BRAC - December 2024 Newsletter

 

BRONX RIVER ART CENTER 

Celebrating 37 Years of Bringing Arts & Cultural Programs to the Bronx

DECEMBER 2024 at BRAC

Open House/Student Show/Open Studios RSVP

Education

Free After School Program for Middle Schoolers MSCreate featuring JJGrant Winter session starts January 6th! Check out BRAC's newest program! MSCreate is a free  after-school program designed to build critical thinking skills  in a safe and supportive environment through engagement  with a wide array of visual arts. The program runs five (5)  days a week from 3:30-6:30pm, with classes starting at  4:30pm. Geared for creative students who are considering  specialized high schools and building their art portfolios, the  session ends with a student show in our gallery and a small  stipend for participants. Click here for more information about MSCreate! MSCreate Sign-Up Form Winter 2025 Afterschool and Saturday  class registration will begin December 14th. Go to BRAC website for details soon!!! "Finally, It's Friday" Drop-in Art Workshops! . This Friday -Mosaic Register for Friday Workshops Last chance to see: Chaos Theory: The Spectrum of  Black Abstraction exhibition closes December 7th

Governor Hochul Signs New Law to Support Workers Facing Job-Related Post-Traumatic Stress

Legislation S.6635/A.5745 Allows New Yorkers To Apply For Workers' Compensation For Extraordinary Work-Related Stress

Governor Hochul Invested $1 Billion To Transform The Continuum Of Mental Health Care In New York

Governor Kathy Hochul signed new legislation to support working people who are facing job-related mental health crises. This law will allow any worker to file for workers' compensation for specific types of mental injury premised on extraordinary work-related stress. Signing this law continues Governor Hochul's commitment to addressing the mental health crisis in New York, including by investing $1 billion to transform the continuum of care.

“New Yorkers work hard — and those who have experienced the unthinkable while on the job deserve to be treated fairly,” Governor Hochul said. “The mental health crisis our country has experienced since the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, and we need to do everything in our power to lend a hand to those in need. I'll never stop fighting for the working people of New York.”

Through an agreement with the Legislature, Legislation S.6635/A.5745 will allow any worker to file for workers' compensation for specific types of mental injury premised on extraordinary work-related stress. This expands coverage to all workers in the State of New York; previously, only certain first responders were eligible for such benefits.

This legislation builds on the Governor’s commitment to strengthening the state’s mental health care system and improving access for all New Yorkers. The Governor’s FY 2025 Enacted Budget included $20 million to continue expanding school-based mental health clinic satellites, $19 million to provide critical care to young people outside of school environments, $33 million to build supports for individuals living with a mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system, and $55 million to add 200 inpatient beds at state-operated psychiatric centers.

QUEENS VILLAGE MAN SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SHOOTING FRIEND OVER UNPAID DEBT

 

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Hassan Dees was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the shooting death of his friend, 31-year-old Peter Johnson, after the two men argued over an unpaid debt on the day after Christmas in 2021.

District Attorney Katz said: ““An argument over money turned deadly when the defendant chose to settle it with a gun, taking the life of a young man. We will not relent in our efforts to get these illegal weapons off our streets.”

Dees, 35, of 212th Street in Queens Village, pleaded guilty in November to manslaughter in the first degree before Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant who today sentenced the defendant to 24 years in prison to be followed by five years of post-release supervision.

District Attorney Katz said that, according to the charges, on the evening of December 26, 2021, the victim, 31-year-old Peter Johnson of Jamaica, went to a deli at 207-22 Hollis Avenue where Dees worked to confront him over a debt. After a short argument, Johnson said he would resume the discussion at Dees’ house after his shift ended and he left the deli and walked to the defendant’s residence on 212th Street.

Once the victim departed, Dees retrieved a bag from the back of the store and left the deli and began walking toward his home. Minutes later, as Johnson approached the door of the defendant’s residence, Dees followed closely behind him and at approximately 10:45 p.m. the defendant shot the victim twice. Dees then ran back toward the deli where he worked.

The victim was discovered unresponsive in the defendant’s driveway more than two hours later with gunshot wounds to the head and arm. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Chinese National and U.S. Legal Permanent Resident Charged for Illegal Scheme to Export Controlled Data and Defraud the Department of Defense

 

A four-count indictment was unsealed charging Hang Sun, also known as Cody Sun, with conspiracy, wire fraud, smuggling, and a violation of the Arms Export Control Act for his role in an illegal scheme to send export-controlled defense-related technical data to China and to unlawfully supply the Department of Defense (DOD) with Chinese-origin rare earth magnets for aviation systems and military items.  

The indictment alleges that between January 2012 and December 2018, the defendant conspired to send approximately 70 drawings containing export-controlled technical data to a company located in China without a license from the U.S. government, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The technical data drawings were the property of two U.S. companies and related to end-use items for aviation, submarine, radar, tank, mortars, missiles, infrared and thermal imaging targeting systems, and fire control systems for DOD.

The indictment further alleges that Quadrant Magnetics imported rare earth magnets that were smelted and magnetized by a company in China. Quadrant then sold these magnets to two U.S. companies which included them in components sold to DOD for use in the F-16, the F-18, and other defense assets in violation of the Defense Acquisition Regulations System (DFARS). Under the DFARS specialty metal clause, rare earth magnets sold to DOD must be produced in the United States or an approved country. China is not an approved country.  Quadrant Magnetics and three of its employees were separately charged in a superseding indictment filed in the Western District of Kentucky on Dec. 5, 2023.

If convicted, Sun faces statutory maximum penalties of up to five years in prison for conspiracy; 20 years in prison for wire fraud; 20 years in prison for exporting technical data without a license; and 10 years in prison for smuggling goods from the United States. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Director Kelly P. Mayo of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch, and Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Cincinnati Field Office made the announcement.

The DCIS, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, IRS-CI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General are investigating the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.