NYC Public Advocate WILLIAMS' FIVE BOROUGH HOUSING TOUR: THE BRONX

  Public Advocate Jumaane Williams enters 214 East 164th Street. The 129-unit building has more than 100 violations, according to the Department of Buildings. After years of watching building maintenance services diminish and conditions deteriorate, tenants are taking action and have filed a case in Bronx Housing Court. 

"I was extremely troubled to see the issues so many residents at Concourse Village face," Williams said. "One tenant has lived with a rodent problem for nearly a decade, yet the landlord has been completely unresponsive. Others have also experienced egregious rent hikes because the landlord's abuse of preferential rents. Albany can and must address these issues by strengthening our rent laws before they expire next month." The building was recently sold, and the new owner is fixing apartments that become empty and raising rents. 

Above - The area where rats dig their way through the wall is covered up by toys.

Below - Public Advocate is with tenant Ann Marchena who says her daughter is afraid to go to sleep because she fears a rat coming into her room. 

Above - The compactor chute is sealed, and a basket with a plastic bag is used for tenants to throw their garbage on each floor.

Bekow - Public Advocate Williams decries the conditions of this and many other buildings that need new tougher rent laws that are set to expire June 30th in Albany.

Bronx Man Sentenced To 39 Months In Prison For Participating In Scheme To Take Over Ride-Sharing Driver Accounts

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LOUIS PINA was sentenced to 39 months in prison for participating in a scheme to defraud drivers of two ride-sharing companies (“Company-1” and “Company-2”) by accessing those drivers’ accounts without authorization in order to divert driver funds to bank accounts controlled by PINA and other members of the scheme (the “Scheme”).  PINA previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who imposed today’s sentence.  PINA is the eighth defendant to have pled guilty in this case.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Louis Pina was a leader of a criminal consortium that deceived the drivers of two ride-sharing companies, enabling the criminals to access drivers’ accounts and steal millions of dollars.  Hard-working men and women who worked long hours to make a living had their accounts hacked into and their hard-earned money stolen.  Now Louis Pina is going to prison for his crimes.”

According to the Complaint, the Indictment to which PINA pled guilty, court filings, and statements made in public court proceedings:

PINA and his co-defendants defrauded livery drivers and ride-sharing companies using mobile ride-sharing applications.  The Scheme targeted drivers associated with Company-1 and Company-2.  Scheme members called Company-1 and Company-2 drivers posing as Company-1 and Company-2 representatives, and deceived the drivers into providing unique personal identifiers and other information that was then used to obtain unauthorized access into the online Company-1 and Company-2 driver accounts.  Once members of the Scheme logged into Company-1 and Company-2 driver accounts without authorization, they altered information in those compromised accounts and diverted driver funds to bank accounts they controlled.  PINA personally called Company-1 and Company-2 drivers to obtain their login credentials, hacked the accounts of Company-1 and Company-2 drivers, and recruited others into the Scheme. Scheme members compromised hundreds of Company-1 and Company-2 driver accounts and stole millions of dollars from Company-1 and Company-2 driver accounts.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Rakoff ordered PINA, 24, of the Bronx, New York, to make court-ordered restitution in the amount of $198,663 to Company-1 and $243,112 to Company-2.

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 the United States Secret Service.  Mr. Berman further thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance and cooperation throughout this case, and also thanked the FBI’s Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force for their assistance. 

Attorney General James Files Suit Against Trump Treasury Department And Internal Revenue Service Over Failure To Provide Legally-Required Information

Agency Fails to Provide Information and Records Regarding the Elimination of Donor Information from Federal Non-Profit Filings 

   New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Treasury and its subsidiary bureau, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for failing to respond as required by law to records requests. The requests concern the elimination of established donor disclosure requirements for non-501(c)(3) tax-exempt groups. The revised reporting standard, released in July 2018 as Revenue Procedure 2018-38, permits non-(c)(3) organizations to withhold the names and addresses of their substantial contributors from their Form 990 or Form 990-EZ federal information return. Today’s suit, filed jointly with the State of New Jersey, asks the court to compel the Treasury Department and IRS to respond as required by law to requests for information regarding agency actions that directly impact the New York Attorney General’s ability to effectively regulate affected organizations operating in New York. 

“My office depends on these critical donor disclosure forms to be able to adequately oversee non-profit organizations in New York,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “Not only was this policy change made without notice, the Treasury and the IRS are now refusing to comply with the law to release information about the rationale for these changes. No one is above the law – not even the federal government – and we will use every tool to ensure they comply with these regulations to provide transparency and accountability."

The Form 990 represents a major component of the annual filing required for independent registration in New York, the Revenue Procedure significantly reduces the information that the New York Attorney General’s office will collect from registered non-profits operating or soliciting in the State. This change deprives the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau of information necessary to perform its statutory oversight function for thousands of 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, labor organizations, and business leagues that operate and solicit in New York.  

Revenue Procedure 2018-38 was released without public notice or comment in July 2018 and eliminates from federal and state filings an entire category of information that the Attorney General relies on to identify potential control risks, self-dealing transactions, private inurement, and criminal conduct within the New York non-profit sector. Together with Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the Attorney General submitted separate requests to the Treasury Department and the IRS on October 22, 2018, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), for documents regarding the Revenue Procedure’s origin and adoption. The requests sought agency records concerning the development, implementation, consideration, and evaluation of the Revenue Procedure, including records discussing the donor reporting requirements in effect prior to the Revenue Procedure’s adoption, historical agency review of donor information, and external inquires or other communications regarding consideration and development of the change. To date, the IRS has provided only a partial production from one of seven categories of requested material and the Treasury Department has failed to respond entirely. 

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York today, alleges that the Treasury Department and IRS have failed to meet their obligation under FOIA to provide required information within the statutorily prescribed time limit. Under FOIA, a federal agency must respond within 20 business days after receipt of a request with a determination that informs the requester of the agency’s intent to respond and the scope of the documents that the agency will produce. As alleged in the complaint, the Treasury Department and IRS have constructively denied the Attorney General’s requests by failing to respond for more than six months and have improperly withheld material that the Attorney General is entitled to review. 

Attorney General James Announces Arrest Of Two Physicians On Charges Of Health Care Fraud At Opioid Mill

Physicians Allegedly Wrote Suboxone Prescriptions Without Medical Necessity to Lure Patients to Clinic and to Bill Medicaid for Unnecessary Services  

  Attorney General Letitia James announced the arrest and arraignment of Ilya Smuglin, M.D., 50, of Rego Park, New York and Clarisse Clemons, M.D., 63, of Rockville Centre, New York for allegedly conspiring to operate an opioid mill and fraudulently billing Medicaid. Smuglin and Clemons are charged with Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance or of a Controlled Substance by a Practitioner or Pharmacist, Health Care Fraud in the First Degree, and Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree.     

“We will not tolerate attempts to fraudulently use the Medicaid program to take advantage of those suffering from addiction,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “New York is experiencing a serious opioid epidemic, and doctors that prescribe narcotics without proper screening procedures only deepen this crisis. We will continue to take on this crisis from every angle and that includes prosecuting doctors who abuse their duties and our trust.”   

The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (“MFCU”) filed papers alleging that Smuglin, Clemons, and other staff of the Miromedical P.C. and Ferrara Medical Care, P.C. clinics, conspired to create, enable, and foster an environment that encouraged and resulted in the excessive prescribing and sale of prescriptions for Suboxone. The prescribing and sale of prescriptions for Suboxone, a narcotic drug used to treat pain and opioid addiction, resulted in an influx of patients who were the means for the defendants and others to file and cause to be filed false Medicaid claims. These clinics, located at 903 Sheridan Avenue in the Bronx, and at 2738 Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Manhattan, operated as unauthorized, uncertified providers of substance abuse treatment services.   

State law mandates that substance abuse treatment programs be certified by the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment Services in order to treat those suffering from addiction. State and Federal Law further regulates how such treatment is to be conducted in order to heighten the chances of a successful recovery. 

"Anyone who takes advantage of vulnerable New Yorkers for their own benefit must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Department of Social Service Commissioner Steven Banks. “The conduct alleged in this case demonstrates a clear and unconscionable intent to defraud our social safety net as well as an absolute disregard for human dignity – and those who commit such crimes must be held accountable. We remain committed to collaborating with the Attorney General’s Office whenever necessary to prevent, identify, and report suspected fraud and abuse that amount to theft of public benefits.” 

The Attorney General’s office alleges that the physicians and their co-conspirators participated in a scheme to lure Medicaid patients to the clinics by paying kickbacks and offering prescriptions for Suboxone, an opioid that has potential for abuse. Once recruited, prosecutors allege that patients encountered the façade of a substance abuse treatment program. Appropriate and necessary medical histories were not always obtained, physicals and urine toxicology were not regularly performed, and patients were consistently provided with prescriptions for Suboxone at the maximum dose, without any effort to taper or wean the patient off the narcotic in violation of applicable treatment guidelines.   

As part of this scheme, prosecutors allege that Smuglin and Clemons regularly gave pre-signed and otherwise blank prescription pads to medical and non-medical staff within the clinics, which enabled them to hand out prescriptions, including ones for controlled substances, to patients without medical need. Once the Suboxone prescriptions were obtained, prosecutors allege that patients were regularly offered money from drug dealers inside and outside of the clinic, often in plain view of physicians and employees.   

Prosecutors further allege that relying on the accuracy of claims submitted for these Suboxone prescriptions, Medicaid and MetroPlus, a Medicaid managed care organization, paid pharmacies filling the prescriptions over $3 million in 2015 and over $2 million in 2016.   

Defendants Smuglin and Clemons were arraigned in New York City Criminal Court in Bronx County before Judge Wanda Licitra on Friday, May 3, 2019. The Defendants were ordered to surrender their passports and were released on their own recognizance. The case was adjourned to June 12, 2019. If convicted on the top charge, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of eight and a third to twenty-five years in state prison.      

The charges filed in this case are accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

These arrests are the latest example of Attorney General James’ commitment to tackling the opioid crisis from every angle. In March 2019, Attorney General James filed the nation’s most extensive lawsuit against the manufacturers and distributors of opioids and over the past two weeks, the Attorney General’s office has taken down two major drug trafficking rings responsible for flooding our communities with these dangerous drugs. 

The Attorney General thanks the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, and the New York City Human Resources Administration (“HRA”) for their valuable assistance throughout the investigation. In addition, the Attorney General thanks the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, and the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General.    

New Yorkers can report suspected fraud to the Attorney General’s toll-free Medicaid Fraud Hotline, at (800) 771-7755 or online at ag.ny.gov/medicaid-fraud/contact.

Comptroller Stringer Audit Reveals that ACS Fails to Ensure Children are Placed in Fully Certified Foster Homes

ACS has no procedures to monitor the certification of foster homes before they receive foster children

81 percent of sampled certified foster homes eligible to take care of New York City foster children were missing evidence of mandated training, medical exams and TB screenings, and background checks

ACS’s limited reviews failed to uncover homes that were erroneously certified

Stringer calls on ACS to ensure foster care providers are not in operation without fully meeting agency standards

  Comptroller Stringer released an audit of the Administration for Child Services (ACS), which found that the agency performs lackluster oversight of the foster system that leads to the improper certification of foster homes across New York City. The report found that 81 percent of sampled foster home files in Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018 were missing evidence of one or more certification requirements – such as mandated training, medical exams, background checks, and clearances. While ACS does review some foster home certifications, it does that only after children have already been placed in those homes and even then, the Comptroller’s audit found that nearly one-quarter of homes that ACS deemed compliant should not have been certified.

“Every child should grow up in a safe and supportive home, and high standards for children under the City’s care are non-negotiable,” said Comptroller Stringer. “But our audit shows that ACS’s lack of oversight enables a deficient foster care system, where children can be placed in homes that don’t measure up or meet their needs. What’s worse is that ACS is deflecting its responsibility to help ensure that foster homes are safe and supportive before a child even enters the picture. We have to do better for our youngest New Yorkers and ACS needs to immediately embrace meaningful change.”

While ACS contracts with providers to manage the process of certifying foster homes and to place and support children in foster care, ACS remains responsible for managing the foster care services – and is considered the temporary custodian of children in the foster programs. Potential foster parents and homes must meet various prerequisites set by the State Office of Children and Family Services to become a certified foster home including completing prescribed foster training, medical exams included a tuberculosis test, background clearances from the FBI and State, and a home study. Yet, ACS failed to help ensure that every foster home was fully and correctly certified to take care of children, before children were placed in their care.

• In particular, Comptroller Stringer’s audit revealed that 89 (81 percent) of 110 sampled foster home files for Fiscal Year 2017 did not demonstrate that all required training, medical checks, background checks, and references were completed before the homes and families were certified to take care of children.
• 43 erroneously certified homes were missing multiple requirements.
• Of the total 89 non-compliant homes uncovered, 80 had foster children residing in them – and more than half had been taking of care children without proper evidence of certification for hundreds of days.
• In an in-depth review, the audit found that nearly half of these certified homes were missing evidence of mandatory training and/or medical clearances. Over a dozen certified homes were missing evidence that FBI or Statewide Central Register (SCR) clearance and/or references were obtained.

Examples of Certified Foster Homes Missing Crucial Checks

In one example, a foster home in the audit sample was missing the required medical and TB screenings along with a home study narrative – yet had fostered children since October 2013. Moreover, while the home’s most recent certification had expired on January 6, 2017, a child was still placed with the foster parent three months later (April 4, 2017) and resided there for nearly a year.

In another example, our office’s review of an ACS provider’s file for a certified foster family caring for three foster children revealed that it was missing medical clearances and TB screenings for four of the five household members who resided in the home, evidence of training, and references.

In a third example, a child was placed into an emergency kinship home and resided there for over a year while the home was out of compliance. Emergency kinship homes are required to undergo an emergency home study prior to the child’s placement and a full home study within 90 days after placement – yet the home study had not been completed at all for over 11 months after the child’s placement.

ACS Fails to Catch Errors in Its Own Audits

ACS performs annual audits of contracted providers’ foster family files only after children have been placed in the foster homes, and only for newly certified and first-time re-certified foster families, to assess whether the provider is placing children into certified homes and to alert ACS if there are any deficiencies with the certification process employed by the foster care provider.

However, Comptroller Stringer’s review found that ACS’s annual audits of foster family files are inadequate, poorly conducted, and do not provide appropriate oversight of the certification process. As a result, ACS’s audit findings in this area were found to be incorrect in roughly 24 percent of foster files reviewed. Moreover, ACS did not consistently ensure that deficiencies found in the agency’s own annual audits were corrected – and as such, 7 non-compliant homes found by ACS were allowed to continue operating for up to 484 days.

Audit Recommendations

To address the lack of oversight and problems uncovered by the audit, Comptroller Stringer is calling on ACS to:

• Develop a review process that ensures foster care providers do not certify prospective foster care families until the providers have collected the required evidence to demonstrate that the families have met the City and State’s requirements.
• Set deadlines for providers to correct all deficiencies identified in the annual audits.
• Implement procedures that require staff to follow-up on the annual audits to ensure that providers either correct all deficiencies identified in those audits or work with ACS to develop a plan to correct them.
• Update and adhere to its audit methodology so that it checks for all documents required for a certification, includes all homes as part of its audit size, limits the advance notice it provides, independently confirms information about the foster family status of families selected for audit, and ensures that it selects the required number of families to audit.

To read the audit report, click here.

1 BRONX FESTIVAL PRIDE SUNDAY JUNE 23, 2019

ABOUT 

I N C L U S I V I T Y . C O M M U N I T Y . A W A R E N E S S . E M P O W E R M E N T 

The 1 Bronx Pride Festival promotes inclusion, community, and dialogue and works toward a future without discrimination where all people have equal rights under the law. We do this by producing Pride events that inspire, educate, and celebrate our diverse Bronx community.

The 1 BRONX PRIDE FESTIVAL is produced by the Third Avenue Business Improvement District in partnership with Destination Tomorrow, Boogie Down Pride, OUT Bronx, the LGBTQ Caucus of the Bronx Borough President, Dancing in the Streets, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and Clearview Festivals. The Third Avenue Business Improvement District (aka Third Avenue BID), established in 1988, promotes the growth, vitality and visibility of the Bronx’s most trafficked commercial corridor. The organization is the Bronx’s oldest BID and serves over 200,000 individuals daily. Organizational programs include economic development, real estate advisory and retail services, sanitation and security departments that augment the city’s own services, small business development services, streetscape and open space improvements, horticulture installations, robust public programming, event planning, and visitor services. The catchment area includes over 200 businesses, expected to grow to 900 businesses by 2019, Roberto Clemente Plaza, Triangle Equity Plaza, the HUB Transportation Center, Lincoln Hospital, Metropolitan College of New York, and several arts and cultural institutions. The Third Avenue Business Improvement District also administers merchant organizations in Port Morris along Bruckner Boulevard to 138th Street. MISSION Our mission is to keep one of New York City’s most trafficked commercial districts clean, safe, attractive and well programmed for businesses, employees, community residents, and visitors while leading a mission-driven campaign to demand equity for the South Bronx.

The 1 Bronx Pride Festival culminates on June 23, 2019 at 149th Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx with a multi-block street festival that celebrates the diversity of the borough. The festival feeds on the energy of workshops, trainings, gallery openings, street performance, and film screenings which lead to performances on two stages and at Roberto Clemente Plaza.

EVENTS 

The 1 Bronx Pride Festival is more then just a one-day event. The festival's purpose is to celebrate and empower area residents and neighbors through a series of community-based productions which then culminate in a spectacular multi-block street festival on Sunday, June 23, 2019. The festival and events leading up to it promote inclusivity, community, awareness, and empowerment.

JUNE 

1st   Hate Has No Business Here Summer launch of a campaign to promote inclusivity and cultural competency training to South Bronx Small businesses.

3rd   Pride Flag Raising + 

Pride Lighting of Bronx Buildings 851 Grand Concourse Bronx, New York

4th   LGBT Film Screening 

2825 Third Avenue, 3rd Floor Bronx, New York 10455

5th   Bronx Borough President and Allies LGBT Pride Celebration, 

6:00pm Billy's Sports Bar River Avenue at 161st Street

13th   Para Roberto: Cultura, 6:00pm 

Salsa Night on Roberto Clemente Plaza 

21st   Strike a Pose - Cocktails and Culture Bronx Museum of the Arts 

1040 Grand Concourse Bronx, NY 10456

22nd   My Big GAY Bronx Brunch Suyo 

1401 Plaza Drive Bronx, New York 10452

23rd 1 Bronx Pride Rally, March and Festival 

Rally: Bronx Borough Hall

March: 161st Street to Third Avenue Festival: 

149th Street and Third Avenue

1 Bronx Pride Festival

    149th + third Avenue
SUNDAY JUNE 23,2119

A production of the Third Avenue Business Improvement District.

Third Avenue Expands Hate Has No Business Here Campaign The Third Avenue Business Improvement District in partnership with 21 business improvement districts throughout New York City and the New York City Commission on Human Rights is humbled to expand the Hate Has No Business Here Campaign. The campaign has a simple message: to inspire a conversation to combat narratives that purport racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny, especially as they impact our City’s small business community. The campaign includes small business trainings center on cultural competency and inclusivity. #NOHATEHERE

News From Councilman Mark Gjonaj,

This is the time to come and ask your questions.

If you have any questions about your Post Office or Mail Delivery in 10460, 10461 or 10462, We will have Area Managers and Customer Managers for 10460, 10461 and 10462 as guest speakers

Also reports from local elected officials.