BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ & COUNCIL MEMBER TORRES ANNOUNCE IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW FIRE SAFETY LAWS

  In the wake of last December’s deadly Bronx fire, new laws will require safety devices on stoves in apartments with small children under six years old

 

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and City Council Member Ritchie Torres today announced the implementation of new fire safety and prevention laws designed to prevent catastrophic fires like the December 2017 tragic fire in the Belmont section of The Bronx, which saw 13 lives lost.

 

The laws will require owners of buildings with three or more units to provide and properly install approved stove knob safety covers on all stoves in units where a child or children 6 years or younger reside.

 

In December 2017, a fire in a residential building on Prospect Avenue in The Bronx led to 13 deaths, making it the deadliest fire New York City had seen in the past 25 years. Investigators found that the fire was started by a three-year-old child playing with the stove in his apartment, and quickly grew out of control.

 

“Just as we require window guards in apartments with young children, we should also require that stoves be made safer through the installation of approved safety devices,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “This tragic fire could have been prevented, had this young child been unable to tamper with the knob of the stove in his apartment. I am proud to have partnered with Council Member Torres to introduce this legislation that will undoubtedly save lives.”

 

“Stove knob covers are a simple and effective tool that prevent deadly fires and the loss of life. Through education and outreach about fire safety, residents will be better equipped to respond to fires and prevent future catastrophes,” said Council Member Ritchie Torres.

 

The law would also require that other tenants in buildings with three or more units would have the option to request approved stove safety devices for stoves, and that such requests could not be denied.

 

In addition, the New York City Fire Department and the Department of Education, will create and implement a comprehensive plan for educating both children and parents about fire safety and fire prevention. The proposed education plan will include but not be limited to teaching children the dangers of playing with burners on stoves. The legislation would also require the DOE and the FDNY to report to the City Council on efforts to educate children about fire prevention and fire safety.

Riverdale Menorah Lighting

  Rabbi Levi Shemtov welcomes everyone who came out on this rainy night before going up to light the first candle on the largest menorah in the Bronx. 

Above - Rabbi Shemtov lights the middle candle which is used to light the other candles of the traditional Jewish menorah. 

Below - Rabbi Shemtov lights the first candle for the first night of Chanukah.

Above - After saying the Chanukah prayer, Rabbi Shemtov invites everyone to dance by the menorah, and have traditional Chanukah food of Jelly Donuts and Potato Latkes. 

Below - People begin to dance in the street under watch of members of the NYPD. Over one-hundred people came out to see the Riverdale menorah lighting, even in the wet weather.

Above - The new commanding officer of the 50th Precinct Captain Emilio Melendez picks up from last years menorah lighting when Deputy Inspector O'Toole was in charge of the 50th precinct. 

Below - Rabbi Shemtov and Captain Melendez smile for this photo, as a great show of police and community friendship.

Special thanks goes out to the Tree Army Tree Removers and Trim Experts, and it's CEO-CFO former U.S. Army Veteran Joelle for providing the truck and lift bucket for Rabbi Shemtov to light the Riverdale menorah. 

Bronx Jewish Community Council - Have a Happy Chanukah

Happy Chanukah! Please join us this Wednesday for a  Chanukah celebration with the  Bronx Borough President!

Former New York City Human Resources Administration Employee And Two Others Charged With Stealing Hundreds Of Thousands In Hra Funds

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Lesley Brovner, Acting Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), and James D. Robnett, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today that ELIANA BAUTA, GERALDINE PEREZ, and ERIC GONZALES were charged in Manhattan federal court with six counts related to their theft of over $300,000 in funds from the New York City Human Resources Administration (“HRA”).  BAUTA perpetrated the offenses in her capacity as an HRA employee.  PEREZ is also charged with a separate fraudulent scheme involving over $90,000 of stolen or fraudulently issued Treasury checks.  BAUTA was arrested by the U.S. Marshals in Florida, and was presented in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida this afternoon.  PEREZ and GONZALEZ will appear tomorrow for presentment in the Southern District of New York before Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein. 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As an HRA employee, Eliana Bauta was supposed to help New Yorkers in need.  Instead, she and her co-defendants allegedly helped themselves, stealing hundreds of thousands in emergency benefits funds.  As today’s arrests make clear, we will not tolerate alleged abuses of trust in City agencies, and we remain committed to ensuring that federal and local funds go to the intended recipients, not the pockets of unscrupulous employees and their families and friends.”

IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge Robnett said:  “When stolen identities are used to file fraudulent tax returns, it robs all of us.  IRS-CI will investigate these alleged crimes and protect this country’s tax administration.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint filed today in Manhattan federal court:[[1]]                

HRA is an agency of the City of New York responsible for administering the majority of the City’s public assistance programs.  Among other things, HRA provides temporary, emergency cash assistance to individuals and families with social service and economic needs to assist them in reaching self-sufficiency.  The emergency assistance is funded by the federal government as well as by New York State and City. 

Since in or about 2015, DOI has been investigating two related schemes in which an HRA employee – ELIANA BAUTA – defrauded HRA and the City of New York by using her position to commit public assistance fraud.  BAUTA worked as a Job Opportunity Specialist for HRA from approximately January 2008 to on or about May 23, 2018.  As a Job Opportunity Specialist, BAUTA was at various points responsible for interviewing benefits applicants, compiling and submitting applicants’ paperwork, and disbursing applicants’ benefits. 

In the first of the two schemes, BAUTA is alleged to have caused the fraudulent issuance of emergency benefits funds to relatives and acquaintances, including GERALDINE PEREZ and ERIC GONZALES, among others, who in truth and in fact did not qualify for those funds.  For example, BAUTA altered a police report submitted by an actual HRA client by changing the name of the victim to a family member’s name, and then entered the doctored report into HRA systems in support of a request for benefits to be issued to that family member.  On another occasion, BAUTA submitted a request for emergency benefits to be issued to an individual after an alleged disaster, but no such disaster had occurred, and the payments were intended to repay that individual for putting a supernatural curse on BAUTA’s ex-boyfriend.  Both PEREZ and GONZALEZ were knowing recipients of such fraudulently issued funds and shared the proceeds with BAUTA.

In the second scheme, BAUTA is alleged to have obtained access to and misappropriated emergency benefits checks issued to actual HRA clients.  Instead of providing the checks to the legitimate clients in need of emergency funding, BAUTA gave them to PEREZ and GONZALES, among other of BAUTA’s relatives and associates, who deposited the checks in their own bank accounts and withdrew the funds, and then shared the proceeds with BAUTA.  In total, the two schemes resulted in losses to HRA of at least $309,000 in public funds.

In addition to obtaining stolen HRA checks into her bank account and the bank accounts of family members, PEREZ is also alleged to have deposited or caused to be deposited into these same accounts improperly obtained United States Treasury checks that were issued to other individuals as tax refunds.  In total, 23 such checks worth over $91,000 were deposited into bank accounts of PEREZ and her family members and associates.  PEREZ then split the proceeds with a tax preparer who assisted in the scheme.

ELIANA BAUTA, 35, GERALDINE PEREZ, 60, and ERIC GONZALES, 26, all of the Bronx, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit federal program theft, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; two counts of federal program theft, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.  BAUTA is also charged with one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.  PEREZ is also charged with one count of receiving stolen government money or property, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of DOI and the IRS, and noted that the investigation is continuing.  

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

A.G. Underwood Announces Settlements With 7 New York Hospitals To Stop Illegal Billing Of Rape Survivors For Forensic Rape Examinations

Hospitals Will Pay Restitution to Survivors Plus Costs and Revise Billing Procedures; At Least 200 Rape Kits were Illegally Billed to Rape Victims

Settlements are Part of AG’s Ongoing Statewide Investigation

  Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced settlements with seven New York hospitals that illegally billed rape survivors for forensic rape examinations (“FREs”).

The hospitals include Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Columbia University, Montefiore Nyack Hospital, New York Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center, and St. Barnabas Hospital. Under the terms of the agreements, the hospitals will implement written policies to ensure that sexual assault survivors do not receive bills for their rape examinations, provide full restitution to any improperly billed sexual assault survivors, and pay costs.

“Survivors of sexual assault have already gone through unfathomable trauma; to then subject them to illegal bills and collection calls is unconscionable,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Hospitals have a fundamental responsibility to comply with New York law. My office will continue to do everything in our power to protect survivors and their rights.”

The investigation into the hospitals follows last year’s benchmark settlement with The Brooklyn Hospital Medical Center (“Brooklyn Hospital”), which was initiated after the Attorney General’s Office received a complaint that a survivor of sexual assault was billed seven separate times for a forensic rape examination administered in Brooklyn Hospital’s emergency room. The investigation into Brooklyn Hospital prompted the Attorney General to launch a statewide investigation of billing practices for FREs at other hospitals. The investigation found pervasive failures to advise patients of their payment options, and widespread unlawful billing of sexual assault survivors.  The ongoing investigation has already revealed at least 200 unlawfully billed FREs at the seven settling hospitals; the bills ranged from approximately $46 to $3,000 each.

New York State Executive Law Section 631(13) provides that when a hospital furnishes services – including a forensic rape examination – to any sexual assault survivor, it shall provide such services to the patient without charge and shall bill the Office of Victim Services (“OVS”) directly, or alternatively, the sexual assault survivor may voluntarily opt to assign the costs to private insurance. The purpose of Executive Law 631(13) is to ease payment of FREs by providing for submission of bills to OVS; provide quality exams; and give survivors of sexual assault the ability to choose a means of payment for their FREs, either through the OVS program or their own insurance. Allowing sexual assault survivors to choose to have OVS directly pay for services helps ensure privacy and confidentiality. This increased privacy increases the likelihood that a survivor will submit to the FRE, which in turn increases the ability of law enforcement agencies to identify offenders.

New Yorkers with complaints regarding hospital billing or other health-care related issues may contact the Attorney General’s Health Care Helpline at 1-800-428-9071.

“We commend Attorney General Underwood for taking this critical step in ending the unlawful practice of billing rape survivors for their Forensic Rape Examinations,” said Sonia Ossorio, President, National Organization for Women – New York. “It is of the utmost importance that survivors are given every tool and support possible to come forward, report the crime if that is what they wish to do, and to lower any barriers to reporting.”

“When the Alliance spoke to Attorney General’s office about a survivor who had been wrongly charged for a forensic exam, we believed it was an isolated case. A lot of credit must go to the New State Attorney General for investigating this issue and unearthing numerous violations of this law,” said Mary Haviland, Esq., Executive Director, NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault. “The law is clear. It directs hospitals to charge the New York State Office of Victim Services for all sexual assault forensic exams. No survivor of sexual assault should be charged for a forensic exam in a hospital Emergency Room.”

“We are grateful to the Attorney General's Office for its ongoing commitment to ensuring that survivors of sexual assault in New York State receive the full range of medical services to which they are entitled under New York State law, regardless of which emergency department they visit,” said Christopher E. Bromson, Executive Director, Crime Victims Treatment Center. “We are grateful that institutions that violate those laws are being held accountable. As the state's oldest rape crisis program, CVTC shares the office's commitment to ensuring the provision of free and comprehensive care to every sexual assault survivor who seeks it.”

Comptroller Stringer Audit Reveals Department of Education Flouted Rules in Travel Spending

Audit showed 93 percent of sampled payments violated agency policy or Comptroller’s Directives

Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on flights, hotels, and travel without proper approval, justification, or support

  New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released a new audit that found the City Department of Education (DOE) failed to comply with its own rules and City guidelines for the approval and payment of travel and conference expenses. In Fiscal Year 2017 DOE paid 42,508 travel expense vouchers, totaling over $20 million. The Comptroller’s office audited $1,060,056 worth of those payments and found that 93 percent failed to comply with DOE’s own rules, directives of the City Comptroller’s office, or both.

Among the noncompliant payments were:

• $14,023 in overcharges that DOE paid to two vendors, including an $11,913 overpayment to a Brooklyn hotel for a meeting space;
• $233,167 in payments to hotels and other venues for DOE meetings with no effort—as required by the rules—to find free and low-cost space in DOE buildings or other institutions, including $12,883 DOE spent on an overnight staff retreat at the Tarrytown House Estate on the Hudson in violation of DOE guidelines;
• $269,684 for 11 purchases that required, but lacked, written bids, such as a $17,847 catering bill, and a $99,716 payment to a Brooklyn hotel for a conference on the core curriculum; and,
• $14,956 in credit card charges with no supporting documentation, including $2,821 in charges at a resort in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Comptroller’s office also identified $60,422 in wasted public funds resulting from DOE’s prepayment of nonrefundable charges for a proposed trip to Cuba for 16 students and 6 staff members. When the Chancellor canceled the trip, DOE lost the $60,422 and then spent an additional $97,000 for a replacement trip to Brazil for most of the same group.  The audit found an inconsistency in DOE’s policies for the preapproval of international travel that allowed the wasteful spending to occur without Chancellor-level approval.

“When it comes to our schools, every single dollar counts. We can’t afford to waste dollars that should go to our kids and classrooms,” said Comptroller Stringer. “As a public school parent, my top priority is making sure that all New York City students have opportunity and the tools and resources they need to learn and excel. As Comptroller, rooting out waste and fraud is one our office’s most important responsibilities. DOE’s failure to follow its own policy and keep close track of spending shows a disregard for taxpayers and ends up costing our students most.”

DOE is expected to comply with a set of requirements for travel expenses and fund-administration established by City Comptroller’s directives, which are binding guidelines for spending. The agency’s established policy for payment of employees’ travel expenses requires all travel to be approved ahead of time. Requests are processed in DOE’s electronic Travel Reimbursement and Approval Certification (TRAC) system, which also tracks travel and conference expenditures, including those charged to its agency credit card.

However, the Comptroller’s audit revealed DOE failed to follow its policy, approving 14 payments worth $221,638 without evidence that the expenditures had been authorized by the appropriate DOE officials. The agency also failed to maintain one or more required items of supporting documentation for 43 travel expense payments, totaling $246,799.

Other instances of noncompliance found that DOE:

• Paid $42,743 for employees to attend out-of-town conferences and training programs without the written justification required by DOE policy to show that the expenses were necessary for the employees’ professional and educational enhancement;
• Approved payment of $12,245 for out-of-town lodging and meals, which exceeded the maximum allowable rate of $9,315 by $2,930 (a 31 percent increase) without the required justification and approvals;
• The audit also found that DOE incorrectly reported travel expenses in its accounting system and consequently overstated its travel expenditures by more than $3 million in Fiscal Year 2017.

To address these issues, the Comptroller’s Office made the following recommendations:

• Recoup the overcharges of $14,023 that DOE paid to vendors as identified in this audit.
• Ensure proper justification for staff’s out-of-town travel was obtained and documented in the appropriate records relating to the travel expense before approving payment.
• Obtain proper approval from DOE’s Division of Financial Operations (DFO) before approving or paying a lodging charge for an employee at a rate that exceeds the applicable United States General Services Administration (GSA) rate.
• Ensure that all required approvals are obtained before travel commences and before the agency incurs expenses for lodging, meals, and conference attendance.
• Ensure that supporting documentation for travel and related expenses is properly maintained and available for audit and other authorized purposes.
• Consider requiring approval by the Chancellor or his or her designee for student trips that involve international or overnight travel and any trip for which a concern about security or safety is identified.

Read the audit and a full list of recommendations here.

Town Hall Meeting at Van Cortlandt Village

  Gary Axelbank host of Bronxtalk a local cable television show on Bronxnet was the moderator for the Town Hall meeting in Van Cortlandt Village in which Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Andrew Cohen, and State Senator Elect Alessandra Biaggi answered questions from members in the audience.

  While the districts may overlap in many areas they are different in size, with the State Senate district being the largest. Questions were on many different topics effecting different areas of all three elected officials districts were asked. It should be noted that Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz has been in office for over twenty-four years, Councilman Andrew Cohen has been in office for five years, and State Senator Alessandra Biaggi will be sworn into office the first week of January. 

  Questions included - What is State Senator Biaggi going to do first when she takes office? Senator Biaggi answered by saying that there were fifteen new Democratic State Senators elected, Democrats now have a strong majority there, and that the current Senate Democratic Conference Leader Senator Stewart-Cousins will become the Senate Majority Leader. As for first items, fiscal compliance, election reform, early voting, ending voter suppression, and Women's Health Right's. 

  A question of what will happen to the old Van Cortland Village library building when the new library opens up was answered by Assemblyman Dinowitz, who said that the building is privately owned, and he doesn't know. To a question of supporting Daylighting Tibbetts Brook, and paving the Putnam Trail all three were in favor of the Tibbetts Brook project. On the matter of the Putnam Trail Cohen is in favor of the proposed Putnam Trail, Dinowitz having mixed feelings, and Biaggi admitting that she was not fully knowledgeable on the Putnam Trail.   

   A question on the future of the local private PreK program in the neighborhood, Councilman Cohen answered that the local public schools do not have any space for PreK programs in his council district. 

  Other questions were about a controversial housing project in Riverdale, healthcare, pot holes, future plastic bag legislation, the MTA, the future of the now empty nearby Visitation Church, the Amazon deal with the city and state by the mayor and governor, the possibility of free tuition returning to city colleges and Gary Axelbank's favorite topic the Croton Water Filtration Plant and the Jerome Park Reservoir. 

  The packed room may not have gotten all the answers they wanted, but almost everyone left with a good feeling that they received not only answers, but truths when new State Senator Alessandra Biaggi honestly answered the questions even admitting that she did not know as much as the other two elected official at the table, for the moment. After the town hall was over the elected officials stayed to talk with anyone who may not of had their question asked.

Congressman Eliot Engel - Statement on the Passing of President George H.W. Bush

  “Pat and I are deeply saddened by the passing of President George H. W. Bush. We send our condolences to the entire Bush family. President Bush’s life was one of service to the country he loved, marked by unfailing patriotism, integrity, and decency. From his service in World War II to the halls of Congress, from the thick of the intelligence community to the diplomatic ranks, and finally rising to become our 41st President, George lived a remarkable, uniquely American life.

“As Commander-in-chief, he presided over one of the most consequential periods in modern history, as the Cold War ended and the Soviet empire crumbled. In less capable, or more reckless hands, this era could have descended into chaos. But thanks in large part to George Bush’s deft and patient diplomacy, the world saw a decade in which peace and stability spread across the globe. This is a remarkable legacy.

“He was a kind man, a respected man, and a great leader. He will be sorely missed.”