Speaker Johnson and the City Council Launch Interactive Map of Parks in New York City

  Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the City Council launched an interactive map of public parks in New York City Map. The new interactive map offers detailed information on all of the 1,700 parks in the city, including amenities, funding information, and programming at each spot.

Launching just in time for Memorial Day weekend, the map shows where New Yorkers can find playgrounds, basketball and handball courts, running tracks, pools, barbecue areas, food concessions and dog runs. Additionally, the data includes upcoming events taking place at each location within the next 14 days.

This interactive and visual tool details the 2,856 playgrounds, 557 basketball courts, 546 handball courts, 95 pools, 34 running tracks, 69 barbecue areas, 112 food concessions, and 136 dog runs and leash areas. And it also gives New Yorkers information on how much their neighborhood parks receive for maintenance, both in public and private funds.

“It’s the unofficial start of summer, and so we wanted to get this out there for all New Yorkers. Public parks are the lungs of our metropolis and a vital part of our city. We have hundreds of these jewels across our city, and this interactive map will let you explore each one of them individually,” said Speaker Johnson.     

Find additional information at https://council.nyc.gov/data/parks-in-nyc/.

161st Street BID - PIANO PLAYERS WANTED

  A hand-painted piano will arrive at Joyce Kilmer Park Wednesday, June 5. The instrument is part of the citywide, Sing for Hope program, which places 50 pianos across the five boroughs in public spaces and parks. Visitors can play or listen to spontaneous concerts over the next three weeks.

  On June 21 st the 161 st Street BID will host a series of musical performances at the piano by artists affiliated with the Make Music New York program. The first day of summer will ring out with pop, R & B and standards from NYC musicians in front of the Lorelei Fountain.

  This is the seventh year that the 161 st Street BID has hosted a piano. The BID is one of 75 managed by the NYC Department of Small Business Services.

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS SUPPORTS SENATOR BIAGGI BILL TO REMOVE ‘SEVERE AND PERVASIVE’ STANDARD

  Senate Majority Leader Andrea Steward-Cousins said that the Senate will move to pass bill S3817A, legislation sponsored by State Senator Alessandra Biaggi to eliminate the “severe and pervasive” standard applied to sexual harassment cases and harassment based on all protected categories.

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi issued the following statement:

"The Senate is not what it use to be – this body is ready to make changes that put survivors first and protect New Yorkers from future sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. The first step is to eliminate the 'severe and pervasive' standard once and for all, and make sure that employers are held accountable for creating safe work environments for their employees. I thank Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for her fervent support on this issue.”

COUNCIL MEMBER TORRES & STUDENTS WILL HOST RIBBON-CUTTING & GRAND OPENING OF TAPCO SCHOOL’S ROOFTOP GARDEN PERFORMANCE SOUNDSTAGE

$2.5 Million Investment Will Allow Students to Utilize Digital Design Curriculum, Use Outdoor Space for Theatre Shows & Grow Produce for Local Food Pantry

Councilman Ritchie Torres presents a check for $2.5 Million Dollars to TAPCo Principal Ron Link.

  Council Member Ritchie Torres and students from the Theatre Arts Production Company School (TAPCo) held a ribbon-cutting and grand opening of the school’s innovative rooftop garden performance sound stage. This is the first school in the city with a rooftop garden and sound stage built into it that will allow students to hold performances outdoors, grow fruits and vegetables for the local food pantry POTS, and take drawing classes outside. The grand opening featured student performances on the sound stage. Council Member Torres invested $2.5 million in City Council funds towards this project. 

Above - Councilman Torres cuts the ribbon on the new outdoor roof space for TAPCo.

Below - TAPCO students perform on the special dance area of the roof.

Above - A dance presentation by one student on the new dance area.

Below - The band performs.

3rd Avenue BID Opens Business Work Area at 11 Bruckner Boulevard.

  In its quest to serve businesses better the 3rd Avenue Business Improvement District has reached out to businesses on and around Bruckner Boulevard by leasing the second floor of a building at 11 Bruckner Boulevard. The renovated mini business incubator allows owners of small stores such as Isabel Pradas owner of College Bridge Cafe, and Noelle Santos owner of the Lit Bar (above with 3rd Avenue BID Executive Director Michael Brady) to have a desk where to work on much of the needed paperwork they have no room for in their cramped businesses. There is a mini conference room where business owners can talk business to each other, come up with local events, and whatever else to make this area of the Bronx better.

Above - The cozy conference area complete with a large screen monitor and computer for power point presentations.

Below - How to find that office space your business may need.

Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation Ending The Legal Ban On Gravity Knives

New Law Reflects Federal Court Ruling Finding Previous Ban to be Unconstitutional  

  Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed into law Assembly Bill 5944, which removes criminal sanctions associated with possessing gravity knives following a court ruling that state law was too vague and unconstitutional. Gravity knives are commonly sold at stores and used for work purposes. The judge stated people should be able to know with certainty whether carrying a gravity knife is lawful.

APPROVAL #May 30, 2019

CHAPTER #34

MEMORANDUM filed with Assembly Bill 5944, entitled:

"AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to gravity knives"

APPROVED

This bill, unanimously passed by the Legislature, would legalize the possession of commonly sold and lawfully used folding knives by removing the term "gravity knife" from the Penal Law, while leaving intact law enforcement's ability to pursue those who otherwise use these knives unlawfully. 

This is not the first time the Legislature has sought to remove the criminal sanctions associated with possessing these knives, which are widely available in hardware and sporting goods stores. Indeed, in 2016 and 2017, I was constrained to veto similar bills (see Veto No. 299 of 2016 and Veto No. 171 of 2017).  As I explained in each of those instances, despite recognizing the absurdity of a criminal justice system which has regularly charged individuals for simply carrying folding knives designed, marketed and sold as work tools for construction workers, artisans, restaurant workers, and day laborers, the uniform opposition of the State's law enforcement entities and mayors could not be ignored.  Recognizing the concerns on both sides of this issue, the Executive strived to reach a compromise over the past three years, carefully constructing bills that would have legalized these knives in a limited fashion so that individuals using them for work could not be prosecuted.  None of those attempts to reach a resolution proved successful. 

As I review this bill for a third time, the legal landscape has changed.  In March of this year, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York declared the State's existing "gravity knife" ban unconstitutional.  As argued by many who have advocated for this change in law, the court reasoned that the existing law could result in arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.

While I remain aware of the cautious community voices, I cannot veto a bill passed by the Legislature to address a decided constitutional infirmity in existing law, as recently affirmed by a federal court.  I remain confident that our law enforcement community will continue to keep our communities safe by pursuing anyone who uses, or attempts to use, one of these knives in an unlawful manner. 

On that basis, this bill is approved.

Bank CEO Arrested For Taking Bribes In Connection With Loans Guaranteed By The Small Business Administration

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the arrest of EDWARD SHIN, the CEO of a Pennsylvania-based bank (the “Bank”), for taking bribes in connection with the Bank’s issuance of loans that were guaranteed by the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”).  SHIN was arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint charging him with taking bribes by siphoning off a portion of commissions on SBA-guaranteed loans and causing the Bank to issue SBA-guaranteed loans to companies in which SHIN had a secret interest.  The charges are the culmination of a joint investigation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General (“FDIC-OIG”), Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the SBA Office of the Inspector General (“SBA-OIG”), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“SIGTARP”).  SHIN is expected for presentment this afternoon in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge James L. Cott.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Edward Shin, the CEO of a Pennsylvania bank, allegedly exploited his position as a bank officer to illegally issue Small Business Administration loans to entities in which he had a financial interest.  Furthermore, Shin allegedly took kickbacks on commissions for those loans from a third party who did no legitimate work in the loan process.  The Small Business Administration exists to provide funding to those pursuing the American dream through owning their own businesses.  Edward Shin is now charged with attempting to corrupt that process for his own personal gain.” 

According to the allegations in the Criminal Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court today[1]: 

The SBA helps Americans start, build, and grow businesses by guaranteeing certain loans made by banks to help those businesses succeed.  Between 2009 and 2012, EDWARD SHIN was the CEO of the Bank.  During that period, the Bank offered a range of financial products, including SBA-guaranteed loans to small businesses in the New York-New Jersey area, which the Bank could extend only on the condition that all aspects of those loans complied with SBA regulations and SBA’s standard operating procedures.  In particular, SBA regulations and procedures prohibited bank officers, including SHIN, from receiving any payments in connection with SBA-backed loans and prohibited banks from extending such loans to any institution in which a bank officer held an interest.

Notwithstanding these regulations, SHIN secretly solicited and received bribe payments in connection with SBA-guaranteed loans issued by the Bank and caused the Bank to extend SBA-guaranteed loans to companies in which SHIN had secret ownership interests.  Specifically, when the Bank issued a business loan involving a certain broker (the “Broker”), SHIN secretly arranged to receive a portion of the Broker’s fee.  On other occasions, when the Bank issued a business loan that did not involve the use of an actual broker, SHIN arranged to have the Broker inserted unnecessarily into the transaction solely to generate a broker fee that could be shared with SHIN; in fact, the Broker did no actual work to earn a commission on those transactions, but split the “broker’s fee” with SHIN as an illegal kickback.

SHIN also arranged for the Bank to issue SBA-guaranteed loans to businesses in which he secretly retained an ownership interest, in violation of SBA regulations and procedures.  For example, in or about December 2010, the Bank issued an SBA-guaranteed loan for approximately $950,000 to a business in New York, New York.  Although documents submitted to the Bank for purposes of securing the loan did not mention SHIN’s ownership interest, the business was secretly operated as a 50-50 partnership between SHIN and the Broker.  After the loan was issued in or about October 2014, this loan went into default status, ultimately resulting in a loss to the SBA of approximately $611,491. 

SHIN, 56, of Ambler, Pennsylvania, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank bribery, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison, and one count each of bank bribery, theft of funds by a bank officer, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum potential sentence of 30 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are 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 FDIC-OIG, HSI, FBI, SBA-OIG, and SIGTARP.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

3 Members Of Trip-And-Fall Scheme Convicted Of Defrauding New York City-Area Businesses And Their Insurance Companies Of More Than $31.7 Million

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the conviction in Manhattan federal court of BRYAN DUNCAN, ROBERT LOCUST, and RYAN RAINFORD.  The jury convicted DUNCAN, LOCUST, and RAINFORD today for their participation in a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud following a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein.  The jury also convicted DUNCAN of a second count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, along with one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.  Co-conspirators Peter Kalkanis, a former chiropractor, and Kerry Gordon previously pled guilty before Judge Stein to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud.  Kalkanis also pled guilty to aggravated identity theft. 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Bryan Duncan, Robert Locust, and Ryan Rainford carried out a blatantly corrupt scheme, recruiting ‘patients,’ coaching them on how to stage trip-and-fall ‘accidents’ that were not accidents at all, and steering them to complicit lawyers, chiropractors, and doctors.  They recruited indigent people, including from homeless shelters – people they thought would be most willing to undergo unneeded surgeries for the minimal cut of the proceeds the defendants would share.  Duncan, Locust, and Rainford were tripped up by the justice system and have met their downfall.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and Superseding Indictment, and the evidence presented in Court during the trial:

Between in or about 2013 through 2018, DUNCAN, LOCUST, and RAINFORD, the defendants, engaged in a widespread fraud scheme through which the defendants defrauded businesses and insurance companies by staging trip-and-fall accidents and filing fraudulent lawsuits arising from those staged trip-and-fall accidents.  Fraud scheme participants, including the defendants, recruited hundreds of individuals to stage trip-and-fall accidents at particular locations throughout New York City and to claim that they injured themselves as a result of their accidents.  Common accident sites used during the fraud scheme included cellar doors, cracks in concrete sidewalks, and purported “potholes.”  The defendants instructed the recruited patients to claim that they sustained injuries to particular areas of their bodies, including the knees, shoulders, and/or back – body parts that, if injured, would reap high recoveries in personal injury lawsuits.

After the staged trip-and-fall accidents, recruited patients were referred to specific attorneys who would file lawsuits against the owners of the accident sites and/or insurance companies of the owners of the accident sites (the “Victims”).  The lawsuits did not disclose that the recruited patients had deliberately fallen at the accident sites or, in some cases, had not fallen at all.  During the course of the fraud scheme, the defendants, together with others known and unknown, attempted to defraud the Victims of at least $31,791,000.

The recruited patients were also instructed to receive ongoing medical treatment from certain chiropractors and doctors.  The fraud scheme participants advised the recruited patients that if they intended to continue with their lawsuits, they were required to undergo surgery to increase the value of their fraudulent lawsuits.  The medical procedures included discectomies, spinal fusions, non-surgical epidural injections, and knee and shoulder surgeries.  As an incentive to getting surgery, the recruited patients were offered a payment after they completed surgery as well as a percentage of any settlement payment from their lawsuit.  Patients generally had two surgeries and received between $1,000 and $1,500 after each surgery.

The defendants recruited low-income individuals as patients – individuals desperate enough to undergo surgeries in exchange for these small post-surgery payments.  In some instances, the defendants even recruited patients from homeless shelters in New York City.  Over the course of the trial, more than 20 witnesses testified, including 11 patients who admitted to staging trip-and-fall accidents at the direction of DUNCAN, LOCUST, RAINFORD, or other co-conspirators.     

DUNCAN was one of the organizers and leaders of the scheme.  DUNCAN recruited patients into the scheme, organized the recruited patients’ legal and medical appointments, and assisted in procuring the funding for the recruited patients’ medical treatment and lawsuits.  DUNCAN, and his partner Kerry Gordon, made over $1 million in profit from the fraud scheme. 

LOCUST and RAINFORD helped recruit patients into the fraud scheme, transported patients to medical and legal appointments, identified potential accident sites, made payments to recruited patients, and coached recruited patients on faking their injuries. 

Peter Kalkanis was another organizer and leader of the scheme.  Kalkanis paid his co-defendants to recruit patients into the scheme and transport the patients to medical and attorney appointments.

DUNCAN was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.  LOCUST and RAINFORD were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison. 

The jury failed to reach a verdict as to DUNCAN, LOCUST, and RAINFORD on one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.  

Kalkanis pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.  Kalkanis also pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory term of imprisonment of two years. 

Gordon pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentences and minimum sentence in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the judge.     

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department.  Mr. Berman also thanked the National Insurance Crime Bureau for their assistance in the investigation.