Attorney General James Releases Top 10 Consumer Complaints of 2022

 

Top Frauds Included Retail and Internet Sales, Landlord/Tenant, and Credit, Banking & Mortgages

AG James Offers Tips to Avoid Scams, Urges New Yorkers to Report Fraud to Her Office

New York Attorney General Letitia James kicked off National Consumer Protection Week by releasing a list of the top 10 consumer complaints received by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in 2022. The top complaints range from price gouging of infant formula and children’s medication, flight cancellations, and the dramatic increase in gasoline prices. Attorney General James also offers tips on how consumers can avoid common scams.

“My office receives thousands of consumer complaints every year, and we take each one seriously to stop fraudsters from hurting New Yorkers,” said Attorney General James. “From predatory debt collection to price gouging, scammers tried to take advantage of consumers for personal gain, and we took appropriate action to stop it. As always, I urge New Yorkers to stay vigilant and to keep my office informed about potential scams, price gouging, or violations of consumer protection laws.”

The following are the top 10 consumer complaints received by OAG in 2022 by category:

Category	Description	# of Complaints
1. Retail Sales	Price gouging, retail sales, online purchases, defective merchandise, poor customer service, pet stores, and animal breeders	5,240
2. Landlord/Tenant	Security deposit releases, evictions, tenant harassment	3,014
3. Credit, Banking & Mortgages	Debt collection, credit card billing, debt settlement, payday loans, credit repair, credit reporting agencies, identity theft, banking, loan modification scams, mortgage lending and servicing	2,834
4. Consumer Services	COVID-19 testing facilities, alarm companies, dry cleaners, restaurants, movers, storage facilities, services for personal household use	2,730
5. Automobile	Sales, service, financing, repairs	2,590
6. Internet	Internet services and service providers, data privacy and security, digital media, frauds through internet manipulation	2,355
7. Utilities	Wireless and residential phones, energy servicers and suppliers, cable, and satellite	1,896
8. Home Repair/Improvement	Repair issues, deceitful contractors, solar panel installations	1,264
9. Travel	Airline customer service, flight cancellations, and refunds	787
10. Gasoline Prices	Price gouging, excessive pricing, credit card surcharges	661

Attorney General James offers various tips to protect New Yorkers from future scams:

Retail Sales:

•   Be aware of scammers that set up fake websites with product images of well-known brands or hard-to-get products. Before you order from an unfamiliar website, research the company and any online reviews; check for spelling errors on the website or anything that might seem off. If you don’t do a lot of online shopping, ask a friend or relative who does whether the site looks legitimate. Pay only by credit card and not Venmo, Zelle, or money transfer. And if a deal is too good to be true it probably is.
•   If you see excessively high prices for infant formula, children’s medication, or other goods vital and necessary for health, safety, and welfare during an abnormal market disruption, you are encouraged to report it immediately to OAG.

Landlord/Tenant:

•   Your landlord must return your security deposit within 14 days of you moving out. If your landlord takes any money out of the security deposit for damages, they must provide an itemized receipt describing the damage and its cost. If your landlord doesn’t give you this receipt within 14 days of moving out, then they must return your entire security deposit, whether there is damage or not. If your landlord fails to comply, you may be entitled to up to twice the amount of the security deposit. If your landlord does not give you back your security deposit, you can sue the landlord in small claims court or you can file a complaint with OAG by using our online Rent Security Complaint form.
•   Landlords of buildings with six or more units must deposit a tenant’s security deposit into an interest-bearing account in a bank within the state that pays a prevailing rate. The landlord is required to provide notice to the tenant of the name and address of the bank where the security deposit is located. If you do not have this information or if your landlord is not placing your security deposit in an interest-bearing account you can file a complaint with OAG by using our online Rent Security Complaint form.
•   You should find out whether you are in a rent stabilized apartment and thus are entitled to one or two year renewal leases at your option and at percentage increases that are established each year by the Rent Guidelines Board. You can find out if your apartment is rent stabilized by filing out this form on New York State’s Housing and Community Renewal’s (HCR) website and selecting “Apartment Rent History.” From the rent history, you should be able to determine if the rent went up in accordance with the rent stabilization guidelines. If it has not and you believe you are being overcharged on the rent you can file an RA-89 Form with HCR.
•   Avoid signing back-dated documents from your landlord or the building management company, such as back-dated leases that were not offered to you in a timely way. Not only is signing a back-dated document inaccurate, it may also result in negative legal consequences down the road. 
•   If you are having trouble paying your rent, please contact your local Department of Social Services (DSS). Check DSS’ website to find their offices across the state. New York City residents can call 311 and ask about rental assistance programs. More resources are available on OAG website.
•   For those looking to rent an apartment here are some tips:
  •   Background-check fees and credit report fees are now limited to $20 and can be waived if you present a copy of a background check or credit check that is less than 30 days old. Landlords and brokers may try to charge a higher fee and say that the amount is “refundable” but that is not allowed under New York law.
  •   You may not be charged a security deposit that exceeds one month’s rent and may not be required to pre-pay rent, as a condition of obtaining a lease.
  •   You may not be denied housing that you are otherwise eligible for, on the basis of a history of past or pending landlord and tenant court proceedings.
  •   You may not be denied housing that you are otherwise eligible for, on the basis that they intend to use a lawful source of income, such as a housing subsidy like a Section 8 voucher, to pay your rent.

Credit, Banking & Mortgages:

•   We have seen an increase in foreclosure lawsuits being filed on “zombie second mortgages,” mortgages where the homeowner has not made a payment or heard anything about the mortgage for years. Under New York law, mortgage companies generally can only collect on the last six years of missed mortgage payments; seeking to collect beyond that may be illegal. Please contact the New York State Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP), which includes free legal services attorneys, by visiting their website or calling (855) HOME-456.
•   Homeowners are being approached by companies offering “free” cash for a share of equity in their home or to be your realtor at a later date. Be careful of these offers as often there are strings attached that could result in the loss of your home or your inability to sell your home on the open market. If you’re unsure whether an offer like this is too good to be true, seek legal advice or counseling through visiting HOPP's website or calling (855) HOME-456. Even if the company tells you they can connect you to a lawyer, you should find your own lawyer or counselor.
•   Fight Junk Fees! “Junk fees” are unnecessary, unavoidable, or surprise charges that increases the cost of a good or service while adding little to no value for that good or service. These fees may include overdraft fees (fees charged for overdrawing on an account), bounced check fees and fees charged to make a mortgage payment online or through the phone (also known as pay-to-pay fees). If you believe these fees have been wrongly imposed, you should call the company and dispute them. You should also file an online complaint with OAG's Consumer Frauds Bureau and an online complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Health Care Costs

•   If you were promised a rapid COVID-19 test but received your results later than promised, file an online complaint with OAG’s Consumer Frauds Bureau.
•   Under both the No Surprises Act and New York law, hospitals and health care providers are prohibited from billing a patient for more than the in-network co-payment, co-insurance, or deductible costs for certain “surprise” out-of-network bills. These surprise bills include bills for emergency services, non-emergency services, and air ambulance services. If you received a surprise medical bill, you can contact OAG’s Health Care Helpline at 1-800-428-9071, or visit the online portal if you believe that you have been improperly charged for a surprise bill by a health care provider, or that a health plan has improperly assessed cost-sharing for a surprise bill.

Consumer related services (Storage Companies):

•   When selecting a storage company for your personal belongings, read the contract fine print for any hidden or additional charges. Also read the fine print for when notice is required to be given for raising rent and terms under which you are deemed to have defaulted.
•   Check out online reviews and, in New York City, check to see if the storage company is licensed and bonded.
•   If a storage company loses or damages your personal belongings or fails to deliver your personal belongings as promised, you are encouraged to report it to OAG.

Automobile:

•   Make sure that what you are signing is what the salesperson told you and that you are not being charged for any extra accessories or products. Never sign documents or leave the dealership with a car until you have read all of your paperwork carefully. Ask for an exact copy of every document you sign to take with you.
•   If you electronically sign your contracts for the purchase or lease of a vehicle, you have the right to request a printed copy of your sale or lease contract. Do not leave the dealership before you have obtained a printed copy and reviewed the contract to ensure that the terms of your sale or lease are the same as what was discussed with the salesperson.
•   Beware of misleading or tricky sales tactics when purchasing or leasing a car. Do not sign a blank document that does not have numbers or terms filled in. Ask the salesperson or finance manager about any financing, fees or charges you do not understand and whether they are required by law.
•   Add-on products, such as insurance or service contracts, are never required to purchase a vehicle or obtain financing for the purchase of a vehicle. You have the right to demand a price or financing terms for a vehicle without any add on products.

Investment Opportunities:

•   Be careful of requests to invest money that come through social media, email, text messages, and other online methods. Sometimes these people are not who they say they are, live outside the United States, and may take your money without any way for you to get it back.
•   Also be careful of investment opportunities that come through friends, family, and trusted community members. Always do research before handing over your money to see if the people behind the investment opportunity are who they say they are, and if the investment makes sense.
•   An investment that “sounds too good to be true” or that promises guaranteed returns or high profits with little risk is probably a scam.
•    Avoid “limited time only” investment opportunities and other high-pressure sales tactics — pressure to make a quick decision is a classic warning sign of fraud.
•   Investment contracts should always be in writing. You may want to talk to a lawyer about the contract and talk to an accountant about potential tax liabilities before you hand over your money.
•   Don’t invest if you don’t understand. Con artists often claim to use complicated, technical or confidential investment strategies, but may simply take your money and run.

Internet:

•   Attackers are increasingly targeting personal and financial information obtained through online transactions, particularly where customers and vendors do not take proper precautions. Please consider the following when shopping online.
  •   Shop Smart. Reputable vendors will often have strong transaction security and encryption, likely decreasing the chances of phishing attacks. You can also check the site’s certificate information or confirm the vendor’s phone number or physical address if you suspect that a website is fraudulent.
  •   Use a credit card. Credit cards limit customer liability and provide more protection than debit cards linked directly to your bank accounts. Using one credit card allows for easier review of purchases and the ability to freeze disputed transactions.
  •   Check bank statements. Be vigilant with purchase orders and compare these with your bank statements to find any discrepancies.
  •   Beware of emails requesting purchase or account information. Reputable vendors will not ask for this type of information via email. If you do receive an unsolicited email, do not open any links and instead visit the actual website by typing in the web address.
  •   Use secure websites. Legitimate vendors will use secure sockets to encrypt your information. Make sure website URLs begin with “https:” and not “http:” and check for a closed padlock icon in the appropriate place on your browser. This indicates that information on the site is encrypted.
  •   Check shopping apps. Be careful when shopping through apps. Unlike credit cards, you are liable for all charges made through a shopping app, unless otherwise stated under a vendor’s terms of service. 

Utilities:

•   If you are thinking of purchasing your energy directly from an energy service company (ESCO), beware of deceptive tactics. Some ESCOs induce consumers to switch to their services, such as promising savings or 100 percent green energy, or switching consumers without their consent.
•   Before accepting ESCO service, consumers should ask how their rates compare to the rates provided directly from utility companies, and whether their purchase of an ESCO’s green product will actually support the environment.
•   All consumers should remember that if they sign up with any ESCO, they have three days to change their minds without incurring any obligations.

Home Repair/Improvement:

•   Many consumers are turning to solar energy for their homes. However, it is important that homeowners thoroughly research the companies and the different products available before making a decision.
•   Some companies offer “Power Purchase Agreements” or “PPAs,” where the company owns the panels and you pay for the power produced by the panels, while others allow you to pay for the panels themselves and own the solar energy produced.
•   You will still pay your energy company certain set fees, as well as pay for any additional energy you need beyond what the panels produce. Be mindful that PPAs are long-term contracts, generally for 20 years, and cannot be cancelled without severe penalties. Please visit OAG’s consumer guide regarding solar panels.

Travel:

•   Over the past year, airlines have been advertising and booking flights they do not have the personnel to operate, which has caused cancellations, delays and forced consumers to incur additional travel costs.
•   If your flight gets cancelled or delayed, federal law entitles you to a full cash refund, regardless of the reason. You are also entitled to a refund if an airline makes a significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight and you choose not to travel.
•   Attorney General James has urged the U.S Department of Transportation to take action to address cancellations and delays, including preventing airlines from selling tickets for flights they cannot provide.

Gasoline Prices:

•   You should not be surprised by a credit card surcharge when paying for gas at the pump with a credit card. Merchants are not allowed to advertise a price and add a surcharge at the point of sale when paying for goods or services with a credit card. Instead, merchants are required to inform consumers of the higher credit card price for a product or service by posting the higher price. Merchants can also offer discounts to consumers who pay with cash.

Consumers are encouraged to file complaints by completing and submitting a Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau online complaint form or by calling (800) 771-7755 if they are unable to submit a form online.

Comptroller Lander Provides Testimony to the City Council on FY 2024 Preliminary Budget

 

Lander highlights impacts of staffing vacancies on agency performance as part of analysis of Preliminary Budget proposal

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released a report on the Adams administration’s preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2024 and testified to the City Council about the short- and long-term outlooks for the City’s economy and finances.

The report on the FY 2024 Preliminary Budget includes the Comptroller’s office’s economic forecast and analysis of budgetary risks facing the City of New York, including updated analysis of the cost of collective bargaining agreements and the provision of services for asylum seekers. The report is available here.

The Comptroller’s office also released a new brief, Understaffed, Underserved, on the impacts of staff vacancies on agency performance, drawing on data from the January Mayor’s Management Report. Among the 15 agencies with the highest vacancy rates, the Department of Small Business Services, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Housing Preservation and Development are falling farthest behind on the critical indicators they set for themselves in the Mayor’s Management Report.

Comptroller Lander’s testimony to the City Council is available online here and the hearing can be viewed online here. Remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon, Speaker Adams, Chair Brannan, members of the Finance Committee and City Council. I’m glad to be here to discuss the Preliminary Budget, the state of NYC’s economy, and how we can budget for a thriving future. Joining me today are Executive Deputy Comptroller Francesco Brindisi and Deputy Comptroller for Budget Krista Olson.  

This morning we released our Preliminary Budget and Financial Plan report (90+ pages which I will briefly summarize here), as well as a brief on how City staff vacancies impact outcomes per the Mayor’s Management Report.   

The City’s fiscal outlook differs significantly from that depicted in the Preliminary Budget for three reasons: additional costs from the collective bargaining agreement the City recently reached with DC37, shelter and services provision for asylum seekers, and cost shifts proposed by the Governor in the State’s Executive Budget. As a result, before the potential fiscal impact of asylum seekers and State Executive Budget, budget gaps are modest and manageable for Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024, but become significant in the outyears of the Financial Plan.    

At the same time, as the “New New York” panel convened by the Governor and Mayor outlined, New York’s economic future depends on significant investments in affordable housing, child care, mass transit, and public realm. How to navigate these competing realities is the challenge facing the Council and the Mayor in the years ahead.    

New York City’s Economy  

New York City’s economy has proven resilient despite the pandemic’s disruption and tighter monetary policy. Our updated forecast projects an economic “soft-landing,” with national and City’s economies slowing down but avoiding a recession.  

Last month, Fitch Ratings upgraded the City’s General Obligation bonds, which fund our capital program, to AA, citing our strong recovery and long-term reserves the Council funded at my urging last year.    

Jobs have returned to 98% of their pre-pandemic peak.  Health care and information technology are above pre-pandemic levels. However, jobs in the arts, retail, and accommodation and food services remain 13% below pre-pandemic levels.   

Cost of living, specifically housing affordability, is a key challenge. After a dip at the beginning of the pandemic, asking rents rose above their previous peak, averaging $3,500 over the last few months. Nearly 30% of New Yorkers spend over half of their income on rent. Local inflation has risen 12.8% since January 2020, without the minimum wage changing since 2019 – strong rationale for raising the minimum wage.    

Comptroller’s Assessment of the Preliminary Budget  

The Mayor’s FY 2024 Preliminary Budget totals $102.7 billion. The gap of $4.2 billion in the Adopted Plan was resolved through a combination of revenue increases, pre-payments, and a PEG totaling $1.95 billion in savings, resulting in reducing 4,374 city positions.    

The FY 2024 budget reduces spending with the ramping down of COVID federal grant-related spending. New York City spent $18.8 billion through FY 2022, with $7.6 billion remaining in the current financial plan.  

City revenues are above plan  

On the positive side, with updated property tax receipt information unavailable when the Preliminary Budget was released, we project that overall revenues will come in higher than the City’s projections in each year of the Financial Plan.   

Since OMB released the Preliminary Budget in January, three significant things have changed:  

Labor agreement with DC37   

The tentative contract agreement reached between the City and DC 37 would add a total of $16.3 billion over the Financial Plan, if other unions follow suit.   

Rising costs for shelter and services for those seeking asylum  

Second, the cost for shelter and services for asylum seekers is escalating. City Hall now projects the cumulative cost for FY 2023 and FY 2024 to be $4.2 billion. State and Federal aid are projected to cover only a quarter of that as costs continue to grow.  

New York State Executive Budget would negatively impact New York City  

Third, the NY State Executive Budget, while providing partial funding for sheltering asylum seekers and an increase in school funding, also includes substantial cost shifts, unfunded mandates, and revenue cuts. In total, the Governor’s proposed budget would cost NYC $1 billion, from transit cost shifts to charter school mandates, growing to over $2 billion by 2027 – exacerbating our already widening budget gaps. And that does not include the cost of implementing the State’s class size mandate, which requires class size reductions over the next five years.  

Additional risks  

As in past years, my office identified many under budgeted areas that are likely to significantly increase expenditures above financial plan projections. These include funding shortfalls for tuition at existing charter schools, underfunding of Carter special education cases, pupil transportation, City contributions to the MTA (even before the proposed increase in the Governor’s Executive Budget), and uniformed overtime.  

As a result, despite the revised revenue projection, budget gaps are estimated to grow from modest and manageable amounts this year and next — $1.30 billion (1.2% of expenditures) in FY 2023 and $1.51 billion (1.5%) in FY 2024 – to significant levels in the outyears – $7.07 billion (6.7%) in FY 2025, $10.22 billion (9.6%) in FY 2026 and $11.66 billion (10.6%) in FY 2027.   

These gaps do not include the additional risk derived from asylum seekers service costs or the impact of the Governor’s executive budget.  

For FY 2023, the City has access to $1.8 billion in the General Reserve and Capital Stabilization Reserve, and the Mayor’s Executive Budget later this spring will likely include additional savings and resources to balance the FY 2024 budget – with some room for restorations of harmful cuts.   

In the outyears, however, the size of these budget gaps, along with the need for substantial additional investments in affordable housing, child care, and mental health necessary for the city’s economic thriving, indicates the need for structural interventions on both expenses and revenues.  

Critical Needs for FY 2024  

Within the City’s FY 2024 Preliminary Budget, I’d like to highlight a few critical needs that can  be addressed within the contours of a balanced budget.   

First, we must pivot in how we approach the influx of people seeking asylum. For the past nine months, the City rightly focused on scaling up shelter capacity.   

Now, the City must shift to getting people out of shelter through a mix of scaling up support for work authorizations to accelerating pathways for individuals and families – beginning with long-term shelter residents – to permanent housing. The City can both help families get on a pathway to economic stability while significantly reducing long-term costs of providing shelter.     

Reversing the counterproductive cuts to CUNY and public libraries are essential to preserving critical resources that New Yorkers rely on. Even with big picture risks, we can find $20.5 million to prevent library hour cuts.  

I also urge the Council to prioritize funding for 25 shelter-based education coordinators to strengthen the 6 District 79 English Language Learner programs put in place this past year, Promise NYC’s child care for undocumented children, and the roll-out of universal curbside composting.  

Making Rainy Day Fund Deposits Automatic  

Last year, my office advocated for a new formula for making regular deposits into and codifying withdrawals of the City’s Rainy Day Fund. While the Council and the Mayor made the largest deposit ever into reserves, you did not move to adopt a formulaic approach to remove these deposits from the budget dance. I urge you to do so.   

City Agency Vacancy Challenges  

The FY 2024 preliminary budget includes the impact of several rounds of savings initiatives, primarily through blunt vacancy reductions. While an annual review to identify efficiencies is a necessary component to budgeting, the across-the-board, eliminate-half-the-outstanding vacancies approach is a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach.   

In a new brief we’re releasing today, Understaffed, Underserved, we identify where high vacancies impact direct services to New Yorkers and the City’s long-term planning and risk management. Among the 15 agencies with the highest vacancy rates, the Department of Small Business Services, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Housing Preservation and Development are falling farthest behind on the critical indicators they set for themselves in the Mayor’s Management Report.   

The Department for the Aging is seeing poor performance on home-delivered meals and case management services. The Department of Finance is taking longer to process SCRIE and DRIE applications. And NYC Emergency Management is conducting fewer emergency preparedness drills and tabletop exercises, and – a perennial City Council bone of contention – the Parks Department is completing fewer capital projects on time.  

I was glad to see flexible work arrangements, including hybrid/remote work and targeted salary adjustments for hard-to-recruit positions included in the recent tentative agreement between OLR and DC37. Both my office and the 5BORO Institute recommend expediting hiring, allowing hybrid work for appropriate positions, considering compensation levels for key hard-to-recruit slots, and designating Chief Talent/Recruitment Officers to drive this work.  

Capital Budget  

A few words about the Capital Budget (which, as many of you know, is really my favorite part). The January 2023 Capital Commitment Plan totals $96.55 billion in all-funds authorized commitments for FY 2023 – FY 2027.  

New York City also has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to draw down funds from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (which, for the first time, allows a focus on local hiring), the New York State Environmental Bond Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act for decarbonization.  

These resources collectively represent an extraordinary opportunity to improve our infrastructure, improve our economy, address the affordability crisis, ready the city for climate change, and create union jobs for New Yorkers.   

For that to work, we have to reform the City’s capital process to deliver projects on-time and on-budget. Last week I was in Albany with leaders in the Administration, talking with state legislators about changes to streamline capital approvals, improve procurement processes, and manage projects more effectively. My office proudly updated and modernized Comptroller’s Directive 10 and are registering contracts in record time. Later this spring, I look forward to the long-awaited Citywide Capital Projects Tracker, which I sponsored as a Councilmember.  

The City must also ensure that projects are equitably distributed to diverse contractors. Our report last week on the still-abysmal share of City contracts going to M/WBEs showed that construction lags farther behind other sectors when contracting with firms owned by women and people of color.  

Strengthening NYC’s Capital Investments in Affordable Housing  

As NYC confronts a housing crisis, investing capital dollars at scale in housing must be a top priority. The City should allocate at least $4 billion this year for housing, including $1.5 billion for NYCHA, to meet the need. And as we know from past years, allocating that capital funding is not enough, HPD must be adequately staffed to get projects reviewed and construction underway.   

We also have an opportunity and obligation to ensure that housing construction spending makes the biggest impact for the people who most need affordable housing. That means targeting our affordable housing dollars to the level of affordability – not subsidizing market-rate development – and investing in housing outside the speculative market that will remain permanently affordable. What if we started a Mitchell-Lama 2.0, allowing developers to receive capital subsidies, tax breaks, and density increases to create permanently affordable, multi-family, shared-equity cooperative homeownership?     

Planning and Investing for the Long Term  

Last fall, the Governor and Mayor brought together 59 business leaders and policy experts to craft a plan for the city’s future. The “New New York” proposal agreed that we must first invest in the fundamentals that make the city a stimulating place to live, work, and play. They recommended significant investments in affordable housing, transit, child care, climate resiliency, and public realm in order to ensure New York’s long-term economic vitality.   

For just a moment, let’s imagine following and building upon the recommendations of that report. We could be a city that provides pathways for working-class families to affordable homeownership, universal child care, first-class mental health, and high-quality education for all kids through university. If we did, our families, our economy, and our city would flourish.    

Let’s be clear: While savings and efficiencies are necessary, they won’t be near enough to allow us to invest in the ambitious programs to secure NYC’s economic success, while also closing the budget gaps we face. New funding will be necessary.   

This budget cycle is the time to ask Albany for the resources and authority to raise revenues necessary to invest in the City’s future. Any new revenues should come from those who can afford to contribute more (NY State saw the number of millionaires rise this year as the wealthy became wealthier) and benefit from a thriving city. We sure can’t let the State short-change the City on our own revenues and obligations. My office will be working over the ensuing months as we move toward budget adoption; I would welcome conversations with you.  

As we look to the long-term, we have very real challenges, and also very real opportunities. The best path forward is to build a city that spends wisely and prudently, that sets aside adequate resources for a rainy day, and that invests in the future that New Yorkers deserve, this year and for the years to come.  

Thank you. 

Permits Filed For 741 East 232nd Street In Wakefield, The Bronx

 

Permits have been filed for a three-story residential building at 741 East 232nd Street in Wakefield, The Bronx. Located between Barnes Avenue and White Plains Road, the interior lot is one block south of the 233rd Street subway station, serviced by the 2 and 5 trains. Jeffrey Cohen of Verdoso Inc. is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed 30-foot-tall development will yield a 6,100-square-foot footprint. The building will have 26 residences, however it is unclear if units will be condos or rentals. The concrete-based structure will also have a cellar, a 30-foot-long rear yard, 13 open parking spaces, and two enclosed parking spaces.

Anthony Somefun is listed as the architect of record.

Demolition permits have not been filed yet. An estimated completion date has not been announced.

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Are you Ready for Pitchers and Catchers?

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Celebrate the Spring season with The Bronx Chamber of Commerce as the New York Yankees take on the Phillies!

Enjoy an all-inclusive luxury suite, private stadium entrance, open bar, dinner, and a great view of the diamond while networking with industry leaders, thought partners and supporters working to make the Bronx thrive.

For the complete Bronx Chamber Events Calendar, featuring educational workshops, networking events and other opportunities hosted by the Chamber, its members, & partners, please visit and bookmark our website events calendar link in your browser - new events are added weekly!

Defendant Sentenced To 17 Years For Murder-For-Hire Scheme And Related Shooting In Poughkeepsie

 

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and William V. Grady, the Dutchess County District Attorney, announced that JUSTTIN KENYOTTA HAYWOOD was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his participation in a murder-for-hire scheme and related shooting in Poughkeepsie in 2020 in which HAYWOOD, having been offered $5,000 to kill another individual, wrongly identified, pursued, and shot at a 17-year-old boy who had been playing basketball in a park with two friends in Poughkeepsie.  HAYWOOD previously pled guilty to murder for hire and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition before United States District Judge Nelson S. Román, who imposed the sentence.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Justtin Haywood’s sentence shows that senseless acts of violence will be met with severe consequences.  Haywood agreed to murder another individual and then shot at an innocent 17-year-old boy, who had been playing basketball with friends in a park.  For this crime, Haywood will spend 17 years in federal prison.”

FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said: “As this sentence demonstrates, there is no place in our community for anyone willing to commit murder.  Criminal behavior like Haywood's is a dangerous bane to society and often results in innocent people being placed in harm's way.  The FBI's Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and our partners in law enforcement work tirelessly to make those who have complete disregard for humanity face the consequences of their actions.”

Dutchess County Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Weishaupt said: “We commend the joint effort by all the agencies involved in bringing Mr. Haywood to justice for this horrific shooting and targeting of an innocent young man.  Let the message be clear: we will use all available resources to bring violent criminals to justice and ensure the safety of our community.  We have an outstanding working relationship with our federal partners and will continue to work together to combat this senseless violence.”

According to the Complaint and the Information filed against the defendant, other documents filed in federal court, and statements made in public court proceedings:

In late December 2019 and early January 2020, Haywood traveled from Colorado to North Carolina and then ultimately up to Poughkeepsie, New York, and met with a co-conspirator (“CC-1”) who offered him $5,000 to kill another male individual.  Haywood agreed to do so, and on January 15, 2020, wrongly believing to have found his intended target, approached three teenagers playing basketball in King Street Park in Poughkeepsie and attempted to shoot one of them, a 17-year-old boy, ultimately chasing them in his car as they fled on foot and firing multiple shots from inside of his car.  Fortunately, no one was hit.

In addition to his prison sentence, HAYWOOD, 40, of Aurora, Colorado, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI, the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, and the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office.

The FBI’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, and the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office conducted a joint investigation of the 2020 shooting and murder-for-hire scheme.