Genovese Family Member Convicted of 20-year-old Mob Hit

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 24- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that a 64-year-old New Jersey man with ties to organized crime is facing life imprisonment after being convicted of murder for his role in a “mob hit” that occurred in the Bronx 20 years ago.

Paul Gaccione, a.k.a. Doc, was found guilty on one count of murder in the second degree in the death of Angelo Sangiuolo, who was 32-years-old when he was shot to death on June 3, 1992. The jury found that Gaccione, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, had acted-in-concert with others in causing Sangiuolo’s death.

State Supreme Court Justice Seth Marvin set sentencing for Wednesday, September 12, 2012 in Part T27. The judge could impose a maximum term of up to 25 years to life in prison.

The jury heard testimony that Gaccione was the driver of a stolen van in which the deceased was a passenger when he was shot numerous times in the torso and head. Following the “hit” in the vicinity of Wilkinson and Westchester Avenues, Caccione drove the van into the parking lot of a nearby McDonald’s Restaurant at 1515 Williamsbridge Road and abandoned the stolen vehicle with the body in it.

During the trial, witnesses testified that the murder had been arranged by Angelo Prisco, a member of the Genovese Organized Crime Family and carried out at Prisco’s direction by John Leto, who shot Sangiuolo to death. The deceased was in the van with Gaccione and Leto under the pretense that Prisco had asked them to help Sangiuolo resolve some problem.

Both Prisco and Leto were prosecuted and convicted for their roles in this killing as well as other crimes, by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The case against Gaccione was referred to the Bronx District Attorney for prosecution because federal authorities lacked jurisdiction under the RICO Statute. Gaccione could not be charged under the federal enterprise corruption law solely on the basis of his participation in the murder.

The case against Gaccione is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Robert Caliendo, of the Rackets Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Glucksman of the Investigations Division.

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Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Cool Plan for Kingsbridge Armory

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Cool Plan for Kingsbridge Armory: BRONX, NEW YORK, August 23- In front of the Kingsbridge Armory, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and a host of elected officia...

Cool Plan for Kingsbridge Armory

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 23- In front of the Kingsbridge Armory, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and a host of elected officials joined with New York Rangers’ legend Mark Messier and Olympic Gold Medalist Sarah Hughes to announce their support for the Kingsbridge National Ice Center proposal for the historic armory.

The Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) would bring a total of nine regulation hockey rinks to the Kingsbridge Armory, featuring a 5,000 seat showplace area as its anchor, making it one of the largest ice sports centers in the world.

The developers behind the Kingsbridge National Ice Center proposal have made assurances that all jobs created by the development will pay a “living wage,” that local hiring will be handled through the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, that more than 50,000 square feet of community space will be made available to area organizations and that an education program modeled after the successful Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation program in Philadelphia will be incorporated as part of the project. This LEED Gold, sustainable development is anticipated to bring $250 million in private investment to the northwest Bronx.

“Our borough is home to the greatest baseball team, and will see a top-flight golf course and state of the art tennis center take shape in our borough over the next few years. With the development of perhaps the greatest ice sports center in the United States right here at the Kingsbridge Armory, the Bronx will stand at the forefront of athletics for the entire region,” said Diaz. “Given the developers commitment to ‘living wage’ jobs, local hiring and community programming, it is clear that the Kingsbridge National Ice Center project is the right fit for our borough.”

“Winning the Stanley Cup with the Rangers was a tremendous moment in the history of New York hockey,” said Mark Messier. “But when the doors open for the first time at the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, it will literally change the sport, as well as New York, forever. With the world’s greatest ice sports facility right here in the Bronx, New York City is destined to be the proud home of countless NHL champions and Olympic gold medalists to come.” 

“Becoming a champion figure skater has long been one of the few dreams you have to leave New York City to achieve,” said Sarah Hughes, 2002 Olympic Gold Medalist in Women’s Figure Skating and a partner in the KNIC development. “The Kingsbridge National Ice Center will mean a world of new possibilities for boys and girls in the Bronx and throughout the five boroughs. More than just skating rinks, this facility will offer incredible educational and fitness initiatives that will shape future generations in this community.”

“The Kingsbridge National Ice Center will transform this incredible piece of history into an awe-inspiring international destination and a source of pride for the Bronx and all of New York City,” said Kevin Parker, the founder of KNIC and partner in the project. “This project will create jobs and economic activity in the Bronx, support important community and educational initiatives, and provide New Yorkers with unprecedented access to a variety of spectacular ice sports.”

“Today's proposal proves that you can have responsible development in the Bronx which provides living wage jobs for New Yorkers and builds stronger communities. We are proud to have worked with the Borough President and the community to help pave the way for a Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment that will bring decent jobs to the area.  It shows that when we work together there are real solutions to the challenges of building in this city in a way that benefits everyone,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

"The Kingsbridge Armory has the potential to be an important economic engine for the surrounding Kingsbridge community as well as the rest of the Bronx. As a member of the community and a representative for the area, my major concern has been that regardless of the project, Bronxites and neighbors feel that the Armory is used by the community and that it brings good, well-paying jobs to local residents. I am excited to begin the next step in making our dreams for the Kingsbridge Armory a reality,” said State Senator Gustavo Rivera.

"Once transformed, the Kingsbridge Armory will again be a vibrant center in the Bronx," said Jonathan Richter, a KNIC partner. "Through a diverse array of community programming, KNIC will help lead the way in improving academic performance and incentivizing active and healthy living among young people in the Bronx, serving as a model for childhood education and fitness."

“The creation of a world class ice-skating facility that will provide athletic opportunities to everyone from local residents to Olympic champions would realize a dream that arose out of my daughters’ figure skating training at the Olympic facility in Lake Placid,” said City Council Member G. Oliver Koppell.

“By all measures, the transformation of the Kingsbridge Armory into the Kingsbridge National Ice Center would have a profound, positive economic impact on the Bronx and the entire city,” said Carl Weisbrod, KNIC consultant and partner at HR&A Advisors and the founding President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “KNIC would be a true economic engine that would create hundreds of permanent and construction-related living wage jobs, and support hundreds more. This global destination would also bolster neighborhood businesses and generate significant new spending and tax revenue for New York City by bringing in millions of visitors to the Bronx, not only from the surrounding area, but from across the country and around the world."

“In 1996, the Bronx City Council delegation and I allocated $27 million in order to secure the re-development of the Kingsbridge Armory.  It has always been my position to develop the Armory and help create jobs in order for our Bronx community to completely benefit from this project.  I stand with my colleagues in elected office, including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who has provided strong leadership in getting this project off the ground.  I stand with them in support of the re-development of the Kingsbridge Armory,” said Assemblyman Jose Rivera.

KNIC is estimated to generate approximately 885 construction-related jobs in the Bronx, as well as 170 full-time equivalent permanent positions at the facility. The operations of the facility will ultimately support a total of 380 permanent jobs in the borough, and net new economic activity of more than $42 million annually. With the development of the North Parcel, an additional 520 jobs are expected for the Bronx through both construction and ongoing operations. KNIC has agreed in writing that each of these jobs will pay a “living wage.”

In addition to the creation of “living wage” jobs, KNIC has agreed to handle its local hiring process through the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (BOEDC). The BOEDC has run successful hiring programs for a number of borough businesses, including those retail stores at the Gateway Mall and FreshDirect.

“The Kingsbridge National Ice Center will provide the local businesses with a much needed economic shot in the arm.  The thousands of spectators as well as those participating in events will now be able to use the Kingsbridge business corridor to eat at the exceptional restaurants in the area, as well as the stores surrounding this historic structure.  The ice center will create jobs and produce millions in revenue for the City and the Bronx as the world’s largest ice arena becomes yet another exceptional sports destination here in the Bronx,” said Marlene Cintron, president of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.

“The addition of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center to the already diverse Bronx destinations would be a positive step in attracting more visitors to our borough.  This project will enhance the visibility of this neighborhood to national as well as international travelers” said Olga Luz Tirado, executive director of the Bronx Tourism Council.

The KNIC will also feature an education program modeled after the wildly successful Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation in Philadelphia. In addition to providing inner-city youth with an opportunity to play hockey, the program includes a strong education component that has created new and positive opportunities for at-risk youth in Philadelphia. Statistics show that this program has been a success, as participating students have seen an increase in their matriculation rate from 46 percent to 97 percent, school attendance increased by 70 percent and academic performance increased by 62 percent. In addition, unsatisfactory behavior has decreased by 54 percent.

The KNIC proposal will also feature more than 50,000 square feet of community space, which will be made available to neighborhood organizations. In total, the project is expected to bring tens of thousands of individuals to the Bronx from other areas each year, opening up the boroughs restaurants, businesses and other attractions to an entirely new audience.

“This education program, combined with this expansive community space, will be a real amenity to the people of not only the northwest Bronx, but the entire borough. The KNIC will generate commerce, new tourism and education opportunities for the Bronx as well,” said Borough President Diaz.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation, which will eventually choose the future tenant of the Kingsbridge Armory, is expected to make their decision before the end of 2012.

“We stand together today to send our message to the City in one voice: the Kingsbridge National Ice Center is the right choice for the Bronx. We urge the City to show their faith in this proposal and give this developer the opportunity to create an innovative, unique and complimentary project in the historic Kingsbridge Armory,” said Diaz.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Tracey Towers faces 65% in rent increases

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Tracey Towers faces 65% in rent increases: By Michael Horowitz BRONX, NEW YORK, August 23- The three-percent increase in carrying charges that Co-op City shareholders face pales ...

Tracey Towers faces 65% in rent increases

By Michael Horowitz

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 23- The three-percent increase in carrying charges that Co-op City shareholders face pales in comparison with the increases that residents at Tracey Towers, a Mitchell-Lama development in the Mosholu Parkway area, are facing.

At Tracey Towers, resident are facing rent increases of 65 percent over the next four years under an order from the city agency that oversees the 869-unit development.

Tenant leaders at the second-largest rental property in the Bronx are reportedly weighing a legal action aimed at blocking the increases, which include a 16-percent hike in rent in September.

Tenants at Tracey Towers, for over a year, have been fighting against what they term precipitous rent increases, arguing that the increases will make living in that community unaffordable.

Even without the increases, which the managers of RY Management first applied for in the spring of 2011, rents at Tracey Towers are already significantly higher than carrying charges in Co-op City. The average rent at the Mosholu Parkway property, which has long had door attendants around the clock, is reportedly $1,290 per month.

RY Management, the landlord of Tracey Towers, proposed the rent hikes in the spring of last year, saying that they were needed to pay for capital improvements.

However, tenant leaders, for the last year, have argued that a $4-million loan from the city, which was supposed to be used for roof and façade repairs, was diverted for other purposes.

The city's Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) has said that the loan money was diverted to pay for emergency heat and hot-water repairs.

Tracey Towers desperately needs roof and façade repairs, HPD has reportedly stated. The agency has promised Section 8 vouchers for eligible residents who need them to stay in the Mosholu Parkway complex.

An RY spokesman reportedly said that his firm will work to prevent displacement of residents and will offer new bathrooms and kitchens to residents.

Residents at the Mosholu Parkway development, saying that they should not be penalized for RY Management's failures at Tracey Towers, are concerned that the impending increases there will destroy their community's affordability.

Jean Hill, president of the Tracey Towers Tenant Association, reportedly told the Daily News, “This (the impending rent increases) is going to put grandma out on the street.”

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): The Boss is Back

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): The Boss is Back: Ramirez Still a Key Player,  Helps Lobby for Co-op City Security By Michael Horowitz BRONX, NEW YORK, August 23- Former Bron...

The Boss is Back

Ramirez Still a Key Player, 

Helps Lobby for Co-op City Security

By Michael Horowitz

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 23- Former Bronx County Democratic Leader Roberto Ramirez, a lawyer and one of the city's “wheeler dealers,” remains a key player in Bronx politics through the MirRam Group, the consultants who ran State Sen. Adriano Espaillat's recent Democratic Party Primary campaign against Rep. Charles Rangel.

During his days as a political leader in the Bronx, Ramirez played a key role in the political campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer for U. S. Senator, but also played a key role in overturning the state's commuter tax for suburbanites, which provided a key funding source for the MTA.

Ramirez, working with friends and associates from his days as Bronx Assemblyman and Bronx County Leader, founded his political-consulting and lobbying group after leaving Bronx politics in 2000.

The MirRam Group, although influential in the Bronx, is not considered as politically influential as a number of other political-consulting groups in the city.

The former Bronx County Democratic Leader served as the borough's political boss from 1996 to 2000 and as an Assemblyman in the borough between 1990 and 2000. He was the first Latino to be chosen as a county leader for one of the city's boroughs.

Ramirez, who was born in Puerto Rico, remains, today, one of the city's most influential Latinos, many knowledgeable civic and political leaders agree.

The former Bronx County Democratic Leader counts Marion Scott, the major principal of Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc., as one of his many friends and acquaintances, Herbert Freedman, Co-op City's principal spokesman and a major principal of the Scott firm, said, this week, in response to e-mails.

Scott, a former top official of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, counts a number of current and former political leaders within both the Republican and Democratic parties as friends and acquaintances.

Ramirez, for his part, ran former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer's unsuccessful campaigns for Mayor in 2001and 2005.

During his tenure as Bronx County Democratic Leader, Ramirez, somewhat successfully, tried to mend fences among the party's warring factions. He hand-picked political leaders to run for legislative offices and for judgeships. The candidates he supported, owing to the organization's political clout and superior “get-out-the vote” efforts, won far moiré election than they lost.

However, Ramirez's major foray into Co-op City politics as Bronx County Democratic Leader, proved, in 2000, to be unsuccessful.

That year, Ramirez decided to throw his weight behind Larry Seabrook's challenge to Rep. Eliot Engel's continuation as Congressman for Co-op City and surrounding areas in the northeast Bronx.

Engel defeated Seabrook, who was convicted last month on subsequent political-corruption charges, by a whopping margin in the 2000 Democratic Party Primary.

 ###

Ramirez's firm hired to safeguard Security

By Michael Horowitz

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 23- The Riverbay board, last Wednesday night, approved the hiring of Roberto Ramirez's firm of political operatives to help safeguard Co-op City's Public Safety Department.

The MirRam Group LLC, spearheaded by former Bronx County Democratic Leader Roberto Ramirez, will be paid $7,500 per month for one year, starting in September, to lobby state legislators for passage of a bill that would safeguard the power of Public Safety officers to make arrests and function in the role of peace officers in the local community.

State Sen. Jeffrey Klein has agreed to sponsor the legislation, which would be in the form of an amendment to the New York State Criminal Procedure Law, in the State Senate. Assemblyman Michael Benedetto has agreed to sponsor the legislation in the State Assembly.

The vote in support of hiring Ramirez's firm to represent Co-op City's interests was 14-1 when the matter came up for a vote at the July 31. Riverbay board meeting. Evelyn Turner cast the only vote in opposition to hiring Ramirez's firm, which also includes Luis Miranda, a former director of the Mayor's Office of Hispanic Affairs, and Eduardo Castell, a former deputy comptroller of New York City.

The MirRam Group most recently ran State Sen. Adriano Espaillat's unsuccessful campaign against Rep. Charles Rangel in a widely publicized Democratic Party campaign in June.

Co-op City's Public Safety Department and members of the Riverbay board have been persuaded that Riverbay's security department could be in jeopardy. The fear is that the NYPD will eliminate its Special Patrolmen's Division, which currently gives Co-op City's Public Safety Department officers the right to serve in their current capacities.

Co-op City's Public Safety Department currently stands as a last line of defense against crime in the local community, so major limits in the authority for the department's officers could be a major blow to the community.

Without the NYPD's Special Patrolmen's Division, in the absence of the state legislation that has been proposed, the status of the community's Public Safety officers would be reduced to that is security guards.

“Such a development would devastate this department,” Frank Apollo, Co-op City's public safety chief reportedly stated earlier this year.  “It would devastate the community because we would no longer be able to maintain the same level of safety and security and very possibly no longer be able to continue as one of the safest communities within New York City.”