What’s News, Breaking: Friday, January 5, 2024

January 5, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Share this:

ATTORNEY GENERAL: NRA EXECUTIVE’S RESIGNATION
GIVES NO INSULATION FROM ACCOUNTABILITY

STATEWIDE — NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION (NRA) EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT WAYNE LAPIERRE RESIGNED HIS POST ON FRIDAY, three days before a trial against him starts, and prompting a statement from New York Attorney General Letitia James. The attorney general in 2020 initiated a lawsuit — with the trial starting this Monday, Jan. 8 — alleging that LaPierre and NRA senior management misappropriated millions of dollars to fund personal benefits, including private jets, expensive meals, and even family trips to the Bahamas. The NRA, as a New York-registered not-for-profit, charitable corporation, has legal obligations to use its funds for charitable purposes specifically. “While the end of the Wayne LaPierre era is an important victory in our case, our push for accountability continues,” said Attorney General James. “LaPierre’s resignation validates our claims against him, but it will not insulate him or the NRA from accountability.”

The OAG investigation found that instead of serving NRA members, senior management blatantly disregarded New York state and federal laws, and even internal NRA policies.

✰✰✰

FAMILIES CAN SEE THEIR NEWBORNS FROM AFAR,
THANKS TO MAIMONIDES’ NEONATAL ICU EXPANSION

BOROUGH PARK — MAIMONIDES MEDICAL CENTER HAS EXPANDED ITS NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU), the hospital system announced on Friday, Jan. 5. The expansion of the NICU adds 17 NICU beds to Maimonides Children’s Hospital, bringing the total to 48 beds, each one outfitted with an Angel Eye camera that enables families to see their child from anywhere in the world via an app. The expansion includes other equipment-based resources to help support patients, families and medical staff in providing care.

Maimonides is a New York State-designated Regional Perinatal Center, Level 4 NICU, which is equipped to offer advanced procedures, and provides around-the-clock coverage for all high-risk deliveries and care, including a neonatologist on-site 24/7.

✰✰✰

REPORT SHOWS BROOKLYN 2ND ON LIST OF RESIDENTS
MOVING TO WAKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

BOROUGHWIDE AND NORTH CAROLINA — BROOKLYNITES ARE MOVING IN DROVES TO WAKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, the area near the state’s capital, according to a new report from WRAL, a broadcast station headquartered in Raleigh. The WRAL report showed Kings County in New York City comes in second regarding out-of-state new residents, after Cobb County, Georgia. The report showed also that Kings County and the other top ten counties around the U.S. that are losing residents to North Carolina are bringing in higher median household incomes than those already living in Wake County. However, a chart accompanying the report seemed to show the reverse: that the area median income in Wake County is higher, around $80K-$100K annually.

The report was generated from a question on the American Community Survey which asks where they lived the year before, giving a panorama of the annual movement around the country.

✰✰✰

GOVERNOR INTRODUCES NY SWIMS PROGRAM
TO INCREASE POOLS, WATER SAFETY LESSONS

STATEWIDE — NEW YORK STATE WILL RECEIVE AN INVESTMENT IN SWIMMING POOLS, LIFEGUARD TRAINING AND SAFETY PROGRAMS, as part of a proposal that Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled in her State of the State address on Friday. The program, named NY SWIMS, will build out municipal pools in high-need areas, connect New Yorkers to the State’s rivers and lakes, deploy pools in urban environments and invest in State parks and pools. It will also promote initiatives to help more New Yorkers swim safely by addressing the statewide lifeguard shortage, increasing swimming instruction and increasing amenities at pools and beaches.

NY SWIMS will select high-need areas to build pools, to mitigate the increase in heat waves attributed to climate change. It will also address the urgent need to teach water safety at an early age, as drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4.

✰✰✰

REP. MALLIOTAKIS HELPS SECURE
FUNDS FOR WTC HEALTH PROGRAM

CITYWIDE — CONGRESSWOMAN NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (NY-11) WAS SCHEDULED TO JOIN LOCAL POLICE, FIRE AND EMS UNIONS Friday afternoon to highlight the new funding she secured for the World Trade Center Health Program that covers health care costs for 9/11 first responders and survivors. The Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law at the end of 2023, included a bipartisan, bicameral amendment that Rep. Malliotakis supported. That amendment provides an additional $444 million to address the World Trade Center Health Program’s budget shortfall, plus $232 million to extend coverage for military and civilian 9/11 first responders at the Pentagon & Shanksville, PA.

The NYPD’s Benevolent Associations covering the city’s police officers, lieutenants, detectives, sergeants, captains, the FDNY’s firefighter and fire officers, and the Emergency Medical Services Association were among those participating.

✰✰✰

PROBE INTO IRT DERAILMENT SHOWS DISABLED TRAIN
HAD COLLIDED WITH ANOTHER ONE IN MOTION

CITYWIDE — SERVICE ON THE IRT IN MANHATTAN AND PARTS OF BROOKLYN WAS STILL PARTIALLY DISRUPTED ON FRIDAY, following a derailment at the Upper West Side’s 96th St. station Thursday, Jan. 4, around 3 p.m., that injured more than two dozen passengers. An investigation into the derailment continued beyond the Friday morning rush hour. The Daily News reported at 11:17 a.m. on Friday that a train found to be vandalized was pulled out of service, and while being moved to a Bronx maintenance yard, collided with a functioning northbound No. 1 train. The in-service passenger train had been green-lighted to proceed along the tracks, while the disabled train, which was being operated from the mid-train conductor’s cab (not normal procedure) had a red light and was not given permission to move. It then rammed into the in-service train mid-point, derailing it.

No. 2 trains were running along the East Side IRT 4 and 5 lines on Friday. Partial service restoration was expected by Friday afternoon.

✰✰✰

UFT, STATEN ISLAND BOROUGH PRESIDENT SUE MTA OVER CONGESTION PRICING PLAN

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — THE UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS AND STATEN ISLAND BOROUGH PRESIDENT VITO FOSSELLA FILED A LAWSUIT IN FEDERAL COURT IN DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN ON THURSDAY, Jan. 4, to stop the MTA’S congestion pricing plan, reports the Daily News. The suit alleges that federal regulators prematurely approved the MTA’s plan to toll cars entering Midtown and lower Manhattan without weighing the “human environmental impact.” The plaintiffs claim that the congestion pricing plan, which will charge drivers $15 for entering the Manhattan central business district between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. — spanning the hours many teachers must commute to school — will punish teachers, firefighters and other city workers who commute to Manhattan for their jobs. Moreover, no exception has yet been made for the school buses that transport students.

Thursday’s lawsuit is the first brought in a New York-based federal court. New Jersey is bringing similar, twin legal challenges based on the environmental review.

✰✰✰

FORUM AIMS TO BUILD TECH CAREERS FOR BROOKLYNITES

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — THE CREATION OF TECH CAREERS FOR BROOKLYNITES IS THE TOPIC OF POLICY FORUM taking place next Thursday, Jan. 11, with the Center for an Urban Future. The forum, titled “Helping More Brooklyn Residents Access Tech Careers,” and held from 8 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at NYU Tandon’s Pfizer Auditorium, will focus on the opportunity for Brooklynites to expand access to tech careers here. Brooklyn-based leaders, including Borough President Antonio Reynoso and several elected officials, will discuss the borough’s tech education and training ecosystem, and examine the additional actions that policymakers, employers, educators and workforce practitioners can take to place more Brooklynites on the path to technology-powered careers.

Educators and tech leaders participating in the forum will include Reuben Ogbonna, Executive Director of The Marcy Lab School; Kayon Pryce, Founding Principal, of the Brooklyn STEAM Center at the Navy Yard; Evin F. Robinson, Co-Founder & President of America On Tech; and Michael Zigman, President & CEO of NYC FIRST.

✰✰✰

AARP HONORS DR. TIM LAW, FOUNDER OF CHINESE SOCIAL SERVICES CENTER

BENSONHURST — DR. TIM LAW, THE FOUNDER OF THE CHINESE AMERICAN SOCIAL SERVICES CENTER (124 AVENUE O) WAS RECENTLY AWARDED THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS (AARP’s) Andrus Award, which recognizes exceptional volunteer efforts on the part of individuals aged 50 and older. Assemblyman William Colton (D-47), who nominated Dr. Law for the award, presented it to the honoree. The award, he said, “Is given to community leaders who have played an important role in helping the community. That certainly describes Dr. Law, who has been a force for good in southwest Brooklyn since emigrating to the United States from China in 1968. Colton, whose district encompasses Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Gravesend, said, “Over the years, Dr. Law has been involved in so many facets of the community, from education to organizing voter registration drives to food giveaways to speaking out on behalf of the immigrant community.”

AARP stated, “Dr. Law has supported AARP’s vision and purpose because of his ability to ensure every person is treated equally with dignity and respect.”

Assemblyman William Colton (at left) congratulates Dr. Tim Law on receiving the AARP’s prestigious Andrus Award for Community Service at an event held at Tony’s DiNapoli.
Photo courtesy of the Office of Assemblymember William Colton

✰✰✰

VIDEO: COPS RESCUE A MAN WHO FELL ONTO TRACKS AT CARROLL ST. SUBWAY STATION

CARROLL GARDENS — TWO ALERT NYPD POLICE OFFICERS RESCUED A MAN who fell onto the subway tracks at the Carroll Street station in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn on Dec. 26. Officers Desmond Mohan and Kenly Garcia of the 76th Precinct were patrolling the station when they saw a 50-year-old man fall onto the tracks. They ran to haul him safely back onto the platform, and he was treated by EMS at the scene, according to the Daily Mail, where a bodycam video of the rescue can be seen.

Amazingly, this rescue came just two months after Mohan and Garcia worked with the NYPD harbor unit to rescue a 20-year-old woman trapped under a Brooklyn pier.

✰✰✰

TRINITARIOS STREET GANG MEMBERS CHARGED IN FEDERAL COURT HERE

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT WAS FILED TODAY IN FEDERAL COURT IN BROOKLYN CHARGING MEMBERS OF THE TRINITARIOS STREET GANG — two of them Brooklynites —with a string of violent crimes including multiple shootings and armed carjackings between November 2022 and February 2023. The defendants were previously arrested and will be arraigned on the superseding indictment at a later date. Defendants Amaury Guzmán, age 24, and Ian Diez (also known as “Gallina”), age 19, are both identified as being from Brooklyn, but no neighborhoods were specified. The crimes, which took place in Queens and New Jersey, included a murder, shootings and two armed carjackings.

If convicted, Guzmán and Jonathan Rodríguez of Queens are facing up to a life sentence; while Diez faces up to 15 years. The fourth defendant, Ruffi Fernández (also known as “Mojatoto”), of Staten Island faces 20 years in prison.

✰✰✰

VIRTUAL INFO SESSION ON PROPOSED ‘CITY OF YES FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY’

CITYWIDE — THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING WILL BE HOSTING A VIRTUAL INFORMATION SESSION to answer “frequently asked questions” about Mayor Eric Adams’s “City of Yes for Economic Opportunity” proposal, on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 11 a.m. via Zoom. City of Yes for Economic Opportunity, the second of Adams’ three City of Yes zoning initiatives, “would support small businesses and entrepreneurs, revitalize commercial corridors, boost growing industries, and bolster the city’s industrial sector,” DCP Director Dan Garodnick said in a release Wednesday. The FAQs will be voiced by DCP guests Kevin Guscott, Special Projects Manager for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; Rafael Espinal, Exec. Dir. of the Freelancers Union; and Laura Rothrock, president of Long Island City Partnership. RSVP here.

Four community boards have voted in support of the controversial, business-friendly proposal, and four have voted to disapprove. The City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Jan. 24, followed by a vote in the spring.

✰✰✰

COMPTROLLER LANDER: IMMIGRANTS A BIG PLUS TO NYC ECONOMY

CITYWIDE — NYC COMPTROLLER BRAD LANDER DEBUNKED RISING ANTI-IMMIGRANT RHETORIC on Thursday by releasing a fact sheet detailing the many economic contributions immigrants and asylum-seekers make to the NYC economy. Not only are immigrant New Yorkers more likely to be employed, but they are also more likely to start a business, and contribute billions of dollars through taxes and spending, Lander said. In 2021, immigrant New Yorkers paid $61 billion dollars in taxes and constituted $138 billion dollars in spending power; undocumented immigrants contributed $18.6 billion in federal income taxes and $12.2 billion in state and local taxes. Immigrants also help the city compensate for residents moving out, Lander said.

Historically, New York City has experienced much higher immigration numbers than it is experiencing today, Lander said.  In just one day in 1907, over 11,000 immigrants entered New York City through Ellis Island. Today the city welcomes up to 600 migrants a day seeking shelter.

✰✰✰

CITY COUNCILMEMBERS URGE ELECTIONS BOARD TO OMIT TRUMP’S NAME FROM BALLOT

CITYWIDE — AS REPUBLICAN FRONTRUNNER DONALD TRUMP ASKED THE U.S. SUPREME COURT TO OVERTURN COLORADO’S 14TH AMENDMENT RULING WITHOUT REVIEW, a majority of City Councilmembers here in New York have called on the State Board Of Elections to omit his name from the 2024 presidential primary and general election ballots, Gothamist reported on Wednesday, Jan. 3. The 29 Councilmembers, all Democrats, signed the letter. Together they assert that Trump, who lost his 2020 reelection bid to Joe Biden but is currently the Republican frontrunner, is ineligible to hold office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution “because he engaged in and aided an insurrection against the United States after swearing to uphold the Constitution as the nation’s president.” The New York Times, moreover, published an analysis saying that 33 states have seen formal challenges to former President Trump.

The four state Board of Elections commissioners are evenly divided between the two major political parties.

✰✰✰

HOCHUL: EXPECT WINTRY MIX OF RAIN/SNOW IN NYC OVER WEEKEND

CITYWIDE — GOV. KATHY HOCHUL TOLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS TO PREP for a wintry mix of either rain, wet snow or some of each this weekend. While the storm’s exact trajectory is not yet nailed down, the forecast predicts a large coastal weather system will hit much of the state beginning late Saturday and continuing into Sunday, with 3 to 8 inches of snow upstate and a mix of snow and rain in the New York City Metro Area.

For a listing of weather alerts and forecasts, visit the National Weather Service website.

✰✰✰

HOCHUL TEARS MUSCLE DOING HEAVY LIFTING — 80 POUNDS!

UPSTATE — ‘PRETTY DAMN GOOD’: Gov. Kathy Hochul was wearing a white sling during an event upstate on Wednesday to discuss her Back to Basics plan to improve reading proficiency in New York, part of her 2024 State of the State. When asked about the sling, she revealed she had torn her pectoral muscle lifting 80-pound weights in the gym a day earlier, according to the New York Daily News via Yahoo. “You don’t think 80 pounds of weightlifting is pretty damn good for someone my age?” Hochul, 65, laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

Hochul said she will introduce legislation that ensures evidence-based best practices to teach reading are used throughout New York. She will also propose $10 million in state investments to train 20,000 teachers.

✰✰✰

MEDICAL BILLER CHARGED WITH 27 FELONY COUNTS IN THEFT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION FUNDS

BROOKLYN AND STATEWIDE — A MEDICAL BILLING FIRM OWNER WHO PROVIDED SERVICES TO A BROOKLYN ORTHOPEDIC PRACTICE HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH STEALING MORE THAN $1 MILLION, Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 3. Amrish Patel, 61, of Monroe Township, New Jersey, is accused of stealing more than $1 million that was supposed to be paid directly to doctors who provided medical care to injured workers under the New York State Workers’ Compensation Law. Patel, who provided billing services to a Brooklyn-based orthopedic surgery practice, allegedly submitted falsified claim forms to the New York State Insurance Fund, bilking at least $1.1 million in workers’ compensation reimbursements for himself.

Patel and his two companies, Medlink Services, Inc. and Medlink Partners, LLC (together, Medlink), were charged with 27 felony counts for the thefts they allegedly committed over seven years from January 2012 through January 2019.

✰✰✰

COURT ST. ‘R’ TRAIN STATION COMPLETELY ‘RE-NEW-VATED’

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — THE METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY HAS WRAPPED UP its top-to-bottom “Re-NEW-vation” of the Court Street R train subway station in Brooklyn Heights, the agency announced Wednesday. The Re-NEW-vation program gives dingy stations complete structural and aesthetic renovations. The work at Court Street included replacing wall tiles, updating lighting to LED, repaving concrete, replacing outdated signage and scrubbing clean subway globes. Workers also scrapped and repainted the entire station. Court Street marked the 53rd and final station to be re-NEW-vated in 2023, beating MTA’s goal of 50 a year.

Local officials including state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon and Councilmember Lincoln Restler said they were delighted with the cleanup. “I appreciate the MTA’s work in making that happen for all who use the Court St. Station, and I look forward to enjoying the fruits of their labor myself,” Gounardes said.