Attorney General James Leads Coalition Calling for USPS to Stop Further Service Cuts

 

AG James Co-Leads Coalition of 21 AGs in Calling for End to Postmaster General’s Efforts to Delay Mail Service, Potentially Affecting 96 Percent of Zip Codes

 New York Attorney General Letitia James  co-led a coalition of 21 attorneys general and two cities in calling on the Postal Regulatory Commission to reject Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s proposal to cut services at the United States Postal Service (USPS), which would result in increased delivery times for First-Class Mail and other essential postal services. Attorney General James and the coalition today submitted a statement of position to the Postal Regulatory Commission — an independent federal agency that provides transparency and accountability of the USPS's operations — to urge the USPS to focus its attention on correcting the mistakes of the previous year, not implementing new changes that would further degrade service. The proposed changes could impact up to 96 percent of ZIP codes in the United States.

“For nearly a year now, we have had to fight the United States Postal Service tooth and nail to fulfill its mission and provide timely delivery of mail, medications, paychecks, ballots, and other essentials to Americans across the nation,” said Attorney General James. “Now, instead of fixing the problems that remain delinquent a year later, Postmaster General DeJoy wants to lead the USPS in making further service cuts that would only result in more delays. The Postal Regulatory Commission should reject these changes and direct the USPS to take action to resume USPS service to what it once was. If they don’t, we will not hesitate to use every tool at our disposal to hold the USPS accountable.”

Attorney General James and the coalition write, in their statement of position today, that despite the USPS’s claims that it “implemented a series of purported cost-saving initiatives” a year ago, the truth is that the changes “had a devastating effect on mail service.” Those initiatives included drastic changes to USPS’s policies with respect to extra and late trips and were implemented virtually overnight without any prior input from the Postal Regulatory Commission. As a result, the coalition argues, mail delivery across the nation slowed, and Americans who depended on the USPS for the delivery of prescription medication, paychecks, and other necessities were left stranded.

The coalition also argues that the increased delays also made it more difficult for the states to perform a variety of essential functions and provide critical services to their residents, including the delivery of mail and absentee ballots before the November 2020 presidential election. As a result of Postmaster General DeJoy’s efforts, the USPS is poised to repeat many of these mistakes.

The coalition reminds the Postal Regulatory Commission of the obligations and benefits of the USPS, including its commitment to prompt, reliable service of necessary, life-saving goods to all residents of New York.

Postmaster General DeJoy’s proposed service standards would slow down mail delivery for a significant portion of First-Class mail, and would significantly hinder the USPS’s mission to provide reliable service. This change would prevent New York and the federal government from delivering essential services in a timely manner, including providing public assistance to low-income individuals and families, running driver’s licensing and child welfare programs, and administering elections. In addition to disproportionately affecting low-income Americans, the proposed changes would significantly impact those living in rural areas.

The group also acknowledges the difficulties put upon postal service workers by these cuts, and how critical it is for the Postal Regulatory Commission to prevent further changes after a devastating year — pointing directly to the disastrous changes made at the USPS, last year, in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As the USPS Office of Inspector General found, last year, the July 2020 cost-saving initiatives that were implemented were done without adequate planning and were poorly communicated — leading to a rapid decline in service from which the USPS has still not fully recovered.

The coalition strongly urges the Postal Regulation Commission to reject the sweeping changes proposed by the USPS and, instead, refocus its energies on fixing its ongoing performance deficiencies.

Attorney General James has been fighting to protect USPS services since last year. Last August, Attorney General James led a coalition of states and cities from across the country in filing a lawsuit to stop the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the USPS. The slowdown had life-threatening impacts on veterans and seniors who were not able to receive medication, as well as economic impacts on individuals that had to wait for pension checks and paychecks. As the United States neared November’s presidential election, the USPS also handled a record number of mail-in ballots because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Attorney General James filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to quickly stop former President Donald Trump, the USPS, and Postmaster General DeJoy from continuing down the path of slowing mail operations in the lead-up to Election Day. In September, the court issued a preliminary injunction, national in scope, that was set to immediately take effect, but for a month the Trump Administration made excuses in an effort to avoid full compliance with that order.

In October 2020, Attorney General James won an interim order that clarified that the Trump Administration had to take every effort to restore USPS sorting machines and use special measures (including delivering mail via air transportation) to deliver election mail on time over those next few weeks.

After the USPS did not comply with the interim order, the court issued a minute-order on Election Day, November 3, 2020, in which the judge instructed the USPS to immediately send postal inspectors or inspectors from the USPS Office of Inspector General to post offices in various cities and states across the country to sweep for any ballots that had yet to be delivered and send them out immediately.

194 Days and Counting Today you choose my Replacement

 

Here's a warning to those pesky reporters who keep asking me who I am voting for to replace me as your mayor, don't ask me that question. Don't ask me any questions about the election, just ask questions of how New York City will be when the July 4th fireworks are over, and how the people love me for it. 

 

Ask me about how our public school children are going to get right back to where they should be even though they actually missed a full school year. All the bad stuff is for the next mayor. Let me see how many bile lanes I can put in, and streets I can close to cars. You want to drive a car, don't do it in New York City. 

Three Years Later - NYPD Promotes Junior Lesandro Guzman-Feliz to Explorer Deputy Chief Posthumously

Exactly three years ago on June 20th, 2018 Junior Lesandro Guzman-Feliz was attacked in the corner store at Bathgate Avenue and East 183rd Street. He was stabbed by up to  fourteen gang members of the Trinitarios gang who later admitted that they were looking for someone who looked exactly like Junior Guzman-Feliz. Junior staggered to the gate of nearby St. Barnabas Hospital where he died of his wounds. Five of the  fourteen gang members have been convicted of murder.

This was a ceremony to posthumously promote Junior Guzman Feliz to Explorer Deputy Chief. Police Commissioner Shea, Assistant Commissioner O'Connor, and Chief of Community Affairs Maddrey with Explorer from all twelve precincts, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and several other elected official and candidates in the June 22nd Primary were on hand as Leandra Guzman-Feliz received the citation and bronze statue of a policeman and a child from Police Commissioner Shea. 

Explorers from all Bronx precincts line the sidewalk in front of the memorial mural and closed store where the attack took place three years ago. 

Leandra Guzman-Feliz talks with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, as 13th City Council candidate and 15th City Council candidate stand in the background.

Police Commissioner Shea speaks about the seriousness of what happened, and attempts by the NYPD to prevent future attacks like the one that happened at this corner. In the upper right corner is the co-named corner Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz Way.

Junior Mother Leandra Guzman-Feliz tells of the tragedy, and what it has done to her, her family, and the community. 

Leandra Guman-Feliz holds the Certificate of Promotion Posthumously, while Chief of Community Affair Jeffrey Maddrey speaks.

(R-L) Police Commissioner Shea, Leandra Guzman-Feliz, Chief Maddrey, and Assistant Commissioner O'Connor holding the statue of the policeman and a boy.

100 PERCENT Primary Day 2021 Final Notes

 

We told you what we thought who was going to win on primary day 2021, and we seem to be right on the money. It looks like a two way race for mayor between Eric Adams and Kathryn Garcia, with a possible longshot in Maya Wiley. Rank Choice Voting was to make this a more friendly election\, but RCV seems to have done the opposite. There have been some nasty campaigns before, but that was only between two candidates since only two were running. In 2021 we have seen half a dozen mayoral candidates go after their opponents, and then have to defend their own viability in the mayoral race. 

When we get to Bronx Borough President one candidate has been favored more than any other, that being current Councilman Fernando Cabrera. We said he would be the winner over a month ago. We hear that the Bronx Democratic Party finally realized that the candidate many wanted to endorse can not win, and we are being told a deal may have been struck to have current Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson be the next Deputy Bronx Borough President. We think that is a very wise choice because the two council members have worked together in the city council (not agreeing on everything), but should make a fine team in Bronx Borough Hall.

City Council races. 

11th District - We have not changed from current Councilman Eric Dinowitz who should be the easy victor here. We are more interested in who will finish in second place, and if Mino Lora drops to third place with Abigail Martin in the race.

12 District - We still see a re-election of current Councilman Kevin Riley.

13th District - We still say it is Marjorie Velazquez's to lose, and we can see the only man in the race John Perez coming in a close second if not being the victor. Here Rank Choice Voting may decide the winner.

14th District. Again we see no clear winner, and continue to say it is between Pierina Sanchez and Yudleka Tapia. Here again Rank Choice Voting may decide the winner. 

15th District - We are sticking to our call that current Councilman Oswald Feliz will be defeated by Ischia Bravo. We spoke to people who said they voted for Elisa Crespo thinking she was Ms. Bravo, and Ms. Crespo is not running now. The other main factor is the third place finisher John Sanchez is not at the top of the ballet where candidate Feliz gained double the dropdown vote from Feliz being second on the ballot. Candidate Sanchez is now in the number four spot on the ballot which should mean more of his votes will drop down to number six on the ballot Ischia Bravo. The number one spot is occupied by Bernadette Ferrara who was eliminated early in Rank Choice voting in the special election, and could decide the race if she is not the third place finisher. 

16th District. It is looking like the choice of the current term limited councilwoman Candidate Althea Stevens who also has the endorsement of the Bronx Democratic Party should beat Male District Leader Yves Filus who has made a gallant try to win going all around the district, and walking with mayoral candidates.

17th District - We see a victory for incumbent Councilman Rafael Salamanca.

18th District - We see a hands down victory for CB 9 District Manager William Rivera, who is taking the district by storm leaving the other candidates in his dust. We want to see if candidates Farias and Beltzer can match their 2017 numbers getting 15% and 14% respectively.

The last race is for Two West side Judge positions. We see candidate Jessica Flores winning one seat, and the other is who can get more votes than the others in the race, since Judgeships and District Attorney races are not Rank Choice Voting. We have heard from a couple of coordinators in the poll sites we visited that people were asking how to rank the judge candidates. We will be back with a post primary column after the primary to see how we are doing, and then another column once all the final numbers are in. Final Early Voting numbers in the Bronx were 20,590, and citywide 191,197.Just over ten percent of the vote came from the Bronx which has eighteen percent of the population of New York City.

MAYOR DE BLASIO APPOINTS 3 JUDGES TO FAMILY AND CIVIL COURT AND REAPPOINTS 2 JUDGES TO FAMILY COURT

 

 Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced one appointment to Family Court, two appointments to Civil Court, and two reappointments to Family Court.

“For their entire careers, these judges have championed dignity and fairness,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I thank these public servants for their tireless dedication to building a more equitable city for all New Yorkers.”

 

Family and Civil Court are part of the New York State Unified Court System. Family Court judges hear cases related to adoption, foster care and guardianship, custody and visitation, domestic violence, abused or neglected children, and juvenile delinquency. The two judges newly appointed to Civil Court will be presiding in Family Court.

 

The Mayor appointed the following judge to Family Court:

 

Judge Tamra Walker began her legal career at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. She served there for 11 years in Bronx and Queens Counties including as an Assistant Supervising Attorney. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she served with the New York State Unified Court System for nearly five years as a Court Attorney Referee in Family Court in both Bronx and Queens Counties. Judge Walker is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and received her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. 

 

The Mayor appointed the following judges to Civil Court:

 

Judge M. Liberty Aldrich began her legal career at Mobilization for Youth (MFY) Legal Services, now known as Mobilization for Justice (MFJ) Legal Services, where she served for two years as a Staff Attorney. During this time, she, along with two other law school graduates, established a non-profit in 1996, called Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT), as a free information service for family court litigants. She went on to join Safe Horizon as the Senior Director of the Domestic Violence Law Project. She then joined the Center for Court Innovation where she has been for nearly 20 years serving in multiple capacities including General Counsel, Director to Gender-based Violence and Family Court Programs, as well as, Managing Director. She is a graduate of Harvard University and received her law degree from New York University School of Law. Judge Aldrich is appointed to Civil Court and will be assigned to Family Court.

 

Judge Cynthia Lopez has served with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services for nearly 20 years. She held various positions including but not limited to Assistant Supervising Attorney of the Queens Family Court Legal Services and Supervising Attorney of the Manhattan and Staten Island Family Court Legal Services.  Since June 2018, she served as Borough Chief of the Brooklyn Family Court Legal Services.  She received her undergraduate and law degree from St. John’s University. Judge Lopez is appointed to Civil Court and will be assigned to Family Court. 

 

The Mayor reappointed the following judges to Family Court:

 

Judge Alan Beckoff was appointed to the Family Court in 2008. He was first appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge and served in the Family Court. Prior to his appointment, Judge Beckoff served with the New York City Department of Finance and Human Resources Administration, Office of Legal Affairs (now the Division of Legal Services of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services). He also worked for the New York City Law Department for over two decades, serving as Deputy Borough Chief in the Family Court Division and as Senior Counsel in the Appeals Division. He is a graduate of Lafayette College and received his J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

 

Judge Anne-Marie Jolly was appointed as a Family Court Judge in September 2010. Prior to her appointment, Judge Jolly worked for the Office of Court Administration for over ten years in various capacities including Counsel and Chief of Staff to the Administrative Judge of New York City Family Courts, Deputy Chief Court Attorney, and Court Attorney Referee in Family Court. Prior to that, she was with the Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Division for eight years including as Deputy Attorney-in-Charge. Judge Jolly currently serves as the Deputy Administrative Judge of Family Court city-wide. She is a graduate of Boston University and received her law degree from Albany Law School.

 

Two Architects Of Fraudulent Scheme Sentenced For Processing Over $150 Million Through U.S. Financial Institutions

 

  Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that HAMID AKHAVAN, aka “Ray Akhavan,” was sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison, and codefendant RUBEN WEIGAND was sentenced to 15 months in prison, for participating in a scheme to deceive U.S. issuing banks and credit unions into effectuating more than $150 million of credit and debit card purchases of marijuana by disguising those transactions as purchases of other kinds of goods, such as face creams and dog products.  AKHAVAN and WEIGAND were found guilty of bank fraud in March 2021, following a four-week jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Jed. S. Rakoff, who imposed Friday’s sentence.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “Ray Akhavan and Ruben Weigand orchestrated an elaborate web of lies to deceive U.S. banks and credit card companies into processing more than $150 million in marijuana transactions, in violation of those institutions’ strict policies against such payments.  This massive fraud undermined the fundamental integrity of the U.S. financial system, which relies on banks’ ability to identify the nature of the transactions they process.  Now Akhavan and Weigand have rightly been sentenced to prison for their crimes.”

According to the evidence presented at trial:

AKHAVAN and WEIGAND, working with others, including principals from one of the leading on-demand marijuana delivery companies in the United States (the “Company”), planned and executed a scheme to deceive United States banks and other financial institutions into processing over $150 million in credit and debit card payments for the purchase and delivery of marijuana products (the “Scheme”).

The Scheme involved the deception of virtually all of the participants in the payment processing network, including issuing banks in the United States (the “Issuing Banks”) and Visa and MasterCard.  The primary method used by AKHAVAN, WEIGAND, and other co-conspirators to deceive the Issuing Banks involved the purchase and use of shell companies that were used to disguise the marijuana transactions through the use of phony merchants (the “Phony Merchants”).  The shell companies were used to open offshore bank accounts with merchant acquiring banks and to initiate credit card charges for marijuana purchases made through the Company.  AKHAVAN and WEIGAND worked with other co-conspirators to create these phony merchant accounts – including phony online merchants purportedly selling dog products, diving gear, carbonated drinks, green tea, and face creams – and established Visa and MasterCard merchant processing accounts with one or more offshore acquiring banks.  They then arranged for more than a dozen Phony Merchants to be used by the Company to process debit and credit card purchases of marijuana products.  Many of the Phony Merchants purported to be based in the United Kingdom, but, despite being based outside the United States, claimed to maintain U.S.-based customer service numbers.

To facilitate the Scheme, webpages were created and deployed to lend legitimacy to the Phony Merchants.  The Phony Merchants typically had web pages suggesting that they were involved in selling legitimate goods, such as carbonated drinks, face cream, dog products, and diving gear.  Yet these companies were actually being used to facilitate the approval and processing of marijuana transactions.  The defendants’ scheme even involved fake visits to those websites to make it appear as though the websites had real customers and were operating legitimate online businesses.

The defendants’ scheme also involved the use of online tracking pixels.  Because the descriptors listed on Company customers’ credit card statements often were the URLs for the Phony Merchant websites, Company customers were sometimes confused and did not recognize the transactions on their credit card statements.  The defendants and their co-conspirators were concerned that confused customers would call their Issuing Banks and inadvertently reveal the Scheme by indicating that they had purchased marijuana products and/or that they had made a purchase through the Company.  To lessen the risk that customers would be confused, the defendants used a number of techniques, including online tracking pixels to track which users had visited the Company’s website.  If a Company customer had visited the Company’s website and went to the URL listed on the customer’s credit card statement, the customer would automatically be re-routed to a webpage connected to the Company so that the customer would understand what the real purchase had been for (i.e., from the Company).  However, in order to hide the Scheme, the defendants ensured that if a third-party such as a bank or credit card company investigator visited a URL for a Phony Merchant, they would not be re-routed, and would therefore be unable to discern any connection between the Phony Merchant website and the Company and/or the sale of marijuana products. 

Over $150 million in marijuana credit and debit card transactions were processed using the Phony Merchants.  Some of the merchant websites listed for those transactions included: diverkingdom.com, desirescent.com, outdoormaxx.com, and happypuppybox.com.  Moreover, none of the Phony Merchant website names listed for those transactions referred to the Company or to marijuana.  AKHAVAN, WEIGAND, and others also worked with and directed others to apply incorrect merchant category codes (“MCCs”) to the marijuana transactions in order to disguise the nature of those transactions and create the false appearance that the transactions were completely unrelated to marijuana.  Some of the MCCs/categories listed for the transactions included freight carrier, trucking; clock, jewelry, watch, and silverware; stenographic services; department stores; music stores/pianos; and cosmetic stores.            

AKHAVAN was the leader of the transaction laundering scheme and WEIGAND was responsible for interfacing with the acquiring banks regarding the offshore bank accounts used by the Phony Merchants. 

In addition to the prison term, AKHAVAN, 43, of, California, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 and forfeiture in the amount of $17,183,114.57. 

WEIGAND, 38, of Germany, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a fine of $50,000 and forfeiture in the amount of $384,000. 

Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic

 

Statewide 7-Day Average Positivity is 0.37% -- Record Low for 24 Consecutive Days, Has Declined for 77 Consecutive Days

Statewide Vaccination Rate is 71% - 31,101 Vaccine Doses Administered Over Last 24 Hours

10 COVID-19 Deaths Statewide Yesterday

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combatting COVID-19.

"From the highest positivity rate on the globe, to one of the lowest positivity rates in the nation, New Yorkers have worked tirelessly to keep their communities safe and show up for each other throughout the pandemic," Governor Cuomo said. "With reopening underway, New Yorkers should be proud of themselves and start living life again, enjoying all that our beautiful state has to offer. If you haven't already, get your vaccine so you can live life uninhibited and go forward to make priceless memories with your loved ones."

 
Today's data is summarized briefly below:

·         Test Results Reported - 58,372
·         Total Positive - 251
·         Percent Positive - 0.43%
·         7-Day Average Percent Positive - 0.37%
·         Patient Hospitalization - 485 (-6)
·         Patients Newly Admitted - 45
·         Patients in ICU - 114 (-4)
·         Patients in ICU with Intubation - 62 (-10)
·         Total Discharges - 184,264 (+52)
·         Deaths - 10
·         Total Deaths - 42,928

·         Total vaccine doses administered - 20,605,726

·         Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours - 31,101

·         Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days - 506,571

·         Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose - 68.4%

·         Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series - 61.9%

·         Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 71.0%

·         Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 63.2%

·         Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose - 56.7%

·         Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series - 50.9%

·         Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 58.9%

·         Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 52.0%

 

State Senator Gustavo Rivera - Marijuana Licensing Workshop

 

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Please read this, so you know who is responsible for the current situation the city is in. Your children can't read or write, crime is rising at great rates, your streets are being held captive by gang members on ATV's and dirt bikes. Next you will have prostitutes on your corner after this Democratic State Senate has its way and legalizes prostitution. 

Say thank you Senator Gustavo Rivera, and the other members of the Progressive State Senate.