Statements From Other Bronx Elected Officials on the Report on Death Toll in Puerto Rico

STATE SENATOR GUSTAVO RIVERA STATEMENT ON NEW STUDY 

ON PUERTO RICO'S DEATH TOLL AFTER HURRICANE MARIA

  We are eight months into recovery efforts for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. We are also days from the official start of the hurricane season, yet we still do not have clear information as to how many lives were claimed by the storm or the federal government's irresponsible and disgraceful response to the disaster. Today, a new study conducted by a group of independent researchers from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health estimated that roughly 4,600 Puerto Ricans died as a result of Hurricane Maria and the lack of medical care that was provided or available to residents of the island after the storm. These numbers are horrendous and shameful, but not surprising given the federal government's inadequate and borderline criminal response to the storm and Trump's disgraceful characterization of the situation on the ground when he visited the island after the storm. Puerto Ricans are still lacking adequate access to electricity, shelter, running water, infrastructure, medical assistance, and food. We must continue to demand that the federal and local governments adequately respond to this ongoing humanitarian crisis and assume their responsibility to the people on the island. I stand committed to continue working to advocate and bring resources to the island and Puerto Ricans.

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT STATEMENT ON THE DEATH TOLL IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING NEW REPORT

  Congressman Adriano Espaillat released the following statement on a new report conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine indicating the death toll in Puerto Rico has reached nearly 5,000 in the wake of Hurricane Maria. 

“Today’s report and study conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine indicates the death toll in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria is nearly 5,000 and almost 70 times higher than initially reported. Nine months after the storm, the American citizens of Puerto Rico continue to face a major crisis mired in devastation and heartbreaking realities,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat. 

“Puerto Rico is among one of President Trump’s most significant failures since taking office and the way this crisis has been handled by the administration is simply outrageous. Thousands of residents remain without adequate resources or assistance and only half of the population have reliable electricity and water. The island’s medical and health systems were disrupted and medical supplies remain scarce. Additionally, FEMA has denied nearly 50% of the applications submitted by housing victims in need of grant assistance to help them rebuild and repair their homes.

“Today’s report is about more than numbers. This is about lives, and the lives that have been lost and the lives still on the line. As the 2018 hurricane season begins, we cannot afford to turn our backs on the residents of Puerto Rico and must continue our efforts to help families rebuild following this devastating storm that has affected and continues to impact many lives,” he concluded.

STATEMENT FROM BP DIAZ RE: Report on Death Toll in Puerto Rico

  "The new study released by the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center makes it clear that the official story regarding the devastation Puerto Rico faced in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria is far from the truth, if not an outright fabrication. A death toll of nearly 5,000 Puerto Ricans cannot be squared with the official count of just 64.

"The situation on the ground in Puerto Rico is far worse than the Trump administration has been willing to admit. This president cannot be allowed to lie and pretend he has delivered for the island. He has failed, and continues to fail, his fellow American citizens," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

LDNY Hosts First Meeting in Bronx

  The Local Democrats of New York is a Multi-Candidate Committee registered with the State of New York. The goal is to build a grassroots political infrastructure in (our) communities. They believe by focusing on local party positions, such as County Committee, they can represent true political power. This organization held a forum in collaboration with other organizations listed on their material such as You Matter Nation, Bronx Progressives, Politics Reborn, County Committee Sunlight Project, and Rep Your Block. 

After some research it appears that,

You Matter Nation started in 2016, and most of the postings are anti Donald Trump.

Bronx Progressives a former Bernie Sanders group appears to have become  the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress group. Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who was in attendance is running in the 14th Congressional district against long time incumbent and Queens Democratic County Leader Joseph Crowley.

Politics Reborn is based in Long Island City Queens. The one speaker told the audience to run for County Committee, but make sure you have an opponent so your name appears on the primary ballot. The problem she said is that almost all County Committee seats go uncontested, so to be on the primary ballot you must have an opponent. 

County Committee Sunlight Project is based in Manhattan, and speaker Ben Yee gave some facts that are correct in Manhattan but not always the case in the Bronx as election law can differ from county to county.

Rep Your Block says it is a program of New Kings Democrats that has worked to reform County Committee by recruiting hundreds of Brooklyn Democrats to petition and run for seats on County Committee.

The only two people listed as members of LDNY, and co-founders were Samelys Lopez and Michael Beltzer. Both are current Bronx County Committee members and both ran for Bronx District Leader positions in 2016 unsuccessfully. 

One interesting note was that I found on a table a release made up by the Local Democrats of New York ("LDNY") for people to sign for LDNY to be authorized to use their names to aid in my ________ campaign to take place on September 13th 2018 in the State of New York, within the political boundary of the address listed below, which includes raising and spending money on my behalf. A photo of the release is below with other photos of the event. 

Above - Mr. Ben Yee of Manhattan speaks about the Process of County Committee.

Below - The material used for the Bronx presentation however is that of the Manhattan County Structure. Mr. Yee admitted that the process does differ from county to county and what is done in Manhattan is not always the same for the Bronx.

Above - Mr. Beltzer is with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez candidate for the 14th Congressional district.

Below - Mr. Beltzer is with Mr. Mohammed J. Mujumder who is supporting a candidate for the 87th Assembly District.

Above - Panel number one tell of their experience in politics.

Below - Panel number two tell of their experience in politics. 

Above - There was over 50 people in attendance at this event. 

Below - Mr. Beltzer is talking with a woman who has announced that she is running for the 87th Assembly seat. 

A Quick Updated Look at the 2021 NYC Elections

Candidate List

2021 Citywide Elections

Candidate	Classification	Office Sought
Adams, Eric L	Undetermined	Undeclared
Brannan, Justin L	Undetermined	City Council District 43
Constantinides, Costa	Undetermined	Undeclared
Diaz Jr., Ruben	Undetermined	Mayor
Diaz, Sr., Ruben	Undetermined	Undeclared
Eisenbach, David	Undetermined	Public Advocate
Espinal, Jr., Rafael L	Undetermined	Undeclared
Gjonaj, Mark	Undetermined	City Council District 13
James, Letitia	Undetermined	Undeclared
Katz, Melinda	Undetermined	Undeclared
Lancman, Rory I	Undetermined	Undeclared
Lander, Brad	Participant	Undeclared
Lopez-Pierre, Thomas A	Undetermined	City Council District 07
Matteo, Steven	Undetermined	Undeclared
Quart, Dan	Undetermined	Undeclared
Salamanca, Jr., Rafael	Undetermined	Undeclared
Stringer, Scott M	Undetermined	Undeclared
Vallone, Paul A	Undetermined	Undeclared
Van Bramer, James G	Undetermined	Undeclared
Whitehead-Miller, Lamor	Undetermined	Brooklyn Boro President
Participants:	1
Undetermined:	19
Total Candidates:	20

EDITOR'S COMMENT:

While it is still only a few days away from June 1, 2018 above is how current elected officials or those who want to be elected officials have filed with the NYC Campaign Finance Board. 

It is interesting to see that current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has filed to run for Mayor of New York City.

There is also an announced candidate for Public Advocate who ran in the 2017 Democratic primary, David Eisenbach.

Three of the candidates have declared for a city council seat including current 13th Councilman Mark Gjonaj. 

The interesting thing however is that current Councilman Rafael Salamanca, and current Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. have applied to the NYC Campaign Finance Board, but when it came to office that was marked 'Undeclared'. 

Also note that the current City Comptroller, Queens Borough President, and Brooklyn Borough President, while being term limited out of office are 'Undeclared' candidates. Current Public Advocate Leticia James is also term limited out and is an 'Undeclared' candidate for the NYCCFB. Public Advocate James has been nominated for the position of NY State Attorney General by the State Democratic Committee.   

Statement from Comptroller Stringer on the Passing of Herman “Denny” Farrell, Jr.

  “For more than 40 years, Herman “Denny” Farrell served New York with unparalleled grace and integrity, as an Assemblymember and as a proud, big-D Democrat who never wavered in his commitment to lifting people up.

“As someone who knew him since the age of 16, he was the ultimate mentor to me throughout my life, as he was for so many others. New York lost a giant in the passing of Denny Farrell, but he leaves behind a legacy of service that will live on for decades. His wonderful family is in my thoughts and prayers.”

SCHUMER URGES U.S. POSTAL SERVICE TO REVERSE POLICY PREVENTING ROCHESTER VETERANS FROM DISTRIBUTING MEMORIAL DAY POPPIES AT LOCAL POST OFFICE

Senator To USPS: Let Veterans Distribute Memorial Day Poppies At Post Offices 

  U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer today publically demanded the U.S. Postal Service, specifically Postmaster General of the United States Megan Brennan, immediately reverse the Jefferson Road Post Office in Rochester from blocking veterans from distributing and accepting donations for poppies on post office property. Schumer said every year around Memorial Day, veterans far and wide distribute and accept donations to help local veteran groups.

“Preventing veterans from distributing Memorial Day poppies is simply disrespectful to our veterans who protected and defended us,” said Senator Schumer.  “Not only is it exasperating that the post office would stand in the way of this long-standing tradition that helps so many veterans, but also that the post office shamed a group of veterans by forcing them to vacate the post office against their will. I strongly urge the U.S. Postal Service to immediately reverse this overly bureaucratic policy and formally apologize to the veterans who were wrongfully treated by the Jefferson Road Post Office.”

Schumer’s public call comes in response to the Jefferson Road Post Office forcing local Rochester veterans to leave the premise, citing a rarely enforced United States Postal Service policy against soliciting on post office property.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

We commend U.S. Senator Schumer in his effort to help veterans, but in this time of cutbacks in service, attempts to close post offices, and price increases for all types of mail we think the last three should be the priorities of not only U.S. Senator Schumer, but also U.S. Senator Gillibrand.

The public can no longer deal with short staffed post offices, post offices with equipment constantly in need of repair, and post offices that are constantly closed during business hours for one reason or another. 

The number one priority of both U.S. Senators should be that post offices are kept open, are properly staffed, and that the effort by the USPS to close post offices when the reason is that customers are mailing elsewhere because their local post office if understaffed, closed for lunch or closed because the computer network is down.

Deal with what the real problems at the post office are U.S. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand.

Hedge Fund Founder Pleads Guilty To Fraud In Connection With Bribery Of Former Correction Officers Union Leader

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the guilty plea of MURRAY HUBERFELD to wire fraud conspiracy in connection with funds used to bribe the former president of the nation’s largest municipal correction officers union.  Specifically, HUBERFELD, founder of the Platinum Partners hedge fund (“Platinum”), pled guilty to conspiring with an intermediary, Jona Rechnitz, to cause the fund to pay $60,000 to Rechnitz’s company by falsely representing that the money was payment for courtside tickets to eight New York Knicks basketball games.  Instead, as HUBERFELD knew, the actual purpose of the payment was to reimburse Rechnitz for having paid Norman Seabrook, then-president of the Correction Officer’s Benevolent Association (“COBA”), for Seabrook’s efforts to get COBA to invest millions of dollars in Platinum.  HUBERFELD pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Murray Huberfeld caused his former hedge fund to pay tens of thousands of dollars to a criminal partner in order to enable another crime – paying off the head of the correction officer’s union for the investment of millions of its members’ funds.  We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to fight fraud and corruption.”

According to the Superseding Information, Superseding Indictment, Indictment, and Complaint filed in this case, other public filings, statements made during the plea proceeding, and evidence and testimony presented at trial proceedings in October and November of 2017:

HUBERFELD was the founder of Platinum, a hedge fund that he continued to help operate unofficially even after his formal affiliation with the fund had ceased.  In late 2013, HUBERFELD and Rechnitz, a real estate businessman who was an acquaintance of HUBERFELD, sought to attract public and institutional investors to the fund.  At or around that time, Rechnitz told HUBERFELD that a contact of his – COBA President Norman Seabrook – would likely invest COBA’s money in Platinum.  Over the next few months, Seabrook caused COBA to invest approximately $20 million of its funds into Platinum, including $15 million from a retirement benefits program funded by the City of New York that invests money for correction officers’ retirements.

In or around December 2014, arrangements were made to pay Seabrook personally for the millions of dollars the Union had invested over the course of that year.  Rechnitz paid Seabrook $60,000 in cash, delivered to Seabrook in a men’s luxury handbag.  HUBERFELD and Rechnitz then arranged for Platinum’s management company to receive a fraudulent invoice for $60,000 – generated by Rechnitz – that, on its face, billed Platinum for eight pairs of courtside tickets to New York Knick games given to Platinum by Rechnitz, who owned Knicks season tickets.  In truth, and as HUBERFELD knew, the reason given to Platinum was false, and no Knicks tickets had changed hands.  The real purpose of the payment was to reimburse Rechnitz, who had paid Seabrook for his efforts in securing COBA’s investments.  Three days later, Platinum issued Rechnitz a $60,000 check. 

HUBERFELD, 57, of Lawrence, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  The charge carries a maximum term of five years in prison. HUBERFELD is scheduled to be sentenced on September 14, 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.

Trial against Seabrook, on charges of (i) conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, (ii) the substantive offense of honest services wire fraud, and (iii) the substantive crime of wire fraud with respect to COBA’s right to control its assets, is scheduled to commence on July 30, 2018, before Judge Hellerstein.  As to Seabrook, the charges in the various charging instruments are merely allegations, and Seabrook is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department, Internal Affairs Division.