|
Friday, March 2, 2018
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Invites you to celebrate St.Patrick's Day
|
|
|
|
Bronx Chamber of Commerce Irish Heritage Celebration Luncheon
Honoring Six Distinguished Individuals for Their Contributions to our Borough
Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Bronx Business Awards 2018 Gala
The Bronx Version of the Academy Awards
You are cordially invited to attend
The Bronx Version of the Academy Awards
Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 5:30-10:30 pm
Marina del Rey Caterers, Bronx NY
The Bronx Chamber of Commerce
Bronx Business Awards 2018 Annual Gala
Honoring
The Perez Family, Mastermind, Ltd.; Developer of the Year
Gino's Pastry Shop; Made in the Bronx Award of the Year
Bronx Community College; Institutional Member of the Year
Third Avenue BID; Non-Profit of the Year
D & J Ambulette Services, Inc.; Health Provider of the Year
E.A.T. w/ Culinary Professionals, Inc.;
M/WBE Company of the Year
Portion of the 2018 Gala Proceeds to benefit
Special Olympics New York
Key Note Speaker
Rob Walsh, Former Commissioner of NYC Dept. Small Business Services
Mistress Of Ceremonies
Jacqueline Catona Wayans
TV Host & Producer, "Don't Give Up and Win"
To make reservations, advertise in the Gala Journal, and/or be a Sponsor to the 2018 Gala Celebration. Call Phil Cardone 718-828-3900 or e-mail Phil@BronxChamber.org
I look forward to seeing you at the excellent networking event!
Nunzio Del Greco
President and CEO
Bronx Chamber of Commerce
President and CEO
Bronx Chamber of Commerce
"Network For Business Success"
1200 Waters Place, Suite 106
Bronx, NY 10461
718-828-3900
Nunzio@bronxchamber.org
1200 Waters Place, Suite 106
Bronx, NY 10461
718-828-3900
Nunzio@bronxchamber.org
"You never know where your next big deal is going to come from"!
2nd Annual Bronx Series of the Five Boroughs Community Leaders Recognition Day
It was an evening of getting to know some people, and just how they influence other people. The event was presented by the Las Maravillas Del Expo Inc., and the Bharratti Foundation. As you can see by the photo above this was a well attended event which was held at the Residence Inn at the Hutchinson Metro Center.
There were nineteen honorees in all Allison Santiago, Angela Laguer, Angie Rose, Antirison R. Ortiz, Colin Moseley, Daniel Porro, Edgar Luis Alvarez, Gene DeFrancis, Henry Pelayo, Irene Guanill-Elukowich, Jerome Gino Ragusa, Jorge Hernandez, Lisa Sorin, Nunzio Del Greco, Suzanne Gonzalez, Wendoli Rosario, and William Schievella. Awards and certificates were given to the honorees by Bishop David Maldonado Jr., Bharati S. Kemraj, and Nicholas Himidin Jr.
It was a very nice event completed with dozens of delicious cannolis from Gino's Pastry Shop of Little Italy in the Belmont section of the Bronx. Councilman Mark Gjonaj stopped by to talk a little about the importance of honoring those who work so hard for their communities.
Above - Councilman Gjonaj congratulates Bharati and the honorees.
Below - Bronx Chamber Of Commerce President & CEO Nunzio Del Greco poses with Bishop David Maldonado, Community Board 9 Chair Nicholas Himidian, and Bharati Kemraj.
Above - Westchester Square Business Improvement District Executive Director Lisa Sorin is honored.
Below - Jerome The Cannoli King Gino Ragusa is honored.
Above - A photo of the honorees before the event began.
Below - A photo of the honorees with their certificates and Councilman Mark Gjonaj who brought along his choice to replace him in the special election, his former Chief of Staff and Bronx liason to Governor Andrew Cuomo Ms. Nathalia Fernandez.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Former NYPD Deputy Chief Pleads Guilty To Illegally Diverting Police Resources
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the guilty plea of MICHAEL HARRINGTON for misapplying police resources while serving in the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) as, among other things, a Deputy Chief and former Executive Officer for the Chief of Department’s Office. Specifically, HARRINGTON diverted those resources – including dispatching police officers and diverting land, sea, and air vehicles intended for the NYPD’s public service usage – for the personal benefit of Jeremy Reichberg, a private citizen, his friends, and their associates. HARRINGTON pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods to misapplication and conversion of property belonging to a program or organization receiving federal funds.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Michael Harrington, a former high-ranking officer in the NYPD, occupied powerful positions within the department, from which he controlled officers and resources meant to keep New York safe. But as he admitted today, Harrington allowed those resources to be used for the benefit of well-connected private citizens. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to fight this type of corruption.”
Reichberg and an additional co-defendant, former NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant, continue to face honest services fraud, bribery, and conspiracy charges related to an alleged scheme in which Reichberg and another individual provided luxurious benefits to high-ranking members of the NYPD, including Grant, so as to be able to call upon those members for police-related assistance for themselves and their associates as opportunities arose. Reichberg and Grant are scheduled to go to trial before Judge Woods on April 30, 2018.
According to the Superseding Information, Indictment, and Complaint filed in this case, and statements made during the plea proceeding:
HARRINGTON was previously an Inspector in Brooklyn North and, beginning around November 2013, the Executive Officer in the NYPD’s Chief of Department’s Office, which is responsible for overseeing all of the Department’s uniformed operations. After November 2014, HARRINGTON was a Deputy Chief assigned to the NYPD’s Housing Bureau. Between 2011 and June 2016, HARRINGTON diverted police resources for the benefit of Reichberg and his associates, including another individual, Jona Rechnitz, who has pled guilty and is now cooperating with the Government. Among other things, HARRINGTON helped Reichberg and his associates get police escorts for non-police purposes, use a helicopter for a flyover at a private event, sent officers to resolve private, civil disputes, and secured the use of a police boat for private boat rides at another private event.
HARRINGTON, 52, of Staten Island, New York, pled guilty to one count of misapplication concerning a program receiving federal funds. The charge carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison. HARRINGTON is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Woods on June 11, 2018. The maximum potential penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department, Internal Affairs Division.
Doctor Pleads Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Scheme To Illegally Distribute Oxycodone
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Dr. EMMANUEL LAMBRAKIS, a state licensed doctor, pled guilty today to writing medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone. LAMBRAKIS pled guilty earlier today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein, and will be sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge William H. Pauley III at a later date.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Dr. Emmanuel Lambrakis took a solemn oath to ‘first do no harm.’ Instead, as he admitted in federal court today, Lambrakis chose to write prescriptions for unnecessary, addictive, and possibly fatal opiates for his ‘patients.’ Today, this doctor who used his position as cover for what amounted to no more than a common drug dealing operation, faces serious prison time for his actions.”
According to allegations in a Complaint and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
Oxycodone is a highly addictive, narcotic opioid that is used to treat severe and chronic pain conditions. Oxycodone prescriptions are in high demand and have significant cash value to drug dealers. In fact, oxycodone tablets can be resold on the street for thousands of dollars. For example, 30-milligram oxycodone tablets have a current street value of approximately $20 to $30 per tablet in New York City, with street prices even higher in other parts of the country. A single prescription for 120 30-milligram tablets of oxycodone can net an illicit distributor $2,400 in cash or more.
From at least approximately January 2011 until December 2016, LAMBRAKIS operated two medical clinics in Queens, New York, where LAMBRAKIS wrote numerous prescriptions for large quantities of oxycodone in exchange for cash payments. LAMBRAKIS typically charged $150 in cash for “patient visits,” and these visits often involved numerous “patients” being seen by LAMBRAKIS at the same time in the same examination room. During these “patient visits,” LAMBRAKIS would perform simple, perfunctory body manipulations (such as rotating the patient’s arm or leg) and engage in little or no conversation with the alleged “patient.” Nonetheless, LAMBRAKIS would then cause the patient to receive a prescription for a large quantity of oxycodone, most often 120 30-milligram tablets or more.
Between January 2011 and the present, LAMBRAKIS wrote thousands of oxycodone prescriptions, resulting in the distribution of more than a million oxycodone tablets, which have a street value in the tens of millions of dollars. On numerous occasions, LAMBRAKIS wrote 30 or more prescriptions for 30-milligram oxycodone pills in a single day. As a result of LAMBRAKIS’s actions, it is estimated that LAMBRAKIS collected more than $2 million in fees from his “patients.”
LAMBRAKIS, 70, of Manhattan, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. This offense carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s Tactical Diversion Squad, which is comprises agents and officers from the DEA, the NYPD, the New York State Police, Town of Orangetown Police Department, Rockland County Drug Task Force, Westchester County Police Department, and New York City Department of Investigation. He also acknowledged the assistance of the Department of Health & Human Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the New York City Human Resources Administration, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.