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Friday, November 30, 2018
Wave Hill events December 13 - 20
Thu, December 13
Members Sale in The Shop at Wave Hill
Enjoy a peaceful shopping experience, with personalized service and a thoughtfully curated selection of beautiful, botanically inspired gifts. Members enjoy 20% off all their seasonal shopping! Wave Hill Members enjoy a discount of 20% on all their purchases in The Shop through December 23.
Perkins Visitor Center, 10AM–4PM
Fri, December 14
Members Sale in The Shop at Wave Hill
Enjoy a peaceful shopping experience, with personalized service and a thoughtfully curated selection of beautiful, botanically inspired gifts. Members enjoy 20% off all their seasonal shopping! Wave Hill Members enjoy a discount of 20% on all their purchases in The Shop through December 23.
Perkins Visitor Center, 10AM–4PM
Sat, December 15
Have you seen any downy woodpeckers, chickadees or eastern towhees lately? See which of these black-and-white winter birds can be spotted setting up house at Wave Hill this winter. Make fun, bird marionettes to hang on a group indoor tree display or take home to dance around and decorate your house. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon.
Wave Hill House, 10AM–1PM
Sat, December 15
Members Sale in The Shop at Wave Hill
Enjoy a peaceful shopping experience, with personalized service and a thoughtfully curated selection of beautiful, botanically inspired gifts. Members enjoy 20% off all their seasonal shopping! Wave Hill Members enjoy a discount of 20% on all their purchases in The Shop through December 23.
Perkins Visitor Center, 10AM–4PM
Sun, December 16
Have you seen any downy woodpeckers, chickadees or eastern towhees lately? See which of these black-and-white winter birds can be spotted setting up house at Wave Hill this winter. Make fun, bird marionettes to hang on a group indoor tree display or take home to dance around and decorate your house. Free with admission to the grounds.
Wave Hill House, 10AM–1PM
Sun, December 16
Members Sale in The Shop at Wave Hill
Enjoy a peaceful shopping experience, with personalized service and a thoughtfully curated selection of beautiful, botanically inspired gifts. Members enjoy 20% off all their seasonal shopping! Wave Hill Members enjoy a discount of 20% on all their purchases in The Shop through December 23.
Perkins Visitor Center, 10AM–4PM
Sun, December 16
Join a Wave Hill Garden Guide for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights. Free with admission to the grounds.
Meet at Perkins Visitor Center, 2PM
Mon, December 17
Closed to the public.
Tue, December 18
Members Sale in The Shop at Wave Hill
Enjoy a peaceful shopping experience, with personalized service and a thoughtfully curated selection of beautiful, botanically inspired gifts. Members enjoy 20% off all their seasonal shopping! Wave Hill Members enjoy a discount of 20% on all their purchases in The Shop through December 23.
Perkins Visitor Center, 10AM–4PM
Wed, December 19
Members Sale in The Shop at Wave Hill
Enjoy a peaceful shopping experience, with personalized service and a thoughtfully curated selection of beautiful, botanically inspired gifts. Members enjoy 20% off all their seasonal shopping! Wave Hill Members enjoy a discount of 20% on all their purchases in The Shop through December 23.
Perkins Visitor Center, 10AM–4PM
Thu, December 20
Members Sale in The Shop at Wave Hill
Enjoy a peaceful shopping experience, with personalized service and a thoughtfully curated selection of beautiful, botanically inspired gifts. Members enjoy 20% off all their seasonal shopping! Wave Hill Members enjoy a discount of 20% on all their purchases in The Shop through December 23.
Perkins Visitor Center, 10AM–4PM
A 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, Wave Hill’s mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscape, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts.
HOURS – Open all year, Tuesday through Sunday and many major holidays: 9AM–4:30PM, November 1–March 14. Closes 5:30PM, starting March 15.
ADMISSION – $10 adults, $6 students and seniors 65+, $4 children 6–18. Free Saturday and Tuesday mornings until noon. Free to Wave Hill Members and children under 6.
PROGRAM FEES – Programs are free with admission to the grounds unless otherwise noted.
Visitors to Wave Hill can take advantage of Metro-North’s one-day getaway offer. Purchase a discount round-trip rail far and discount admission to the gardens. More at http://mta.info/mnr/html/
DIRECTIONS – Getting here is easy! Located only 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, Wave Hill’s free shuttle van transports you to and from our front gate and Metro-North’s Riverdale station, as well as the W. 242nd Street stop on the #1 subway line. Limited onsite parking is available for $8 per vehicle. Free offsite parking is available nearby with continuous, complimentary shuttle service to and from the offsite lot and our front gate. Complete directions and shuttle bus schedule at www.wavehill.org/visit/.
Information at 718.549.3200. On the web at www.wavehill.org.
Monday, November 26, 2018
New York Woman Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to ISIS
Zoobia Shahnaz, 27, of Brentwood, New York, pleaded guilty to providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue for the Eastern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney, Jr. for the FBI’s New York Field Office, and Commissioner James P. O’Neill for the NYPD announced the guilty plea. The guilty plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert.
According to court filings and facts presented at the plea hearing, between March 2017 and the date of her attempted travel to Syria on July 31, 2017, the defendant engaged in a scheme to defraud numerous financial institutions. Specifically, Shahnaz obtained a loan for approximately $22,500 by way of materially false pretenses, representations and promises. She also fraudulently applied for and used over a dozen credit cards, which she used to purchase approximately $62,000 in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies online. She then engaged in a pattern of financial activity, culminating in several wire transactions totaling over $150,000 to individuals and shell entities in Pakistan, China and Turkey that were fronts for ISIS.
During the time she was committing bank fraud and laundering money overseas, the defendant was accessing ISIS propaganda online, including violent jihad-related websites and message boards, and social media and messaging pages of known ISIS recruiters, facilitators and financiers. Additionally, the defendant conducted numerous internet searches for information that would facilitate her entry into Syria, but ultimately was intercepted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in Queens, New York, while attempting to board a flight with a multi-day layover in Istanbul, Turkey – a common point of entry for individuals travelling from Western countries to join ISIS in Syria.
As part of her plea agreement with the government, Shahnaz admitted to defrauding numerous financial institutions and laundering the stolen proceeds out of the country with the intent to support a specified unlawful activity, namely the provision of material support to ISIS, after which she attempted to leave the United States and travel to Syria.
When she is sentenced, Shahnaz faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as restitution, criminal forfeiture and a fine. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. Any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Mr. Demers and Mr. Donoghue extended their grateful appreciation to the FBI’s JTTF, which comprises a number of federal, state and local agencies from the region.
Bronx Men Plead Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Explosives Charges
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHRISTIAN TORO and TYLER TORO pled guilty to manufacturing and possessing a destructive device, and conspiring to do so, in connection with their stockpiling of explosive materials and manufacture of a destructive device. Both defendants pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman. They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 26, 2019, CHRISTIAN TORO at 11:00 a.m. and TYLER TORO at 2:00 p.m.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As admitted in court today, Christian Toro and Tyler Toro sought to build a destructive device that could have caused great damage. Christian Toro used a minor student to assist him in this endeavor. Thanks to the excellent work of the FBI and the NYPD, no one was injured as a result of this grave conduct, and the defendants now await sentencing for their crimes.”
According to the allegations in the Complaint, the Indictment, and statements made during court proceedings:
Between approximately October 2017 and February 2018, CHRISTIAN TORO and TYLER TORO conspired to build and possess a destructive device at their residence in the Bronx, New York (the “Residence”). CHRISTIAN TORO, a former teacher at a high school in Harlem, New York (the “School”), paid students from the School for their assistance in manufacturing the destructive device, doling out approximately $50 per hour in return for the students’ work dismantling fireworks and storing the explosive powder contained within those fireworks in containers. CHRISTIAN TORO also had on his School laptop a copy of a book that provided instructions for, among other things, manufacturing explosive devices.
On February 15, 2018, law enforcement agents searched the Residence pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant. In a bedroom shared by CHRISTIAN TORO and TYLER TORO, law enforcement agents recovered numerous components for use in building a destructive device and other dangerous substances, including: (i) a glass jar containing low explosive powder; (ii) a strip of magnesium metal; (iii) approximately twenty pounds of iron oxide; (iv) approximately five pounds of aluminum powder; (v) a mixture of iron oxide and aluminum powder, the key ingredients for thermite; (vi) approximately five pounds of potassium nitrate; (vii) a cardboard box containing firecrackers; and (viii) metal spheres, which can be used as fragmentation for a bomb.
Also in the Residence, law enforcement agents found a handwritten diary labeled with TYLER TORO’s name, which stated, among other things, “WE ARE TWIN TOROS STRIKE US NOW, WE WILL RETURN WITH NANO THERMITE” and “I AM HERE 100%, LIVING, BUYING WEAPONS. WHATEVER WE NEED.” Agents also recovered a page inside a notebook found in the Residence labeled “Operation Flash,” with a ledger appearing to delineate the hours worked and payment owed to one of the School’s students.
CHRISTIAN TORO, 28, and TYLER TORO, 28, both of the Bronx, New York, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture and unlawfully possess a destructive device, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of unlawfully manufacturing a destructive device, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and one count of unlawfully possessing a destructive device, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the defendants’ sentences will be determined by Judge Berman.
U.S. Attorney Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (“FBI”) New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department.
Former Honduran Congressman And Brother Of The Current President Of Honduras Charged With Conspiring To Import Cocaine Into The United States And Related Firearms Offenses
Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado, a/k/a “Tony Hernandez,” Also Faces Charge for Lying to Federal Agents
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Raymond Donovan, the Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced today that former Honduran congressman Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado, a/k/a “Tony Hernandez,” (“HERNANDEZ”) was charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, related weapons offenses involving the use and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and making false statements to federal agents. HERNANDEZ is the brother of the current president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel. HERNANDEZ was arrested on November 23, 2018, in Miami, Florida, and will appear this afternoon in Miami federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, former Honduran congressman Tony Hernandez was involved in all stages of the trafficking through Honduras of multi-ton loads of cocaine that were destined for the U.S. Hernandez allegedly arranged machinegun-toting security for cocaine shipments, bribed law enforcement officials for sensitive information to protect drug shipments, and solicited large bribes from major drug traffickers. Thanks to the ongoing work of the DEA, Hernandez is now in custody on U.S. soil and facing justice in the U.S. courts.”
Special Agent in Charge Raymond Donovan said: “Drug trafficking and corruption around the world threatens the rule of law, fuels violence and instability, and harms innocent families and communities. Hernandez and his criminal associates allegedly conspired with some of the world’s most deadly and dangerous transnational criminal networks in Mexico and Colombia to flood American streets with deadly drugs. DEA looks forward to Hernandez facing American justice and answering for his alleged crimes.”
As alleged in the Superseding Indictment unsealed in federal court:[1]
From at least in or about 2004, up to and including in or about 2016, multiple drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras and elsewhere worked together, and with support from certain prominent public and private individuals, including Honduran politicians and law enforcement officials, to receive multi-ton loads of cocaine sent to Honduras from, among other places, Colombia via air and maritime routes, and to transport the drugs westward in Honduras toward the border with Guatemala and eventually to the United States. For protection from official interference, and in order to facilitate the safe passage through Honduras of multi-hundred-kilogram loads of cocaine, drug traffickers paid bribes to public officials, including certain members of the National Congress of Honduras.
HERNANDEZ is a former member of the National Congress of Honduras, the brother of the current president of Honduras, and a large-scale drug trafficker who worked with other drug traffickers in, among other places, Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico, to import cocaine into the United States. From at least in or about 2004, up to and including in or about 2016, HERNANDEZ was involved in processing, receiving, transporting, and distributing multi-ton loads of cocaine that arrived in Honduras via planes, go-fast vessels, and, on at least one occasion, a submarine. HERNANDEZ had access to cocaine laboratories in Honduras and Colombia, at which some of the cocaine was stamped with the symbol “TH,” i.e., “Tony Hernandez.” HERNANDEZ also coordinated and, at times, participated in providing heavily armed security for cocaine shipments transported within Honduras, including by members of the Honduran National Police and drug traffickers armed with, among other weapons, machineguns.
As part of his drug-trafficking activities, HERNANDEZ and his co-conspirators bribed law enforcement officials for sensitive information to protect drug shipments and solicited large bribes from major drug traffickers for HERNANDEZ.
In or about February 2014 in Honduras, HERNANDEZ met with Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, the former leader of a violent Honduran drug-trafficking organization known as the Cachiros, for a meeting arranged by, among others, a former member of the Honduran National Police. During a video- and audio-recorded portion of that meeting, HERNANDEZ agreed to help Rivera Maradiaga by causing Honduran government entities to pay money owed to one or more Cachiros money-laundering front companies in exchange for kickback payments from Rivera Maradiaga. Rivera Maradiaga paid HERNANDEZ approximately $50,000 during the meeting.
The Superseding Indictment charges HERNANDEZ, 40, with four counts: (1) conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, (2) using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices during, and possessing machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy, (3) conspiring to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices during, and to possess machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy, and (4) making false statements to federal agents. If convicted, HERNANDEZ faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison on Count One, a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison on Count Two, a maximum term of life in prison on Count Three, and a maximum term of five years in prison on Count Four. The potential mandatory minimum and maximum sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit, New York Strike Force, and Tegucigalpa Country Office, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Superseding Indictment and the description of the Superseding Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
News From Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark
BRONX MAN SENTENCED FOR ENGAGING IN SEXUAL ACTS WITH 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Defendant Met Victim In School Where He Worked As After-School Teacher
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
sentenced to two years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in his residence.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant, who was 24 years old at the time, met the young
girl at the middle school where he worked. He took advantage of the girl’s age and took her to his
apartment and sexually abused her. Thankfully, the victim told another school employee, who then
called the police.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Michael Jenkins, 25, of 901 Anderson Avenue,
Bronx, New York, was sentenced today to two years in prison and 10 years post-release supervision
by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Neary. A full order of protection was also issued, and the
defendant will also register as a sex offender. Jenkins, who had no prior criminal record, pleaded
guilty to second-degree Criminal Sexual Act on October 30, 2018.
According to the investigation, on December 4, 2017, in his apartment, the defendant
engaged in sexual acts with the minor. In a subsequent conversation between the victim and
Jenkins, the defendant admitted to the sexual acts and told her she could not get pregnant through
oral sex. Jenkins worked at Intermediate School 391 as an after-school teacher and taught a
program called Mad Science. The victim had been attending the defendant’s class since the
beginning of the school year.
District Attorney Clark thanked Detective Carolyn Tully of the Bronx Special Victims
Squad for her assistance in the case.
BRONX MAN INDICTED IN 2009 MURDER OF WOMAN HE WAS DATING
Defendant Allegedly Bashed Victim’s Head, Causing Her Death;
DNA Evidence Hit Last Year Led to Solving of Case
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
indicted for the 2009 murder of a 39-year-old woman after new DNA evidence emerged.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly killed the victim, whom he knew,
by bludgeoning her in the head. DNA evidence led to the defendant and we renewed our
investigation in 2017. This indictment shows that victims are never forgotten, and we will use
every available technology and science to pursue justice for them.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Robert Hopkins, 37, who is currently
incarcerated for separate cases in Brooklyn and Manhattan, was arraigned on second-degree
Murder before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Georg.
According to the investigation, on or about and between December 22, 2009 and December
23, 2009, at 1409 Fulton Avenue, the Bronx, the defendant bludgeoned Cynthia Souser, 39, of the
Bronx. Authorities got a lead in the case in November 2017 through DNA testing of evidence
that was found at the scene of the crime.
District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detectives Barry Sullivan and Dionisio Solis of Bronx Homicide and
Detective Ronnie Wilkerson of Bronx Cold Case for their assistance.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. - Annual Bronx Christmas Tree Lighting
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Congressman Engel on the Trump Admin's Actions at U.S.-Mexico Border
“It is impossible not to be outraged by the Trump Administration’s cruel actions yesterday at the U.S.-Mexico border. The deployment of tear gas on unarmed asylum seekers is the latest in a long line of human rights abuses from this Administration, which continues to erode America’s moral standing in the world.
“The children and families seeking asylum in the United States from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have fled unimaginable circumstances. Daily violence, extreme poverty and malnutrition are sadly the norm in these countries.
“U.S. immigration law and international law guarantee these migrants the right to seek asylum. The U.S. must uphold the rule of law and treat asylum-seekers with dignity and compassion.”