Wednesday, April 3, 2013

City Island News BX: Buying City Hall

City Island News BX: Buying City Hall: Bx. GOP chair among those charged in attempt to buy mayoral race By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, April 3- In a six count ind...
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Buying City Hall

Bx. GOP chair among those charged in attempt to buy mayoral race
By Robert Press
BRONX, NEW YORK, April 3- In a six count indictment released by the United States Attorney, State Senator Malcolm Smith, Queens Councilman Dan Halloran, Bronx County Republican Leader Joseph Savino, and Queens county Republican Vice-Chair Vincent Tabone were arrested for attempting to fix the Republican candidate choice in the upcoming mayors race in New York City by defrauding the public. Also as part of the indictment the mayor and deputy mayor of Spring Valley were arrested for their alleged part in a scheme with Senator Smith to defraud New York State on a contract Smith was to have approved with the officials for a Spring Valley road.
Starting from about November 2012 the complaint states that Smith, Hallogan, Savino, and Tabone (together with others known and unknown) willfully and knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together with each other to commit offenses against the United States, to wit, wire fraud and bribery in violation of Title 18, United States
code, sections 1343, 1346, and 1952.
Undercover FBI agent (Thomas Holmes) posing as a wealthy real estate developer and an unidentified cooperating witness met with Smith to bribe leaders of the Republican Party County Committee to obtain certificates of authorization called Wilson Pakula certificates
allowing Smith to run as a Republican candidate for mayor of New York City even though Smith was a registered Democrat. It is then alleged that Queens Councilman Dan Halloran met with the pair to negotiate the amount of bribes to Savino and Tabone for the Wilson Pakula certificates, and Halloran was given $20,500 for his services.
According to the indictment, Smith agreed to use his official position to obtain New York State funds for the Spring Valley Project. Savino met the undercover agent in a Manhattan restaurant and allegedly accepted $15,000 in cash in the undercover agent’s car. Tabone met the UC in a Manhattan restaurant and allegedly accepted $25,000 in cash in the undercover agent’s car. Also in February Smith suggested that the undercover agent and the state senator representing the Spring Valley area meet concerning the funding for the Spring Valley project.
In March, telephone and text messages continued between the undercover agent, a witness, Smith, and Halloran as to the status of the Wilson Pakulas. Smith is quoted as saying, “Before any committee leader receives a nickel more (he'd) have to stand on the Empire State Building and drop every person (he) endorsed, and hold Malcolm up and
say he's the best thing since sliced bread”. “Matter of fact, he's better than sliced bread”.
FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos made the following comments on the arrests of New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, New York City Council Member Daniel Halloran, and others: “Elected officials are called public servants because they are supposed to serve the people. Public service is not supposed to be a shortcut to self-enrichment. People in New York, in Spring Valley—in any city or town in this country—rightly expect their elected or appointed representatives to hold themselves to a higher standard. At the very least, public officials should obey the law. As alleged, these defendants did not obey the law; they broke the law and the public trust. There is a price to pay for that kind of betrayal.”
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Friday, February 1, 2013

City Island News BX: Bronx Hails Koch

City Island News BX: Bronx Hails Koch: -->   Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. issued the following statement on the passing of Mayor Ed Koch: BRONX, NEW YORK...
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Bronx Hails Koch

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Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. issued the following statement on the passing of Mayor Ed Koch:
BRONX, NEW YORK, February 1- “Today the Bronx is mourning the death of a son and one of the city’s greatest and most charismatic public leaders. Mayor Ed Koch was a man of wit and wisdom, a leader who helped lift our city out of the brink of bankruptcy, raising our spirits along the way and securing New York’s place as the capital of the world.
“Mayor Koch was always proud of his Bronx roots. During his administration he helped rebuild the South Bronx, creating a task force that helped restore burned-out buildings while creating new, thriving communities—work that still resonates to this day. He was a man of deep devotion, who after leaving office continued to inspire New Yorkers through his activism and his commitment to a city he fiercely loved.
“While we mourn his loss we honor his legacy, commitment to civil rights and his civic leadership, which will forever live in our hearts and in the millions of lives he touched. On behalf of the 1.4 million residents of the Bronx, I would like to extend our most heartfelt condolences to his family and friends during this very difficult time,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

City Island News BX: Health Screenings

City Island News BX: Health Screenings: --> BRONX, NEW YORK, January 16 - Residents living in and around the Bronx can be screened to reduce their risk of having a stroke o...
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Health Screenings

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BRONX, NEW YORK, January 16- Residents living in and around the Bronx can be screened to reduce their risk of having a stroke or bone fracture. Knights of Columbus will host Life Line Screening on January 28. The site is located at 3243 Ampere Avenue in Bronx. 
Four key points every person needs to know:
Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of permanent disability.
Eighty percent of stroke victims had no apparent warning signs prior to their stroke.
Preventive ultrasound screenings can help you avoid a stroke
Screenings are fast, noninvasive, painless, affordable and convenient.
Screenings identify potential cardiovascular conditions such as blocked arteries and irregular heart rhythm, abdominal aortic aneurysms, and hardening of the arteries in the legs, which is a strong predictor of heart disease. A bone density screening to assess osteoporosis risk is also offered and is appropriate for both men and women.
Packages start at $149. All five screenings take 60-90 minutes to complete.  
For more information regarding the screenings or to schedule an appointment, call 1-877-237-1287 or visit our website at www.lifelinescreening.com.  Pre-registration is required.
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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Feds Shut Down Bx Drug Gang

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Ringleaders Charged with Kidnapping,
Burning the Victim with an Iron
BRONX, NEW YORK, January 10- The FBI and NYPD announced charges against 10 members of a criminal organization based on Wyatt Street in the West Farms section of the Bronx. Nine of the defendants were charged with conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and heroin. 
The crew’s alleged ringleader, Anibal Ramos, and one of its members, Anibal Soto, were charged in the original, July 2012 indictment with kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and the brandishing of a firearm in connection with, and in furtherance of, the kidnapping. Ramos and Soto are alleged to have kidnapped and tortured an individual, including by burning the victim with an iron. The superseding indictment adds narcotics charges against Ramos and also charges him and three of the new defendants with possessing firearms in connection with, and in furtherance of, the crack cocaine and heroin conspiracy.
All eight of the new defendants charged were taken into custody as part of a coordinated operation involving federal and local law enforcement officers. Ramos, who was arrested in August 2012, and Soto, who was arrested in July 2012, remain detained. All the defendants arrested today will be presented in Manhattan federal court this afternoon.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “As alleged, for far too long, these defendants were a bloody blight on a Bronx community, contaminating it with poisonous and highly addictive drugs and the guns and brutal violence that are part and parcel of the drug trade. This case demonstrates our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those who engage in this conduct and to expand cases previously charged when we develop new evidence. With the charges we bring today in two separate cases against 19 defendants, the Bronx neighborhoods in which they ran amok are safer places for their residents.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos, “This case highlights once again the dual threat posed to our communities by the illegal drug trade. The drugs themselves are poison, with life-altering and lethal consequences. And violence almost always comes with the territory. We remain committed to restoring our communities to their law-abiding residents.”
NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said, “The depraved acts of torture described in the indictment need no further characterization, other than to observe that the nexus between drug trafficking and violence is well-established, and the commitment among police and prosecutors to bring its practitioners to justice is unyielding.”
As alleged in the superseding indictment unsealed and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court:
From at least 2000 through August 31, 2012, Ramos was the leader of a drug crew that operated on Wyatt Street in the Bronx and sold significant street level quantities of crack cocaine and heroin. In addition, members of the drug trafficking organization used firearms, threats of violence, and violence to secure and enforce their drug territory, including the kidnapping and brutal torture committed by Ramos and Soto.
Ramos, Joel Cabrera, William Zacchi, Christopher Hernandez, Michael Aviles, Latrell Riddles, Charitza Quintana, Yasmine, Zelayandia, and Jacqueline Hernandez are charged with conspiring to distribute, and possess with the intent to distribute, crack cocaine and heroin.
Ramos, Aviles, Riddles, and Zelayandia are also charged with possessing firearms in connection with, and in furtherance of, the crack cocaine and heroin conspiracy.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the NYPD. He added that the investigation is continuing.
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