Council Member Marjorie Velázquez - What's Happening in District 13

 

Dear Neighbor,

Earlier this week, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams delivered her State of the City Address, where she discussed the issues facing our City and outlined her agenda to put People Over Everything. Her vision is to invest in the City’s workforce by expanding access to economic mobility, housing, and to create healthier and safer neighborhoods. By listening to and addressing the concerns of our communities, we are helping to create a better City.

Over the next several weeks, my colleagues and I will be participating in several preliminary budget hearings to better understand the needs of our city’s agencies and programs. I hope that by addressing the needs of these agencies, we can build a budget that will reflect the needs of our City agencies to serve our communities.

Please be advised that this year’s State of the District address will be next Monday, March 13, 2023, at 7 PM at PS 121. During this year’s address, we will discuss community updates, legislative achievements, and more. For more information about this year’s event or how to RSVP, please scroll to ‘What’s Happening in District 13.’

In this week’s email, you find information about several upcoming events throughout the district and the Bronx, including information for parents looking to enroll their children in 3K and 4K. As a reminder, CUNY has waived it’s application fee for NYC public high school students applying for the 2023 term. More information can be found in ‘Education.’ Please note that there are several deadlines quickly approaching, which can be found bolded throughout this email. Also, be sure to complete our Spring 2023 Community Events Survey;’ this survey will be used to support our office as we finalize upcoming events for everyone throughout the district.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please call us at (718) 931-1721 or email us at District13@council.nyc.gov.

Sincerely,

Council Member Marjorie Velázquez

State of the District - March 13, 2023

As a reminder, this year’s State of the District address was postponed until Monday, March 13 at 7 PM. This year’s address will be at P.S. 121 - The Throop School. This year’s event will feature updates on our community, legislative achievements, and more. Those who have already registered do not need to re-register, and will receive an updated ticket via email.

Please note that this event is open to the public and requires an RSVP; to RSVP, please copy and paste the link below.

RSVP: NYC-CD13-STOD.eventbrite.com

OATH Resource Day

Join us on Wednesday, March 15 from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Allerton Library for our spring OATH Resource Day! OATH staff will be on site to answer your questions about summonses and how to navigate the OATH system. I hope to see you there!

Women’s History Month: Promoting Literacy

In honor of Women’s History Month, I will be co-hosting, alongside Montefiore Medical Group, Women’s History Month: Promoting Literacy on Friday, March 31 from 3 PM to 5 PM at the Montefiore Medical Group-Throggs Neck clinic. During the event, attendees will receive books authored by women or that features women leaders. Books will be provided by Bronx Bound Books, a Black-woman owned and operated mobile bookstore.

DSNY Waste Set Out Time Change Mark your calendars! Beginning on April 1, waste set out times will be changing for both commercial and residential areas. Residential Set out trash after 6 PM, only if it is a container with a secure lid Set out trash after 8 PM if putting bags directly on the curb or if the trashcan does not have a secure lid Commercial If using a container with a secure lid, place waste at the curb 1-hour prior to closing If putting bags directly on the curb, place waste out after 8 PM To learn more, click here. Celebrating Purim with the Bronx Jewish Center On Tuesday, I celebrated Purim with the Bronx Jewish Center, where we enjoyed delicious hamantashen, music, and a performance by comedian Eli Lebowicz. I had a great time seeing the kids dressed up and families enjoying this year’s Purim Party. Chag Purim Sameach!

RIKERS ISLAND INMATE INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR ATTACKING NYC DOC OFFICERS

 

Defendant Put Officer in Chokehold and Struck Officers With Broomstick; Victims Needed Hospital Treatment

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Rikers Island inmate has been indicted on Attempted Murder charges for attacking multiple NYC Department of Correction Officers with a broomstick and for putting one of the Officers in a chokehold.

 District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant, a Rikers Island inmate, allegedly put a DOC Officer in a chokehold during an unprovoked attack and struck him with a broomstick taken from a janitor’s closet. He also allegedly struck a DOC Captain with the broomstick directly in the face. He did all this while kicking and biting other DOC staff who responded to the incident. Attacks against Correction Officers doing their jobs on Rikers Island will not be tolerated.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant Rafael Mieses, 36, was arraigned on Attempted Murder in the first and second degree, Attempted Assault in the first degree, 12 counts of second-degree Assault, first, second and third-degree Robbery, third and fourth-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, four counts of third-degree Assault, Petit Larceny, fifth-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, and second-degree Obstruction of Governmental Administration before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. The defendant was remanded and is due back in court on April 6, 2023.

 According to the investigation, at approximately 9:20 PM on December 21, 2022, in the de-escalation area in the Vernon C. Bain Center, the defendant got out of his cell and began taking items from the janitor’s closet. When a Correction Officer told Mieses to leave the items, the defendant allegedly charged at the Officer, kicked him repeatedly and struck the Officer multiple times about the body with a broomstick. While the Officer was on the ground, the defendant lay on top of him, placed him in a chokehold, pressed the broom handle up against the victim’s neck, and attempted to take the Officer’s pepper spray canister. Additional DOC Staff arrived and the defendant allegedly released the chokehold and turned to a DOC Captain and struck her in the face with the broomstick. Mieses then turned to the first victim again, held the broomstick against his throat and forced him to the ground for a second time, causing him to drop his chemical spray canister. The defendant then picked it up and attempted to use the pepper spray against staff.

 According to the investigation, when the DOC probe team arrived, the defendant allegedly resisted staff, kicking and striking several Correction Officers with the broomstick. Mieses also bit a probe team member in the forearm. The Correction Officers were treated for head trauma, multiple body contusions, and lacerations at a local hospital.

 District Attorney Clark also thanked the New York City Department of Correction Intelligence Bureau, specifically Investigator Lakeisha White, for her work in the investigation.

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

Maine Man Charged With Participation In A Murder-For-Hire Scheme

 

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the arrest of HYUNKOOK KORSIAK for participating in a plot to commit murder for hire in Midtown Manhattan.  Thankfully, and unbeknownst to KORSIAK, he plotted with undercover FBI agents and the intended victim was fictitious.  KORSIAK was arrested in Tarrytown, New York, and wa presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge James L. Cott.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged in the complaint, Hyunkook Korsiak agreed to murder another person for the price of $50,000.  Thanks to the work of our remarkable law enforcement partners, Korsiak now stands charged in federal court for his alleged role in this terrible crime.”

FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said: "As alleged, the defendant was willing to travel over three hundred miles in order to fulfill his depraved desire to be paid for taking another human’s life.  The defendant displayed callous disregard for life and planned to conduct his act of violence in the middle of Manhattan.  The FBI will not tolerate such acts of violence, and any individual willing to cold heartedly kill another person will be made to face the consequences in the criminal justice system."

As alleged in the amended Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court and in other court papers and proceedings:[1]

From in or about January 2023, through in or about March 8, 2023, KORSIAK participated in a scheme to murder a fictitious businessman in Manhattan in exchange for a payment of $50,000.  The FBI began its investigation after communications KORSIAK sent expressing his desire to kill a person for money were intercepted by the Bureau of Prisons.  Over the course of the last two months, KORSIAK met with an undercover FBI agent on multiple occasions in both New York and Boston and agreed to murder a fictitious businessman who was purported to be staying at a Midtown Manhattan hotel.  During one of the meetings with the undercover agent, KORSIAK described how he intended to commit the murder and what weapons he planned on using, including an AR-15 rifle and a 9MM pistol that he possessed.  KORSIAK asked the undercover agents to provide him with silencers for the two weapons and a latex mask so that he could defeat facial recognition technology.  In another meeting, KORSIAK told agents that he would use a car to approach the victim as he walked on a Midtown Manhattan street and planned to shoot the victim from inside the car.  KORSIAK’s plan also included the use of a police uniform in an effort to evade capture after he committed the murder. 

On March 8, 2023, KORSIAK traveled from Maine to Tarrytown, New York, where he intended to make his final preparations for the murder.  Instead, Korsiak was apprehended by FBI agents.  KORSIAK was found in possession of four firearms, including two AR-15 rifles and two 9MM semi-automatic pistols.  In addition to the firearms, agents seized (i) a bullet resistant vest; (ii) hundreds of rounds of various caliber ammunition; (iii) a latex mask; (iv) rifle scopes; (v) high-capacity magazines; and (vi) latex gloves, many of the same items KORSIAK told the undercover agents he intended to use during the murder.  These items are pictured below:

KORSIAK has a 2017 federal felony conviction for theft from a licensed firearms dealer. 

KORSIAK, 41, of Augusta, Maine, is charged with one count of murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of possession of a firearm following a felony conviction, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in this case 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 and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

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

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.