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Sunday, September 12, 2021
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress Combating COVID-19 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2021
58,138 Vaccine Doses Administered Over Last 24 Hours
43 COVID-19 Deaths Statewide Yesterday
Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating COVID-19.
"Many New Yorkers are continuing to catch COVID-19 as we work to fight the pandemic across the state. Although many have gotten vaccinated, we need to push those numbers even higher to defeat this virus for good," Governor Hochul said. "We're working to get more vaccines in underserved communities across New York—particularly among 12 to 17-year-olds—and that's why we're opening new pop-up sites and leveraging a social media campaign to get the word out. The shot is safe, free and effective, so let's all protect our friends and neighbors and get vaccinated today."
Today's data is summarized briefly below:
- Test Results Reported - 197,952
- Total Positive - 6,151
- Percent Positive - 3.11%
- 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 3.30%
- Patient Hospitalization - 2,390 (-37)
- Patients Newly Admitted - 295
- Patients in ICU - 517 (-3)
- Patients in ICU with Intubation - 275 (+4)
- Total Discharges - 195,499 (+317)
- New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 43
- Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 43,882
The Health Electronic Response Data System is a NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities only.
- Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC - 55,891
This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings.
- Total vaccine doses administered - 24,189,043
- Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours - 58,138
- Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days - 335,686
- Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose - 78.5%
- Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series - 71.1%
- Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 81.1%
- Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 72.8%
- Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose - 66.4%
- Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series - 59.7%
- Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 68.6%
- Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 61.2%
Friday, September 10, 2021
LOCAL LEADERS AND SAFE STREETS ADVOCATES CALL FOR PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS AFTER TRAGIC FATALITY IN BRONX
On Tuesday, September 7, a local community member in the northwest Bronx was killed by a bus in an intersection that has long attracted safety concerns from pedestrians.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Council Member Eric Dinowitz, Community Board 8 District Manager Ciara Gannon, and advocates for safe streets gathered at the intersection of Kappock Street and Johnson Avenue on Friday, three days after a bus struck and killed a local woman, Ruth Mullen, who was crossing the street in this location. The local leaders and advocates were united in calling for the NYC Department of Transportation to take expeditious action to make the intersection safer for pedestrians.
Council Member Dinowitz and Assemblyman Dinowitz have both spoken with the Bronx DOT Commissioner about the need for safety improvements at this intersection.
The tragic pedestrian death in the northwestern Bronx comes amidst a concerning rise in traffic fatalities throughout New York City over the past two years, with NYPD reporting 176 fatalities citywide through September 5, 2021. This number corresponds to a nearly 25% rise in traffic fatalities compared to this point in 2020.
Local residents have long expressed concern about pedestrian safety at the intersection of Johnson Avenue and Kappock Street, which is a frequently-used thoroughfare that connects the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood with nearby Kingsbridge. It is also a common pass-through for people connecting from the Henry Hudson Parkway to the Major Deegan Expressway as well as the Broadway Bridge. The intersection also serves as a bus stop for several major bus routes, including the Bx10, Bx20, BxM1, BxM2, and BxM18 lines.
Several years ago, Assemblyman Dinowitz was successful in getting a stop sign installed for northbound traffic on Johnson – alleviating a major safety concern where cars previously only had to stop in two out of the three possible directions at the intersection. Now, local residents and leaders are asking for additional improvements — suggesting that DOT consider installing traffic signals, speed humps, curb extensions, and other ideas to make it safer for people to cross the street.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said: "There is nothing we can say or do that will bring Ruth back to our community, but we can work to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again. Walkable neighborhoods are livable neighborhoods, and there is resounding support in our community to make this intersection safer for pedestrians. We need DOT to take expeditious action and come up with pedestrian safety improvements quickly."
"On Tuesday night, our community suffered an incredible tragedy when a life was taken while crossing the street, just minutes from her home,” said Council Member Eric Dinowitz. “We cannot skirt around the reality of the situation--traffic violence is a deadly epidemic in our city. We know for a fact that there are proven ways to better protect pedestrians, and we demand that the Department of Transportation take immediate steps to make this intersection safer with infrastructural upgrades that have demonstrated evidence of saving lives."
Community Board 8 District Manager Ciara Gannon said: "On behalf of Bronx Community Board 8, we send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and neighbors of Ruth Mullen. We thank the first responders of this community who rushed to Ruth's aide on Tuesday evening. Community Board 8 is committed to working with NYC DOT and community members to ensure that this intersection, as well as others, are made safe for everyone."
"Our hearts ache for all who knew and loved Ruth Mullen. Burying our partners, parents, kids and friends should not be part of the New York City experience. But this is the reality we are faced with every day because our leaders have not confronted the public health crisis of traffic violence," said Irma Rosenblatt, Families for Safe Streets member. “In 2014, My mother, Ida Rosenblatt, was struck by a speeding SUV turning the corner on Netherland Ave. Like Ruth, she was vibrant, energetic, civically active -- and merely walking near her home. Mayor de Blasio must immediately enable the redesign of the Kappock Street and Johnson Avenue intersection and hundreds of other dangerous intersections in the Bronx. Albany must pass the Crash Victim Rights and Safety Act, which includes Sammy’s Law so safer speed limits could be set across the five boroughs. The power to stop traffic violence is in our leaders’ hands. We just need them to use it."
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez raises over $300,000 for TX abortion funds
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Fall IMP-act Day: Partnerships for Parks to Commemorate the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 by Planting 70,000 Daffodil Bulbs with 1000+ It’s My Park Volunteers
Annual Fall Planting Day Doubles in Size to Commemorate the Victims of COVID-19 through the Daffodil Project
Approximately 1000 volunteers will gather in local parks across New York City on Saturday, October 16th for Fall IMP-act Day—an annual citywide park beautification day—to begin planting nearly 70,000 daffodil bulbs in all five boroughs. In recognition of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, many of these bulbs will be planted in remembrance of the victims of 9/11 through the Daffodil Project. Led and organized by Partnerships for Parks (PfP), a joint program of NYC Parks and City Parks Foundation, this year’s Fall IMP-act Day focuses on the borough of Manhattan—where the terrorist attack occurred—with hundreds of volunteers honoring the lives lost on that horrific day. PfP will also provide crocus bulbs to volunteers in Manhattan as part of an initiative started last year to memorialize the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Founded in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center with the vision of NYC garden designer and New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) board member Lynden Miller and NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and a gift of one million daffodil bulbs from Dutch supplier Hans van Waardenburg, the Daffodil Project has grown to be the biggest volunteer effort in NYC history. Run by NY4P, PfP has been a key partner since the first planting at DeWitt Clinton Park in 2001. That fall, over 10,000 volunteers planted almost 1.5 million bulbs to brighten the city after one of her darkest days, inspiring Mayor Bloomberg to name the daffodil the city’s official flower in 2007.
Thousands of volunteers participate in this project annually as a part of It’s My Park, PfP’s signature volunteer program, with hundreds of volunteers coming out on the third Saturday of October—once known as It’s My Park Day—to begin a season of planting bulbs, with nearly 700,000 daffodil bulbs planted over the last 20 years as part of the Daffodil Project. Each spring, New Yorkers across the city enjoy the bright yellow blooms as a symbol of rebirth and healing. The purple crocus flowers will now accompany this burst of color, recognizing the New Yorkers lost to the pandemic as well.
Notable IMP-act Day projects include Muslim Volunteers for New York at Ruppert Park on 2nd Ave, between E 90th St and E 91st St and Friends of Saint Nicholas Park at St Nicholas Park between W 128th St and W 141st St.
This Fall IMP-act Day comes at a critical time for parks and green spaces as New York City tentatively recovers from COVID-19, bracing for new variants and facing an economic crisis. Parks have been a place of refuge for New Yorkers since the pandemic began, increasing awareness about how crucial green space is to the overall health and well-being of the city.
This current climate harkens back to the early days of PfP, founded in 1995 to support community groups that had emerged to care for neighborhood parks in the wake of the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. With the aid of PfP and NYC Parks staff, these grassroots “friends groups” helped to transform once-neglected parks into thriving community spaces. Every year, It’s My Park programs engage more than 25,000 volunteers, and PfP now supports nearly 600 community groups working to sustain 400 parks across New York City.
“Even in the most trying times, New Yorkers consistently come together to create a better tomorrow,” said Sabina Saragoussi, director of Partnerships for Parks. “On IMP-act Day and throughout the fall season, community groups will beautify parks across our city, and many will remember the friends, family, and neighbors we’ve lost by planting daffodil and crocus bulbs in their honor, brightening city parks and bringing joy. We are proud to work with New Yorkers for Parks and our community partners in this effort.”
“Volunteering can be a therapeutic act, and the annual planting of daffodils has helped New Yorkers to collectively heal from the tragedy of 9/11,” said NYC Parks Acting Commissioner Margaret Nelson. “Now, 20 years later, more than 700,000 new bulbs have been planted in parks across the city. NYC Parks is so proud to once again join Partnerships for Parks and New Yorkers for Parks in hosting this significant tradition, and we thank all of the volunteers who have taken action to honor those who were lost, remind us of our strength in times of hardship, and make our city brighter.”
For a complete list of projects, please visit our website cityparksfoundation.org/
About Partnerships for Parks: Partnerships for Parks is a unique public-private partnership between City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks that supports and champions neighborhood volunteers by giving them the tools they need to advocate and care for their neighborhood parks and green spaces. More information about Partnership for Parks is available at
www.partnershipsforparks.org.
BRONX HONDA SALES MANAGER PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD IN SCHEME INVOLVING HIGHER FEES FOR BLACK AND HISPANIC CUSTOMERS
Defendant Must Attend Racial Equity Course as Part of Plea; Bronx Honda Paying $1.5 M to Settle F.T.C’s Discrimination Charges
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a former sales manager at Bronx Honda dealership has pleaded guilty to defrauding a customer by charging her large surcharges in purchasing a used car, as part of a scheme at the dealership that targeted Black and Hispanic customers for higher financing markups and fees, resulting in them paying more for financing than non-Hispanic white consumers. The defendant will be sentenced to a Conditional Discharge, the condition being he complete a workshop on racial equity through the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
District Attorney Clark said defendant, Tarun Mirchandani A/K/A Shawn Mirchandani, 46, of North Bergen, NJ, pleaded guilty on September 2, 2021 before Criminal Court Judge Jeanine Johnson to one count of second-degree Scheme to Defraud, a class A misdemeanor.
District Attorney Clark said, “For many people, their car is the largest investment they will make. Schemes like this lure potential buyers by advertising low sticker prices but then add large, fraudulent surcharges onto them, forcing consumers to needlessly pay thousands of dollars more for their cars. Dealers are rarely charged criminally for this kind of conduct and this should make clear that dishonest business practices in the automobile trade will not be tolerated here in the Bronx. Preying on minority community members is particularly egregious, and I am pleased that our investigation led to the Federal Trade Commission and the city’s Division of Human Rights holding the dealership accountable for discriminatory conduct.”
According to the criminal complaint, between April 24, 2018 and September 17, 2018, Mirchandani, in his capacity as Sales Manager at Bronx Honda, located at 2451 East Tremont Avenue, defrauded a single customer of $1,600 in fraudulent fees.
The investigation began in in 2016 when the Bronx District Attorney’s Office received information that Bronx Honda sales staff were adding on fraudulent surcharges to the base price of used vehicles. The so-called “air fees” often added thousands of dollars to the final cost of a used vehicle. The Investigations Division worked in partnership with the Federal Trade Commission. The F.T.C. also examined whether Bronx Honda engaged in any racially discriminatory practices.
According to the F.T.C.’s complaint, the defendants told salespeople to charge higher financing markups and fees to African American and Hispanic customers. The defendants told employees that these groups should be targeted due to their limited education, and not to attempt the same practices with non-Hispanic white consumers. According to the complaint, African American and Hispanic customers paid more for financing than similarly situated non-Hispanic white consumers.
On May 27, 2020, the F.T.C. announced a settlement whereby Bronx Honda and its general manager, Carlo Fittanto, would pay $1.5 million to settle he F.T.C.’s charges they discriminated against African-American and Hispanic car buyers and engaged in numerous other illegal business practices.
The Bronx District Attorney’s Office also worked in partnership with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and on August 16, 2021, DCWP formalized a settlement agreement whereby Bronx Honda will pay the city a further fine of $100,000 for the fraudulent conduct uncovered during the investigation.
District Attorney Clark thanked Principal Accounting Investigator James Antonino, NYPD Lieutenant Javier Valentin (retired), Detective Lionel Hollman and Detective Daniel Angen of the Bronx DA Squad, and Trial Preparation Assistant Karishma Pyankaroo. District Attorney Clark thanked Mark Butler, Staff Counsel at DCWP and Katherine Worthman at the F.T.C.
Owner Of Illegal Racehorse Doping Websites Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison
Peddler of Performance Enhancing Drugs Including “Blast Off Red Blood Builder” and “Extreme Explosion” Also Ordered to Forfeit Over $8 Million
Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that defendant SCOTT MANGINI was sentenced today to 18 months in prison in connection with his years-long sale and distribution of adulterated and misbranded drugs, including performance-enhancing drugs (“PEDs”) marketed to racehorse trainers and others in the racehorse industry. MANGINI pled guilty to a one-count Information on April 23, 2021, before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, who presided over today’s sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Scott Mangini used his skills as a pharmacist to create and supply a market for adulterated and unregulated performance-enhancing drugs that endangered racehorses. Mangini designed and peddled dozens of products intended for use by those engaged in fraud and animal abuse. Mangini’s products were manufactured in unsanitary facilities that he hid behind shell companies, straw owners, and fake prescription records. His conduct persisted despite efforts by state and federal regulators to shutter Mangini’s operation and strip his license. Today’s sentence underscores this Office’s commitment to the prosecution of those who, in their race for riches, would corruptly produce, peddle, or deploy illegal substances that endanger the animals under their care.”
According to the prior Indictments, the Superseding Information to which MANGINI pled guilty, and other court documents, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
From at least in or about 2011 through at least in or about March 2020, MANGINI and his conspirators manufactured, sold, and shipped millions of dollars’ worth of adulterated and misbranded equine drugs, including performance-enhancing drugs intended to be administered to racehorses for the purpose of improving those horses’ race performance in order to win races and obtain prize money. MANGINI, a former pharmacist whose license was suspended in 2016, sold these drugs through several direct-to-consumer websites designed to appeal to racehorse trainers and owners, including, among others, “horseprerace.com” and “racehorsemeds.com.”
MANGINI contributed to the conspiracy by, among other things, using his training to design and create custom PEDs that were advertised and sold online, using misleading labels, packaging, and return address information, including sales to customers in the Southern District of New York. Among the drugs advertised and sold during the course of the conspiracy were “blood builders,” which are used by racehorse trainers and others to increase red blood cell counts and/or the oxygenation of muscle tissue of a racehorse in order to stimulate the horse’s endurance, which enhances that horse’s performance in, and recovery from, a race, and customized analgesics, which are used by racehorse trainers and others to deaden a horse’s nerves and block pain in order to improve a horse’s race performance. MANGINI and his co-conspirators repeatedly touted illegal drugs sold on these websites as substances that “WILL NOT TEST” in the event of drug screens by racing officials. For example, MANGINI’s pain-numbing product “Numb It Injection” was advertised as a “proprietary formula and without question the most powerful pain shot in the market today AND WILL NOT TEST,” and customers were expressly directed to administer the drug by “injection as close to the event or extreme exercise as possible.”
The drugs distributed through the defendant’s websites were manufactured in facilities not registered with the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), and carried significant risks to the animals affected through the administration of those illicit PEDs. For example, in 2016, MANGINI and his co-conspirator, Scott Robinson, who was previously convicted and sentenced in this case, received a complaint regarding the effect of his unregulated drugs on a customer’s horse: “starting bout 8 hours after I give the injection and for about 36 hours afterwards both my horses act like they are heavily sedated, can barely walk. Could I have a bad bottle of medicine, I’m afraid to give it anymore since this has happened three times.” Commenting on this complaint to MANGINI, Robinson wrote simply, “here is another one.”
MANGINI is among 29 individuals charged to date in a series of Indictments arising from an investigation of a widespread scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors, and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses competing at all levels of professional horseracing. By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators, horse racing officials, and the FDA, among others, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks, all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses.
In addition to his prison sentence, MANGINI, 55, of Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a forfeiture penalty of $8,108,141.65.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI New York Office’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and its support of the Bureau’s Integrity in Sports and Gaming Initiative. Ms. Strauss also thanked the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the New York State Police, and the New York City Police Department for their support of this investigation, and the FDA and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance and expertise.
Governor Hochul Recognizes Nearly 4,000 WTC Memorial Scholarship Recipients on the Eve of the 20th Anniversary of the September Terrorist Attacks
Grant Program Provides Access to an Affordable College Education for Family Members of Victims of 9/11
Governor Kathy Hochul today recognizes the 3,723 recipients of the New York State World Trade Center Memorial Scholarship who have pursued their higher education goals over the past 20 years, in honor of their loved ones who died or suffered permanent injury as a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
"The victims of 9/11 will never be forgotten, and a college education is one of the most meaningful ways to provide those who suffered the loss of loved ones with an enduring gift," Governor Hochul said. "Our State cares deeply about the innocent lives lost during the tragedies of September 11, 2001 and it is with great honor that we offer the WTC Memorial Scholarship as one means of preserving their legacy."
Created in 2001, the WTC Memorial Scholarship has awarded more than $176 million dollars in financial aid to support the college costs of permanently disabled survivors as well as the spouses, children, and financial dependents of 9/11 victims. Administered by the NYS Higher Education Services Corporation, the scholarship covers the full cost of attendance at any State University of New York or City University of New York college or university or an equivalent amount for recipients who attend a private college in New York State.
President of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation Dr. Guillermo Linares said, "We will never forget those who lost their lives during the tragic events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Over the years, we have awarded hundreds of millions of dollars through the WTC Memorial Scholarship to honor the fallen or injured by helping to ensure a brighter future for their families. Many families tragically impacted by the events of September 11th who may not have the financial means to afford college without the assistance of New York State can now pursue their higher educational dreams, without worry or the burden of debt."
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said, "As September 11th draws near and we reflect on the immense tragedy and loss suffered by so many, I am moved by the courage of the thousands of World Trade Center Memorial Scholarship awardees. On a day when it seemed that time stood still, families of survivors persevered over the last two decades to succeed in life while never forgetting those lost. SUNY is honored to be a part of this program and proud to provide opportunity and access for so many tenacious and resilient students pursuing their academic dreams."
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said, "As we commemorate the lives of those lost in the 9/11 attacks, we acknowledge the courage of spouses, children and other family members who have carried on their loved ones' legacies in the face of immeasurable difficulty and unspeakable grief. CUNY is grateful to New York State for recognizing the transformational power of higher education and honored to help the WTC Memorial Scholarship recipients pursue the successes their fallen family members would have wanted for them."
To learn more about the WTC Memorial Scholarship program or to apply click here.