Free raffle for a $50 gift card to one of the best restaurants in the Bronx
Thursday, August 15, 2019
BP DIAZ SUPPORTS POE COTTAGE IN LATEST CAPITAL BUDGET
Borough President Diaz will provide the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage with $450,000 in capital funding through his FY2020 budget. The allocation will be used for the installation of roof and exterior woodwork; and exterior masonry to the Poe Cottage.
“The Edgar Allen Poe Cottage is an important piece of living history in The Bronx. In the constantly changing landscape of our city, Poe Cottage is an anchor to another time and a tribute to one of the most consequential writers who ever lived,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “I am proud to contribute to the conservation of this cultural gem so that we never lose our connection to the great Bronxites of the past.”
The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage is a historic house museum famous as the final home of the internationally celebrated horror writer. It was built in 1812 and is a New York City and State landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The cottage is currently also undergoing upgrades paid for by the City Council, which will add an accessible entrance to the structure and reconstruct surrounding landscape including planting, pavements and fencing.
“It is important that the cottage be preserved because it is the only home that Poe lived that is still standing. It is where his beloved wife died and where he wrote The Cask of Amontillado and the poems, ‘The Bells,’ and, ‘Annabel Lee.’ Preserving the past preserves our heritage, and it must be passed down to future generations as our legacy to them,” said Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan.
Borough President Diaz has allocated $65,496,400 towards 83 New York City Department of Parks and Recreation projects since taking office in 2009.
This year, Borough President Diaz’s office has provided $31,477,000 in total capital dollars to 101 different projects. Since coming to office in 2009, Borough President Diaz has provided $303,374,000 in total capital funding to 905 projects.
2019 Morrison Avenue Festival - Saturday August 17th
YOU'RE INVITED!
As you may know every year my office takes part in hosting the Morrison Avenue Festival, a well attended musical event organized by The Bronx County Fairs & Expo Association, Inc. The Morrison Ave. Festival has been around for over 15 years, featuring major musical acts and free activities for the entire family.
Every year, we combine two stages on opposite ends of Morrison Avenue. In total, both sets draw over 5,000 people, and I hope that this year you'll be one of them.
Below please find the official flyers for the event, which I encourage you to share with your family, friends and neighbors.
Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Marcos
Every year, we combine two stages on opposite ends of Morrison Avenue. In total, both sets draw over 5,000 people, and I hope that this year you'll be one of them.
Below please find the official flyers for the event, which I encourage you to share with your family, friends and neighbors.
Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Marcos
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Convicted Felon Charged with Illegally Possessing Semi-Automatic Rifle at Veterans Affairs Hospital in Chicago
A convicted felon has been charged with a federal firearm violation for allegedly illegally possessing a semi-automatic rifle at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago.
BERNARD HARVEY, JR., 40, of Indianapolis, Ind., is charged with one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Harvey illegally possessed the rifle on Aug. 12, 2019, at the medical center, 820 S. Damen Ave. in Chicago, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Harvey is scheduled to make an initial court appearance today at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan E. Cox.
The complaint was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The Jesse Brown VA Police Department provided valuable assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey B. Rubenstein.
Holding convicted felons accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy. In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, including by prosecuting individuals who illegally possess firearms.
According to the complaint, Harvey entered the Taylor Street entrance of the medical center while holding the rifle. Law enforcement officers saw Harvey in the clinic area and ordered him to drop the rifle, which he did, the complaint states. The officers then ordered Harvey to the ground and placed him under arrest.
Harvey was previously convicted in the Circuit Court of Cook County of multiple felonies, including gun offenses, and he was not lawfully allowed to possess a firearm. The rifle in Harvey’s possession at the VA medical center had been reported stolen last month from a federal firearms licensee in Indiana, the complaint states.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is punishable by up to ten years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Former New York City Correction Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Smuggle Contraband into Rikers Island Jail
Simon Gordon, a former correction officer employed by the New York City Department of Correction (“DOC”), pleaded guilty to conspiring to accept bribes in exchange for smuggling contraband into a jail on Rikers Island. The plea proceeding took place before United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon. When sentenced, Gordon faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Margaret Garnett, Commissioner, New York City Department of Investigation (DOI), announced the guilty plea.
From approximately January 2018 through July 2018, Gordon agreed to accept bribes in exchange for smuggling contraband, including marijuana, into one of the jails on Rikers Island. On July 29, 2018, DOI investigators monitoring a telephone call between Gordon’s co-conspirators overheard a discussion about a cash payment made to Gordon in exchange for smuggling contraband into the jail. Specifically, co-conspirator 2 told co-conspirator 1 that Gordon was given two “bands,” coded language referring to $2,000, and that co-conspirator 2 had “six balls,” code for six packages of narcotics, for Gordon.
On July 30, 2018, when Gordon arrived for work, he was searched and found to have a package containing marijuana concealed in the crotch of his pants. The package was coated with clear nail polish, to mask the smell of marijuana.
“Gordon betrayed the trust placed in him as a correction officer when he accepted bribes to smuggle contraband into Rikers Island, jeopardizing the safety and security of the correctional facility,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “This Office is committed to working with its law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable those like Gordon who corrupt our correctional institutions.” Mr. Donohue extended his grateful appreciation to DOI for its outstanding investigation.
“City correction officers who accept bribes to transport contraband into correctional facilities undermine the safety and security of the jails, as well as of their fellow officers,” stated DOI Commissioner Garnett. “In this case, a correction officer who pocketed cash in return for bringing in marijuana to Rikers Island is now convicted and no longer a city employee – sending a strong message that New York City has no tolerance for this illegal conduct. I want to thank the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York for its partnership in this investigation and the successful prosecution of the matter.”
The Defendant:
SIMON GORDON
Age: 24
Bronx, New York
Attorney General James Announces Conviction Of New York Doctor For Manslaughter In Opioid Death
Physician Barry S. Sloan Pleads Guilty to Providing Patients Powerful Narcotics Outside the Good Faith Practice of Medicine and Recklessly Causing the Death of a 36-Year-Old Man by Prescribing Fentanyl
Sloan Expected to Receive Four to Nine Years in State Prison
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the conviction of physician Barry S. Sloan, 61, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, for Manslaughter in the Second Degree, for recklessly causing the death of a patient, L.W, a Manhattan resident, who died at the age of 36 from a fentanyl overdose.
The Court is expected to sentence Sloan, who has no prior criminal record, to four years to nine years in state prison and require that he surrender his license to practice medicine in the State of New York.
“Doctors take an oath to heal, not harm people,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “With a raging opioid crisis, it is unconscionable that a doctor would recklessly endanger lives by providing fentanyl to healthy patients. My office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that those responsible for perpetuating this crisis are brought to justice.”
Sloan has also been convicted of multiple counts of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree and Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance or of a Controlled Substance by a Practitioner or Pharmacist, and Health Care Fraud in the Third Degree for knowingly and unlawfully selling a prescription for a controlled substance other than in good faith in the course of his professional practice to L.W. and four other former patients.
As part of his guilty plea, Sloan admitted that in August 2014, he issued to L.W.–without medical justification, two separate prescriptions for “Subsys,” a narcotic approved by the FDA to treat intense pain in late-stage cancer patients. Four days later, L.W., an otherwise healthy young man, filled the prescription issued to him by Sloan and died early the next morning after overdosing on fentanyl. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the active ingredient in “Subsys” is fentanyl, the most potent chemical of its class legally allowed to be used in humans and is 100 times more powerful than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin.
Sloan also admitted he knowingly provided false information to Healthfirst, a Medicaid managed care company contracted by the State of New York to cover the cost of medical care and prescriptions.
Furthermore Sloan, as part of his guilty plea before Honorable Maxwell Wiley in Supreme Court, New York County, admitted that between 2012 and 2016, he recklessly issued prescriptions for controlled substances, including highly addictive opioids, to four other patients, and that providing those prescriptions without medical justification caused a significant risk of overdose and death to each of these patients.
“Stated plainly, Dr. Sloan was a drug dealer in a thinly-veiled disguise, which led directly to this conviction. His opioid prescribing, in no small part, fueled the spread of these drugs, while he stole from Medicare and Medicaid,” said Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We look forward to continue working with our state and federal law enforcement partners in fighting this epidemic and safeguarding taxpayer-funded government health programs.”
The Office of the New York Attorney General encourages anyone exposed to over-prescription of opioids to seek medical care or reach out to the New York State HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY.
The Office of the New York Attorney General wishes to thank the New York field office of the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its assistance in this investigation, as well as the New York State Department of Health, Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) and Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE), the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York, the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General and the Office of the Passaic County Prosecutor, for providing valuable assistance in this investigation.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark - Cases of Interest for the Week of August 12, 2019
| Monday, August 12, 2019 | ||
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Purce, E. -- SCA Appearance | Dezmen Bias | Charged with second-degree Murder and additional charges. The defendant, along with several other defendants, beat and stabbed a man, Dwane Porter, in his apartment on June 19, 2019. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Chornobil, Y. Hornstein 96 Decision | Miriahm Palmoa | Charged with Attempted Assault in the first degree, second-degree Assault and additional charges. The defendant allegedly stabbed the mother of the children she was babysitting on April 22, 2019. |
| Tuesday, August 13, 2019 | ||
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Dolan, M. McCarty TRP Conference | Daniel Rice | Charged with second-degree Murder and related charges for the death of Kevin Thomas on October 23, 2016. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Mendys, L. Hornstein 96 Conference | Daquan Wheeler | Charged with second-degree Murder and additional charges in connection with the murder and dismemberment of a Bronx woman. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Miras, J. Michael 77 Appearance | Michael Parko | Charged with first-degree Manslaughter and Assault charges. The defendant allegedly stabbed his 19-year-old brother to death on October 19, 2018. |
| Wednesday, August 14, 2019 | ||
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Purce, E. -- SCA Appearance | Charles Allen | Charged with second-degree Murder and additional charges. The defendant, along with several other defendants, beat and stabbed a man, Dwane Porter, in his apartment on June 19, 2019. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Smith, J. McCarty TRP Appearance | Dennis Castellar | Charged with first-degree Attempted Murder for allegedly dragging an NYPD officer for several blocks at high speed with his ATV. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Borko, N. Hornstein 96 Appearance | Justin Smith | Charged with second-degree Murder and additional charges. The defendant allegedly shot Edwin Cabrera on August 3, 2018, causing his death. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Rosenfeld, P. McCarty TRP Appearance | Rafael Gonzalez | Charged with second-degree Murder in the death of Adam Garcia. The incident happened in January 2016 in a McDonald’s parking lot. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Miller, K. Hornstein 96 Sentencing | Artemio Rosa | Pleaded guilty to first-degree Strangulation in the death of a Rikers Island inmate. The incident happened on July 9, 2018. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Purce, E. -- FA Appearance | Rocky Pena Baez | Charged with Murder, Manslaughter, Gang Assault and additional charges. The defendant, in concert with unapprehended individuals, beat a man with baseball bats on November 11, 2018. The victim, Kiro Carter, died in June 2019 due to injuries that he sustained during the incident. |
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Borko, N. Michael 77 Appearance | Zaire Hebron | Charged with second-degree Murder and additional charges. The defendant allegedly fired multiple shots at a person in a Bronx park on June 24, 2018. |
| Thursday, August 15, 2019 | ||
| ADA,/JUDGE/PART#/STATUS Suminski, G. Michael 77 Defense Report | Jose Gonzalez | Charged with Murder, Manslaughter and Robbery for fatally running over FDNY EMT Yadira Arroyo while attempting to take off with her ambulance in March 2017. |
| Friday, August 16, 2019 | ||
| NO | CASES OF INTEREST | |
Please note: All court proceedings are scheduled for after 9:30 a.m. at 265 East 161st Street, the Hall of Justice, Bronx Supreme Court unless otherwise specified.
Attorney General James Leads Fight Against Trump's Dirty Power Rule
Attorney General Letitia James, leading a coalition of 22 states and 7 local governments, today announced a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its “Affordable Clean Energy” (ACE) – aka “Dirty Power” – rule. The ACE rule replaced the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever nationwide limits on one of the largest sources of climate change pollution – existing fossil-fueled power plants. The EPA’s rule rolls-back these limits and will have virtually no impact on these emissions, prolonging the nation’s reliance on polluting, expensive coal power plants and obstructing progress of states toward clean, renewable, and affordable electricity generation.
“The science is indisputable; our climate is changing. Ice caps are melting. Sea levels are rising. Weather is becoming more and more extreme,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “Without significant course correction, we are careening towards a climate disaster. Rather than staying the course with policies aimed at fixing the problem and protecting people’s health, safety, and the environment, the Trump Administration repealed the Clean Power Plan and replaced it with this ‘Dirty Power’ rule. My office, and this groundbreaking coalition of states and cities from across the nation, will fight back against this unlawful, do-nothing rule in order to protect our future from catastrophic climate change.”
Besides ignoring the science of climate change – the text of the ACE rule barely mentions climate change, much less recognizes the dire threat it poses to people’s health, the economy, and the environment – the rule disregards requirements of the federal Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act requires that limits on air pollutants, such as greenhouse gases, must be based on the emissions reductions achievable through the “best system of emission reduction.” However, in the “Dirty Power” rule, EPA has ruled out as such a “best system” the most cost-effective, proven, and successful approach to controlling greenhouse gas emissions: shifting from coal-fueled generation to less carbon-intensive generation.
Unlike the Clean Power Plan, which was modeled after successful state programs that require cleaner energy generation, the ACE rule turns a blind eye to these programs. For example, the 10-state (New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont) Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a market-based cap-and-trade program, has proven to be an effective, cost-efficient model for reducing power plant emissions of climate change pollution. Power plants in the participating RGGI states have cut their emissions by more than 50 percent, and between 2015 and 2017, these states saw $1.4 billion of net positive economic activity and the creation of 14,500 new jobs – all while maintaining reliability of service and holding the line on electricity rates.
In fact, the “Dirty Power” rule goes so far as to prohibit states from participating in cap-and-trade programs means of complying with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.
Significantly, the “best system of emission reduction” used by the Trump EPA in the “Dirty Power” rule – equipment upgrades at coal power plants – will reduce emissions by only 0.7 percent more by 2030 than having no rule at all, according to EPA’s own analysis. Further, EPA found that emissions of one or more of three pollutants – carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) – will increase in 18 states in 2030 compared to no “Dirty Power” rule.
The differences in benefits provided by the Clean Power Plan compared to the Trump “Dirty Power” rule are substantial, as reflected in the table below using the agency’s own calculations when it finalized the two rules: