New York State Department of Labor Announces Clean Energy Program With $5 Million Workforce Development Grant Opportunity

 

The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has announced a $5 million workforce development grant opportunity for clean energy solutions. This grant, secured by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York Power Authority (NYPA), supports the creation or expansion of statewide clean energy training or pre-apprenticeship programs, bolstering New York State’s green economy. 

“Workforce development in clean energy is key to providing New Yorkers with sustainable, successful careers in a growing sector. In addition to training a new workforce, we will also retain skilled workers in this essential field," said Commissioner Roberta Reardon. "The green economy is opening doors to opportunities for job seekers in underserved communities.  I thank Governor Hochul for continuing to create pathways to exceptional careers that safeguard our environment for years to come." 

The Office of Just Energy Transition’s (OJET) Growing the Clean Energy Workforce (GCEW) program will provide funding to support workforce training, retraining, and apprenticeships to prepare workers for careers in the renewable energy field. Supported projects will provide pre-apprenticeship opportunities or training in electric vehicle maintenance and charging, renewable energy, electrification of buildings, or energy intensive industries.    

NYSDOL will connect historically underrepresented individuals, including those within disadvantaged communities (DACs) to:  

• High-quality green jobs through clean energy training/upskilling 

• Pre-apprenticeships 

• Wraparound services 

This program not only provides accessible development to those who have traditionally been left behind in energy industry surges, but also acts as a restorative mechanism to those who have been most impacted by climate change. 

Interested organizations can learn more about the Request for Proposal (RFP) and apply for funding on NYSDOL’s website. Grant submissions are due by 4:00 PM EST on Friday, January 10, 2025. Grant awards may not exceed $500,000 per bidder, please contact WDTD.Onestop@labor.ny.gov with any questions.

NEW YORK STATE ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF DANIEL’S LAW TASK FORCE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Task Force Recommends New York State Establish a Standardized Behavioral Health Crisis Response Protocol; Establish a Technical Assistance Center

The New York State Office of Mental Health announced that the Daniel’s Law Task Force has issued its recommendations for developing a statewide model for a health-led behavioral health crisis response. In a report delivered to Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislators nearly a year ahead of schedule, the task force recommends establishing health-led teams using standardized protocols for behavioral health crisis response, forming a technical assistance center, and piloting initiatives that recognize the unique character of New York communities.

“The task force recommendations reflect the exhaustive efforts taken to develop a robust behavioral health crisis response model that will better serve our communities statewide,” Office of Mental Health Commissioner and task force Chair Dr. Ann Sullivan said. “This report provides a roadmap for building a trauma-informed response and diversion system that will help communities effectively respond to individuals in crisis. I would like to expressly thank all the task force members for their extraordinary commitment to this process.”

Established by legislation in response to the death of 41-year-old Daniel Prude in 2020, the task force was charged with developing recommendations to guide behavioral health crisis response and explore avenues for related diversion services. Following its inaugural meeting in August 2023, the task force has spent more than a year studying presentations on different behavioral health crisis response models to inform their work.

The task force recommendations call for the state to establish a protocol so that 911 or 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline calls involving a behavioral health crisis receive a health-led response by individuals specifically trained in crisis services. This could be initially implemented through pilot programs working in collaboration with the technical assistance center to inform further statewide implementation.

Teams should be dispatched to mental health or substance use calls, and on behavioral health wellness checks, according to the task force recommendation. Law enforcement should only be involved in instances where there is a threat of violence, the task force recommends.

The task force recommends establishing several behavioral health response team pilot programs in large, medium, and small cities, as well as rural areas, and focus on developing sustainable models. As these teams are implemented, communities should develop partnerships –including with individuals having lived experience –to participate in designing the system of care, assess the available resources, and work to develop a network of quality accessible services.

In addition, the task force recommends the state establish a Technical Assistance Center to collaborate with stakeholders –including the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the state Emergency Medical Services Council, local communities, and 988 call centers –to develop protocols for a health-led response to behavioral health crisis. This center should also provide training and assistance to local communities in implementing best practice protocols and monitoring their effectiveness and have an advisory council of key stakeholders, with most of them being individuals with lived experience.

Additionally, the task force has conducted several listening sessions, which have provided an opportunity for members to hear directly from New Yorkers about their views on enhancing behavioral health crisis responses. These sessions have also solicited input on the best practices for engaging individuals in crisis, with a specific emphasis on equity.

In-person listening sessions were conducted at the state University of New York at Stony Brook on Jan. 11, at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan on Jan. 18, and at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County on May 8. Virtual listening sessions were also conducted in November and April.

Task Force members also entertained several presentations from experts across North America concerning crisis response strategies and service models. This included localities in New York State and Toronto.

In addition to the report, NYSTEC –the firm retained to support the task force –provided an extensive list of resources in a summary of findings. These resources informed the recommendations and are available along with a complete appendix of materials on the task force website.

MAYOR ADAMS, DCLA COMMISSIONER CUMBO LAUNCH PILOT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT CITY’S CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE

 

“NYC Create in Place” to Provide Case Management, Assistance With Navigating Resources, Advocacy, and Other Tools to Assist Cultural Organizations at Risk of Losing Space or Looking to Expand or Relocate 

  

New Web Portal Will Serve as One-Stop-Shop for Cultural Organizations and Creative Businesses to Access Resources and Support 

  

Follows Historic Investment in Cultural Sector as Part of FY25 Budget 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer, and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) Commissioner Laurie Cumbo today announced, “NYC Create in Place ,” a pilot program that provides centralized support focused on preserving, accessing, and expanding creative spaces for the city’s cultural organizations and creative businesses. Responding to rising costs, difficulty accessing government resources, and navigating real estate opportunities, NYC Create in Place will provide support through a new web portal launched today serving as a one-stop-shop for cultural organizations and creative business to access resources and support online. The Interagency Create in Place Task Force, led by the DCLA, will help creative entities address space issues, navigate city resources, and foster long-term sustainable solutions that will help preserve equitable, accessible spaces that strengthen community vitality and neighborhood character for cultural organizations and creative businesses across all five boroughs. New York City’s cultural sector gives New York’s neighborhoods unique character, helps drive local economies, and supports the social health and wellbeing of New Yorkers, particularly those in low-income and historically marginalized communities.   

  

“Art and culture are woven into the fabric of every community in New York City, often driven by small, local spaces that serve as hubs for community and connection for New Yorkers. The COVID-19 pandemic left many of our cultural organizations threatened by many aspects, including funding and finding spaces in our city,” said Mayor Adams. “‘NYC Create in Place’ will provide technical assistance and support to cultural and creative organizations that are facing long-term or acute challenges to preserve these incredible institutions and the value they bring to their communities.” 

  

“From small theaters to galleries, bookshops, and everything in between, our city’s community-based cultural and creative spaces mean so much to New Yorkers - they provide places to connect, they drive local economies, and they give our neighborhoods the energy that is so important to the character of our city,” said DCLA Commissioner Cumbo. “With NYC Create in Place, we’re offering a powerful new tool to aid these spaces when they need it most. Create in Place will help them navigate resources and assistance programs, guiding them through challenges so they can maintain a lasting foothold in the communities they’re a part of. We thank our partners across the city, including in the cultural sector, who have helped to inform and shape this exciting new initiative, and we look forward to collaborating with a wide range of New Yorkers to safeguard these essential parts of our city.” 

  

“Create in Place acknowledges the vital role the creative sector plays in making New York City the magnetic and inspiring global hub that it is,” said “New” New York Executive Director B.J. Jones. “This new program is an important step in addressing long-standing affordability challenges by helping this community find resources, navigate bureaucratic requirements, and connect with potential partners who are committed to the stability of arts and culture.” 

  

The NYC Create in Place Resource Hub offers a curated selection of resources, including technical assistance programs, funding opportunities, and lists of creative workspaces and service providers, as well as webinars and best practice guides, to connect organizations with the tools and support they need. Additionally, through the online portal, organizations and landlords that have space available for creative uses may submit information about their space. The Create in Place team can then match these entities with organizations looking for space. Existing city-owned resources will be further leveraged and new public spaces will be identified, including underutilized city-owned storefronts and other spaces that have the potential to be activated for cultural use. 

  

The Interagency Create in Place Task Force is another way this initiative brings an equitable, interagency approach to addressing the acute needs and challenges facing cultural organizations and creative spaces. Led by DCLA, this interagency task force includes the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the Mayor’s Office for Nonprofit Services, New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), the Office of Nightlife, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and the New York City Department of City Planning. In addition to advising on Create in Place policy and program design, the task force will serve as a first-response team, evaluating and assessing requests for help with space needs, coordinating support, and promoting engagement and funding opportunities for cultural and creative spaces through a whole-of-government approach that breaks down silos and brings an equity lens to supporting the city’s creative and cultural sector. Cultural organizations and creative businesses at risk of losing their space or looking to expand or move into a new space can access this support. 

  

NYC Create in Place advances a key component of Mayor Adams’ “Rebuild, Renew Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City’s Economic Recovery,” which included the creation of this initiative, as well as recommendations from the “New” New York action plan to expand support for the cultural and creative sector and invest in New York's creative economy, including a focus on affordable space for artists and arts organizations. The city’s creative sector is a key component of the overall economy, supporting 300,000 jobs and generating $110 billion in economic impact. With the launch of NYC Create in Place, New York City is the second major city after London to have established a program to safeguard their cultural assets.  

  

Starting in January 2025, Create in Place will offer a series of virtual workshops and panels to offer insight and information into key issues facing the city’s cultural and creative sectors. This will kick off with a three-part legal series on commercial leases, nonprofit formation, and independent contractors, offered in partnership with the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Lawyers Alliance, and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. This series will be followed by a panel discussion on how the creative sector can work with real estate interests to foster affordable, accessible cultural space.  

  

NYC Create in Place also builds on recommendations in the city’s CreateNYC cultural plan which called for implementing policies and programs to help reduce costs, build capacity, and streamline resources for organizations and businesses to access affordable workspace.  

  

NYC Create in Place follows other city initiatives in targeting support to critical sectors of the city’s economy and cultural fabric. SBS launched the NYC Business Express Service Team in 2022, designed to provide small businesses with one-on-one expert support and cut time spent navigating city government. Launched in 2017, the city’s Office of Nightlife similarly serves as a central point of contact among the nightlife industry, community, and city agencies, with the goal of helping to ensure a more vibrant, viable, safe, fair, and well managed nightlife environment in New York City. Create in Place will work closely with both of these offices to bring their lessons and resources to bear on the challenges facing New York City’s cultural and creative sector more broadly. 

Luigi Mangione Charged With The Stalking And Murder Of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson And Use Of A Silencer In A Crime Of Violence

 

Edward Y. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General of the United States; James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); and Jessica S. Tisch, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing today of a Complaint charging LUIGI NICHOLAS MANGIONE in connection with the December 4, 2024, murder of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. MANGIONE was taken into federal custody today and will be presented this  afternoon in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker.  

Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim said: “Brian Thompson was gunned down in cold blood as he walked down a street in midtown Manhattan.  Thompson was allegedly killed just because he held the position of chief executive officer of a health insurance company.  As alleged, Luigi Mangione traveled to New York to stalk and shoot Thompson in broad daylight in front of a Manhattan hotel, all in a grossly misguided attempt to broadcast Mangione’s views across the country.  But this wasn’t a debate, it was murder, and Mangione now faces federal charges.  This Office and its law enforcement partners remain steadfast in our commitment to fight violence in whatever form it takes.” 

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said: “Today, the Justice Department has brought federal murder charges against Luigi Mangione.  As alleged, Mangione planned his attack for months and stalked his victim for days before murdering him — methodically planning when, where, and how to carry out his crime.  I am grateful to our state and local law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts to locate and apprehend the defendant and to ensure that he answers for his alleged crime.”

FBI Assistant Director James E. Dennehy said: “Luigi Mangione allegedly conducted the carefully premeditated and targeted execution of Brian Thompson to incite national debates.  This alleged plot demonstrates a cavalier attitude towards humanity – deeming murder an appropriate recourse to satiate personal grievances.  Through continued close partnership with the NYPD, the FBI maintains our steadfast commitment to fervently pursue any individual who promotes a personal agenda through violence.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said: “NYPD detectives worked relentlessly to identify and widely distribute images of the suspect who allegedly carried out this premeditated, preplanned, targeted murder, and they are committed to assisting prosecutors in seeing this important case through to its rightful conclusion.  This senseless incident highlights the critical role of the public in the NYPD’s public safety mission, and I thank everyone who saw something, said something, and did something.  It is because of the public’s actions that we now have an alleged killer in custody back in New York City.”

As alleged in the Complaint:

Over the course of the last several months, MANGIONE meticulously planned the execution of Brian Thompson in an effort to initiate a public discussion about the healthcare industry. MANGIONE targeted the victim, tracked his whereabouts, and traveled from out of state to New York City, where the victim was scheduled to attend the company’s investor conference. After arriving in the City on November 24, 2024, more than one week before the murder, MANGIONE performed reconnaissance in the area around the victim’s hotel and the conference venue where the victim was scheduled to speak. Using a false identification, MANGIONE checked into an Upper West Side hostel.

In the early morning hours of December 4, 2024, MANGIONE traveled by bicycle from the Upper West Side to the area around West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue. At approximately 6:45 a.m., MANGIONE strategically placed himself in between two cars on West 54th Street, and as the victim passed by, MANGIONE walked up behind the victim and fired several gunshots from a 9mm pistol causing the victim’s death. The pistol was equipped with what appeared to be a firearm sound suppressor or silencer. After the murder, MANGIONE fled on his bicycle northbound through Central Park and ultimately back to the Upper West Side.

On December 9, 2024, MANGIONE was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania while he sat in a fast-food restaurant after being recognized by one of the restaurant’s workers. Members of the Altoona Police Department confronted MANGIONE, who provided the same false identification that he used when checking-in to the Upper West Side hostel. MANGIONE was also found in possession of, among other things, a 9mm pistol and a sound suppressor consistent with the weapon used to kill the victim.

MANGIONE, 26, of Towson, Maryland, is charged with one count of using a firearm to commit murder, which carries a maximum potential sentence of death or life in prison; one count of interstate stalking resulting in death, which carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison;  one count of stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death, which carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison; and one count of discharging a firearm that was equipped with a silencer in furtherance of a crime of violence, which carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.

The maximum and minimum 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. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force and the NYPD.

Mr. Kim also thanked the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has brought a separate prosecution against MANGIONE, which is currently expected to proceed to trial before the federal case.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dominic A. Gentile, Jun Xiang, and Alexandra Messiter are 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.

California Political Operative Arrested on Complaint Alleging He Acted as Illegal Agent of People’s Republic of China

 

A criminal complaint filed Dec. 17 and unsealed this morning charges Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, for allegedly acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while serving as the campaign manager for a political candidate who was elected in 2022 to the city council of a California city. Sun was arrested today is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in the Central District of California.

Sun is also charged with conspiring with another man, Chen Jun, who was sentenced to prison last month for bribery and acting as an illegal agent of the PRC government.

According to the complaint, Sun served as the campaign manager and close personal confidante for a Southern California politician (referred to in the complaint as Individual 1) who ran for local elected office in 2022. During the campaign, Sun communicated with Chen regarding his efforts to get Individual 1 elected. Chen allegedly discussed with Chinese government officials how the PRC could “influence” local politicians in the United States, particularly on the issue of Taiwan. In November 2022, shortly after Individual 1 was elected to office, Chen instructed Sun to prepare a report on the election that was sent to Chinese government officials, who responded positively and expressed thanks, according to the complaint.

About a month after Individual 1’s election, Chen arranged a lunch at a Rowland Heights restaurant with Sun and others, a gathering that Chen described to a PRC official as a “core member lunch,” the complaint alleges. Chen subsequently described the lunch as “successful” as participants agreed to establish a “US-China Friendship Promotional Association.” While Individual 1 did not attend the meeting, Chen identified Individual 1 as being part of “the basic team dedicated for us,” in a communication to a Chinese government official.

In early 2023, Chen instructed Sun to write another report for Chinese officials describing “[Sun] and [Chen] cultivating and assisting [Individual 1’s] success,” according to the complaint.

In February 2023, as the second report to PRC officials was being finalized, Sun forwarded to Chen a proposal to combat “anti-China forces” by participating in a U.S. Independence Day parade in Washington, D.C, according to the complaint. Sun proposed that the PRC government provide an $80,000 budget to support his and Chen’s efforts in the United States.

After Chen and Sun discussed a planned trip to China to meet with “leadership,” and after Chen directed Sun to schedule a meeting with the Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, Sun and Individual 1 traveled to China in August 2023.

If convicted, Sun faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Sun also faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI is investigating the case.     

Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Ryan and Amanda Elbogen for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Garrett Coyle of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

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