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Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Upcoming Bronx Chamber of Commerce Events
ASAP Mortgage To Hold Bronx Home Expo Featuring Top Industry Professionals
A.S.A.P. Mortgage Corp. will be holding their inaugural Bronx Home Expo on Saturday, July 13 th at Maestro’s located at 1703 Bronxdale Avenue, Bronx, NY 10462. Learn all about the housing experience from top industry professionals throughout the day with informative sessions and opportunities to connect with exhibitors.
“We are looking forward to holding our first ever Bronx Home Expo and educating the consumer on the multiple levels of the housing experience,” said Irene Amato, CEO of A.S.A.P. Mortgage Corp. “Throughout the day we will have top industry professionals sharing their knowledge with attendees and educating them on the housing experience. At the end of our Home Expo, we hope all of our attendees leave with new knowledge and the confidence when it comes to the purchase or selling of a home.”
Attendees will enjoy interactive sessions that will include the process of purchasing a home, a review of fair housing laws, mortgage financing and loan options, tips on selling your home, real estate investing, and a component dedicated to our veterans on the home buying process. The Bronx Home Expo will have session workshops translated in Albanian and Spanish. In addition to the sessions, attendees will have an opportunity to connect with exhibitors who will be highlighting their businesses and the services that they offer. As a special thank you to our service members, the Bronx Home Expo will be free of charge to police, firefighters, and EMT’s with the code “service” when registering online at www.asapmorgageinc.com/expo
For more information about the event and to register as a sponsor or vendor, please visit www.asapmortgageinc.com/expo
About ASAP Mortgage Corp: A.S.A.P. Mortgage Corp. was established in 2001 and is owned and operated by Irene Amato. Amato began her career in the mortgage industry in 1996, and has become a top asset to the industry. The company is currently licensed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Florida, building a strong reputation as an outstanding mortgage brokerage firm serving the lending needs of real estate professionals, builders, and individual home buyers. Having established relationships with over 40 national specialty lenders throughout the United States, allows for A.S.A.P. Mortgage Corp. to offer their clients a full array of mortgage products with the most competitive rates in the industry. For more information about A.S.A.P. please visit www.asapmortgageinc.com or call 1-866-THINK-ASAP.
ENFORCEMENT OF CITY FOAM BAN BEGINS
DSNY Begins Fining Businesses Using Single-Use Foam Items as Warning Period Ends
The New York City Department of Sanitation is reminding businesses that it will begin enforcing its foam ban law effective as of July 1, 2019, at the end of its six month warning period.
“Foam cannot be recycled, plain and simple,” said Acting Sanitation Commissioner Steven Costas. “When foam enters our waste stream, it becomes a source of neighborhood litter and can end up on our beaches and in our waterways. It’s hazardous to marine life and can clog storm drains. It’s even a contaminant in our recycling and organics programs. Over the past six months, we’ve worked to educate businesses of the new law, and many businesses have already made the change to recyclable products.”
The foam ban, which officially took effect January 1, prohibits New York City stores and food-service businesses from offering, selling or possessing single-use foam food containers such as takeout clamshells, cups, plates, bowls, coolers and trays. Additionally, manufacturers and stores may no longer sell or offer for sale loose fill packaging, typically known as “packing peanuts,” in the city.
Single-use foam items are not recyclable and are instead collected as trash in the city. The ban encourages businesses to use one of many alternative packaging options including compostable products, or recyclable paper, plastic and aluminum.
“Reducing our waste is vital to the health of our planet and our city. Single-use foam has littered our streets, sidewalks and parks or ended up in our landfills for too long,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “I am thrilled that we are taking steps to remove materials that cannot be recycled from our waste stream.”
Over the past six months, the Department of Sanitation and other city agencies have worked to educate affected business throughout the five boroughs. Outreach activities have included:
• Sent mailers to nearly 130,000 commercial addresses
• Sent email blasts to elected officials, BIDs, merchant associations, chambers of commerce, industry groups and corporate contacts, and distributors and contacts tied to mobile commissaries
• Ran ongoing social media campaigns, including #FoamBanNYC and #FoamFreeNYC
• Conducted surveys on foam during recycling and organics outreach site visits and distributed foam notices at events
• Released taxi cab video announcing foam ban in effect
• Sent nearly 30,000 foam ban enforcement warning cards to DSNY, DOHMH, SBS, and DCA Enforcement
For more information, visit: nyc.gov/foamban.
Who is Covered:
• For-profit or not-for-profit: food service establishments, mobile food commissaries, and stores that sell or use foam items
• Manufacturers and distributors of polystyrene foam packaging that are located or operate within any of the five boroughs of New York City
What is Banned:
• Single-service foam items, including cups, bowls, plates, takeout containers and trays
• Foam loose fill packaging, commonly known as “packing peanuts”
What is Not Banned:
• Foam containers used for prepackaged food that have been filled and sealed prior to receipt by the food service establishment, mobile food commissary, or store
• Foam containers used to store raw meat, pork, fish, seafood or poultry sold from a butcher case or similar appliance
• Foam blocks used as protective packaging in shipping
Non-profits and small businesses with less than $500,000 in gross income for the most recent tax year may apply for hardship exemptions from the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) if they can prove that the purchase of alternative products not composed of EPS would create a financial hardship. For more information, visitnyc.gov/foamwaiver.
About the Department of Sanitation
The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) keeps New York City healthy, safe and clean by collecting, recycling and disposing of waste, cleaning streets and vacant lots, and clearing snow and ice. The Department operates 59 district garages and manages a fleet of more than 2,000 rear-loading collection trucks, 450 mechanical brooms and 695 salt/sand spreaders. The Department clears litter, snow and ice from approximately 6,500 miles of City streets and removes debris from vacant lots as well as abandoned vehicles from City streets.
DiNAPOLI RELEASES BOND CALENDAR FOR THIRD QUARTER
Tentative Schedule Includes $7.68 Billion of New Money
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced a tentative schedule for the planned bond sales for the state, New York City and their major public authorities during the third quarter of 2019.
The planned sales of $7.68 billion include $6.43 billion of new money and $1.25 billion of refundings as follows:
• $2.18 billion scheduled for July, all of which is new money;
• $3.17 billion scheduled for August, of which $2.26 billion is new money and $910 million for refunding purposes; and
• $2.33 billion scheduled for September, of which $1.99 billion is new money and $342 million for refunding purposes.
The anticipated sales in the third quarter compare to past planned sales of $3.54 billion during the second quarter of 2019, and $9.05 billion during the third quarter of 2018.
The State Comptroller’s office chairs the Securities Coordinating Committee, which was created by Gubernatorial Executive Order primarily to coordinate the borrowing activities of the state, New York City and their respective public authorities. All borrowings are scheduled at the request of the issuer and done pursuant to their borrowing programs.
A new schedule is released every quarter and updated as necessary. The schedule is released by the committee to assist participants in the municipal bond market. It is contingent upon execution of all project approvals required by law. The collection and release of this information by the Office of the State Comptroller is not intended as an endorsement of the proposed issuances it contains, many of which will be subject to approval by the Office of the State Comptroller.
The prospective third quarter calendar includes anticipated bond sales by the following issuers: the City of New York, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, the New York City Transitional Finance Authority, the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, and the State of New York Mortgage Agency.
The detailed forward issuance calendar can be obtained at:
Find out how your government money is spent at Open Book New York. Track municipal spending, the state's 150,000 contracts, billions in state payments and public authority data. Visit the Reading Room for contract FOIL requests, bid protest decisions and commonly requested data.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
JUNE NEWSLETTER FROM STATE SENATOR ALESSANDRA BIAGGI
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Dear Neighbor,
June was one of the hardest and most exciting months of my life. Finishing the last few weeks of session was exhausting, but ending with the passage of dozens of laws that will make positive change in our community was well worth the fight. Be on the look out for a full legislative update soon detailing what has been described as the most productive and progressive legislative session in New York’s history!
This month has also been exciting for the district, filled with productive community events, special graduations, and the start of summer activities. Now that session is over, I am happy to be home in the district, and look forward to getting more accomplished for our community!
With Gratitude,
State Senator Alessandra Biaggi
NYPD 45th Precinct Council Meeting – June 6th, 2019
This month I had the pleasure of joining the NYPD 45th Precinct Council meeting, which serves the Throggs Neck community. Hearing the concerns of my constituents and discussing potential solutions to meet the needs of the community was an important opportunity to connect and be present.
Roundtable and Launch of the Healthy Terminals Act with 32BJ – June 7th, 2019
This month I sat down with members of 32BJ SEIU and launched the Healthy Terminals Act, a bill that would raise wages and require employer provided healthcare for airport and terminal workers. The purpose of this bill is to ensure that transportation terminal jobs are good jobs that actually prioritize the well being of their workers’ by paying a living wage and providing benefits that support the health of workers and their families. I owe an immense amount of gratitude to 32BJ – they are my family and I will always fight tooth and nail to to protect their health and safety.
District Housing Resource Fair – June 7th, 2019
This month #TeamBiaggi held a district housing resource fair featuring 30+ city and state agencies and local organizations committed to providing tenant and homeowner resources to support D34 families. Thank you to Roadmap 2 Health for providing healthy snacks and offering free health screenings in their mobile clinic!
2019 Riverfest – June 8th/9th
I had the privilege of spending a beautiful weekend at the 2019 Riverfest produced by the Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corporation (KRVC), hosted at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. I was joined by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Council Member Andrew Cohen, and really enjoyed listening to local music, participating in outdoor activities, and relaxing with our families. Truly a District 34 summer staple – sunset sail included!
Principals and PTA Presidents Breakfast – June 10th, 2019
This month I held a Principals & PTA Presidents Breakfast to celebrate the incredible educators and parents dedicating their time to the students of our district. This was great to hold conversation about next steps to improve our education system and the well being of students across New York state. Thank you to our host, The Woolworth Chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery, and our special guest former New York Ranger and hockey great Ron Duguay!
Civic Associations Roundtable – June 10th, 2019
This month we held a Civic Associations Roundtable with members of District 34 at Bronx House. This was an important opportunity for me to listen to ideas and concerns from the community and find ways that we can partner on building solutions together.
TIME’S UP New York Agenda Meeting – June 13th, 2019
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and I, as well as Assemblymember Aravella Simotas, sat down with TIME’S UP Activists to discuss the New York State Women’s Equality Agenda with Carmen LoBue, Leslie Ann Silva, Mira Sorvino, and Jen Klein, as well as Co-Founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, Roberta A. Kaplan. These extraordinary women came to Albany to advocate for the passage of legislation that serves to protect workers across all sectors from sexual harassment and discrimination, including #BiaggiBill S3817A to eliminate the “severe or pervasive” standard for sexual harassment and #BiaggiBill S6574 to extend the statute of limitations for survivors of second and third degree rape.
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Event – June 13th, 2019
#TeamBiaggi joined Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Bronx District Attorney's Office, NYC Department for the Aging, and the NYPD in advance of World Elder Abuse AwarenessDay to promote resources available to senior citizens in the Bronx, and condemn the recent violent incidents against elder residents.
Summer Solstice and Wellness Celebration – June 22nd, 2019
This month I was excited to sponsor the Summer Solstice and Wellness Celebration at the New York Botanical Gardens, which featured live music, gardening activities, cooking demonstrations, and yoga. Thank you to everyone who came out and spent their day basking in the natural beauty of the Bronx!
Bronx Pride Parade – June 23rd, 2019
#TeamBiaggi participated at the first Bronx Pride parade of such a large scale, starting off with a rally outside the borough courthouse, then marching down Grand Concourse, and ending with a block party on 3rd Avenue!
The Bronx High School for the Visual Arts Graduation – June 26th, 2019
It was an honor to be the keynote speaker at the Bronx High School for the Visual Arts graduation. Thank you for the beautiful artwork that I will proudly display in my office. Congratulations to the class of 2019, and a special shoutout to former intern and graduating senior Laura!
Lunch with Women of Serbian Parliament – June 26th, 2019
Sat down for lunch with several female members of the Serbian Parliament, facilitated by the U.S. Embassy of Belgrade, including Aleksandra Maletic, Dusica Stojkovic, Milena Bicanin, Natasa Vuckovic, Jelena Vujic-Obradovic. It’s so exciting to have the opportunity to share ideas and learn from global women in leadership roles, dedicated to making positive change in their communities.
Herbert H. Lehman High School Graduation – June 26th, 2019
I had the privilege of delivering the keynote speech at the Herbert H. Lehman High School graduation this year. Principal Powers asked the entire class of 2019 to stand and say "I am a leader" before passing out the diplomas and it was truly a powerful moment to witness. Thank you for allowing me to share in this special day – go Lehman Lions!
The items listed have been left out intentionally, because the title "Press Clips" is used in the Bronx Chronicle by the Bronx Chronicle political reporter Robert Press.
Due to the Senate closure on July 5th in observance of the holiday weekend, our First Friday event is cancelled for the month of July. Looking forward to seeing everyone in August at our new office space, details to come!
EDITOR'S NOTE:
As we went down this Newsletter from Senator Biaggi, it only covers the month of June. What was Senator Biaggi doing for the first five months? We wonder if Senator Biaggi's Chief of Staff (who quit May 15th) and Deputy Chief of Staff (who was fired May 31st) have been replaced and by whom?
We see small crowds at community events that Senator Biaggi did attend, and of course we see the union 32BJ prominently displayed, but wonder what Airport or Airport Terminal is in the 34th State Senate District. We are sure the answer will be there are workers, but how many and where? We question the placement of an outdated June Bus Redesign Plan, and have not listed other upcoming events.
We will say that the PS 83 District Housing Resource Fair was very successful, and go to https://thebronxchronicle.com/2019/06/09/senator-biaggi-holds-housing-resource-fair/ for a photo of Senator Biaggi inside talking to members of the Bronx District Attorney's office.
Finally, we are disturbed that Senator Biaggi was not original in the idea to use the name 'Press Clips', which is used in the Bronx Chronicle by the Bronx Chronicle political reporter Robert Press.
Attorney General James Announces Settlement With Dating App For Failure To Secure Private And Nude Photos
Users Promised Nude Photos Would be Kept Private When Company Knew Photos
Were Vulnerable to Exposure
Online Buddies Required to Pay $240,000 and Make Substantial Changes to Improve Security
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with Online Buddies, Inc. (Online Buddies) for failure to protect private photos of users of its ‘Jack’d’ dating application (app), and the nude images of approximately 1,900 users in the gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Although the company represented to users that it had security measures in place to safeguard users’ information, and that certain photos would be marked “private,” the company failed to implement reasonable protections to keep those photos private, and continued to leave security vulnerabilities unfixed for a year after being alerted to the problem.
“This app put users’ sensitive information and private photos at risk of exposure and the company didn’t do anything about it for a full year just so that they could continue to make a profit,” said Attorney General James. “This was an invasion of privacy for thousands of New Yorkers. Today, millions of people across the country — of every gender, race, religion, and sexuality — meet and date online every day, and my office will use every tool at our disposal to protect their privacy.”
Jack’d has approximately 7,000 active users in New York and claims to have hundreds of thousands of active users worldwide, and is marketed as a tool to help men in the LGBTQIA+ community meet and form connections, date, and establish other intimate relationships.
The Jack’d app’s interface has explicitly and implicitly represented that the private pictures feature can be used to exchange nude images securely and, more importantly, privately. App users are presented with two screens when uploading photos of themselves: one for photos designated as “public” and another for photos designated for “private” viewership.
The Jack’d app gives users the choice to post photos on a public page that is viewable to all users, or a private page that is not viewable to anyone who users have not unlocked photos for.
The app’s public photos screen displays a message stating, “[T]ake a selfie. Remember, no nudity allowed.” However, when the user navigates to the private photos screen, the message about nudity being prohibited disappears, and the new message focuses on the user’s ability to limit who can see private pictures by specifically stating, “Only you can see your private pictures until you unlock them for someone else.”
The Jack’d app contains settings to unlock and re-lock private pictures, indicating that users are in complete control of who can and cannot view private photos. Additionally, Online Buddies’ marketing — including videos on the company’s official YouTube channel — explicitly stated that the app helped some users privately exchange intimate information.
Online Buddies specifically violated the trust of its customers by breaking the app’s user privacy policy, which says the company takes “reasonable precautions to protect personal information from…unauthorized access [or] disclosure.” This agreement was crucially important with Jack’d users since 2017 customer polls showed that these customers cared most about privacy, partly in response to increased bullying and hate crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community since the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Privacy and security have proven to be especially important to users in the Black, Asian, and Latinx communities because of the greater perceived risk of anti-gay discrimination within each respective community. A June 2018 study by the University of Chicago surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 1,750 young adults, aged 18-34, about discrimination, finding that 27-percent of whites reported “a lot” of discrimination against gays in their racial community, compared to 43-percent of Blacks, 53-percent of Asians, and 61-percent of Latinx. Approximately 80-percent of Jack’d users are individuals of color and had reason to fear discrimination from the exposure of their personal information or private photographs.
The investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office confirmed that Online Buddies failed to secure data — including users’ private photos — that the company had stored using Amazon Web Services Simple Storage Service (S3). The investigation also confirmed that senior management of Online Buddies had been told in February 2018 of this vulnerability, and of another vulnerability caused by the failure to secure the app’s interfaces to backend data. These vulnerabilities could have exposed certain personally identifiable information for Jack’d users, including location data, device ID, operating system version, last login date, and hashed password. Together, the culmination of these vulnerabilities created a risk of unauthorized access to a user’s private photos (which may have included nude images), public photos (which may have included the user’s face), and personally identifying information (including their location, device ID, and when they last used the app).
While Online Buddies immediately recognized the seriousness of its vulnerabilities, the company failed to fix the problems for an entire year, and only after repeated inquiries from the press. During the period that Online Buddies knew about the vulnerabilities but had not yet fixed them, the company also failed to implement any stopgap protections, establish logging to detect any unauthorized access, warn Jack’d users, or change representations about the privacy of their private photos and the security of their personally identifiable information.
Between February 2018 and February 2019, Jack’d had approximately 6,962 active users in New York State, of whom approximately 3,822 had one or more private photos. Given the sensitive nature of private photos, investigators within the New York State Attorney General’s Office did not review specific images and thus could not determine exactly what proportion of such photos were nudes. However, after conferring with those familiar with Jack’d and other similar apps, investigators gathered that roughly half — or approximately 1,900 Jack’d users in New York — had private images that could be nude photographs.
As part of the settlement with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, Jack’d will pay the state $240,000, as well implement a comprehensive security program to protect user information and ensure that any future vulnerabilities are addressed promptly.