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Thursday, December 19, 2019
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR DE BLASIO ON THE IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
THE CITY OF NEW YORK
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
NEW YORK, NY 10007
“Donald Trump has time and time again put his personal interests above the needs of our country, sacrificing the integrity of our democracy, putting us at risk and damaging our relationships abroad. With today’s vote, the United States House of Representatives is performing their constitutional duty to ensure that no one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law. I especially want to thank Congressman Jerrold Nadler and other leaders from New York’s congressional delegation who have been unrelenting in seeking the truth and ensuring that justice prevails. Today is a solemn day in the history of the United States, but we can be proud that our democracy has prevailed.”
EDITOR'S NOTE:
It is to bad the New York City Council can not Impeach Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The Mayor may be removed from office by the Governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense. Pending the preparation and disposition of charges, the governor may suspend the mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days.
New York City Charter page 2- Chapter One -The Mayor S 9. Removal of Mayor.
MAYOR DE BLASIO RELEASES FIRST 14th STREET BUSWAY REPORT
Since pilot began in October, bus speeds and ridership have dramatically surged
Mayor Bill de Blasio today released the first data analysis following the implementation of the Transit & Truck Priority (TTP) Pilot along Manhattan’s 14th Street in October 2019. The report shows that ridership and travel speeds along the M14 ‘busway” have increased dramatically, with minimal effect on area traffic. Specifically, bus riders’ crosstown commutes along the M14 are now as much as nine minutes faster while trips in other vehicles along most adjacent streets are less than a minutes lower. Bicycling around the 14th street corridor, where DOT built new protected bike lanes in 2018 along 12th and 13th Streets, has also surged in popularity including on Citi Bikes.
“It’s a new day on 14th street. We are getting New Yorkers moving and saving them time for the things that matter,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “The early results show that this pilot is speeding up buses while allowing for the car drop-offs and deliveries the neighborhood requires. Under our Better Buses plan, we are making changes citywide to fight congestion and to give people faster and more reliable transit.”
“These initial results are very encouraging and promising, showing the positive impacts when New Yorkers are given reliable, affordable, and faster transit,” said Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin. “We will continue to monitor the data from this pilot and are excited to see the enthusiasm New Yorkers have expressed for this busway.”
“I want to thank the Mayor, whose leadership helped make the 14th St. Transit and Truck Priority Street a success, as we can see from this first independent status report,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We at DOT are proud that we could help provide thousands of New Yorkers with a triple-win: safer, more sustainable, and faster transportation choices. And while we will continue to work with NYCT and NYPD to make traffic and operational adjustments in and around the pilot area as needed, we thank all the New Yorkers who have shared their enthusiasm for a new and improved 14th Street.”
“We are serious about improving bus service and we need to take bold steps like this to do that,” said Andy Byford, President of MTA New York City Transit. "The 14th Street Busway is wildly popular with riders enjoying 30-40% faster trips, and that should be replicated throughout the city. The 14th Street experience proves that dedicated enforced bus priority makes buses the desired mode to get New Yorkers where they want to go — a major victory for our customers and the environment."
“After years of falling ridership, I'm thrilled that people are taking the M14 bus again in big numbers. I'm encouraged by the initial data and I look forward to working closely with DOT and all stakeholders during the course of this pilot program,” said Speaker Corey Johnson.
The TTP pilot limits crosstown traffic along 14th Street to buses and trucks, but does allow drop-offs from cars as long as drivers take the next available right turn. The pilot took effect on October 3, following the start of M14A/D Select Bus Service on July 1, 2019. The analysis, conducted by Sam Schwartz Engineering and reviewed by DOT, compares data from May/October 2018 to October 2019, the first of several monitoring reports that will be prepared over the course of the pilot project. The initial data, the first of regular quarterly reports, had the following major findings:
M14 A/D SBS bus speeds and ridership have significantly increased:
- Using MTA data, the analysis found travel times along the corridor improved at a rate of 22 to 47%, highlighted by a travel time savings of as much as 9.7 minutes end-to-end for riders in the eastbound direction.
- These speed gains exceed the goal of 25% improvement articulated in Mayor de Blasio’s Better Buses plan.
- At the same time, MTA reports that ridership on the M14 A/D has surged by 24%, with greater gains (30%) on weekends. These changes reverse a five-year trend of declining ridership on this route.
Car traffic on adjacent streets slowed in some cases, but by small amounts:
- DOT closely studied local side streets a particular emphasis of the study and the results showed that travel times on 12th through 19th Streets increased by 0-2 minutes during weekday peak hours, though 17th Street saw a 3.4 minute increase in travel time between 3rd and 9th Avenues.
- At the same time, the volume of vehicles on 12th Street saw very little change and decreased on 13th Streets.
- Travel times on most nearby avenues have improved or have minor increases of less than 1 minute with the exception of 3rd Avenue (the east end of the busway), which saw a slightly longer travel time of 1.6 minutes.
Bike ridership, including on Citi Bike, has surged:
· With no increase in capacity in the community, Citi Bike reported a one-year 17% increase in usage on 14th Street and surrounding streets during the weekday AM peak, outpacing its growth elsewhere in New York City.
· Meanwhile, bike volumes along 12th and 13th Streets, where DOT installed protected bike lanes in late 2018, increased over one year by as much as 234%.
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Bronx Gang Member Convicted Of 2011 Murder Of Bolivia Beck
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that KAREEM DAVIS, a/k/a “Reem,” a member of a violent, Bronx-based street gang known as “Killbrook,” was convicted of the April 2011 murder of Bolivia Beck, as well as participating in a racketeering conspiracy. DAVIS was convicted following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “A unanimous jury convicted Kareem Davis of killing Bolivia Beck as she was meeting her boyfriend’s grandparents, more than eight years ago. We hope today’s verdict brings some solace to the victim’s family, while also taking a violent offender off the street.”
As reflected in the Indictment, documents previously filed in the case, and evidence introduced at trial:
From at least in or about 2007 through in or about October 2017, DAVIS was a member of Killbrook, a violent street gang based in the “Down the Block” section of the Mill Brook Houses. Killbrook members were responsible for narcotics trafficking, shootings, robberies, and murder. In or around 2007, a violent rivalry started between Killbrook and “MBG,” another gang based in the “Up the Block” section of the Mill Brook Houses. This rivalry involved numerous shootings and acts of violence, including a shooting at a baby shower in the Mill Brook community center.
On April 18, 2011, Bolivia Beck and her boyfriend, a member of MBG, were walking through the Mill Brook Houses. As Beck and her boyfriend approached her boyfriend’s grandparents, DAVIS and a co-conspirator fired multiple times, aiming for the boyfriend but instead striking Beck in the head with a single bullet. The shooting occurred in broad daylight. Beck died two days later from the gunshot wound.
DAVIS, 30, was found guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; one count of murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison; and one count of murder through the use of a firearm, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. DAVIS is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16, 2020.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Files Lawsuit Against Omnicare, Country’s Largest Long-Term Care Pharmacy, And Parent Company CVS For Fraudulently Billing For Drugs
Dispensed To Elderly And Disabled Individuals Without Valid Prescriptions
Suit Alleges Omnicare Dispensed Hundreds of Thousands of Drugs without Valid Prescriptions to Individuals Living in Assisted Living and Other Non-Skilled Residential Long-Term Care Facilities
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), announced today that the United States has filed a civil healthcare fraud lawsuit against OMNICARE, INC., and its parent company, CVS HEALTH CORPORATION. The Government’s Complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act for fraudulently billing federal healthcare programs for hundreds of thousands of non-controlled prescription drugs dispensed based on stale, invalid prescriptions to elderly and disabled individuals. These individuals lived in assisted living facilities, group homes, independent living communities, and other non-skilled residential long-term care facilities. The illegally dispensed drugs include antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and antidepressants.]
The lawsuit alleges that OMNICARE failed to obtain new prescriptions from patients’ doctors after the old ones had expired or run out of refills. Instead, OMNCIARE just assigned a new number to the old prescription and kept on dispensing drugs for months, and sometimes years, after the prescriptions had expired. OMNICARE internally referred to these as “rollover” prescriptions. As set forth in the Complaint, OMNICARE submitted, or caused to be submitted, false claims for payment for these illegally dispensed drugs to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, Omnicare put at risk the health of tens of thousands of elderly and disabled individuals living in assisted living and other residential long-term care facilities by dispensing drugs for months, and sometimes years, without obtaining current, valid prescriptions from doctors. A pharmacy’s fundamental obligation is to ensure that drugs are dispensed only under the supervision of treating doctors who monitor patients’ drug therapies. Omnicare blatantly ignored this obligation in favor of pushing drugs out the door as quickly as possible to make more money. This Office will continue to hold accountable those who put at risk people’s health and safety just to turn a profit.”
HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert said: “Failing to consult doctors as to whether prescriptions should be refilled places patients’ health and medical care at serious risk. These automatic rollover refills could have significant consequences for vulnerable people in long term-care facilities. We will continue working with law enforcement partners to protect people depending on these taxpayer-funded government health programs.”
The following allegations are based on the Complaint that was filed in Manhattan federal court today:
OMNICARE is the country’s largest provider of pharmacy services to long-term care facilities, operating approximately 160 pharmacies in 47 states across the United States. Every year, OMNICARE dispenses tens of millions of prescription drugs to long-term care facilities, including assisted living and other non-skilled residential facilities that serve elderly and disabled individuals. CVS acquired Omnicare in May 2015, and shortly thereafter assumed an active role in overseeing OMNICARE’s operations, including pharmacy dispensing practices and systems.
From 2010 until 2018, OMNICARE and CVS allowed OMNICARE pharmacies to dispense non-controlled prescription drugs to tens of thousands of elderly and disabled individuals living in assisted living and other residential long-term care facilities across the country based on prescriptions that had expired, were out of refills, or were otherwise invalid. OMNICARE repeatedly disregarded prescription refill limitations and expiration dates that would have triggered doctor visits to evaluate whether the drug should be renewed, choosing instead to push drugs out the door as fast as possible based on stale, invalid prescriptions. OMNICARE managers exerted pressure on overwhelmed pharmacy staff to fill prescriptions quickly so that OMNICARE could submit claims and collect payments. Many pharmacies had to process and dispense thousands of orders each day.
Instead of requesting new prescriptions when old ones expired, OMNICARE allowed prescriptions to “roll over.” At OMNICARE, “rolling over” a prescription meant that when a prescription expired, OMNCIARE’s computer systems would assign the old prescription a new number and the pharmacy would continue to dispense the drug indefinitely without the need for a prescription renewal. Depending on the computer system used, OMNICARE also sometimes assigned a fake number of authorized refills to a prescription – usually 99 allowable refills for Medicare patients – to allow for continuous refilling. OMNICARE pharmacies “rolled over” prescriptions for elderly and disabled individuals living in more than 3,000 residential long-term care facilities, including assisted living facilities operated by the largest long-term care providers in the country, such as Brookdale Senior Living, Atria Senior Living, Sunrise Senior Living Services, and Five Star Senior Living.
Senior OMNICARE and CVS management knew that pharmacies were routinely dispensing drugs without valid prescriptions, but they failed to begin to address the problem until after they found out about this Office’s investigation. Indeed, OMNICARE’s Compliance Department succinctly acknowledged the problem in an internal April 2015 email in which one Regional Compliance Officer stated: “An issue that I am running into more and more in multiple states concerns the ability of our systems to allow prescriptions to continue to roll after a year to a new prescription number without any documentation or pharmacist intervention.” A compliance officer then forwarded the email to the head of OMNICARE’s Third Party Audit group, who responded that she had a “potential solution (programmed last year) but no one is rolling it out now.”
OMNICARE’s practice of illegally dispensing drugs to elderly and disabled individuals living in residential facilities exposed these vulnerable individuals to a significant risk of harm. In contrast to traditional skilled nursing homes, where residents have access to 24-hour medical care supervised by doctors, assisted living and other non-skilled residential facilities offer more limited medical care, or none at all. In particular, these facilities generally do not have doctors on staff to oversee and monitor residents’ drug therapy.
Many of the prescription drugs dispensed by OMNICARE without valid prescriptions treat serious, chronic conditions, such as dementia, depression, and heart disease. They include antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, cardiovascular medications, anti-depressants, and other drugs that can have dangerous side effects and need to be closely monitored by doctors, particularly when taken in combination with other drugs by elderly patients. By repeatedly dispensing potent drugs without current and valid prescriptions, OMNICARE jeopardized the health and safety of tens of thousands of individuals who continued to take the same drugs for months, and sometimes years, without consulting their doctors to determine whether the medications were still clinically appropriate.
A large percentage of the long-term care residents served by OMNICARE are beneficiaries of federal healthcare programs. By dispensing drugs without valid prescriptions, OMNICARE presented, or caused to be presented, hundreds of thousands of false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. These claims were ineligible for payment. In addition, OMNICARE knowingly transmitted false information to these federal healthcare programs that made it appear that drug dispensations were supported by current, valid prescriptions from physicians when in fact they were not.
The Government intervened in two private whistleblower lawsuits before Chief Judge Colleen McMahon that had previously been filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act.
Mr. Berman thanked HHS-OIG for its assistance with the case.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey K. Powell and Mónica P. Folch are in charge of the case.
AG James, Comptroller Stringer, And 32Bj President Bragg Return More Than $400,000 In Recovered Wages To Building Service Workers
AG James, Comptroller Stringer, And 32Bj President Bragg Return More Than $400,000 In Recovered Wages To Building Service Workers
Attorney General Letitia James, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, and 32BJ SEIU President Kyle Bragg today distributed more than $400,000 in back wage plus interest to 11 building service employees who were cheated out of their prevailing wages for work at a luxury apartment building in Downtown Brooklyn. In November 2019, Attorney General James and Comptroller Stringer announced a historic $2.9 million settlement with the developers and landlords of 180 Nassau Street, Brooklyn Warehouse 180 LLC and Mica Gabe Brooklyn LLC, for willfully violating prevailing wage requirements under the New York State Section 421-a tax exemption program by underpaying building service employees and withholding supplemental benefits. The workers at the building were represented by whistleblower 32BJ SEIU, who notified the Attorney General’s Office and the City Comptroller’s Office about the violations.
The settlement, which provided recompense for the building service employees, was approved by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), which administers the tax exemption program in the City of New York. The 11 workers received various amounts based upon their hours worked and date of hire, ranging from $5,500 to $80,000.
“There is zero tolerance for cheating workers out of their hard-earned pay,” said Attorney General James. “As a result of our investigation, we were able to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars for these workers – payment that they should have received long ago. I thank the Comptroller and 32BJ for their partnership in holding these bad actors accountable and ensuring that our workers get the pay they deserve.”
“In New York City, the dignity of work matters and we will never stand idle when hard-working New Yorkers are exploited or underpaid,” said Comptroller Stringer. “Today, these 32BJ SEIU members received the wages they earned and the justice they deserve – and we’re sending a clear message to unscrupulous developers, contractors and landlords that they better follow the rules when they get millions of dollars in property tax breaks. I am proud of the collaborative effort between my office, the Attorney General’s Office, HPD and 32 BJ SEIU, which allowed us to recover these wages and put them back where they belong — in the hands of working New Yorkers to provide for their families, just in time for the holidays.”
A joint investigation conducted by the Office of the New York Attorney General and the Office of the New York City Comptroller revealed that, in 2014, defendant Mica Gabe fraudulently induced the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to issue a Section 421-a partial tax exemption for the Brooklyn property, based on Mica Gabe’s false assurance that building service employees would be paid prevailing wages, but the two defendants failed to pay the applicable wages to employees between August 2014 and March 2016. In fact, less than two weeks after certifying to HPD that they would pay the building service employees prevailing wages, Mica Gabe began hiring doormen, porters, and a superintendent for the 180 Nassau Street property and paying them wages lower than required by law.
"Attorney General James, Comptroller Stringer, we thank you for upholding the law on behalf of working New Yorkers,” said 32BJ SEIU President Kyle Bragg. “This is a huge victory, not only for the hardworking men and women who have kept Brooklyn Warehouse clean, safe and functioning for tenants, but also for the families and communities that rely on them. The back wages will help Brooklyn Warehouse’s concierge, superintendent, doormen, porters and other building service workers get back on their feet after being grossly underpaid. This also sends a clear message to employers across the city that workers’ wages and benefits must be paid properly. It’s not an option to break the law at the expense of working people in our state."
“Today, these workers who were not given their due were made whole thanks to the City and State’s joint enforcement efforts,” New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Louise Carroll said. “I commend the Office of the Attorney General and the Comptroller for their work to do right by this city’s workers and ensure that property owners across New York know that if they violate the law there will be consequences.”
Section 421-a of the New York Real Property Tax Law grants tax breaks on certain new multi-unit residential buildings. To qualify, Section 421-a requires that any project receiving the tax exemption be subject to local rent stabilization laws and — where projects contain at least 30 units — requires developers to either pay prevailing wages to building service workers or set aside a number of affordable housing units.
For their violations of Section 421-a and the New York False Claims Act, the two defendants paid the full back wages to workers, along with 16-percent interest, in addition to over $2.5 million in damages to the city and state. Union 32BJ SEIU, the whistleblower that came forward to report the fraud, also received a percentage of the damages to be paid.
In connection with the November 2019 settlement, the defendants admitted to violating the New York False Claims Act, as well as a willful violation of the Section 421-a prevailing wage regulations. In addition, Brooklyn Warehouse is required to ensure that the prevailing wage regulations are followed in the future by providing the Office of the Attorney General with annual wage reports, and must show that any subsequent purchaser has agreed to comply with the prevailing wage requirements of Section 421-a.
The 10-story luxury apartment building at 180 Nassau Street in Downtown Brooklyn includes 103 luxury rental units with a 24-hour concierge-attended lobby, as well as a superintendent, doormen, porters, and other building service employees who service and maintain the property.
The Office of the New York Attorney General wishes to thank the Office of the New York City Comptroller, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Corporation Counsel for their valuable assistance in this investigation. The investigation began after local union 32BJ SEIU notified the Attorney General's Office of the underpayment of wages and fraudulent inducement of Section 421-a tax exemptions, filing a suit under the New York False Claims Act.
BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR FATALLY SHOOTING EX-GIRLFRIEND’S NEW BOYFRIEND
Defendant Pleaded Guilty to Second-Degree Murder
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend’s new
boyfriend.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant entered his ex-girlfriend’s home through the
bedroom window and shot the victim, who was trying to help the woman escape. As the victim
lay on the floor, the defendant shot him again in the head. I hope the victim’s family and the
witness to this horrific crime will have a measure of justice with this prison sentence.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Angel Freites, 29, of 2020 Grand Avenue, was
sentenced today to 15 years to life in prison by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Hornstein.
The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree Murder on November 14, 2019.
According to the investigation, at about 9 p.m. on June 20, 2018, the defendant entered the
fourth-floor apartment where his ex-girlfriend lived, at 1801 University Avenue, through the
bedroom window. Inside the bedroom he saw the victim, Lennin Taveras, 30, with the woman,
and demanded to know why she brought a man into the house. The victim urged his girlfriend to
run and Freites shot him multiple times, including once in the chest and one shot to the temple.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. After Freites shot Taveras he forced his exgirlfriend to come with him to 2020 Grand Avenue, where the defendant was staying with his
family members. The defendant then fled, and she called 911. The defendant turned himself in to
authorities on July 6, 2018.
District Attorney Clark thanked Detective Stephanie Cepeda of the
46th Precinct and Detective Sean Butler of Bronx Homicide for their assistance in the
investigation.