Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic - JANUARY 20, 2021

 

Four Additional Cases of UK Variant in Saratoga, Warren and Suffolk Counties Bring Total Cases to 22 

9,273 Patient Hospitalizations Statewide

1,621 Patients in the ICU; 1,044 Intubated

Statewide Positivity Rate is 6.84%

185 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Four additional cases of the UK variant were identified, one in Saratoga County, one in Warren County and two in Suffolk County. The new Saratoga and Warren County cases are tied to the first case discovered in Saratoga County. To date, there are 22 known cases of the variant in New York State. 

"Right now, we are in a footrace between how quickly we distribute the vaccine and how quickly the infection is spreading," Governor Cuomo said. "The good news - the infection rate is a function of people's behavior and right now it's on the decline, meaning New Yorkers are acting responsibly. The bad news - not only is the federal vaccine supply not keeping up with our ability to administer it, but we are continuing to see new instances of the UK strain, which is much more transmissible. I believe brighter days are ahead with the new administration at the helm and we will continue to do everything within our power to get shots in arms as quickly and fairly as possible."

Today's data is summarized briefly below: 

• Test Results Reported - 195,409
• Total Positive - 13,364
• Percent Positive - 6.84%
• Patient Hospitalization - 9,273 (+37)
• Patients Newly Admitted - 1,128
• Hospital Counties - 57
• Number ICU - 1,621 (+7)
• Number ICU with Intubation - 1,044 (-5)
• Total Discharges - 117,882 (+830)
• Deaths - 185
• Total Deaths - 33,415

Governor Cuomo Announces $130 Million Proposal to Help Highly Impacted Small Businesses with Tax Credits as Part of Fy 2022 Executive Budget

 

Proposal Would Utilize Four Tax Credits to Help Highly Impacted Small Businesses in the Accommodation, Arts and Entertainment, Restaurant and Musical and Theatrical Production Industries

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a $130 million proposal to enact the Pandemic Recovery and Restart Program to help highly impacted small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the FY 2022 Executive Budget. The Program would establish three new tax credits and increase a fourth one to help highly impacted small businesses in the accommodation, arts and entertainment, restaurant and musical and theatricalproduction industries bring back jobs to New York and help the economy recover faster. 

"As we embark on our post-COVID reconstruction, it's critical that we not only jump-start our economic recovery, but also ensure we find ways to support highly impacted small businesses that have been among the hardest hit throughout this pandemic," Governor Cuomo said. "The Executive Budget was crafted to do just that. Through the creation and expansion of $130 million in tax credits, we are working to lessen the burden on critical sectors - restaurants, the arts, and so many others - so those funds can be redirected back to the businesses themselves and get them back up and running."

The proposal would establish or enhance the following tax credits: 

• Small Business Return-To-Work Tax Credit: Provides $50 million in tax credits to support certain highly impacted small businesses impacted by COVID-19 in the hiring of additional workers through 2021. This would help employers hire workers faster than they normally would, helping reduce unemployment and getting workers back on the tax rolls. The credit is $5,000 per employee and up to $50,000 per business. Small businesses must have experienced a minimum 40 percent revenue or employment loss to qualify.
• Restaurant Return-To-Work Tax Credit: Provides $50 million in tax credits to support highly impacted restaurants hard hit by the pandemic through 2021. This credit is for restaurants that were hardest-hit by pandemic restrictions, in New York City and other areas in which restrictions were implemented. Restaurants would receive the credit immediately if they choose. The credit would be $5,000 per employee and up to $50,000 per business.
• New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit: Provides $25 million in tax credits for the jump start of the industry and the support of tourism activity in New York City.
• Extend and Enhance the Musical and Theatrical Production Credit for Four Years: In order to support highly impacted musical and theatrical productions that occur in the State but outside of New York City, the Budget extends this credit for four years through 2025 and doubles it to $8 million.

Former Construction Executive Sentenced To 38 Months In Prison For Tax Evasion And Bribery Scheme

 

Other Executives Charged and Sentenced in Same Construction Kickback Scheme

 Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ANTHONY GUZZONE, a former Director of Global Construction at Bloomberg, LP (“Bloomberg”), was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 38 months in prison for evading taxes on more than $1.45 million in bribes he received from building sub-contractors.  GUZZONE previously pled guilty to those charges, and was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman. 

In related proceedings, co-conspirator Michael Campana, a subordinate construction manager at Bloomberg, was sentenced on July 24, 2020, by the Honorable Denise L. Cote to 24 months in prison, for evading taxes on more than $420,000 in the same scheme.  In addition, Ronald Olson and Vito Nigro, two managers of a construction contractor that performed projects for Bloomberg, have separately pled guilty to evading taxes on more than $1.4 million and $1.8 million in bribes that they respectively received in the same scheme.  Olson is scheduled to be sentenced on February 3 before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel, and Nigro is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8 before U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.[1]

U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “Bribery and tax evasion impose hidden, unfair costs on the law-abiding public.  The type of criminality uncovered in this case imposes that burden widely, on customers, on employers, and on fellow taxpayers.  It is intolerable in a just society.”

According to the four criminal Informations filed in these federal cases, as well as other public documents and recent court proceedings:

Between 2010 and 2017, GUZZONE was the Director of Global Construction at Bloomberg, a global financial firm that was engaged in various building projects in New York City and elsewhere, while Olson and Nigro were executives Turner Construction, a construction contractor that performed projects for Bloomberg.  For most of that time, beginning in 2013, Campana was also a construction manager at Bloomberg.  Each of the defendants participated in a scheme to obtain bribes from construction sub-contractors, who paid kickbacks to the defendants in exchange for being awarded various construction contracts and sub-contracts performed for Bloomberg.

In all, the defendants have pled guilty to failing to pay taxes, between 2010 and 2017, on bribes exceeding $5.1 million.  The defendants received such bribes in various forms, including millions of dollars in cash, as well as construction projects on their individual homes and properties, and the direct payment of personal expenses.  Such personal expenses included GUZZONE’s receipts of several sets of Super Bowl tickets, worth approximately $8000 per ticket, as well as Campana’s receipt of charges related to Campana’s 2017 wedding, such as approximately $40,000 paid by sub-contractors to a catering hall in New Jersey, over $13,000 to a photography studio, and over $23,000 to a travel agent for airline tickets purchased in connection with Campana’s honeymoon.  Each of the defendants evaded federal income tax on this bribery income, by failing to declare it on income tax returns for various years between 2010 and 2017.

GUZZONE, 51, of Middletown, New Jersey, pled guilty on September 29, 2020, to a single count of tax evasion for the tax years 2010 through 2017.  In addition to the prison term, GUZZONE was sentenced today to three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $574,005.33 in unpaid taxes. 

Olson, 53, of Massapequa, New York, pled guilty on July 29, 2020, to a single count of tax evasion for the tax years 2011 through 2017.

Nigro, 59, of Middletown, New Jersey, pled guilty on October 28, 2020, to a single count of tax evasion for the tax years 2011 through 2017.

Campana, 34, of Tuckahoe, New York, pled guilty to a tax evasion charge on November 26, 2019, for the tax years 2014 thought 2017, and was sentenced on July 24, 2020, to 24 months in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution of $155,000 in unpaid taxes (which he has repaid), and a fine of $10,000. 

The charges against Olson and Nigro each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, and an order of restitution.  The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of Olson or Nigro will be determined by the respective judges.

Ms. Strauss praised the excellent work of the Internal Revenue Service. 

[1]  In addition, all four defendants have pled guilty in New York State Supreme Court, Indictment No. 04038-2018, to participating in the underlying bribery scheme, and are awaiting sentencing.

Attorney General James Responds to President Trump's Latest Round of Pardons and Commutations

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James this morning released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump using his presidential authority to issue 143 pardons and commutations in his final hours as president:

“President Donald Trump started his administration with unethical behavior and he will end it no differently. The 143 pardons and commutations, issued in the twilight hours of the Trump Administration, perfectly sum up what this lame-duck president has always been about: favoritism towards those who show absolute loyalty to Donald Trump. At noon today, the Trump presidency and this national nightmare will finally be over. In a matter of hours, the rule of law will be restored and our nation will begin to heal from four years of abuse, corruption, and hate. We are all counting down the minutes.”

346 Days and Counting Down

 

346 days until a new Mayor.

Second Two-Hundred Bed Single Adult Men's Homeless Shelter Proposed For Community Board 11

A proposed second 200 bed Single Adult Men's homeless shelter has been proposed for 1682 Stillwell Avenue, on the site of a closed automotive repair shop. This will be the second 200 bed Single Adult Men's Shelter sited for Community Board 11, and would be more than fifty percent of the homeless responsibility the board has. So why the need for more single adult men's homeless shelters?

I was able to ask that very question of Mayor Bill de Blasio last year where as he said that since the beginning of the new 'No Cash Bail Law' there was an increase of Single Adult Males, and Females who can no longer be held because they could not afford bail. There is a formula that the Department of Homeless Services uses to place the homeless, which is not to be more than twenty-five percent of either single adult males or females, with seventy-five percent or more families. 

While the Bronx has only eighteen percent of the entire population of the city, the Bronx houses thirty-seven percent of the homeless population. This also was brought up to the mayor by me, and his response was that the city would stop sending homeless people to the Bronx from other boroughs, that is unless it is an emergency situation. 

The sites chosen for the two Community Board 11 Single Adult Men's homeless shelters 1682 Stillwell Avenue and the 1400 Blondell Avenue need Environmental Impact Statements done on each site to see what hazardous materials are on or below the sites. The Blondell Avenue site is also a closed auto repair shop, and is next to Royal Flush, a Portable toilet company which cleans out their units on site with unknown chemicals. The Stillwell Avenue site is next to a parking lot that has partially caved in, by the 311 call center, and next to the Amtrak/Metro North railroad tracks.  

There is also the question of what homeless men will be placed in the two sites, Blondell Avenue 4- 5 blocks from Lehman High School, and 2 - 3 blocks from PS 12, while 1682 Stillwell Avenue is less than two blocks from the Icahn Charter School. Level One sex Offenders are determined to be low risk off reoffending and low risk to the public, and Level Two Sex Offenders have a moderate risk of reoffending could be placed in either or both of these homeless shelters. Level Three Sex Offenders are considered to have a high risk of reoffending, and would not be placed in either shelter. There are 2,286 sex offenders in the Bronx, 726 level one, 870 level two, 640 level three, and 50 undetermined. The Bronx has the highest number of sex offenders of all five boroughs in NYC, and any county in New York State according to Division of Criminal Justice. 

Above - 1400 Blondell Avenue

Below - Royal Flush on a normal day.

Above -  1682 Stillwell Avenue

Below - The parking lot next to 1682 Stillwell Avenue, with the 311 call center and Amtrak/Metro North Railroad tracks behind the site.

NYC Public Advocate WILLIAMS CALLS ON CITY AND STATE TO RELEASE REAL-TIME COVID-19 VACCINATION DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

 

 "Speed, equity, and efficiency are not mutually exclusive aspects of vaccine distribution - they are as interconnected as they are essential. The city and state were delayed in recognizing and responding to the disparity in COVID-19 cases and resource distribution for some demographic and geographic groups, with deadly results. We cannot repeat the same errors in distributing the vaccine, particularly in a moment when trust in government is both critical and critically depleted. 

"I have called on the city and state to transparently report the data of vaccine distribution to date, continue those reports in real time, and demonstrate a strategy for reaching high risk communities and high risk workers moving forward with the limited supply of doses available. When the administration delayed the release of demographic data we requested on social distancing enforcement, it ultimately showed what we suspected- communities of more color disproportionately harmed. If the same is true now, immediate steps must be taken to expose and address disparity. Getting the vaccine to New Yorkers quickly and safely is an incredible challenge, but with strong leadership, not an insurmountable one."

U.S. Army Soldier Arrested For Attempting To Assist ISIS To Conduct Deadly Ambush On U.S. Troops

 

U.S. Army Private First Class Cole James Bridges Provided Tactical Guidance in Attempt to Help ISIS to Attack U.S. Forces in the Middle East

 Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, John C. Demers, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Dermot Shea, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Roy T. Cochran, Director, U.S. Army Counterintelligence Coordinating Authority, announced today the arrest of COLE JAMES BRIDGES, a/k/a “Cole Gonzales,” a Private First Class in the U.S. Army, on federal terrorism charges based on BRIDGES’s alleged efforts to assist ISIS to attack and kill U.S. soldiers in the Middle East.  BRIDGES was charged by Complaint with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and attempting to murder U.S. military service members.  The FBI and Army Counterintelligence arrested BRIDGES today, and he will be presented on Thursday, January 21, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “As alleged, Cole Bridges betrayed the oath he swore to defend the United States by attempting to provide ISIS with tactical military advice to ambush and kill his fellow service members.  Our troops risk their lives for our country, but they should never face such peril at the hands of one of their own.  Today, thanks to the efforts of the agents and detectives of the JTTF, and our partners in the Department of Defense, Bridges is in custody and facing federal terrorism charges for his alleged crimes.”

Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers said:  “Bridges is charged with giving military advice and guidance on how to kill fellow soldiers to individuals he thought were part of ISIS.  This alleged personal and professional betrayal of comrades and country is terrible to contemplate, but fortunately, the FBI was able to identify the threat posed by Bridges, and today’s charges are the first step in holding him accountable for his crimes.  ISIS ideology continues to infect those who would threaten the nation’s security from within and without, and we will continue to fight this threat.”

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said:  “As we allege today, Bridges, a private in the U.S. Army, betrayed our country and his unit when he plotted with someone he believed was an ISIS sympathizer to help ISIS attack and kill U.S. soldiers in the Middle East.   Fortunately, the person with whom he communicated was an FBI employee, and we were able to prevent his evil desires from coming to fruition.  Bridges could have chosen a life of honorable service, but instead he traded it for the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence.  This case should serve as a reminder that the FBI’s New York JTTF will never quit in its commitment to protect our Nation from all those who seek to do it harm.”

Army Counterintelligence Coordinating Authority Director Roy T. Cochran said:  “Army Counterintelligence’s top priority is protecting the force so it can remain committed to fighting and winning our Nation’s wars.  The results of this investigation show the efforts of Army Counterintelligence agents working alongside our partners in the FBI.  We are dedicated to protecting our Soldiers, Civilians, and Families from terrorist acts and insider threats.”

According to the criminal Complaint charging BRIDGES,[1] which was unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

BRIDGES joined the U.S. Army in approximately September 2019, and was assigned as a cavalry scout in the 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.  Beginning in at least 2019, BRIDGES began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology.  BRIDGES also expressed his support for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (“ISIS”) and jihad on social media.  In or about October 2020, BRIDGES began communicating with an FBI online covert employee (the “OCE”), who was posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East.  During these communications, BRIDGES expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to aid ISIS.  BRIDGES then provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City, such as the 9/11 Memorial.  BRIDGES also provided the OCE with portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics, for use by ISIS.

In or about December 2020, BRIDGES began to supply the OCE with instructions for the purported ISIS fighters on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East.  Among other things, BRIDGES diagrammed specific military maneuvers intended to help ISIS fighters maximize the lethality of attacks on U.S. troops.  BRIDGES further provided advice about the best way to fortify an ISIS encampment to repel an attack by U.S. Special Forces, including by wiring certain buildings with explosives to kill the U.S. troops.  Then, in January 2021, BRIDGES provided the OCE with a video of himself in body armor standing before a flag often used by ISIS fighters and making a gesture symbolic of support for ISIS.  Approximately a week later, BRIDGES sent a second video in which BRIDGES, using a voice manipulator, narrated a propaganda speech in support of the anticipated ambush by ISIS on U.S. troops.

BRIDGES, 20, of Stowe, Ohio, is charged in the Complaint with (1) attempting to provide material support to ISIS, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and (2) attempting to murder U.S. military service members, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1114, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The statutory penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge.

Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies.  Ms. Strauss also thanked U.S. Army Counterintelligence, the FBI Washington Field Office, the FBI Atlanta Field Office and its Savannah Resident Agency, the FBI Cleveland Field Office, the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division for their assistance.

 [1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint, and the description of the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.