A.G. Underwood Awards Nearly $26 Million To New York Land Banks

All Land Banks in New York State will Receive Funding; AG’s Office has Now Invested Over $82 Million in New York State Land Banks

Funding Secured through AG’s Martin Act Securities Fraud Settlements with the Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS Over Misconduct that Contributed to Housing Crisis

   Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced $25.9 million in new funding for all New York State land banks that work to protect homeowners and neighborhoods by acquiring blighted homes and transforming them into community assets. This latest round of funding will be administered by Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise). Since 2013, the Attorney General’s office has provided more than $82 million to land banks from funding it secured through settlements with the nation’s largest banks over misconduct that contributed to the housing crisis. This latest funding was secured through Martin Act securities fraud settlements announced earlier this year with the Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS.

“Land banks are a pivotal part of revitalizing and rebuilding neighborhoods across the state,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Thanks to funding secured by my office’s settlements with the big banks, we’ve been able to invest in cities and towns across New York still recovering from the foreclosure crisis.”

During the decade of the housing boom and bust from 2000 to 2010, the number of vacant properties in New York State increased by 27 percent. Following the collapse of the housing market, the New York State Legislature passed a law in 2011 establishing land banks — nonprofit organizations that can acquire vacant, abandoned, or foreclosed properties and rebuild, demolish, or redesign them. There are currently 25 New York land banks, all of which submitted responses to a Request for Applications issued by Enterprise; all will receive funding for 2019-2020 through this latest round.

According to the New York Land Bank Association’s 2017 New York State Land Bank Report, land banks in New York have:

• Reclaimed 1,989 properties from abandonment and blight;
• Sold 651 properties to individuals or nonprofit organizations;
• Demolished 482 unstable structures.

Abandoned and vacant properties depress property values, discourage property ownership, and attract criminal activity. Land banks provide tools to quickly turn these properties back into assets that reinvest in the community's long-term vision for its neighborhood. Land bank programs act as an economic and community development tool to revitalize distressed neighborhoods and business districts. Land banks can benefit urban schools, improve tax revenues, expand housing opportunities, remove public nuisances, assist in crime prevention, and promote economic development.

The New York land banks receiving funding for 2019-2010 include:

Albany County Land Bank Corporation

Allegany County Land Bank

Broome County Land Bank Corporation

Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corporation (BENLIC)

Capital Region Land Bank

Cattaraugus County Land Bank

Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation

Chemung County Land Bank

Finger Lakes Regional Land Bank Corporation

Greater Mohawk Valley Land Bank

Greater Syracuse Land Bank

Livingston County Land Bank

Nassau County Land Bank

Newburgh Community Land Bank

Niagara-Orleans Regional Land Improvement Corporation (NORLIC)

Ogdensburg Land Bank Corporation

Oswego County Land Bank

Rochester Land Bank Corporation

Suffolk County Land Bank Corporation

Steuben County Land Bank

Sullivan County Land Bank

Troy Community Land Bank

Tioga County Land Bank

Wayne County Land Bank

Kingston City Land Bank

“Thanks to Attorney General Underwood’s support, more neighborhoods across Erie County and NYS will find relief from blighted, vacant homes that dotted communities and detracted from property values. The Land Bank has been instrumental in turning these former eyesores into welcoming, appealing parcels that are attractive to new homeowners and we look forward to the Bank’s continued success,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

“Every dollar invested through the Landbank is another step in the right direction to fight blight on Long Island,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “I want to thank Attorney General Underwood for her commitment to rehabilitate zombie homes so we can revitalize them to their true potential.”

Comptroller Stringer Releases Fiscal Year 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

  New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released the City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for Fiscal Year 2018, which includes the City’s audited financial statements for the year, outlines important economic and financial data about New York City, and highlights the work of the Comptroller’s Office during the fiscal year. This year’s CAFR highlights the City’s strong economy and record low unemployment rate, and includes new data on the Comptroller’s Office diversity initiatives.

“Accountability and transparency make our City stronger. They’re values that we always hold ourselves to – and our CAFR is a testament to that commitment,” New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said. “The numbers in this report are the footprints of our City and represent the work of dedicated public servants who keep our City running. New Yorkers deserve the strongest level of public data we can provide. I’m proud that once again, the CAFR has met the highest standards for financial reporting. I would like to thank everyone from the five pension systems, the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, the Office of the Actuary, and especially the staff of our Bureau of Accountancy, led by Deputy Comptroller Jacqueline Warburton-Thompson, for their work to publish this crucial report.”

In accordance with the City Charter, the CAFR is released annually no later than October 31. In addition to the financial statements of the City as a whole and for each of the City’s accounting funds, explanatory notes to the financial statements, and supplemental financial and statistical information about the City, the CAFR contains the basic financial statements of the City’s five pension systems and closely-related entities such as NYC Health + Hospitals, the NYC Water and Sewer System, and the NYC Economic Development Corporation.

For the 38th consecutive year, the Fiscal Year 2017 CAFR was awarded the prestigious Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association.

Highlights from the FY18 CAFR include:

New York City’s Finances and Economy

• New York City’s economy, measured as real gross city product, grew 3.1 percent, outperforming US GDP growth for the sixth consecutive year.
• For the 38th year in a row, New York City ended the fiscal year with a budget balanced according to generally accepted accounting principles.
  • The City had an operating surplus of $4.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2018, an increase of about $400 million from the previous fiscal year. After certain prepayments and transfers for Fiscal Year 2019, the General Fund surplus for Fiscal Year 2018 was $5 million.
• City tax revenues grew 8.1 percent, after experiencing the lowest growth since FY10 last fiscal year. Growth was propelled by a 19.1 percent rise in personal income tax revenues, fueled by a one-time boost from Federal tax reform. Property tax revenues grew by 7 percent.
• New York City added 76,600 private-sector jobs, driving citywide unemployment to 4.3 percent, the lowest level on record.

The Comptroller’s Office

Bureau of Asset Management – The Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management is the investment advisor to the City’s five Retirement Systems.

• As of June 30, 2018 the Bureau of Asset Management had $195.8 billion in assets under management for the five New York City retirement systems.
• The pension trust funds earned $13.5 billion in investment income, net of investment expenses, in FY18, for a return of 8.7 percent.

Bureau of Public Finance – The Bureau of Public Finance works with the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget to issue bonds to finance the City’s extensive capital program and to refund outstanding bonds for savings.

• The City and the New York City Transitional Finance Authority (TFA) issued a total of $7.42 billion of long-term bonds to finance the City’s capital needs.
• The New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority (the Water Authority) issued a total of $1.5 billion of bonds to finance the capital needs of the City’s Water and Sewer systems.
• Refundings of bonds of the City and the TFA generated $613.38 million in budgetary savings and refundings of Water Authority bonds generated $389.34 million of savings over the lifetime of those bonds.
• As of June 30, 2018, the City’s outstanding General Obligation debt, the TFA’s Future Tax Secured debt, and the Water Authority’s debt together totaled $103.84 billion.

Labor Law – The Comptroller’s Office sets and enforces prevailing wages for contractors on New York City public works projects. In FY18, the office:

• Assessed over $2 million in underpayments and interest against City contractors that violated New York’s prevailing wage laws.
• Imposed penalties totaling $100,000 against those City contractors.
• Opened 108 new cases, resolved 74 cases, and debarred 8 contractors for egregious conduct.

Economic Development – Since 1981, the City Pension Funds have invested in Economically Targeted Investments (ETIs). As of June 30, 2018:

• The ETI program, including real assets and future commitments, was valued at $3.05 billion.
• The ETI program’s ten year overall performance, at 4.94 percent net of fees as of June 30, 2018, has continued to exceed its benchmark.
• Since inception, this program has financed the construction or preservation of over 112,000 units of affordable housing and 432,000 square feet of commercial space in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

Bureau of Audit and Investigation – The City Charter requires the Comptroller’s Office to audit some aspect of every City agency at least once every four years. In Fiscal Year 2018, the Comptroller’s Office:

• Issued 74 audits and special reports on the effectiveness and service quality of City programs and financial issues.
• These audits and investigations identified approximately $36 million in actual and potential revenue and savings.

Office of Diversity Initiatives – The Comptroller’s Office of Diversity Initiatives works to develop innovative solutions that expand economic opportunities for all, serving as a watchdog for the inclusion of women and people of color in City business. In Fiscal Year 2018, the Comptroller’s Office:

• More than doubled its spending with minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) achieving 29 percent spending in Fiscal Year 2018, up from 12 percent in Fiscal Year 2014.
• Appointed a Diversity and Inclusion Director in the Bureau of Asset Management, the first time the bureau has had staff dedicated to diversity across all asset classes.
• Introduced Comptroller’s M/WBE University, which engaged 600 diverse businesses in a series of workshops designed to increase access to the Comptroller’s Office and citywide procurement opportunities for M/WBEs.
• Began tracking the number of M/WBEs on the prequalified list of certified public accountants, a list of firms that can provide audit services to the City’s agencies. As of June, 2018, there were 16 M/WBEs prequalified to provide the City with audit services.
• Released its fifth annual Making the Grade report, which evaluates each City agency’s spending with M/WBEs.

NEW YORK CITY KICKS OFF AFFORDABLE CARE ACT OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD AND ENCOURAGES NEW YORKERS TO “GET COVERED”

Annual Open Enrollment Period is underway and continues through January 31, 2019. GetCoverdNYC launches increased outreach to reach as many New Yorkers as possible, there is a new enrollment location in Astoria, and certain locations have expanded hours.

  The Open Enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has begun, meaning uninsured New Yorkers can sign up for health insurance coverage through the New York State of Health Marketplace. During Open Enrollment, GetCoveredNYC, the City’s health insurance outreach and enrollment program, will expand its year-round citywide outreach to contact over 100,000 uninsured New Yorkers and provide enrollees with free one-on-one assistance in over 12 languages.

The Open Enrollment Period runs from November 1, 2018 through January 31, 2019. New Yorkers who are new to the Marketplace can enroll now, and people with existing coverage can renew their health plans starting November 16. Consumers must enroll or renew by December 15 for coverage effective January 1, 2019. New Yorkers who previously enrolled through the Marketplace must renew their health insurance each year to maintain coverage.

For Open Enrollment GetCoveredNYC has launched a citywide multilingual advertising campaign promoting health insurance and the free enrollment services available to New Yorkers. In addition, GetCoveredNYC is expanding its neighborhood enrollment events with community-based organizations and local elected officials, and several City health centers will offer extended hours during Open Enrollment. New Yorkers can access free in-person enrollment assistance by calling 311, texting CoveredNYC (SeguroNYC en Español) to 877877, or visiting nyc.gov/GetCoveredNYC.

“Health insurance empowers New Yorkers to access health care services to manage their health and well-being,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio. “I thank the City’s GetCoveredNYC team for continuing to play a critical role in our communities to help individuals get covered for health insurance.”

“Now is the time for all New Yorkers to protect themselves and enroll in a quality health insurance plan, including one of the many available low- and no-cost options,” said Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit Acting Director Eric Rotondi. “I am thankful to all of GetCoveredNYC’s partners, including countless City agencies, community organizations, and elected officials who work year-round to enroll all New Yorkers in health insurance, and who are helping us increase our outreach during this Open Enrollment Period.”

“If health insurance is not offered through work, there are many low- or no-cost options that you may be eligible for,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “Call 311 to set up an appointment for free, in-person help with choosing a plan.”

“If your health or income has changed since last year, you may want to take advantage of Open Enrollment to shop online or call 311 to figure out which health plan fits your current needs,” said Mitchell Katz, MD, president and chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals. “New Yorkers are fortunate to have a range of high-quality health plan choices, including our own MetroPlus.”

This year, the City opened a new site for health insurance enrollment at the Astoria Health Center (12-26 31^st Avenue, 2^nd Floor, Astoria, NY 11106), which is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM. In addition, several sites will offer extended hours:

Chelsea Health Center (303 Ninth Ave., 1^st Fl): open certain Saturdays from 9 AM to 12 PM

§  Saturday, November 17

§  Saturday, December 8

§  Saturday, December 15

Jamaica Health Center (90-37 Parsons Blvd, 4^th Fl): open certain Saturdays from 9 AM to 2 PM

§  Saturday, November 10    

§  Saturday, December 8  

§  Saturday, January 12      

§  Saturday, January 26          

Bushwick Health Center (335 Central Ave., 1^st Fl):

§  open certain Saturdays from 9 AM to 3 PM

§  Saturday, November 3

§  Saturday, November 17

§  Saturday, December 1

§  Saturday, December 15

§  Saturday January 5

§  Saturday, January 19

§  Extended hours on certain Mondays until 6 PM

§  Monday, November 5

§  Monday, November 19

§  Monday, December 3

§  Monday, December 17

§  Monday, January 14

§  Monday, January 28

Many New Yorkers may qualify for low- or no-cost health insurance through the Marketplace. Those whose earnings exceed Medicaid limits may be eligible for the Essential Plan, which also offers a comprehensive coverage package for either a $20 monthly premium or no cost, depending on income. Those earning more may be eligible for Qualified Health Plan coverage, offered by MetroPlus and others, with public subsidies on a sliding scale reflecting income. All the plans cover inpatient and outpatient care, physician services, diagnostic services, mental healthcare and prescription drugs.

Created by Mayor de Blasio in 2016, GetCoveredNYC is a citywide outreach initiative that helps all New Yorkers enroll in health insurance and access primary and preventive care. The initiative is a partnership between the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit, NYC Health + Hospitals, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Human Resources Administration and MetroPlus Health Plan. In 2017, GetCoveredNYC assisted over 80,000 New Yorkers in enrolling in health insurance.

Bronx Chamber of Commerce Salutes Six Veteran Heroes at our Veterans Recognition Luncheon

This Luncheon is FREE to all Veterans
and active military men and women

Information or to RSVP:

718-828-3900 or phil@bronxchamber.org.

  

Phil Cardone

Events, Communications & Grants Director

Bronx Chamber of Commerce

"The Network for Business Success"

 

Halloween Party hosted by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

  The room was packed with children and their parents as the Democratic Candidate for the 14th Congressional District (and future Congresswoman) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hosted a Halloween Party for residents of Parkchester on Halloween. Below are photos of the highly successful event.

Above - One thing a good candidate has to do is kiss babies, as future Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortes is doing.

Below - You also have to make sure the voters know who you are.

One of the most important things an elected official has to do is thank those who came to your event, and make sure the voters will come out to vote for you on election day.

DEMOCRACYNYC: MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES THAT NEARLY 900 INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS AND DOC FACILITY VISITORS HAVE REGISTERED TO VOTE

More than 500 incarcerated individuals submitted absentee ballot request forms

  Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City has registered 897 incarcerated individuals and jail facility visitors for the upcoming General Election. The City also submitted absentee ballot request forms for a total of 547 incarcerated individuals.

Since this initiative began this past August, 624 incarcerated individuals and 273 jail facility visitors were registered in time to vote in Tuesday’s election. These efforts will continue after Election Day so that incarcerated individuals are registered for future elections. The City will have the final number of absentee ballots submitted to the Board of Elections after Election Day.

“Voting gives people a chance to have their voices heard and weigh in on important issues that affect all of our lives,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “With this initiative, we’re helping many more incarcerated individuals participate in our democracy and have their voices heard.”

“Each election represents an important opportunity to directly shape the future of our community and democracy,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives J. Phillip Thompson. “This administration is committed to making our elections more inclusive of all New Yorkers and simplifying the voting process, which is especially important for communities that have been historically underrepresented.”

“Our goal is to give every New Yorker a voice, including individuals who are or have been involved in the justice system. We look forward to continuing to work together to strengthen the participatory democracy in our city, for justice-involved people and all of NYC’s diverse communities,” said Chief Democracy Officer Ayirini Fonseca-Sabune.

“This is a powerful way of reminding those in our custody that their vote matters, and that they still have a stake and a say in their communities,” said Department of Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann. “Thanks to this initiative, it is now easier for those in our custody to exercise their democratic rights.”

This past August, the Mayor launched a robust voter registration and information campaign to help incarcerated individuals exercise their right to vote. For the first time ever, the City facilitated the direct pick-up and delivery of voter registration forms and absentee ballots, expediting the registration and mail-in process. The effort is being led in partnership with the Department of Correction, the Legal Aid Society and the Campaign Finance Board.

Volunteers from the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit, the Campaign Finance Board and the Legal Aid Society launched voter registration and Get-Out-the-Vote campaigns within DOC facilities. This included displaying more than 1,200 posters throughout facilities encouraging people who are incarcerated to vote and eventually stocking libraries with non-partisan information about candidates published by CFB’s NYC Votes. Additionally, incarcerated individuals have the opportunity to attend regular, voluntary discussions with DOC program counselors to learn more about the voting process. The Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit also engaged City jail visitors and encouraged them to register to vote.

Before this initiative, registration forms and absentee ballots were processed with other outgoing mail in jail facilities, which is subject to security procedures that may have inadvertently caused missed deadlines. Incarcerated individuals will now fill out and submit forms directly to staff who will ensure registration forms and absentee ballots are delivered to the Board of Elections in a timely manner. There are currently many incarcerated individuals in City jails who are eligible to vote.

This campaign will continue through Election Day to ensure the timely delivery of absentee ballots.

Increasing voting access is part of Mayor de Blasio’s DemocracyNYC initiative, which aims to increase civic engagement and strengthen democracy locally and nationally.

BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ TO NYCHA BOARD: SPEND A WEEK IN PUBLIC HOUSING

  In a letter to the agency’s Interim Chair & CEO Stanley Brezenoff, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is proposing that each non-resident member of the city’s public housing board of directors spend a week living in a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) apartment in order to get a first-hand look at the problems tenants face within their developments.

“The leadership of our city’s public housing must have hands-on experience with the issues tenants face at all times of the day,” writes Borough President Diaz in the letter. “To that end, I am calling on each non-resident member of your agency’s board of directors to spend one full week living in a NYCHA apartment.”

Borough President Diaz notes in the letter that during his early childhood years he lived in NYCHA’s Moore Houses in Mott Haven, and later spent a great deal of his teenage years in the former Bronxdale Houses in Soundview. Throughout his more than two decades in public service he has worked to improve the lives of NYCHA tenants, first in the New York State Assembly and now as Bronx Borough President.

However, the borough president noted that even the most strenuous advocacy can be met with resistance from NYCHA’s leadership, and suggested that a more hands-on approach by NYCHA board members would serve the city’s more than 400,000 public housing residents well.

“I know exactly what it means to live in a NYCHA apartment,” said Borough President Diaz. “Perhaps if the leadership of NYCHA was required to spend one week living in a public housing development and saw the issues faced by tenants as part of an extended, more intimate, first-hand experience they might not be so quick to dismiss such (tenant) concerns or simply cite perpetual funding issues as a reason for inaction.”

The borough president added that NYCHA residents should choose the development board members would spend their week in. He also noted that the one-week stay should be a requirement for any future NYCHA board members.

Read the full letter here: https://on.nyc.gov/2AEcmYn

VISION ZERO: MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES RETURN OF “DUSK AND DARKNESS” SAFETY CAMPAIGN AND A NEW FOCUS ON YOUNGER DRIVERS

With the end of daylight saving time around the corner, third annual Dusk and Darkness campaign focuses on fall and winter evening hours when pedestrian crashes have historically increased; New “Alive at 25”campaign reaches out to younger drivers who are in a disproportionate number of crashes

  Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that as part of the Vision Zero initiative, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), NYPD and TLC would begin their third annual Dusk and Darkness campaign. During a Citywide “Day of Awareness” today, City officials are reminding drivers that historically, after daylight saving time ends, crashes involving pedestrians dramatically increase, especially during evening hours.  As part of an event in Times Square today, officials also introduced “Alive at 25,” a new program directed at younger drivers who were behind the wheel in 20 percent of fatal crashes last year.  The NYPD also announced progress in its crackdown this week on private garbage hauling trucks, which have been disproportionately involved in fatal crashes during overnight hours.

“We are relentlessly pursuing Vision Zero and working to save lives every single day,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Our Dusk and Darkness campaigns help us further that goal, especially as nighttime hours – and dangerous driving – increase. At the same time, educating our young drivers will help curb dangerous driving habits before they take hold, making the road safer for everyone.”

Today’s Vision Zero announcement included the following elements:

“Alive at 25”: Safety program for younger drivers 

Officials today announced a new program started to engage younger drivers -- between the ages of 18 and 25.  In 2017, those drivers were behind the wheel in 20 percent of all New York City fatal crashes (a total of 44 crashes) despite making up less than 10 percent of the driving population.  Alive at 25 is a four-session program, funded by the National Safety Council, offered to high school seniors.  This fall, DOT safety educators began teaching the program to 2,500 students at ten public high schools around New York City, including the entire senior class of 700 students at New Dorp High School on Staten Island.

The Alive at 25 curriculum is based on choice theory, putting students through real-life scenarios for situations both behind the wheel and as passengers in cars. Students have already reported learning a lot about how to safely operate a vehicle -- and to make good choices while riding along with other teens.

Dusk and Darkness 3.0

The officials cited the encouraging fatality statistics from the Dusk and Darkness campaign the previous two years.  In the five years before the campaign began, New York City averaged 63.4 traffic fatalities in the period between November 1 and March 15th—many of them in the evening hours.   In the first year of Dusk and Darkness, the overall fatality number declined to 51; in the second year, fatalities declined further to 44.  (see chart below)

·         Increased Evening/ Nighttime Enforcement: As it has the last two years, NYPD will this week begin focusing enforcement resources on the most hazardous violations (speeding and failure-to-yield to pedestrians), with precincts increasing their on-street presence around sunset hours when data show serious pedestrian crashes increase.  NYPD will also focus resources on drunk-driving efforts, as the evening and nighttime hours in the fall and winter have historically been when the incidence of DWI also increases.

·         “Day of Awareness”:  NYPD and DOT street teams will today be educating and engaging drivers and other New Yorkers at different Vision Zero priority areas during the morning and evening rush hours in all five boroughs, including at: Times Square North; the Canal Street entrance to the Manhattan Bridge; Penn Station; Grand Central Station; 168th and Broadway and 181st and Broadway in Washington Heights;  the Fordham MetroNorth Station and the Hub in the Bronx; the Queens entrance to the Queensboro Bridge; the LIRR Station in Jamaica, Queens; Woodhaven Blvd and Jamaica Avenue in Woodhaven, Queens; Whitehall Terminal; St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island; Brooklyn Borough Hall; Barclays Center and at Flatbush Junction in Brooklyn.

·         Daylight Saving Awareness:  DOT statistics from 2010-2014 show that serious collisions increase by approximately 40 percent in darker early evenings. This year, Daylight Savings Time will end at 2:00 AM on Sunday, November 4 when clocks “fall back.” DOT will run radio ads during the evening commute, alerting drivers to the dangers of lower visibility and encouraging them to follow the 25 MPH Citywide speed limit and to yield to pedestrians. Ads are running through November 21st on twelve stations in the Total Traffic Network.

Private Garbage Hauler Crackdown

New York City’s private garbage hauling industry largely operates during overnight hours that are a focus of the Dusk and Darkness campaign.  This week, the NYPD, working with Business Integrity Commission (BIC), began a major enforcement effort against an industry that according to City data has been involved in 26 fatalities since 2014, including four so far this year.  In the first three nights of the initiative that began Sunday evening, NYPD has inspected 128 garbage hauling trucks, issued 163 moving summonses and 458 criminal summonses.  NYPD has also towed five garbage trucks that were deemed not road-safe.

“To make all New Yorkers safer, it is imperative that we raise awareness about the dangers of reduced daylight and the onset of cold weather,” said Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “For the third year in a row, our Dusk and Darkness safety campaign will be a crucial part of that. The NYPD will conduct precisely-focused enforcement in areas that have experienced fatalities, and ensure that everyone adheres to traffic rules. As we move forward, together, we will build on our previous successes and further reduce traffic-related deaths.”

“Under Vision Zero, we have gone to work where the crash data take us -- and with Dusk and Darkness, we have focused on times of the year and times of the day that were simply more dangerous to pedestrians,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “This year, we will fine-tune that effort, as we target newer drivers who may be taking dangerous chances on our roadways.  Dusk and Darkness has already proven that education can teach useful lessons -- and far better those lessons not come the hard way.”

“There is no greater concern than our students’ safety, including when they are behind the wheel of a car,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “’Alive at 25’ is a critical effort to keep our students and community members safe, and I thank DOT and NYPD for supporting this effort.”

“With more than 130,000 taxis and for-hire vehicles on the road, making sure that every single one of our licensees fully understands the monumental importance of safety and good judgment in their work is a central part of our mission,” said Taxi & Limousine Commission Chair Meera Joshi. “Between the hundreds of Vision Zero meetings with drivers we’ve held and the other ways we get the word out, it has been truly gratifying to see our licensees embrace their safe driving responsibilities.  When daylight saving time ends, however, we face the most challenging safety conditions of the season and spreading the safety message becomes all the more urgent.”

About Vision Zero

Vision Zero is the de Blasio administration’s initiative to use every tool at its disposal to reduce traffic deaths and injuries on New York City streets. In 2017, New York City experienced its safest year on record with the fourth straight year of fatality declines. Since the program’s inaugural year in 2014, when New York City became the first American city to adopt Vision Zero, the city’s traffic fatalities have declined 26 percent with a 42 percent decline in pedestrian fatalities — bucking national fatality trends, which have increased 13 percent over the same period.

For more information about the Vision Zero initiative, please see www.nyc.gov/visionzero.