Van Cortlandt Park Alliance - You can sit by me - park benches in VCP

 

Van Cortlandt Park Alliance is proud to introduce our new Bench Program, offering two meaningful ways to leave a lasting legacy in the park:

Adopt an Existing Bench by adding a personalized plaque to a bench that’s already in the park. Honor a loved one, celebrate a milestone, recognize a favorite pet, or share a message that will inspire park visitors for years to come.

Adopt a New Bench and create a place for people to rest and connect with nature. Your gift expands seating throughout the park, improves accessibility, and helps make Van Cortlandt Park more welcoming for everyone. (New bench locations are limited. Talk to us!)

Best of all, your contribution directly supports Van Cortlandt Park. Through this new program, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance will care for your bench for the next 10 years, while your gift helps sustain the park's trails, natural areas, free community events, and volunteer stewardship projects.

Learn more about the Bench Program

Ready to get started?

Complete our short interest form

We look forward to helping you establish a place where memories are made for years to come.

Warmly,

The VCPA Team

Our Contact Information
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance
80 Van Cortlandt Park South, Ste. E1
Bronx, NY 10463
718-601-1460
http://vancortlandt.org

New Yorkers for Parks welcomes new Board Chair Ellen Gustafson and Board Member Mark Minkley

 

Welcome new NY4P Board Chair Ellen Gustafson and Board Member Mark Minkley!

New Yorkers for Parks is thrilled to welcome Ellen Gustafson as our new Board Chair and Mark Minkley as our newest Board Member.  

Ellen M. Gustafson, Of Counsel at Greenberg Traurig, advises clients on legislative, public policy, and regulatory matters, with a particular focus on the New York City budget. Drawing on years of experience in the City Council and a deep understanding of New York City's policymaking process, she helps organizations in the nonprofit and hospitality fields effectively negotiate and navigate the complexities of city government. Ellen’s local park is Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, where she enjoys weekly walks with her senior rescue dog Teddy.

Mark Minkley is a Principal at Cumming Group with more than three decades of experience leading the planning, design, and construction of civic, educational, public realm, and private development projects. A Registered Landscape Architect in New York and California with experience in nonprofit governance, site logistics and phasing, he is known for building strong, collaborative partnerships, engaging communities, and guiding complex projects from vision to completion. Mark's favorite park is Fort Tryon Park in Inwood.

We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Paul Gottsegen for his exceptional leadership as NY4P Board Chair over the past six years. His stewardship has helped shape the organization during a pivotal period, and we're delighted he'll continue contributing his expertise as a member of our Board. 

We look forward to the leadership, experience, and passion that Ellen and Mark bring to NY4P as we continue working toward a greener, more equitable NYC! 

HAPPENING THIS SATURDAY Assemblymember John Zaccaro, Jr. FREE Movie Under The Stars Night

 

Lights, Camera, Action!

Friends, please join me and Team JZ THIS Saturday, August 1, 2026 for a Movie Under the Stars event featuring the 2025 children's favorite Minecraft 

 

This event is FREE to the public. 

• When: Saturday, August 1, 2026 
• Where: Parkside Playground  (Arnow Ave & White Plains Rd )
• Time: Movie will begin at approximately 8:00pm

I'm looking forward to seeing you all there to enjoy a fantastic night under the stars with friends and family. 

 

Yours Truly,

John Zaccaro, Jr.

 

Attorney General Coalition Wins Temporary Restraining Order Protecting Youth Mental Health Services

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from terminating federal funding supporting school-based mental health programs and providers:

“For the second time, we stopped this administration from illegally stripping mental health care away from students who need it most. This order protects the counselors, social workers, and psychologists that schools across New York rely on to keep kids safe and supported. Children’s mental health should never be subject to political games. My office will keep fighting to make sure every student has access to the care they need and that Congress guaranteed.”

Attorney General James and a coalition of 14 other attorneys general sued the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month after the administration attempted to terminate grants that help schools hire mental health professionals, despite a permanent injunction entered in 2025, which blocked the policy underlying these terminations. Today’s order temporarily preserves New York’s access to millions of dollars in funding for in-school mental health services.

Mayor Mamdani Announces New Savings Targets

 

Each agency tasked with identifying 2.5% in savings for FY27, FY28 and the outyears  

 

Mayor asks City workers to help identify savings, streamline processes and improve government operations 

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani today directed City agencies to identify 2.5% in savings for Fiscal Years (FY) 2027 and 2028, as well as the outyears, as part of the administration’s ongoing effort to streamline service delivery, improve government operations and ensure every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely.

To help meet those targets, the administration will launch a Workforce Savings and Efficiency Survey. This voluntary survey will invite City employees to identify opportunities to reduce waste, improve efficiency and make government work better for New Yorkers. Each submission will be reviewed by the agency’s Chief Savings Officer to inform future savings plans.

“Budget season may have just ended, but our work to build a government that delivers more for New Yorkers is never finished. Every dollar we save by making government work better is a dollar we can put toward services New Yorkers rely on,” said Mayor Mamdani. “By setting these ambitious savings targets early, we’re giving agencies ample time to thoughtfully review their operations, eliminate inefficiencies and strengthen the important work they do without compromising service. And because no one understands how our government can improve better than the dedicated public servants who keep it running, we’re asking them to help lead that effort.”

Today’s announcement builds on the Mamdani administration’s broader effort to make City government more effective, accountable and responsive. Within his first month in office, Mayor Mamdani signed an executive order directing every agency to appoint a Chief Savings Officer (CSO), whose work identified $1.77 billion in savings.

In May, Mayor Mamdani appointed the Commission of Government Efficiency (COGE), which released 5 ballot proposals designed to make government work better, faster and more efficiently for New Yorkers. The Mayor also announced Overhauling Procedures and Expanding Navigation (OPEN), a package of more than 50 regulatory reforms to reduce paperwork and bureaucratic burdens for the City’s roughly 180,000 small businesses; advanced the SPEED (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development) report to cut red tape for housing construction; and launched Public Interest Technology, deploying teams of technologists to solve public challenges through modern, in-house digital solutions. 

Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) - Join us Thursday July 30th for the opening of Magenta Lounge: “Persona / Non Persona"

 

Join us July 30th at 6pm

RSVP for Opening Reception & Artist Talk 

BRAC is pleased to present Magenta Lounge: “Persona / Non Persona” a dynamic group exhibition by the queer art collective, Magenta Lounge, curated by its founder James Horner.

The exhibition brings together the work of eleven LGBTQ+ artists whose paintings, photographs, sculptures, videos, and multidisciplinary works reflect on queer identity, self-discovery, and the beauty of individuality. Through diverse creative practices, the artists explore the complexities of personal expression, belonging, and the ongoing process of self-recognition.

Growing up can be challenging for anyone. Our sense of self is shaped by childhood experiences, emerging sexuality, memories, and the dynamics of family and community. For those who are gay, lesbian, transgender, or other queer identities – this journey often includes additional obstacles – including struggles for visibility, fear of rejection, body image concerns, religious pressures, addiction, and conflicts with societal expectations. Together, the artworks in this exhibition offer nuanced reflections on these experiences, illuminating both the difficulties and the resilience that accompany the formation of queer identity.

Magenta Lounge is a queer art collective started by artist James Horner. Besides art exhibitions and special projects, the collective produces zines and posters, extending their practice beyond gallery walls and into accessible, community-oriented formats. Magenta Lounge channels today’s LGBTQ+ opinions on sexuality, politics, icons, tenderness, humor, and defiance – with a commitment to visibility, collaboration, and queer-led creative production. 

James Horner is a visual storyteller whose figurative works draw from queer culture, environmental psychology, and the emotional dynamics of social spaces. Horner's characters inhabit worlds that are humorous, muscular, intimate, and destabilizing. His work has been exhibited at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art and the Bronx Museum, and he is a current participant in the Bronx River Art Center Artist Studio program and a board member and artist member of the Amos Eno Gallery.

For more information, Visit jameshornerart.com or IG @jamesandthelovelies

Featured Artists include:

Tom Acevedo, Melanie Brewster, Marco Caridad, Ross Collab, James Horner, Kyle Quinn, Christopher Squier, Nathan Storey, Patrick Webb, Aaron Wilder, Michael Young

The exhibition will run from July 30 to August 30, 2026.

The opening reception will be held on July 30 from 6 - 8pm

Artist Talk will be August 13th from 6 - 8pm.

Gallery Hours:

Tuesday-Friday: 3-6pm

Saturday and Sunday: 12-5pm

Ghanaian National Sentenced To 85 Months In Prison For Stealing More Than $10 Million Via Romance Scams

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that DERRICK VAN YEBOAH, a/k/a “Van,” was sentenced to 85 months in prison for his role in an international criminal organization that stole more than $100 million from victims via romance scams and business email compromises.  On March 5, 2026, VAN YEBOAH pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who imposed today’s sentence.  

“Romance scammers do not simply steal money—they weaponize trust,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “Van Yeboah and his co-conspirators exploited trust, loneliness, and legitimate business relationships to steal more than $100 million.  Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of these calculated frauds and our commitment to pursuing international criminal organizations that target Americans.” 

According to the charging documents and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:

VAN YEBOAH was a member of a criminal organization primarily based in Ghana that committed romance scams and business email compromises against individuals and businesses located across the United States.  Many of the conspiracy’s victims were vulnerable older men and women who were tricked into believing that they were in online romantic relationships with persons who were, in fact, fake identities assumed by members of the conspiracy.  Once members of the conspiracy had gained the trust of their victims, they deceived those victims into sending their money to the enterprise or into helping them launder funds from other victims.  The conspirators also committed business email compromises to trick and deceive businesses into wiring funds to the enterprise.  In total, the conspiracy stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims.  After stealing the money, the  fraud proceeds were then laundered to West Africa.

VAN YEBOAH personally perpetrated many of the romance scams by impersonating fake romantic partners in communications with victims.  For example, in 2019 and 2020, VAN YEBOAH assumed fake identities to engage in romance scams with an Ohio woman and a Delaware woman and induced them into transferring approximately $4.2 million to accounts belonging to members of the conspiracy.  Similarly, in 2024, VAN YEBOAH assumed a fake identity to engage in a romance scam with a North Carolina man and induced him into transferring approximately $123,000 to accounts belonging to members of the conspiracy by claiming that he needed funds for both a parent’s funeral and to recover gold and diamonds from Italy.

VAN YEBOAH is being held responsible for more than $10 million he stole from victims via his romance scams.

In addition to the prison term, VAN YEBOAH, 41, of Ghana, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,149,429.17 in forfeiture.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the International Cooperation Unit of the Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana to secure VAN YEOBAH’s August 7, 2025, extradition to the United States.  Ghana’s Economic and Organized Crime Office, the Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL, Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority, and Ghana’s National Intelligence Bureau all provided significant assistance to ensure VAN YEOBAH’s extradition.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.

Ukrainian-Israeli Citizen Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar Fake Brokerage Scheme

Yaroslav Shilkloper, 50, a dual citizen of Ukraine and Israel, was sentenced today to four years in prison for his participation in a conspiracy that utilized a sophisticated phony brokerage-business to scam U.S. citizens out of millions of dollars. Shilkloper was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and $1.43 million in restitution to his victims.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Shilkloper and his co-conspirators defrauded victims in the United States of more than $3 million dollars by promising high rates of return on investments made through their “K6 Investing,” “Neotron Holding LTD.,” and “Goldex Technology” companies. As part of the scheme, the defendant provided access to a digital platform that allowed victims to see what they believed were real-time investment performance data. The victims’ money, however, was never invested, but instead diverted and laundered through a series of bank accounts in Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Czech Republic, and elsewhere, all controlled by Shilkloper and his co-conspirators. When victims attempted to withdraw their money, they were prevented from doing so, threatened with legal action, or manipulated into sending more money to the fraud ring. 

Shilkloper is the first of three defendants charged in the case to be sentenced. He was extradited from Poland after being arrested there in 2023. Today’s U.S. forfeiture order adds to the $2.8 million already previously returned to the victims as a result of forfeiture proceedings against Shilkloper and co-conspirators in the Republic of Georgia.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Wright of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New Orleans Field Office made the announcement.

The HSI New Orleans Field Office investigated the case.