Permits Filed For 1701 Clay Avenue In Concourse, The Bronx - The Beginning of the Destruction of a Residential Block

 

Permits have been filed for a six-story residential building at 1701 Clay Avenue in Concourse, The Bronx. Located between East 173rd and East 174th Streets, the interior lot is within walking distance of the 174-175 Streets subway station, serviced by the B and D trains. Chananya Bineth of Pointy Developments is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed 74-foot-tall development will yield 11,202 square feet designated for residential space. The building will have 17 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 659 square feet. The steel-based structure will also have a cellar, mezzanine level, and a 30-foot-long rear yard, but no accessory parking.

Joseph Frankl of JFA Architects & Engineers is listed as the architect of record.

Demolition permits were filed in April 2021 for the two-story residential structure on the site. An estimated completion date has not been announced.

Former Pain Management Doctor Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Sexually Abusing Patients Across Multiple States Over The Course Of Over 15 Years

 

Ricardo Cruciani Sexually Abused Numerous Female Patients as a Pain Management Doctor Employed at Various Times By Prominent Medical Institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RICARDO CRUCIANI was arrested this morning and charged in connection with his sexual abuse of numerous pain management patients over the course of over 15 years.  The Indictment unsealed today alleges that from at least in or about 2002 up to and including at least in or about 2017, CRUCIANI enticed and induced multiple victims to travel to his medical offices in New York, New York, Hopewell, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to subject them to unlawful sexual abuse.  CRUCIANI was arrested this morning and is expected to be presented later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger in Manhattan federal court.  The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan in the Southern District of New York.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Doctors like the defendant take an oath to do no harm.  It is difficult to imagine conduct more anathema to that oath than exploiting patients’ vulnerability in order to sexually abuse them.  As alleged, Ricardo Cruciani’s sexual abuse involved developing personal relationships with victims to engender trust, and prescribing addictive pain medication that caused his patients to become dependent on him as he engaged in a course of increasingly abusive conduct.  The alleged pattern of abuse in this case is outrageous, and Cruciani now faces federal charges for it.”

If you believe you are a victim of the sexual abuse perpetrated by RICARDO CRUCIANI, please contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York at (646) 372-0364, and reference this case.

According to the Indictment[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

CRUCIANI was a pain management doctor who treated patients from multiple states who suffered from, among other things, severe and chronic pain.  Between at least in or about 2001 and in or about 2014, CRUCIANI was employed by and affiliated with a prominent medical hospital and medical center located in New York, New York, and maintained medical offices in New York, New York.  Between at least in or about 2013 and in or about 2016, CRUCIANI was a practicing pain management doctor employed by and affiliated with a prominent medical hospital and medical center located in Hopewell, New Jersey, and maintained medical offices in Hopewell, New Jersey.  Between at least in or about 2016 and in or about 2017, CRUCIANI was a practicing pain management doctor employed by and affiliated with a prominent medical hospital and university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and maintained medical offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Over the course of at least approximately 15 years, between at least in or about 2002 and in or about 2017, CRUCIANI sexually abused numerous adult female patients who suffered from severe and chronic pain and were under his medical care as a pain management doctor.  CRUCIANI exploited and leveraged his position of trust as a healthcare provider at prominent medical institutions, the significant pain suffered by the victims, and his ability to prescribe or withhold pain medication, including highly addictive opioids, so that he could sexually abuse his patients.  In order for them to obtain prescription refills, CRUCIANI required victims to travel to his medical offices and other locations for in-person appointments.  CRUCIANI enticed and induced victims to travel interstate at least in part for the purpose of subjecting them to unlawful sexual abuse. 

CRUCIANI’s sexual abuse of victims involved developing personal relationships with victims to engender trust, and prescribing addictive pain medication that caused the victims to become dependent on CRUCIANI as he engaged in a course of increasingly abusive conduct.    The abusive sexual conduct included, among other things, forcible kissing, touching victims’ breasts and genitals, oral sex acts, vaginal sexual intercourse, and attempted anal sexual intercourse. 

CRUCIANI, 63, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, is charged with five counts of enticing and inducing individuals to travel interstate to engage in illegal sexual activity, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described therein should be treated as an allegation.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Comptroller Stringer Releases Analysis of Remote Work’s Impact on New York City Sales Tax Revenue

 

For New Yorkers who work and live in the city, spending near the office will be largely replaced with spending closer to home

City sales tax revenue could be reduced by $111 million annually

 New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released an analysis of the impact that remote work will have on New York City sales tax revenue. As work from home becomes more routine in the aftermath of the pandemic, City retailers will be impacted by reduced spending by commuters — roughly one million of whom came into the City each day prior to the pandemic, many of whom are likely to do so on a less frequent basis going forward.

“Our analysis shows that the pandemic has fundamentally altered the way people work, with far reaching implications on the city’s economy and tax base,” said Comptroller Stringer. “As remote work and hybrid work schedules keep many workers closer to home, small businesses in residential districts may see a boost from New Yorkers spending more in their neighborhoods. However, the loss of foot traffic and lower sales may be severely felt by small businesses in the city’s commercial districts.  We must ensure that all our small businesses get the support they need in this economy; that means cutting red tape and making government more user-friendly, helping immigrant entrepreneurs scale up to new markets, and closing the digital divide so that brick-and-mortar small businesses can effectively compete with larger online retailers. My office will continue to monitor the pandemic’s impacts on New York City’s economy, people, and businesses.”

Specifically, the Comptroller’s report finds

• If the roughly 500,000 office workers who commute into the City return to the office on a three-day a week basis, retail demand would be lowered by $1.6 billion annually with a resulting loss in tax revenue of nearly $146 million
• This could be partially offset by increased demand from the 110,000 City residents who work outside the City and going forward will spend more time and purchase more in the City. This would be expected to generate new sales of $350 million and sales tax revenue of $35 million
• For the 3.7 million City residents who both live and work in the City, spending near the office will be largely replaced with spending closer to home
• Overall, City sales tax revenue is estimated to be reduced by $111 million annually as a result of increased work from home. While the loss in revenue is relatively minor when compared to the $7 billion in sales tax revenue that the City is expected to raise in 2022, the impact will be severely felt by the many small businesses that operate in the commercial districts which will face lower sales.

For more details, the full report can be downloaded here.

Governor Hochul Announces State Police Arrest 207 People for Impaired Driving Over Columbus Day Weekend

 

Troopers Issue Nearly 18,000 Tickets During Campaign, Including More Than 7,300 Tickets For Speeding

 Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that New York State Police issued 17,797 tickets and arrested 207 people for impaired driving during the special traffic enforcement detail over Columbus Day weekend. The initiative - which targeted speeding and impaired drivers - began on Thursday, October 7th and continued through Tuesday, October 12th. Statewide, law enforcement issued a total of 38,255 tickets during the enforcement period, including 828 for impaired driving and 10,593 for speeding.

"The tragedies caused by speeding and impaired driving are completely avoidable if we all commit to making safety our top priority when we are behind the wheel," Governor Hochul said. "We will continue to have zero tolerance for impaired drivers who put others in danger."

State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen said, "The results of this campaign show that far too many people put their lives and the lives of others at risk through the poor choices they make while driving. Our troopers will continue to crack down on reckless and impaired drivers in an effort to keep our roads safe for all users."

During the special enforcement period, which was funded by the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, the New York State Police increased patrols and conducted sobriety checkpoints to deter, identify and arrest impaired drivers.

State Troopers arrested 207 people for impaired driving and investigated 1,031 automobile crashes, including one fatal crash and 159 personal injury crashes.

As part of the enforcement, Troopers also targeted speeding, aggressive and distracted drivers across the State.

Below is a sampling of the total tickets that were issued.

Speeding                    7,389

Distracted Driving          410

Seatbelt violations         707

Move Over Law             143

Troopers used both marked State Police vehicles and Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement (CITE) vehicles as part of this crackdown in order to more easily identify motorists who are violating the law. CITE vehicles allow the Trooper to better observe driving violations.  These vehicles blend in with every day traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated.

Statement from Commissioner Raquel Batista on Pathway to Citizenship

 

New York City has always recognized our undocumented immigrant residents--including Dreamers, TPS holders, and others--as integral members of our vibrant community. Over the past year and a half, COVID-19 reminded us all how much we rely on our immigrant neighbors, who served disproportionately on the frontlines of the crisis as essential workers. The work of properly recognizing and honoring this community is more important than ever. We urge Congressional leaders to pursue all available options to deliver lasting protections, including a pathway to citizenship, to our immigrant community.

Australian National Sentenced To More Than 9 Years In Prison For Multimillion-Dollar Text-Messaging Consumer Fraud Scheme

 

 Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MICHAEL PEARSE, an Australian national who was extradited to the United States from Australia in January 2021, was sentenced today to 109 months in prison for his participation in a fraudulent scheme to charge hundreds of thousands of mobile phone customers millions of dollars in monthly fees for unsolicited, recurring text messages without the customers’ knowledge or consent – a practice the conspirators referred to as “auto-subscribing.”  PEARSE played a key role in the scheme as CEO of a company that created the computer program that was used to enroll victims into the text message services without their knowledge or consent.  PEARSE previously pled guilty before United States District Judge Analisa Torres, who imposed today’s sentence. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Michael Pearse played a vital role in an international consumer fraud conspiracy that swindled hundreds of thousands of mobile phone customers out of millions, and ‘earned’ Pearse and his co-conspirators at least $50 million, of which Pearse pocketed more than $10 million.  Thanks to IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI, as well as our international partners, Pearse was apprehended, prosecuted, and now sentenced for his crime.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, evidence presented at the trial of co-conspirator Darcy Wedd, court filings, and statements made during plea proceedings:

From in or about 2011 through in or about 2013, PEARSE and his co-conspirators engaged in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud U.S.-based consumers (and others) by placing unauthorized charges for premium text messaging services on consumers’ cellular phone bills.  To carry out the scheme, PEARSE and others caused unsolicited and recurring text messages to be sent to mobile phone users containing content such as horoscopes, celebrity gossip, or trivia facts.  The victims of the fraud scheme never ordered these services, which were known in the industry as premium text messaging (“PSMS”) services, but were fraudulently “auto-subscribed” and billed for them at a rate of $9.99 per month.  The $9.99 charge recurred each month unless and until consumers noticed the charges and took action to unsubscribe.  Even then, consumers’ attempts to dispute the charges and obtain refunds were often unsuccessful.

During the relevant period, co-conspirator Lin Miao operated a company called Tatto Inc., a/k/a “Tatto Media” (“Tatto”), that offered PSMS services to mobile phone customers.  PEARSE was the CEO of a company called Bullroarer, which was affiliated with Tatto.  To enable Tatto to auto-subscribe consumers to unwanted PSMS services, PEARSE and co-defendant Yongchao Liu, a/k/a “Kevin Liu,” who worked as a Java Development Engineer for Bullroarer, agreed to build a computer program that could spoof the required consumer authorizations – i.e., a program that could generate the text message correspondence that one would ordinarily see with genuine PSMS subscriptions.  PEARSE and Liu agreed to build the program (the “Auto-Subscription Platform”), which was operational by in or about the middle of 2011.  PEARSE, Liu, and Miao then used the Auto-Subscription Platform to fraudulently auto-subscribe hundreds of thousands of mobile phone customers, using phone numbers provided by co-conspirators at Mobile Messenger, a U.S. aggregation company operated by Darcy Wedd that served as a middleman between content providers such as Tatto and mobile phone carriers.  Through their successful orchestration of the fraudulent scheme, PEARSE and his co-conspirators generated more than $50 million in fraud proceeds for themselves and PEARSE personally pocketed more than $10 million.        

In addition to the prison sentence, PEARSE was ordered PEARSE to forfeit $10,162,937.96, as well as his interest in three real properties in Australia and other assets, representing proceeds traceable to the fraud that PEARSE personally obtained.

To date, nine other defendants – Liu, Miao, Andrew Bachman, Michael Pajaczkowski, Erdolo Eromo, Jonathan Murad, Francis Assifuah, Jason Lee, and Christopher Goff – have pled guilty in connection with their participation in the fraud.  Two additional defendants, Darcy Wedd and Fraser Thompson, were convicted in 2017 following jury trials.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  In addition, Mr. Williams thanked law enforcement partners in Australia, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division, for their support and assistance with the extradition of PEARSE and codefendant Liu.

73 Days and Counting - What's That the Reporter From the Bronx Chronicle Wants to Ask Me a Question? He is on My Do Not Call On List.

 

I'm in the Bronx with my good friend Councilman Oswald Feliz shooting some baskets back on July 28th, a few days after a shooting right here in this very playground. That Pesky reporter from the Bronx Chronicle Robert Press took this and other photos of me not wearing a mask, and come to think of it no one else here is wearing a mask. That reporter always asks me questions I don't want to answer so with my video Media Availability I tell my moderator not to take any calls from the Bronx Chronicle and from Robert Press. Now that we are going back to full in class school, full inside dining, full inside almost everything, reporters who I thought were my friends are asking me when are we going back to regular in person press conferences.  

I have only 72 days left in office, and I am going to make sure I don't take any questions from reporters I don't want to. I don't want to hear about how bad our homeless population situation is, how bad our NYCHA buildings are, how bad our public schools are, how people are afraid all over the city to go out with crime at such high levels, gangs roaming the streets at night on dirt bikes and other off road vehicles, quality of life is at its lowest its ever been in the city, and our city jails are a mess to name only a few things that are wrong. I don't want to hear about that. That is why I only take questions four days a week Monday through Thursday, and from only eight reporters whom I thought were my friends I take no questions at events I attend without wearing a mask. Here is a photo from that Bronx Chronicle reporter Robert Press of me speaking at the groundbreaking of the New Hip Hop Museum in the South Bronx back in May of this year before any mandates went into effect. 

New Report Calls for $770 Million Increased Investment in Young Adult Workforce Development

 

 Our latest report, Equitable Recovery for Young Adults: An Agenda for Young Adult Workforce Development in New York City provides a set of citywide policy priorities rooted in the real needs of young people, the perspectives of on-the-ground practitioners, and the literature on successful policies and interventions. It details the changes needed to quickly connect 18- to 24-year-olds to employment now and to effectively prepare them for the future of work in a rapidly shifting, increasingly virtual economy. It builds on JobsFirstNYC’s comprehensive, system-level view of the City’s young adult workforce ecosystem. Finally, it proposes an actionable, realistic, and timebound framework to foster citywide systems change in the young adult workforce development field.

New York City needs to act swiftly to reduce the number of 18- to 24-year-olds who are out of school and out-of-work; to connect these young adults to training, education, and work opportunities; and to advance them along educational and career pathways. To this end, our report outlines six recommendations for the city that were informed by a diverse coalition of young adult workforce development and education stakeholders and 18- to 24-year-olds. To enact these recommendations, JobsFirstNYC calls for a $770 million increase in annual investment by New York City.

1. Collaboration: Encourage and reward collaboration across young adult workforce programs and providers.

2. Focus on Equity: Prioritize economic mobility and pathways to prosperity for historically under-resourced and disproportionately harmed communities.

3. Employer Partnerships: Significantly expand partnerships with employers and industry groups to create employment and career pathway opportunities.

4. Continuum of Services: Create a seamless continuum of integrated services across education and youth workforce development institutions.

5. Youth-Centered Strategies: Design youth-informed solutions that center young adults, their experiences, and goals.

6. Capacity Building: Build the capacity of workforce providers to deliver high-quality, culturally competent, market-aligned services to young adults.

This proposed funding would support:

• $100 million for bridge programming
• $150 million for sectoral training
• $357 million for subsidized jobs
• $105 million for high school degree attainment and career preparation
• $58 million for capacity building and system enhancements

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and exacerbated many inequities, from health outcomes to economic outcomes. The pandemic has also accelerated the future of work, namely increased remote work and the displacement of workers by automation. Research has shown that 18- to 24-year-old workers in New York City are 35% more likely to have lost work than all other workers since the pandemic began and that young adults and people of color were disproportionately employed in the city’s hardest-hit industries. The latest data from labor market analytics firm Chmura shows that 1 in 4 18- to 24-year-olds were out of school and out of work in 2020, totaling over 183,000 individuals.

JobsFirstNYC and young adult service providers across New York City are more committed now than ever to ensuring that all young adults, and especially those who are out of school and out of work, have the resources, skills, and opportunities they need and deserve to find success in work and in life.

Read the Report

 

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