News, developments: Friday, May 19, 2023

WILLOWTOWN ASSN. SPRING FAIR THIS SATURDAY AT BK HEIGHTS

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The annual Willowtown Spring Fair will take place on Saturday, May 20, from noon to 5 p.m. This family favorite, which benefits the Willowtown Association, features food and baked goods, music by the Papa Vega Orchestra, local merchandise and a raffle. , along with face painters, a bouncy house, magic show, games and more. One of the highlights will be a visit from Heather Wolf, author of all things avian at Brooklyn Bridge Park Bird watching on the bridge. Wolf – who he knows how to identify birds by their silhouettes, the shape of their tails and their characteristic whistles, songs or sounds, they will sell their bird prints and answer your bird questions. Another highlight will be a tug-of-war between residents and elected officials, including guests (potentially) Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon and Councilor Lincoln Restler.

The fair takes place on Willow Place between Joralemon and State Streets. The Willowtown Voluntary Association advocates for the residents of the shady enclave of Willowtown in the southwest corner of Brooklyn Heights.

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THE GRAND OPENING OF THE EXTENDED INFUSION CENTER WITH HIGH-TECH MRI EQUIPMENT CELEBRATED

KINGS HIGHWAY — Mount Sinai Health System held a grand opening and ribbon-cutting Thursday, May 18, for the expansion of its Brooklyn Ambulatory Infusion Center, a cancer treatment center that offers innovative cancer therapy and clinical trials to the residents of South Brooklyn. The $4.1 million expansion doubles the center’s capacity with 15 infusion chairs, seven exam rooms and a mammography room, offering medical oncology, chemotherapy, therapeutic infusion treatments, consultations and blood transfusions. blood

Mount Sinai Brooklyn also announced the addition of a high-tech magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to the hospital, at a total cost of $2.8 million including installation, and with a grant of the City of New York covered the cost of the scanner. $988,000.

From left to right: Dr. Scott Lorin, President, Mount Sinai Brooklyn, Board Member Mercedes Narcisse, Alicia Gresham, COO, Network Practices, Mount Sinai Health System, Dr. Arvind Kamthan, Chief of Hematology and Oncology, Mount Sinai Brooklyn, and Dr. Mount Sinai Brooklyn Medical Director Peter Shearer, front row, left to right, joins other staff and community members at a ribbon cutting for the newly expanded Mount Sinai Brooklyn Infusion Center, Thursday, May 18 of 2023, on Kings Highway. Photo: Diane Bondareff/AP Images from Mount Sinai Brooklyn.

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BROOKLYN COURT OF APPEALS JUSTICE ZAYAS NAMED CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE OF NY STATE

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — State Supreme Court Justice Joseph A. Zayas, who has served for the past two years as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division-Second Department in Brooklyn, was officially appointed as Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court System. which is the highest-ranking administrative position in the state judiciary, the New York Law Journal reported Thursday, May 18. The appointment of Judge Zayas is a historic appointment, as he becomes the first Latino in this role.

According to his judicial profile on the Court of Appeals website, Judge Zayas was appointed to his current position by former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in May 2021.

Judge Joseph Zayas, breaking barriers as the first Latino Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court System. Photo courtesy of the Office of Judicial Administration.

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BROOKDALE HOSPITAL REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH US GOVERNMENT OVER FRAUDULENT WIC CLAIMS

BROWNSVILLE AND DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital in Brownsville (East Brooklyn) has agreed to pay $300,000 to the US government to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. based on the conduct of former employees who participated in a scheme to defraud the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Former Brookdale employees, including Brookdale’s former WIC program director, participated in a scheme to defraud the WIC program by qualifying ineligible patients for benefits and embezzling program funds. The United States also alleges that these former employees falsified time sheets and budget records to inflate Brookdale’s alleged requirements for WIC funds.

Brookdale cooperated fully throughout the investigation. The settlement agreement, which U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser approved on Wednesday, May 17, resolved claims under the whistleblower provisions of the Federal False Claims Act in which a private party can file a action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the settlement if the government takes over the case and reaches a monetary settlement with the defendant.

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THE MTA CRISIS: THE NEW DOORS, FAIR FARES AND REC PANEL RESULTS

NEW YORK METRO AREA – According to a report released Wednesday by a Blue Ribbon panel of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), fare reductions in New York have reached crisis levels, with the MTA losing about $690 million in unpaid fares and tolls by 2022. The report recommends a “multi-layered plan” to combat the losses, including redesigned subway fare gates, more help for to low-income users, “precision surveillance” and more processing. Most of the losses (about 86 percent) are caused by bus and subway taunts, with an additional 14 percent from tricking train passengers and bridge and tunnel drivers, the MTA says. Approximately 400,000 metro users per day (10-15% of users) evade fares, along with 700,000 bus users (more than a third). “New Yorkers are sick of feeling like fools watching their neighbors go over the fare or cheat the toll while getting their fair share,” MTA President and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement .

The modernized subway turnstiles demonstrated Wednesday at Grand Central Terminal (pictured below) would allow for the elimination of emergency gates, where more than half of subway fares occur, the panel said. To prevent bus cheating, MTA recommends hiring more enforcement officers and increasing eligibility for fair fares. Fixing train, bridge and tunnel evasion requires a more complex combination of remedies.

Photo: Marc A. Hermann/MTA.

Photo: Marc A. Hermann/MTA.

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BROOKLYN CRYPTOCURRENCY COMPANY PAYS NY STATE $4.3M IN FRAUD CASE

WILLIAMSBURG AND ALBANY — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, May 18, secured $4.3 million from Brooklyn-based cryptocurrency company Coin Cafe for defrauding investors. Coin Cafe is a cryptocurrency trading platform which allowed investors to store their Bitcoin in a Coin Cafe account known as wallet storage. But an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office found that Coin Café was charging investors exorbitant, undisclosed fees to use its wallet storage, despite marketing its wallet storage as “free” on its website. Coin Café, which according to a Google search operates out of Williamsburg, and whose customer service page on its website indicates reachability only by text or email, also did not register with OAG as a product broker basic as required by the Martin Act, a law that protects investors.

New York law requires intermediaries with a valid BitLicense or a pending BitLicense application to register with OAG.

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FORMER NYPD OFFICER CONVICTED OF BRIBERY IN CAR TOWING BUSINESS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — U.S. District Judge Rachel P. Kovner in federal court in Brooklyn has sentenced former New York City Police Department officer Michael Perri to 33 months in prison and a $25,000 fine for conspiracy to use interstate facilities to commit bribery. According to court documents, Perri, 34, orchestrated a scheme to pay thousands of dollars in bribes to two fellow NYPD officers, now also co-defendants, for their corrupt deal to help a repair business of cars and trailer that Perri had. began operating after his retirement, in violation of a requirement to use the NYPD’s Targeted Crash Response Program, a computer system that randomly selects a licensed tow truck business to ensure that no particular company receives preferential treatment.

Perri pleaded guilty last November and has already paid the government more than $158,000 in forfeiture.

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NAPOLI: NYS SPENDING IS UP, REVENUES ARE DOWN, “RAINY DAY” FUND DEFICIT

An analysis by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has troubling news: State spending for the 2023-2024 financial yearwhich began April 1, will grow more than 4% year-over-year, while revenue is expected to fall about 3.9% and temporary federal aid spending is expected to decline. The approved $9 billion budget includes new recurring spending for schools, mental health services, health care, MTA funds and emergency rental assistance. Most of the revenue decline is concentrated in personal income tax, which reflects a roughly 26% drop in Wall Street bonuses, financial market volatility affecting estimated payouts and other tax issues, DiNapoli said. He warns the state is using loopholes to circumvent laws requiring competitive bidding and Comptroller oversight of contracts before they go into effect, a tactic DiNapoli calls “ill-advised.”

DiNapoli also warns of a shortfall in the state’s “rainy day fund.” Looking ahead, he urges legislators to boost these funds “and work to put the state on a sustainable fiscal course.”

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NY ATTORNEY GENERAL LEADS COALITION TO FIGHT HARMFUL HUMAN USE OF VETERINARY DRUGS

NATIONWIDE – State Attorney General Letitia James and a bipartisan coalition of 39 attorneys general are urging congressional leaders to pass the Anti-Illicit Xylazine Act, which will provide critical measures to combat the use human of this powerful veterinary drug. Attorney James and his counterparts sent the letter to Congress following a spike in overdose deaths across the country linked to xylazine, which is readily available online. Xylazine is only approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a veterinary medicine used to sedate and relieve pain in large animals; but in humans, xylazine is known to depress respiration and heart rate, lower blood pressure, and cause unconsciousness, necrosis, and even death.

“When used properly, xylazine is an important veterinary drug, but it was never intended for human use, especially as an additive to fentanyl,” Attorney General James wrote.

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