017, Uber’s Board of Directors directed a law firm to investigate Uber’s security team in the wake of unrelated litigation involving the alleged theft of trade secrets related to self-driving cars. As part of this inquiry, the law firm learned of the breach and ransom payment. Upon learning of the breach, the board hired a forensic firm to investigate the breach. Uber ultimately provided notice of the breach in late November 2017, a year after the breach.

General Business Law § 899-aa requires companies that experience a breach involving certain personal information, including driver’s license numbers, to provide notice “in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay.” By intentionally concealing the breach and failing to disclose it for a year, Uber violated GBL § 899-aa.   

As part of the nationwide settlement, Uber has agreed to pay a record penalty of $148 million to the states. New York will receive approximately $5.1 million. 

The settlement between New York and Uber requires the company to:

• Comply with New York’s data breach and consumer protection laws regarding protecting New York residents’ personal information and notifying them in the event of a data breach concerning their personal information;
• Take precautions to protect any user data Uber stores on third-party platforms outside of Uber;
• Use strong password policies for its employees to gain access to the Uber network;
• Develop and implement a strong overall data security policy for all data that Uber collects about its users, including assessing potential risks to the security of the data and implementing any additional security measures beyond what Uber is doing to protect the data;
• Hire an outside qualified party to assess Uber’s data security efforts on a regular basis and draft a report with any recommended security improvements. Uber will implement any such security improvement recommendations; and
• Develop and implement a corporate integrity program to ensure that Uber employees can report any ethics concerns they have about any other Uber employees to the company.

This settlement also addresses and resolves allegations that Uber’s conduct violated an earlier 2016 settlement with the Office of the New York Attorney General. In the earlier investigation, the office found that on May 12, 2014, a hacker accessed an Uber database that included names of roughly 50,000 Uber drivers and their driver’s license numbers. Uber discovered the breach in September 2014 but did not provide notice to the affected drivers and the office until February 26, 2015, over five months later. The prior 2016 settlement required Uber to comply with GBL § 899-aa. It also required Uber to adopt protective technologies for the storage, access, and transfer of certain personal information, and credentials related to its access, including the adoption of multi-factor authentication, or similarly protective access control methodologies. 

The New York Attorney General independently investigated the current breach, but later joined the multistate investigatory process, where it took a leadership position, to effectuate settlement. 

The Attorney General's office has also proposed legislation to close gaps in New York's data security laws and comprehensively protect New Yorkers’ personal information from data breaches.

MAYOR DE BLASIO APPOINTS SARAH CARROLL AS NEW CHAIR OF THE LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced the appointment of Sarah Carroll as the Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. As Chair, Carroll will lead the Commission as it continues to preserve and protect New York City's architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites.

“Sarah is a dedicated public servant and preservationist with more than two decades of experience,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Her intimate knowledge of the Commission’s work and her commitment to preservation make her an invaluable asset in the effort to protect the historic buildings and sites that make New York City so unique.”

“Having dedicated my career to protecting the heritage of the city I love, it is a dream realized and an incredible honor to be appointed by the Mayor and entrusted by the Council to lead the Commission,” said LPC ChairSarah Carroll. “I look forward to continuing to work with the Commissioners and staff to preserve and celebrate sites that reflect the diversity and rich history of our city and to partnering with property owners, elected officials, preservationists and communities to ensure these sites remain relevant for generations to come.”

Carroll, a preservationist by training and profession, has dedicated her career to public service at LPC. She has deep institutional knowledge about the agency’s work and its operational strengths. Over the past 24 years, she has served in various capacities at LPC, including Landmarks Preservationist, Deputy Director of Preservation, and Director of Preservation. In 2014, she became Executive Director.

During her tenure as Executive Director, Carroll oversaw the successful designation of more than 4,000 buildings and sites in the city, the implementation of numerous transparency and efficiency measures, including new website features that provide information and access to the agency’s work, and the development of a new internal permit tracking database that increased efficiency and staff accountability in the application process.

“Balancing a deep respect for New York City’s unique architectural heritage and iconic structures, with an understanding of the needs of a growing city, Sarah has earned her excellent reputation as an independent, effective leader and preservationist, ” said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen.

“The Landmarks Preservation Commission is responsible with preserving the architectural and cultural heritage that New Yorkers value so deeply,” said Speaker Corey Johnson. “With decades of preservation expertise, Sarah Carroll has shown a lifelong dedication to public service. As a career preservationist, Sarah is an excellent choice to lead this vital office and I look forward to working with her in this new role.”

Council Member Andy King's Statement on City Planning Commission’s Approval of Bartow Avenue Animal Shelter Site

Statement on City Planning Commission’s Approval of Bartow Avenue Animal Shelter Site 

“The City’s ULURP process requires approval from a number of parties, including the City Planning Commission, the Borough President, the local community board and the City Council.  We have seen the Borough President speak on this matter and now the Commission has approved the Bartow Avenue Animal Shelter.  A Community Board hearing on this matter saw a united voice from Co-op City residents against the particular project and location proposed, while we recognize many Bronxites are excited about the prospect of building this facility as soon as possible.  The Council will hold a hearing in a land use subcommittee on October 9^th and I will have the opportunity to publicly question the Administration on concerns surrounding this project. I have stated time and again that I will follow the wishes of the neighborhood and the surrounding community on this project and all projects that impact our residential communities. While we look to comply with law of building a animal shelter in our borough of the Bronx we can not and I will not forget the position of our local residents."

Chinese National Arrested for Allegedly Acting Within the United States as an Unregistered Agent of the People’s Republic of China

  A Chinese national was arrested in Chicago today for allegedly acting within the United States as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China.

JI CHAOQUN, 27, a Chinese citizen residing in Chicago, worked at the direction of a high-level intelligence officer in the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, a provincial department of the Ministry of State Security for the People’s Republic of China, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Ji was tasked with providing the intelligence officer with biographical information on eight individuals for possible recruitment by the JSSD, the complaint states.  The individuals included Chinese nationals who were working as engineers and scientists in the United States, some of whom were U.S. defense contractors, according to the complaint.

The complaint charges Ji with one count of knowingly acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General.  He will make an initial court appearance today at 4:00 p.m. CDT before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason in Courtroom 2266 of the Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago.

The arrest and complaint were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the U.S. Department of Justice; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The U.S. Army 902nd Military Intelligence Group provided valuable assistance.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shoba Pillay of the Northern District of Illinois, and Senior Trial Attorney Heather Schmidt of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

According to the complaint, Ji was born in China and arrived in the United States in 2013 on an F1 Visa, for the purpose of studying electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.  In 2016, Ji enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves as an E4 Specialist under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, which authorizes the U.S. Armed Forces to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are considered vital to the national interest.  In his application to participate in the MAVNI program, Ji specifically denied having had contact with a foreign government within the past seven years, the complaint states.  In a subsequent interview with a U.S. Army officer, Ji again failed to disclose his relationship and contacts with the intelligence officer, the charge alleges.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  The charge in the complaint is punishable by a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.  The statutory maximum penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

BRONX COUPLE INDICTED IN CONNECTION WITH KILLING AND DISMEMBERMENT OF LISA MARIE VELASQUEZ

Man Charged With Murder; He and Girlfriend Charged with Mutilating Body and Discarding Remains in Bronx Parks

  Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced the indictment of two defendants in connection with the murder and dismemberment of a Bronx woman. 

 District Attorney Clark said, “In a series of horrifying acts, the victim was fatally beaten and her body was dismembered. In the ultimate degradation of a human being, her remains were put in garbage bags and discarded in two public parks. The defendants stand accused of conduct that is beyond the pale.” 

 District Attorney Clark said Daquan Wheeler, 31, was indicted on second-degree Murder, first-degree Manslaughter, second-degree Criminal Facilitation, and fourth-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon. Ciara Martinez, 30, was indicted on second-degree Criminal Facilitation and first-degree Hindering Prosecution. Both defendants were indicted on Concealment of a Human Corpse, Tampering with Physical Evidence, and fourth-degree and fifth-degree Conspiracy. They were arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas and remand was continued. Wheeler is due back in court on January 8, 2019 and Martinez is due back on December 20, 2018. 

  According to the investigation, on August 22, 2018 at 1006 Longfellow Avenue, where the defendants were living in an apartment, Wheeler allegedly struck the victim, Lisa Marie Velasquez, 25, in the head with a hammer, causing her death. Velasquez had gone to the apartment to aid Martinez, who was fighting with Wheeler. The defendants allegedly moved the victim’s body from the bedroom to the bathroom and cleaned the bedroom to conceal the murder. Martinez and Wheeler then allegedly placed their clothes and Velasquez’s clothes in garbage bags and took them to a park nearby, where they dumped them in the water.

  According to the investigation, the defendants then went to a hardware store and bought garbage bags and a machete. They allegedly cut up the victim’s body and placed the parts in bags, and placed some of the bags in the water off Barretto Point Park. Wheeler and Martinez then got a van and retrieved the other bags from the apartment and took them to Crotona Park, where they left them. The defendants then went back to the apartment and cleaned and painted the interior of the residence, in an effort to conceal the crime.

  On August 24, 2018, a city Parks Department worker found the bags containing Velasquez’s remains in Crotona Park and on August 28, 2018, people visiting Barretto Point Park discovered the bags containing the rest of her remains. They were matched to Velasquez, who had been reported missing.

 District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Sasha Brugal of the 42nd Precinct Squad, NYPD Detective Dominic Robinson of the Bronx Homicide Squad and the NYPD Crime Scene Unit for their work on the case.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

New Comptroller Stringer Report: Options for Working New Yorkers Vanishing as City Lost Over One Million Affordable Apartments Since 2005

  New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer today released an updated analysis that reveals the alarming decline of affordable apartments for New Yorkers since 2005. The report, “The Gap is Still Growing: New York City’s Continuing Housing Affordability Challenge” builds off of a 2014 analysis released by the Comptroller and shows that as hundreds of thousands of new residents move to the City – not only has the total number of units failed to keep up, but the alarming drop in affordable and rent-regulated units has accelerated, with over one million affordable apartments leaving the market since 2005. This dynamic is leaving working New Yorkers with fewer affordable rental units and is fueling a growing affordable housing crisis.

Key findings from the report include:

• Since 2005, New York City experienced a net loss of over one million apartments renting for $900 or less.
• At the same time, the number apartments renting for $2,700 or more jumped four-fold, replacing many lost low-rent units.
• A large portion of the decline in affordable housing comes from the erosion of rent-stabilized units, of which the city has lost 88,518 units since 2005 – more than the entire addition of new rental housing over the same period.
• All rent figures are in inflation-adjusted 2017 dollars, further emphasizing the rising cost of renting an apartment in New York City.

“Our city is losing low-rent apartments every day, and it’s putting whole communities at risk. We have an affordable housing shortage – and this report shows how quickly the loss of affordable housing has accelerated in the last decade,” said Comptroller Stringer. “Behind these one million lost units, are countless New Yorkers – families, seniors, students and immigrants – who are working harder than ever to put a roof over their heads. We can’t let the entrance fee to the city become a luxury condo, or we will stop being the city we know and love. As our City’s economy and population continues to expand, we need to use all the tools we can to protect our communities. Lawmakers in Albany must act swiftly to eliminate vacancy decontrol and pass other common-sense rent regulation reform that will preserve our affordable housing stock and keep New York accessible for working families.”

“The Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance is pleased to stand with NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer as he presents a report about the extreme loss of housing that is affordable for low income New Yorkers.  Across New York City, half of low income renters pay more than 50% of their income in rent.  I will say it again, tens of thousands of New Yorkers are a paycheck or emergency away from homelessness.  With the weakening of the rent laws, lack of universal rent control, and the ability of landlords of unregulated apartments to evict tenants at whim, we are raising our voices to stress the urgent need for a course correction,” said Delsenia Glover, of the Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance’s #HousingJusticeForAll campaign.  “We are in the worse homeless crisis this state has seen since the Great Depression – there are 63,000 people sleeping in shelters each night in this city and 89,000 across the state. The Upstate Downstate Housing Alliance commends Comptroller Stringer for providing the data that shows that the time has come to put power back in the hands of the people and demand that our state legislature fix this massive crisis.”

“We are in the largest housing crisis since the Great Depression. While landlords are gutting protections for tenants, Comptroller Stringer’s report shows we are seeing massive losses of much needed affordable housing. We need Albany to pass Universal Rent Control to protect every tenant in New York,” said Jonathan Westin, Executive Director of New York Communities for Change.

“As the Comptroller’s report makes clear, New York’s rent stabilized housing stock is in serious jeopardy and Albany must act immediately,” said Judith Goldiner, Attorney-In-Charge of the Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “This entails eliminating landlord loopholes, vacancy decontrol and the vacancy bonus, and reforming our state’s broken preferential rent system. The Legal Aid Society thanks Comptroller Stringer for bringing attention to an issue that impacts thousands of poor New Yorkers each day.”

“As he has so many times in the past, Comptroller Stringer is shining a light on just how great the need is for affordable housing in New York City,” said Jonathan Furlong, Director of Organizing at Housing Conservation Coordinators. “HCC is proud to stand with groups from the Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance as we begin to mobilize for the renewal and strengthening of the Rent Laws in 2019,” he said.

“The city’s massive drop in affordable housing is not news to communities in north Brooklyn. Renters and communities of color have acutely suffered, while developers and landlords have benefitted immensely. CUFFH is proud to stand with Comptroller Stringer and support the Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance’s campaign for much-needed legislative action toward universal rent control and housing justice for all youth,” said Charlie Dulik, CUFFH Youth Organizer.

“Truly affordable housing is paramount in retaining NYC residents in a time when real estate speculation and hyper gentrification is at an all time high,” said Mychal Johnson, co-founding member of South Bronx Unite and board member of the South Bronx CLT, Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards. “Our communities can not afford the ‘affordable housing’ that is being created.”

Further findings in the updated report include:

Stark Shifts in the Housing Market

Since 2005, the rental market landscape has shifted from one predominantly consisting of lower-cost units to a market dominated by middle, and, even more so, by high-rent apartments.

• In 2017, apartments renting for $900 or less constituted just 20 percent of all rentals, down from 74 percent of total rental apartments in 2005.
• At the same time, the number of apartments renting for more than $2,700 shot up from just 2.7 percent of all apartments in 2005, to 13.9 percent by 2017.

Erosion of Rent-Stabilized Housing Fuels Affordability Crisis

Contributing to this broad shift toward higher cost housing over this period was a continued erosion in the inventory of rent-stabilized housing.

• The city experienced a net loss of 88,518 units of rent-stabilized housing between 2005 and 2017.
• More stabilized units were removed from the inventory than were added in every year except 2017, when a large number of rental units were stabilized after the renewal of the 421-a program that provides tax exemptions for constructing affordable housing.
• High-rent vacancy deregulation – which occurs when a vacant rent-stabilized apartment legally surpasses the threshold amount of regulated rent – was the biggest contributor to the loss of rent-stabilized housing since 2005.
• Higher thresholds for vacancy decontrol – as described above – which rose from $2,000 to $2,500 in 2011, and to $2,700 in 2015 have helped slow down the high-speed disappearance of rent-regulated units in recent years.

Subsidized Households Were Not Immune to Upward Rent Pressure

• For Section 8 voucher holders, rent growth outpaced income growth by a rate of 3-to-1, as average contract rents increased by 29.9 percent while average household incomes rose by just 8.7 percent.

Comptroller Stringer is calling on Albany lawmakers to act swiftly on a package of rent-reform measures including eliminating vacancy decontrol, reforming major capital improvements, reforming individual apartment increases, reforming preferential rents, and ending the 20% vacancy bonus on rent stabilized apartments.

To read the full report, click here.

Borough President Diaz Jr. and Councilman Diaz Sr. Visit PS 567 The Linden Tree School

  PS 127 in Parkchester was built in 1953, and has evolved into MS 127 and PS 567. MS 127 and PS 567 are also known as the School for Global Leaders and Innovative Studies, as well as the Linden Tree Elementary School. The three story building has one floor for the elementary school, and two floors for the middle school. There is also one classroom for Pre-k children. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the local councilman who just happens to be his father Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. visited PS 567 to check on the investments the borough president has made at the school. New Smartboards and laptop computers were a recent addition to PS 567 by BP Diaz Jr. Principal Lisa DeBonis, her staff, parents, and the students welcomed both the Borough President and the local Councilman. 

  As the Borough President and Councilman toured PS 567 they went from room to room speaking to students who were not shy to answer them, and have a few questions of their own for the elected officials. The BP and Councilman finally arrived at the Family Homework Lab to see how family and students can work together helping the children do their homework. The ribbon cutting and other photos are below.

Above - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. points to the local councilman he brought with him to see PS 567 who just happens to be his father Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr.

Below - Both the BP and Councilman are holding gift bags that were given to them by the students.

Above - BP Diaz stands by one of the lap top computer storage areas which are in each classroom at PS 567 that were bought with BP discretionary funds.

Below - (L - R) PS 567 Principal Ms. Lisa De Bonis, BP Diaz Jr., Assistant Principal Ms. Jamie Sorhiando, Parent Coordinator Alison Walsh, and Councilman Diaz Sr. stand in front of a new Smartboard. 

Above - A group photo with students, parents, staff, and the two elected officials.

Below - The ribbon cutting ceremony for the New Family Homework Lab at PS 567.