Campaign Treasurer for Candidate for Brooklyn Borough President Pleads Guilty to Scheme to Defraud New York City’s Campaign Finance Board

Defendant Used Straw Donors and Submitted Forged Documents in Attempt to Steal $400,000 in Matching Funds From New York City 

Yesterday, in federal court in Brooklyn, Erlene King pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with her attempt to steal funds from New York City’s Campaign Finance Board (CFB).  This proceeding was held before United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon.  When sentenced, King faces up to 20 years in prison.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the guilty plea.

“Instead of playing by the rules New York City established for free and fair elections, the defendant attempted to use the city’s matching funds program to give the campaign an unfair advantage,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “My Office and our law enforcement partners are focused on rooting out corruption in our electoral system to ensure that all candidates are operating on a level playing field.”

Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the CFB for its cooperation and assistance during the investigation. 

“Erlene King deprived New York City residents of a fair election by attempting to manipulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor contributions to unlawfully favor her candidate,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.  “King abused her position as a campaign treasurer and attempted to profit from exploiting a system designed to represent the voices of the city.  The FBI remains steadfast in its mission to eliminate any source of corruption polluting our city’s democratic processes.”

CFB Overview

The CFB oversees and administers a publicly funded campaign finance system in connection with municipal elections in New York City.  This includes a “matching funds program” that provides eligible candidates with public funds based on the number and amount of certain donor contributions. According to the CFB, the program “empowers New Yorkers in every neighborhood to make their voices heard in city elections.”  In addition, the CFB maintains that “by encouraging candidates to raise small-dollar contributions from average New Yorkers, the program increases engagement between voters and those who seek to represent them.”

Candidates running for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President in the 2021 election cycle were eligible to participate in the CFB’s matching funds program if they met certain criteria.  Among other things, to be eligible to receive public funds, candidates were required to meet a two-part fundraising threshold. Specifically, a candidate had to collect a minimum number of donations and raise a minimum amount of money from New York City residents before the CFB paid any matching funds.

For candidates who ran for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President during the 2021 election cycle, candidates received up to $8 in matching funds for each $1 of eligible contributions, up to $175 per contributor.  If a candidate received an eligible contribution of $175, then that candidate could collect up to $1,400 in matching funds.  In total, the matching funds program provided up to $1,457,777 in public matching funds to a candidate for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.  Because campaigns for Brooklyn Borough President during the 2021 election cycle needed to raise at least $50,000 in eligible contributions to receive any matching funds, any candidate who was eligible to receive matching funds necessarily received at least $400,000 in matching funds from the CFB.

The Scheme

King served as the campaign treasurer for a candidate who ran in a primary for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President during the 2021 election cycle (Candidate #1).  King admitted that she obtained fraudulent donations for the purpose of inducing the CFB to provide matching funds to Candidate #1’s campaign. A number of those contributions, which were obtained at King’s direction, were fraudulent nominee contributions made in the names of individuals who either did not personally fund the contributions or were later reimbursed for their contributions (i.e., straw donors).  For example, King used CashApp to send money to intermediaries and instructed them to distribute the money to fund contributions from straw donors to Candidate #1.  Other fraudulent contributions were made in the names of individuals whose identities were stolen and who had not personally contributed to Candidate #1. The CFB ultimately determined that the campaign submitted fictitious records and did not pay any public matching funds to the campaign.

Turkish House was the Only Building of its Size & Category Allowed to Open Without an Approved Fire Protection Plan and Currently Operating Without Certificate of Occupancy, NYC Comptroller’s Investigation Finds

 

Subsequent review reveals broader problem of 600+ office buildings operating without Certificates of Occupancy, 88 of which are designated ‘Immediately Hazardous’

New York City Comptroller laid out the findings of his investigation into the City’s approval process for the Turkish House building, following allegations raised in the federal indictment by the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District against Mayor Eric Adams regarding the approval of Turkish House (also known as Turkevi Center, headquarters of the Turkish Consulate).

The investigation revealed that Turkish House was the only office building of its size and category allowed to open without an approved Fire Protection Plan (FPP). Despite rejecting a deficient FPP, the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) allowed the Department of Buildings (DOB) to issue a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) for the building on September 17, 2021, just in time for the building’s ribbon-cutting on September 20, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in attendance. The building was subsequently granted an additional 12 TCOs, with extensions approximately every ninety days, until September 26, 2024, when the last one expired, Turkish House is currently operating without a TCO or final Certificate of Occupancy (CO).

Additional review by the Comptroller’s Office identified 637 office buildings that are without valid TCOs or a final CO, for an average of three-and-a-half years. Of these buildings, which have thousands of unresolved DOB and Environmental Control Board (ECB) violations, 88 buildings have violations characterized as ‘immediately hazardous.’

“By rushing to allow the opening of Turkish House in advance of a ribbon-cutting ceremony with President Erdoğan, DOB and FDNY cut serious corners that could have compromised the safety of the occupants and neighbors of the building,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Turkish House was the only office building of its size and category in our investigation that was allowed to open without an approved Fire Protection Plan, a troubling breach of process. Our investigation also revealed a broader management issue at DOB: more than 600 office buildings are currently without a valid Certificate of Occupancy or Temporary Certificate of Occupancy, including 88 that have immediately hazardous violations. The safety of New Yorkers must not be compromised either by special favors or by bureaucratic delay.”

As outlined in the NYC Administrative Code, any new building must have a CO or a TCO from DOB before it can be occupied. While a CO describes the legal occupancy limits, layout, and allowable use of a building, DOB is authorized to issue a TCO provided that the occupied portion(s) of the building can be maintained without endangering public safety, health, or welfare. TCOs expire 90 days after issuance, and a new application for a TCO can be submitted to DOB for renewal. A permanent CO can only be issued after all violations are cleared, pending applications are resolved, and once issued, does not expire.

In the documents produced by DOB and FDNY, there was no record of FDNY conducting any fire safety inspections of Turkish House prior to DOB issuing the building’s initial TCO ahead of its ribbon cutting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in attendance on September 20, 2021. FDNY did not approve the Fire Protection Plan (FPP) until September 26, 2024, three years after Turkish House opened and has since been occupied.

• On July 26, 2021, FDNY issued a Letter of Disapproval of the FPP because the plan submitted was inadequate.

• On September 10, 2021, FDNY sent DOB a ‘Conditional Letter of No Objection’.

• On September 17, 2021, Sparc Fire Protection – the company that designed the fire alarm system – affirmed the fire alarm system, despite over 40 defects and untested fire safety items, such as central station and fan shutdowns.

• In a review of 6 other new-build mixed-use office buildings with twenty or more stories (Class O4) that have expired TCOs to assess the circumstances of Turkish House, none of the 6 buildings were granted initial TCOs without an approved FPP or granted an initial TCO without any FDNY inspection.

The first FDNY inspection occurred October 26, 2021– a month after the building opened.

• The first inspection resulted in a Notice of Defect on November 26, containing 40 outstanding issues with fire safety systems, for half of the floors.

• A second Notice on November 30 contained 15 outstanding issues on the remaining floors.

• These issues included incomplete sprinkler installations, lobby doors not auto-releasing upon alarm, and missing fire alarm speakers.

• FDNY reinspected on March 10 and 11, 2022 and found that 7 fire safety defects from 2021 had not been rectified.

• FDNY conducted another unannounced visit on April 13, where Turkish House failed to correct all the defects.

DOB issued 13 TCOs approximately every ninety days from the initial one on September 17, 2021 until July 26, 2024. Turkish House is currently operating without a TCO or final CO. According to DOB, “[l]apes of time between TCOs do occasionally occur,” and the lack of a TCO or CO is not a reason for the DOB to issue a vacate order.

• All 13 of Turkish House’s TCOs were renewed “without change” and renewed without exception.

• DOB denied the building’s application for a new TCO “with changes” on September 26, 2024, leaving the building without a valid TCO since October 1, 2024.

• Turkish House has yet to file an application for a final CO, but is not eligible because of the building’s remaining violations of Building Code and Environmental Control Board code – one related to the glass façade on the 16th floor (which previously fell ten stories) and five related to elevator testing.

Following up on the assertion by DOB that TCO lapses occur, our office analyzed TCO data and found 637 office buildings have lapsed or denied TCOs.

• These include 179 office or mixed-use buildings with twenty or more stories – like Turkish House.
• Of the 637 office buildings, on average, these offices have not had a valid CO for 1,282 days, about three and a half years.
• Some buildings of various heights and categories have not had a TCO for nearly 12 years.
• While not every open violation or lapsed TCO poses a risk to buildings or people, in order to assess the potential safety issues in the 637 buildings, investigators matched violations data from FDNY, DOB, and ECB and found almost 5,200 unresolved violations– 484 (75%) of buildings have FDNY violations, 356 (55%) have open DOB violations, 234 buildings have open ECB violations (37%).
• Only ECB provides a severity level of the violations. Class 1 Violations are listed as ‘Immediately Hazardous.’ Immediately hazardous violations are those where the ‘condition poses a threat that severely affects life, health, safety, property, the public interest, or a significant number of persons as to warrant immediate corrective action,” according to the New York City Construction Codes.
• Of the 816 ECB violations, 236 were listed as Class 1.
• ECB issued the 236 Class 1 Violations to 88 of the 637 office buildings without TCOs.

Read the full investigation here.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

It should be noted that City Comptroller Brad Lander has made it known with the NYCCFB that he is running for mayor this year. We have to question if he is using the office of City Comptroller for political gain since Eric Adams did not take office until January 1, 2022. 

Attorney General James Puts Medical Transportation Industry on Notice, Announces New Actions to Stop Ongoing Fraud

AG James Has Secured More Than $10 Million From Transportation Companies, Won Criminal Convictions of 11 Individuals

New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced new measures to stop a major source of Medicaid fraud by transportation companies that use fake billing schemes to steal from Medicaid and exploit vulnerable patients. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) today issued cease and desist notices to 54 transportation companies throughout the state, warning them of potential financial penalties and prison sentences if they continue their alleged illegal schemes of overcharging Medicaid for fraudulent services. The OAG’s investigations into the medical transportation industry for ongoing fraud have already secured over $10 million and led to criminal convictions of 11 individuals. In addition to issuing the cease and desist notices today, Attorney General James announced recent settlements with four transportation companies totaling over $847,000 for their illegal billing schemes.

“Companies that illegally profit by exploiting Medicaid patients steal taxpayer money and undermine the health care system that all New Yorkers rely on,” said Attorney General James. “Today I am putting the entire medical transportation industry on notice to stop these schemes that take advantage of vulnerable New Yorkers and steal critical funds intended to provide health care to those in need. My office has already recovered millions of dollars and secured prison sentences for those committing this fraud. I will continue to do everything my power to shut down these schemes and ensure that state funds meant to help New Yorkers in need are not stolen through fraud and corruption.”

Medicaid reimburses authorized businesses for transporting Medicaid patients to and from covered medical services. A licensed taxi company enrolls with the state as an eligible provider and is then randomly assigned to provide trips to patients to specific, non-emergency, medical appointments. The companies must use licensed drivers, proper vehicles, and bill only for services actually rendered. They are allowed to bill Medicaid for a base rate for the trip, plus an amount for mileage and any tolls.

The OAG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has investigated transportation companies across the state for using fake billing and other fraudulent tactics to steal Medicaid funds. The companies’ schemes often involve billing Medicaid for fake trips, adding fake tolls to inflate costs, fraudulently extending the mileage of trips, and using unlicensed drivers. In some cases, companies exploit vulnerable Medicaid recipients by paying them kickbacks in exchange for requesting transportation services from the company. These kickback schemes can put already vulnerable New Yorkers at even greater risk. MFCU investigators have uncovered cases in which transportation companies exploited Medicaid recipients in need of substance abuse treatment to recruit passengers to use in fake billing schemes.

Today, Attorney General James announced new measures to shut down this method of Medicaid fraud. The OAG has served cease and desist notices to 54 transportation companies operating throughout the state, ordering them to stop fraudulent billing practices that steal funds and put Medicaid patients at risk. Fifteen of these companies have also received demands for repayment of fraudulently obtained funds. The notices sent to these companies highlighted their violations and outlined potential penalties if they do not comply with the law. Medicaid providers who knowingly violate laws and regulations are subject to civil and criminal penalties, including prison time and financial penalties. If the companies do not change their practices, OAG will pursue all legal remedies to recover funds and punish the companies’ operators.

In addition to the cease and desist notices, Attorney General James announced four new settlements with transportation companies for violations of Medicaid transportation rules that will return over $847,000 to the state. These include:

• City Service Transportation, Inc. in Erie County will repay $373,216.11. 
• AJ Medical Transportation Co. in Albany County will repay $350,000.
• Safe Ride of WNY, Inc. in Erie County and its owner, Robert Sapienza will repay over $66,000.
• Half Moon Medical Transportation, Inc. in Saratoga County has agreed to pay back $58,000.

Attorney General James thanks the United States Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, the New York State Department of Health, the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, and the State’s transportation administrator, Medical Answering Services LLC, for their cooperation in these investigations.

These investigations were conducted by Auditor-Investigators and Data Analysts led by MFCU Chief Auditor Dejan Budimir, MFCU Detectives led by former Deputy Chief  Commanding Officer, MFCU  William Falk  and Deputy Chief  Ronald Lynch, Acting Commanding Officer, MFCU, and MFCU Regional Directors, Special Assistant Attorneys General, and legal support analysts from each of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s seven regional offices, coordinated by MFCU Chief of Criminal Investigations Thomas O’Hanlon and MFCU Chief of Civil Enforcement Alee Scott and AAG Emily Auletta.. MFCU is led by Director Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mahoney. The Division of Criminal Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado under the oversight of First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

MFCU’s investigations have led to criminal convictions of fraudulent transportation providers across the state. In December 2024, Attorney General James announced the convictions and sentences of five taxi company owners and their seven companies for stealing more than $4.4 million in Medicaid funds through fake billing and illegal kickback schemes, as well as money laundering. In October 2024, Attorney General James secured the convictions of three owners of a transportation company in Monroe County for fake billing and illegal kickback schemes. The leaders of the scheme will serve prison and jail time and must pay back over $2.1 million. In March 2023, Attorney General James secured over $860,000 from a Capital Region transportation company for fraudulently billing Medicaid. In 2020, Attorney General James secured the conviction of a Niagara Falls transportation company owner for stealing from Medicaid by billing the state for rides that they never provided. The owner and his drivers were ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution to the state. In 2019, Attorney General James announced the indictment and arrest of the owner of Purple Heart Transportation in New York City for stealing from Medicaid using billing fake transportation services that were never provided. The leaders of this scheme have been sentenced to prison and jail sentences and paid back $4.5 million to date.

Reporting Medicaid Provider Fraud: MFCU defends the public by addressing Medicaid provider fraud and protecting nursing home residents from abuse and neglect. If an individual believes they have information about Medicaid provider fraud or about an incident of abuse or neglect of a nursing home resident, they can file a confidential complaint online or call the MFCU hotline at (800) 771-7755. If the situation is an emergency, please call 911.

New York MFCU’s total funding for federal fiscal year (FY) 2025 is $70,502,916. Of that total, 75 percent, or $52,877,188, is awarded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $17,625,728 for FY 2025, is funded by New York State.

If You Need Assistance obtaining Medicaid Transportation services, you can contact New York’s Medical Transportation Broker at the following numbers:

NYC, Long Island and Westchester: 844-666-6270; Upstate: 866-932-7740 or using the MAS website. 

 

Development Team Selected For Renovation Of The Kingsbridge Armory In The Bronx

 

The redevelopment team for the historic Kingsbridge Armory, now reimagined as El Centro Kingsbridge, was recently unveiled by Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul, U.S. representative Adriano Espaillat, and NYCEDC president Andrew Kimball. Renovation will be a collaborative effort led by 8th Regiment Partners LLC with designs by architecture firm FXCollaborative. The Romanesque building, which is currently unused, opened in 1917 and is located on Jerome Avenue between West Kingsbridge Road and West 195th Street in The Bronx.

Phase One of the project will transform the Kingsbridge Armory’s 180,000-square-foot Drill Hall into a mixed-use hub. Plans include a state-of-the-art event venue, youth sports fields, cultural and commercial spaces, 25,000 square feet of community space, and an educational facility focused on workforce development. Phase Two will add 450 units of permanently affordable housing adjacent to the Armory. The redevelopment, backed by a $215 million investment from local and federal stakeholders, is projected to generate $2.6 billion in economic impact, create over 3,000 construction jobs, and provide 360 permanent jobs.

The renovation is the culmination of multiple rounds of community engagement, with over 4,000 participants contributing through events, surveys, and discussions. The resulting “Together for Kingsbridge Vision Plan” laid the foundation for 8th Regiment Partners’ winning proposal. Construction will be guided by a project labor agreement to ensure fair wages and benefits for workers, with environmental review starting this winter and land-use procedures anticipated in mid-2025.

“At the Kingsbridge Armory, our administration saw a historic yet underutilized site as an opportunity to dream and deliver a bold, forward-looking vision for The Bronx,” said Mayor Adams, “In just one location, we’re delivering affordable housing for our neighbors, sports fields for our children, community spaces for our families, and so much more. The future of The Bronx rests in the Kingsbridge Armory, a proposal made possible thanks to the partnership of Governor Hochul, Representative Espaillat, and the countless everyday New Yorkers who made their voices heard. Together, we are building a brighter, better future for The Bronx, starting with the Kingsbridge Armory.”

Housing Lottery Launches for 790 Allerton Avenue in Allerton, The Bronx

 

The affordable housing lottery has launched for 790 Allerton Avenue, a seven-story mixed-use building in Allerton, The Bronx. Designed by Michael S. Mazzella and developed by Louis Vele of 790 Allerton LLC, the structure yields 43 residences. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 13 units for residents at 130 percent of the area median income (AMI), ranging in eligible income from $86,400 to $218,010.

Amenities include a garage, gym, elevator, and rooftop terrace. Units come equipped with washers and dryers, air conditioning, energy-efficient appliances, intercoms, high-speed internet, and name-brand kitchen appliances, countertops, and finishes. Tenants are responsible for electricity including heat, stove, and hot water.

At 130 percent of the AMI, there are eight one-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $2,520 for incomes ranging from $86,400 to $181,740, and five two-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $2,795 for incomes ranging from $95,829 to $218,010.

Prospective renters must meet income and household size requirements to apply for these apartments. Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than January 24, 2025.

Attorney General James and FTC Secure $2.95 Million from Angi Services for Misleading Workers about Hourly Wages

 

Handy Technologies, Inc., an Angi Inc. Subsidiary, Misleadingly Inflated Hourly Rates in Advertisements to Lure in Workers

New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured $2.95 million from Angi Services, the operator of the online platform Handy Technologies that allows users to hire workers for household services, for misleading workers about the hourly rates they would be paid. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and FTC found that Handy ran tens of thousands of ads across New York, including in New York City, the Hudson Valley, and Western and Central New York, that inflated the wages workers would earn on the app. In some cases, Handy paid workers nearly 50 percent less than the advertised hourly rate for a certain service. Handy’s ads also misleadingly stated that workers would be paid daily, while in reality workers were typically paid nearly a week after completing a job unless they paid a fee. Today’s consent order requires Handy to pay $2.95 million to thousands of workers and ensure that its advertisements are accurate, and that fines and fees are properly disclosed.

“New York workers deserve to be paid what they are promised, when they are promised,” said Attorney General James. “Apps like Handy’s offer New Yorkers’ flexible job opportunities, but they cannot be allowed to lure workers with lies and false promises. Together with our partners at the FTC, we are holding Handy accountable and requiring the company to pay $2.95 million back to thousands of workers who were misled. My office will never hesitate to take action against companies that cheat hardworking New Yorkers.”

“Handy Technologies relied on inflated and false earnings claims to lure workers onto its platform. It then deducted inadequately disclosed fines and fees from their wages,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This order announced puts a stop to these unlawful practices and ensures an honest marketplace for American workers.”

Handy operates an online platform through which workers, referred to as Pros, can claim household service jobs, such as home cleaning, handyperson services, furniture assembly, and lawn care. To entice workers onto its platform, Handy has run tens of thousands of advertisements throughout the state, including in New York City, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and the Finger Lakes, touting the wages that workers earn.

However, Handy’s advertised earnings were frequently false, unsubstantiated, or misleading. For example, in 2021 Handy ran an advertisement in approximately 100 regions that claimed Lawn Care Pros earn “up to $53/hr.”  However, in nearly all of these regions, only 10 percent or less of Pros earned the advertised rate, with a median rate of pay that was less than $27 per hour. In September 2022, Handy ran advertisements in the Hudson Valley claiming that Lawn Care Pros “Earn at least $28/hour.”  However, according to Handy’s own data, only approximately 25 percent of Lawn Care Pros in the region earned the advertised rate. 

Handy’s advertisements also made deceptive claims about how quickly workers would be paid. In thousands of job postings and ads, Handy stated that Pros would be “Paid Daily” or could cash out “as soon as the job is done.”  However, Pros were typically paid within seven days of completing a job. To be paid sooner than the seven-day default, Pros were required to pay Handy a $1.99 fee, which was not disclosed in Handy’s ads. In addition, the only Pros who were eligible to be paid daily were those who were “tenured,” meaning they had already been paid $50 for a completed Handy job.

Additionally, Handy failed to disclose the complicated, multi-step protocol workers were required to follow to avoid a fine when a customer failed to provide access to a job site or instructed a worker not to show up. These situations, referred to as “Customer No Show” or “CNS” took place through no fault of the Pro. However, because the job appears incomplete, Handy classifies them as a “Pro No Show” or “PNS,” and imposes a fine on the Pro, typically $50. To avoid the fine, Handy required that Pros allow the Handy app to access their phone’s GPS location, then check in through the app upon arrival at the job site, then attempt to reach the customer in a way that Handy can track through the Pro’s phone, and if unable to reach the customer, Pros have to wait at the job site for 30 minutes while continuing to reach out to the customer. The OAG and FTC found that Handy failed to adequately disclose that Pros must comply with this multi-step, invasive protocol and follow all of these steps to avoid being charged. Many Pros only learned of the protocol when disputing the fine, at which point it was too late.

The agreement requires Handy to pay $2,950,000 to thousands of workers and requires that the claims Handy makes to workers on its hourly rates, fines and fees, and the timing of payments are accurate. Eligible workers will be notified of the amount they will receive.

BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR FATALLY SHOOTING BODEGA CLERK AND WOUNDING STOREOWNER

Defendant Was Convicted of Murder After Jury Trial 

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 40 yearsto Life in prison after being convicted of second-degree Murder and additional charges for fatally shooting a bodega clerk and wounding the store’s owner in Mount Eden. 

District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant killed a bodega worker in a completely unprovoked act. He then shot the owner of the deli, who along with another employee subdued the defendant before he could harm others.” 

The defendant, Tykwan McLeod, 49, last of 3453 Dekalb Avenue, was sentenced today to 40 years to Life in prison and five years post-release supervision after being convicted by a jury of second-degree Murder, Attempted Assault in the first degree, and second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio. 

According to the investigation, on February 16, 2021, at approximately 8:40 p.m., the defendant entered K’s Convenient Deli at 8 East Mount Eden Avenue and immediately shot the store clerk, Donte Thomas, 33, in the face, instantly killing him. As Thomas fell, McLeod shot him twice. As McLeod attempted to flee, the bodega’s owner grabbed the defendant, who shot him in the chest at point blank range. The owner and another employee wrestled the gun away from the defendant, and an off-duty NYPD Auxiliary Officer recovered the firearm from the ground. 

District Attorney Clark also thanked Detective Curtis Cato and Sergeant Paul Neggersmith of the 44th Precinct, along with NYPD Officer Elmehdi Eddoubaji of the 19th Precinct and retired Detective Francis Orlando of the Bronx Homicide Detective Squad. 

Money in Your Pockets: Governor Hochul Proposes $110 Million Child Care Construction Fund to Build and Renovate Child Care Facilities

Child Care Construction Grants Will Build New Facilities And Repair Existing Sites To Address Child Care Deserts

Governor Proposes Creating “Substitute Pool” Of Trusted, Vetted Professionals Who Can Provide Care

Launching New Coalition for Child Care To Develop a Plan to Achieve The Goal of Universal Child Care

As her third proposal for the 2025 State of the State, Governor Kathy Hochul announced new efforts to make child care more accessible and affordable in New York. The Governor will propose a $110 million Child Care Construction Fund to build new child care facilities and repair existing sites, making this critical service more accessible in child care deserts. The Governor will also propose establishing a “substitute pool” to expand the child care workforce, helping providers find trusted, vetted professionals to quickly step in and keep classrooms open. Finally, the Governor will launch the New York Coalition for Child Care to bring together business leaders, labor unions, service providers and tax experts to identify a sustainable path forward for achieving universal child care.

“As a young mom, I had to leave a job I loved because we couldn't find child care. No parent in New York should be forced to make that choice,” Governor Hochul said. “I pledged to invest a record-breaking $7 billion in child care because I know working families need the help. These new proposals will make a real difference in making child care more affordable and accessible for all New Yorkers.”

Governor Hochul has also supported child care providers to ensure their work is financially viable in the long term. The Governor has increased quality and accessibility by increasing reimbursement rates and creating differential payments to providers who meet certain quality standards and provide care during non-traditional work hours.

The Governor has continued to partner with the business community to incentivize responsible employers to offer child care to their employees, including through the Business Navigator program, the Employer-Supported Child Care pilot program, and the Family Child Care Network. Governor Hochul's landmark Green CHIPS legislation, which is revitalizing New York's high-tech manufacturing sector, requires companies to support child care as a requirement for receiving State support.

Last year, the Governor announced the passage of the nation’s first-ever paid prenatal leave law, which went into effect January 1. The law provides paid time off for individuals to prioritize their health during pregnancy, filling a crucial gap in support for working families. She also proposed a historic expansion of New York's child tax credit, benefiting over 2.75 million children. The plan would provide up to $1,000 per child under four and up to $500 per child ages four to sixteen, significantly increasing the current credit of up to $330. This expansion aims to reduce child poverty, assist middle-class families, and double the average credit given to families from $472 to $943.

Since taking office, the Hochul Administration has delivered more than $5.5 billion in supplemental payments, tax relief and rebates, as well as expanding access to child care assistance and paid leave for families and pregnant workers. This announcement follows a number of initiatives to reduce the financial strain on families while improving their well-being during a critical period, marking a major step forward in the state’s commitment to supporting its residents, and putting money back into their pockets.

Throughout 2024, the New York State Child Care Availability Task Force, which Governor Hochul chaired as Lieutenant Governor, focused on developing an implementation framework for universal child care. The Task Force, chaired by OCFS Commissioner Harris-Madden and DOL Commissioner Reardon, delivered its recommendations to the Governor and Legislature yesterday identifying a need for increased support for families not currently eligible for subsidized care.