Wednesday, February 6, 2019

MAYOR DE BLASIO, COMMISSIONER O’NEILL HOLD MEDIA AVAILABILITY ON CRIME STATISTICS


Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill: Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us for the monthly snapshot of our citywide crime reduction efforts. In a moment, of course, you’ll hear from Mayor de Blasio, and then our Crime Control Strategies Chief Lori Pollock to go over the January crime numbers. And it's no coincidence that we're meeting here today at the Van Dyke community center in the confines of the 73rd Precinct. I’d like to thank Cassandra Johnson – she's the Senior Director for Hospitality – and also Dean Castro from Medgar Evers College. 

Brownsville pushed crime down by more than 3 percent in January this year compared to January 2018. Like the rest of New York City, this neighborhood has seen overall reductions in violence and disorder over the past five, 10, 25 years. But this community is also one that I highlighted recently when I spoke of our six commands that at the end of 2018 had violent crime rates more than twice as high as the rest of the City. You'll recall that the other precincts are the 7-5, also in Brooklyn; the 4-0, the 4-1, the 4-2 in the Bronx; and the 2-5 in East Harlem. The violent crime rate is the combination of murders, rapes, robberies and felony assaults, adjusted for population in each precinct. So, while these six precincts don't necessarily have the highest gross numbers for individual crimes, they do have the highest rates relative to their populations. And when I speak about these six, I'm talking about our moral obligation to face this challenge head on until every street in every New York City neighborhood is as safe as our safest streets already are today. 

So tomorrow here in the Van Dyke Community Center, we are holding the first of a series of meetings [inaudible] these six precincts. A wide-range of community representatives are invited – a true cross section of Brownsville. We're going to talk about the problems, the concerns and the challenges that are unique to this neighborhood. This is the next iteration of neighborhood policing – listening and taking action together is how we build trust and strengthen relationships. And that's how the NYPD can secure the all-important buy-in from the people we serve and how we can all share the responsibility for our public safety. These meetings will empower us to find new solutions to tough problems, and we’re going to do that together. And we'll know these efforts are successful when participation from all sectors of government and community is commonplace, when crime and disorder continues to fall, and when quality of life on every block in every neighborhood is improved and, most importantly, sustained. So these first six precincts are a departure point for us, beginning here tomorrow. 

And we're only starting here, we won't be stopping here. Every neighborhood deserves to enjoy the same level of safety and wellbeing as the rest of the City. That's our pledge – to ensure that all neighborhoods are safe regardless of whether people we serve call home. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you very much, Commissioner. And Commissioner, I want to commend you and the men and women in the NYPD for some very important progress that you've made in the month of January 2019, and for the progress you've made over the last years.

What I'm hearing from you is something I want to commend, which is that the NYPD is going on the offensive in areas that still need more help. There is no resting on laurels here. Even though there's been extraordinary reductions in crime across the City, there are neighborhoods that need more focus, need more help, and they will get that focus, they will get that help. We will not rest until we bring down crime even further.

So, you know, there could be the idea that when you get to the point of being the safest big city in America, you know, say that you've touched bottom, you've gone as far as you can go. That is not our approach. We are going to go a lot farther and it will be in large measure because we drill down on the areas that need help the most. Brownsville is a community that was historically neglected by government, that did not get its fair share. We've been trying to right that wrong on many fronts in terms of affordable housing, in terms of education, but we're also doing it when it comes to policing, doubling down our commitment to making this a safer community. So Commissioner, thank you for your commitment to this part of our city and to the other precincts that you will be focusing on as well. I think this is a very important, very helpful initiative. 

I want to thank, of course, First Deputy Commissioner Tucker, Chief of Department Monahan – all the leadership of the NYPD. And I very much want to thank our host here today, the Van Dyke Cornerstone Community Center. This is a really important piece of the equation as well, both for making this a better community overall, for ensuring that our young people are nurtured and supported and can reach their potential. But we also know – we’ve known it for decades – in fact, police leaders have been saying this for decades in the city, in this country, that when you give young people constructive options, it contributes greatly to public safety. So, thank you to everyone who is part of Van Dyke for the great work that you do. 

NYPD has proven, I think, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the way forward is neighborhood policing, the way forward is to ensure that people in every community feel they are being treated fairly, that he way to greater public safety is through fairness. Safety and fairness walk hand in hand. This has been proven, I think, once and for all over this last half-decade in New York City and we're going to deepen that strategy with this new initiative. Precision policing has worked and this is going to be an example of taking that even further. Neighborhood policing has clearly worked. And again, this will enhance the neighborhood policing approach. 

I want to note that the evidence is clear. The numbers get more and more striking with every passing month. We got rid of a broken and unconstitutional approach to stop and frisk – it’s down 94 percent since 2013, and we've seen consistent reductions in crime. We've been using much less arrest, and this is something that a Commissioner Bratton said when I was first working with him in this job, that arrest is one tool, it’s not a goal unto itself. Arrests are now down nearly 40 percent since 2013 with crime going down consistently – approximately 150,000 fewer arrests in 2018 than in 2013, and it's had a very positive impact, using a new strategy that has helped to bring police and community closer together. 

Chief Pollock will go into the details in just a second about January, but the most important thing to know is – overall crime down 7.4 percent this January 2019, versus January just a year ago. So continued progress by the NYPD, working with our neighborhood partners. And the approach, the focus on data, the focus on precision policing, CompStat, all of these strong realities, all the things that have worked for years and years focus us on these six precincts that the Commissioner spoke about – six out of the 77 in the City – six where we see violent crimes still at levels that are unacceptable and that we must address once and for all. The 7-3 is one example of that and we are confident that we can make a big impact here. 

So, I want to thank the Commissioner, thank all the leadership of the NYPD for this focus on these six precincts. The Commissioner and I will be visiting these precincts throughout the year to see the progress and to make sure everyone is focused on achieving these goals. And we're going to ensure that this is part of a strategy to make the safest big city in America even safer. 

I want to say one last point before I say a few words in Spanish, the folks who live in these precincts are hardworking New Yorkers. They are folks who every day make this city work. They need to know that their neighborhoods will be safe. They need to know their families will be safe. So, to everyone who lives in the 25th, the 40th, the 41st, the 42nd, and the 7-3 and 7-5 precincts – to everyone in those communities, know that NYPD is doubling down, putting more focus, more resources into making you safe. 

Chief of Crime Control Strategies Lori Pollock, NYPD: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, everyone. Overall, like the mayor said, we have seen a 7.4 percent reduction in overall crime – that’s a decrease of over 500 crimes and a record-low for January. We have also seen a reduction of seven shootings this month, making this a record-low January, with 52 shootings. The low is driven by a 40 percent reduction in shootings in the Bronx – 16 versus 26. We do show an increase in Brooklyn North –14 verses eight; Manhattan North – seven verses five; and Queens North and Staten Island both are up one. These shootings are 31 percent gang-related, which is usually between 30 and 40 percent. We have set new milestones with record-low robberies of any January, down almost 20 percent, and a record-low of 888 burglaries. Only the third time in CompStat history that we have come in below 900 burglaries. 

It isn't all good news, however. January saw an increase in murder by five – 27 versus 22. The Bronx did see a decrease in murders – five versus eight. Five of our patrol boroughs saw increases. Notably, a third of this month’s murders were in Brooklyn North – nine versus three; Manhattan North – four versus zero; Brooklyn South – three versus one, with the hammer attack during which three people tragically died. Housing murders are up – eight verses five, and 22 percent, or six of the murders were gang related. Domestic murders were down four versus seven, with no domestic shooting murders. And we continue to remove guns from households where there are reports of domestic violence. We have removed six guns so far this year. January saw 27 percent increase in rapes – 115 compared to 118 last year. So 54 percent of those reports happen in January 2019. 40 percent of the 150 rapes are domestic violence-related and 50 percent of those have arrests.

We have improved facilities and new training. In addition, I would like to highlight that starting this week for the time since the inception of CompStat, we are starting CompStat meetings solely dedicated to the Special Victims Division. These will be closed meetings where we will have supervisors work through their cases and share best practices. Chief Harrison and I have done an assessment of the data we collect regarding these crimes, and there are areas of improvements. The improvements to Special Victims under Chief Shea is to bring Special Victims up to speed with the rest of the Department's data analytics. The confidential nature investigations oftentimes have impeded our ability to do more real-time analysis, and we are fixing that. I will continue the message to all survivors. Please come forward and give us a chance to investigate these crimes no matter when they occurred. 

Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association Community Meeting - Tuesday Feb.12, 7:15 PM


  The next meeting  of the Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association will be on Tuesday  Feb.12 at Bronx House,990 Pelham Parkway South,Bx NY 10461 at  7:15 pm.

Our special guest speaker will be the  new Captain of the 49th precinct Captain Andrew Natiw and The Community Affairs Team.Please bring  your issues ,questions, problems and concerns to our next meeting.The PPNA works around the clock and year round to improve the quality of life in Pelham Parkway. .We can always be reached  by email at pelhamparkwayNA@gmail.com......Get involved in your community. It's time.

CAPTAINS ENDOWMENT ASSOCIATION ENDORSES ERIC ULRICH FOR PUBLIC ADVOCATE


  Today, the NYPD Captain’s Endowment Association (CEA), a union representing 2,100 active and retired members of law enforcement, endorsed Councilmember Eric Ulrich’s campaign for NYC Public Advocate.  The CEA is the second major law enforcement organization to endorse in this race, and will be actively campaigning to ensure Ulrich’s victory in the February 26th Special Election.  Eric already received the endorsement of the Detectives Endowment Association and their 18,000 members on December 13, 2018. 

“Eric Ulrich is the only candidate in this race with a consistent record of standing up for law enforcement throughout his career in the City Council,” said CEA President Roy T. Richter, “At a time when other candidates are vying to antagonize the law enforcement family, Eric Ulrich has always been there for us, and it’s no question he will represent the interests of active and retired Captains alike in the future.”

Richter continued, “As a Councilmember, Eric’s support was not limited to policing and policy, but when many of our members, residents of his own district, saw their homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, Eric was there in the district and at City Hall making sure all of our members could rebuild their personal lives as well.” 

“I’m proud and honored to once again receive the endorsement of our NYPD Captains,” said Councilman Ulrich, “As Public Advocate, every member of law enforcement will have a voice in our office and know that I will always have their backs.”

Ulrich also noted that the revival of New York City took place on the backs of our police, who not only restored safety and security to New York City, but enabled the City’s economy to grow exponentially, and who continue to make New York the safest big city in America.

“Officials who attack our officers, and the Mayor’s disregard for the financial security of law enforcement, imperils all of our safety. Law Enforcement put their lives on the line every day to protect us, and we need a Public Advocate who will back them up when they are criticized, attacked or are the victims of political grandstanding. The Mayor has demonstrated nothing but hostility towards law enforcement, and as Public Advocate I will hold the Mayor accountable to the entire police community.”

MAYOR DE BLASIO NAMES KATHRYN GARCIA INTERIM CHAIR OF NYCHA


  Mayor de Blasio has appointed Kathryn Garcia as Interim Chair of the New York City Housing Authority, succeeding Stanley Brezenoff who will depart later this month.  Under Brezenoff’s leadership, the Housing Authority has launched a comprehensive plan to deliver $24 billion in vital repairs for 175,000 residents, achieved a historic contract agreement with Teamsters Local 237 that provides 7-day service to residents, launched weekend work order blitzes to eliminate NYCHA’s repair backlog, and significantly improved heating response times. 

Garcia is a seasoned veteran tested at some of the most complex roles in City government. She has extensive experience in managing and reforming large, complex agencies.  As Interim Chair, Garcia will work closely with NYCHA’s General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo to reverse decades of disinvestment in public housing and operationalize the City’s agreement with the federal government. DSNY First Deputy Commissioner Steven Costas will serve as Acting Commissioner when Garcia takes she leave of absence from the agency.

“Throughout his storied career in City government, Stan has never been one to back away from a challenge – and his time at NYCHA was no different. In less than a year, he secured a landmark labor deal, overhauled the agency’s heating response times and developed the plan to deliver major renovations that NYCHA residents deserve. On behalf of all New Yorkers, I thank Stan not only for his decades of service to the City, but for leaving NYCHA much stronger than he found it,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “There is no better person to continue our turnaround effort at NYCHA than Kathryn. She is a battle-tested leader who has taken on sprawling challenges from eradicating lead exposure to overhauling the broken commercial carting industry. She is ready to fight every day for the 400,000 New Yorkers who call NYCHA home.”

“This is one of the toughest and most rewarding jobs in America. I will leave this interim role knowing that we are putting NYCHA in very capable hands. I am confident that Commissioner Garcia is the right person to continue our efforts to improve the quality of lives for residents, and preserve public housing for generations to come,” said Interim Chair and CEO Stanley Brezenoff.

“I am going to work every single day to make life better for the 400,000 New Yorkers who call NYCHA home. There’s been real progress—now it’s time to go farther and faster. We have a plan to renovate tens of thousands of apartments and an agreement with the federal government to improve all of our key services to residents. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and put these plans into action,” said Incoming Interim Chair and CEO Kathryn Garcia.

Garcia will serve as Interim Chair while the City begins the process of selecting a permanent head of the authority. As outlined in the agreement, the City, HUD and SDNY have a month to develop a list of candidates. The City will then have an additional month to select a permanent Chair and CEO from this list. 

Garcia is a world-class manager who has a proven record of cutting through red tape and putting people before bureaucracies. She spearheaded the development and launch of Lead FreeNYC, the City’s comprehensive plan to eradicate childhood lead exposure. Garcia coordinated across all relevant City agencies to deepen and expand their lead prevention efforts. The new plan will – for the first time – expand Local Law 1, eliminate lead paint hazards in NYCHA apartments and family shelters, target unsafe consumer goods, provide children with dedicated nurses and link together all City agencies responding to lead exposure. 

In her role as Commissioner of Sanitation, Garcia implemented the strategies to reach the City’s Zero Waste goal, and has operationalized several brand-new programs, including Organics collection and curbside electronic waste. She was responsible for overhauling the City’s snow-clearing operations by changing the prioritization of plow routes, which has greatly increased DSNY’s efficiency and productivity during storms. Most recently, she developed a plan to overhaul private commercial carting that will reduce air pollution, asthma and traffic fatalities in low-income communities across New York City that have borne a disproportionate share of the city’s waste.


Before her appointment in 2014 to DSNY Commissioner, Garcia was Chief Operating Officer at the Department of Environmental Protection, where she oversaw agency operations – including the delivery of one billion gallons of safe, clean drinking water to 9 million New Yorkers in the city and upstate New York every day. She worked very closely with DEP’s federal monitor to help bring the agency into federal compliance, and oversaw watershed and in-city water quality labs that conduct more than 600,000 analyses of the city’s drinking water every year to ensure the water was safe and of the highest quality.

Congressman Eliot L. Engel Responds to Trump State of the Union Address


  “Filled with baseless rhetoric and self-promotion, the President failed to deliver anything other than delusions of grandeur tonight. He claimed this speech would bring people together. Unsurprisingly, it fell well short. His swipes at the Mueller investigation, attacks on Democratic oversight and a woman’s right to choose, his commitment to radical conservative principles, and continued obsession with his faux border crisis undermined any real talk of unity.

“Once again tonight, the President made outlandish claims about crime in an attempt to scare people into thinking his ridiculous border wall is necessary. But the American people are too smart for that, as poll after poll has shown. Additional resources for our stressed ports of entry, more judges to handle asylum cases, advanced technology to monitor border crossings—Democrats support and have already proposed funding for these ideas. But we will not support a failed campaign promise that the President is using to stir up his base.

“While the President continues to harp on the border, he ignores the true crises facing our country: climate change, gun violence, and student loan debt, just to name a few. His lack of action will affect future generations, as it will be our children, and our children’s children, who pay the steep price for his failure to act.

“The rest of the State of the Union was littered with factual inaccuracies and lacked substantive policy measures. It was, to be sure, a Trump speech. The President made claims about the economy that aren’t supported by any real data, and had no issue taking credit for a lot of the work done by his predecessor, President Obama.

“The President gave lip service to issues like lowering the cost of prescription drugs, health care, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, and protecting American workers. But Democrats have actually put forth plans that the President could have supported at any point in the last 2 years to deal with those issues. He did not. In fact, he spent most of his time trying to take health care away from people, while harming the middle-class with his trade war, shameful tax scam, and government shutdown.
  
“If the President’s goal was to unite a divided country tonight, he failed. If he was hoping to build any support for his racist immigration and border policies, he failed. If he was looking to reset his agenda in light of a House with a Democratic majority, he failed. Tonight’s speech was just more of the same.”

STATEMENT FROM BP DIAZ RE: The Passing of Shirley Rodríguez Remeneski


  "Shirley Rodríguez Remeneski was a special person, a pioneer in politics and government service and someone who had an impact on the lives of so many throughout her career. She paved the way for future generations as an advocate for women’s empowerment in 1960’s and 70’s and created countless opportunities for The Bronx and New York City with the programs she led to uplift the community after so many decades of neglect.

"She was someone truly committed to the community, and the progress made as a result of her work with numerous organizations has strengthened our most important institutions for years to come. I was fortunate to see the results of her work firsthand during my visits to the dual-language school she was instrumental in establishing, the Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls.

"My thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Acting Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security Submit Joint Report on Impact of Foreign Interference on Election and Political/Campaign Infrastructure in 2018 Elections


Report Concludes No Material Impact of Foreign Interference on Election or Political/Campaign Infrastructure in 2018 Elections

  Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen yesterday submitted a joint report to President Donald J. Trump evaluating the impact of any foreign interference on election infrastructure or the infrastructure of political organizations, including campaigns and candidates in the 2018-midterm elections. 

The classified report was prepared pursuant to section 1(b) of Executive Order 13848, Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Influence in a United States Election, which the President issued on Sept. 12, 2018. 
Throughout the 2018 midterm election cycle, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security worked closely with federal, state, local, and private sector partners, including all 50 states and more than 1400 local jurisdictions, to support efforts to secure election infrastructure and limit risk posed by foreign interference.  Efforts to safeguard the 2020 elections are already underway. 
Although the specific conclusions within the joint report must remain classified, the Departments have concluded there is no evidence to date that any identified activities of a foreign government or foreign agent had a material impact on the integrity or security of election infrastructure or political/campaign infrastructure used in the 2018 midterm elections for the United States Congress. This finding was informed by a report prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) pursuant to the same Executive Order and is consistent with what was indicated by the U.S. government after the 2018 elections.   
While the report remains classified, its findings will help drive future efforts to protect election and political/campaign infrastructure from foreign interference. 

Attorney General James Announces Settlement With Hospital For Illegally Billing Rape Survivors For Rape Exams


9th Settlement of AG’s Ongoing Statewide Investigation

  Attorney General Letitia James today announced an agreement with the BronxCare Health System (“BronxCare”) after an investigation that revealed the hospital illegally billed sexual assault survivors for forensic rape examinations. As part of the settlement, BronxCare will implement a written policy 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 to New York State. This is the ninth settlement the Attorney General’s Office has secured as part of its statewide investigation into the improper billing of rape examinations. 

“The trauma of sexual assault is more than enough for a survivor to bear. The secondary trauma of fighting an illegal bill for a forensic rape exam is unfathomable, and we will not allow it to continue,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “Let me be clear: 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 BronxCare follows the settlement with the Brooklyn Hospital Medical Center (“Brooklyn Hospital”) in 2017. Following that settlement, the Office of the Attorney General launched a statewide investigation into illegal billing procedures that has so far resulted in settlements with seven additional facilities.  
The investigation into BronxCare revealed that between January 10, 2016 and December 26, 2017, BronxCare improperly billed 17 patients for its hospital services, billed the insurers of 10 of these patients, and sent 12 of the bills to collection. The emergency room physicians separately sent bills to 13 of these patients and sent 12 of the bills to collection. These bills ranged from $35 to $1,957. The investigation also revealed that BronxCare failed to advise patients of their billing options, as required by law.   
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 New York State 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 Section 631(13) is to ease payment of services to sexual assault survivors by providing for submission of bills to OVS; provide quality exams; and give victims of sexual assault the ability to choose a means of payment, either through the OVS program or their own insurance. Allowing sexual assault survivors to choose to have OVS directly pay for services ensures the privacy and confidentially of sexual assault victims. This increased privacy increases the likelihood that a victim will submit to a forensic rape examination, 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 in-state toll-free Helpline at 1-800-428-9071 or 1-518-776-2477.