Van Nest Memorial Day Remembrance

As is the tradition, the Van Nest Memorial Remembrance begins a short time after the Peace Plaza Memorial Day Remembrance ends so people can attend one and then the other. Then Councilman Ritchie Torres refurbished the Van Nest Memorial, flagpole, and the playground next to it. The names of area veterans who passed away are on the memorial. More names are added each year as the veterans pass away.  

After a small parade around the Van Nest Memorial, East Bronx Historian Richard Vitacco gave a brief history of the Memorial and said this year's special veteran was Sergeant Vincent Serrano of the 23rd Artillery Group Vietnam who was killed in action March 26th 1967. Twelve pairs of carnations One white and one red were dropped by the monument for the twelve veterans from the area who passed away this year. 

Bronx Borough President Vanesa Gibson was on hand as was Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez, and Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance President Bernadette Ferrara, all who spoke with each saying that this was a day for remembering those who gave their lives so we could be here to honor them. 

The large crowd of people marched around the Van Nest War Memorial through the streets of Van Nest.

Rich Vitacco speaks as veterans Earl Manard Jr, and Richardo Garcia are on either side holding plaques of Sergeant Serrano.

Bronx Borough President Vanesa Gibson speaks about her grueling five month in office, but we pay tribute to our veterans today on Memorial Day.

Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez speaks about giving veteran the services they need.

L - R, Earl Manard Jr., Bernadette Ferrara, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Rich Vitacco, and Richardo Garcia.

Lev Tahor Operatives Convicted At Trial Of Kidnapping Offenses

 

Mordechay Malka and Matityau Malka Convicted of Scheme to Kidnap 14-Year-Old Girl and 12-Year-Old Boy From Their Mother

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that MORDECHAY MALKA and MATITYAU MALKA were convicted in White Plains federal court of kidnapping following a three-week jury trial.  The defendants, members of an extremist Jewish sect called Lev Tahor, participated in a scheme to kidnap a 14-year-old girl (“Minor-1”) and a 12-year-old boy (“Minor-2”) from their mother in Woodridge, New York in December 2018.  The kidnappers then smuggled the children across the U.S. border to Mexico, where they reunited Minor-1 with her adult “husband,” who she had religiously “married” when she was 13 years old.  After the children were recovered and returned to their mother, the defendants and their co-conspirators tried to kidnap the children a second time in March 2019.  Two co-conspirators, Nachman Helbrans and Mayer Rosner, were previously convicted of kidnapping and sexual exploitation charges in connection with this case after an October 2021 trial and have each been sentenced to 12 years in prison. 

According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, other court filings, and the evidence presented at trial:

MORDECHAY MALKA and MATITYAU MALKA are U.S. citizens and members of Lev Tahor, an extremist Jewish sect that has been located in several different jurisdictions, including New York, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala.  In or about October 2018, the mother of Minor-1 and Minor-2 escaped from Lev Tahor’s compound in Guatemala and arrived in the United States in early November 2018.  Also in November 2018, a Brooklyn family court granted her sole custody of the children and prohibited the children’s father, a leader within Lev Tahor, from communicating with the children.

After the mother fled and settled in New York with her children, MORDECHAY MALKA and other Lev Tahor members devised a plan to return Minor-1 and Minor-2 to the Lev Tahor community.  Then, in December 2018, the kidnappers took the children in the middle of the night from a home in upstate New York and transported them through various states and, eventually, to Mexico.  MORDECHAY MALKA and his co-conspirators used disguises, aliases, drop phones, fake travel documents, an encrypted application, and a secret pact to execute on their kidnapping plan.  At the time of the kidnapping, Lev Tahor leadership was seeking asylum for the entire Lev Tahor community in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Following a three-week search involving hundreds of local, federal, and international law enforcement officers, Minor-1 and Minor-2 were recovered in Mexico and returned to their mother in New York. 

Then, in March 2019, members of Lev Tahor again tried to kidnap the children.  The leader of Lev Tahor, Nachman Helbrans, attempted another kidnapping of the children while incarcerated in Westchester, New York.  MATITYAU MALKA acted as the operative on the ground to execute the attempted kidnapping.

MORDECHAY MALKA, 27, of Guatemala, and MATITAU MALKA, 30, of Guatemala, were convicted of one count of conspiring to commit international parental kidnapping, to unlawfully use a means of identification, and to enter by false pretenses the secure area of an airport, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  MORDECHAY MALKA was also convicted of two counts of international parental kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison for each count.  MATITYAU MALKA was also convicted of one count of attempted international parental kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison for each count. 

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI, United States Customs and Border Protection, the Department of State, the Transportation Security Administration, the New York State Police, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department, the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, the Village of Spring Valley Police Department, Special Agents with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and our law enforcement partners in Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, and Israel.

Statement From Governor Kathy Hochul on Passage of Legislation Creating The New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust

 

"This is a major win for New Yorkers who call NYCHA home. This legislation has the power to unlock additional federal funding and lead to billions of dollars in renovations — after decades of federal disinvestment — and provide for critical improvements at developments across the city. My administration has been working closely with City Hall, community groups, and local leaders to find real solutions to deliver support to NYCHA residents. The revised legislation that passed ensures there is increased resident feedback and input, giving residents at each development the power to opt in or reject participating in this program, and I am confident this process of engagement and collaboration will continue now that the bill has passed. I am grateful to Mayor Adams, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie and our legislative and advocate partners for collaborating on this crucial legislation and look forward to signing it into law."

AlessandraBiaggi.com - Really quick

 

Friends — we’ll be quick. Here’s why:

This is going to be a very fast campaign. Election Day is just 82 days away. Even faster if you count early voting.

That means we have 82 days to get our message about why Alessandra is the best candidate in this race out to as many voters as possible.

82 days to knock as many doors and make as many calls as we possibly can.

82 days to mobilize, organize, and win.

Doing that is going to take a lot of resources, especially when our opponent has the entire corporate establishment and political machine in New York and Washington behind him.

There’s a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, and Alessandra can’t do it alone.

We don’t want to wake up on the morning of August 24 — the day after the primary — and be left wondering if there was anything more we could have done to defeat Sean Patrick Maloney.

Let’s leave it all out on the field.

Thanks,

Team Biaggi

NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE'S STATEMENT TO BEGIN GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

 

 "This year, Gun Violence Awareness Month begins as this uniquely American epidemic is dominant in our headlines and our hearts, in the wake of several mass shootings in the last weeks. At the same time, that violence and the devastation it delivers is not confined to these high profile attacks. Over Memorial Day weekend, nearly as many people were shot in our city alone as had their lives stolen in Buffalo and Uvalde. We are aware of gun violence, we are hurting, we are grieving, and across the country, we are in desperate need of solutions.

"While we push for change on a federal level, against the NRA and its active and implicated allies, we can enact change in New York City and State today. Funding gun violence prevention, especially at its root causes, is essential in the last days of the state legislative session and in the coming city budget, and the state must strengthen existing programs such as red flag laws while also passing new legislation including microstamping.

"There are no excuses, and no time to delay. It’s time to move from awareness to action."

Attorney General James Reaches Agreement with Verizon to Prevent Legionnaires’ Disease

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced today that she has reached an agreement with Verizon to ensure that the company takes swift and comprehensive action to prevent the spread of Legionnaires’ disease in New York state. Legionnaires’ disease is often deadly and can be spread by poorly monitored or operated building cooling towers. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that since 2017, there were at least 225 alleged violations of city and state laws at 45 of Verizon’s cooling tower locations throughout the state, with the company failing to conduct testing, address positive test results, and clean and inspect the cooling towers by required deadlines. As part of the agreement, Verizon will adopt official policies and procedures to ensure full, ongoing compliance with the law and pay a $118,000 penalty for the violations, which will be used by OAG to address the health impacts of air pollution.

“Legionnaires’ disease remains a deadly presence in areas across our state, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color,” said Attorney General James. “It is essential that companies such as Verizon are taking the necessary actions to avoid the spread of this preventable and lethal disease. This agreement will protect New Yorkers' public health and slow the spread of Legionnaires' disease.”

Legionnaires’ disease is a harmful form of pneumonia that is contracted by inhaling water droplets that contain Legionella bacteria. Symptoms of the disease include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, and muscle aches, and presents greatest risk for people 50 years of age or older, current or former smokers, and those with a chronic lung disease or compromised immune systems. Rooftop cooling towers, which are part of some buildings’ cooling systems, are considered a significant source of public exposure to Legionnaires’ disease. If not maintained and monitored properly, they can provide an ideal environment for the growth of Legionella and can expose and infect nearby communities due to the mist of water emitted into the air.

Between 200 and 800 cases of Legionnaires’ disease are diagnosed in New York state each year, although the actual number of infections may be higher as many go undiagnosed or unreported. New York City has seen a series of lethal outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in recent months, with 24 people infected in the Bronx, leading to two confirmed deaths and several hospitalizations. The Bronx previously experienced an outbreak in 2015 that sickened 120 people and led to at least 12 deaths. Following the 2015 outbreak, both the state and city adopted laws designed to prevent Legionella growth in cooling towers and required building owners to adhere to a suite of safety, maintenance, and reporting requirements related to their cooling towers, with civil penalties for non-compliance. 

In 2019, OAG began an investigation into several owners of cooling towers in New York state, including Verizon, that appeared to have significant gaps in reporting requirements under state law. The investigation revealed that since 2017, approximately 225 alleged violations of state and city cooling tower laws had occurred at approximately 45 buildings throughout New York state with cooling towers owned by Verizon. The company maintains and manages its cooling towers within the state through contractors and vendors. The violations identified at Verizon-owned buildings included alleged failures to timely test water samples from cooling towers for Legionella and other bacteria, failures to properly take corrective action in response to positive test results, and failures to timely complete cleaning, disinfection, and inspection of cooling towers. The OAG found several causes for the alleged violations, including disorganized accountability, communication and tracking failures, and a lack of central policies and procedures within the company. 

Under the agreement, Verizon must establish a range of practices and procedures that will increase accountability and tracking, including:

• Ensuring that building managers, whether Verizon employees or third-party contractors, report to and are accountable to environmental health and safety compliance personnel with regard to cooling tower compliance responsibilities;
• Maintaining a centralized tracking system for cooling tower compliance deadlines, including corrective action deadlines as they may arise;
• Notifying senior Verizon management about any violation at a cooling tower, or when any laboratory report is received showing Legionella or other bacteria test results above specified concentrations; and
• Performing an annual audit for compliance with these policies and procedures.

Additionally, the agreement requires Verizon to pay a penalty of $118,000 to be used by OAG to fund projects that prevent, abate, mitigate, or control air pollution or its health impacts.

The OAG’s investigation into other cooling tower owners in New York state for compliance with anti-Legionnaires’ disease laws is ongoing.

BRONX MAN INDICTED FOR SHOOTING PATIENT AT BRONX HOSPITAL

 

Defendant Charged with Attempted Murder

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been indicted for shooting at a man multiple times, wounding him, inside the emergency room waiting area of NYC Health + Hospitals Jacobi.

 District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly opened fire near patients including a mother and her baby, as well as emergency healthcare professionals, who ran for their lives. We are thankful that the shooter was swiftly apprehended, due to hospital cameras capturing the attack.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Keber Martinez, 25, of 1241 Beach Avenue was arraigned June 1, 2022 on Attempted Murder in the second degree, two counts of first-degree Assault, two counts of second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, two counts of seconddegree Assault, first-degree Reckless Endangerment, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, thirddegree Assault, second-degree Menacing, second-degree Reckless Endangerment, two counts of fourth-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, and Possession of Ammunition before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. He was remanded and is due back August 24, 2022.

 According to the investigation, on January 25, 2022, the defendant was inside the hospital emergency room and allegedly shot at the victim four times, striking him once in the left arm. Patients, including a woman who was holding her baby, ran for their lives to escape the gunfire. Martinez allegedly fled the hospital after the shooting and was arrested in Harlem. The attack was captured on hospital surveillance video, and the alleged shooter also identified himself to healthcare workers before the attack

 District Attorney Clark also thanked NYPD Detective Robinson Martinez of the 49th Precinct and Detectives from Bronx Homicide, as well as NYPD Officers and Detectives from throughout the Bronx who responded to the scene.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

North Dakota Man Convicted Of Laundering Over One Million Dollars From Schemes Targeting Victims Across The United States Perpetrated By Ghana-Based Criminal Enterprise

 

Defendant Received Over $1 Million Dollars into Several Bank Accounts He Controlled and Through Coconspirator Cash Deliveries in the Bronx, New York, Which Primarily Consisted of Proceeds of Romance Schemes Targeting Elderly Victims

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SADICK EDUSEI KISSI was convicted today of three criminal counts he was charged with for his participation in a conspiracy based in the Republic of Ghana (“Ghana”) involving the theft of more than one million dollars.  KISSI was convicted after a jury trial before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty which lasted approximately one week.  KISSI was previously arrested on February 5, 2021.  

As reflected in the Indictment, public filings, and the evidence presented at trial:

From in or about 2014 through in or about February 2020, a criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in Ghana committed a series of romance scams against individuals and businesses located across the United States, including in the Southern District of New York.  The Enterprise conducted the romance scams by using electronic messages sent via email, text messaging, or online dating websites that deluded victims, many of whom were vulnerable older men and women who lived alone, into believing the victim was in a romantic relationship with a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise.  Once members of the Enterprise had gained the trust of the victims using the fake identity, they used false pretenses to cause the victims to wire money to bank accounts the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when in fact the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise like KISSI. 

KISSI received money sent by victims of the Enterprise under false pretenses into personal bank accounts located in the Bronx, New York.  The defendant also received criminal proceeds from other U.S.-based members of the Enterprise by cash deliveries.  Once KISSI received these funds, he took out a percentage fee and then withdrew, transported, and laundered those criminal proceeds to other members of the Enterprise, in order to send those funds abroad to Ghana. 

From in or about 2015 through in or about 2020, KISSI controlled more than eight bank accounts that had deposits that totaled over approximately $1 million during that time period.  A substantial portion of the deposits consisted of large wire transfers and check or cash deposits from U.S.-based individuals and entities that were victims of schemes of the Enterprise.   

KISSI, 25, of Dickinson, North Dakota, was convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of receipt of stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to receive stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  KISSI was also acquitted of one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud.

KISSI will be sentenced before Judge Crotty at a later date.

The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.