Permits Filed For 1041 Boynton Avenue In Soundview, The Bronx

 

Permits have been filed for a four-story residential building at 1041 Boynton Avenue in Soundview, The Bronx. Located between Watson Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard, the lot is near the Elder Avenue subway station, serviced by the 6 train. Gjergj Bujaj is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed 48-foot-tall development will yield 10,592 square feet designated for residential space. The building will have 16 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 662 square feet. The masonry-based structure will also have a cellar, penthouse, and five open parking spaces.

Node Architecture Engineering Consulting PC is listed as the architect of record.

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

Governor Hochul Announces Significant Progress in the Fight Against Gun Violence in Buffalo

 

Buffalo Police Department Reported a 73 Percent Decline in Firearm-Involved Homicides, 60 Percent Decline in the Number of Individuals Injured by Gunfire, and 59 Percent Decline in Shooting Incidents, When Comparing the First Half of 2023 to the Same Timeframe in 2021

Buffalo’s Reductions in Gun Violence During the First Six Months of This Year Far Exceeded Those Experienced by the 20 Police Departments Participating in the State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination Initiative, Build Upon Double-Digit Decreases Reported by Buffalo Police in 2022

Governor Hochul Also Announced $2 Million in New State Funding for Community-Based Organizations in Buffalo, One of Seven Cities Participating in New Program Designed to Strengthen Neighborhoods Affected by Gun Violence

 Governor Kathy Hochul today announced significant progress in the fight against gun violence in the City of Buffalo. Data reported by the City's Police Department for the first half of 2023 when compared to the same timeframe in 2021 showed a 73 percent decline in the number of firearm-involved homicides; 60 percent decline in those injured by gunfire; and a 59 percent decline in shooting incidents. Buffalo’s reductions in gun violence during the first six months of this year led the 20 police departments that participate in the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative and builds upon double-digit decreases in shooting incidents with injuries and individuals shot in 2022. Governor Hochul also announced $2 million in new state funding for community-based organizations in Buffalo, one of seven cities participating in a new program designed to strengthen neighborhoods affected by gun violence.

“From law enforcement officers to elected officials, ensuring public safety is a responsibility that falls on each of us,” Governor Hochul said. “We have made record-level investments to address the scourge of gun violence affecting our communities, and we’re extremely proud of the progress we’ve made in Buffalo and across our state – but there’s more work to be done. We won’t rest until gun violence is an afterthought and every New Yorker can live in the safe, peaceful community they deserve.”

Governor Hochul visited the Buffalo Police Department, where she outlined the city’s tremendous progress in fighting gun violence, as well as investments and actions she has taken to address the pandemic-era spike, including the creation of the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns. Last year, the Buffalo Police seized the most guns since 2010: 956 guns, including 76 ghost guns. At the same time, police agencies across the state seized 10,427 illegal guns, a 65 percent increase when compared to 2019 (6,338 guns) and a 15 percent increase when compared to 2021 (9,088 guns).

During the first half of 2023, police agencies across the state seized 4,611 illegal guns – fewer than the same timeframe last year, but a 52 percent increase since 2019. New York State Police has seized 6 percent more guns in the first six months of this year and 166 percent more guns than the agency did in 2019.

January - June of Each Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Statewide Gun Seizures	3,032	2,819	4,285	5,424	4,611
New York State Police Gun Seizures	276	210	334	694	735

In Buffalo, there were 29 fewer individuals killed (11 vs. 40); 111 fewer persons shot (73 vs. 184); and 90 fewer shooting incidents with injury (63 vs. 153) during the first half of 2023 as compared to the first half of 2021, when pandemic-era gun violence peaked. These three key gun violence metrics in the city have been trending below the five-year average (2018 – 2022) since January 2023. Total homicides were down 62 percent in Buffalo from January 2023 – June 2023 when compared to the same period last year.

The Governor also highlighted double-digit decreases in gun violence for the first half of 2023, as reported by the 20 police departments currently participating in GIVE, and declines in shootings reported by the New York City Police Department this month.

Shooting incidents with injury in GIVE communities declined 28 percent (377 vs. 521), and the number of individuals shot decreased 26 percent (456 vs. 614) during the first half of 2023 as compared to the same timeframe in 2022. Both of these gun violence indicators have been trending below the five-year average (2018 - 2022) since January 2023. In addition, 48 fewer individuals (64 vs. 112, -43 percent) were killed by gun violence when comparing January through June 2023 with the same six-month period in 2022, and that indicator has been trending below the five-year average since March 2023. Gun violence also declined in New York City, though not as sharply as it did in Buffalo: a 28 percent decline in shooting victims and 27 percent decrease in shooting incidents through July 23, 2023.

Governor Hochul also announced that 16 community-based organizations in Buffalo have received $2 million in state funding through Project RISE, a new program to strengthen communities dealing with the long-term effects of gun violence. Administered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, the funding is being shared equally among Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition, Metro Community Development Corporation – Devalan Grider Community Center, Open Buffalo, and VOICE Buffalo.

Those four organizations must use at least 25 percent of its funding to support grassroots organizations. A total of 16 organizations are receiving funding through that requirement: Be Elite, Inc., Bury the Violence, Candles in the SUN, Confident Girls Mentoring Program, Feed Buffalo, The Foundry, FruitBelt United, Full Circle, Galactic Tribe, Johnny B. Wiley, Massachusetts Avenue Project, P.E.A.C.E. Inc., Project Mona’s House, RAWTools Buffalo, REALTalk, and Unit Promise.

Governor Hochul secured $337 million – an increase of $110 million – in the FY24 Budget to support her comprehensive, multifaceted plan to target gun violence and violent crime, improve public safety, and strengthen communities. That plan includes, but is not limited to, the following funding, which also is administered by the Division of Criminal Justice Services:

• $36 million for GIVE. This record-level funding has allowed the state to expand the nationally recognized initiative to eight new police departments and four additional counties. As of July 1, 2023, GIVE funding now supports 28 police departments, and district attorneys' offices, probation departments, and sheriffs' offices in 21 counties outside of New York City hardest hit by gun violence and violent crime.

• $25 million for the state’s SNUG Street Outreach program, which operates in 14 communities and uses a public health approach to address gun violence: identify the source, interrupt its transmission, and treat those affected by ongoing exposure to violence.

• $16 million to support and expand the state's Crime Analysis Center Network. A new center is being established in New York City, bringing to 11 the number of centers in the network, which is supported by the state in partnership with local law enforcement agencies. The centers in Erie, Monroe, Onondaga and Albany counties were the first to be established; others are located in Broome, Franklin, Niagara, Oneida, Orange, and Suffolk counties. In 2022, staff at the centers responded to more than 66,000 requests for assistance from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, helping agencies solve murders, robberies, burglaries, gun crimes, and other serious cases.

The Division of Criminal Justice Services provides critical support to all facets of the state's criminal justice system, including, but not limited to: training law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals; overseeing a law enforcement accreditation program; ensuring Breathalyzer and speed enforcement equipment used by local law enforcement operate correctly; managing criminal justice grant funding; analyzing statewide crime and program data; providing research support; overseeing county probation departments and alternatives to incarceration programs; and coordinating youth justice policy. Follow DCJS on Facebook and Twitter.

CITY PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITY CARETAKER CHARGED WITH STEALING NEARLY $6,000 IN CITY WAGES

 

Jocelyn E. Strauber, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced the arrest on Thursday, July 27, of a Caretaker with the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) on a charge of stealing time from the City, valued at $5,873 in wages. DOI’s investigation was prompted by NYCHA’s report of potential misconduct to DOI. The Office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting the case. 

STEVEN MAESTRE, 32, of the Bronx, N.Y., is charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony. Upon conviction, a class D felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison. He was released on his own recognizance following his arraignment Thursday evening in Manhattan Criminal Court.

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “This City employee, as alleged, clocked in but didn’t work. He not only failed to serve the NYCHA residents in the development where he was assigned, he stole money and time from the City. I thank the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for their partnership on this investigation and NYCHA for referring this matter to DOI.” 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, “As alleged, this defendant defrauded our City when, instead of doing his job to help clean and maintain this NYCHA development, he simply went home. This conduct not only harms taxpayers, but it undermines the quality of life for public housing residents and the trust they have in city services. I thank DOI for their thorough investigation.” 

According to the criminal complaint, from November 13, 2022, to June 19, 2023, the defendant was employed by NYCHA as a Caretaker at Morris Houses Development in the Bronx and was scheduled to work a regular 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. shift, Monday through Friday and on alternate weekends, as well as a midnight shift from 12:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. on an as-needed basis. NYCHA caretakers are not permitted to leave the development where they are assigned while on duty, except during scheduled breaks, and are not permitted to work from remote locations.

On 19 separate occasions, the defendant was observed leaving his work location at Morris Houses, returning to his Bronx residence, and remaining at his residence during most of his scheduled shift. For example, on February 7, 2023, according to NYCHA’s timekeeping records, the defendant swiped in at Morris Houses in the Bronx at 7:52 a.m. and swiped out at 4:25 p.m. DOI observed MAESTRE at his residence at 11:20 a.m. on that date; and reviewed surveillance video that showed MAESTRE entering his residence at approximately 10:42 a.m. and remaining inside until 3:20 p.m. DOI also compared the defendant’s timesheets with surveillance video of the defendant’s residence during the relevant time period, which showed the defendant was not at work, and was at his residence, during his scheduled shifts. In total, as alleged, the defendant was paid approximately $5,873 in wages for time that he did not work. Paychecks for NYCHA employees are issued from NYCHA’s headquarters in Manhattan.

MAESTRE was hired as a City Seasonal Aide for NYCHA’s Bronx Floating Staff in June 2010, and was hired as a Caretaker in January 2011. He receives an annual salary of approximately $46,278 and will be suspended based on the arrest. 

DOI Commissioner Strauber thanked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his staff for their partnership on this investigation, which was handled by Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Minogue of the Financial Frauds Bureau, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Hope Korenstein. Commissioner Strauber also thanked NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt and Board Chair Jamie Rubin for their cooperation on this investigation, and for NYCHA’s referral of the matter to DOI. 

A criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.   

Four Indicted for Money Laundering in Prolific Human Smuggling Network Takedown

 

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas has returned a superseding indictment charging four defendants with conspiracy to launder money.

The new charges were filed against Erminia Serrano Piedra, aka Irma, aka Boss Lady, 32, of Elgin, Texas; Oscar Angel Monroy Alcibar, aka Pelon, 40, also of Elgin; Pedro Hairo Abrigo, 34, of Killeen, Texas; and Juan Diego Martinez-Rodriguez, aka Gavilan, 38, of Dale, Texas.

As alleged in the superseding indictment, the defendants conspired to engage in financial transactions designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of ill-gotten proceeds of illicit human smuggling and the unlawful harboring and transportation of undocumented aliens. The leaders of the organization allegedly recruited and used straw persons to accept human smuggling proceeds in their bank accounts and then transferred these proceeds to the leaders under the pretense of “work” payments for construction. The defendants also allegedly used businesses and business accounts to transfer the human smuggling proceeds. In addition, the defendants allegedly recruited individuals to accept human smuggling proceeds in the form of cash in exchange for checks from the recruited individuals’ business bank accounts.

The superseding indictment also notices the criminal forfeiture of three properties with values currently estimated at approximately $2.275 million, $515,000, and $344,000, as well as money judgments amounting to at least $2,945,027.

Three of the four defendants previously were charged with human smuggling in an indictment filed in the Southern District of Texas and unsealed on Sept. 13, 2022. That indictment was the culmination of a significant enforcement operation to disrupt and dismantle an alleged prolific human smuggling organization operating in Texas and elsewhere. That operation resulted in the arrests of 14 alleged human smugglers alleged to be members of a human smuggling organization led by Piedra that facilitated the unlawful transportation and movement of hundreds of migrants within the United States and harbored and concealed those migrants from law enforcement detection. The migrants were citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia, and they or their families allegedly paid members of the human smuggling organization to help them travel unlawfully to and within the United States. According to the indictment, the human smuggling organization used drivers to pick up migrants near the U.S.-Mexico border and transport them into the interior of the United States, often harboring them at “stash houses” along the way in locations such as Laredo and Austin, Texas. Drivers for the human smuggling organization allegedly hid migrants in suitcases placed in pickup trucks and crammed migrants in the back of tractor-trailers, covered beds of pickup trucks, repurposed water tankers, and wooden crates strapped to flatbed trailers. These methods allegedly placed the migrants’ lives in danger, because they were frequently held in confined spaces with little ventilation, which became overheated, and they were driven at high speeds with no vehicle safety devices. 

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas, and Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made the announcement.

HSI Laredo, along with Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) U.S. Border Patrol Laredo Sector and Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG), led the investigation and received substantial assistance from HSI offices in Austin, San Antonio, Waco, and Corpus Christi, Texas; HSI New Orleans; HSI Gulfport, Mississippi; HSI Mobile, Alabama; HSI West Palm Beach, Florida; HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C.; CBP’s National Targeting Center; the U.S. Marshals Service; Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations – Austin; and the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture. Police departments in Laredo, Killeen, Elgin, and Round Rock, Texas; the Wiggins, Mississippi Police Department; the Bogalusa, Louisiana Police Department; the Webb County Constable’s Office; the Webb County District Attorney’s Office; sheriffs’ offices in Webb, Bastrop, and Caldwell Counties in Texas; sheriffs’ offices in Harrison, George, and Stone Counties in Mississippi; the Mobile County, Alabama Sheriff’s Office; sheriffs’ offices in Jefferson and Washington Parishes in Louisiana; the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics; and the Louisiana State Police also provided substantial assistance. 

Trial Attorneys Christian Levesque and Angela Buckner of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), Trial Attorney Daria Andryushchenko of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Day for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case, with substantial assistance from MLARS Financial Investigator Kelly O’Mara, the Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations’ (OEO) Electronic Surveillance Unit (ESU), and ESU Acting Deputy Chief Jessica Reid.

The indictments against these defendants were brought under Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). Attorney General Merrick B. Garland created JFTA in June 2021 in partnership with DHS to strengthen the department’s overall efforts to combat these crimes based on the rise in prolific and dangerous smuggling emanating from Central America and impacting our border communities. JTFA’s goal is to disrupt and dismantle those human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, with a focus on networks that endanger, abuse or exploit migrants, present national security risks, or engage in other types of transnational organized crime.

Since its creation, JTFA has successfully increased coordination and collaboration between the Justice Department, DHS, and other interagency law enforcement participants, and with foreign law enforcement partners, including in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico; targeted those organizations who most significantly impact the United States; and coordinated significant smuggling indictments and extradition efforts in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in over 100 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of human smuggling; several dozen convictions; significant jail sentences imposed; and substantial asset forfeiture. JTFA is comprised of detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border, including the Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, District of New Mexico, District of Arizona, and Southern District of California. Numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division are part of JTFA, led by HRSP, and including the Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training, the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, MLARS, OEO, the Office of International Affairs, and the Organized Crime and Gang Section. JTFA is made possible by substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.