Tuesday, March 26, 2019

House Dems Introduce the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act


  Congressman Eliot Engel, a top member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has joined House Democratic colleagues in cosponsoring theProtecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act, sweeping new legislation that will lower health insurance premiums, crack down on junk health insurance plans, strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and reverse the Trump Administration’s health care sabotage. The introduction of the bill comes on the heels of the President’s latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act in federal court.

“If only this Administration were as relentless in protecting our elections from foreign interference as it is with trying to steal people’s health insurance, we may actually be able to solve some of our health care woes,” Engel said. “Unfortunately, President Trump and his GOP cronies are only fixated on repealing the ACA, not helping the American people who are struggling to pay for their prescription medications. Therefore, it is up to House Democrats to work toward improving care, while also fighting to preserve the vital protections that are already in place.

“With the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care Affordable Act, Democrats are taking another step forward to meet our promise to lower health costs, while also ensuring sure those with pre-existing conditions remain fully covered. I am proud to cosponsor this important legislation.”

The Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019 includes provisions that will:

Lower health insurance premiums with strengthened and expanded affordability assistance
  • Strengthening tax credits in the Marketplace to lower Americans’ health insurance premiums and allows more middle-class individuals and families to qualify for subsidies;
  • Ensuring that families who don’t have an offer of affordable coverage from an employer can still qualify for subsidies in the Marketplace; and,
  • Providing funding for reinsurance, to help with high cost claims, improve Marketplace stability, and prevent the Trump Administration’s sabotage from raising premiums.

Strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions
  • Curtailing the Trump Administration’s efforts to give states waivers to undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions and weaken standards for essential health benefits, which would leave consumers with less comprehensive plans that do not cover needed services, such as prescription drugs, maternity care, and substance use disorder treatment.

Stop insurance companies from selling junk health insurance plans
  • Stopping the Trump Administration’s efforts to push Americans into junk health insurance plans that do not provide coverage for essential medical treatments and drugs, and that are allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Reverse the GOP’s health care sabotage that has needlessly driven up premiums and uninsured rates, and empower states to innovate and invest in enrolling more people in affordable health coverage
  • Reversing the Trump Administration’s sabotage by requiring open enrollment outreach, education, and funding for navigators;
  • Investing in state efforts to conduct outreach to increase enrollment, educate consumers of their rights, and help individuals navigate the health insurance system;
  • Empowering states to implement new approaches to increasing enrollment and allows states to set up their own Marketplaces; and
  • Holding the Administration accountable for its use of federal dollars dedicated to increasing enrollment, outreach and running the federal exchange.



Join us as we celebrate 
the Best of The Bronx!
Keynote Speaker
NYC Public Advocate 
Jumaane Williams

Master of Ceremonies
Joe Torres, WABC-TV
Please join us!
Reserve your spot or reserve a table at
718-828-3900 or events@bronxchamber.org

Bronx Chamber of Commerce
1200 Waters Place • Bronx, NY 10461
Bronxchamber.org

YANKEES OPENING DAY and NEXT DAY PARADE


  The 161st Street Business Improvement District is preparing for the return of the Yankees and the start of the 2019 baseball season. The streets are being swept and sports bars like Stan’s, Billy’s, the Dugout and Yankee Tavern are filled with Opening Day memorabilia. And, the parade route is being cleared.

  More than 1,000 students are getting ready to march down the Concourse, the day after the Opener, from 10 AM - 12 Noon, Friday March 29, to showcase their teams, their talents and their support for the Bronx Bombers. The parade features Congressmen Serrano and Espaillat, Grandmaster Caz and Mellie Mel as Grand Marshals. It will march down the Concourse from 165th Street to Lou Gehrig Plaza and turn west towards Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Bronx Children’s Museum, the Marching Cobras and the Patriot Band and the DSNY bagpipe unit will be featured in the parade.

  The students at PS 294, for example, are busy learning the words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Other students at the Andrew Freedman Head Start are painting signs and a banner. All Hallows’ baseball teams are adjusting their uniforms to look spiffy for the parade.

  The BID has added a CC mural, touched up the Mantle, Paige and Clemente murals. The BID has also created an Instagram account that features a different Yankee legend every day through the parade on Friday. And, a murals map of the entire district including Joe Di Maggio, Derek Jeter and Mariano will be available electronically and in print by mid-April.


House Committee Chairs Demand DOJ Release Full Mueller Report & Underlying Evidence to Congress


Six House Chairs: “We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day.”

  The chairs of six committees in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to U.S. Attorney General William Barr to demand that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report be made available to Congress together with the underlying evidence. The letter was signed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff, Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal and Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot L. Engel.

In their letter, the Members wrote, “Your four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s review is not sufficient for Congress, as a coequal branch of government, to perform [its] critical work. The release of the full report and the underlying evidence and documents is urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution.  Those duties include evaluating the underlying facts and determining whether legislative or other reforms are required—both to ensure that the Justice Department is able to carry out investigations without interference or obstruction by the President and to protect our future elections from foreign interference…We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day.”

On March 14, 2019, the House unanimously passed H. Con. Res. 24, a resolution expressing the sense of the Congress, that when completed, Special Counsel Mueller’s report should be made available to the public and to Congress.

On February 22, 2019, the Members wrote to Attorney General William Barr to inform him of their expectation that he will make Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report public “without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law.”

The governing Special Counsel regulations were designed to ensure “congressional and public confidence in the integrity of the process.”  Special Counsel Mueller was appointed by the Justice Department “in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome” of the investigation. 

Full text of today’s letter is below.


March 25, 2019

The Honorable William P. Barr
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530


Dear Attorney General Barr:

Your March 24 letter concerning Special Counsel Mueller’s report leaves open many questions concerning the conduct of the President and his closest advisors, as well as that of the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.  Accordingly, we formally request that you release the Special Counsel’s full report to Congress no later than Tuesday, April 2.  We also ask that you begin transmitting the underlying evidence and materials to the relevant committees at that time.

As you know, on March 14, the full House of Representatives approved H. Con. Res. 24, calling for the release of the Special Counsel’s report by a vote of 420-0.[1]  Each of our committees is currently engaged in oversight activities that go directly to the President’s conduct, his attempts to interfere with federal and congressional investigations, his relationships and communications with the Russian government and other foreign powers, and/or other alleged instances of misconduct. 

Your four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s review is not sufficient for Congress, as a coequal branch of government, to perform this critical work.  The release of the full report and the underlying evidence and documents is urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution.  Those duties include evaluating the underlying facts and determining whether legislative or other reforms are required—both to ensure that the Justice Department is able to carry out investigations without interference or obstruction by the President and to protect our future elections from foreign interference.

First, Congress must be permitted to make an independent assessment of the evidence regarding obstruction of justice.  The determinations you have reached regarding obstruction and the manner in which you chose to characterize the Special Counsel’s investigation only raise further questions, particularly in light of the Special Counsel’s decision to refrain from making “a traditional prosecutorial judgment.”[2]  We also cannot evaluate your determination that “the report identifies no actions” that meet the elements of obstruction in the absence of the report, evidence and other materials.[3]

Second, we have no reason to question that Special Counsel Mueller made a well-considered prosecutorial judgment in two specific and narrow areas—whether the Trump campaign conspired to join Russia’s election-related online disinformation and hacking and dissemination efforts.  But it is vital for national security purposes that Congress be able to evaluate the full body of facts and evidence collected and evaluated by the Special Counsel, including all information gathered of a counterintelligence nature.

The provision of the report—in complete and unredacted form—and the underlying evidence and materials would be fully consistent with the Justice Department’s practice and precedent with Congress, which the Department reinforced in recent years.  With respect to the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the Department and the FBI released more than 880,000 pages of documents, publicly identified career officials involved in the case, and produced volumes of internal deliberative materials, including sensitive investigatory and classified materials.[4]  In response to congressional requests and subpoenas regarding allegations of bias in the Russia investigation, the Department produced to congressional committees thousands of pages of highly sensitive law enforcement and classified investigatory and deliberative records related to that investigation—which remained open and ongoing at the time.  Moreover, the Department produced to congressional committees in full, and then took the unprecedented step of releasing to the public in redacted form, multiple documents related to the surveillance of a United States person under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[5] 

We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day.[6]  To the extent that you believe applicable law limits your ability to comply, we urge you to begin the process of consultation with us immediately in order to establish shared parameters for resolving those issues without delay.

Sincerely,

_________________________________                               
                    Jerrold Nadler                                                                      
                       Chairman                                                                             
     House Committee on the Judiciary                             

________________________________                     
                     Adam Schiff                                                                
                      Chairman                                                                           
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence         
________________________________                           
                    Richard E. Neal                                                                    
                     Chairman                                                                               
 House Committee on Ways and Means                                 
________________________________ 
              Elijah E. Cummings  
               Chairman
House Committee on Oversight and Reform

________________________________
              Maxine Waters
               Chairwoman 
House Committee on Financial Services

________________________________
             Eliot L. Engel
               Chairman
House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Bronx Metro-North Station Area Study - Public Open House: Morris Park and Parkchester


FINAL REMINDER
Join us TOMORROW TONIGHT for our first in a series of two events to present draft recommendations for the Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest station areas!


Please join us and help plan around coming Metro-North service in your neighborhood!
 

Let's continue the conversation!
  • Learn about draft recommendations for Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest
  • Share your perspective and priorities
  • Guide investments and strategies
To ensure all members of the community have an opportunity to participate, we will be holding two events.
FIRST EVENT

WHEN

Wednesday, March 27, 2019
4PM–7PM

(Self-paced activities. Come when you wish and stay for long as you are able to.)

WHERE

1300 Morris Park Ave
Lubin Hall
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

 
SECOND EVENT

WHEN

Saturday, March 30, 2019
10AM–1PM

(Self-paced activities. Come when you wish and stay for long as you are able to.)

WHERE

2380 E Tremont Ave
St Raymond's Elementary School
Monsignor Tierney Auditorium

(Enter at corner of E Tremont Ave and Purdy St)
 

Light refreshments will be provided. For any questions or special needs, please email bmns@planning.nyc.gov or call 718 220 8500

Find Out More
Bronx Metro-North in the News!

Profile on planning efforts around the coming Bronx Metro-North station areas:
"Relief for New York City’s Transit Deserts? Commuter Trains Might Help"
New York Times, January 10, 2019


Information on agreements between Amtrak and the MTA that pave the path forward for the new service:
"Amtrak, Metro-North Reach Deal on Bronx Expansion Plans"
WNYC, January 22, 2019

Monday, March 25, 2019

U.S. Attorney Announces The Arrest Of Michael Avenatti For Engaging In A Scheme To Extort A Public Company


Avenatti Is Alleged To Have Used Threats of Economic and Reputational Harm To Demand More Than $20 Million In Payments

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the arrest today of MICHAEL AVENATTI on federal extortion and interstate threat charges.  As alleged, AVENATTI, an attorney, attempted to extract more than $20 million in payments from a publicly traded company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.  AVENATTI was simultaneously arrested on separate charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.  AVENATTI will be presented today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker.   

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As alleged, Avenatti used illegal and extortionate threats for the purpose of obtaining millions of dollars in payments from a public company.  Calling this anticipated payout a retainer or a settlement doesn’t change what it was – a shakedown.  When lawyers use their law licenses as weapons, as a guise to extort payments for themselves, they are no longer acting as attorneys.  They are acting as criminals, and they will held responsible for their conduct.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said:  “As alleged, Michael Avenatti approached Nike last week with a list of financial demands in exchange for covering up allegations of misconduct on behalf of the company.  The lofty price tag included a $1.5 million payoff for Avenatti’s client and upwards of tens of millions of dollars for the legal services of his firm – services Nike never requested. This is nothing more than a straightforward case of extortion.  In the event anyone needs to be reminded, this type of behavior is illegal and it will not be tolerated – especially when committed by a lawyer who is supposed to use his license to practice law, not to willfully violate it.”
According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed today[1]:
Background to the Extortion Scheme 
In a scheme that unfolded in less than a week, AVENATTI and a co-conspirator not named as a defendant in the Complaint (“CC-1”) used threats of economic and reputational harm to extort NIKE, Inc. (“Nike”), a multinational corporation engaged in, among other things, the marketing and sale of athletic apparel, footwear, and equipment.  Specifically, AVENATTI threatened to hold a press conference on the eve of Nike’s quarterly earnings call and the start of the annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) men’s basketball tournament at which he would announce allegations of misconduct by employees of Nike.  AVENATTI stated that he would refrain from holding the press conference and harming Nike only if Nike made a payment of $1.5 million to a client of AVENATTI’s in possession of information damaging to Nike (“Client-1), and further agreed to “retain” AVENATTI and CC-1 to conduct an “internal investigation” – an investigation that Nike did not request – for which AVENATTI and CC-1 demanded to be paid, at a minimum, between $15 and $25 million.  Alternatively, and in lieu of such a retainer agreement, AVENATTI and CC-1 demanded a total payment of $22.5 million from Nike to resolve any claims Client-1 might have and additionally to buy AVENATTI’s silence.
The March 19 Meeting With Avenatti
As alleged, AVENATTI first met with representatives of Nike last Tuesday, March 19, 2019, in New York, New York.  At that meeting, AVENATTI claimed to represent a coach of an amateur youth travel basketball team sponsored by Nike, i.e., Client-1.  AVENATTI claimed the team coached by Client-1 had recently lost its sponsorship with Nike, one worth approximately $72,000 a year, and that his client had information that Nike employees had been engaged in illicit payments to the families of high school student athletes.  AVENATTI further stated that he planned to hold a press conference the next day announcing allegations of misconduct at Nike, and made clear that he had approached Nike now because he knew that the annual NCAA tournament – an event of significance to Nike and its brand – was about to begin, and further because he was aware that Nike’s quarterly earnings call was scheduled for March 21, 2019, thus maximizing the potential financial and reputational damage his press conference could cause to Nike.
AVENATTI further stated that he would refrain from holding that press conference and damaging Nike if Nike agreed to two demands: (1) Nike must pay $1.5 million to Client-1 as a settlement for any claims Client-1 might have regarding Nike’s decision not to renew its contract with the team coached by Client-1; and (2) Nike must hire AVENATTI and CC-1 to conduct an internal investigation of Nike, with a provision that if Nike hired another firm to conduct such an internal investigation, Nike would still be required to pay AVENATTI and CC-1 at least twice the fees of any other firm hired.  AVENATTI made clear that Nike would have to agree to accept those demands on a very short time frame.  Nike immediately contacted the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which launched an investigation in conjunction with the FBI.
The March 20 Call With Avenatti
In a follow-up call on March 20, 2019, recorded by law enforcement, AVENATTI reiterated both his threat, stating, in substance and in part, that unless Nike immediately agreed to his financial demands, he would hold his press conference and, as AVENATTI threatened: “I’ll go and I’ll go take ten billion dollars off your client’s market cap.  But I’m not f***ing around.”  During the same call, AVENATTI made clear that his demands included not simply that he and CC-1 be paid for an “internal investigation,” but that he be paid more than $9 million.  As AVENATTI stated during the call:  “I’m not f***ing around with this, and I’m not continuing to play games. . . .  You guys know enough now to know you’ve got a serious problem.  And it’s worth more in exposure to me to just blow the lid on this thing.  A few million dollars doesn’t move the needle for me.  I’m just being really frank with you.  So if that’s what, if that’s what’s being contemplated, then let’s just say it was good to meet you, and we’re done.  And I’ll proceed with my press conference tomorrow. . . .  I’m not f***ing around with this thing anymore.  So if you guys think that you know, we’re gonna negotiate a million five, and you’re gonna hire us to do an internal investigation, but it’s gonna be capped at 3 or 5 or 7 million dollars, like let’s just be done.”
The March 21 Meeting With Avenatti
On March 21, 2019, at the direction of law enforcement, representatives of Nike met again with AVENATTI and CC-1.  During the meeting, AVENATTI reiterated his demand for a $1.5 million payment for his client and, with respect to his demand to be retained for an internal investigation, AVENATTI stated, in substance and in part, that he and CC-1 would require a $12 million retainer to be paid immediately and to be “deemed earned when paid,” with a minimum guarantee of $15 million in billings and a maximum fee of $25 million, “unless the scope changes.”  When informed by an outside attorney for Nike (“Attorney-1”) that Attorney-1 has never received a $12 million retainer from Nike and never done an investigation for Nike “that breaks $10 million,” AVENATTI responded, in substance and in part, by asking whether Attorney-1 has ever “held the balls of the client in your hand where you could take five to six billion dollars market cap off of them?”
When Attorney-1 asked, in substance and in part, whether Nike could resolve the demands just by paying Client-1, rather than retaining AVENATTI and CC-1, AVENATTI and CC-1 conferred privately.  AVENATTI then stated:  “If [Nike] wants to have one confidential settlement and we’re done, they can buy that for twenty-two and half million dollars and we’re done. . . .  Full confidentiality, we ride off into the sunset. . . .”  AVENATTI then laid out again his threat of harm to Nike, adding that “as soon as this becomes public, I am going to receive calls from all over the country from parents and coaches and friends and all kinds of people – this is always what happens – and they are all going to say I’ve got an email or a text message or – now, 90% of that is going to be bullshit because it’s always bullshit 90% of the time, always, whether it’s R. Kelly or Trump, the list goes on and on – but 10% of it is actually going to be true, and then what’s going to happen is that this is going to snowball . . . and every time we got more information, that’s going to be the Washington Post, the New York Times, ESPN, a press conference, and the company will die – not die, but they are going to incur cut after cut after cut after cut, and that’s what’s going to happen as soon as this thing becomes public.”
Shortly after the March 21, 2019, meeting ended, and consistent with the threats AVENATTI communicated, AVENATTI posted a message to Twitter writing, in reference to an article about a prior prosecution involving employees of a rival company:  “Something tells me that we have not reached the end of this scandal.  It is likely far far broader than imagined…”  
AVENATTI, 48, of Los Angeles, California, is charged with one count of conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, one count of transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and one count of extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. 
Mr. Berman praised the work of the FBI and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and noted that the investigation is ongoing.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

Police-involved Shooting in the 111 Precinct, Queens




March 24, 2019
Remarks as Prepared for Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison
Good evening I'm Rodney Harrison, Chief of Patrol. I'm here with Assistant Chief Martin Morales, Commanding Officer, Queens North and Deputy Chief Edward Lott, Commanding Officer of Queens North Detectives.
This incident is in its preliminary stage and is subject to change and is under investigation by the Force Investigation Division. At approximately 3 P.M. officers from the 111 Precinct were alerted to a male, who crashed his vehicle into a marked police SUV, which was parked and unoccupied in front of the 111 Precinct. The subject exited his vehicle and sprayed an accelerant fluid on the marked police vehicles and then sprayed the fluid on his own vehicle. The subject then set his vehicle on fire. At this time 111 Precinct officers exited the stationhouse and approached the subject. The subject brandished a knife and charged at the officers. Two officers discharged their firearms several times and struck the subject multiple times on his torso and leg. A 12 inch kitchen knife was recovered on the scene, and the subject was removed by EMS to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Queens and is in stable condition. Two officers were removed to North Shore Manhasset Hospital for an evaluation.