“The Assembly and Senate deserve great credit in passing a dramatic expansion of our life-saving speed camera program. We will stop at nothing to aggressively pursue tools like speed cameras that we know slow down drivers and save lives around schools across the city. Vision Zero is working and more speed cameras will only deepen that progress on our streets.”
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Monday, March 18, 2019
City of New York to Comply with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act and Prevent Contamination of the City’s Drinking Water Supply
Under the Consent Decree, New York City Will Pay the United States a $1 Million Civil Penalty for Past Violations of Federal Requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Assistant Attorney General for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice, and Andrew Wheeler, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced today that the United States filed suit under the Safe Drinking Water Act against the City of New York and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (the City) for failure to cover the Hillview Reservoir (the Reservoir), located in Yonkers, New York, in violation of federal regulation and federal and state administrative orders. A Consent Decree requiring the City to cover the Reservoir and pay a civil penalty was also lodged with the Court. Following a 30-day public comment period, the United States will review the comments and, if appropriate, move for entry of the Consent Decree by the Court.
“The United States brought this action to ensure that New York City covers the Hillview Reservoir to protect the drinking water City residents receive from the Catskill-Delaware Drinking Water Supply. This Office will continue to monitor and enforce the Consent Decree through completion of its requirements,” said United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue.
“Today we take the necessary steps to fix a serious public-health problem,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that every American has access to safe water to drink. And we vindicate that Act by ensuring in our enforcement action that the City of New York will comply this federal law by protecting against contaminants aerially deposited into the Hillview Reservoir, which millions of New Yorkers depend for their everyday drinking water needs.”
“New York City failed to comply with Safe Drinking Water Act requirements that keep drinking water safe from harmful bacteria and viruses, even when it was under an order to do so,” said EPA Administrator Wheeler. “EPA will ensure the City complies with the decree and takes the necessary steps to prevent its drinking water from harming the health of its residents.”
The Reservoir is part of New York City’s public water system. It is an open storage facility and is the last stop for drinking water before it enters the City Water Tunnels for distribution to City residents. The 90-acre Reservoir receives nearly a billion gallons of water each day through the Catskill and Delaware Aqueducts, and serves as a holding tank that allows the City to meet daily peak water demand. It is divided into two segments, the East and West Basins. Prior to the water entering the Reservoir, it receives a first treatment of chlorine and ultraviolet treatment. Since the Reservoir is downstream of these treatments and is an open storage facility, the finished water[1] in the Reservoir is subject to recontamination with microbial pathogens, such as viruses, Giardia and Cryptosporidium, from birds, animals and other sources. Giardia and Cryptosporidium are protozoa that can cause potentially fatal gastrointestinal illness in humans. If the water in the Reservoir were to be re-contaminated, public health would be threatened, since sufficient microbial treatment is not available downstream of the Reservoir. A cover is necessary to prevent recontamination by such pathogens. Until the cover is in operation, the City is required to take active measures to control wildlife in and around the Reservoir and monitor the Reservoir to ensure that the water is safe for drinking.
The City has been required to cover the Reservoir since it first executed an Administrative Order with the State of New York on January 26, 1999. On March 6, 2006, the City also became obligated to cover the Reservoir under federal regulation, specifically the Safe Drinking Water Act. The regulation required uncovered finished water storage facilities, such as the Reservoir, to be covered by April 1, 2009, or for the discharge from the uncovered finished water storage facilities to be treated to achieve inactivation and/or removal of microbial contaminants. In May 2010, EPA entered into an Administrative Order requiring the City to meet a series of milestones leading to the completion of a cover for the Reservoir. The first milestone date was January 31, 2017. The City failed to meet that date, and this lawsuit followed.
The Consent Decree contains requirements for construction of two projects in addition to the cover, the Kensico Eastview Connection (KEC) and the Hillview Reservoir Improvements (HRI). The KEC entails the construction of a new underground aqueduct segment between Kensico and Eastview that replaces the previously planned Catskill Aqueduct Pressurization Project. The HRI requires extensive repairs to the Hillview Reservoir, including replacing the sluice gates that control water flow and building a new connection between the reservoir and water distribution tunnels. The completion of the KEC is expected to take until 2035. The City estimates the construction cost of the KEC to be approximately $1 billion. The HRI project will be conducted concurrently with the KEC and is anticipated to be completed by 2033. The City estimates the construction cost of the HRI to be approximately $375 million. While the KEC and HRI construction and repair work are underway, the City will conduct facilities planning and design work for the Hillview cover. Following the completion of the KEC and the HRI, the East Basin cover will be constructed, with expected commencement of full operation in 2042, and then the West Basin cover will be constructed, with expected commencement of full operation in 2049. The City’s estimate in 2009 for the cost of its then planned concrete cover for the 90-acre Reservoir was $1.6 billion. The actual cost of the cover may be lower, should the City choose a different type of cover.
Because the schedule in the Consent Decree is lengthy, and there is a possibility that the schedule could be accelerated under certain circumstances, the Consent Decree provides for potential acceleration. The Consent Decree also requires the City to implement Interim Measures to protect the water until the Hillview Reservoir cover is in full operation including: (1) enhanced wildlife management at the Reservoir; (2) weekly sampling of source water for Cryptosporidium and Giardia at the Kensico Reservoir effluent(s), and Cryptosporidium and Giardia sampling at the Reservoir effluent; (3) quality control sampling of the Reservoir effluent; and (4) implementation of a Cryptosporidium and Giardia Action Plan for response procedures for elevated Cryptosporidium and Giardia at the Reservoir.
In addition, under the Consent Decree, the City will pay the United States a civil penalty of $1 million for its past violations of federal requirements. The Consent Decree also provides that the City will pay New York State $50,000, and implement a state Water Quality Benefit Project in the amount of $200,000 to settle the State’s claim for penalties for violations of a State administrative order.
The civil negotiations and settlement were handled by the Office’s Civil Division. Assistant United States Attorney Deborah B. Zwany is in charge of this matter, working together with Elizabeth Yu, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Phyllis Kaplan Feinmark, Regional Counsel’s Office, EPA Region 2, Doughlas McKenna, Chief of the Water Compliance Branch, EPA Region 2 and Nicole Kraft, Chief of the Ground Water Compliance Section, EPA Region 2, Gavin McCabe from the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and Roger Sokol from the New York State Department of Health’s Bureau of Water Supply Protection.
[1] Finished water is water that has been introduced into the distribution system of a public water system and is intended for distribution and consumption without further treatment, except as necessary to maintain water quality in the distribution system.
Bronx Council for Environmental Quality - Greening the Bronx Conference 4.10.19 6-9 PM
SAVE the DATE
Join us at our Annual Meeting
Join us at our Annual Meeting
April 10, 2019 6 pm to 9 pm
Manhattan College’s
Leo Engineering Building
3825 Corlear Ave. at 238 St, Bronx, NY 10463.
rsvp@bceq.org
Greening the Bronx: Clean, Capture and Soak-In Rain
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Greening the Bronx with Green Infrastructure is a simple way to clean our water, capture it before it wears out our streets, from flooding or freezing, and help any rainfall/snow to soak into the land, lawns, and flowering rain gardens.
Protecting Land and Shores with Green Infrastructure, is an approved nature-based management practice.
Kindly respond that you will attend (especially if you plan on eating the light meal) to rsvp@bceq.org your name, phone#, and affiliation. Check our web page for more detailed information and changes to the program.
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HELP TURN FORT INDEPENDENCE PARK INTO A SPONGE
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Enter the Park into Sponge Contest by sending an email to parkintosponge@bceq.org
Be the City’s imagination and prepare Green Infrastructure drawings based on the photos of runoff damage supplied in the registration packet.
Or use your own park and take your own photos and prepare GI to turn your Park into a Sponge.
Bring your final exhibit, on either a poster, power point, or storyboard to the meeting (set up is 5 pm on April 10).
Winners will be announced in at our Environmental Education Awards Board Meeting on June 8, 2019.
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Participate in Government - Send Comments and/or Attend Meetings
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Save Wetlands - follow the Riverkeeper's letter writing campaign
The BIG WALL is coming. Come to the meeting that the Army Corps of Engineerings are holding - NYNJHAT. https://www.nan.usace.army.
Check our web page for updates and sample comments.
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CITY ANNOUNCES $2.8 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR OVER 175 CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS FROM METROPOLITAN MUSEUM ADMISSIONS REVENUE AGREEMENT
Today, the de Blasio Administration announced that $2.8 million in additional funding will be allocated to over 175 cultural organizations in underserved communities in all five boroughs. The new funding is being made available thanks to an agreement allowing the Metropolitan Museum of Art to charge mandatory admission to visitors from outside of New York State in exchange for sharing a portion of the new revenue with the City. DCLA committed to use this revenue to support the goals from the CreateNYC cultural plan, which identified cultural funding equity as one of its top priorities.
“New York is the cultural capital of the world not only because of our hallmark institutions, but because of the smaller museums, shows, and organizations throughout the five boroughs,” said Mayor de Blasio “They deserve meaningful investment too. This agreement has allowed the Met to thrive while giving us a unique opportunity to increase cultural investment in our underserved communities - allowing us to support the diversity that makes our city great at no additional cost to taxpayers.”
· Cultural Development Fund increase: $1.4 million of the funding was earmarked for Cultural Development Fund recipients. More than 160 groups received increases in their FY19 grants. Groups that received increases either are located in or provide services to high-need neighborhoods identified by the Social Impact of the Arts Project’s report “Culture and Social Wellbeing in New York City.” Groups receiving increases ranging from $1K to $40K include Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center in the Bronx; Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn; Harlem Stage in Manhattan; Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens; and St. George Theater in Staten Island.
· Cultural Institutions Group increase: The remaining $1.4 million will be distributed to members of theCultural Institutions Group (CIG) located in underserved communities. The goal is to build on the City’s long term relationship with the members of the CIG and provide greater equity among its members. The funding increases range from $25K to $175K. The 16 members of the CIG receiving increased funding include the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, El Museo del Barrio, Studio Museum in Harlem, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Staten Island Children’s Museum, and Bronx Museum of the Arts.
The funding comes from an agreement between the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Metropolitan Museum of Art implemented in 2018. Under the terms of the agreement, the Met was be permitted to charge mandatory admission to visitors who are not residents of New York State. In turn, the Met would share a portion of its admissions revenue in the first year of its implementation.
After that, DCLA will permanently lower the Met’s annual subsidy proportionally based on the admissions revenue and direct this funding to other cultural organizations based on the priorities and recommendations in the CreateNYC cultural plan, namely to increase cultural funding for historically underserved organizations and communities. These increases were targeted to communities identified by the Social Impact of the Arts Project, which mapped cultural assets across the city.
This marks another step toward fostering a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultural sector that serves all New Yorkers. Related efforts include the Department of Cultural Affairs’ initiative to promote a more diverse cultural workforce. DCLA has also created a number of new programs aimed at engaging historically underserved populations, including people with disabilities and non-English speakers. To learn more about CreateNYC, visit DCLA’s website.
“New York invests more in its cultural institutions than any other city in America,” said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. “While the returns on this investment are nothing short of transformative for communities across the city, we’ve looked for ways to address historical lack of cultural assets and investments in underserved communities. This agreement with the Met has paid dividends for NYC’s cultural community: stabilizing one of our City’s major institutions with increased admissions revenue, while providing a much needed boost to organizations that anchor communities across the City.”
“The admissions policy is performing precisely as we hoped it would – our Museum is welcoming record levels of visitors, the increased revenue is supporting our always ambitious exhibition and education programming, and New Yorkers are continuing to enjoy pay-as-you-wish pricing. It is wonderful to see how the partnership that New York City and The Met began 149 years ago is bringing to our City even more support of arts and culture,” said Daniel Weiss, President and CEO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Friends Of Pelham Parkway Clean Up and Mulch For Spring
The Friends of Pelham Parkway led by Roxanne Delgado, students from the Collegian Academy of the Columbus Campus, Councilman Mark Gjonaj, and even a couple of Bronx Park workers converged on the Pelham Parkway area by Wallace Avenue for a spring cleaning and mulching of the area.
Rakes, shovels, gloves, and even a truckload of mulch was brought by Partnership for Parks and the Parks Department. Mulch was brought over to trees to be placed around as many as possible by the group. Dead leaves were picked up, and rose bushes were trimmed for the upcoming spring warm weather.
Above - Councilman Mark Gjonaj picked up a shovel and with one of his staffers were filling up wheelbarrows with mulch to be placed around the trees in the area.
Below - Once the mulch was placed around the trees students from the Collegian Academy of the Columbus Campus raked it down and around the trees.
Above - This trio of intrepid workers took time out to pose for this photo as the started to clean up.
Below - As the day went on many bags were filled with dead leaves and mulch was placed around the rose bush area area. The rose bushes was later trimmed down by the Parks Department.
Fraudulent Political Action Committee Operator Sentenced To Two Years In Prison
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that WILLIAM TIERNEY was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiring to defraud tens of thousands of victims of more than $1 million in connection with political action committees falsely purporting to support causes including autism awareness, law enforcement support, and the pro-life movement. TIERNEY was also ordered to pay more than $1.5 million in forfeiture and restitution to victims, as well as an additional $50,000 fine. TIERNEY pled guilty on November 2, 2018, before United States District Judge Jesse M. Furman, who also imposed the sentence.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “The successful prosecution of William Tierney demonstrates the commitment of the federal government to rooting out fraud and corruption in political action committees. Today’s sentence sends a clear warning to anyone engaged in fraudulent political fundraising: Scam PACs are a crime and those perpetrating them will go to prison.”
According to the Information, other filings in Manhattan federal court, and evidence presented in court at sentencing:
TIERNEY defrauded tens of thousands of donors to six political action committees that he established, controlled, and operated. These scam PACs were fraudulent entities operated to enrich the defendant, targeting victims across the country to raise funds on the basis of false and misleading representations. The scam PACs purported to support voter education regarding – and the political campaigns of those who supported – various causes, including autism awareness, law enforcement, and pro-life causes, including through purported “coast to coast” education and advocacy campaigns, working with local groups and organizations, and “investing every penny . . . in the big races to come.” In truth, virtually all of the money raised was either paid to TIERNEY or used to perpetuate the fraud through additional telemarketing, fundraising, and overhead expenditures. Less than 1 percent of the money obtained by the scam PACs was contributed to candidates for office.
TIERNEY carried out the fraud through a web of shell pass-through entities utilized to conceal and disguise the scheme. Donated funds were transferred to these shell entities, which were given names that suggested activities related to marketing, consulting, and communications efforts, including for issue-specific causes. As a result, payments to the shell entities appeared to be for legitimate expenditures, including when publicly disclosed in Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) filings. In at least one instance, a website was created for one of the shell entities, falsely stating that the entity provided direct marketing and political consulting services to trade associations, candidate campaigns, political action committees, and nonprofit organizations. In fact, these and the other shell entities TIERNEY created had no active operations or employees, were retained by no outside “clients,” and served only to funnel and disguise financial transactions involving money donated to certain scam PACs.
To facilitate the fraud, TIERNEY used the false identity “Bill Johnson” when meeting and corresponding with certain vendors. Another fake identity, “Emma Smith,” was used in fundraising solicitations, and was described as a “Volunteer Coordinator” for one of the PACs. In fact, neither Emma Smith nor the position of “Volunteer Coordinator” actually existed. TIERNEY also undertook efforts to avoid press coverage of the scam PACs more generally, despite the scam PACs’ claims in solicitation materials of national advocacy and awareness campaigns.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Furman ordered TIERNEY, 47, to pay restitution in the amount of $1,175,417.23, forfeiture in the amount of $410,649.18, and a fine in the amount of $50,000. TIERNEY was also sentenced to one year of supervised release.
TIERNEY pled guilty on November 2, 2018, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its contributions to the investigation.
Former Public Administrator Employee to be Sentenced for Stealing Over $78,000 From Estates of Eight Decedents
Used Stolen Funds on a Cruise, Bills, Shopping and More
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett, today announced that a former case manager at the Office of the Kings County Public Administrator has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced to make full restitution and serve five years’ probation following a 60-day jail term that he began today. He admitted stealing more than $78,000 from the eight deceased individuals whose estates his agency was administering.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “I am committed to thwarting corruption and abuse of power and holding accountable those who betray the public trust. This defendant was entrusted to administer the estates of deceased individuals, but shamelessly chose to steal from them instead – causing additional grief to their loved ones.”
Commissioner Garnett said, “This public servant abused his authority as a representative of the Public Administrator’s Office by stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the estates of several deceased persons and lining his own pockets. Now, he has a criminal felony conviction and will pay back in full the money he stole. DOI thanks the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for their partnership and prosecution of this case.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Fitzroy Thompson, 37, of Park Slope, Brooklyn. He pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny on January 9, 2019 before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun, who today remanded the defendant to serve 60 days in jail. When he completes the jail term, he will be formally sentenced on May 15, 2019, to five years’ probation and must make full restitution by the end of the probationary term.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, the defendant was employed as a case manager at the Office of the Kings County Public Administrator, which administers estates of those who die without a last will and testament or without family members able to administer their estates. Between July 2017 and April 2018, the defendant stole a total of $78,325 in funds from estates being administered by the Public Administrator.
The defendant used credit cards and checking accounts belonging to estates of eight decedents whose cases he handled or could access to make various purchases and payments. In January 2018, he booked a cruise with Carnival Cruise Line, using one of the decedent’s credit cards to pay a $2,741 fee, the investigation found. He also used estate funds unlawfully to make ATM withdrawals exceeding $35,000, to make lease payments on a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder and a 2016 Nissan Altima, to make rent payments in connection with two properties, to pay phone and cable bills, to buy JetBlue airline tickets to Nassau, Bahamas and to make purchases at Walmart, Fingerhut and other retailers.
The defendant was arrested in March 2018 after the executor of one estate noticed charges on his deceased relative’s account, including the cruise payment, and filed a police report. A subsequent investigation discovered the additional larcenies. The defendant was suspended upon his arrest and resigned from the Office of the Public Administrator.
District Attorney Gonzalez thanked the Kings County Public Administrator’s Office, its staff and Public Administrator Richard Buckheit for their cooperation and assistance with this investigation. The case was also investigated by New York City Police Department Detective Mitchell Eisenberg of the 60th Precinct Detective Squad.
Long Island Chiropractor Pleads Guilty to Multi-Million Dollar Health Care Fraud
Admits Billing Under Names of Other Providers to Evade Review
Raymond R. Pellegrino, a chiropractor, pleaded guilty to health care fraud. The plea took place before United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco. When sentenced, Pellegrino faces up to 10 years in prison, as well as restitution of $2,110,000, forfeiture of $504,444 and a fine to be determined.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the guilty plea.
“Pellegrino abused his position of trust as a health care provider by billing millions of dollars in fraudulent claims for services that doctors never provided,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “Today’s guilty plea sends the message that those who engage in such criminal conduct will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Mr. Donoghue expressed his grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York State Department of Financial Services for its assistance in the case.
Pellegrino operated chiropractic offices in West Hempstead and Hicksville, New York. He hired medical doctors for part-time work and then billed Anthem Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield under the taxpayer identification numbers of those doctors for osteopathic manipulation and other services purportedly provided to beneficiaries. Between December 2013 and September 2014, Pellegrino was paid over $2 million for fraudulent claims filed with Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, billing for medical services that he knew the doctors had not provided.
The Defendant:
RAYMOND R. PELLEGRINO
Age: 50
McKinney, Texas