News, updates and more from NYC Council Member Rafael Salamanca, Jr.

 

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY FOR ACACIA NETWORK’S MOBILE MEDICATION UNIT

I had the pleasure of joining Acacia Network’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for their newly launched PROMESA Mobile Medication Unit (MMU), aimed at providing trauma-informed, culturally-competent services to individuals impacted by substance abuse in the South Bronx.

Our District has seen the staggering realities of the opioid crisis, making initiatives like this all the more vital if we hope to truly address the opioid epidemic and prevent further overdose deaths.

TOURING THE FULTON FISH MARKET

Stopped by the Fulton Fish Market for a productive discussion on the Cooperative’s current operations. 

Hunts Point serves as an economic engine for the Bronx and New York City, so I will continue working to ensure that good paying union jobs are available and being protected through sustained investment in our Markets.

DISCUSSING UPDATES TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS FOR D17

Great discussion with Aaron Koffman to discuss updates on two separate projects currently in development that have already brought the La Central YMCA, and will further collectively bring 1,800 units of 100% affordable housing units, a skate park, and green and community spaces to District 17.

CELEBRATING LUNAR NEW YEAR!

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

Wishing a Happy Lunar New Year to all those celebrating!

May the Year of the Dragon bring you prosperity, happiness, and good fortune.

UPCOMING EVENTS

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH AT THE BRONX ZOO

My office will be hosting our annual event at the Bronx Zoo in celebration of Black History Month to honor leaders within our Borough who are creating a lasting, equitable community for us all to be proud of. 

Thank you to everyone who registered, we have reached full capacity and will no longer be accepting RSVP’s for this event.

Visit our District Office at: 
1070 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, New York 10459
(718) 402-6130
salamanca@council.nyc.gov

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson - Weather Advisory

Dear Neighbor,

The New York City Emergency Management Department has issued a Travel Advisory for Monday night, February 12, into Tuesday, February 13.

 

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect citywide from 4:00 AM to 6:00 PM Tuesday. The latest National Weather Service forecast calls for the possibility of 5 to 8 inches of snow at rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. New Yorkers are advised to exercise caution when driving, walking, or biking and allow for additional travel time as roads may be slippery and visibilities may be low.

•   NYC Public Schools will also move to remote learning on Tuesday, February 13. 

•   Alternate Side Parking regulations will be suspended tomorrow.

•   The Metro-North will run on a modified schedule tomorrow with changes to AM and PM Peak and branch line service.

Tips:

•   Customers can report outages or service problems by calling 1-800-75-CONED (26633). 

•   Sign up for text notifications: Go to coned.com/text or text REG to OUTAGE (688243). Please note, you will need your Con Edison account number to complete registration

•   Sign Up for Notify NYC. Through Notify NYC, you can receive phone calls, text messages, and/or email alerts about weather events. To sign up for Notify NYC, visit Notify NYC online, call 311, or follow @NotifyNYC on Twitter. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 718-590-3500 or email us at webmail@bronxbp.nyc.gov.

 

In partnership,

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson

ADAMS ADMINISTRATION RELEASES SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL OF RIGHTS, FURTHER ENSHRINING RIGHT TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND ABORTION CARE IN NYC

 

Enshrines Right to Dignified, Respectful, and Compassionate Sexual Reproductive Health Care for All 

 

New York City Abortion Access Hub Has Served Nearly 3,500 People Since Launch, More Than 600 Patients Have Accessed No-Cost Medication Abortion at City’s Sexual Health Clinics 

 

NYC Health + Hospitals’ Virtual ExpressCare Telehealth Abortion Service Allows Patients in NYC to Speak With Providers On-Demand via Video or Phone From Comfort of Own Home 

 

As the right to access abortion care has been stripped away from over one-third of U.S. women, New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the city is further enshrining its commitment to reproductive rights, releasing the Sexual and Reproductive Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights defines health as inclusive of access to sexual health care, birth control, gender-affirming health care, and abortion services, and will help ensure that all patients in New York City are protected from discrimination and harassment related to their sexual and reproductive health care decisions. The Sexual and Reproductive Bill of Rights will be distributed to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH) network of health care providers, advocacy groups, and partner organizations across the city to share with patients.  

 

“Two years ago, the Supreme Court stripped women of the right to control their own bodies, and since then, cities and states across the country have worked tirelessly to completely limit abortion access to Americans,” said Mayor Adams. “As much of the nation continues their attacks on abortion care, we won’t ever allow this right to be stripped away here in New York City. We are issuing a Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill of Rights today to do everything in our power to ensure abortion and reproductive health care remain available to residents and visitors alike. This is about protecting women’s choices and their freedoms.” 

 

 “New York City has acted to protect reproductive rights and has strengthened access to services through the Abortion Access Hub and other programs launched by DOHMH and NYC Health + Hospitals,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “With the release of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill of Rights, we are communicating clearly with providers all across the city about what is right and just in a health care environment. Patients and providers alike can now have more clarity in these care conversations and know that New York City stands with them at each step along the way.”

    

“While rights to reproductive health for women, transgender, and gender expansive people are eroded nationally, this administration is a leader in ensuring all New Yorkers receive necessary health care,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “This Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill of Rights will enshrine the right to comprehensive reproductive health and family planning, continuing the promise of ‘Women Forward NYC’ to help all women, including transgender and gender expansive New Yorkers, thrive.” 

 

“Abortion care is health care, health care is a human right, and New Yorkers, and all Americans, have a right to exercise their rights by making health care decisions about their own bodies,” said DOHMH Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. “Abortion remains legal in New York, but we know that protected rights are necessary, but not sufficient, to guarantee access to care. Knowing your rights and exercising these rights is just as important. That is why the city is launching the Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill of Rights and bringing additional abortion services online — to provide support that helps people navigate multiple barriers to care. Everyone deserves to receive reproductive health care in a safe, high-quality, dignified environment.”  

 

“NYC Health + Hospitals is proud to offer safe and legal abortion care,” said Marisa Nádas, MD, MPH, reproductive health clinical lead, NYC Health + Hospitals, and associate medical director, Virtual ExpressCare. “By offering telehealth abortion services and patient navigation support to people seeking abortion care, as well as abortion care at all of our hospital-based clinics, we are overcoming many of the non-medical barriers people face in accessing care. We are committed to striving for reproductive justice for all New Yorkers.” 

 

In 2022, in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to access safe, legal abortion care nationwide. Since that decision, New York City has introduced a range of services to protect and fulfill the local right to access abortion care. Since launching the New York City Abortion Access Hub in November 2022, more than 3,500 callers and over 790 chatters have been directed to reproductive health services and resources through NYC Health + Hospitals and providers throughout New York City: 

 

•   More than a third of all callers request a Spanish-speaking navigator and a majority of callers identify as Hispanic or Latino. 
•   A majority of callers shared that they make less than $25,000 a year. 
•   Most callers live in New York City.  
•   Over 600 callers reported living outside the state and more than a third of those callers were from Texas.  

 

Anyone in need of abortion services or support in accessing care can receive referrals by calling 877-NYC-AHUB (877-692-2482). For those who might prefer to start the conversation over text, there is now a chat feature to connect them to a phone operator. 

 

The city — alongside health care providers, patients, and dedicated supporters of reproductive care — has weathered ongoing attempts to restrict access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used for the past 23 years in medication abortion and has continued to support unfettered access to this safe and effective medication. In August 2022, Mayor Adams signed legislation enabling access to no cost medication abortion at DOHMH sexual health clinics. The service has expanded to the Jamaica and Central Harlem Sexual Health clinics after launching in Morrisania in January 2023. As a result, in 2023: 

 

•   627 medication abortion services were provided at the city’s sexual health clinics, 

•   Most patients were New York City residents, with residents of the Bronx and Queens representing half of all medication abortion visits, and 
•   More than 60 percent of medication abortion patients were uninsured.  

 

In October 2023, NYC Health + Hospitals launched telehealth abortion access through Virtual ExpressCare — becoming the first public health system in the nation to do so. Patients in New York City seeking abortion care can schedule a Virtual ExpressCare appointment to speak with a New York state-licensed health care professional by video or phone, on-demand, for an assessment and counseling. If clinically appropriate and prescribed, patients will be able to receive a medication abortion kit at their New York City address within a few days. This service is available seven days a week, between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM, and will provide patients with access to safe, legal abortion care. Patients can access telehealth abortion care online or by calling (718) 360-8981.  

 

This effort comes of the heels of Women Forward NYC: An Action Plan for Gender Equity, a more than $43 million investment aimed at making New York City a national leader on gender equity, including for transgender and gender expansive New Yorkers, with the ambitious goal of becoming the most women-forward city in the United States. Supported through city dollars, private and public partnerships, academic institutions, and federal grant funding, the action plan addresses gender disparities by connecting women to professional development and higher-paying jobs; dismantling barriers to sexual, reproductive, and chronic health care; reducing gender-based violence against women; and providing holistic housing services, including for formerly incarcerated women and domestic and gender-based violence survivors.  

 

Costa Rica Man Arrested For Sweepstakes Fraud And Impersonation Of Federal Government Officials

 

Federico Hernandez Gamboa, Along With Other Members of the Fraud Scheme, Impersonated Federal Government Officials to Induce Elderly Victims to Pay Approximately $4.3 Million

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging FEDERICO HERNANDEZ GAMBOA with conspiring to commit wire fraud, conspiring to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to defraud elderly victims by convincing them that they had won millions of dollars in a sweepstakes lottery that could only be collected after they paid millions of dollars’ worth of supposed taxes and fees.  GAMBOA was arrested on February 10, 2024, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.  He will be presented before the Honorable Dena Hanovice Palermo in the Southern District of Texas.    

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Federico Hernandez Gamboa defrauded numerous elderly victims who were lured into thinking that they had won life-changing prizes in a sweepstakes lottery, of millions of dollars.  By allegedly impersonating high-ranking federal government officials, Gamboa and others convinced victims that they had to pay supposed taxes and fees in order to claim their sweepstakes winnings.  Scammers who target vulnerable elderly men and women to line their own pockets, take note – you will be held accountable.” 

As alleged in the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court:[1]

From at least August 2020 through at least May 2023, GAMBOA and others contacted elderly victims while claiming to be high-ranking federal government officials, including the Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Deputy Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and others, to convince victims that they had won large cash prizes as part of a sweepstakes lottery.  GAMBOA and others induced the victims to wire millions of dollars in supposed taxes and fees associated with their sweepstakes winnings to bank accounts controlled by members of the fraud scheme.  GAMBOA and others then wired most of the money to bank accounts in Costa Rica. 

Members of the fraud scheme also induced victims to send their personal identifying information, which GAMBOA and others used to create fake identification cards.  They also forged victims’ names on loan agreements that they submitted to financial institutions in order to persuade those institutions that the fraudulently obtained funds belonged to them.

The victims collectively sent approximately $4.3 million in fraud proceeds to bank accounts controlled by members of the fraud scheme, approximately $664,000 of which was sent directly to bank accounts controlled by GAMBOA.

GAMBOA, 51, of San Jose, Costa Rica, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory prison term of two years that must run consecutively to any other prison term.  

The maximum and mandatory 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 a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the exceptional investigative work of the Special Agents and Analysts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and thanked the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their assistance with the investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda C. Weingarten is in charge of the prosecution.

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 and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.