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Monday, September 20, 2021
Bronx Dems - Annual Dinner Gala Honorees & Tickets Wednesday September 29th
New York State Office for New Americans and CanCode Communities Announce Fall Schedule for Digital Literary Training
NewAmericansCanCode Offers Digital Literacy and Advanced Computer Training for Immigrants
Program Developed in Partnership Between ONA and CanCodeCommunities Enables New Americans to Gain Essential Computer Skills
Remote Classes begin Week of 9/27 – Register Online or By Calling (518) 238-6808
The New York State Office for New Americans (ONA) and CanCodeCommunities today announced the opening of registration for the Fall 2021 session of Digital Literacy Training. Known as NewAmericansCanCode, the program provides digital literacy training to assist newcomers to New York State in gaining basic computer skills.
New York State Secretary of State Rossana Rosado said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the importance of digital skills to carry out life’s everyday functions from working to learning to having access to key information. Through the NewAmericansCanCode program, we are providing new Americans with more tools to help them succeed in today’s job market and make meaningful contributions as members of the community.”
CanCode Communities Founder and CEO Annmarie Lanesey said, “We are proud to partner with the New York State Office for New Americans to provide computer education and training to immigrants across the state. Digital literacy is essential for building a career in today’s information economy, and by equipping more New Yorkers with those critical skills, we are enhancing the tech talent pipeline to support the needs of employers.”
As part of NewAmericansCanCode, students learn Microsoft Office, how to manage calendars and email, basic internet safety skills, and basic computer usage. The course is available to any immigrant living in New York, regardless of status, who meets income eligibility requirements.
Fall courses will be offered remotely, with real-time instruction and hands-on learning. Classes will begin the week of September 27, run for 10 weeks, and be conducted on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. For more information and to register, visit www.cancode.org/virtual-
NewAmericansCanCode was first launched in 2020 as the Immigrants Can Code program to ensure low-income immigrants, particularly those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, have access to digital literacy education and more advanced software training that are essential to building careers in the Empire State’s fast-growing innovation economy. ONA and CanCodeCommunities expanded the program in response to the continued need created by the pandemic, which illustrated how important digital literacy is for those who are now working from home, or who are seeking new employment that requires them to work remotely.
This program is supported with approximately $150,000 through Federal CARES Act funding, and is open to any immigrant with a household income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
This program is supported by the U.S. Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $150,000 with 100 percent funded by ACF/HHS. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACF/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements.
Launched in 2016 as AlbanyCanCode and rebranded this year as CanCode Communities, the organization now includes 7 entities: AlbanyCanCode, KingstonCanCode, NewAmericansCanCode, SaratogaCanCode, HerkimerCanCode, NewYorkCanCode, and BerkshiresCanCode. More than 300 students have graduated from its courses, securing tech jobs with leading employers – including Accenture, Goldman Sachs, New York State Office of Information Technology Services, MVP Healthcare, and Zones, among others – and receiving average annual salary increases exceeding $18,000.
The New York State Office for New Americans, founded in 2012, is the nation’s first statutorily created immigrant services office. ONA assists all new Americans with accessing and navigating a variety of free services and support through its statewide network of community-based providers.
For any immigrant in need of assistance, or to connect with ONA’s programs, call the New Americans Hotline at 1-800-566-7636 9:00am to 8:00pm, Monday through Friday. All calls are confidential. Assistance is available in over 200 languages. For more information, visit https://dos.ny.gov/office-new-
CanCodeCommunities is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2016 to develop non-traditional talent and advocate for a vibrant, inclusive tech talent pipeline in New York State. The organization designs and delivers workforce training courses, hands-on K-12 coding programs, and community code literacy workshops, in alignment with the needs of employers, educators, talent and the community in general. Its mission is to shift mindset about who can work in technology, remove cultural and economic barriers to joining the tech workforce, and establish and promote pathways to tech careers throughout the region. For more, visit www.cancode.org.
105 Days and Counting
Let me see here there is so much stuff in front of me, now where do I start. It look like you people are going to be here a long time, because I have to go through all of this. We are in Queens this week for our 'City Hall in Your Borough Week', and this week it is Queens. All I have left is Brooklyn since I am in Manhattan nearly every day.
Yes I heard there was another death on Riker's Island, and some of those pesky reporters are probably going to ask me about all those closed classrooms due to COVID, and the one school in Manhattan that is closed. Chancellor Porter, what are parents are complaining about now, their children being rushed through lunch where they don't wear their mask. Ten minutes should be enough for anyone to eat lunch, that is why it is called a lunch break. After this, I am off to help break ground for the new 116th police precinct here in Queens.
Former State Department Employee Pleads Guilty To Honest Services Fraud Scheme
May Salehi Provided Confidential Bidding Information to a Bidder and Received Lucrative Kickback Payments in Return
Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael Speckhardt, the Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General (“State Department OIG”), and Thomas Fattorusso, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office (“IRS-CI”), announced that MAY SALEHI, a former State Department employee, pled guilty today to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. SALEHI was a longtime State Department employee who was involved in evaluating bids for critical overseas government construction projects such as U.S. embassies and consulates. SALEHI gave confidential inside bidding information to a bidder, and received $60,000 in kickback payments in return. SALEHI surrendered today and pled guilty before United States Magistrate Judge James L. Cott. SALEHI’s case is assigned to United States District Judge P. Kevin Castel.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As a State Department employee, May Salehi was entrusted to serve the public. Instead, she abused her position of trust to line her own pockets, as she admitted today. Salehi revealed, and traded on, confidential information – corrupting the bidding process and receiving lucrative kickbacks in return. Together with our law enforcement partners, this Office is committed to rooting out corruption.”
State Department OIG Special Agent in Charge Michael Speckhardt said: “The State Department OIG is dedicated to preserving the integrity of the Department’s programs and processes. As government employees, we are entrusted to carry out our responsibilities with integrity and support an equitable process. May Salehi did just the opposite. She used her position of public trust to selfishly obtain a personal financial advantage by selling proprietary contracting information for profit. Today’s plea, the culmination of extensive investigative and prosecutorial efforts, demonstrates that those who violate the public’s trust will be held accountable for their actions.”
IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso said: “May Salehi violated the trust of the American taxpayer by putting her personal financial gain over her responsibilities to safeguard confidential information and government resources. Today’s guilty plea shows IRS-Criminal Investigation will continually work with our law enforcement partners to protect the American taxpayer from this type of abuse.”
According to the allegations in the Information, court filings, and statements made in court:
From 1991 until mid-2021, MAY SALEHI was a State Department employee. For many years, SALEHI worked as an engineer in the State Department’s Overseas Building Operations division (“OBO”), which directs the worldwide overseas building program for the State Department and the U.S. Government community serving abroad.
In 2016, the State Department solicited bids for a multimillion-dollar construction project known as a compound security upgrade to be performed at the U.S. Consulate in Bermuda (the “Bermuda Project”). The bidding process involved the submission of blind, sealed bids from various bidders. Six companies submitted sealed bids, one of which was named Montage, Inc. (“Montage”).
SALEHI was involved in the Bermuda Project in several respects. Among other things, SALEHI served as the Chair of the Technical Evaluation Panel (“TEP”) – a panel of experts that evaluates the technical aspects of bids, including whether they meet the State Department’s structural and security needs. In connection with the Bermuda Project, the TEP disqualified one bidder, but determined that the other five bids (including Montage’s bid) were technically acceptable.
In September 2016, the State Department’s employees who evaluate the cost of bids gave the remaining five bidders (including Montage) the opportunity to re-bid, if they wished to do so. Montage had two days to decide whether to submit a re-bid. During that two-day window, Montage’s principal, Sina Moayedi, spoke with SALEHI by phone and sought confidential inside bidding information about the relationship between Montage’s bid and those of its competitors, which SALEHI supplied. SALEHI knew that this information was confidential, and that it was unlawful to provide it to a prospective bidder. After Moayedi received this inside information from SALEHI, Montage immediately increased its bid by $917,820. In its revised submission to the State Department, Moayedi and Montage lied as to the reason it had increased its bid by nearly $1 million, falsely claiming that it had discovered “an arithmetic error” in its estimates. Montage was ultimately awarded the Bermuda Project with a revised bid of $6.3 million.
In the months that followed, Moayedi paid SALEHI a total of $60,000 in kickbacks, which he paid in three installments. In making these kickback payments, Moayedi used intermediaries to obscure the link between him and SALEHI. To conceal the true purpose of the kickback payments, SALEHI also gave one of the intermediaries a Persian rug. SALEHI did not report the $60,000 kickback payments on her State Department financial disclosure form.
SALEHI, 66, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as SALEHI’s sentence will be determined by Judge Castel.
Sina Moayedi was arrested on May 28, 2021, on three charges contained in a criminal Complaint: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and bribery of a public official. The charges against Moayedi are pending.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the State Department OIG, Special Agents from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and IRS‑CI. She also thanked Special Agents from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department.
MAYOR DE BLASIO JOINS COMMUNITY ADVOCATES TO BREAK GROUND ON NEW 116TH PRECINCT IN SOUTHEAST QUEENS
Decades of community advocacy produces first new precinct since 2013
Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes, NYPD Chief of Community Affairs Jeffrey Maddrey, and Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer joined elected officials and local representatives from southeast Queens today to break ground on the NYPD’s new 116th Precinct at 244-04 North Conduit Avenue. The new precinct is the result of decades of advocacy from committed community groups in the area, which had previously been served by just one command in the 265-mile stretch of blocks from Middle Village to Kennedy Airport.
The new 116th Precinct, which will be the first new precinct established in New York City since 2013, will serve Rosedale, Laurelton, Springfield Gardens, and Floral Park.
“Southeast Queens fought hard to make this day possible, and this neighborhood deserves responsive, community-centered policing. That’s what this new precinct will deliver,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I’m proud of all the advocates who fought to make their voices heard, and I thank all the leaders stood up for a new era of public safety in Queens.”
“This new police precinct was conceived by the communities of Southeast Queens. It was forged, and designed, as a reflection of their best vision for effective public safety and is thankfully now being realized after decades of their hard work and inspiration. The NYPD embraces this moment for the opportunities this premier facility gives us to help deepen our connections and better serve the people who live in the neighborhoods it will cover,” said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
“The 116th Precinct is designed to be an integral part of the neighborhood with community meeting space and a new public plaza,” said NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer. “We look forward to completing this important new piece of civic infrastructure.”
Construction on the $78 million building began last month and is projected to be completed in January 2024. DDC is managing the design and construction for NYPD. The total project cost is $104.8 million.
The new 48,410 square foot facility has been designed with a Community Meeting Room on the first floor, with a dedicated entrance from the front of the building, to allow members of the neighborhood to engage with the precinct in a way that strengthens awareness of the NYPD’s commitment to community policing. The precinct is placed strategically within the community to allow for more rapid responses and effective policing.
The precinct’s parking lot has been sited in the rear of the building, bringing the new precinct closer to the street and protecting the neighborhood’s residential character. A second parking lot will be located in front of the existing 105th Precinct Annex. A public plaza leading to the Long Island Railroad will occupy the western area featuring benches, a water filling station, bicycle racks and new landscaping.
WILLIAMS RESPONDS TO THE ELEVENTH DEATH ON RIKERS ISLAND IN 2021
Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement after the death of Karim Isaabdul on Rikers Island, the eleventh death there in 2021.
"Another life has been lost on Rikers – another death sentence coming as a consequence of the crisis conditions on the island. I pray for the family of Karim Isaabdul – they, and we all, need answers and the accountability that comes with them.
"As I saw last week, and as we have argued since the start of the pandemic, a lack of adequate health protocols have compounded the threat to the safety of everyone on Rikers. The steps that have been taken in recent days in effort to decarcerate and start to stabilize the situation are welcome, but do not go far enough, fast enough to alleviate the health and safety emergency for all inside."
NYC GREEN RELIEF & RECOVERY FUND ANNOUNCES $150,000 IN GRANTS FOR 112 GRASSROOTS VOLUNTEER GROUPS CARING FOR PARKS AND GREEN SPACES ACROSS NYC
NEW MATCHING GRANT OPPORTUNITY OPENING IN OCTOBER FOR VOLUNTEER GROUPS
Funding supports local groups sustaining New York City’s parks and open spaces as the pandemic enters a new phase and the parks system reels from last year’s budget cuts and increased use
Today, City Parks Foundation announced the selection of 112 grant recipients through the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund’s grassroots grants program. These 112 NYC-based community groups will each receive a grant of up to $3,000 to support environmental stewardship and health & wellness programs in parks, gardens, and open spaces. Grantees are distributed across New York City’s five boroughs with a focus on Environmental Justice Areas identified through the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, where communities are disproportionately vulnerable to environmental injustices because of systemic racism and inequitable resource distribution.
The 112 recipients were selected through an open call and application process. Funded projects range from launching new gardens led by Mujeres en Movimiento in Corona, Queens and Ujamaa Garden in the Bronx to maintaining the dog runs at Saint Nicholas Dog Run in Harlem and Maria Hernandez Dog Run in Bushwick, Brooklyn with new tools, equipment, and gravel. Additionally, grants are supporting open streets and street tree stewardship by community groups including West 103rd Street Open Street Community Coalition in Manhattan as well as NYCHA property beautification projects including expanding the garden areas maintained by Castle Hill Houses Tenant Associations in the Bronx. The NYC Green Fund is administered by City Parks Foundation with the grassroots grants portion managed by Partnerships for Parks (PfP)—a joint program of City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks.
Grassroots grant recipients include:
The Bronx
Wakefield 4 Change - Wakefield Street Tree Revitalization Project
Eastchester Road Community Garden - Eastchester Road Community Garden
Havemeyer Garden Association - Havemeyer Garden
Stewards of Ewen Park - Ewen Park
Castle Hill Houses Tenants Association - Roxanne Reid Memorial Garden
Bruckner Mott Haven Garden - Bruckner Mott Haven Garden
Friends of Tremont Park - Walter Gladwin Park
Bronx Sole - St. James Park
Concrete Friends - Concrete Plant Park
Friends of Garden Kitchen Lab - Hunts Point Recreation Center
Bringing The Peace Incorporated - RFT Community Peace Garden / 169th Street tree beds
Future Star Productions - Crotona Park, Playground #9
Woodycrest Community Garden - Woodycrest Community Garden
Friends of 4 Parks Alliance, Inc. - Andrew Freedman Home, Joyce Kilmer Park, Franz Sigel Park, Macombs Dam, John Mullaly Park
Mill Brook Garden - Mill Brook Houses
Kelly Street Block Association - Street Trees on Kelly Street
Stewards of Henry Hudson Park - Henry Hudson Park
Encouragement and Enrichment Motivational Services - Alexander Alley
Ujamaa Garden - Ujamaa Garden
Friends of Astin Jacobo / Mapes Baseball Field - Mapes Baseball Field
BronxRockets - Mullaly's Park
Padre Plaza Success Community Garden - Padre Plaza community garden
Woodlawn Collective - Muskrat Cove - Bronx Park - along the Bronx River
The grants program also includes the launch of a new collaboration with ioby (in our backyards) for NYC Green Fund grantees to crowdfund for additional support. The NYC Green Fund Crowdfunding Challenge will launch in early October. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and will stay open as long as funds remain available. The NYC Green Fund will match funds raised up to $2,500 per grantee. For more information on the funding opportunity, please sign up for updates on City Parks Foundation’s website at cityparksfoundation.org/nyc-
About the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund
In May 2020, a coalition of national, family, and community foundations launched the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund to support stewardship organizations that care for New York City’s parks and open spaces. The Fund is intended to respond to the most urgent needs facing the City’s parks and open spaces, while spurring policy-makers to address ongoing systemic challenges, and provide adequate funding to maintain and improve them. The Fund was launched in response to the efforts of the Parks and Open Space Partners – NYC coalition to raise awareness of the financial impacts of the pandemic on open spaces. The Fund is intended to grow, and we encourage those interested in supporting the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund to donate now or contact NYCGreenFund@
Nos Quedamos is HIRING Youth Change Agents! APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 6, 2021.
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