VCJC News & Notes 3/14/25

 

Van Cortlandt Jewish Center

News and Notes

Here's this week's edition of the VCJC News and Notes email. We hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

Reminders

1. Shabbos
   
   
   Shabbos information is, as always, available on our website, both in the information sidebar and the events calendar.
   Here are the times you need:  
   Shabbos Candles Friday 3/14/25 @ 6:44 pm
   Shabbos morning services at 8:40 am.  Please join the services if you can do so safely. 
   Shabbos Ends Saturday 3/15/25 @ 7:48 pm

   If you require an aliyah or would like to lead services, read from the torah or haftorah please speak to one of the gabbaim.

   There will be a kiddush in honor of Rabbi Sodden’s yahrzeit.
    

2. Blood Drive Sunday, March 23

   Please plan on participating in our blood drive with the New York Blood Center on Sunday, March 23 from 9:30 to 2:00PM.

   You can make an appointment at this Donor Appointment Link.

   Walk ins are also welcome.

Our mailing address is:

Van Cortlandt Jewish Center

3880 Sedgwick Ave

Bronx, NY 10463

NYC DOC OFFICER SENTENCED TO PROBATION, COMMUNITY SERVICE FOR FAILURE TO ACT IN INMATE’S SUICIDE ATTEMPT

 

Defendant Convicted of Misconduct and Reckless Endangerment; 18-Year-Old Nicholas Feliciano Survived Hanging, Suffered Permanent Brain Damage

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a New York City Department of Correction Officer was sentenced to two years’ probation and 250 hours of community service for failing to help an inmate who tried to commit suicide by hanging himself in a Rikers Island holding cell in 2019. 

District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant neglected his duty to protect those in custody, namely Nicholas Feliciano, a young man so desperate he tried to take his own life. Mr. Feliciano survived but his future was shattered. The officer’s callousness is matched by the senselessness of his behavior.”

New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “This suspended Correction Officer is now convicted and sentenced for his role in waiting almost eight minutes to provide aid to an inmate who attempted suicide in a holding cell at Rikers. The inmate suffered severe brain damage due to the delay. Officers have a duty to protect persons in custody and when they fail to do so, they will be held accountable. I thank the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for its partnership on this investigation and continuing commitment to ensure that safety and security in the City’s jails.” 

District Attorney Clark said DOC Correction Officer Kenneth Hood, 38, was sentenced on March 12, 2025, to two years’ probation with required counseling and 250 hours of community service by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Audrey Stone. The People had requested 364 days in jail. He was found guilty by a jury of Official Misconduct and second-degree Reckless Endangerment on January 28, 2025.

According to the facts brought out at trial, on November 27, 2019, in the George R. Vierno Center, Mr. Feliciano tied two sweatshirts to the ceiling of the holding cell and wrapped them around his neck and stepped off a partition, causing the sweatshirts to constrict his neck and cut off his oxygen. Hood was seated at his desk about 10 feet away from Mr. Feliciano’s cell and took no action over the course of seven minutes and 51 seconds. Correction Officers are required to act whenever they observe a ligature around an inmate’s neck that is attached to another object. 

When a fellow officer opened the cell to check on Mr. Feliciano, Hood told the officer to close the cell door, which he did. Feliciano suffered significant brain damage and is currently in a residential facility.

District Attorney Clark thanked DOI for its investigation conducted by the DOI Office of the Inspector General for DOC, supervised by Inspector General Marissa Carro, Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives Christopher Ryan, and Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominick Zarrella.

Attorney General James Takes Action to Protect New York Consumers and Small Businesses

 

The Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable (FAIR) Business Practices Act Will Strengthen NY’s Consumer Protection Law, Help Lower Costs, Reduce Junk Fees, and Stop Predatory Lenders 

Legislation Follows Federal Cuts and Weakening of National Consumer Protection Agencies 

New York Attorney General Letitia James advanced new legislation to protect consumers and small businesses from unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices. The Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices, or FAIR Business Practices Act, is a program bill from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and championed in the state legislature by Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblymember Micah Lasher. This legislation will strengthen New York’s consumer protection law, GBL §349, to protect New Yorkers from a wide array of scams, including deed theft, artificial intelligence (AI)-based schemes, online phishing scams, hard-to-cancel subscriptions, junk fees, data breaches, and other unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices. Forty-two other states and federal law already prohibit unfair practices, making New York’s current law both antiquated and inadequate. 

The FAIR Business Practices Act would also help stop lenders, including auto lenders, mortgage servicers, and student loan servicers, from deceptively steering people into higher cost loans. It would reduce unnecessary and hidden fees, stop unfair billing practices by health care companies, and prevent companies from taking advantage of New Yorkers with limited English proficiency. With the federal government rolling back protections for consumers and small businesses, the FAIR Business Practices Act authorizes OAG and victims to seek civil penalties and restitution against businesses that use unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices against vulnerable New Yorkers. 

“In New York right now, companies can make canceling a subscription so hard it seems impossible; nursing homeowners can sue relatives of deceased former residents; and debt collectors can steal Social Security benefits,” said Attorney General James. “This legislation will put a stop to this all. At a time when the federal government is making life harder, we want to make life easier for New Yorkers. The FAIR Business Practices Act will close loopholes that make it too easy for New Yorkers to be scammed, and will allow my office to go after anyone who violates the law and look forward to working with my partners in state government to ensure that as Washington retreats from protecting consumers, New York steps up to lead.” 

“Strong consumer protection tools are essential for protecting Americans from unfair and abusive business practices,” said former FTC Chair Lina Khan. “At the FTC, we used these tools to tackle a range of exploitative tactics, from outrageous subscription traps and predatory scams to dangerous commercial surveillance. By passing a strong consumer protection bill, New York lawmakers can empower Attorney General James to fully defend New Yorkers' pocketbooks, privacy, and economic freedoms.”

New York’s current consumer protection law, GBL §349, was passed in 1970 and only prohibits deceptive business acts and practices, leaving consumers vulnerable to unfair or abusive acts by companies. The FAIR Business Practices Act will protect New Yorkers from unfair and abusive business acts, such as: 

• Companies that make it difficult for consumers to cancel a subscription;
• Student loan servicers that steer borrowers into the most expensive repayment plans;
• Car dealers that refuse to return a customer’s photo ID until a deal is finalized and charge for add-on warranties that the customer did not actually purchase;
• Nursing homes that routinely sue relatives of deceased residents for their unpaid bills despite not having any basis for liability;
• Companies that take advantage of consumers with limited English proficiency and obscure pricing information and fees;
• Debt collectors that collect and refuse to return a senior’s Social Security benefits, even though they are exempt from debt collection; and
• Health insurance companies’ that use long lists of in-network doctors who turn out not to accept the insurance.

On February 9, the Trump administration ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to stop all work protecting consumers and decline any new cases. The CFPB is an independent agency that oversees big banks, lenders, credit card companies, and mortgage servicers and ensures companies are following federal consumer protection laws. As a result of the Trump administration's actions, the nation's largest banks are no longer being closely watched for compliance with key consumer protections by any federal regulator. The administration’s efforts to destroy the CFPB could also prevent consumers from reporting issues of fraud or deception.