Good Morning, Brooklyn: Thursday, October 20, 2022

October 20, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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URGING BETTER PROTECTIONS FOR FOOD BENEFIT CARDS: Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-7^th District /western Brooklyn), and Rep. Grace Meng (D-6^th District/Queens) urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to better protect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries who are at risk of having their benefits stolen through skimming scams. Skimming occurs when criminals place a “skimming” device on an ATM or POS (point of sale) device to capture a person’s PIN information and the data stored on the magnetic strip of the SNAP EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card, and use that data to duplicate the EBT card and to access the benefits in the SNAP beneficiary’s account.

At least nine states across the country, including New York, have reported a rash of SNAP benefits being lost due to skimming scams, with more than two thousand households affected and $312,000 stolen since June of this year.

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SETTLEMENT REQUIRES ICE CREAM COMPANY TO ACCEPT CASH PAYMENTS: Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has entered a settlement agreement with Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, requiring the company to comply with the City’s Cashless Ban Law, and to pay $33,000 in outstanding civil penalties. Responding to dozens of consumer complaints, DCWP brought more than 90 cases at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) against Van Leeuwen for violations and its refusals to comply with the Cashless Ban Law that took effect in November, 2020. The ice cream company has several Brooklyn stores: Boerum Hill, Greenpoint, Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Williamsburg.

Cashless businesses discriminate against New Yorkers who lack bank accounts, which DCWP research shows at more than 300,000 New York City households.

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GROUP LEADERS CHARGED IN INTERNATIONAL HARASSMENT SCHEME: The leaders of a group of seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China were arrested and arraigned today in Brooklyn federal court for participating in a scheme to harass and to cause the forced repatriation of a PRC national residing in the United States. The eight-count indictment against Quanzhong An, his daughter Guangyang An and five others charge them with allegedly acting at the direction and under the control of various officials with the PRC’s government’s Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, to conduct surveillance of and engage in a campaign to harass and coerce a U.S. resident to return to the PRC as part of an international extralegal repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox Hunt.”

Quanzhong An and Guangyang An were arrested this morning and were scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr., though the remaining defendants remain at large.

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MEETING NEAR BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENT IN GOWANUS: Planned housing at the Public Place brownfield, considered to be one of the most toxic sites in the U.S., is the topic of an informational meeting that the Voice of Gowanus and community members are holding tomorrow, Friday, October 21 at 9 a.m. (Register via https://www.voiceofgowanus.org/climatefriday-102122_2022). They will convene at Dennett Place between Nelson and Luquer, in Carroll Gardens/Gowanus, one block from where the residential development is planned.

The bullet-point agenda includes presentations of the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation’s and the EPA’s proposed controls of the contamination sources in the neighborhood, and “Gowanus as it relates to Climate Change and Environmental Justice.”

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MAN ARRESTED IN BOERUM HILL GROPING INCIDENT: Police have arrested a man wanted in a groping and punching attack in the 76^th Precinct, which includes Boerum Hill. He is identified as Donald Sutherland (no relation to the Canadian actor), a 34 year-old male residing on Ocean Avenue in Flatbush, and charged with 2^nd degree assault (A Class D felony), forcible touching, 2^nd degree harassment and 3^rd degree sexual abuse (a class 3 misdemeanor).

Last Tuesday, October 11, Sutherland allegedly approached his 19-year-old victim from behind and touched her buttocks and, after an exchange of words, punched the woman on the left side of her face, causing swelling and pain.

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‘NYC GO PURPLE DAY’ LIGHTS UP SOME CITY BUILDINGS FOR DOMESTIC ABUSE AWARENESS: New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that City Hall and a number of other municipal buildings around the five boroughs will be lit purple tonight for the ninth annual “NYC Go Purple Day” in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As of press time, the Parachute Jump in Coney Island is listed as the one Brooklyn site.

While the Queens and Staten Island Borough Halls are named as sites in tonight’s illumination, Brooklyn Borough Hall is not, even though Adams was previously Brooklyn Borough President before being elected Mayor.

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CONVICTED IN MURDER-FOR-HIRE CONSPIRACY AGAINST HIS FATHER: Following six weeks of trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn today convicted Anthony Zottola, Sr. and Himen Ross of murder-for-hire conspiracy and murder-for-hire in the October 4, 2018 killing of Anthony’s 71-year-old Sylvester Zottola as he waited to pick up a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in the Bronx. They face mandatory life terms for Sylvester Zottola’s death and the attempted murder of Anthony’s brother, Salvatore, who testified at the trial.

Sylvester Zottola controlled a residential real estate portfolio consisting of multi- family rental properties that was valued at tens of millions of dollars at the time of his death, and which his son, defendant Anthony Zottola helped manage as part of the family’s business and wanted to control.

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CHARGED IN GLOBAL SANCTIONS EVASION AND MONEY LAUNDERING: Five Russian nationals and two oil traders were charged today in Brooklyn federal court, for their roles in a global sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme. The defendants, two of whom were arrested Monday in Europe, obtained military technology from U.S. companies, smuggled millions of barrels of oil and laundered tens of millions of dollars for Russian oligarchs, sanctioned entities and the world’s largest energy conglomerate.

The oil traders are charged with brokering illicit oil deals for Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, as part of the scheme.

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SENTENCED FOR HATE CRIME ATTACKS AGAINST WOMEN: An East Williamsburg man has been sentenced to 12 to 24 years in prison for a series of attacks on women in East Williamsburg, selecting his victims based on their gender and skin color, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced today. The defendant, Khari Covington, 31, residing in an East Williamsburg transitional housing center, had pleaded guilty in September to third-degree burglary as a hate crime, second-degree attempted strangulation as a hate crime and third-degree assault as a hate crime.

The defendant was deemed a mandatory violent persistent felony offender.

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MAN WANTED IN FORCIBLE TOUCHING INCIDENT IN BENSONHURST: The NYPD seeks the public’s assistance in finding the assailant in a forcible touching incident in front of a store at New Utrecht Avenue and 77^th St., within the 62^nd Precinct, last Tuesday night, October 11. The male assailant approached the victim, a 28-year-old female and grabbed her breasts before fleeing on foot southbound on New Utrecht Avenue.

Call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) if anyone knows about the incident or has seen the unidentified male, with light skin complexion, and approximately in his 40s, 5’3″ tall, and 180 pounds and last seen wearing a black sweater, dark pants, gray sneakers and multi-color winter hat.

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This man is wanted in connection with a forcible touching incident in Boerum Hill
Photo credit: NYPD

MAN WANTED IN GROPING, PUNCHING INCIDENT: Police ask the public’s help in seeking a man who assaulted a 19-year-old woman in front of a store at 182 Smith Street in Boerum Hill, within the 76^th Precinct, last Tuesday, October 11 just after midnight. The unidentified male individual approached the victim from behind and touched her buttocks and, after an exchange of words, punched the woman on the left side of her face, causing swelling and pain.

Anyone who can identify or locate the individual, described as follows, can call NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477): dark skin complexion, approximately in his 30s, medium build, 6’0″ tall and last seen wearing all dark clothing, white sneakers, a dark colored hat and carrying a black bag.

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MEGA-MILLIONS WINNING TICKET SOLD IN BENSONHURST: A merchant in Bensonhurst has sold one second-prize Mega Millions Lottery ticket worth a guaranteed $1,000,000. The ticket was purchased at 3 Bros Deli & Grocery NY Corp, at 6409 Bay Parkway, for the Tuesday, October 18, 2022 drawing, for which the numbers were 1, 15, 20, 44, 67; and Mega Ball: 23, according to the NewYorkLottery.org website.

From a jackpot of $20 million, there were 35,628 NY Winners. The first-prize winning ticket matches five numbers and the Mega Ball, and the second-prize ticket matches the five regular numbers drawn.

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FRANCIS COLLEGE TO HOST CELEBRATION OF HAITIAN AND DOMINICAN HERITAGE: Quisqueya: A Celebration of Haitian & Dominican Heritage, takes place next Monday, thanks to a partnership with City Councilmember Farah N. Louis (D-45) and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Brooklynites who identify as Quisqueya, (“mother of all lands” in the Taíno language) are joining forces to help cultivate new partnerships that will not only empower the diaspora but propel the dual-nation Caribbean island forward.

The event, hosted at St. Francis College’s new campus at 179 Livingston St., will recognize the diplomatic relations between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti and will salute several honorees.

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NYCHA HOLDS ITS DEBUT YOUTH MEDIA PROJECT: New York City Housing Authority on Tuesday held a culmination event for its (NYCHA) first-ever Youth Media Project, an eight-week program introducing young people between the ages of 14 and 24 to media production disciplines. Organized by NYCHA’s Office of Public-Private Partnerships, the program teamed approximately 72 participants with media instructors and production facilities from five community-based organizations: Abstrak Visions, Black Film Space, BronxNet, Cloe’s Corner, and Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Youth participants gained valuable skills in publishing, journalism, broadcasting, podcasting, videography, and pre- and post-production.

The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center served as the venue for a culmination event for its (NYCHA) first-ever Youth Media Project.

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NEW VOTER GUIDE RELEASED: The NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB) today released New York City’s official 2022 General Election Voter Guide, available online at https://www.nycvotes.org/ The print Voter Guide, which is mailed to every registered voter in New York City and is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Bengali, includes information on the four proposals on the ballot this fall, and contains the language that will appear on the ballot for each proposal, an easy-to-read summary, and a description of what happens if the proposal passes.

The online version of the guide includes a section on statements for and against the proposals, submitted by the public. Early voting begins Saturday, October 29, and Election Day is on Tuesday, November 8.

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CHURCHES WANTED FOR PROVIDING SHELTER TO ASYLEES: Churches are being asked to adopt-a-shelter or to serve as shelters for the asylum-seekers arriving in New York, according to an informational flyer that the New York Disaster Interfaith Services and the New York City Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships are distributing. Houses of worship with the space, bathroom facilities and kitchen where an asylee could stay overnight can learn more by writing to [email protected]. Or the congregation can partner with an established shelter, providing volunteers and storage space for collected donations (inquire via [email protected] ).

Churches are greatly needed to help provide basic needs of asylees who have been transported to New York without regard to their needs, say the above organizations.