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IS ERIC GONZALEZ PROGRESSIVE ENOUGH FOR BROOKLYN? RACIAL JUSTICE

RISING CRIME

POLICE BRUTALITY

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September 21, 2020

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September 21, 2020

EDITOR’S NOTE

JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie has only been in office a short time, but the advocate for social justice is already a key figure in New York politics.

THE BROOKLYN ISSUE

City & State New York

BROOKLYN ISN’T JUST a pop culture brand that’s become a global byword for what’s hip and cool. From our perspective at City & State, the borough is a powerhouse that somehow keeps churning out one political talent after another. It all starts with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who recent polls show has a shot at finally becoming Senate majority leader. There’s Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who’s on a path to becoming the next House speaker. At the state level, there’s Attorney General Letitia James, who’s made headlines for taking on President Donald Trump. And at the city level, Borough President Eric Adams might be the city’s next mayor – although another Brooklynite, Jumaane Williams, would have a shot too if his fans persuaded him to jump in. Plus, the borough is producing a new crop of lawmakers – including state Sens. Julia Salazar and Zellnor Myrie – that are shaking up the political establishment.

But another local elected official is arguably altering the borough more than any of these heavyweights: District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, a less flashy politician who nonetheless has dramatically reoriented how crimes are prosecuted in Brooklyn.

In this week’s magazine, City & State contributor Gabe Ponce de León delves into Gonzalez’s efforts to reform his office, while navigating complaints about crime creeping up and calls for more revolutionary changes in policing.

CONTENTS

TOP 10 ELECTEDS … 8 The politicians doing the most for Brooklyn ERIC GONZALEZ … 12

Can the DA fight crime and police misconduct?

CORONAVIRUS HEROES … 20

These people stepped up when Brooklyn needed them most

INDUSTRY CITY … 26

Is the rezoning worth breaking the City Council’s unwritten rule?

POWER 50 … 29

The borough’s most influential civic leaders CELESTE SLOMAN

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WINNERS & LOSERS … 50 Who was up and who was down last week

CityAndStateNY.com

September 21, 2020

“Yas queens like ourselves, we want to go to bars, we want to drink, hook up, do our TikToks, I get it.”

– “certified young person” Paul Rudd, 51, in a PSA for Cuomo calling on millennials to wear masks, as if millennials were young enough for TikTok

ROCHESTER POLICE CHIEF FIRED

A week after he announced his retirement – and about two weeks from when he was actually set to step down – Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren sped up the process by firing Police

Chief La’Ron Singletary over the police killing of Daniel Prude in March.

Singletary surprised the city when he said he would retire, after just days earlier committing to help reform the department. Warren’s decision to abruptly fire him before Sept. 29, when he was scheduled

to retire, similarly came as a surprise. She said she was compelled by an internal review her office put together about Prude’s arrest, death and the subsequent handling of the case. Documents in the report revealed a monthslong concerted effort by Rochester police officials and the

DEFLATED Yet another cultural tradition has fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic: the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year, Garfield, Tom the Turkey and the rest of the balloon gang will be flown with specially rigged vehicles, and there won’t be any in-person attendees. The Daily News’ cover makes us feel like Lucy ripped that football right out from under our feet.

city’s legal team to keep details of Prude’s case under wraps, especially in early June as mass protests swept the nation in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

They attempted to frame Prude’s death as a drug overdose and worked to keep police body camera footage from both the public and Prude’s family. In addition to firing Singletary, Warren also suspended Rochester Corporation Counsel Tim Curtin and Communications Director Justin Roj and called for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Prude’s death.

NYC IN-PERSON CLASSES DELAYED AGAIN

“The government is not telling you to wear a mask. Your wife is telling you to wear a mask. Your kid is telling you to wear a mask. Your neighbor is telling you to wear a mask. It’s not for you, it’s for them. Don’t be selfish.”

– Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a radio interview, via NBC New York

After an intense backlash, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that city schools would once again delay the start of in-person learning for most students – a decision that caught educators and parents by surprise just days before students were set to return to the classroom. Prior to the announcement, the United Federation of Teachers said that many schools were still not ready or safe enough to welcome back students, and staffing shortages continued to plague the city’s hybrid learning model. Just a day before the delay announcement, the city Department of Education

ADRIAN KRAUS/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; DFREE/SHUTTERSTOCK; DARREN MCGEE/OFFICE OF GOVERNOR; ED REED/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE

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September 21, 2020

removed a requirement that students who opted for the blended model receive live instruction on days they were remote thanks to staffing shortages. Other parents said schools were asking students to bring their internet-connected devices to school on in-person learning days.

Preschool, 3-year-old and District 75 students still returned on Sept. 21.

Elementary schools will open on Sept. 29, and middle and high schools on Oct. 1. De Blasio said earlier in the week that he would add 2,000 more teachers to the city’s pool to help deal with shortages, but said he would add another 2,500 when he announced the new delays.

SCHOOL FUNDING CUTS DELAYED

As schools around the state began this unprecedented pandemic school year, school officials remained concerned about looming cuts in state funding due to budget shortfalls. Gov.

THE

WEEK AHEAD

City & State New York

Andrew Cuomo has said for months that he may cut school aid, and other local aid, by as much as 20% if the state doesn’t receive federal support. As of yet, he has not followed through and has so far only withheld about $300 million in school aid, with the intention of making those funds available later. New York State United Teachers filed a lawsuit against the state to prevent impending cuts from affecting significant aid payments that will happen this month. In response, the state Budget Department said there will be no reductions to those payments. Those cuts may instead come in November, taking into account the needs of individual schools.

In an op-ed, state Budget Director Robert Mujica said the state had not yet made any major cuts, so any furloughs or firings school districts may be considering were premature. But Mujica said that keeping things that way still would require federal help.

MONDAY 9/21 While in-person learning is not resuming for all New York City public school students, 3-K, pre-K and some special education students are heading back into the classrooms.

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Critics slam City Hall furloughs On Sept. 16, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that 495 City Hall employees, including him, will be furloughed for five days as of Oct. 1.

Hizzoner announced that the furloughs were intended to show people that even the city’s higher-ups will share in the pain of imminent budget cuts.

“This is a step you never want to see for good, hardworking people,” de Blasio said.

The amount of money saved from the furlough is estimated to be $860,000, which won’t count for much as the city faces a $9 billion deficit. While the mayor still plans to work without pay, he is expected to lose a little under $5,000.

The New York Times reported that the city was told by financial experts to look at trimming its budget before attempting to borrow cash and that the mayor hoped the furloughs would prove to the state that it’s amenable to cuts. The mayor has previously warned that he may need to lay off 22,000 city employees, if the city does not get state approval to increase its borrowing abilities, obtain federal funding or get unions to accept reduced wages.

De Blasio’s announcement – like most of his announcements – was met with heavy criticism, as some found the mostly symbolic gesture to be an empty one.

The New York Post’s editorial board argued that the mayor’s furlough is hardly a “mean-

INSIDE DOPE

Staffing shortages and union opposition made the city switch up its approach to reopening schools. K-5 and K-8 schools reopen on Sept. 29. Middle and high schools reopen Oct. 1.

ingful shared sacrifice” when thousands of city employees are likely to lose their jobs and hundreds of thousands of individuals in the city are jobless.

The Daily News’ editorial board also found fault with the furloughs, in particular the miniscule amount of money that the city would be saving juxtaposed with the enormous deficit it faces. It suggested that if de Blasio wanted to make a real impact, he should have made more severe budget cuts instead of asking Albany for more money.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who is currently running in the 2021 mayoral election to replace de Blasio, lambasted the mayor for imposing a furlough that will hardly make a difference to the city’s finances. “This is no time for empty gestures. As the Mayor well knows, cutting 1/100th of a percent of the City budget is meaningless,” Stringer said in a statement. “Furloughing City workers with little payoff instead of scrubbing the budget for real waste and inefficiency is emblematic of the Mayor’s approach to budgeting: a lazy substitute for real work.”

In true de Blasioan manner, the mayor has yet to acknowledge the recent criticisms, probably because he’s tangled up with another ongoing issue: the repeatedly delayed reopening of city schools.

– Amanda Luz Henning Santiago

WEDNESDAY 9/23

FRIDAY 9/25

City & State hosts an online panel on a post-COVID Brooklyn at 5 p.m. with some of the borough’s heavy hitters, including Borough President Eric Adams and Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

The New York City Council Committee on Governmental Operations holds an oversight hearing on election administration during the coronavirus pandemic – 39 days before Election Day.

KEEPING COUNT 6

CityAndStateNY.com

September 21, 2020

BY KAY DERVISHI

NEW YORK’S SHODDY CENSUS RATES

THIS DECADE’S CENSUS count will affect New York’s fate for the next decade.

But many New Yorkers haven’t bothered to fill it out. Door-knockers called enumerators are now following up with households who haven’t filled out their census forms – though people can still fill it out online.

Here are the latest numbers on how New Yorkers are responding to the census.

NEW YORK’S SELFRESPONSE RATE * * the percentage of New Yorkers who filled out the census themselves, before a visit from the door-knockers NEW YORK CITY’S SELFRESPONSE RATES STATEN ISLAND: 64.3% MANHATTAN: 60.4% QUEENS: 60.3% BRONX: 60.1% BROOKLYN: 56.2% Staten Island is leading in census response. Brooklyn is lagging behind, with Borough Park and East New York seeing comparatively lower rates.

Though Manhattan ranks second, response rates on the Upper East Side, Greenwich Village and other wealthy neighborhoods have dropped well below their 2010 levels, presumably as those residents fled their homes amid the pandemic.

WHAT’S AT STAKE? Billions in federal funding – and at least one congressional seat.

New York received $73.3 billion from federal programs in FY 2016, determined using 2010 census figures.

THE RESPONSE RATE OF THE NO. 1 STATE, MINNESOTA HIGHEST SELF-RESPONSE RATE NASSAU COUNTY: 73% The Long Island county’s count was bolstered by its Complete Count Committee, made up of nonprofit, labor and faith-based groups.

LOWEST SELF-RESPONSE RATE HAMILTON COUNTY: 18.5% Less than one-fifth of households in this rural upstate county have filled out the census, though many homes in the region are vacation homes.

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HOW NEW YORK’S SELFRESPONSE RATE COMPARES TO THE 50 STATES

September 21, 2020

City & State New York

There are enough people across the country who are interested in this growing demographic of Hispanics that they would be interested in hearing what our more senior people in Congress have to say.

A Q&A with HITN’s

MICHAEL NIEVES

MICHAEL CANDELORI, CORNELIUS O’DONOGHUE, MARK REINSTEIN, LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; ALEJANDRA CARABALLO

So tell me about your new podcast.

It’s a podcast that translates our talk show that we have on Sundays, “Estudio DC,” which is hosted by Gerson Borrero. Our first episode is the exclusive interview with Congressman José Serrano, who’s retiring.

He had only agreed to be interviewed by HITN and Borrero – that’s the only interview he’s given since he announced that he’s leaving Congress because of his illness. So we’re very lucky to be the ones he agreed to talk to.

Any highlights from the episode with Serrano?

He goes into the reason why he’s leaving

Congress. He talks about his major achievements, what he’s most proud of. People will be interested in hearing about the machinations behind the scenes as chair of his committee.

He’s frank and upfront about the illness, which is what most people are going to be curious about.

That’s what’s going to sell that particular episode.

We have other episodes about other electeds that we’ve interviewed over the years, and we’re in the process now of translating a bunch of them. We have Nydia Velázquez. We have Luis Gutiérrez. We have “Chuy”

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Garcia from Chicago.

We’re trying to offer our viewing audience, which is the Latino audience, most of it Spanish language, something that is particular to them. But we believe that there are enough people across the country who are interested in this growing demographic of Hispanics that they would be interested in hearing what our more senior people in Congress have to say.

So this will include New York elected officials, but also members of Congress

NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull Is proud to join City & State NY In honoring and congratulating

Gregory Calliste

from around the country?

Yes. It’s a Washington-based program. It’s geared more to the Washington world, but because of who we are, and we’re in New York, we do have New York electeds who will also be interviewed. If we can get the governor on, that would be a real plus for us. He’s known across the country now because of the pandemic and what he’s been doing, so we’re targeting those kinds of electeds who can share the New York story with the rest of the country.

So not just members of Congress.

Not necessarily. Last

week’s program was on COVID and we didn’t have any electeds. They were all professionals and academics who got together to discuss how this affects the Latino community, healthwise and mental healthwise.

What we’re trying to do between now and the election is to bring up issues that are relevant to the Latino population across the country, and therefore sometimes we have to bring in other people than electeds to help expand on what the pandemic really is, and they’re better prepared to speak about it. Our electeds are more partisan.

This is your city.

Do you know your zone?

Chief Executive Officer As a member of the 2020 Brooklyn Power 50 List, your vision and leadership is making an impact on the healthcare of North Brooklyn.

Visit NYC.gov/knowyourzone or call 311 to find out what to do to prepare for hurricanes in NYC. #knowyourzone

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5/29/2020 3:11:21 PM

BRO O KLYN’S BROOKLYN’S TO P 10 TO P 10 ELECTED O FFICIALS ELECTED OFFICIALS 8

CityAndStateNY.com

September 21, 2020

So mu c h of NY’s politic al power is c onc entrated in Kings Cou nty.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is a frontrunner in the 2021 mayoral race.

In our recent Brooklyn Power 100 issue, City & State inadvertently ran a photo of someone who was not Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and identified it as him in the caption. We are publishing here the correct photo of Adams. City & State regrets the error.

September 21, 2020

City & State New York

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aid, scrutinized contractors, and worked to help Puerto Rico determine its future.

5 ERIC ADAMS

Brooklyn Borough President

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Black Lives Matter movement and sought to dissolve the NRA. She recently empaneled a grand jury in her investigation into Daniel Prude’s death.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES

House Democratic Caucus Chair The impeachment trial was supposed to be the Fort Greene congressman’s moment in the national spotlight, but his star turn never materialized. Hakeem Jeffries has been busy holding the Trump administration accountable for what he called a pattern of “chaos and corruption” and mucking up the mail. He hopes to grow the Democratic caucus next year, but progressive challengers picked off several veteran lawmakers, including Eliot Engel, in primaries, complicating his speakership quest.

2 CHARLES SCHUMER

LEV RADIN, A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s role crafting coronavirus relief packages plays to his strengths more than being President Donald Trump’s antagonist.

He has sought $2.2 trillion in the latest aid talks and ridiculed the Republican plan as “emaciated.” Schumer is also battling for control of the Senate, outraising his GOP counterparts so far this cycle.

But he should watch his back

– even Trump predicts an AOC challenge in 2022.

3 LETITIA JAMES

State Attorney General Letitia James has circled around Trump, suing his administration 20 times, seeking his tax returns and probing financial fraud at the Trump organization while demanding Eric Trump’s testimony. As the state’s top nonprofit regulator, she has cracked down on a foundation purporting to represent the

4 NYDIA VELÁZQUEZ

Congress Member Nydia Velázquez has been among the staunchest immigration advocates in the Trump era, authoring legislation preventing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from identifying as local police and protecting Temporary Protected Status recipients from deportation last summer.

But COVID-19 sidelined the veteran lawmaker just after the House finished a $2.2 trillion stimulus package. Once recovered, Velázquez helped small businesses receive federal

Mayoral hopeful Eric Adams raised eyebrows in January when he said newer Brooklynites should “go back to Ohio” and then doubled down on protecting longtime residents from gentrification.

Some residents took the hint during the pandemic and skipped town – perhaps permanently. Adams, a former cop, has called for an investigation into a policing slowdown as shootings rose and rallied against the mayor’s proposal to lay off 22,000 city workers.

6 JUMAANE WILLIAMS Public Advocate

Flatbush pol Jumaane Williams has never been afraid to mix it up while engaging in civil disobedience, so it’s no surprise he has led calls to protect Black lives. He has been omnipresent during this summer of unrest, where he led marches, defied the overnight curfew, and spoke at a massive George Floyd memorial service. Calls have

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intensified for Williams to run for mayor, but he is declining for now.

September 21, 2020

Brooklyn boss Rodneyse Bichotte, right, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, bottom left, and Rep. Yvette Clarke, bottom right.

7 ERIC GONZALEZ

Brooklyn District Attorney

When COVID-19 arrived, he stopped prosecuting low-level offenses.

8 RODNEYSE BICHOTTE Assembly Member

The selection of Rodneyse Bichotte to replace the retiring Frank Seddio as the next Brooklyn Democratic Party leader was historic.

Bichotte is the first Black woman to lead a city’s county committee, representing a generational sea change in Brooklyn politics. She’s sought to diversify the party’s membership and change party rules allowing trans and nonbinary people to serve in leadership, and has welcomed the next wave of leaders to the party.

9 YVETTE CLARKE

Congress Member Yvette Clarke narrowly avoided losing her seat in a primary two years ago but strengthened her ties to her district and introduced legislation banning facial recognition technology in public housing. She faced a rematch with Adem Bunkeddeko and three other candidates – and outlasted

them all in the June primary with 54% of the vote. Clarke is busy securing as much congressional pandemic aid for the city as possible.

10 ZELLNOR MYRIE State Senator

Zellnor Myrie, who once worked as a pro bono attorney combating police brutality, saw the abuse up close when he was peppersprayed and handcuffed at a peaceful demonstration at Barclays Plaza on May 29.

The NYPD’s response to the George Floyd protests and Myrie’s treatment received widespread attention and engendered sympathy for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Myrie encouraged activists to keep demonstrating and introduced a bill to end qualified immunity.

GUERIN BLASK; LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; CELESTE SLOMAN

Eric Gonzalez, is known as the city’s most progressive prosecutor for supporting policies like a pretrial diversion program allowing offenders to avoid prosecution for minor crimes by taking art classes.

Gonzalez had qualms with the legislature’s bail reform laws – his office had high turnover as a result of the new rules – and preferred eliminating cash bail entirely while giving judges more jurisdiction over cases.

BRING BACK BROOKLYN FUND Support neighborhood business, it’s the Brooklyn way.

#BringBackBrooklyn

BRING BACK New Yorkers — We need to help the businesses FUND BROOKLYN we love, before they are gone forever.

35% of the 63,000 businesses in Brooklyn are at risk of never reopening. That’s why the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is raising money for the Bring Back Brooklyn Fund — a communitydriven, no-interest, recovery loan program — to help small businesses recover from this crisis.

Together, we can save small businesses and restore Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Support neighborhood business, it’s the Brooklyn way.

DONATE TODAY: BrooklynChamber.com/donate

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September 21 2020

C I C W

CAUGHT IN THE CULTURE WAR September 21, 2020

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Portraits by Sean Pressley

RIC GONZALEZ IS a lifer. He has spent his entire career at the same office, and he still lives in the neighborhood where he grew up. Brooklyn’s first Latino district attorney assumed the post after the 2016 death of Ken Thompson, who three years earlier had become the first African American elected to the office. Gonzalez had served as chief assistant district attorney to Thompson, whose widow supported Gonzalez as the acting replacement.

Gonzalez had an 11-month runway to prepare for the 2017 Dem-

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ocratic district attorney primary; and for a career prosecutor with no experience in politics, he showed good instincts from the jump. He hired a strong team led by Lis Smith, who ran Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. The acting district attorney raised money, checked in with key stakeholders and began rolling out support.

“Any given district leader would have known a number of the candidates better than Eric Gonzalez, and in politics that almost always plays, but he did a great job of establishing very quickly in everyone’s mind on the inside that he was the guy,” recalled Nick Rizzo, a former district leader from North Brooklyn and co-director of the Better Prosecutors PAC. By 2017, the politics of criminal justice in the heavily Democratic borough had turned leftward, and traditional law-and-order rhetoric was notably absent from the race. In a six-candidate field, Gonzalez secured more than half the vote.

During that campaign, Gonzalez pledged to expand the reform agenda laid out by Thompson, who at the age of 47 unseated Charles Hynes, a six-term incumbent, by running a message of change. Although Hynes had earned plaudits from the left earlier in his tenure for his Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison program, the longtime Democratic incumbent would later take heat for possible wrongful convictions that occurred under his watch, including a number of cases involving a detective, Louis Scarcella, who was accused of strong-arming suspects into providing confessions.

Thompson, moreover, assailed the incumbent for taking passive stances on controversial NYPD tactics, such as stop and frisk, which disproportionately affected communities of color.

Though his term was tragically curtailed by cancer, Thompson forged a reform legacy as the first district attorney in New York City to cease prosecuting many low-level marijuana offenses, a change of course that helped build momentum for subsequent reforms in Brooklyn and the other boroughs.

He set up a Conviction Review Unit for overturning wrongful convictions – which Gonzalez continued, in addition to rolling out a slew of his own reforms, including a policy requiring prosecutors to consider immigration consequences when reaching dispositions. In 2018, Gonzalez opened a dedicated Hate Crimes Bureau, and this year he won a lawsuit to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making civil arrests in Brooklyn courthouses.

In March 2019, Gonzalez unveiled his signature reform package Justice 2020, which he hailed as a “new national model of a progressive prosecutor’s office.” Among the program’s 17 initiatives: considering nonjail resolutions at every juncture of a criminal case, establishing early release as the default position in the majority of parole proceedings, creating more alternatives to incarceration through community-based organizations and establishing new protocols for investigating police misconduct.

“I think, in general, Brooklyn has had more progressive DAs, and I think DA Gonzalez has honestly taken that to the next level

Can Brooklyn’s top prosecutor fight crime and police misconduct at the same time?

By Gabe Ponce de León

City & State New York

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CityAndStateNY.com

in ways that I don’t think we’re seeing in other boroughs,� said Linda Hoff, deputy managing director of the criminal practice at Brooklyn Defender Services.

In an interview with City & State, Gonzalez said, “I’ve tried to redefine the role of a prosecutor, and I’ve tried to have cultural change in the district attorney’s office.�

In just a few years, Gonzalez has made a name for

prosecutor when the city was still wracked with more than 1,000 murders per year. Under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, harsh sentencing laws and aggressive policing of minor offenses were still in vogue.

But as crime started dropping, progressive counties across America began to reevaluate the role of a prosecutor. In 2017 – the same year that Gonzalez won his Brooklyn race – Larry Krasner, a public defend-

IT WAS A GOOD TIME TO BE A PROGRESSIVE REFORMER. AND THEN 2020 HAPPENED. himself as a reformer. The New York City Council and state Legislature, meanwhile, advanced other police and criminal justice reforms, including changes to bail and discovery rules.

Crime had fallen so far from its early 1990s peak that New York City had begun to fancy itself “America’s Safest Big City.� It was, overall, a good time to be a progressive reformer.

And then 2020 happened.

A

SIDE FROM HIS college and law school years, Gonzalez, who is from a Puerto Rican family, has always lived within two miles of where he was born and grew up, which was in the Bushwick and East New York neighborhoods of the borough. Gonzalez, now 51, attended I.S. 318 on the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg, and then John Dewey High School in Gravesend before enrolling in Cornell University.

After graduating from University of Michigan Law School in 1995, Gonzalez joined the Brooklyn district attorney’s office as a junior

er, was elected as Philadelphia’s district attorney. Last year, two public defenders ran high-profile district attorney campaigns: Tiffany Cabån came up just short in Queens, and Chesa Boudin pulled off a surprising victory in San Francisco.

While the goal of maintaining public safety hasn’t changed, Gonzalez told City & State that he has met with people to “determine what safety and justice means� and then how to “hold people accountable for the harm� they caused. “That’s what truly makes victims feel safe and gives them a sense of justice, and hopefully it will give them a sense of healing from being victimized,� Gonzalez said.

Though progressive prosecutors differ in some areas of emphasis, David Dorfman, a professor of law at Pace University, said they all embrace community engagement and restorative justice, which focuses on repairing the harm done by a crime rather than punishing the offender. “Gonzalez has obviously very self-consciously associated himself with a nation-

DIVERGENT DAs

Nobody is above the law – but the law might get applied differently, depending on where you live. Each of New York City’s five district attorneys are elected officials, representing boroughs with different crime rates and cultures, and answerable to different voters and stakeholders. There are still major points of agreement among the city’s five Democratic prosecutors who, along with their counterparts in Westchester and Nassau counties, wrote a joint New York Times op-ed earlier this year calling for a complete elimination of cash bail while allowing judges more discretion in jailing defendants awaiting trial. But the offices differ on how they handle other hot-button legal issues.

Here’s how they stack up – with the caveat that, with hundreds of lawyers working under them, district attorneys don’t always live up to their promises. – With reporting

by Emma Bolton

September 21 2020

Bronx DA Darcel Clark

$89 million, 1,064 employees 19,422 recorded in 2018, or 13.2 per 1,000 residents 23,074 recorded in 2018, or 15.7 per 1,000 residents In February 2019, Clark said she would start declining prosecutions of marijuana possession cases when a defendant faces no other charges.  � Clark publicly supported the Protect Our Courts Act, a state legislative bill to block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests in courthouses. � � Clark said she would assess the New York City Council’s bill “on a case-by-case basis,� and said she would recognize the difference between “incidental contact� with a defendant’s diaphragm and contact that might be worthy of a criminal charge. �  ­ � Clark has directed her office to presumptively decline to prosecute arrest for loitering for prostitution. Her office often allows sex workers to have their arrest record expunged if they complete mandated counseling and are not arrested again within six months. € € ­ The Bronx traditionally had one of the country’s highest exoneration rates, and Clark created a Conviction Integrity Unit after taking office, planning to mirror the unit in Brooklyn.

September 21, 2020

Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez

Queens DA Melinda Katz

$120 million, 1,094 employees

$77 million, 723 employees

27,999 recorded in 2018, or 10.6 per 1,000 residents

18,935 recorded in 2018, or 8 per 1,000 residents

22,918 recorded in 2018, or 8.7 per 1,000 residents

14,692 recorded in 2018, or 6.2 per 1,000 residents

Gonzalez’s office “no longer prosecutes most possession cases.� He erased dozens of past convictions and vacated at least 1,400 outstanding warrants stemming from marijuana possession cases.

LEV RADIN, A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; WILLIAM ALATRISTE/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

 � He publicly supported the Protect Our Courts Act and was a coplaintiff in a lawsuit with the state attorney general’s office that blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests in New York courthouses. � � Gonzalez publicly supported the New York City Council bill criminalizing police chokeholds. Upon its passage, he said he would make charging decisions based on the “facts and circumstances� as with any other case, but that he was “committed to holding police officers accountable whenever they break the law.� �  ­ � Gonzalez supported decriminalizing some prostitution crimes and offering alternatives to court intervention.

He supported arresting those who purchase sex. € € ­ Gonzalez’s office received a lot of attention for its Conviction Review Unit, which was created in 2014, thanks in part to its release of an extensive report detailing the 25 wrongful convictions it reversed. After public defenders said the unit had become ineffective, Gonzalez relaunched a larger PostConviction Justice Bureau, adding a parole and clemency unit and a unit dedicated to sealing criminal convictions.

Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.

$124 million, 1,185 employees 26,828 recorded in 2018, or 16.1 per 1,000 residents 25,370 recorded in 2018, or 15.2 per 1,000 residents As of August 2018, Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office no longer prosecuted marijuana possession cases, except against certain sellers when there is a “demonstrated public safety threat.�  � Vance publicly supported the Protect Our Courts Act, a state legislative bill to block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests in courthouses. � � Vance expressed concern that the New York City Council bill criminalizing police chokeholds would not hold up in court, because of “ambiguity� and “preemption by the state.� �  ­ � Vance supported repealing the “Walking While Trans� law. His office has a policy of using prosecutorial discretion and community groups to keep sex workers from having criminal records. € € ­ Vance created a Conviction Integrity Program upon taking office in 2010 – the first in the state.

But critics said it has been much less productive than the similar unit in Brooklyn.

During her 2019 campaign, Katz promised to “refuse to prosecute low-level marijuana arrests.�  � Katz publicly supported the Protect Our Courts Act, a state legislative bill to block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests in courthouses. � � Katz publicly supported the New York City Council bill criminalizing police chokeholds, but now supports a bill that would criminalize only “reckless� and not incidental chokeholds. In June, Katz was the first district attorney to prosecute a police officer for using a chokehold during an arrest. �  ­ � Katz created a new Human Trafficking Bureau that will prosecute people who pay for sex while connecting sex workers with “a path to freedom with services and programs.� € € ­ Katz created a Conviction Integrity Unit upon taking office in 2020 – a first for the borough.

The office began reviewing 46 cases in its first four months.

City & State New York

15

Richmond County DA Michael McMahon

$18 million, 202 employees 2,699 recorded in 2018, or 5.6 per 1,000 residents 3,819 recorded in 2018, or 8 per 1,000 residents

Michael McMahon continues to prosecute marijuana possession charges to the extent the law allows, saying that he sees the drug as a “driving force� of crime.  � McMahon did not publicly support the Protect Our Courts Act, a state legislative bill to block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests in courthouses. � � McMahon called the New York City Council bill criminalizing police chokeholds “reckless� and said it was not “necessary,� and he would not prosecute some cases where it might apply. �  ­ � McMahon said he rarely prosecutes sex workers, but does not support decriminalizing prostitution because it makes it harder to prosecute human traffickers. € € ­ The office announced plans in 2017 to create a Conviction Integrity Unit, but the office said recent budget cuts made its continued operation difficult.

16

CityAndStateNY.com

al trend towards what they call ‘progressive prosecutors,’” Dorfman said. “Whereas I think DA Gonzalez is innovative and different in some ways, most of the things that he has been proposing and pushing – especially in the Justice 2020 action plan – very much follow patterns you’re seeing elsewhere.”

These progressive prosecutors have also sought to move away from utilizing cash bail and prison as the default approach.

The Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis galvanized a new generation of activists, which has added to the pressure on prosecutors to come up with less punitive methods. “The Overton window has really, really shifted every year since Gonzalez was elected,” Rizzo said, referring to the leftward tack of mainstream discourse. “First, it was Larry Krasner in 2018, then Tiffany Cabán in 2019 – and now George Floyd.”

Indeed, there were some on the left who dismissed Gonzalez’s agenda as incremental rather than transformative change. The slate of reforms that he has introduced, they say, does too little to challenge the existing structures in the system.

“I think what we’re seeing across the country, and certainly in New York City, is a demand to reconsider or reimagine how we address public safety as a society,” said Nick Encalada-Malinowski, the civil rights campaign director at VOCAL-NY, a progressive grassroots organization.

“Gonzalez is not advocating to change the nature of prosecutions in Brooklyn or across the country or to change the role that a prosecutor plays in the community. He’s not advocating, for example, for his office to get fewer resources and for more of those resources to be put into community programs.”

This new generation of activists that introduced defunding and abolishing the police into the national dialogue similarly called for divestment from district attorney offices. “As

September 21 2020

Eric Gonzalez was at the forefront of criminal justice reform. But now a new generation of activists are calling for divestment from district attorney offices, and have dismissed his agenda as too incremental.

long as the DA’s office exists, it will continue to harm individuals, families and communities,” argued Zoë Adel, advocacy and communications manager at Brooklyn Community Bail Fund.

Between 2016, when Gonzalez assumed the office on an interim basis, and 2019, arrests made in Brooklyn dropped by one-third, while the number of murders committed in the bor-

ough fell to a record low. But months of Black Lives Matter demonstrations and the harsh responses from police officers has fueled considerable backlash against the police, just as citywide crime began to rise.

In Brooklyn, shootings have jumped by 50% this year, according to the district attorney’s office. “Right now, about half of the shootings in New York City … are coming out of

Brooklyn, and that’s a big problem,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Aug. 18.

And as those on the far left continue to question his commitment to transformative reform, Gonzalez came under fire from law-and-order champions on the right as well. Months of social unrest amid the pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn have laid bare wide chasms in society, while the increase in

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crime has stoked fears that New York City is on the brink of reversing decades of economic and public safety gains.

According to the New York Post, only 15% of shootings in Brooklyn have resulted in arrests during the recent rash of gun violence. Some experts attribute the spike in violence to the coronavirus pandemic or to the shifting of law enforcement resources to respond to the protests. But others maintain that anti-police rhetoric – and a lack of support for the NYPD from elected officials – has had an effect. “The people that are pulling the trigger are doing so with the certain knowledge in their minds that there are no consequences, that nobody

September 21 2020

of the NYPD’s plainclothes anti-crime unit in June – would encourage violent criminals.

“The one thing that all criminologists agree with is that swift and certain punishment is what deters crime,” said Sal Albanese, a Democrat who represented a southern Brooklyn district based in Bay Ridge for three terms in the City Council. “I think that some of the DAs in the past were too harsh, but now the pendulum might be s winging the other way, and I think it’s going to impact public safety.”

In an age of deep polarization, the challenge for a progressive district attorney like Gonzalez is to remain in sync with his activist base while at

work with the police will come under increased scrutiny. It’s not uncommon, even in quieter times, for friction to arise between reform prosecutors and the police.

“If a DA has a policy of declining prosecution or diverting cases after the police have made arrests and come to the complaint room and put some work in, I can see where over time that creates mistrust and anger,” Dorfman said.

In Philadelphia, Krasner’s tenure has been marked by an acrimonious relationship between his office and the police, but Gonzalez believes his pedigree as a prosecutor is an asset when it comes to working with local law enforcement.

arrests in the borough. In May, Gonzalez launched a probe into NYPD officers over allegations that they used excessive force in policing social distancing violations. A month later, he brought charges against an NYPD officer for shoving a demonstrator to the ground.

In August, he joined 45 other prosecutors in pledging to reject campaign donations from police unions.

Despite their disagreements, Gonzalez said he regularly speaks with NYPD leadership.

“There is no daylight between us on our commitment to promote public safety,” he said.

On Aug. 19, Gonzalez opened a unit dedicated to cracking down on gun violence.

“THOSE WHO WANT TO COMPLETELY DISBAND THE POLICE DON’T SPEAK FOR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR. …

BOTH EXTREMES DO NOT SPEAK FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON IN BROOKLYN.”

– DA Eric Gonzalez

is looking to apprehend them, and if they are apprehended, there is no real victim advocate now, so that the advocacy will be on their behalf,” said Eugene O’Donnell, a former NYPD officer and prosecutor who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“Now we have, of course, had the complete paralysis of the NYPD, and none of this is going to be easily reversed,” O’Donnell added. “I don’t think cops are ever going to go back to chasing people – they can’t do it – so we needed to really have a serious conversation about public safety and we got extremist advocacy instead.”

H

OW SHOULD THE top law enforcement official in New York’s most populous borough balance the concerns of reform-oriented constituents with the safety of others? Even some Democrats who support reform fear that abandoning proactive policing altogether – especially after the disbanding

the same time encouraging the police to interrupt cycles of violence.

In Brooklyn, Black Lives Matter signs adorn many windows, but Gonzalez said that he has not seen “widespread demonstrations” in the parts of the borough – such as Brownsville and East New York – that have been most impacted by crime.

“People in Brooklyn want fundamental fairness in their justice system, and policing that treats them with dignity and has their best interest at heart, but they do want these shooters off the street, so those who want to completely disband the police don’t speak for communities of color,” Gonzalez said. “As a prosecutor, it’s my responsibility to keep my ear on the ground to listen to what people are asking for, but to also acknowledge that both extremes do not speak for the average person in Brooklyn.”

But now that the reformer district attorney is facing his first crime wave, his ability to

“You don’t need simply to be a public defender to come in to make necessary reforms – it can happen from within a DA’s office and it can happen from people who have been prosecutors,” Gonzalez said. “In fact, having the ability to talk to … our police department and others who you have known for a long time matters. They may not agree with every decision that I make and I may not agree with every decision they make, but we can continue to work with each other, and I think you have seen in other places that relationship has completely broken down between some of these other offices and their local law enforcement.”

During his tenure, Gonzalez has taken critical positions toward the police on a number of occasions. Last year, he made public a list of police officers who were deemed unreliable by his office. Their witness testimony would no longer be accepted in court, effectively barring them from carrying out investigations or

“I grew up witnessing a lot of crime, so public safety is very important to me, but I also grew up as a person of color in the city, understanding that our justice system needed more fairness,” Gonzalez said. The Brooklyn streets of his youth had a lot more gang activity and police killings than today, but as crime plummeted, the borough transformed into a choice destination for young professionals, and in the years since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, its economic growth has outpaced the rest of the city.

“The Brooklyn we know today,” Gonzalez said, would not exist if people were “afraid to walk to the train station or get on a bus or walk to the grocery store.”

“I am committed to making sure that (Brooklyn) does not revert back to the old days, but I’m also committed to forging ahead with the appropriate reforms,” he added. “The dialogue that we are kind of getting from the left and right – they are at the extremes.”

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20 CityAndStateNY.com

July 13, 2020

JELANIE DESHONG

AS A LOBBYIST for Brooklyn’s only academic medical center, Jelanie DeShong usually goes to work behind a desk, wearing a suit and tie. When the pandemic began to take hold in New York, DeShong was given the option of working from home. Feeling a sense of duty to his home borough, he decided to keep showing up at the hospital. “For me, it was such a pride to not just live in this community but also work in this community,� he says.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo designated the hospital as a coronavirus-only facility in late March, meaning patients with other illnesses were transferred, and the hospital was entirely dedicated to treating patients with the coronavirus. DeShong’s suits were replaced with head-to-toe personal protective equipment, and he took on an additional role of spearheading the hospital’s donation drive and coordinating food deliveries for the hospital staff. As he helped deliver food to health care workers, security guards, facilities workers and social work staffers, he tried to get to know as many people as he could. He also found himself relaying information to patients’ families when they arrived at the hospital worried about their relatives and unable to visit them. “As someone who has had family in the hospital, I wouldn’t want to show up and not know what my loved one is going through,� he says.

DeShong says he was able to spend time with families when health care workers and administrative staff were overwhelmed with patients. He could relate to those families because his mother, Charmain DeShong, battled breast cancer when he was in high school. She immigrated to New York from Grenada in the 1980s and was rais-

July 13, 2020

ing two children as a single mother when she was diagnosed. She ultimately recovered, still managing to support her children throughout her illness. While working at the hospital during the pandemic, DeShong could understand people’s fears for their family members who were suffering, and he was also inspired by his mother’s strength and courage.

JESSICA SANTANA

MARCOS LAINEZ; AMERICA ON TECH; INES BEBEA

LOGISTICALLY, IT WASN’T

difficult for the nonprofit America on Tech, which provides free tech programming to Black and Hispanic students, to pivot to virtual learning. “It would have been silly for us not to continue and to provide young people with opportunities when we had the actual infrastructure and systems in place to do so,� CEO Jessica Santana says. Within 48 hours, the team put their entire tech curriculum online.

City & State New York

21

From left, SUNY Downstate’s Jelanie DeShong, America on Tech CEO Jessica Santana and Emergency Management First Deputy Commissioner Andrew D’Amora

They communicated with hundreds of students, parents and volunteers to help them understand the transition. That was the easy part. “It’s one thing for us to have our classes online. It’s another thing to know that there are young people in the city of New York and in Brooklyn that just don’t have access to laptops. They don’t have access to reliable Wi-Fi,� Santana says.

Many America on Tech students also depended on the New York City Summer Youth Employment Program, which was suspended this year and replaced with a virtual bridge program. Then there was the mental health toll of living in a city ravaged early on by the coronavirus pandemic as well as processing the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent race reckoning. Those were more difficult problems, and Santana took them on.

To address tech access in her programs, Santana and her team fundraised to purchase and distribute laptops to stu-

dents. They also distributed stipends to students to help make up for lost work opportunities. They shared information with families about discounted and free Wi-Fi offers. The team scheduled virtual office hours to make sure students knew they had someone to talk to. After Floyd’s death, they held a virtual town hall to discuss racism.

Santana says she noticed that many government responses to these crises that were intended to help young people did not involve young people. “It’s really incumbent on our leaders in the community, in colleges, in agencies and institutions all across New York City to think about: How do we design with young people during this time, rather than designing for young people during this time,� she says.

ANDREW D’AMORA

ANDREW D’AMORA LIVED

in the emergency management building on Cadman Plaza while he managed New York City’s emergency response to COVID-19, sleep-

ing on an office couch from March to June. The career New York City Police Department officer who grew up in Marine Park says he’s used to that level of commitment, citing his deployment to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He says the hardest part of that assignment was seeing his family only on FaceTime for more than three months.

D’Amora calls emergency managers the “stagehands of the city,� always working but rarely visible. He is uncomfortable with the word “hero.� “The heroes are the doctors, the nurses,� he says. “Myself, I help coordinate, I was in the supporting role.�

D’Amora spent those sleep-deprived months as a coordinator among multiple city, state and federal agencies as they collaborated to bring relief to hospitals. That included building a temporary hospital at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and overseeing the deployment of personnel and resources. “All credit goes to the people who work for you and how hard they work,� D’Amora says. Among them was Gregory Hodge, an EMT who worked for the New York City Fire Department for 24 years and was assigned

22 CityAndStateNY.com

to emergency management as a watch commander. Hodge died of the coronavirus in April. “He was really a great guy and, you know, gave all that he had to this job,� D’Amora says.

Much has been said – and criticized – about government leadership throughout the pandemic, from city representatives all the way to the White House, but from D’Amora’s perspective, public servants on the ground at all levels collaborated tirelessly to save New Yorkers.

And he worked with droves of them: Department of Defense medical staff who supplemented health care workers in New York hospitals, the Army Corps of Engineers workers who helped design the temporary hospital at the Javits Center, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, state emergency managers and city first responders. “What I saw is that everybody worked so diligently together to get those resources,� he says.

MICHAEL STAMATIS

MICHAEL STAMATIS’ ini-

tial contribution to coronavirus relief in Brooklyn was a container of fresh pineapples – as in, a shipping contain-

July 13, 2020

er. With the help of trucking partners at MTC Transportation and organizer Karen Blondel at the Fifth Avenue Committee, the load of more than 10,000 pineapples was quickly distributed to community organizations, food pantries, churches and housing developments in the area surrounding the Red Hook Terminal shortly after the stay-at-home order was issued. In these trying times, the pineapples brought some sweetness. Almost immediately, it was clear there was a serious demand for more food that was both fresh and free.

Beer, beverages, fresh fruit and vegetables from all over the world are among the cargo that passes through Stamatis’ container terminal, the smallest of six container ports that make up the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Stamatis has worked in shipping since he was 19 years old, when he was a banana handler in New Jersey, unloading box after box of fruit from South America. Stamatis says New Yorkers “should really know that a lot of the food and items that they’re buying in local stores is coming into the city right here in Red Hook.�

After New York City shut down, his first pineapple donation led to a second, then to more.

“Seeing how much demand there was, how many people were really in need and suffering due to the pandemic, we decided to continue it,� Stamatis says. “We didn’t want to stop.�

Essential workers at the port practiced social distancing, did temperature checks and wore personal protective equipment.

With the help of their food distribution network, Stamatis and his business partner, Peter Malo, donated hamburgers, chicken and more produce, mostly in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Red Hook and Sunset Park, ultimately totaling about 1.5 million

pounds of fresh food, Stamatis says, crediting Blondel with organizing the distribution.

He says people were thankful to receive perishable items that could be hard to find. “We had nothing here that would sit. It would go as fast as we had it,� he says.

ANTONIO MÉNDEZ

DR. ANTONIO MÉNDEZ was

born at The Brooklyn Hospital Center. So were his sis-

RHCT; RICK SCHWAB; START TREATMENT & RECOVERY CENTERS

July 13, 2020

City & State New York

From left, Red Hook Container Terminal CEO Michael Stamatis; Brooklyn Hospital Center’s Antonio MÊndez; and Start Treatment and Recovery Centers’ Annie John.

ter and two of his children.

For decades, but especially during the coronavirus crisis, he has labored to save lives there. In April, his mother died there from COVID-19.

Thinking about the spring now, MĂŠndez says it is difficult for him to remember the order of things. Much of that time is hazy and difficult to describe. “Most of my colleagues, including myself, we were just dealing with the business at hand,â€? he says. “From beginning to end ... your brain couldn’t relax.â€?

In the beginning of the pandemic, he returned early from a vacation to help the

hospital absorb the escalating number of patients. With leadership from Emergency Medicine Chair Dr. Sylvie de Souza, a tent was set up outside the hospital to assess incoming patients. As the number of sick people escalated, staff and their families began getting sick too. “It was like somebody flipped a button,â€? MĂŠndez says. “It was literally pandemonium.â€?

A first-generation college graduate, MĂŠndez grew up in public housing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and he wanted to be a doctor from a young age. When he was in medical school, he had interests across the field. “In emergency medicine, you’ve got to know a little about everything.â€? In the 2000s, MĂŠndez completed a law degree mostly out of curiosity, a pursuit he says deepened his love for medicine. “I am a believer in knowledge for knowledge’s sake,â€? he says.

During the height of the coronavirus crisis, MĂŠndez says it was difficult to realize there was little he could do to help some patients.

MÊndez’s father, his sister and his wife also fell ill from the coronavirus. His mother-in-law died of the disease shortly after his mother died.

MÊndez says his experience wasn’t too different from that of many other health care workers. While still monitor-

ing the recovery of his wife and his father, he returned to work at the hospital. “What can you do?� he says. “You have to.�

ANNIE JOHN

WITHOUT HESITATION, Annie

John acknowledges that this crisis has been the biggest challenge she has faced in her position coordinating mental health services for young people living in detention. “Undoubtedly, in my lifetime,� she says. In the process of trying to understand the risks and transition to virtual mental health services, there were few clear answers and there was constant change. “Prior to this, there was no infrastructure in place. It literally caught everyone off guard,� John says. The only constant, she says, was her team’s focus on the needs of the kids.

The team of clinicians contracts with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services to offer mental health screenings, psychotherapy and group counseling to dozens of young people in the Crossroads Juvenile Center’s secure detention site in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and in group

23

homes. In August, 67 young people at Crossroads and 10 group home residents were enrolled in the program. “Being in detention takes away a lot of their choices to begin with,�

John says. “This is the one thing that we want them to participate in voluntarily.�

In late March, when coronavirus prevention measures restricted in-person access to detained young people, clinicians began conducting therapy and screenings by phone while sitting in a separate part of the Crossroads building. There were only a few available phone lines, and calls had to be transferred to the half of the mental health team that worked remotely each week. In-person intervention was restricted to just young people in crisis.

John says initial screenings with incoming adolescents have been extremely difficult to conduct by phone. Young people who were already involved in the programs expressed feelings of abandonment when their clinicians could not meet with them in person. An April coronavirus outbreak at the detention center infected dozens of youth and staff, leading to a greater restriction of movement and programming in the building. The situation made the availability of mental health services even

more vital, John says. “That change itself was something that made it necessary for services to continue to be in place,� John says.

MICHAEL ANTONIADES

THE FIRST CORONAVIRUS

patient arrived at Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park, Brooklyn, on March 9. One month later, there were 471 coronavirus patients admitted at the hospital. “We made decisions in minutes and hours that normally take weeks or months,� says the hospital’s emergency incident commander, Michael Antoniades.

In the incident command center, administrators had major tasks before them as they tried to keep up with constantly changing coronavirus information. While maintaining social distancing in a large boardroom, they set up a communications center to coordinate with patients’ families, media and other agencies. They established a staffing center responsible for redistributing staff to manage coronavirus patients as other parts of the hospital shut down. They had

From left, Maimonides Medical Center’s Michael Antoniades and community organizer Fabiola Mendieta-Cuapio.

to mine their networks to find new ways to provide personal protective equipment for workers, establishing a new, much more expensive supply chain. They created a virtual health care system for noncritical patients and facilitated participation in clinical trials.

Antoniades ran three (partly virtual) meetings every day, seven days per week, for more than two months. “A number of us never missed a day, because you couldn’t,� he says.

The crisis required people to radically change their day-today responsibilities. The chair of psychiatry, for example, led the conversion of a new, vacant Crown Heights nursing home into a unit for Maimonides coronavirus patients who were no longer in critical condition.

While nurses and doctors on the floor faced the virus directly, Antoniades and his team oversaw the entire mobilization from the incident command center, trying to make those workers safer. “We are made up of 6,400 people,� Antoniades says. “Every member of the team was an essential part to make this work.� Administrators, warehouse workers, housekeepers and information technology workers all took on new roles.

Antoniades says the information they learned this past spring will prepare the hospital in the event of a second wave.

“Every day, we got better,� he says. “We learned something. We implemented something. We found a way to deal with something that we couldn’t yesterday.�

FABIOLA MENDIETA-CUAPIO

WHEN NEW YORK CITY shut down earlier this year, human rights activist and organizer Fabiola Mendieta-Cuapio started receiving a lot of calls – between 10 and 20 each day. People would call her to say they were feeling sick and didn’t have health insurance, that they didn’t know how to get food, that they didn’t know anyone in the city, or that they had lost their jobs and were experiencing a financial crisis.

An immigrant from Mexico and a single mother, she works primarily with undocumented people in South Brooklyn. “I’m a member of a lot of groups, and somehow my name and my phone number move around,� she says. “It was heartbreaking getting those phone calls every single day.�

Mendieta-Cuapio called a fellow activist, Devon Morales, to figure out how to mobilize.

Mendieta-Cuapio’s brother offered his garage in Gravesend, Brooklyn, as a mutual aid headquarters. Another brother traveled to New York

July 13, 2020

from Connecticut to help. A third brother and her sister in Staten Island volunteered as well. Using donations and proceeds from a GoFundMe page, they bought food and began distributing it from the garage. Mendieta-Cuapio worked with Families for Safe Streets to recruit volunteers for deliveries, quickly forming a team of drivers. They called the effort Brooklyn Immigrant Community Support, and word quickly spread around the city.

When the peak of the crisis passed and things started to open up again, Mendieta-Cuapio was not ready to stop working. She wanted to use her newfound community relationships and her long-standing connections to move into a second phase: In addition to distributing food, the group mobilized to do census outreach in South Brooklyn. “We can get more resources and more food if we all do our little part and we all do a little civic engagement,� she says. The third phase was voter registration ahead of the June primary. Mendieta-Cuapio says housing is a major need now, as people have fallen behind on rent and are worried about being evicted. “It’s devastating listening to phone calls now about housing, and how the system is not working for our immigrant community,� she says.

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YOUR HOME OUR RULES

The City Council lets local lawmakers make the call on land-use decisions in their own districts.

But not this time.

A

FTER YEARS OF PLANNING and months of delays, the Industry City rezoning finally made its way to the New York City Council on Sept. 15, as the fight over the contentious proposal played out in its first and only scheduled council hearing. Despite the opposition of City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, who represents the Sunset Park neighborhood where Industry City is located, the rezoning application is moving forward. For over 10 hours, the council’s Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee heard testimony from Sunset Park residents, lawmakers, business owners and others.

Traditionally, Menchaca’s decision to oppose the Industry City rezoning would have been the kiss of death because of member deference, a practice in which City Council members effectively had veto power over land use decisions in their own districts.

While the proposal’s future remains uncertain, the developers behind it decided to push ahead despite Menchaca’s opposition. If the City Council approves the rezoning, it may not mean the complete end of member deference, but the confluence of circumstances surrounding Industry City may have a lasting impact by opening up

By Rebecca C. Lewis

land use decisions to other people besides the local City Council member.

Although the full 51-person council votes on every rezoning application, the speaker and other members generally defer to the lawmaker who represents that district. That means approving a project the member supports and voting down a proposal they oppose. It never comes to that, though, as the council generally won’t hold a vote on a proposal that won’t pass, and the developer who submitted the application will simply pull it.

The Industry City rezoning would expand the Sunset Park campus by nearly 1.5 million square feet, permitting the construction of three new buildings and allowing for additional retail, office and education space, while also creating a new manufacturing hub. The rezoning has a long and complicated history dating back to 2015, although right now, one of its more unusual features is that the complex’s owner is moving ahead with the application despite not having buy-in from Menchaca.

A day before Menchaca announced in late July that he would vote “no” on the proposal, Politico New York reported that the Industry City owners were considering pulling the rezoning application be-

fore the City Planning Commission voted on it. Such a move would be expected when the developers can’t win over the local council member, and Menchaca had been threatening to vote against the proposal for months.

But the Industry City owners did not.

Soon after Menchaca made his decision, City Council Members Ritchie Torres from the Bronx and Donovan Richards from Queens published an op-ed saying that the council should still approve the Industry City rezoning because it would bring 15,000 to 20,000 jobs to the city and an additional $100 million in tax revenue per year at a time when the city is facing a dire fiscal crisis. (Currently, Industry City employs 8,000 people. Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball has said the rezoning would create 7,000 new jobs on-site plus 8,000 jobs outside the campus.) Torres and Richards argued that while they may not live in Sunset Park, the proposal had citywide implications, which they had a right to weigh in on. “‘Member deference’ has its place, to be sure,” they wrote. “But it becomes dangerous when it morphs into veto power over the growth of the city’s economy.”

Kimball said at a press conference on Sept. 14 that it was in part the public sup-

WILLIAM ALATRISTE/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

Carlos Menchaca, right, tours the Industry City site with City Council colleagues in 2015.

port from members like Torres and Richards, as well as Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr., that convinced the developers to move ahead with the proposal after Menchaca said he would vote “no.” “We always considered this project of citywide importance,” Kimball said. “So yes, it did refortify us, and that’s why we’re committed to taking this to a vote.”

Industry City could be the right project – a major rezoning with citywide implications during an economic downturn – for the council’s decision to potentially have lasting impacts on land use decisions.

“The vote on Industry City’s rezoning application could be an indication that City Council members are recognizing that their constituents have a stake in land use decisions in other districts,” NYU Furman Center Executive Director Matthew Murphy said in a statement. The loss of Amazon from Queens and the company’s promise of 25,000 jobs also casts a long shadow over Industry City. But unlike that deal, which did not involve any city-level land use decisions, council members have the power to approve Industry City and the jobs it could bring to a struggling city.

In 2018, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson indicated that he would take a more active role in land use decisions than

his predecessor Melissa Mark-Viverto.

He said he would defer to local members without giving them veto power, opening the door to overruling them. The Industry City rezoning would be a true test of those promises, although so far he has remained silent on the proposal. Johnson has largely been keeping a low profile after a bruising fight over cutting police funding in June.

He has been taking some of the blame from progressives, whom he hopes to court in his 2021 bid for mayor, for not making deeper cuts. His decision here will likely follow him into next year and potentially define his candidacy.

To have the City Council overrule the local member on a land use decision is rare, though not unprecedented. In 2009 under then-City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the council approved a mixed-use development project in Dumbo, Brooklyn, over the objections of then-Council Member David Yassky. Kenneth Fisher, a real estate lawyer and former New York City Council member, said the stakes were not high enough then for that decision to have any sort of lasting impact. “The city was doing so well for so long, (there) didn’t seem to be any consequences to turning something down,” he said. But the consequences now seem stark. “I think that this should

carry over to residential and mixed-use rezonings of scale,” Fisher said of having the entire council weigh in rather than adhering to the opinion of the local member.

Menchaca, unsurprisingly, strongly disagreed and has been trying to convince his fellow members to vote with him against the Industry City rezoning. “The dangerous precedent we must undo is not the Council’s tradition of member deference but our deference to developers,” Menchaca wrote in an op-ed last month with Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer. They argued that the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure – the process that rezonings must go through to be approved – is flawed, but “member deference creates accountability at the ballot box, where it belongs.”

Elizabeth Yeampierre, the executive director of the Brooklyn community group Uprose that has been fighting the rezoning, agreed. She found the input of members from outside the district and borough on the Industry City project incredibly troubling. “I think it’s stunning that elected officials from other communities undermined the leadership of a council member doing exactly what his community has been asking for,” Yeampierre said.

“It isn’t as if Menchaca (made) this decision easily.” She added, though, that mem-

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September 21, 2020

■

WILLIAM ALATRISTE/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

“YOU’VE GOT THE COUNCIL MEMBER STANDING WITH THE COMMUNITY, AND PEOPLE SAYING, ‘HEY, YOU KNOW WHAT, NO, WE KNOW WHAT’S BETTER FOR YOUR COMMUNITY THAN YOUR COMMUNITY KNOWS.’”

Progressives like Tiffany ber deference was only preferable Cabán, who is running for a City when the member actually listened Council seat in Astoria, Queens, to what the community wanted. next year, may upend member While some parts of Sunset Park deference from the opposite dihave supported the rezoning, the rection by rejecting a rezoning local community board partially that has the support of the local rejected the application. “You’ve member. “I am going to consisgot the council member standing tently vote on the side of working with the community, and people people and low-income families,” saying, ‘Hey, you know what, no, Cabán said when she launched we know what’s better for your her campaign. Her campaign community than your community did not return a request for comknows,’” Yeampierre said, quesment, but Fisher said that while tioning whether this would have it’s fairly unusual to have the City happened if Sunset Park were not Council reject a land use decia community of color. sion that has the local member’s Yeampierre agreed that both support, he thinks Industry City the city and Sunset Park despercould open the door for progresately need the jobs, but argued sives to launch campaigns to rethat the Industry City rezoning ject major private developments is not the only way to get them, if community members oppose despite the insistence of lawmakthem. ers from outside the district. She A final decision by the counpointed to the community plan – Elizabeth Yeampierre, Uprose executive director cil still looms, with a vote likely that her group helped develop last to be scheduled by early Octowhy Menchaca argued in his op-ed that year as an alternative to Industry City to bring clean energy jobs to Sun- they favored it – although they do fight ber in adherence to the 50-day window set Park, which would provide thousands against it when the member opposes them. the body has to review and decide on the of high-wage manufacturing positions to But so do community members when they rezoning application. Although a lot can residents without college degrees, while feel that the member’s decision does not change in a month, Menchaca has made also helping address regional economic represent their interests, which was the it clear that there is not enough time for case with the decision to build or upgrade conditions to change enough for him to and climate concerns.

A member’s land use decision may not four borough-based jails. All four council support the rezoning. So if it goes to a full always align with the majority of the com- members of the affected districts support- council vote, it’s all but guaranteed to do so munity, or even the will of the local com- ed the jails, but community members and without his support, putting to the test the munity board. In those cases member anti-jail advocates urged the council not to tradition of member deference during one of the city’s most tumultuous years. deference benefits developers, which is adhere to member deference.

BK POWER 29 CityAndStateNY.com

September 14, 2020

50 If you’re looking for political power, Brooklyn is where it’s at. Whether it’s the highest-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate, a top contender to be the next House speaker, or influential city and state officeholders including New York’s attorney general, the city’s public advocate and a long list of leading lawmakers, it’s the borough that has it all. Yet these elected officials aren’t the only individuals flexing their political muscle. City & State’s Brooklyn Power 50 recognizes the executives, advocates, health care officials and others who are moving the borough forward.

30 CityAndStateNY.com

Jed Walentas leads Two Trees Management, which is transforming the landscape of Brooklyn.

September 21, 2020

Brooklyn bounce back. She has already commissioned researchers to measure neighborhood air quality and traffic patterns, and welcomed a busway plan for Jay Street. While half of the borough’s small businesses are struggling, businesses are reopening, and DeKalb Market Hall created an outdoor market on Fulton Street.

and Deborah Axt advocating to overturn President Donald Trump’s family separation policy. Additionally, the White House kept trying to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, so Valdes and Axt sued in August to stop them. Sadly, 67 of the organization’s members have died from COVID-19.

4 DAVID GREENFIELD CEO Met Council

JED WALENTAS

CEO Two Trees Management Brooklyn’s first family of real estate has been transforming the borough’s waterfront into New York City’s most desirable destination for two decades. In December, Two Trees Management CEO Jed Walentas unveiled a proposal to build two 600-foot towers on the site of a former Con Edison fuel oil storage facility, adjacent to the company’s Domino Sugar Refinery megacomplex. Two Trees is also eyeing a lucrative rezoning in the Gowanus, where it owns two sites.

2 FRANK CARONE

Executive Partner Abrams Fensterman Frank Seddio resigned from his position as Brooklyn Democratic Party chair in January, but his longtime ally Frank Carone’s power hasn’t

waned a bit. Carone remains the county committee’s top attorney. He also served on the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission and, until recently, as president of the Brooklyn Bar Association.

Carone is now helping local Democratic incumbents win reelection, including the influential Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.

3 REGINA MYER

President Downtown Brooklyn Partnership The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered small businesses and turned commercial corridors into ghost towns, but Regina Myer is pushing New York City to help Downtown

5 JAVIER VALDES & DEBORAH AXT

Co-Executive Directors Make the Road New York Make the Road New York has been a central organization in the fight against the Trump administration’s immigration measures, with Javier Valdes

Bernard advocates for social justice by using spiritual tools to combat racism.

6 A.R. BERNARD

Senior Pastor Christian Cultural Center In March, the Rev. A.R. Bernard contracted COVID-19 so severely that he worried he had a “50-50 proposition” of surviving. He recovered, but the coronavirus has taken a massive toll in New York City’s Black neighborhoods and has claimed dozens of Black clergymen nationwide.

Bernard has since brought attention to social justice efforts within the church and by using spiritual tools to combat racism following the killing of George Floyd.

7 RANDY PEERS

President and CEO Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Randy Peers, who joined the chamber last September, is sounding the alarm that Brooklyn’s small businesses will struggle this fall unless they receive grants and rent relief. In a survey of 234 businesses, half reported

TWO TREES MANAGEMENT CO; CHRISTIAN CULTURAL CENTER

1

The Met Council has been helping Brooklyn’s neediest residents for half a century, so it was no surprise that Mayor Bill de Blasio named David Greenfield to his nonprofit reopening task force. The Met Council scored $6 million in city grants for its food distribution network, and it prepared Passover meals for homebound Brooklynites.

Greenfield also pushed to make food stamp benefits available online and unveiled a texting service for reporting domestic violence.

Congratulations to all those honored on the Brooklyn Power list, especially to Carlo Scissura, President of New York Building Congress and David Greenfield, CEO & Executive Director of The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty whom we are proud to represent! And to our friends Frank Carone, Executive Partner of Abrams Fensterman, and Risa Heller, Principal of Risa Heller Communications, as well as our own Jovia Radix, Vice President of Legislation at Kasirer!

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32 CityAndStateNY.com

losses of 50% over the summer, and 40% owe back rent. Peers supports legislation giving landlords tax incentives to restructure leases, broader business interruption insurance coverage, and extending the suspension of commercial evictions.

September 21, 2020

Foy has been a leading voice against police misconduct for years.

a $1.2 billion redevelopment plan to sell large parcels of the hospital’s campus for residential towers. And when COVID-19 struck, the hospital set up an outdoor tent to prescreen patients while working to open a new cancer treatment facility.

8 DAVID NIEDERMAN

Executive Director United Jewish Organizations Rabbi David Niederman is in the unusual position of having one foot in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and the other in the secular world as head of the community’s most influential nonprofit.

He summoned Gov. Andrew Cuomo to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in January following a rash of anti-Semitic attacks.

And when the neighborhood became a coronavirus hot spot by disregarding state prohibitions on large gatherings, Niederman pilloried Mayor Bill de Blasio for closing school playgrounds.

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GARY TERRINONI

CARLO SCISSURA

Gary Terrinoni has been laying the groundwork to stabilize this downtown Brooklyn community teaching hospital, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. In December, Terrinoni launched

Carlo Scissura gets to regularly weigh in on New York City’s most significant infrastructure problems, such as repairing the BrooklynQueens Expressway or fixing and expanding the Hudson

President and CEO The Brooklyn Hospital Center

President and CEO New York Building Congress

River rail tunnels. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Scissura helped guide state officials to allow essential construction work to continue in March before reopening 33,000 construction sites by June. Now he’s pushing to rezone Industry City and get congestion pricing passed.

12 KIRSTEN JOHN FOY

President and CEO Arc of Justice The Rev. Kirsten John Foy has been one of the city’s leading voices against police misconduct and structural racism for years as an adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Foy demonstrated at Nassau County Police Department headquarters, demanding to know why police killed a 19-year-old man in February, and his work has only intensified after George Floyd’s death. Foy is also targeting corporations to dismantle structural racism and treat workers fairly.

9 KENNETH GIBBS

Kenneth Gibbs spent the spring fighting COVID-19 while preparing for Maimonides’ future. In March, Gibbs announced a merger with New York Community Hospital in Midwood before the coronavirus ravaged the region.

Two months later, the hospital recorded its 1,000th recovered coronavirus patient, and is now preparing for a second wave.

Gibbs is looking ahead after securing a $141 million bond to expand the hospital’s Borough Park campus.

Carlo Scissura was key to keeping construction sites open during the shutdown.

RICK SCHWAB; NEW YORK BUILDING CONGRESS

President and CEO Maimonides Medical Center

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September 21, 2020

production industry, though. He paid $320 million to build a halfmillion square-foot production hub at a former port complex in Sunset Park. The project is estimated to create 1,800 construction jobs and 2,200 full-time jobs – just when the city really needs them.

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DAVID EHRENBERG

President and CEO Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.

14 LINDA JOHNSON

President and CEO Brooklyn Public Library A prolonged coronavirusrelated closure could have been catastrophic for the borough’s beloved library system, but Linda Johnson kept a virtual-only service going until it was possible to reopen branches this summer.

Seven branches began

LARAY BROWN

President and CEO One Brooklyn Health System

offering grab-and-go book service for patrons on July 13, with another 10 adding the service in August. Readers need not worry: Each book is quarantined for 72 hours after being returned.

15 JELENA KOVAČEVIĆ

Dean NYU Tandon School of Engineering Jelena Kovačević made history two years ago as

Public Library readers need not worry: Each book is quarantined for 72 hours.

LaRay Brown’s three community hospitals Jelena were Brooklyn’s first Kovačević defense against is the first COVID-19. She knew woman to that a novel virus could lead the NYU Tandon overwhelm facilities, School of so she prepared by Engineering. restricting patient visits, discouraging travel, and disseminating best hygiene practices. In the the first woman to lead early weeks of the pandemic, the NYU Tandon School of Brookdale University Hospital Engineering, and she has Medical Center welcomed focused on reducing the the media to witness how it school’s gender disparity struggled with 100 coronavirus in computing and other patients to show the rest of subjects. When the pandemic the country to take the virus struck, Tandon pivoted to designing and producing low- seriously. cost face shields for health care workers and modified simpler CPAP and BiPAP oxygen machines when the nation faced a ventilator shortage. Kovačević sees telehealth as the next frontier.

ANDREW KIMBALL CEO Industry City

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DOUG STEINER

Chair Steiner Studios The coronavirus outbreak not only shuttered movie theaters, but halted movie and television shoots too.

Doug Steiner is still bullish on the city’s burgeoning film

The Industry City rezoning may be the de Blasio administration’s most contentious land use battle – and that’s saying something.

Andrew Kimball argued the plan will lead to 23,000 jobs and $100 million in annual tax revenue, but New York City Council Member Carlos Menchaca opposes the plan – and that may be enough to sink it. Kimball has plenty of

RON ANTONELLI; NYU TANDON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed commercial development across New York City – but you’d never know it at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The sprawling campus has attracted artisans, designers and manufacturers as well as a Wegmans, America’s favorite supermarket, which opened in October. In the subsequent months, David Ehrenberg leased 40,000 square feet above Wegmans in Building 212 and welcomed Danish footwear designer Ecco.

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September 21, 2020

economic mobility. The Nets, meanwhile, lost in the first round of the playoffs and hired Steve Nash as head coach.

54, delayed since March, and French artist JR’s multimedia works. Get the spotlight ready for KAWS, too.

21 JENNIFER JONES AUSTIN

CEO and Executive Director Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies

work to do to convince the other council members to approve the deal.

19 ELIZABETH YEAMPIERRE Executive Director Uprose

All politics is local – Elizabeth Yeampierre is helping New Yorkers realize that climate change is, too. The Climate Justice Alliance co-chair has long drawn attention to the links between systemic racism, inequality, and environmental degradation.

She opposes the Industry City rezoning plan, questioning developer commitments to hire locally and the wisdom of building in a flood zone, preferring the city instead create jobs to curb climate change at the site.

20 JOSEPH TSAI

Owner Brooklyn Nets Taiwanese-born billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai bought the Nets for $2.35 billion in 2019 and has made his opinions known ever since. He called Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrators a “separatist movement” during a clash between the NBA and China, and pledged $50 million six months later to improve Black

22 ANNE PASTERNAK

Director Brooklyn Museum The borough’s flagship museum was bringing in record foot traffic with special exhibitions featuring David Bowie, Pierre Cardin and Frida Kahlo. But the pandemic abruptly forced the city’s cultural institutions to close for several months. Pasternak and her team carefully managed the museum’s reopening on Sept. 12 with an exhibit focused on Studio

Miller brought comfort virtually to congregants mourning loved ones during the pandemic.

23 MICHAEL NIEVES

President and CEO Hispanic Information and Technology Network Recognized by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for his leadership, Michael Nieves runs the largest Spanish-language public broadcasting network in the United States, with a reach of about 44 million households. This fall, his network is embarking on special election coverage hosted by veteran political journalist Gerson Borrero, featuring interviews with Democratic and Republican newsmakers and discussions of immigration, education, health care and the economy.

24 CLINTON MILLER

Pastor Brown Memorial Baptist Church Rev. Clinton Miller has brought comfort via virtual services to congregants who have found themselves mourning loved ones, unemployed and emotionally drained during the pandemic. Brown Memorial has been affected as well, leading Miller to call for rent relief for faith-based organizations and churches.

A member of the 2019 City

ROB WHITE; HITN

Jennifer Jones Austin helped end solitary confinement for inmates with health conditions.

The antipoverty advocate and author – with a memoir on surviving leukemia – has been fighting systemic racism in New York’s criminal justice system for two decades. As chair of the city Board of Corrections, Jennifer Jones Austin helped end solitary confinement for inmates with underlying health conditions in city jails and hopes to soon eliminate the practice entirely.

In her spare time, she hosts a Sunday morning talk radio show on WBLS.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MET COUNCIL, WE CONGRATULATE OUR CEO,

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September 21, 2020

City & State New York

Charter Revision Commission, he may also get a chance to fix the City Charter again now that the mayor wants another revision soon.

award-winner. Fisher regularly speaks out about the city’s most pressing issues, such as replacing Rikers Island and the best way to help the city recover from the coronavirus recession.

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MIKE KEOGH AND JUANITA SCARLETT

JONI YOSWEIN

Partners Bolton-St. Johns

President and CEO Yoswein New York

The Bolton-St. Johns partners embody colleague Emily Giske’s maxim: “It’s time to get to work.” Mike Keogh, a former City Council finance director, knows city and state budgets inside and out and works on issues like tax policy, procurement, labor and community outreach.

Juanita Scarlett, a Cuomo administration alum who managed strategy and public affairs for the Empire State Development Corp., advises clients in health care, energy, economic development and education.

26 ALYSSA AGUILERA

SARAH HOLT PHOTOGRAPHY; GREG MARTIN

Co-Executive Director VOCAL-NY Alyssa Aguilera has become one of the city’s most effective community organizers thanks to her group’s persistence pressuring the mayor to close Rikers Island, calling for a wealth tax and demanding City Council cut the NYPD’s budget. VOCAL-NY helped organize the highly visible Occupy City Hall encampment

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Risa Heller’s firm helps companies protect their reputations in a crisis.

to protest the budget, which earned the ire of Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who nixed a $2.25 million earmark the group anticipated receiving.

27 RISA HELLER

need Risa Heller to steer them safely back to shore – or at least show them how to handle an irate Twitter mob. Heller also helps with more serious calamities, like cleaning up the fallout from WeWork’s botched initial public offering and helping stabilize the real estate company when COVID-19 decimated the market.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since former Brooklyn Assembly Member Joni Yoswein founded her powerhouse lobbying and consulting firm, with a diverse portfolio of borough institutions. She guided Ikea in developing its first store in the city, secured government funding for Maimonides Medical Center, advised the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce on city budgetary issues and even helped Mister Softee keep its jingle amid a proposed noise ban.

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CEO Risa Heller Communications

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When brands get into a crisis of their own making, they

KENNETH FISHER

President and Park Administrator Prospect Park Alliance

The business law specialist and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce board member Ken Fisher definitely considers himself a lobbyist – and that’s a good thing for clients, who are getting a veteran political operator and New York Law Journal lifetime achievement

When offices, restaurants, and gyms closed earlier this year, the city’s parks became one of the few places people could gather safely. Susan Donoghue has done much to polish Brooklyn’s crown jewel, including a $3.2 million project to construct new entranceways on Flatbush Avenue. But the spike in

VOCAL-NY helped organize Occupy City Hall, which earned the ire of Corey Johnson.

Member Cozen O’Connor

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visitors spilling into Prospect Park and a $3.5 million shortfall left a trail of litter – and a need for volunteers to spruce it up.

31 KIMBERLY PEELER-ALLEN & GLYNDA CARR

summer and continues to provide professional opportunities for people of color to work in the beer industry.

FRANCES BRONET

Kimberly Peeler-Allen and Glynda Carr have spent their careers helping progressive Black women enter the political arena, raise money, corral volunteers, and win seats at every level of government. Their work helped elect 11 Black women to Congress, Letitia James to state attorney general, and Kamala Harris to the U.S. Senate. Their group also played a role encouraging Joe Biden to pick a Black woman as his running mate.

When universities canceled classes during the pandemic, Frances Bronet called on the Pratt community to use its expertise to address the health crisis. Pratt’s Made in NYC initiative helped local businesses apply for aid and digitize their offerings.

This semester, two-thirds of Pratt courses – including its first-year foundation seminar – will offer virtual instruction, in addition to the school’s extensive safety measures.

once COVID-19 cases declined to a trickle and has actively supported the ongoing Black Lives Matter protest movement. And as a top political consultant, she helped deliver a reelection victory for Rep. Yvette Clarke earlier this year.

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L. JOY WILLIAMS

ROB SOLANO

STEVE HINDY

Co-Founder and Chair Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn’s brewmaster and Cornell University’s 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year expects to lose as much as 40% of his business this year, with bars and restaurants shuttered for months and some permanently closing. But it’s not all bad news for one of America’s largest craft brewing companies: It expanded distribution to California last

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Co-Founders Higher Heights for America

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MARGO HAGOPIAN

City & State New York

L. Joy Williams leads the Brooklyn NAACP and has actively supported the ongoing Black Lives Matter protest movement.

President Pratt Institute

President Brooklyn NAACP L. Joy Williams sought to boost census participation among Black men, young children and seniors before the pandemic and demonstrations that have dominated Brooklyn’s attention for months. Her NAACP chapter continued its census outreach work

Peeler-Allen and Carr helped elect Letitia James as AG and Kamala Harris to the U.S. Senate.

Executive Director Churches United for Fair Housing Rob Solano has been fighting against displacement and gentrification in North Brooklyn across two mayoral administrations – and he has the battle scars to prove it.

His group is furiously trying to prevent a wave of evictions from happening this fall by demonstrating at the Brooklyn Housing Court and calling for Cuomo to cancel several months of rent. He also argued that requirements that tenants prove economic hardship are burdensome for undocumented people.

36 GREGORY CALLISTE

CEO NYC Health + Hospitals/ Woodhull The city’s public hospitals bore the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak’s ruthless toll, and Woodhull was no exception.

The Brooklyn medical center opened a new clinic in March but reached its capacity for treating coronavirus patients in early April. The pandemic forced Gregory Calliste to make tough staffing decisions and chastise workers for speaking with the media.

With COVID-19 contained, the hospital has recently treated victims of the rise in shootings.

37 WAYNE RILEY

President SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Dr. Wayne Riley saw the immediate danger that COVID-19 posed, so he launched a coronavirus

42 CityAndStateNY.com

38 DOMINICK STANZIONE

President and CEO Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center Dominick Stanzione has been CEO at Brookdale for three years – and the coronavirus outbreak is easily the most challenging crisis of his tenure.

The Brownsville hospital has been on the front lines of the pandemic since March, with doctors describing the experience as a “medical war zone” that did not spare medical workers. When the peak subsided, Brookdale’s emergency room shifted to treat the victims of gun violence as shootings surged.

a permanent home before signing a 30-year lease at Crown Heights’ Bedford-Union Armory in February. But the coronavirus outbreak forced Floyd Rumohr’s staff to pivot quickly to offer its support groups, exercise classes, and programs virtually. The online platform has provided an opportunity for the center to expand its audience and even offer web-based internships.

40 BERTHA LEWIS

Founder and President The Black Institute Bertha Lewis, a driving force in the Black Lives Matter movement, has criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio for being too slow to take action after Eric Garner’s death, citing that failure as a reason he shouldn’t run for president.

She also slammed de Blasio’s appointment of Dermot Shea to lead the New York City Police Department before protests about police accountability broke out. Lewis has urged the city to study how COVID-19 has impacted communities of color.

41 JEANINE RAMIREZ

Brooklyn Reporter NY1

39 FLOYD RUMOHR

CEO Brooklyn Community Pride Center The Brooklyn Community Pride Center had been searching for 11 years to find

The Black Institute’s Bertha Lewis has been a driving force in the BLM movement and a thorn in the mayor’s side.

NY1’s voice of Brooklyn has been dishing out scoops for a quarter of a century.

Jeanine Ramirez covered the coronavirus crisis with aplomb, profiling Orthodox Jewish female paramedics and devastated businesses in Sunset Park’s Chinatown.

When George Floyd was killed, Ramirez was there for his memorial service in Cadman Plaza, and she covered Brooklyn’s Blackout Day. She’s also made waves with her lawsuit alleging age and gender discrimination at work.

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CHELSEA MILLER

SCOTT LORIN

Chelsea Miller, the 23-year-old Flatbush activist and Columbia alum, formed Freedom March NYC in May when she and her friends organized a march to memorialize the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre. Miller saw the leadership vacuum during the George Floyd protests and raised more than $60,000.

She called for removing police officers from schools, creating a youth public advocate, stronger misconduct policies and ending qualified immunity.

Dr. Scott Lorin had seen plenty of infections at Mount Sinai Brooklyn, which has had to rip out ceiling and floor tiles to wipe out drug resistant bacteria. The coronavirus has been just as tenacious. Lorin, suffering from COVID-19 himself, coordinated part of the medical center’s pandemic response from a stretcher on the Upper East Side. By May, Mount Sinai doctors were running a convalescent plasma study to see if it improved patient survival.

Co-Founder Freedom March NYC

President Mount Sinai Brooklyn

THE BLACK INSITUTE; VICTOR GIGANTI

preparedness task force and held town halls for students, faculty and staff.

His hospital answered the governor’s directive to become a coronavirus-only facility for the pandemic’s peak – a challenge for SUNY Downstate, which receives 80% of its revenue from Medicare and Medicaid patients. The hospital had to raise money for protective gear for its medical workers.

September 21, 2020

September 21, 2020

City & State New York

to run his Build the Bench NY networking organization.

46 CHRISTOPHER TORRES

Executive Director Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector

André Richardson helped Brooklyn DAs Ken Thompson and Eric Gonzalez ascend to office.

the COVID-19 wave. Guimento welcomed an esteemed new chief of neurological surgery in August, and the hospital’s financial outlook received an A rating from Fitch in September.

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ANDRÉ RICHARDSON

ROBERT GUIMENTO

Principal Paragon Strategies

Methodist didn’t receive the onslaught that other frontline community hospitals received, although the pandemic was one of the most stressful periods in the Park Slope medical center’s history. But Methodist, led by Robert Guimento, has gained even more standing in the neighborhood for weathering

André Richardson has been stringing together impressive electoral victories for more than a decade, helping Brooklyn district attorney candidates Ken Thompson and Eric Gonzalez ascend to office, and steering Crown Heights upstart Zellnor Myrie to an upset against incumbent Jesse Hamilton for the state Senate in 2018.

Richardson has spent the year advising Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ reelection bid while continuing

President New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

LUISANNA TEJADA; STEVEN HARRIS

45

Mak warned of the economic calamities facing Brooklyn’s Chinatown.

Christopher Torres joined the BQX in January just as the city began a new community engagement phase for its proposed $2.7 billion waterfront streetcar system.

Torres’ task to keep the mayor’s favorite future transit system chugging ahead was made more difficult when the COVID-19 crisis postponed an environmental impact study.

Now Mayor Bill de Blasio says the fate of the 11-mile line will be up to his successor.

47 PAUL MAK

President and CEO Brooklyn ChineseAmerican Association Paul Mak heard about the danger of the coronavirus as far back as the approach of the Chinese New Year – and it still wasn’t early enough to prepare the region for the devastation that followed.

Mak warned of the economic calamities facing Brooklyn’s Chinatown when business slowed in March. He pushed neighbors to fill out the 2020 Census so that Sunset Park gets the resources it deserves.

48 JOVIA RADIX

Vice President Kasirer Last year, Jovia Radix ran in a City Council special election to succeed Jumaane Williams but ultimately lost to Farah

43

Louis in the low-turnout, multicandidate race. But Kasirer smartly scooped up the Flatlands native after she finished her law degree, and now Radix advises clients on city legislative matters and whether to support or oppose City Council initiatives.

Radix is also an active leader with the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club Young Democrats.

49 TARA MARTIN

Consultant Dunton Consulting A longtime labor advocate who did stints at the New York State Nurses Association and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Tara Martin joined Dunton Consulting earlier this year. Martin is ready to help progressive candidates win in 2020, and she has been helping the Joe Biden campaign raise money and organize in New York when most of the action has shifted from door-knocking to virtual hangouts.

50 MARGARITA LOPEZ TORRES

Judge Kings County Surrogate’s Court Margarita Lopez Torres famously refused to make patronage hires and then sued the state Board of Elections when she said the Brooklyn Democratic Party blocked her from seeking future judgeships. She gets along better with party leaders these days but was still primaried last year in her Surrogate’s Court race. She won with 53% of the vote, fending off two challengers, but she will reach the mandatory retirement age for judges next year.

44

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

September 21, 2020 For more info.

212-268-0442 Ext.2039

Email

legalnotices@cityandstateny.com Notice of Qualification of Expensify Payments LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/07/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/17/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Incorporating Services, Ltd., 3500 South DuPont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901, also the address to be maintained in DE. Arts of Org. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, Secy. of State of DE, 401 Federal St #4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of Courtney In Real Life, LLC filed with SSNY on March 2, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 405 East 54th Street, 5G, NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of ES ACUPUNCTURE PLLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 8/7/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to C/O Elham Salehin,2152 Ralph Ave, Suite 637 Brooklyn, NY, 11234. Any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qual. of INQUISITIONIS HOLDINGS LLC. Auth. filed with SSNY on 08/18/20. Office location: New York.

LLC formed in DE on 08/07/20. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to: 100 Avenue Of The Americas, 16th Floor, New York, New York, 10013. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901. Any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM Notice of Formation of Dazzling K Jewelry LLC l. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of state of NY (SSNY) on 06/10/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 5550 Netherland Ave, #2F BX, NY 10471. R/A: US Corp Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave, #202, BK, NY 11228.

Purpose any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of D Precision Mechanical LLC filed with SSNY on September 11, 2018. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 1193 E 56th Street, Brooklyn, NY. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

September 21, 2020

Notice of Formation of SwaineTrain LLC filed with SSNY on April 10, 2020. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 7014 13th Avenue Suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228 Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of 430 GRAND AVENUE, LLC. Arts. Of Org. f i l e d with SSNY on 02/08/05.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 425 Riverside Dr, #13d, New York, New York, 10025. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of POINTSFIVE LLC.Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 06/07/19.Office location:New York SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 220 East 42nd Street, 29th Fl.,New York, New York, 10017.Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qual. of TEMANI ADAMS, PLLC. Auth. filed with SSNY on 8/7/20. Office location: New York. PLLC formed in TX on 4/30/14. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to: 600 Mamaroneck Avenue, Suite 400, Harrison, NY, 10528. Arts. of Org. filed with TX SOS.PO Box 13697, Austin, TX, 78711.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 654 FLATBUSH LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/14/20 .Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 684 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11225. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of TRU MEDICAL MANAGEMENT, LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/04/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 774 Brodway, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, New York, 11206. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 1065 LIBERTY AVE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/20/13.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 65 Noye Lane, Woodmere, New York, 11598. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 10 WATER ST LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/03/20. Office location: Greene SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 353 Main Street, Catskill, New York, 12414. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of Thomas Title & Escrow, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/04/2020. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Wyoming (WY) on 05/02/2017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Cogency Global INC, 122 E 42nd St., New York, NY 10168. WY addr. of LLC: 1814 Warren Ave, Cheyenne, WY 82001.

Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of WY, 2020 Carey Avenue, Ste. 700, Cheyenne, WY 82002. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of SO NOHO LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/15/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Schwartz Levine PLLC, 150 Broadway, Ste. 1703, NY, NY 10038. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of 1066-1074 LIBERTY AVE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/20/13.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 65 Noye Lane, Woodmere, New York, 11598. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 1089 LIBERTY AVE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/20/13.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 65 Noye Lane, Woodmere, New York, 11598. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 1091 LIBERTY AVE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/20/13.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 65 Noye Lane, Woodmere, New York, 11598. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 26 N WARREN LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/31/20. Office location: Greene SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 353 Main Street, Catskill, New York, 12414.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 122 W 73 L.P.. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/30/20.Office location:New York SSNY desg. as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served.SSNY mail process to 485 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York, 10017.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 170 LACO, LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 10/17/16.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 2906 Shell Rd, Brooklyn, New York, 11224. Any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of 1095 LIBERTY AVE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/20/13.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 65 Noye Lane, Woodmere, New York, 11598. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 1097-1101 LIBERTY AVE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/20/13.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 65 Noye Lane, Woodmere, New York, 11598. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qual. of 1211 WESTERN AVE PROPERTY ASSOCIATES LLC. Auth. filed with SSNY on 04/19/19. Office location: New York.

LLC formed in DE on 04/12/2019. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to: 100 Wall Street Suite 2203 New York, New York, 10005. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 1964 AGENCY LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/13/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 727 Jerome St., Apt. 2, Brooklyn, New York, 11207. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of AAA PITKIN LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/04/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 109-19 Liverpool Street, S Ozone Park, New York, 11420.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Form. of GB VERVE, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/14/20. Office location: Onondaga SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 5024 Worthington Way, Fayetteville, New York, 13066. Any lawful purpose.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

September 21, 2020

Notice of Formation of ADE LOGISTICS LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/24/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 2665 Homecrest Ave, Suite 5b, Brooklyn, New York, 11235. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of JRS GAMING LLC.Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/25/20.Office location:New York SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 254 Park Avenue South, Suite Ph-N, New York, New York, 10010.Any lawful purpose.

7864 Arkabutla Road Owner LLC. Arts.of Org. filed with the SSNY on 7/24/20. Office: New York County. The LLC is designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 280 West 12th Street, 3E, NY, NY 10014.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of AVIYAN LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/19/20. Office location: Broome SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 2409 Charleston Ave, Vestal, New York, 13850. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of LI FAMILY GROUP LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/30/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 1957 84th St., Brooklyn, New York, 11214. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of BAY RIDGE RADIATION MEDICINE PLLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/31/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 374 Stockholm St., Suite C-08, Brooklyn, New York, 11237. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of JJ&AD REALTY LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/28/20 .Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 1376 Nostrand Avenue, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, New York, 11226.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SHAINAYA & SAMARA LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/27/07. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 146 West 29th St., 9th Fl., NY, NY 10001.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of CONSULTAGEN, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/16/20. Office location: Orange SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 1 Hamaspik Way, Monroe, New York, 10950. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qual. of CXL E NTE R TAINME NT COMPANY LLCAuth. filed with SSNY on 11/21/20. Office location: New York. LLC formed in DE on 09/12/19. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to: 11766 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500, Los Angeles, California, 90025. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901. Any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of GRC SERVICES LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/03/20.Office location: Richmond SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 652 Huguenot Avenue, Staten Island, New York, 10312. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of HAPPY VALLEY PLACE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/20/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 805 57th Street 4th Fl, Brooklyn, New York, 11220. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of IG CENTRAL, LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/06/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 635 W 42nd Street, New York, New York, 10036. Any lawful purpose.

Name of LLC: H2M Propaint Date filed: 06/04/2020 Address to be included: 11 washington blvd Mount Vernon, ny 10550 The Dress Maven LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/6/2020. Cty: Richmond. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail copy of process to the LLC: 4 Allen Court, Staten Isl., NY 10310. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of JERRY LOPEZ NEW YORK LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/04/20.

Location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent for service of process on LLC. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: 147W 40th Street, 2 floor New York, NY 10018 R/A: US Corp Agents, INC. 7014 13th Ave, #202, BK, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of Park Watch, LLC filed with SSNY on August 11, 2020. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: Courtney Stern 2832 Weeks Avenue Oceanside,NY 11572 .Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of SkyeVest Management, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/31/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Richard P. Altieri, Carnelutti & Altieri Esposito Minoli PLLC, 551 Madison Ave., Ste. 450, NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company. Articles of Organization of Ornos ASC Holdings, LLC were filed with the Sec. of State of NY (“SSNY”) on August 19, 2020. Office Location: Richmond County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to: 65 Broadway, #1400, NY, NY 100062503. Purpose: Any lawful business purpose.

PATALINO LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 8/14/2020. Off. Loc. : Hamilton Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, c/o Susan Patalino, P.O. Box 104, Lake Pleasant, NY 12108 . Purpose : Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of RUBY LEE DRAMA STUDIO LLC. Arts .Of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/24/20. Office location: Bronx SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 2100 Tiebout Avenue, Apt 207, Bronx, New York, 10457. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of MORVILLO, PLLC.Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/06/20.Office location:New York SSNY desg. as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 90 Broad St., 23rd Floor, New York, New York, 10008.Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Faye’s Couture Hair LLC filed with SSNY on June 8, 2020. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 1075 Castleton Avenue apt 6E Staten Island, NY 10310.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of HFP OG LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/04/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Cohen & Cohen, LLP, 767 Third Ave., 31st Fl., NY, NY 10017. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

WEEKEND ALL THE TIME, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/05/2020. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 200 Ave A, Apt 4A, NY, NY 10009. Reg Agent: Nusrat S El-Waylly, 200 Ave A, Apt 4A, NY, NY 10009. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qual. of SKW - B 33 WEST 9TH STREET PORTFOLIO, LLC. Auth. filed with SSNY on 07/03/20. Office location: New York.

LLC formed in DE on 05/28/20. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to: 600 Mamaroneck Avenue #400, Harrison, New York, 10528. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Form. of R & R EXCAVATING LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 06/18/20. Office location: Montgomery SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 314 Polin Road, Fultonville, New York, 12072. Any lawful purpose.

45

Notice of Formation of OverQuo Learning Services LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/24/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Jonathan Williams, 315 W. 55th St., Apt. 6A, NY, NY 10019.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of EMPIRE POLYMER HOLDINGS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/12/20. Office location: Onondaga SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 9841 Washingtonian Blvd Suite 300, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20878. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qual. of MEASURE 8 VENTURES CANADA, LLC Auth. filed with SSNY on 10/22/19. Office location: New York. LLC formed in DE on 10/09/19. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to: 300 Park Avenue 13th Floor, New York, New York, 10022. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of NELLY GROUP LLC. Arts .Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/05/20.

Office location: Bronx SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 600 W 239th St, Apt 1m, Bronx, New York, 10463.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Give and Go, LLC filed with SSNY on 07/20/2020. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 505 St Marks Ave, Apt. 6G, Broklyn, NY 11238. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

46

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Formation of DAMILL FAIR CASH SOLUTIONS LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/04/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 419 Blake Ave, Brooklyn, New York, 11212. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of GEORGE FERZLI MD PLLC.Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/17/20.

Office location:New York SSNY desg. as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served.SSNY mail process to 135 East 74th Street, New York, New York, 10021.Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SAMURAI WAGYU BEEF FARMS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/04/20. Office location: Onondaga SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 3312 Henneberry Road, Jamesville, New York, 13078. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Form. of MY HEMP DEPOT, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/21/20. Office location: Madison.

SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 2071 Elm Street, New Woodstock, New York, 13122. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of HEADLINES BY STEPHEN LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/05/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 979 Lenox Rd., Brooklyn, New York, 11212. Any lawful purpose.

FELIZ PILATES STUDIO LLC. 720 RIVERSIDE DRIVE, SUITE 1D NEW YORK, NY 10031 718-813-5853 REGISTERED DATE: 9/12/2011

Notice of Qual. of 5800 HWY 119 LLC. Auth. filed with SSNY on 08/12/20.

Office location: Putnam.

LLC formed in DE on 06/03/20. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to: 11 Timberline Ct, Putnam Valley, New York, 10579. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of formation of DeCristoforo Football, LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 8/17/2020. Off. Loc.: Richmond Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, 29 Hartford Ave, Staten Island, NY 10310.

Purpose: Any lawful act or activity 716 Broadway LLC. Art. of Org. filed with SSNY 7-15-20. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC for service of process.

SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to 716 Broadway LLC, 716 Broadway, Apt. 6, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Y&R REALTY MANAGEMENT LLC.Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 02/05/20.Office location:New York SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 99 Madison Ave Fl 601, New York, New York, 10016.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 164 BINGHAMTON CHICKEN LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 02/22/19. Office location: Broome SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 53 Knightsbridge Road, Suite 220, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854.

Any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

September 21, 2020

Notice of Qual. of AB COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE DEBT - B2 S.A.R.L. Auth. filed with SSNY on 08/19/20. Office location: New York.

LLC formed in LU on 03/09/15. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 1345 Avenue Of The Americas, New York, New York, 10105.

Arts. of Org. filed with LU SOS. Registre de Commerce et des Societes, 14 rue Erasme, L-1468 Luxembourg.. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of TYPT LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/03/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/30/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Tao Li, 650 Fifth Ave., Ste. 3301, NY, NY 10019. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Datapex LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 9/10/20. Office: Kings County. Juan Ramirez designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 382 Lefferts Ave 4F Brooklyn, NY 11225.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of J&Y CHARLTON LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 04/18/17.Office location:New York SSNY rocess to 70 Charlton Street, Unit 2c, New York, New York, 10014.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of DOLCE VENTURES LLC. Arts. Of Org. f i l e d with SSNY on 06/09/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 828 Belmont Ave., Apt. 1r, Brooklyn, New York, 11208. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Form. of 830 ELMIRA CHICKEN LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 02/22/19. Office location: Chemung.

SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 53 Knightsbridge Road, Suite 220, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of DOSE OF HEALTH LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/31/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 1205 Atlantic Avenue, P.O.Box 428, Brooklyn, New York, 11216. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of BOGARD NY LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/28/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 3121 36th Ave SE, Norman, Oklahoma, 73026. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of HERITAGE FUNERAL HOME LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/25/20.Office location: Richmond SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 180 Mansion Ave., Staten Island, New York, 10308. Any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qual. of RICHBROOK ADVISORS, LP. Auth. filed with SSNY on 06/30/20. Office location: New York.

LLC formed in DE on 06/24/20. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to: 1995 Broadway, 8th Floor New York, New York, 10023. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of WEINBERGER FAMILY HOLDING, LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/28/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 247 Seeley St., Brooklyn, New York, 11218. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of CHILLVIN LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/17/20.Office location:New York SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.SSNY mail process to 444 Madison Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, New York, 10022.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Siwanoy Wellness Three, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with (SSNY) on 9/2/20.

Off. Loc.: Westchester Co. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom proc. may be served & shall mail to 7 Columbus Ave., POB 64, Tuckahoe, NY 10707. Reg. agent Marks & Klein, LLP, 63 Riverside Ave., Red Bank, NJ 07701, is agent upon whom proc. may be served. Purp.: Any lawful Notice of Formation of Leading Factor, LLC filed with SSNY on 8/6/2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 450 37 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Siwanoy Wellness Two, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with (SSNY) on 9/2/20.

Off. Loc.: Westchester Co. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom proc. may be served & shall mail to 7 Columbus Ave., POB 64, Tuckahoe, NY 10707. Reg. agent Marks & Klein, LLP, 63 Riverside Ave., Red Bank, NJ 07701, is agent upon whom proc. may be served. Purp.: Any lawful Notice of Formation of Siwanoy Wellness One, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with (SSNY) on 9/2/20.

Off. Loc.: Westchester Co. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom proc. may be served & shall mail to 7 Columbus Ave., POB 64, Tuckahoe, NY 10707. Reg. agent Marks & Klein, LLP, 63 Riverside Ave., Red Bank, NJ 07701, is agent upon whom proc. may be served. Purp.: Any lawful Notice of Formation of Siwanoy Operations, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with (SSNY) on 9/2/20.

Off. Loc.: Westchester Co. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom proc. may be served & shall mail to 7 Columbus Ave., POB 64, Tuckahoe, NY 10707. Reg. agent Marks & Klein, LLP, 63 Riverside Ave., Red Bank, NJ 07701, is agent upon whom proc. may be served. Purp.: Any lawful Notice of Formation of Best Way Products LLC filed with SSNY on August 14, 2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served: 2167 Cruger Avenue, Bronx, NY 10462. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 7014 13th Ave #202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: E-commerce, any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of Artemis Learning Solutions, LLC filed with SSNY on August 17, 2020. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 2050 East 18th Street, A2, Brooklyn, NY 11229.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

September 21, 2020

Notice of Formation of Motivating & Transforming Lives LLC, LLC filed with SSNY on July 20, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of any process to LLC: 624 East 17th Street, Apt 1L, Brooklyn, NY 11226. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Signaturedfox, LLC filed with SSNY on July ,9, 2020 . Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 170-32 130th Ave 13E Jamaica , Ny, 11434. Purpose: Clothing company Notice of Formation of ANDIE TRUCKING LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/17/19.Office location: Richmond SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 82 St Edwards Lane, Staten Island, New York, 10309.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Form. of F 5 PROPERTIES LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/8/20. Office location: Rensselaer SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 7314 Oak Hill Circle, Rensselaer, New York, 12144.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 242 86TH STREET, LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/26/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 242 86th Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11228.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of JBMG HOME SOLUTIONS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/04/20. Office location: Niagara SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 7285 Balla Drive, North Tonawanda, New York, 14120 . Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 2173-65 LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/03/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 1991 Stillwell Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11223. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of R, Z & D LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/31/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 608 East 39th Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11203. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of BEASER CONSULTING LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/3/20.Office location: Richmond SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 12 Maiden Lane Suite 1a, Staten Island, New York, 10307. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SOZAI BROOKLYN LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/4/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 360 Furman Street Apt. 908, Brooklyn, New York, 11201. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of BRIDGEHALL GROUP VENTURES 1 LLC Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/24/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 1274 49th Street, Suite 476 Brooklyn, New York, 11219. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of THE BUSHWICK BLOCK, LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 8/27/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 218 Randolph St. 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, New York, 11237. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Essential Cleaning By Kristin LLC. Arts .Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/2/20.Office location:Orange SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.SSNY mail process to 114 Barr Lane, Monroe, New York, 10950. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of EXECUTIVE SANITIZING SOLUTIONS LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/13/20.Office location: Richmond SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 24 Sweetgum Ave, Staten Island, New York, 10314.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Essentially Pristine, LLC filed with SSNY on August 14 , 200. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 214 Hillside PL #1R, Eastchester, NY 10709 . Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Joanne Spataro, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 6/22/20. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to LLC’s registered agent: United States Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste. 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

EEI GLOBAL LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/03/2020.

Office loc: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: David Munits, 1181 Broadway Floor 6, NY, NY 10001. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Slaybeautee, LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on July 7, 2020.

Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 23 Ibsen Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10312. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of AB Somers & Associates, LLC (LLC).

Application for Authority filed with NY Secretary of State (SSNY) on 09/02/2020. LLC formed in DE on 03/10/2017. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: 1214 Fifth Avenue, 44A, New York, NY 10029. DE office: United States Corporation Agents, Inc., 300 Delaware Avenue, Suite 210-A, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation is filed with the Secretary of State, State of Delaware, 401 Federal St, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Blau Partners LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 06/18/2020. Location: New York. SSNY designated as agent for service of process on LLC. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to Blau Partners LLC, 1 West End Avenue Apt 21G, 10023 NY , Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qual. of STATEN ISLAND SYNDICATE LLC. Auth. filed with SSNY on 09/08/20.

Office location: Richmond. LLC formed in DE on 09/02/20. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to: 600 Mamaroneck Avenue #400, Harrison, New York, 10528. Arts. of Org. filed with DE SOS. Townsend Bldg. Dover, DE 19901. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Application for Authority of Foreign Limited Liability Company (“FLLC”).

Name: NYC PowerGen Holdings LLC. Application for Authority filed with the Secretary of State of New York (“SSNY”) on July 1, 2020. Jurisdiction of organization is the State of Delaware. Date of organization is December 30, 2015. Office location of the FLLC in this state: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of FLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to Dr. Donald Bronn, 322 West 57th St., #46U, NY, NY 10019.

The office required to be maintained in the FLLC’s jurisdiction of formation or its principal office is Business Filings Incorporated, 108 West 13th St., Wilmington, DE 19801. The authorized officer in the FLLC’s jurisdiction of formation where a copy of its articles of organization is filed is Secretary of the State of Delaware, 401 Federal Street, Suite 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SOUL FAMILY, LLC filed with SSNY on January 23, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 980 Putnam Avenue, #4A, Brooklyn, NY 11221.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of 17 Communications, LLC filed with SSNY on January 1, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 65 Ocean Avenue, 1F, Brooklyn, NY 11225. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

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Notice of Formation of ANNA KLINGER LCSW PLLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/3/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 107 Bond Stree Ste 2l, Brooklyn, New York, 11217. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of JSB FILMS LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/16/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 921 Washington Avenue, Apt. 4m, Brooklyn, New York, 11225. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of LAKESIDE HK ADVISORS LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/15/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 9 East 38th Street 6th Fl. New York, New York, 10016. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Form. of M & S COIN, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 8/10/20. Office location: Saratoga SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 608 Grooms Roadq, Clifton Park, New York, 12065. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of NYCHA PACT MEMBER LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 8/26/20.

Office location: Westchester SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to 90 Church Street 5th Floor, New York, New York, 10007 Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of R, D, D, & Z LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with SSNY on 8/31/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 372 East 32nd Street, Apt 1, Brooklyn, New York, 11226. Any lawful purpose..

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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Formation of RAISAT ISHAYAT LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/15/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 555 Euclid Ave., Brooklyn, New York, 11208. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of STATION SIDE PROPERTY LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/17/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 7012 15th Avenue, 1st Floor, Brooklyn, New York, 11228. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SUNRISE SD PARTNERS II LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/08/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 2036 East 27th Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11229. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of TD 168 LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/8/20. Office location: Kings SSNY desg.

As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 1668 Bay Ridge Ave, Brooklyn, New York, 11204.

Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 100 UNION AVE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/9/20.Office location: Richmond SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 450 Albourne Avenue, Staten Island, New York, 10309. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 149 12TH STREET LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/20/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 149 12th Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11215. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 2277 VICTORY BLVD LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/9/20. Office location: Richmond SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY mail process to 450 Albourne Avenue, Staten Island, New York, 10309. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of A&W SUPPLIERS LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/2/20. Office location Niagara SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 2823 Avenue Z, Brooklyn, New York, 11235. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of ALPHA PLACE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 07/24/20.Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 469 63 Street Fl1, Brooklyn, New York, 11220. Any lawful purpose.

D’OX AIR THEORY, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/31/20.

Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, ATTN: Joel S. Charleston, Esq., 11 Pearl Street, Valley Stream, NY 11581. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Winsmith Tax LLC filed with SSNY on June 29, 2020. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 425 W 23rd St. Apt. 8A New York, NY 10011. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of GPG4, LLC. Arts .Of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/15/20.Office location:Erie SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.SSNY mail process to 30 Brawnview, Orchard Park, NY 14127.

Any lawful purpose.

September 21, 2020

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T Mobility Services, LLC (AT&T) proposes the modification of existing AT&T facilities installed atop existing buildings at 517 West 113th St in New York, New York County, NY (Job #49310) and 8710 37th Ave in Queens, Queens County, NY (Job #49312) In accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the 2005 Nationwide Programmatic Agreement, AT&T is hereby notifying the public of the proposed undertaking and soliciting comments on Historic Properties which may be affected by the proposed undertaking. If you would like to provide specific information regarding potential effects that the proposed undertaking might have to properties that are listed on or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and located within 1/2 mile of the site, please submit the comments (with job numbers) to: Ramaker, Contractor for AT&T, 855 Community Dr, Sauk City, WI 53583 or via e-mail to his tor y@ramaker. c om within 30 days of this notice.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1331073, FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 180 7TH AVE NY, NY 10011.

NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. CHELSEA PASTA LLC NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of Marble Hall GP, LLC, Application of Authority Filed with Secy.

Of State of NY (SSNY) on 8/19/20. Off. Loc.: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: c/o LIHC Investment Group, One Portland Square, Suite 6A, Portland, ME 04101. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of GAH Corp LLC, fictitious name: Golden Age H o s pitality LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/27/20.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/10/20.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 304 East 65th St., NY, NY 10065. Address to be maintained in DE: 838 Walker Rd., Ste 21-2, Dover, DE 19904.

Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of GAH Management LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/27/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/10/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 304 East 65th St., NY, NY 10065. Address to be maintained in DE: 838 Walker Rd., Ste 21-2, Dover, DE 19904. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of OR 257 FLATBUSH, LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 06/04/20.

Office location: Kings SSNY desg. As agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY mail process to 485 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York, 10017. Any lawful purpose.

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (new tip heights 57.4’) on the building at 1017 6th Ave, New York, NY (20201625).

Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-8091202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice of Auction Sale is herein given that Access Self Storage of Long Island City located at 29-00 Review Avenue, Long Island City, N.Y. 11101 will take place on WWW.STORAGETREASURES.COM Sale by competitive bidding starting on October 2, 2020 and end on October 13, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. to satisfy unpaid rent and charges on the following accounts: Contents of rooms generally contain misc. #157-Joshua S. Folds; 1 Bike, 5 Garbage bags, 6 boxes, 3 plastic totes, 1 table, 2 window screens, 1 pair of skis #216-Henry Jackson; 2 ladders, 1 hand truck, 13 Rubbermaid, 1 toolbox, 5 boxes, 1 black bag, 1 luggage, pack of water and 2 milk crates #2101-Peter Hargrove; 30 + boxes, 14+ bags, 5 milk crates, 10 clothing bags, unit filled to the top #2122-Peter Hargrove; 2 large wood frames, 14+ boxes, 18+ bags, 7 clothing bags, unit filled to the top #2319-Neda Sarmast; 2 picture frames, 4 folding chairs, 8 black plastic bags, 4 plastic bins, vacuum, 9 assorted boxes, duffel bag and 2 metal rods #2464-Max Frankston; 1-beach chair, 1 tripod for painting, 30+ boxes, 1 rubber maid container. #3900-John McFaddin; 7 toolboxes, microwave, bike, speaker, air conditioner, amps, bags, 5 + boxes, metal locker #3904-Jorge Hernandez; 2 rugs, folding chair, soccer ball, gulf clubs, 1-instrument case, 2-small speakers, 1 duster, 7+ bags, 1-floating pool toy, 3 boxes, 1 leather bag #6120-Daddo Bogich; 1 box filled with wheels, 1 ladder, 2x4 metal uprights, 4x8 wood boards 4ft. assorted wood boards #4319-1-Quinsessa Harrison; Bags, plastic totes and a plastic organizer with drawers. #4604-1-Borjou Gudarzi; 1- file cabinet, 30 boxes, 1 round bucket, small tv The contents of each unit will be sold as a lot and all items must be removed from the premises within 72 hours. Owners may redeem their goods by paying all rent and charges due at any time before the sale. All sales are held “with reserve”. Owner reserves the right to cancel sale at any time.

Notice of Formation of Ume Blossom, LLC filed with SSNY on July 30, 2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 278 Bedford Park Blvd, 3C, Bronx, NY 10458. Purpose: any lawful act or activity NOTICE OF FORMATION of Full Moon and Company NYC, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 8/27/2020.

Location: Kings. SSNY designated as agent for service of process on LLC. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: Full Moon and Company NYC LLC, 450 Van Buren St Apt 2, Brooklyn, NY, 11221. Purpose: Any lawful purpose

Notice of Formation of FRIENDSHIP SC PRESERVATION, L.P. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/03/20. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LP: 60 Columbus Circle, 19th Fl., NY, NY 10023. Latest date on which the LP may dissolve is 12/31/2119.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

September 21, 2020

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (new tip heights 170.3’ and 172.3’) on the building at 26 E 63rd St, New York, NY (20201622). Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-8091202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

Notice of Formation of VV GLOBAL PARTNERS, LLC filed with SSNY on July 17, 2020.

Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 38 E 81st St. #4A, New York, NY 10028. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

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September 21, 2020

CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson, Administrative Assistant Lauren Mauro

Who was up and who was down last week

CREATIVE Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton

LOSERS

DIGITAL Project Manager Michael Filippi, Digital Content Manager Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, Digital Marketing Strategist Caitlin Dorman, Web/Email Strategist Isabel Beebe

BILL DE BLASIO & RICHARD CARRANZA If at first you don’t succeed, delay, delay again. Just days before New York City students who opted for blended learning were set to return to the classroom, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his schools chancellor made the abrupt decision to postpone the start for most students by a week or two, which many teachers didn’t learn about until the words came out of the mayor’s mouth at a press conference. Talk about not having a lesson plan.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

STEVE COHEN

MICHAEL CAPUTO

After a dogged pursuit and a few balks along the way, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen finally hit a home run with a multibillion-dollar deal to buy Major League Baseball’s most unpredictable franchise, the New York Mets.

ANDY PALLOTTA

NYSUT’s president sued the state to stop it from holding back money for schools – and the next day, the state committed to not withholding school aid due by the end of the month and not finalizing cuts until after the election. It shows that a little litigation can go a long way.

The Roger Stone protege and “bombthrowing Waldo” of state Republican politics is taking a medical leave from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after ranting on Facebook about seditious scientists and their purported plot to kill the president.

Nothing makes someone a bigger loser in Trumpland than apologizing.

LA’RON SINGLETARY

After weeks of protests, Rochester’s police chief was fired by the city’s mayor – despite being two weeks away from stepping down anyway.

WINNERS & LOSERS is published every Friday morning in City & State’s First Read email.

Sign up for the email, cast your vote and see who won at cityandstateny.com.

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Vice President, Advertising and Client Relations Danielle Koza dkoza@cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillan-Grace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Legal Advertising Executive Shakirah Gittens legalnotices@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Assistant Zimam Alemenew EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez

Vol. 9 Issue 36 September 21, 2020

IS ERIC GONZALEZ PROGRESSIVE ENOUGH FOR BROOKLYN? RACIAL JUSTICE

RISING CRIME

POLICE BRUTALITY

THE BROOKLYN POWER CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

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September 21, 2020

Cover photo Sean Pressley

CITY & STATE NEW YORK (ISSN 2474-4107) is published weekly, 48 times a year except for the four weeks containing New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas by City & State NY, LLC, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to City & State New York, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763.

General: (212) 268-0442, subscribe@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2020, City & State NY, LLC

JOHN MCCARTEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE; LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK

JOE BORELLI He may be a Trump-supporting Republican outnumbered 16-to-1 by New York City Council Democrats, but that doesn’t mean Joe Borelli sits there twiddling his thumbs.

He also eats! According to Twitter, he eats at home … and eats in his yard … and believe it or not, he also likes eating out! So he found a way to convince his flag-hating colleagues to overwhelmingly pass his bill that lets restaurants add a 10% surcharge to get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Mangia!

OUR PICK

OUR PICK

WINNERS

No matter how polarizing the political climate may be, one thing still unites New York lawmakers of all stripes – ensuring that those harmed in the 9/11 attacks get benefits.

So when it came to light that millions of dollars were diverted from a program for firefighters stricken by 9/11-related ailments, New York’s entire congressional delegation called on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to deliver the missing funds to FDNY vets. For other uplifting anecdotes – and dastardly deeds – read on.

EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editor-in-Chief Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com, Managing Editor Ryan Somers, Senior Editor Ben Adler badler@cityandstateny.com, Special Projects Editor Alice Popovici, Deputy Editor Eric Holmberg, Senior Reporter Jeff Coltin jcoltin@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Zach Williams zwilliams@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Rebecca C. Lewis rlewis@cityandstateny.com, Tech & Policy Reporter Annie McDonough amcdonough@ cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Kay Dervishi, Copy Editor Holly Pretsky

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SUMMIT SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 | 1:00PM-4:00PM When COVID 19 hit New York, construction was shut down completely.As it began to reopen first upstate and later in the City what precautions and safety practices were implemented to help New York.What new plans were put into effect based on lessons learned.What was the effect of COVID 19 on affordable housing units and planned housing sites.Hear from experts as we explore how to rebuild New York.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

GREG RUSS Chair & CEO, New York City Housing Authority

ROBERT E. CORNEGY JR. New York City Council Member

LEENA PANCHWAGH Chief Information Officer, New York City Department of Buildings

VICKI BEEN Deputy Mayor NYC Housing & Economic Development

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