Saturday, March 9, 2019

49th Precinct Clergy Council 3rd Annual Fellowship Dinner


49th Precinct Clergy Council 3rd Annual Fellowship Dinner 


NYPD Commissioner James P. O'neill was the Keynote speaker, and along with Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson received the Clergy Council Public Servant Awards. 

Commissioner O'Neill spoke about joining the Transit Police force in 1983. In 1995 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and the Transit Police merged with the NYPD. Captain O'Neill then became the Executive Officer of the 52nd Precinct in the Bronx. His first command was the Central Park Precinct, then he given the 25th Precinct, and wound up in the Bronx again as the commanding officer of the 44th Precinct. After being promoted to Deputy Inspector, and then full Inspector he moved into other areas of police work, such as Vice, Narcotics, and Fugitive enforcement. He was appointed Chief of Detectives in 2014 by the Commissioner Bratton, and wound up taking over the position of Commissioner when Bratton retired in 2016. 

49th Precinct awards were given to former 49th Precinct Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Thomas Alps who now heads the 52nd Precinct, and Community Affairs Officer Dave Lepore of the 49th Precinct.

Community Service awards were given to Sister Jeanne Hanley of the Miracle Revival Temple Church, and Mohammad Ahmad Jan a local businessman, and an organizer of the Pakistan Independence Day Parade.

A surprise guest to the 49th Precinct Clergy Council Dinner was New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Also on hand were Councilman Mark Gjonaj and Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez. Over two-hundred people were in attendance for this event at Maestros Caterers. 


NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, and Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson who received the Public Servant Award.


New York State Attorney General Letitia James, Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, and Bronx DA Darcel Clark.


Commissioner O'Neill and Bronx Chief of Detectives Nikunen with members of the Executive Board of the 49th Precinct Clergy Council.


Above - Councilman Mark Gjonaj, Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez, and community activist Shabbir Gul.
Below - Ms. Grace Lovag, Joe Ramos, Irene Estrada, and, Ramon Garcia.




Above - NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill addresses the large audience.
Below - Honoree and past commanding officer of the 49th Precinct os with his wife, children, and mother.



Friday, March 8, 2019

JCCPP Annual Breakfast Sunday March 31,2019


JCCPP Annual Breakfast Honoring :

NYS Senator  Alessandra Biaggi
Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez
NYC Councilman Mark Gjonaj
Laura Guerriero, Publisher Bronx Times Reporter
Rabbi Yitzchak Gross
Please CALL 718-792-4744 for Ticket info and RSVP
To be held at Bx House 990 Pelham Parkway South, Bx NY 10461, Sunday March 31,2019 a  9:30 am



Team AOC - Brazen double standards


Ocasio 2018


  It’s official -- AIPAC is coming after Alexandria, Ilhan, and Rashida.
Rashida, Ilhan, and Alexandria have at times dared to question our foreign policy, and the influence of money in our political system. And now, lobbying groups across the board are working to punish them for it.

Some members of Congress have even gone so far as to claim that “questioning support for the US-Israel relationship is unacceptable.” But that’s not how our legislative process is supposed to work.
Just a decade ago, it was ‘unquestionable’ to not support the war in Iraq. And we all saw what resulted from that lack of discussion and negotiation.
In this administration and all others, there should be no special relationship or status. We should actively check antisemitism, anti-blackness, homophobia, racism, and all other forms of bigotry.

Racism and bigotry of all forms are inextricably linked. And when we let Republicans pit champions for equality and equity against each other, their own hateful rhetoric is what goes unaddressed.
Pa’lante,

Team AOC

EDITOR'S NOTE: 
The above statement came from Team Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. 

Young Israel Of Pelham Parkway Community Purim Party Thursday 3/21/19



Are you ready to party? 
The Jewish Community Council Of Pelham Parkway and The Bronx Jewish Community Council will be hosting a Purim Party to be held at the Young Israel Of Pelham Party at 900 Pelham Parkway South Bx NY 10461 on Thursday March 21,2019 starting at 3:00 pm.We will be having a delicious enhanced sit down meal, music,and a magic show for the children. PLEASE RSVP to 718-792-4744. Please join us for this free event.
Join us for the reading of the Megillah on Wednesday evening March 20th starting at 7:35pm.




Wave Hill events March 21‒28


Sat, March 23
Assemble a multipurpose stool for house or garden with master woodworker and Wave Hill Director of Facilities Frank Perrone. This beginner-level woodworking class is perfect for new woodworkers, parents and children working together, or anyone wishing to practice basic woodworking skills while creating a unique and useful project. No previous carpentry skills needed! Adults and children ages 10 and older welcome with an adult. $55; Wave Hill Members save 10%. Registration required, online or at the Perkins Visitor Center.
Wave Hill House, 9:30AM–4PM

Sat, March 23
As spring starts to take root, join Winter Workspace artist Jessica Segall to design a seed sculpture. Using a mixture of soil, clay and local wildflower seeds, create sculpture as a re-wilding device. Take your sculptures home to place in your garden or somewhere that could use a little more wilderness, and watch them transform from art to nature. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon.
Wave Hill House, 10AM–1PM

Sat, March 23
Allow sound to surround and ground you. Welcome spring, and the vernal equinox, with the harmonic sounds of Tibetan singing bowls, koshi chimes and other tonal instruments. Sound healer Michelle Clifton’s “music” promotes a deeper meditative state, stillness of the mind, balancing of the chakras, and relaxation of the body. Bring a yoga mat and dress comfortably. $55; Wave Hill Members save 10%. Registration required, online or at the Perkins Visitor Center.
Wave Hill House, 10AM–NOON

Sun, March 24
As spring starts to take root, join Winter Workspace artist Jessica Segall to design a seed sculpture. Using a mixture of soil, clay and local wildflower seeds, create sculpture as a re-wilding device. Take your sculptures home to place in your garden or somewhere that could use a little more wilderness, and watch them transform from art to nature. Free with admission to the grounds.
Wave Hill House, 10AM–1PM

Sun, March 24
Artists in the Winter Workspace program share their studio practice with visitors on this Drop-In Sunday. In their studios today are Nobutaka AozakiLiene Bosquê and Duy Hoàng. Free with admission to the grounds.
Glyndor Gallery, 1–3PM

Sun, March 24
This discussion about artistic responses to climate change and its consequences brings together contributors to a new anthology, Art, Theory and Practice in the Anthropocene. The conversation includes art historian and Christie’s Education Program Director Julie Reiss—who edited the new book—and contributors artist Aviva RahmaniNew York Times art critic Martha Schwendener—also a Visiting Associate Professor at New York University—artist Alice Momm andJennifer McGregor, Wave Hill’s Senior Director of Arts, Education and Programs. Free with admission to the grounds.
Wave Hill House, 2PM

Sun, March 24
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, March 25
Closed to the public.

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–5:30PM,  March 15–October 31. Closes 4:30PM, starting November 1.

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/getaways/outbound_wavehill.htm
  
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.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Former Adidas Executive, Former Adidas Consultant, And Aspiring Manager All Sentenced To Prison Terms For Their Roles In Defrauding Adidas-Sponsored NCAA Division I Universities


  Robert S. Khuzami, the Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, announced today that former Adidas director of global sports marketing for basketball, JAMES GATTO, a/k/a “Jim,” was sentenced to nine months in prison, former Adidas consultant MERL CODE was sentenced six months in prison, and sports business manager CHRISTIAN DAWKINS was sentenced to six months in prison, after having been found guilty in October 2018 by a federal jury of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy charges.  The defendants were sentenced in Manhattan federal court by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who also presided over the jury trial.

Attorney for the United States Robert Khuzami said:  “The sentences imposed today only begin to reflect the magnitude of the harm these defendants caused through a scheme that not only defrauded multiple public universities but upended the lives of young student-athletes and corrupted a game cherished by so many.  Today’s sentences send a clear message to those who might be similarly tempted to corrupt collegiate athletics for their own personal gain that defrauding schools in connection with athletic scholarships is not just a rules violation but a crime, one that will result in a prison term.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint, Indictment, Superseding Indictment, evidence presented during the trial, and statements made in Manhattan federal court: 
Overview of the Scheme
GATTO, CODE, and DAWKINS, including with the assistance of Thomas Gassnola, a former Adidas consultant, and Munish Sood, a financial adviser, brokered and facilitated payments funded by Adidas to the families of high school and college-aged basketball players in connection with decisions by those players to commit to Adidas-sponsored schools and a promise that the players also would retain the services of DAWKINS and sign lucrative endorsement deals with Adidas upon turning professional.  The payments, which the defendants took great lengths to conceal from the victim-universities, served to defraud the relevant universities in several ways.  
First, because the illicit payments to the families of student-athletes rendered those student-athletes ineligible to participate in collegiate athletics, scheme participants conspired to conceal these payments from the universities, thereby causing them to provide or agree to provide athletic-based scholarships and financial aid under false and fraudulent pretenses.  Indeed, the defendants and their co-conspirators, who included the families of the student-athletes and, in certain instances, one or more corrupt coaches at the universities, knew that, for the scheme to succeed and the athletic scholarships to be awarded, the illicit payments had to be concealed from the universities, and that certifications would be submitted to the universities falsely representing that the student-athletes were eligible to compete in Division I athletics.
Second, the scheme participants further defrauded the universities by depriving the universities of significant and necessary information regarding the non-compliance with NCAA rules by the relevant student-athletes and their families, and, in some cases, by certain corrupt coaches involved in the scheme.  In doing so, the scheme participants interfered with the universities’ ability to control their assets and created a risk of tangible economic harm to the universities, including, among other things, decision-making about the distribution of their limited athletic scholarships; the possible disgorgement of certain profit-sharing by the NCAA; monetary fines; restrictions on athlete recruitment and the distribution of athletic scholarships; and the potential ineligibility of the universities’ basketball teams to compete in NCAA programs generally, and the ineligibility of certain student-athletes in particular.
The University of Louisville Scheme
Beginning in approximately May 2017, GATTO, CODE, DAWKINS, and others worked together to illicitly funnel approximately $100,000 from Adidas to the father of Brian Bowen, then a top-rated high school basketball player, in connection with Bowen’s commitment to play at the University of Louisville, a school whose athletic programs are sponsored by Adidas.  Because the payments to the family of Bowen were both in violation of NCAA rules and illegal, the defendants took steps to conceal them from the University, including funneling the money indirectly through an amateur team affiliated with CODE and a corporation controlled by DAWKINS.  The payments were all funded by Adidas pursuant to phony invoices approved by GATTO, and the first installment was delivered to Bowen’s father in cash in July 2017 in a parking lot in New Jersey.
The University of Kansas Scheme
Between 2016 and 2017, GATTO and Gassnola worked together to funnel approximately $90,000 from Adidas to the family of Billy Preston, then a high school basketball player, in connection with Preston’s commitment to play at the University of Kansas, a university whose athletic programs are sponsored by Adidas.  To conceal the payments from the University, GATTO routed the money to Billy Preston’s family indirectly, through an Adidas-sponsored amateur team affiliated with Gassnola, and pursuant to sham invoices approved by GATTO.
In addition, in the summer of 2017, GATTO and Gassnola agreed to funnel money to the legal guardian of Silvio De Sousa, then a high school basketball player, in connection with De Sousa’s commitment to play at the University of Kansas.  In one instance, GATTO and Gassnola were intercepted over a wiretap discussing a $20,000 payment to the legal guardian.
The North Carolina State University Scheme
In approximately November 2015, GATTO and Gassnola agreed to funnel approximately $40,000 from Adidas to the family of Dennis Smith Jr., then a high school basketball player, in order to stop Smith Jr. from de-committing from North Carolina State University, a university whose athletic programs are sponsored by Adidas.  Gassnola flew to North Carolina to personally deliver the money in cash to a basketball coach at North Carolina State University, who then routed the money to Smith Jr.’s family.  After Gassnola made the payment, GATTO reimbursed Gassnola via his Adidas-sponsored amateur team.
In addition to the prison sentences, Judge Kaplan ordered CODE, 45, of Greer, South Carolina, and DAWKINS, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, to each pay restitution to the University of Louisville in the amount of $28,261.  The court reserved the decision on the restitution for GATTO, 48, of Wilsonville, Oregon, and set a conference for April 9, 2019, at 10 a.m.  Each of the three defendants was sentenced to two years of supervised release. 
Gassnola and Sood have previously pled guilty and are awaiting sentence. 
Mr. Khuzami thanked the FBI and the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York for their tireless efforts during the investigation and prosecution of this case.

Attorney General James Announces Arrest And Indictment Of Former Employee Of Two Brooklyn Based Hospitals For Allegedly Stealing Over $550,000

Wendell Lewis Used His Position In The Payroll Departments Of Interfaith Medical Center And New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital To Steal Over $550,000

  Attorney General Letitia James today announced felony charges against Wendell Lewis, 32, of Brooklyn, NY, for allegedly stealing over $550,000 from Interfaith Medical Center (“Interfaith”), a Brooklyn not-for-profit community-based hospital that recently came out of bankruptcy, and New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital (“BMH”). The Attorney General's office alleges that Lewis, while working in the payroll department of the two hospitals between 2015 and 2018, engaged in a scheme to fraudulently direct funds from the hospitals to bank accounts set-up by Lewis using the personal identification of other individuals. In 2012, Lewis was convicted of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree for committing similar conduct when he worked in the payroll department at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn.   

The defendant is charged with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a Class C felony), four counts of Money Laundering in the Second Degree (a Class C felony), two counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree (a class D felony), and two counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (a Class E felony). If convicted, Lewis faces a maximum of 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison.   
“Stealing from our hospitals is unconscionable, but allegedly stealing from those hospitals that support our most underserved communities is especially egregious,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “My office will continue to root out this fraudulent behavior, and use our powers to protect our most vulnerable citizens.” 
According to the Attorney General's filings and statements made by prosecutors, Lewis was an employee in the payroll department of BMH from 2015 to 2016. After Lewis’s termination in 2016 for reasons unrelated to the alleged theft, Lewis was hired by Interfaith, where he remained until Interfaith discovered the theft in 2018. As an employee in the payroll departments of BMH and Interfaith, Lewis had the ability to redirect the direct deposits of the hospitals salaried employees. In order for Lewis to conceal the alleged scheme, Lewis would among other techniques, add former employees of the hospitals back on to the payroll and direct their previous salaries to bank accounts he controlled, but that were in the names of other persons. After funding the fraudulent accounts, Lewis would then reverse the fraudulent payments to make them appear as if no monies were withdrawn from the hospital and to prevent IRS Form W-2s from being generated at year end. In an effort to remain undetected by the hospitals, Lewis would allegedly make the unauthorized entries to the payroll system by logging into the hospital’s computer system using the username of other employees in the payroll department.    
Between 2015 and 2018, Lewis allegedly used 14 fraudulent bank accounts in the names of other persons to steal over $550,000 from the hospitals.  After the transfer of the stolen monies to the Lewis controlled bank accounts, Lewis used the debit cards associated with those accounts to withdrawal over $546,000 in cash from ATM machines throughout New York City.  During this same period, Lewis deposited over $175,000 in cash into his personal bank accounts.  
A review of Lewis’s personal bank accounts revealed that Lewis used the stolen funds in part to live a lavish lifestyle, including taking multiple trips to the Caribbean, going on shopping sprees at high end stores, and dining at some of New York City’s prime restaurants. 
Lewis was arraigned today on the indictment before Supreme Court Judge Danny K. Chun in Kings County. Bail was set at $100,000 bond over $50,000 cash and the case was adjourned to May 1, 2019. 
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.  
Attorney General James thanks the State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) Acting Superintendent Linda A. Lacewell for assistance with this matter. The Attorney General’s office also thanks DFS Investigator Albert Flowers for his assistance. 

Chief Of Patrol on the Police-involved Shooting in the 28 Precinct, Manhattan.


March 5, 2019

The information that I'm about to provide to you is preliminary and is subject to change pending the investigation by the Force Investigation Division. Earlier this evening at 5:48 p.m., uniformed officers from the 28th Precinct responded to a report of a man with a gun inside of 234 West 114th Street. Upon arrival, the officers encountered an eyewitness who stated that there was a male with a gun on the 4th floor hallway and provided a description. The officers proceeded to the 4th floor and encountered the male, fitting the description, upon exiting the elevator.
The officers demanded that the male take his hands out of his pocket. The subject refused to comply with the officer's directives. Suddenly, the subject stated that he had a gun, taking a shooting stance and pointed an object at the officers. One of the initial responding officers discharged their firearm, which struck the suspect in the hip. The officers immediately requested EMS, who responded to the scene and transported the 34-year-old suspect to Saint Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center and is in stable condition. The officers were also transported to Saint Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center for a medical evaluation. The incident was captured on the officers' body worn cameras and will be reviewed by the Force Investigation Division.
Remarks as prepared for Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison, with Deputy Chief Martine Materasso, Commanding Officer, Manhattan North Detectives and Deputy Inspector Christopher McIntosh, Commanding Officer, 28th Precinct.