Mayor Adams hires tax evader non-profit CEO to stop gun violence

 

THE CITY

With shootings on the rise in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday named as his new “gun czar” the head of a taxpayer-funded “violence interrupter” nonprofit whom investigators had found used the group to line his pockets and employ his relatives.

Andre Mitchell, executive director of the nonprofit Man Up Inc, will serve as volunteer co-chair of a task force addressing gun violence as part of Adams’ campaign to reverse the trend of mayhem that’s plagued city streets since just prior to the pandemic.

Since 2017, Mitchell’s group has won nearly $20 million in city contracts to perform “anti-gun violence” work from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, an arrangement that greatly expanded even after the city Department of Investigation (DOI) in 2019 alleged financial improprieties and nepotism at Man Up. The most recent extension ends July 1.

And during the time City Hall extended the length and amount of the contract, there’s no record that Man UP filed tax documents with the state Attorney General’s Office or the Internal Revenue Service as is required of active nonprofits. The last document on file dates back to tax year 2018.

Man Up is one of several groups that rely on neighborhood leaders — some of whom have been convicted of crimes themselves but have done their time and are turning their lives around — to intervene with potential shooters before they act, by winning their trust and cooperation. 

The Biden administration recently embraced this local tactic, announcing it would target increased funding for “evidence-based community violence intervention programs.”

Adams dismissed questions about the DOI findings, noting that he himself hired his own brother as a security advisor at City Hall. He also stressed the urgency of tackling gun violence: “You’re talking about DOI? I’m talking about DOA. People are dying.”

Added the mayor: “Some people say, ‘But what about his background?’ What about all our backgrounds? We are not looking for a nun. We’re looking for someone to be in the streets and embrace our people. We’re looking for the right person for the job. And AT (Mitchell) is the right person for the job.”

Ever since this violence interruptor "non"-profit got more funding from the city and the federal government, shootings have skyrocketed. 

Just thought I leave that right here.

One less friend at the QNS

 

 Queens Ledger

Former New York City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley has stepped down from her position as chairperson of the board of Friends of the QNS, a nonprofit organization that she founded to advocate for expanded commuter rail-based transit across the borough.

Crowley said her decision to step down was made in order to focus fully on her candidacy for New York State Senate District 17.

“It has been an honor to serve as the chair of Friends of the QNS,” Crowley said.

The “QNS” proposal was introduced by Crowley to improve transit within her former Council district. Specifically, the plan sought to revive the former Lower Montauk rail line, which stretches nine miles from Hunters Point in Long Island City, through central Queens neighborhoods including Middle Village, Glendale, and Ridgewood, to the Jamaica hub.

This portion of central Queens is commonly referred to as one of the City’s “transit deserts,” since no passenger rail currently serves many of these neighborhoods.

In a 2018 report from the Department of Transportation, it was confirmed that the defunct rail line could be converted to include passenger service at a fraction of the cost of other major expansion projects like Manhattan’s 2nd Avenue Subway.

The New York State Senate district seat that Crowley is currently running for would include a vast majority of the former Lower Montauk Line within its boundaries. It was recently created by state lawmakers following the 2020 Census and will include Glendale, Maspeth, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Ozone Park, and Greenpoint in Brooklyn within its boundaries.

But while Crowley is stepping down from her position as the board’s chair, she said she vows to continue to advocate not only for the QNS rail but for a greenway along the QNS line, if elected.

“Queens has been growing at a tremendous pace, especially Long Island City,” Crowley said. “For this borough to keep up with its growth, we need to provide better transit to our residents. It’s not ambitious, it’s common sense.”

This proposal to restore the former commuter rail is similar to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 14-mile IBX plan, which seeks to add a train line from Bay Ridge in Brooklyn to Woodside, Queens.

Both use existing, underused train rights-of-way, converting them to passenger service from strictly freight service.

Crowley also indicated that she would work to include a dedicated bike lane running parallel to QNS, because “an intolerable” number of bicycle accidents and fatalities have been occurring in recent years.

“If we want people to use alternative transportation, we want them to feel safe as they do so. A slightly revised QNS ‘rail and trail’ plan would help that goal,” Crowley said.

James Sanders was living large on taxpayers dime while in City Council

NY Post 

 A state lawmaker from Queens was slapped with a $15,000 fine for accepting free meals and trips from a nonprofit that he boosted during his time on the City Council — all of which were paid for by Big Apple taxpayers, according to the city’s ethics watchdog.

State Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-Queens) scored five stays in luxury accommodations at a resort in the Poconos and five swank Hudson River dinner cruises for himself and family members from the Margert Community Corporation, a non-profit that provides rent assistance and other social services to low-income families.

All told, Sanders cashed in on gifts worth at least $4,000 from the MCC as he doled out more than $840,000 in city funds to the group, the Conflict of Interest Board said in its report, which was released Tuesday.

COIB determined that Sanders broke ethics rules an astonishing 18 times between 2008 and 2012 as he represented Far Rockaway and adjacent neighborhoods as a city lawmaker.