MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES HISTORIC $40 MILLION TO RESTORE THE VALE IN PROSPECT PARK

 

$40 Million in capital funding will enable NYC Parks and Prospect Park Alliance transform Park's northeast corner

 

Restoration plans shaped through intensive community outreach process led by Prospect Park Alliance and Hester Street/Grain Collective

 Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a historic $40 million allocation to restore the Vale in Prospect Park. This funding is the largest single allocation in the history of Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit that sustains the park in partnership with the city, and will restore important landscapes within the 26 acres in the northeast corner of the park called the Vale. The Mayor was joined by NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff and Iris Weinshall, Chair, and Sue Donoghue, President of Prospect Park Alliance, and community leaders. 

“Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s backyard,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “It’s where I got married and raised my family, and where New Yorkers of all backgrounds come to spend time in nature. This historic $40 million in funding will ensure the Vale is restored to its full glory.”

“Our vision of equity for New York City has always been to make all neighborhoods across the five boroughs safer, more welcoming, and, thus, more livable than we found them,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been. “As we march on in our fight against COVID, we must prioritize our green spaces—where loved ones gather to celebrate life and where we often venture alone to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. This investment drives home not only the importance of our parks, but the City’s passion for creating and maintaining holistic communities where New Yorkers are proud to live, work, and play.”

 

"Thanks to Mayor Bill de Blasio's $40 million investment, the gateway to Prospect Park's treasured Vale, the borough’s last remaining forest, will soon be renewed, restored and revitalized," said NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff. "We are excited to work with our partners at the Prospect Park Alliance who provided the vision and advocated for this multifaceted project. Upon its completion, the Vale will be home to an amphitheater, a pollinator meadow and so much more. This amazing new space will serve Brooklyn for generations to come."

 

"On behalf of Prospect Park Alliance, we would like to thank Mayor de Blasio for his leadership and vision in advancing Prospect Park, Brooklyn's Backyard, for the millions of New Yorkers the park serves every year. His support of this important restoration, in addition to the Grand Army Plaza arch and berms, and other projects, will be a lasting legacy in Prospect Park, and one that all New Yorkers can celebrate," said Iris Weinshall, Board Chair, Prospect Park Alliance.

 

"Prospect Park Alliance was founded over 30 years ago to sustain, restore and advance the park for the entire Brooklyn community. Today, through this historic funding allocation from the Mayor, we will be able to realize the community's vision for the 26 acres in the northeast corner of the park. Since its founding, the Alliance has restored significant landscapes and buildings in the park, from the 150-acre woodland Ravine to the 26 acres in the southeast corner of the park, Lakeside and the LeFrak Center. It is critical to advance this work to make the park fully accessible and welcoming for our community," said Sue Donoghue, President, Prospect Park Alliance.

 

17 Days and Counting - A Conversation Between Friends?

 

Hey Ruben I saw you were at your father's Clergy breakfast this morning. Are you going to Councilman Salamanca's inauguration and celebration that I saw your father pushing? Wasn't that a TEAM DIAZ event in the past for Board of Election workers? Oh well Councilman Salamanca is the only one of the team left, comes January 1, 2022, and he came in late in 2017. By the way Ruben 

If I am correct State Senator Luis Sepulveda was a part of the team, but he left a short time after your father was elected councilman. Michael Blake was a member of the team, but he left shortly after the LGBTQ community demanded he take back his check he gave to your father's campaign. Ruben why did Victor Pichardo leave office in the middle of his term, what did he do wrong. Come on Ruben it couldn't be something like the one with you and Marcos Crespo, another one who quickly got out of politics. Well Ruben I am still looking for a Lieutenant Governor candidate, if you know a good candidate let me know.

Former Analyst Pleads Guilty To Securities Fraud For Committing Insider Trading By Front-Running Employer’s Pending Trades

 

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that SERGEI POLEVIKOV, a former analyst employed by an asset management firm, pled guilty to one count of securities fraud in connection with his multi-year scheme to commit insider trading by misappropriating confidential information about pending trades by his former employer.  POLEVIKOV was arrested in September of this year, and pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As he admitted in court today, Sergei Polevikov broke the law when he exploited material, nonpublic information to make personal trades ahead of his employer’s large institutional trades.  Polevikov now awaits sentencing for his crime, and he must also forfeit more than $8 million in illicit profit.”

According to the Information to which POLEVIKOV pled guilty, the complaint that was filed in this case, and statements made during court proceedings:

From at least in or about 2014 through in or about October 2019, POLEVIKOV was employed as a quantitative analyst at an asset management firm with headquarters in New York, New York (the “Employer Firm”).  In his role at the Employer Firm, POLEVIKOV had regular access to information regarding contemplated securities trades on behalf of the Employer Firm’s clients, which included investment companies.  During the period charged in the Complaint, POLEVIKOV engaged in a front-running scheme to misappropriate confidential, material, nonpublic information about the securities trade orders of the Employer Firm on behalf of its clients in order to engage in short-term personal securities trading in a brokerage account opened in his wife’s name.  POLEVIKOV’s trading scheme was designed to take advantage of relatively small price movements in a company’s stock that followed from large securities orders executed by the Employer Firm on behalf of its clients.  In total, POLEVIKOV’s scheme yielded more than $8.5 million in illicit profits.     

As part of his plea agreement, POLEVIKOV has agreed to forfeit $8,564,977 on or before April 1, 2022. 

POLEVIKOV is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Liman on April 12, 2022.

Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Mr. Williams also thanked the Securities & Exchange Commission, which brought a related civil action against POLEVIKOV.

Attorney General James Fights to Protect Dreamers, Pushes Back on Texas Lawsuit Attacking DACA

 

 New York Attorney General Letitia James today continued her fight to protect hundreds of thousands of Dreamers across New York and the rest of the nation. Co-leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general from around the nation, Attorney General James filed an amicus brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy in Texas v. United States, where the coalition highlights the critical contributions of hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients to public health efforts, the economy, and communities across the country — and pushes back on the Texas-led efforts to end DACA. Since 2012, DACA has provided access to work authorization and protected from removal approximately 825,000 individuals who grew up in this country, most of whom have known no home other than the United States.

“Home is here for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who know no other home but the United States, and that has never been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Dreamers stepped up and served on the frontlines to save millions,” said Attorney General James. “Despite Texas’ false and bigoted claims, DACA recipients are vital to our economy, vital to our communities, and vital to our way of life. We will continue to fight against these immoral threats of deportation, but the court has the opportunity here to preserve DACA and send a message that Dreamers are valued, that they are loved, and that they are crucial members of our society. Si se puede!”

DACA has allowed recipients to live, study, and work across the United States, free from the fear of being forcibly separated from their families and communities. The policy has enabled hundreds of thousands of grantees to enroll in colleges and universities, complete their education, start businesses that help improve the economy, and give back to communities as teachers, medical professionals, and entrepreneurs. These contributions became especially evident as the deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began to sweep through the nation and thousands of DACA recipients served on the frontlines as essential workers. As of November 2021, an estimated 34,000 health care workers and support staff depend on DACA for their authorization to work in the United States, including nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physician assistants, home health aides, technicians, and others.

DACA also plays a vital role in supporting economies at the national, state, and local level. For instance, DACA recipients and their households pay an estimated $9.5 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year. Allowing new initial DACA requests would lead to an estimated increase of $2.5 billion in state and local tax revenue over the next 20 years. Additionally, DACA recipients’ estimated spending power — $25.3 billion — is important to the overall economic health of the amici states. Without DACA, national economic growth over the course of a decade is projected to fall by $280 billion. Such a scenario would also lead to an estimated loss of $33.1 billion in Social Security contributions and $7.7 billion in Medicare contributions — funds that are critical to ensuring the financial health of national programs upon which Americans across the country rely.

In the amicus brief — filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit — Attorney General James and the coalition explain, among other things that:

• DACA grantees are vital to communities, economies, and public universities;
• DACA increases public safety and decreases the strain on safety net programs;
• Abrupt termination of DACA would cause substantial disruption and harm, including to amici states;
• Any remedy in this case must account for the significant reliance interests at stake;
• Amici states have structured programs, policies, and laws in reliance of DACA and the benefits it confers; and
• The appellate court should reverse the district court’s order, which vacated and enjoined DACA, and erroneously concluded that the policy is unlawful.

After former President Donald Trump broke the promises made to Dreamers by ordering his administration to change the DACA policy in 2017, a prolonged legal battle began in September 2017 that made its way through multiple courts before landing at the U.S. Supreme Court in November 2019. During this legal battle, in 2018, Texas filed its own lawsuit, alleging DACA was unlawful. That suit has been proceeding through the courts.

In June 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Attorney General James' arguments that the Trump Administration’s attempt to cancel the DACA policy was unlawful.

After the Supreme Court ruled, the policy was supposed to resume, but the Trump Administration announced that new DACA applications would not be granted. In August 2020, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of 17 attorneys general in a lawsuit that sought to vacate, as unlawful, a memo from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that sought to make changes to DACA. In November 2020, a federal district court issued an order granting Attorney General James’ request for partial summary judgment. And, in December 2020, that same federal court issued a remedial order granting Attorney General James’ request for DHS to reopen DACA to first-time applicants, restore protections to a two-year period instead of one year, and make Advanced Parole available to DACA recipients again without restrictions.

On January 20, 2021 — on his first day in office — President Joe Biden signed an executive order rescinding the Trump Administration policy that threatened these Dreamers with deportation.

Just last month, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of 24 attorneys general in sending a comment letter to DHS and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in support of the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to preserve and fortify the DACA policy

Joining Attorney General James in filing today’s amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez Gets COVID Booster Shot

Today I got my booster for the COVID-19 vaccine to protect myself from new and emerging variants. I encourage all New Yorkers to do the same!

#GetVaxxed #GetBoosted

Protect yourself. Protect your family. Protect each other.

#WeInThisTogether

The photo is from December 15th posted on the assemblywoman's Twitter page. 

We hope Assemblywoman Fernandez knew what was being injected into her arm, and hope that she did not have a  reaction to the booster shot as some people are saying they are having.

Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress Combating COVID-19 - DECEMBER 15, 2021

 

Announces New New York State Vaccine, Testing, and Booster Site Open in Broome County

277,391 Vaccine Doses Administered Over Last 24 Hours         

71 COVID-19 Deaths Statewide Yesterday 

 Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating COVID-19. Governor Hochul also announced the opening of a new NewYork State vaccine, testing, and booster site in Broome County at the Former Davis College-Robb Activity Center (400 Riverside Drive, Johnson City, NY). The site will open tomorrow, December 16, at 12PM and will operate from 8AM to 7PM moving forward. The site will conduct testing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and vaccinations on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It will be closed on Sundays. Vaccinations at the site will be available by appointment and for walk-ins and serve those aged 5 and above. Both Pfizer/BioNTech and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available and the first-doses, second-doses and booster-doses will be offered.  

"As we continue to combat the winter surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, it is more important than ever to make vaccines, testing and boosters widely available across the state in order to keep ourselves and each other from getting seriously ill due to COVID-19," Governor Hochul said. "There is no time like the present to get your vaccine if you haven't yet and your booster if you have. Mask up, wash your hands, and let's enjoy a COVID-free holiday season with our loved ones."   

Today's data is summarized briefly below:  

• Test Results Reported - 232,509
• Total Positive - 12,944
• Percent Positive - 5.57%
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 4.83%
• Patient Hospitalization - 3,784 (+12)
• Patients Newly Admitted - 557
• Patients in ICU - 727 (-4)
• Patients in ICU with Intubation - 423 (+4)
• Total Discharges - 221,299 (+493)
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 71
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 47,316 

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 - 60,148 

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 - 31,734,013
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours - 277,391
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days - 974,879
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose - 87.3%
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series - 79.5%
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 93.6%
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 82.0%
• Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose - 75.9%
• Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series - 68.4%
• Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 81.2%
• Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 70.5%

 

STATEMENT FROM LABOR STRONG 2021 ON CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER’S RACE

 

 The Labor Strong 2021 Coalition, including 32BJ SEIU, DC37, CWA District 1, and NYSNA released the following statement regarding the New York City Council Speaker’s Race:

 

“With enthusiasm, the union coalition of 32BJ, DC37, CWA District 1, and NYSNA has made the case for Adrienne Adams to be the next City Council Speaker. She is hard-working, well-liked, and has the proven ability to unite the council behind a worker-led recovery from COVID-19. We’re thrilled that her candidacy has galvanized a majority of the council and we look forward to seeing her make history as the next leader of New York City’s legislative body.”

 

Former Management Consulting Firm Partner Pleads Guilty To Insider Trading

 

Defendant Was a Lead Consulting Firm Partner Advising an Investment Bank on Its Acquisition of GreenSky, Inc.

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that PUNEET DIKSHIT, a former partner in a global management consulting firm (the “Consulting Firm”), pled guilty to one count of securities fraud in connection with his scheme to commit insider trading based on material, nonpublic information regarding the upcoming public announcement that an investment bank (the “Investment Bank”) – which DIKSHIT and the Consulting Firm were advising – would be acquiring GreenSky, Inc. (“GreenSky”).  The defendant pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Barely a month after he was charged, Puneet Dikshit admitted in court today that he used his access to material nonpublic information about a pending acquisition of GreenSky, Inc., to trade in GreenSky call options.  This conduct, which netted the defendant nearly half a million dollars in tainted profits, broke the law and violated the defendant’s duties to his firm and its client.  Now Puneet Dikshit awaits sentencing for his admitted crime.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint, Information, and statements made in public court proceedings:

GreenSky was a publicly traded financial technology company that provided technology to banks and merchants to make loans to consumers for home improvement, solar, healthcare, and other purposes.  GreenSky’s common stock traded under the symbol “GSKY” on the NASDAQ.

Between on or about November 2019 and on or about July 2020, and again between on or about April 2021 and on or about September 2021, the Investment Bank engaged the Consulting Firm to provide various consulting services related to its consideration of an acquisition of GreenSky and the post-acquisition integration of GreenSky.  DIKSHIT was one of the Consulting Firm partners leading these engagements.  In that role, he had access to material nonpublic information, which he misappropriated and, in violation of the duties that he owed to the Investment Bank and the Consulting Firm, used to trade GreenSky call options. 

DIKSHIT engaged in this trading between on or about July 26, 2021, and on or about September 15, 2021 – at the same time he was leading the Consulting Firm team that was advising the Investment Bank about its potential acquisition of GreenSky.  At various times between on or about July 26, 2021, and on or about September 13, 2021, DIKSHIT purchased and sold relatively small numbers of GreenSky call options, which had expiration dates weeks or months from the time of purchase.  However, in the two days before the September 15, 2021, public announcement that the Investment Bank would be acquiring GreenSky, DIKSHIT sold all of these longer-dated GreenSky call options and purchased approximately 2,500 out-of-the-money GreenSky call options that were due to expire just a few days later, on September 17, 2021.  After the deal to purchase GreenSky was announced, DIKSHIT sold these options and realized profits of approximately $450,000.

DIKSHIT, 40, of New York, New York, pled guilty to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The statutory maximum sentence is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.  DIKSHIT is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge McMahon on March 30, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Mr. Williams further thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance and cooperation in this investigation.