MAYOR MAMDANI ANNOUNCES $50 MILLION CAPITAL INVESTMENT TO RECONSTRUCT 10 PARKS IN UNDERSERVED NEIGHBORHOODS

 

Park improvements will benefit more than 116,500 New Yorkers in historically neglected communities  

  

CUNY releases new study linking park improvements with reduced stress  

Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and NYC Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura announced $50 million in new capital investments in 10 parks through the Community Parks Initiative (CPI) for Fiscal Year 2027. The initiative reconstructs parks in neighborhoods that have historically been neglected.   

  

The investments will improve parks in all five boroughs, expanding access to safe, welcoming public spaces. The announcement coincides with new studies from the City University of New York (CUNY) highlighting the mental health and social benefits of improved park space for New Yorkers.  

  

“For many New Yorkers, the park is their backyard — a place where they can play a game of pick-up basketball, hold a picnic on the grass or kick a ball with their kids. These New Yorkers know the difference between a park in disarray and a park that city government has invested in,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “That is why, today, we are proud to announce $50 million worth of capital investments to ten parks across the city — investments that will allow more than 100,000 New Yorkers in all five boroughs to experience a healthier, cleaner and more accessible city.”   

  

“All New Yorkers deserve access to clean, safe and high-quality parks — and through our Community Parks Initiative (CPI), we're proud to announce the next 10 parks that will receive key investments in underserved neighborhoods. These renovations will benefit more than 100,000 New Yorkers across all five boroughs,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura. “Along with this new investment, NYC Parks has reimagined and reconstructed 70 CPI sites. We are grateful to the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy for its partnership in studying the health and quality-of-life benefits of these projects through the SPARCS study.”  

   

“Urban parks are increasingly being recognized around the world as crucial for the wellbeing of citizens. It is exciting to see that CPI has been successful at improving the level of satisfaction and usage of neighborhood parks throughout the city,” said Terry Huang, Distinguished Professor of Public Health, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH). “Importantly, the park renovations created the necessary condition for New Yorkers to benefit from using these parks in terms of their health and wellbeing. We are fortunate in New York to have such strong leadership and efforts to continue improving the park spaces in local communities through the expansion of CPI.”  

   

Through CPI, local parks are reconstructed through a community-driven design process that upgrades sites, adds new play equipment and recreation amenities for all ages and enhances green space.   

  

Over the past decade, NYC Parks has reimagined and reconstructed 70 CPI projects in neighborhood parks citywide and currently has another 47 projects underway, representing more than half a billion dollars in capital investment to rebuild parks and playgrounds that had not seen significant upgrades in decades.  

  

The 10 sites announced today will bring the total number of active CPI projects to 57.  

   

The following parks will be transformed through CPI:  

   

Bronx  

Mott Playground (Concourse)

Fountain of Youth Playground (Mott Haven / Longwood)

Morris Mesa Playground (Mount Hope)  

   

Brooklyn  

Van Dyke Playground (Brownsville)  

Roebling Playground (South Williamsburg)  

Elizabeth Stroud Playground (Bedford–Stuyvesant)  

   

Manhattan    

Vladeck Park (Lower East Side)  

St. Nicholas Park 133rd St. Playground (Harlem)  

   

Queens    

Corona Health Sanctuary (Corona)  

   

Staten Island  

Kaltenmeier Playground (Rosebank / Shore Acres)  

  

Launched in 2014, CPI provides equity-driven investments to parks that have not received significant capital improvements in at least two decades and are located in neighborhoods with the highest need, based on factors such as poverty levels, population density and population growth.   

  

One of the most recent CPI investments renovated Jennie Jerome Playground in the Bronx. Completed in 2025, the reconstruction added inclusive play equipment designed for children of all abilities, a spray shower to help children stay cool in the summer, picnic tables and seating for families and new shade trees and plantings to mitigate heat and reduce noise from the nearby expressway.     

 

CPI investments also have been linked to improved mental health and increased park use, including in recently announced studies by researchers at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy (CUNY SPH). According to findings from the recent Physical Activity and Redesigned Community Spaces (PARCS) study, residents in neighborhoods that received CPI park renovations reported: 

•    More time spent in parks, particularly on weekdays and among adults with children and members of the Latino community.  

•   Significant increases in satisfaction with park quality, maintenance and amenities.   

•   Reduced stress levels among residents who frequently used renovated parks, suggesting that high-quality parks are a key condition for realizing the mental health benefits of regular park use.  

Permits Filed for 905 Tiffany Street in Longwood, The Bronx

 

Permits have been filed for a four-story residential building at 905 Tiffany Street in Longwood, The Bronx. Located between Fox and Beck Streets, the interior lot is near the Intervale Avenue subway station, served by the 2 and 5 trains. Leapold Zicherman is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed 50-foot-tall development will yield 12,173 square feet designated for residential space. The building will have 24 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 507 square feet. The concrete-based structure will also have a penthouse.

Sharon Broyn of BASCH A+D Corp. is listed as the architect of record.

Demolition permits have not been filed yet. An estimated completion date has not been announced.

International Narcotics And Weapons Trafficker Sentenced To 186 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Import Hundreds Of Kilograms Of Cocaine Into The United States

Mittel Patel Conspired to Provide Machine Guns, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and Rocket-Propelled Grenades to What He Believed Was the Sinaloa Cartel, in Connection With a Purported Shipment of Hundreds of Kilograms of Cocaine into the United States 

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that MITTEL PATEL, a United Kingdom national, was sentenced to 186 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, before whom he previously pled guilty, for his participation in a conspiracy to import approximately 400 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. 

“The illicit trafficking of narcotics and weapons poses an extreme threat to all New Yorkers and all Americans—and that threat is real,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “Mittel Patel conspired to sell an arsenal of military-grade weaponry to persons he believed to be working for a violent drug cartel so the purported cartel could protect a shipment of hundreds of kilograms of deadly narcotics into the United States.  The contemplated weapons and drugs could kill thousands of innocent Americans.  Thanks to the extraordinary investigative work of the DEA and our other law enforcement partners, Patel was apprehended before he could make good on his efforts to endanger American lives, and he is now incarcerated.  Large-scale drug trafficking and the provision of weapons pose a broad and deadly threat to our safety, security, and freedom.  Every American should know: the success of drug and weapons suppliers, and the cartels and other transnational criminal organizations they serve, comes at the cost of innocent American lives.” 

As reflected in the Complaint, the Indictment, and other filings and information in the public record:

PATEL was a narcotics and weapons trafficker based in London, United Kingdom.  In 2021, an undercover DEA agent (“UC-1”) began communicating with PATEL about possible narcotics and weapons transactions, including PATEL and PATEL’s U.S.-based co-conspirators illegally providing UC-1 with an assortment of military-grade weapons, including machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades (“RPGs”).  As the discussions evolved, UC-1 conveyed to PATEL that UC-1 had arranged to purchase approximately 400 kilograms of cocaine from the Sinaloa Cartel, on the condition that UC-1 provide weapons to the Sinaloa Cartel to protect the drug shipment as it crossed the border from Mexico to the United States and in exchange for PATEL providing additional security for future drug shipments.

In August 2022, PATEL and his co-conspirators agreed to provide two sample firearms to UC-1, in exchange for $10,000.  PATEL and his co-conspirators then executed those sample weapons transactions and sent to an address located in the United States, in five separate packages, the parts for an AR-15 assault rifle and a sniper rifle with a scope, both pictured below:

PATEL understood from UC-1 that these weapons would be provided as a sample to the Sinaloa Cartel, as a prelude to the 400-kilogram drug transaction and a larger weapons order.  PATEL confirmed that, for the larger order, he and his co-conspirators could provide, in addition to the sample weapons, machine guns and RPGs.

On February 14, 2023, PATEL met with UC-1 in Athens, Greece to continue their discussions.  PATEL was arrested by Greek authorities following the meeting, and he was extradited to the United States on February 15, 2024.

In addition to the prison term, PATEL, 47, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit.  Mr. Clayton also thanked the DEA New York Field Office, DEA Athens, the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, and our law enforcement partners in Greece for their assistance.

The case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. 

Minneapolis Man Sentenced for Scheme to Bribe Feeding Our Future Juror

 

Abdulkarim Farah, a Minneapolis man, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 57-months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for his role in providing a cash bribe to a juror in the first Feeding Our Future trial, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.

On April 22, 2024, seven defendants went to trial before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel for their roles in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.  Two of the defendants on trial were brothers of Abdulkarim Shafii Farah, 25.  During the trial, Abdulkarim Farah conspired with his brothers and others to provide a cash bribe to one of the jurors—Juror 52—in exchange for returning a not guilty verdict in the trial.

According to Mr. Farah’s plea agreement, after his co-defendants identified and decided to target Juror 52, Mr. Farah conducted surveillance of Juror 52 and Juror 52’s house. Mr. Farah also sent a map of where Juror 52 parked during jury service. Co-defendant Ladan Ali was recruited to deliver the bribe money to Juror 52, and Mr. Farah was instructed to drive Ali to Juror 52’s house and record a video of Ali delivering the bribe. After meeting Ali in the vicinity of Juror 52’s house, Mr. Farah drove to a Target store to purchase a screwdriver. Mr. Farah used the screwdriver to remove the license plate from Ali’s rental car in order to avoid detection by law enforcement.

On June 2, 2024, at approximately 8:50 p.m., Mr. Farah drove Ali to Juror 52’s house and recorded her delivering a gift bag containing the bribe money. As Ali handed the money to a relative of Juror 52, she explained that there would be more money if Juror 52 voted to acquit the defendants.  After the bribe money was delivered, Mr. Farah sent the video he had taken to his brother, Abdiaziz Farah. After the bribe had been disclosed in court, on June 3, 2024, Mr. Farah uninstalled and deleted the encrypted messaging app Signal from his iPhone in order to destroy the messages he and his co-defendants exchange concerning the bribery attempt.

Abdulkarim Farah was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Eric C. Tostrud to 57 months imprisonment—the high end of Mr. Farah’s federal sentencing guidelines range and the sentence advocated for by the government.  While handing down the sentence, Judge Tostrud said that “properly functioning juries are the core of our criminal justice system” and that it is the role of the federal judiciary to safeguard citizens’ rights to fair and impartial juries. Judge Tostrud also expressed gratitude to Juror 52 for resisting the temptation to accept the very substantial bribe.

The 57-month sentence represents the high-end of Mr. Farah’s sentencing Guidelines range

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI with assistance from IRS – Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Governor Hochul Highlights More Than 275 Million Free School Meals Served Across the State

Saving New York Families Up to $450 Million Per Month on Grocery Costs

Governor Hochul’s Universal School Meals Program Will Bring Breakfast and Lunch to 2.7 Million New York Students

During National School Breakfast Week, Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted that within just the first six months of the school year, 275 million free school meals have been served in schools statewide. The Governor celebrated this milestone today alongside students and administrators at Albany School of Humanities.

Governor Hochul’s Universal School Meals Program, launched earlier this year, ensures that every student in New York State has access to a healthy breakfast and lunch at school, creating more opportunities for students to succeed in school. By eliminating any financial requirements to receive this benefit, New York State has leveled the playing field by taking the burden off of families.

“This marks a major milestone in our overall affordability agenda, ensuring that New York students are not going hungry while they’re at school,” Governor Hochul said. “Students do better in the classroom when they’re not worried about where their next meal is coming from. In just six months, more than 275 million free school meals have been served – proof that New York is stepping up to support our children’s success while bringing down grocery costs for families statewide.”

In the first six months of the academic year, New York has:

• Delivered more than 275 million free school meals to New York students so far this school year
• Helped families statewide save up to $450 million per month on grocery costs

The FY26 Enacted Budget included $340 million for school meals, a $160 million year-to-year increase, requiring all school districts, charter schools, and nonpublic schools that participate in the national school lunch and breakfast program to provide free breakfast and lunch meals to all students regardless of their families’ income. Under this initiative, the State will pay the student’s share of costs for all meals served to students not already receiving free meals. This historic initiative expands eligibility to an additional 280,000 students who now have access to free school meals. 

New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce - Tickets on Sale Today - Women in Business Luncheon 2026

 

Assemblymember John Zaccaro, Jr.'s Job Fair is BACK!

 

Friends,

I am proud to announce that on March 21st, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM at MS 80, we will be hosting a Job Fair Expo. Whether you are a recent graduate, looking for a career change, or seeking a new opportunity, this is the place to speak with experts and connect with organizations looking for talented, qualified individuals in our community.

To register, please use the QR code in the flyer below or click here.

Job Fair Details:

When: March 21, 2026

Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Where: MS 80 - (149 E. Mosholu Parkway)

Please bring copies of your résumé and be ready to step into your future career.

If you have any questions, please contact our office at 718-409-0109 or email district80@nyassembly.gov.

Looking forward to seeing you at our March Job Fair Expo!

Yours truly,

John Zaccaro, Jr.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson - Community Resources & Updates

 

Dear Neighbor,

In response to the recent fires in our borough, we are continuing our fire safety education workshops in partnership with the American Red Cross, the FDNY, and local community organizations.

These workshops focus on fire prevention, safety tips, and the steps families can take to protect their homes and loved ones. We encourage everyone to participate and to stay tuned for upcoming dates, times, and locations.

I also want to share information about the Enhanced Energy Affordability Program (EEAP), which offers monthly bill discounts to eligible residential customers in New York City and Westchester County. Eligibility depends on household size and income level, and households earning below the area median income may qualify. If you think you might qualify, we encourage you to apply and take advantage of this support.

On Friday, March 6, and Saturday, March 7, the New York City Department of Transportation will conduct urgent overnight repairs on the Eastern Blvd Bridge (Bruckner Blvd Bridge). The bridge and nearby local streets will be fully closed from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Please plan ahead and allow for additional travel time during those hours.

Lastly, the 2026 Borough Cultural Grant application portal is now open! Organizations interested in applying must submit their applications by 5:00 PM on Monday, March 23, 2026. We encourage eligible organizations to apply and help us continue supporting arts and culture throughout our borough. Click the link to learn more and determine eligibility.

Warm Regards,

Vanessa L. Gibson

Bronx Borough President

For real-time updates and event highlights, remember to follow us on Social Media:

FACEBOOK: @BronxBp

INSTAGRAM: @Bronxbpgibson

TWITTER: @BronxBp

IN THE COMMUNITY

Our borough mourns the passing of Anthony Artuso Sr., cherished owner of Artuso Pastry Shop and a beloved pillar of the Belmont community.

In Belmont, he was a friend, a neighbor, and a steward of Arthur Avenue’s rich cultural heritage.

We extend our deepest condolences to the Artuso family and all who loved him.

May his memory be a blessing, and may his legacy continue to inspire generations to come.

We were proud to join St. Barnabas Hospital for their Dominican Heritage Celebration in honor of Dominican Independence Day.

From the music and cultural performances to the powerful reflections on history and identity, the program beautifully uplifted the pride, resilience, and contributions of the Dominican community here in the Bronx.

We proudly celebrated the opening of the New York Blood Center in Throggs Neck—a project years in the making and the result of strong advocacy to ensure our residents have access to critical blood donation services and emergency support right here in the Bronx.

At a time when we are facing a decline in blood donations nationwide, it is more important than ever that we step up, diversify our blood supply, and ensure Bronx families can access lifesaving resources when and where they need them most.

This new center represents a meaningful investment in our borough’s healthcare infrastructure and in the health and well-being of our community.

Thank you to the New York Blood Center, our dedicated advocates, and community partners who worked tirelessly to bring this vision to life.

We hosted our first-ever Lunar New Year celebration, marking the Year of the Fire Horse and welcoming members of our Asian American community for an unforgettable afternoon of culture, connection, and joy.

From vibrant performances and delicious cuisine to the recognition of outstanding honorees and a Keynote Address from Assembly Woman Grace Lee, the celebration reflected the rich traditions and lasting contributions of our AAPI community here in the Bronx.

Here’s to prosperity, strength, and continued unity in the year ahead.

We gathered at Eastwood Manor for “100 Years of Black Excellence: Standing in Legacy and Longevity,” a powerful celebration of the history, resilience, and contributions of Black leaders across generations.

It was an inspiring evening filled with reflection, recognition, and community as we honored the trailblazers who paved the way and the changemakers continuing that legacy today.

A special congratulations to our amazing honorees and thank you to our sponsors; our keynote speaker, Hon. Jumaane D. Williams; our Master of Ceremonies, PIX11’s very own James Ford, colleagues in government, and everyone who joined us in celebrating a century of Black excellence in the Bronx.

UPCOMING EVENTS

BOROUGH BULLETIN