Chief_041825

Since 1897

Show them the money.

Members of the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY are frustrated that, three months after ratifying their contract, they still haven’t received their ratification bonuses, retroactive pay or raises. The union’s rank and file OK’d the pact, which provides a $3,000 ratification bonus and two retroactive 3-percent raises, on Jan. 13.

The contract covers about 30,000 faculty, adjuncts and other staff in the public university system, and spans March 2023 through November 2027. The deal provides compounded raises of 13.4 percent and raises the minimum pay for adjuncts by 29 percent over the course of the pact by increasing the pay for teaching a three-credit class from $5,500 to $7,100.

But members have not received any of the payments, including their ratification bonuses. And the union has not yet been given any timeframe as to when members can expect the payout.

“We did all of the work we needed to do at the bargaining table and now their job is implementation. We just want them to do their job,” the PSC’s president, James Davis, said during a phone interview. Davis said that the union was told that CUNY has been working with the state and city comptroller’s offices in order to implement the payments.

Several PSC members urged CUNY Board of Trustees members to act to ensure the raises would be paid out as quickly as possible during a meeting earlier this week. “We have heard that the state is still waiting on information from CUNY. What is happening? Why isn’t this work complete?” said

Ramos pledges job program if elected mayor

BY DUNCAN FREEMAN

dfreeman@thechiefleader.com

“By 2030, we will guarantee that every New Yorker ages 18 to 26 is either employed or enrolled in school, because no young person in New York City should be left out.”

That was the promise state Senator Jessica Ramos made last week when announcing her “One Good Job” platform, an employment guarantee she pledged to implement if elected mayor this year. Speaking inside Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan April 9, Ramos called on the legacies of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia to pitch her plan as a “modern day New Deal for our city.”

“Now it’s time to reclaim what we’ve lost and reimagine it for a new era,” said Ramos, chair of the state Senate’s Labor Committee.

“We must build a city that works for all of us.”

Ramos’ vision entails upping career and technology training for New Yorkers in public high schools, making pre-apprenticeships, vocational trainings and trade schools

more available and offering free

CUNY tuition to those studying for “high demand careers” such as in clean energy, health care and elder care.

The Queens senator said she envisioned union workers building affordable housing on city-owned property, young people working on climate resiliency projects and New Yorkers installing solar panels while making a wage high enough to raise a family and live in an increasingly expensive city.

“We must build our own safety net, our own workforce,” Ramos said.

The senator was vague on how much the program would cost or how it would be funded, but said it would require commitments from both the city and stateand pledged to create a chief revenue officer position to run the program and locate funding opportunities. The city already creates jobs for tens of thousands of young people through the Summer Youth Employment Program, first founded in 1963.

Ramos said that the SYEP, which placed more than 100,000 New Yorkers into jobs, internships and career

pathways in both summer 2022 and 2023, according to the mayor’s office, would be expanded under her jobs guarantee and could act as a model for the larger program. The SYEP receives city, state, federal and private funding.

An expanded program could “give young people the opportunity to really focus on their studies knowing that the city is going to be able to help them land an entry-level position in the sector of their interest of their choosing,” she said.

Remedy to vacancies

Ramos’ program would see an influx of young people into a civil service that’s struggled to recoup staffing lost during the pandemic and that is currently contending with more than 15,000 vacancies, according to the city comptroller’s office. The Department of Education accounts for nearly one-third of those vacancies, but other agencies, such as the Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Department of Probation, have a significant portion of

See RAMOS, page 5

Union agrees to voluntary, small-scale pilot program of 12-hour tours

BY RICHARD KHAVKINE richardk@thechiefleader.com

After nearly two years of hard bargaining, the union representing NYPD sergeants and the city have chiseled a tentative contract agreement. The retroactive 5-year deal, which will be put to a vote of the Sergeants Benevolent Association’s rank and file in the coming days, would net sergeants who were in the rank December 2021 and who work through Dec. 9 a compounded raise of nearly 19 percent.  Notably, though, and for the first time in years, all of the department’s roughly 4,400 sergeants will be earning more than the officers they supervise. And those sergeants who earned below top pay as of Dec. 10 will be bumped to the maximum salary of $134,819 as of that date. The deal, if approved, will also remedy a pay

disparity that had about 1,200 sergeants with years in the supervisory title earning less than those newly promoted into the rank.

Noting the time it took to reach the agreement, the SBA’s president, Vincent Vallelong, said it had “a lot of moving parts.”

“Contracts that get done very fast usually turn out to be bad contracts,” he said at Tuesday afternoon’s City Hall announcement. “And we took our time with this and we made sure that this was going to be … in the best interests for the men and women sergeants

See CUNY, page 6

EMS unions ditch Adams, endorse Cuomo

BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com

Two unions representing more than 4,700 FDNY EMTs, paramedics, EMS officers and fire protection inspectors endorsed former Governor Andew Cuomo for mayor of New York City last week.

The District Council 37 locals’ endorsements represented a rebuke of Mayor Eric Adams, with the incumbent failing to live up to his promise of granting EMS workers’ pay parity with other first responders.

“We felt he was the man most qualified,” Vincent Variale, president of Local 3621, the EMS officer’s union, said of Cuomo. “I think he’ll be more reasonable and rational, and he understands the importance of keeping experienced workers on the job.”

Cuomo, unlike Adams, did not promise the unions that he would rectify their longtime pay parity issues in return for their endorse-

‘He

— Local 2507’s Oren Barzilay

ment, leaders of the two unions said. But Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507, which represents EMS workers and fire protection inspectors, said that Cuomo understands the plight of the city’s lowest-paid uniformed first responders and has supported EMS workers in the past.

“We’re just looking to have a relationship with the mayor who will at least have an ear for us and not just tell us what we want to hear,” Barzilay said. “He has shown in his history that he’s willing to help our men and women.”

Cuomo provided EMS workers with needed personal protective equipment early on in the Covid-19 pandemic when other FDNY, city and state leaders refused to do so, Barzilay said. The union leader called Cuomo directly to request the PPE at the time, Barzilay said, and Cuomo delivered.

The former governor, who resigned in August 2021 following a flurry of sexual harassment allegations, also exempted EMS workers from a Social Security offset in Tier 6 pension reforms, Barzilay said, and has signed bills supporting 9/11 first responders and survivors.

“Honored to have the endorsement of our EMS first responders who are on the frontlines of every emergency,” Cuomo wrote on his

social media pages in response to the endorsement. “They keep our loved ones alive when tragedy strikes.”

Before the nod from the EMS unions, Cuomo received endorsements from Teamsters Local 237, Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the city’s District Council of Carpenters, the Deputy Sheriff’s Benevo-

600 beer delivery workers strike in city, Long Island

BY CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com

Hundreds of workers who deliver beer to bars, restaurants and other food and drink establishments went on strike for a second day Wednesday as part of their fight for a contract.

About 600 delivery workers at Manhattan Beer & Beverage Distributors who distribute beer walked off the job Tuesday to demand that their employer negotiate fairly. The workers’ contract expired on Monday, the Laundry, Distribution, and Food Service Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU said in a press release.

The employees, who work at four of Manhattan Beer & Beverage Distributors’ five warehouses, deliver domestic and imported beers, wines and other beverages from about 300 brands, including Samuel Adams, Corona and Modelo, to bars, bodegas and supermarkets across the city, in Westchester and Long Island. The company, which operates more than 350 delivery trucks, is headquartered in Hunts Point.

Over the past several months, the union has filed several unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Manhattan Beer, including claims alleging bad faith bargaining.

Manhattan Beer & Beverage Distributors did not return a request for comment.

Alberto Arroyo, co-manager of the LDFS, said that the union has proposed that Manhattan Beer pay an additional $1.50 an hour to increase future pension benefits, which he argued the company could “easily implement.” But the union alleged that Manhattan Beer has been going outside of union negotiations to try to convince the workers directly to allow the company to exit the employees’ pension plan.

“Manhattan Beer has provoked this and brought us to the brink of

a strike by trying to get around the union and bargain directly with the workers. This is disrespectful, an unlawful slap in the face to these workers, and has made negotiations harder. The company should know better than to commit unfair labor practices,” Arroyo said Monday, ahead of the strike’s start. He continued, “And, at the bargaining table, the company is demanding that these workers agree to allow the company to leave the pension fund. That would cause drastic reductions to their future pensions and mean newer employees would have no pension benefit. Without monthly pension benefits when they retire, these workers will struggle in old age to pay for housing, groceries and other necessities of life. That’s unacceptable.”

Joe Gonzalez Jr., a beer deliv-

ery worker at Manhattan Beer, said that he and the other delivery workers were the “backbone” of the company.

“We deserve real retirement security, fair wages, and respect on the job. We’re angry that they have been trying to sidestep our union and our bargaining committee on the critical issue of our pensions,” he said. “Manhattan Beer should not be violating the law, committing unfair labor practices and trying to freeze our pensions. That’s what our fight is all about. We urge customers of Manhattan Beer & Beverage to join us in calling on the company to stop violating federal labor law, stop trying to circumvent our union, and deliver a fair new union contract now. No one should raise a glass to this kind of behavior.”

lent Association and several other unions. Adams dropped out of the Democratic primary, set to be held in June, and instead has decided to pursue a longshot reelection campaign as a political independent without party affiliation.

Cuomo on Monday also secured endorsements from Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union and the Hotel and Gaming

Trades Council, two unions that endorsed Adams in 2021. Anthony Almojera, a lieutenant paramedic and vice president of Local 3621, said that when union leadership was vetting candidates for an endorsement, they were looking for “who can fix the issues facing EMS.”

Skyrocketing call volume since the pandemic has left ambulance crews beleaguered and has slowed down their response times. Less than one-fourth of EMS workers stay on the job past three years, Variale said, which leads to a devastating lack of experience in the workforce.

FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker has warned that without proper investment and attention, the department’s EMS service could entirely collapse. Barzilay last month instructed New Yorkers not to join the service because of how dire the situation is for his members.

Cuomo made it clear he understood these problems in interviews with union leadership, Variale said, and that in order to keep workers on the job, proper compensation will be needed. The unions have been negotiating with the city for a new contract for months, but there has been little progress toward a successor agreement to that which expired in 2022.

DOE will hire

3,700

teachers to meet class size law

BY CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com

The city public school system will hire more than 3,700 new teachers to meet a mandate to lower class sizes, Mayor Eric Adams and union leaders representing educators announced last week.

The reductions have been phased in since the 2023-2024 school year, and by September 2028, there must be a maximum class size of 20 students for kindergarten through third-grade classes, 23 students for fourth through eighth grade classes, and 25 students for ninth through 12th grades. Physical education classes will be capped at 40 students.

To meet the mandate, instituted in 2022, the mayor and Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos announced that the upcoming fiscal year’s executive budget will include funding to hire the additional teachers. The educators, who will be placed at 750 schools, are expected to start in the 2025-2026 school year.

“As a child that grew up here in Queens, I know how important reducing the class size is,” Adams said during a press conference at P.S. 88 in Ridgewood, Queens.

He spoke of the important role educators played as he grew up with a reading disability. “The relationship these educators are developing with these young people, they will never forget it,” the mayor said.

Among the 750 schools that requested the additional teachers, 700 will be able to hire the full number of educators they sought, education officials noted.

Aviles-Ramos stated that the Department of Education has hired 1,000 teachers over the last school year, and is currently at 46 percent compliance, above the 40-percent requirement for the current school year.

“Guided by our schools, we will continue to make progress, enabling our teachers to work with smaller groups of students, providing more individualized attention and fostering a deeper level of engagement in the classroom,” she said. “We know

that teachers wear many hats, and to be able to build those relationships, those class sizes are key to that.”

She added that in addition to hiring teachers, the school system will recruit an additional 100 assistant principals. “If you’re adding 10, 11 teachers to a school, you need administrators who are going to support their professional learning and make sure that they are taken care of,” Aviles-Ramos said.

Both the mayor and the schools chancellor credited the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators and the United Federation of Teachers for advocating for smaller class sizes for several years, as well as for their work in helping schools meet the mandate.

“School communities rolled up their sleeves to design thoughtful, responsible class-size reduction plans rooted in the real needs of their individual students and their schools,” CSA President Henry Rubio said during the press conference. “I cannot stress enough that none of these schools that have been approved will need to either cut or divert resources from any of their critical programs, after school, enrichment, advanced, or in music opportunities. Instead, this administration, this mayor and chancellor have maintained the commitment to those critical opportunities for each and every one of our children you see here and across the entire city.”

UFT President Michael Mulgrew acknowledged that it was a 30-year fight to get a class size policy. He also noted that “getting to 60 percent was going to be the first real challenge and test of this law.”

“We knew the first two years we could meet without doing much. … Next September, when school opens, over 60 percent of the classes, our children will be in the smaller class sizes they deserve,” he said. “Lowering the class sizes of all of New York City schools is not a simple endeavor. We know we’re going to need additional space in different places. We also have to make sure this was the promise we made [to] the parents.”

Courtesy Andew Cuomo for Mayor

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo has received a number of endorsements from labor unions in recent days, among them the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.

2,000 state COs fired for illegal walkout could return if ‘grace period’ bill passes

BY RICHARD KHAVKINE richardk@thechiefleader.com

The more than 2,000 state correction officers fired by Governor Kathy Hochul for taking part in an illegal wildcat strike earlier this year would be given an opportunity to get their jobs back, according to legislation introduced by two Upstate lawmakers.

The bill, introduced by state Senator Dan Stec, who represents a large portion of the state’s northeast, and Assemblymember Scott Gray, who represents portions of Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, would provide for “a grace period” through July 1 to allow the terminated CO’s to “return to full duty without discipline.”

According to the bill, the firings “significantly exacerbated the longstanding staffing crisis” within state prisons. The bill says it would take at least five years to hire 2,000 officers through the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s academy process.

Hiring back the fired officers would also save “significant money,” given that the state is spending an estimated $100 million a month on a deployment of National Guard troops to fill out the officer ranks,

according to the legislation.

“If New York State takes prison safety and costs seriously, Governor Hochul and Democrat leaders would end this vindictive firing and ban of 2,000 trained, dedicated correction officers,” Stec, a Republican, said in a release announcing the legislation. Gray, also a Republican, said the fired officers were “punished” for drawing attention to the “unsafe conditions.”

“Instead of addressing their concerns — just as any employer should handle workplace issues — the state fired them and treated them as if they were the criminals.”

Neither lawmaker alluded to the indictments on murders charges of six COs in connection with the Dec. 9 beating death of an inmate, 43-yearold Robert Brooks, at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, which was captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras, or to the March 1 beating death of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi at nearby Mid-State Correctional Facility, which inmates have said was perpetrated by multiple correction officers.

Multiple officers were indicted Tuesday in connection with Nantwi’s “disturbing” death, Gov. Kathy Hochul said, although she provided

SERGEANTS: Deal reached

outstanding contract issues city officials called for the inclusion of a pilot program that would have some sergeants on 12-hour tours in exchange for extra days off.

Vallelong went on the offensive, saying the proposal to have his members, whom he said are already overburdened given the department’s declining number of cops, work the longer shifts would risk further burnout and also risk their health and safety. “We’re basically running it on fumes because there is nowhere near enough manpower to fill something like this,” he said as recently as last week.

On Tuesday, the union leader credited Mayor Eric Adams for keeping a promise made during his State of the City address at the Apollo Theater in mid-January — just minutes following the conclusion of a nearby rally by SBA members demanding a resolution to their pay issue — that he would shepherd an agreement with the sergeants union. Adams in turn praised Vallelong for advocating for the sergeants. “You knew what your members wanted,” the retired NYPD captain said at the announcement. “You were directly engaged, involved. We sat down several times and just a number of people out there that just wanted to see this plane landed for the SBA.”

12-hour tour pilot on deck

But separate from the pact reached this week, another agreement outlines what the city’s labor commissioner, Renee Campion, said was a strictly voluntary pilot involving 50 sergeants signing up for 12-hour tours. The volunteer component, she said, was key to reaching the overall deal.

“That was the number-one thing that was very important to the union,” she said, adding that “50 is a pretty small number and I would think probably a better chance than not that we’ll have all volunteers as a result.”

The pilot, similar to that involving about 3,000 officers rolled out in May 2023 following the Police Benevolent Association rank and file’s ratification of their contract, would have some sergeants work either three successive 12-hour tours followed by three days off; three 12hour tours followed by four days off; or four 12-hour tours followed by three days off.

Vallelong said discussions with

the mayor’s representatives meant to break the deadlock began in earnest last week, with the deputy mayor for public safety, Kaz Daughtry, among those most involved in the talks. Vallelong said Daughtry, himself a longtime NYPD officer, was “instrumental” in getting the deal to the finish line.

The agreement then began to take shape over the weekend and was essentially sealed shortly after a chance meeting between Vallelong and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at the Midtown Hilton on Palm Sunday. “Vinnie, can we get this done?”

Tisch said she asked Vallelong.

“Not 10 minutes later, as if he knew what had just happened, the mayor texted me, ‘How are we doing getting my sergeants paid?’ And to Vinnie’s great credit, the deal was essentially sealed that afternoon,” the commissioner said.

The agreement was then unanimously and enthusiastically approved by the union’s 162 delegates and signed by Vallelong Monday.

“We busted our ass on this,” the union leader said Tuesday evening.

The rank and file will receive copies of the agreement Thursday and Friday with a vote conducted shortly afterward.

According to the deal’s financial terms, sergeants in the rank at the time will get retroactive raises of 3.25 percent backdated to Dec. 10, 2021, and Dec. 10, 2022; of 3.50 percent backdated to Dec. 10, 2023 and Dec. 10, 2024; and a final bump of 4 percent next Dec. 10. The agreement’s cost through Fiscal Year 2029 is estimated at $1.02 billion, and is fully funded in the city’s financial plan, city officials said.

Regardless, the department could be facing a significant exodus of cops in the supervisory title. While the NYPD counted 4,398 sergeants as of April 3, that figure could be greatly reduced in the coming months, Vallelong said.

About 150 of his members had retired since January, he said, and 75 more had filed for retirement as of last week. Another 900 sergeants are eligible to leave through June who Vallelong said would be foolish not to retire from the department since their pensions would be “drastically reduced” if they stayed on the job, he said.

On Tuesday, though, Vallelong had reason to be reassured. “I wish it would have been a little bit sooner,” he said of the agreement. “But I mean, we’re where we need to be right now.”

few other details.

22-day walkout

A spokesperson for the governor declined comment on the pending legislation but added that Hochul would review the bill if it passed both houses.

“That said, it’s important to note that before notices of termination were issued, DOCCS gave multiple ‘grace periods’ to COs who had illegally walked off the job and sent dozens of warnings about the consequences of continuing this unlawful action,” the spokesperson, Jess D’Amelia, said in an emailed statement.

She said the governor and the DOCCS’ commissioner, Daniel Martuscello, were looking to implement “an aggressive new recruitment campaign to address the staffing crisis.”

DOCCS counts about 10,000 correction officers and sergeants, a figure representing a deficit of about 4,000 security staff, according to the department.

The 22-day walkout wreaked havoc at nearly all of the state’s 42 correctional facilities. The officers’ strike, which officers said was designed to call attention to dangerous conditions inside the prisons, began Feb. 17. It was unclear how many officers walked off the job.

But a recent report from The Legal Aid Society suggested that nine out of 10 officers participated in the walkout. Most state employees are prohibited by law to go on strike.

Hochul deployed some 6,500 National Guard troops to restore and keep order within the prisons. Nonetheless, prisoner advocates noted that they had received dozens of reports from inmates saying they were unable to get their meds and other basic needs.

“We received hundreds of calls: many dozens about medical care denied, about mental health needs ignored, numerous complaints of missed meals and inedible food, people who wanted to see the sun or do a program or talk to other human beings,” The Legal Aid Soci-

ety report noted. Nine inmates died during the walkout, it added.

Although the strike was not sanctioned by the officers’ union, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association said early on that its “members’ backs are against the wall.” The officers sought higher pay, stricter security checks for visitors and the repeal of prison reforms, including laws that limit solitary confinement. They also campaigned for pay increases for officers and sergeants, adjustments to pension provisions and a 20-year retirement policy. A union spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment on the recent legislation.

The deal to end the walkout brokered by the state and the officers’ union included a 90-day suspension of a law limiting the use of solitary confinement, the so-called “HALT Act.” A consent award provision also noted that Martuscello would begin to “evaluate the operations, safety, and security” of the state’s prisons according to staffing levels.

Craig Ruttle/Sipa via AP Images

Striking correction officers gathered across the street from the Auburn Correctional Facility in Cayuga County Feb. 20.

Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

Mayor Eric Adams and Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent Vallelong at the City Hall announcement Tuesday of a tentative 5-year unit agreement with the union. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch is at right.

COMMENTARY COMMENTARY COMMENTARY

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Labor’s rivals

To The ediTor: The president of the United Federation of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew, embraced the transitioning of all retirees to an inferior Medicare Advantage plan, which is simply a disadvantaged version of health benefits. Medicare Advantage plans are notorious for instituting cost-effective prior authorizations, which weaken health care. Now the UFT is supporting an executive amendment, numbered 70043-04-5, that would reduce municipal workers’ pension contributions to the TRS, BERS and NYCERS pension funds. The city has no fiscal crisis that would warrant such an irresponsible cost-saving move, which would add enormous pension costs in 2032 and going forward. If there was a crisis necessitating this move, then the NYC Police and Fire pension funds would have signed off on their funds participating as well. If this amendment passes, it will result in calls for “reform” of city pensions, cuts in health benefits for city workers, frozen salaries or other drastic measures to reduce the costs of paying for the workers and (retirees) who make the city run.

By supporting diminished health care and the gutting of pension contributions, Mulgrew clearly is no friend of labor.

Thanks go to the Professional Staff Congress Retiree Chapter for exposing the sneaky pension contribution ploy at play.

Wake up labor members!

Joseph Campbell

Green with envy

To The ediTor:

Coretta Scott King accurately observed that “Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.”

U.S. Representative Al Green, a Texas Democrat, announced his intention to file impeachment articles against President Trump, following Democratic protests against him. This is the same Green who was recently censured for interrupting Trump’s speech in Congress. It appears that he may have a hero complex, fueled by an excessive desire for Democratic recognition.

Let us consider the potential consequences of impeachment. If Democrats were to gain sufficient Senate seats, they could potentially remove Trump from office. However, they

The gauntlet

BY RON ISAAC

This column was written before the announcement Tuesday of a tentative agreement between the city and the union representing NYPD sergeants.

Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, and pigs see you as an equal. Winston Churchill’s astute observation, slightly tweaked, describes how people of different ideological breeds view the police. In the polarized miasma of contemporary “dialogue,” police are either vilified or venerated. Either they can’t catch a break, or they can do nothing wrong. Politicians, by speaking from both sides of their maws, can be said to technically represent everybody. This is their formula for universally betraying us all.  There are exceptions, but as biped chameleons, the color of their convictions adjusts to the environment of their electors. It’s as though the chromosomes of their ambition were imprinted on the DNA of their pliant core convictions.

Preventing the demoralization of the police is our civic duty. Not when they abuse authority or break the law. Not when they exempt themselves from traffic codes for which the rest of us would get a summons or be arrested for non-compliance. Not for participating in a culture of “professional culture” at eateries or retail establishments.

But a proper calibration of the scales of justice demands that they get the benefit of the doubt, although “doubt” is a concept that clamors for troubleshooting and re-balancing.

The city’s vitality and viability depends on the police.

Generations of movie and television dramas have, to varying degrees of semi-fictionality,  perpetuated a mythology about law enforcement. Although most police work is mundane and uneventful, not glamorous or heroic, the exceptions are not infrequent, and the job can be a crucible of catastrophe or redemption in a split, unforeseeable instant. Some cops are, indeed like the rest of us, prone and preoccupied with getting by and “getting over,” but civilians will never be haunted by a wellness check, or domestic dispute attempted de-escalation gone tragically wrong.

The entire course of deci-

would face significant repercussions at the ballot box for undermining democracy.

As Thomas Jefferson wisely remarked, “Democracy rests on an educated electorate.”

Robert Sica

ers of Donald J, Trump:

Do you expect a convicted felon to respect police officers, prosecutors, judges or the law and the Constitution?

Do you expect a draft-dodger who calls heroic soldiers killed in wars “suckers” to respect members of the military?

Tyrant’s tenure

To The ediTor:

The Chief’s letters section is full of laments about how President Trump has been lawless and tyrannical. Our Founding Fathers established a remedy for a president who has violated the laws and policies of the United States: impeachment.

I’m a constituent of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Brooklyn Democrat, and I wrote to him asking for a position on impeachment of the president, but his office made no comment.

Now is the time to act: the president has violated numerous laws without scruples. If Congress does not impeach the president now, American democracy may not survive. With impeachment, the president’s successor would know that he must follow the Constitution, or Congress will remove him too.

Jeffries swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” when he took his oath of office. The president is acting as an enemy of the Constitution, and I encourage Leader Jeffries to commit publicly to removing this tyrant from office.

Janet Rosenbaum

Do you expect a con man who makes promises he knows he will never keep and cheated his own workers to lead our nation with integrity?

Do you expect a compulsive liar to tell you the truth about anything?

Do you expect a racist, a misogynist and a xenophobe to treat everyone with respect?

So you expect a malignant narcissist to sacrifice anything for anyone else?

Do you expect a bully and a coward to show courage when he faces adversity or a crisis?

Do you think Donald J. Trump is an educated man when he threatened every school he attended with lawsuits if they ever divulged his scholastic records?

Can you expect Trump to lead the American economy when he filed for business bankruptcy six times?

With the economy in a tailspin, and Trump antagonizing all foreign nations with his hostile tariffs, why should the American voters who support Trump be surprised?

Michael J. Gorman

Briefly

To The ediTor: Just a few questions for support-

Econ 101

To The ediTor:

Although tongue in cheek, a recent letter suggested deporting the entire undocumented population of Florida and Texas (“Deep (red) states,” Letters, The Chief, April 11).

sion-making for them can be a heartbeat’s flutter.

NYPD sergeants are the immediate supervisors of patrol officers. Their union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) is being shabbily sandbagged by the city. Their last contract expired long over two years ago.

The city is more concerned about the price of a fair settlement than it is about urban tranquility. By actions and inactions, they are culpable for what they have done and what they refuse to do.

The city wants to institute a pilot program of 12-hour tours for some sergeants. According to the union, city officials proposed the pilot as a contract stipulation at the last-minute and as a condition of getting sergeants their deserved raises. By doing so, the mayor’s representatives violated collective bargaining, common sense, and principles of public safety. They have also shown contempt for the natural limitations of human stamina, both physical and mental.

Two years ago, a Department of Investigation report warned that sustained 12-hour tours correlate

with increased civilian complaints, injuries and litigation. No doubt compromised judgment as well, with potentially lethal consequences. In late February, a memorandum of agreement (MOA) seemed to suggest an imminent accord. But the city afterwards vowed not to budge on a contract settlement unless and until the SBA surrendered on the 12-hour tour issue. The union’s delegates had already voted unanimously against accepting the extended tours under any circumstances.

This intemperate mulishness endangers all New Yorkers. The MOA turned out to be a DFP (Document of False Promise). The city’s words of honor should not be taken at face value, but at farce value. When it comes to adding insult to injury, this city has Muskian prowess.

SBA President Vincent Vallelong’s invitation to attend a union delegates’ meeting was rejected by city officials. Perhaps they didn’t want to take the risk of self-incrimination and would rather break chops than break bread.

The sergeants’ reward for their role in the alleged reduction of

crime was to demoralize them by continuing indefinitely to pay onefourth of the sergeants less than the officers they oversee. What message does that send? It neither empowers nor uplifts communities.

Sergeants constitute around 8 percent of the NYPD’s uniformed headcount. Nearly one-quarter of the approximately 4,300 sergeants will be incentivized to retire in July when their pensions are vested. Their departure will aggravate the existing manpower shortage, which is already critical. Promotions will not make up the shortfall and recruitment goals won’t come close to being met.

Several mayoral candidates have aligned themselves with police-demonization entities. Most organizations and individuals are, however, even when they may be mistaken, authentic critics of police policy and practices. They are not driven by ideology, but rather the ideal of egalitarian justice.

A sane conclusion to the SBA’s lingering dispute with the city is unlikely during the remnant of Mayor Eric Adams’ term. He won’t want to further play roulette with his political fortunes by doing the right thing

This is not possible. Even Eisenhower’s deportation of Mexicans in the mid 1950s produced numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Assuming three planeloads of 250 a day it would take over 10 years. Neither the author or anyone else can state for sure what would happen to the economy if someone waved a magic wand and made the undocumented population vanish. The most likely scenario would be a period of transition and adjustment. But the economy would recover, just as it has recovered from scores of crises throughout history.

Nat Weiner

Doublethink

To The ediTor:

A recent letter correctly notes the danger polarization poses to our democracy (“Polarization,” The Chief, April 4). I believe the root cause of these divisions is the proliferation of misinformation and “alternative facts.” There are now essentially two camps. One trusts establishment news organizations and the other firmly believes their reporting is “fake news.”

In 2007, before the Donald Trump era, former Vice President Al Gore recognized this danger in his book “The Assault on Reason.” He wrote “The assault on reason is an assault on democracy, as it undermines the informed citizenry essential for its functioning” and this assault “perpetuates a cycle of misinformation and distrust.”

Prophetically, this is exactly where we find ourselves today. The American people no longer share a common set of facts to guide their

in a wrong frame of reference.

Insiders know more but aren’t saying. “Loose lips sink ships.” And lifeboats.

The Police Benevolent Association takes a different view of the 12-hour tours from the sergeants. PBA President Patrick Hendry claims that it gives his members “more regularly scheduled days off to decompress … as well as lower commuting and childcare expenses.” He calls these compulsory feats of endurance “the gold standard in law enforcement agencies around the country.”

Our present government is big on climate control. That includes controlling the climate of labor relations.  Federal government employees are running for cover under the Muskian monsoon, and the weather is changing in favor of management’s trouncing with impunity our cherished but inadequately defended traditional workplace protections. They will increasingly target unions for pernicious exploitation and amend rules arbitrarily. They will do so unchecked both by courts, which lack standing, and the executive branch, which stands for the dissolution of worker freedoms. They will cynically call the new unilateralism a “correction,” like they do the stock market crash’s erasure of the lifetime 401K savings of workers, which amuses conservative talk show hosts and investor magnates who crow about getting great deals when the rest of us fibrillate when viewing our portfolios.

In 1957, Karl Schmidt, a prominent herpetologist was handling a venomous, though docile tree snake called a “boomslang.” This rearfanged specimen was young, and Schmidt didn’t think it capable of a lethal bite. He got bit but ignored it and refused medical treatment.

Hours later, he began having symptoms and thought he’d make positive use of his time by calmly recording in his diary a detailed narrative of his progressive condition. He did this even as he got worse, writing with objectivity and clarity and declining treatment until a few hours before his death of multiple organ blood clots one day later.

What bearing does this have on the state of labor, unions, collective bargaining and agents of paralysis? The many metaphorical possibilities clamor to be recognized. Read the tea leaves of last November. And agonize.

Efren Landaos/SOPA Images

NYPD officers, among them two sergeants, stand by during a Pro-Palestine Protest at Moynihan Station in New York City.

Alamo Drafthouse workers save jobs after 8-week strike

BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com

After nearly two months on strike, workers at two Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations have reached an agreement with management that cancels the layoffs of 70 employees and allows striking workers to return to work.

The settlement between members of United Auto Workers Local 2179 and theater management, reached Friday, permits all 70 of the workers who were laid off to return to payrolls by May 1 and reinstates workers’ sick time, paid time off and seniority, the union said. The workers ratified the tentative agreement over the weekend, and they plan to return to the theaters April 18.

An unfair labor practice charge filed by the union in February in response to the layoffs was also dismissed as part of the agreement.

“I honestly did not expect us to have reached an agreement,” said Ariana Fatalia, a bartender who was among those laid off Feb. 3.

“They listened to us this time.”

Fatalia said she plans to take Alamo’s offer to return to work and expects more than half of the workers who were laid off to do the same. Some laid off workers who have already gotten other jobs or were less involved with the union from the outset may not take up the offer, Fatalia said, but the union will reach out to all the laid off workers regardless.

“I just hope this does not happen ever again,” Fatalia said of the cuts.

“Sony knows better.”

Union members walked out on strike Feb. 21 to try and get Alamo management to walk back deep cuts made at the beginning of the month during a lull in movie premieres.

Reagan, Bush Picks

The union was alerted to the layoffs weeks before the strike but were unable to stave them off through direct bargaining with management.

Hypocrisy On Supreme-Court Choice

house Cinema did not respond to a request for comment.

More than a quarter of the union members who weren’t laid off crossed the picket line and worked during the strike, said Will Bobrowski, a vice president of Local 2179, keeping the Alamo locations open in a limited capacity. Despite that, managers were still forced to work in service roles, Alamo’s concessions menu reduced in size, ticket sales were capped, and several screens were closed for the duration of the strike, he said.

Union members also urged the public to boycott Alamo for the duration of the strike.

returning to work alongside these employees would be “awkward for sure” but believed relationships between coworkers could heal over time.

Because of the schedule of movie releases and Alamo’s posture in bargaining, union officials were confident from the outset that at least some workers would get their jobs back, Bobrowski said. Only a few weeks into March, the company was already offering to rehire everyone within nine months, and the company’s offers to the union only improved from there.

BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com

Workers voted 98 percent to authorize a strike and formed picket lines for 58 days in front of Alamo’s Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn locations.

Some crossed picket line

VINCENT SCALA

years of been Justices the more have women is 4 over decision to African-Amerhe we qualified comical if ignoJobs the and What an President for selectblue-ribbon apconfirm or politicontext is Ronto woman immedifrom find obvious1991,

They also held periodic pickets at the Connecticut home of Alamo’s CEO and at the headquarters of Sony, the dine-in movie chain’s parent company.

TAX STRATEGIES

George Herbert Walker Bush had to replace the first African American, Thurgood Marshall. He looked all over the country and the “most-qualified” was Clarence Thomas, also an African-American? Of course not. Clarence Thomas is an African-American conservative and he got the gig. Expect a Top Candidate

A spokesperson for Alamo Draft-

“There was confidence we would get jobs back but not everybody was certain we would be able to get them all this soon,” he said. “Our people will now go back as if they had been employed the whole time.”

Letters to the Editor

Audacity to Criticize Molina

The changes meant that Alamo was only making between 30 and 40 percent of their usual money on concessions, Bobrowski said, which is the main source of revenue for the theater chain.  Alamo was “able to take the hit” to their revenue in the winter and early spring due to the small number of popular movies coming out, the union official said, but management “had an interest in having a fully open theater,” for the spring and summer releases.

To the Editor: On Feb 19, the NY Daily News published an article entitled, “As NYC Correction Commissioner Molina cleans house, critics worry he’s coddling jail unions.”

Jordan Baruch, a concierge and member of the union’s bargaining committee, said that many workers who worked through the strike did so because they couldn’t afford not to have a stable income for weeks, but said that management’s intimidation or union busting may have been a factor as well. He said that

Fatalia insisted that management’s rollback of the cuts was a credit to the union’s strength and unity and said that workers would be taking their energy into negotiations for workers’ first contract which is set to continue soon. She suggested that workers could eventually return to picket lines with added experience and knowledge garnered from the strike that just ended if no agreement is reached on their contract.

Nearly 1,600 workers who labored on city-funded projects have yet to claim funds owed to them from prevailing wage settlements with private companies secured by the New York City comptroller. The uncollected funds total $4.27 million and Comptroller Brad Lander is urging the workers owed money to come forward and collect.

They worked jobs in industries as varied as construction, security, cleaning and temporary work in offices that receive city funding. Under state law, the city comptroller sets and enforces the prevailing wage rate for these projects and Lander has been more active than his predecessors in holding companies accountable.

“Thanks to the dedicated investigative work of our Bureau of Labor Law, we’ve recovered millions of dollars for workers cheated out of prevailing wages on City projects,” Lander said in a statement.

Workers’ claims of being improperly paid or underpaid their legally required prevailing wages are processed through the comptroller’s Worker’s Right’s Team, which Lander created in 2022. Since its founding, the office has recovered nearly $9 million, according to its director, Claudia Henriquez.

and by deducunder Act mar(MFJ), separately household spouse 2021 the dollar and and 65 and blind instandard individuals statuses. 2018 2025,

BY BARRY LISAK

Let’s please stop the nonsense in this country. We have never had an African-American woman on the court. Biden will not be selecting a cashier from Stop-and-Shop or a pilates instructor from the local sports club. He will select a highly educated, highly credentialed woman who attended a top college, top law school, clerked for a Justice, served on the Federal appellate court and all the other “credentials” deemed necessary in this day and age for a Justice. The attacks on this decision should be seen for what they are. They are idiotic political theater from a cohort that sees even a tiny effort at progress as threatening the white male position in society.

Whether it’s a newly elected Mayor, Governor or President, every new administration replaces personnel, notwithstanding their work performance. No reason is needed to remove someone in an appointed position within NYC government with the exception of the Commissioner of the Department of Investigation, even though there is more than enough justification to fire all the top managers in DOC.

“I’m a glass half full kind of person and I think with the right people and the right energy you can get [stuff] done and that’s what we did,” Fatalia said.

Don’t be scammed by fake IRS communications

THE IRS RECEIVES thousands of reports each year from taxpayers who receive suspicious emails, phone calls, faxes or notices claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. Many of these scams fraudulently use the Internal Revenue Service name or logo as a lure to make the communication more authentic and enticing.

THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication. Correspondents must include their names, addresses and phone numbers. Letters should be submitted with the understanding that all correspondence is subject to the editorial judgment of this newspaper. To submit a letter to the editor online, visit thechiefleader.com and click on Letters to the Editor.

criminals and probably require arrests, prosecutions and imprisonment?

“Over a thousand workers who built this city have yet to collect their hard-earned wages, and we hope they’ll come forward to claim what they’re owed.”   The workers are individually entitled to amounts that range from hundreds of dollars to more than $86,000. The vast majority of the workers on the list — viewable and searchable on the comptroller’s website — live in the city, but some reside as far as Illinois and Florida.

The unclaimed funds include money secured before Lander’s term but they amount to half of what the comptroller’s office has so far secured for workers, and the office is struggling to contact those owed.

“If you did the work, you deserve your proper wages,” Henriquez said in a statement. “If you believe you are owed back wages from a City-funded job, we urge you to check our list, reach out, and get what you’ve earned.”

Continued from Page

The goal of these scams — known as phishing — is to trick you into revealing personal and financial information. The scammers can then use that information, such as your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers, to commit identity theft or steal your money. Here are some things the IRS wants you to know about phishing scams:

Vincent Scala is a former Bronx Assistant District Attorney. He is currently a criminal-defense attorney in New York City and its suburbs.

• The IRS doesn’t ask for detailed personal and financial information like PIN numbers, passwords or

LETTERS TO THE

Tax Year

BARRY LISAK

EDITOR THE CHIEF-LEADER, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022

additional deduction because she is 70 years old. Her standard deduction for 2021 is $14,250 ($12,550, the standard deduction for 2021, plus $1,700, the 2021 additional standard deduction for the singles who are over 65 or blind).

Example 2

actions and judgment. Misinformation machines like Breitbart, NewsMax, InfoWars, Fox and others spread provably false propaganda daily — Obama was foreign-born, Iraq was behind 9/11, the Sandy Hook massacre was staged, the 2020 election was stolen, liberals engineered Hurricane Helene to destroy property in the Southeast, immigration is fueling a crime wave, etc. — to an eager and ravenous audience. As a consequence, that audience distrusts conflicting news reported by all other sources and Americans grow farther apart. I don’t know how or if we can bridge this divide, but I do know our nation will fail if we can’t agree on what is and isn’t true. As Gore warned “When reason is abandoned, demagogues and charlatans thrive.”

In 2021, Nicole and her spouse are joint filers. Both qualify for an additional standard deduction because they are both over 65. Their Form 1040 standard deduction is $27,800 ($25,100, the 2021 standard deduction for joint filers, plus 2 x $1,350, the 2021 additional standard deduction for married persons who are over 65 or blind). The above examples reflect the benefit of the new standard deduction. Millions of taxpayers won’t be itemizing this year to reduce their Federal income-tax bill.

Joseph Cannisi

similar secret-access information for credit card, bank or other accounts.

• The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through email and won’t send a message about your tax account.

Top managers likely get their jobs through political connections and serve entirely at the pleasure of the Mayor. Moreover, the personnel that Louis Molina removed were in charge of critical units which they failed to lead effectively.

If you receive an email from someone claiming to be the IRS or directing you to an IRS site:

• Do not reply to the message.

DOC was on the brink of an implosion as a result of the feckless leadership of Vincent Schiraldi and his coterie. Now Schiraldi, who was the worst DOC commissioner in its 127-year history, is questioning Molina’s personnel decisions.

• Do not open any attachments.

Attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer.

How is it that Schiraldi, a so-called juvenile-justice reformer and expert, failed so miserably in managing DOC?

• Do not click any links. If you clicked on links in a suspicious email or phishing website and entered confidential information, visit the IRS and enter the search term “identity theft” for more information and resources to help.

The address of the official IRS website is http://www.irs.gov.

• Do not be confused or misled by sites claiming to be the IRS but ending in .com, .net, .org or other

How is it that Oren Varnai, the head of DOC’s Intelligence Bureau and a “former covert officer in the CIA,” could not stop the scourge of gang violence from dominating and ravaging Rikers? Varnai, at least, must be commended for wishing Molina success, and I must say he has impressive credentials.

When the levy breaks

How does Sarena Townsend, the Deputy Commissioner for Investigations and a former prosecutor who preferred departmental charges on thousands of uniformed staff—resulting in scores if not hundreds of correction officers being fired or forced to resign—now cries foul when she gets fired ?

To The ediTor: Before President Trump put a 90-day pause on his tariffs, investor and Trump supporter Bill Ackman tweeted that they could bring an economic “nuclear winter.” He saw them as being “severely negative” for Trump supporters. Numerous other Republicans and rich Trump supporters fear the consequences of a trade war.

Schiraldi praises his managers who created a “war room” to redeploy staff on an emergency basis. That “war room” should have also been utilized to generate and implement new policy to stop the devastating inmate violence that inflicted pain and suffering on officers and inmates alike.

But this is the consequence of their greed. The richest people are so desperate for more money by paying as little in taxes and paying their workers as little as possible that they will support the candidate whose policies cater to their insatiable greed. But when that candidate is a moronic incompetent egomaniac, that can come back to bite them in the butt.

Further, the now-garrulous Schiraldi was speechless when the unions continuously sounded the alarm regarding chaos, bedlam, lawlessness and gross mismanagement by top bosses. Commissioner Molina is addressing all those issues. Neither Schiraldi, nor any of his senior managers, have the credibility or standing to

The 125-percent tariff on China has not been rescinded. The U.S. is currently $759 billion in debt to

If the homeless who are removed from the subways refuse to cooperate with programs designed to help them turn their lives around, what are the penalties? Will they be arrested or placed in secure mental facilities where they will be less likely to do harm to others?

designations instead of .gov. If you discover a website that claims to be the IRS but you suspect it is bogus, do not provide any personal information and report it to the IRS.

If you receive a phone call from an individual claiming to be from the IRS but you suspect they are not an IRS employee, contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine if the IRS has a legitimate need to contact you. Report any bogus correspondence.

Those homeless people who are mentally or emotionally incapable of living safely with others have to be “imprisoned,” either in prisons (if convicted of crimes) or in secure mental institutions. Those who refuse to cooperate with reasonable and necessary treatment from qualified and competent authorities have to be treated the same way—prison or secure mental facilities.

their staff missing.  So too does the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which oversees civil service hiring. DCAS is down nearly 16 percent from its budgeted headcount of 2,417 workers. Alarms have been raised about how staffing issues at DCAS could be hindering the city hiring workers in a timely manner, but union leaders have placed blame for vacancies at the feet of the Office of Management and Budget.

public matching funds. Ramos received the first union endorsement in the mayoral race late last year from two Teamsters locals and was one of three candidates endorsed by Region 9A of the United Auto Workers.

Instead, several unions — including those representing carpenters and EMS workers — have flocked to support former Governor Andrew Cuomo, and other labor leaders recruited Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker, to join the race.

You can help shut down these schemes and prevent others from being victimized. Details on how to report specific types of scams and what to do if you’ve been victimized are available at http://www.irs.gov, keyword “phishing.”

Ramos said that she would eliminate exam fees and would look to institute technological solutions to speed up the administering of exams, creating eligible lists and hiring from those lists.

Barry Lisak is an IRS enrolled agent specializing in personal and small business taxes for 30 years. Any questions can be directed to him at 516-829-7283, or mrbarrytax@aol. com.

Only those homeless who cooperate with those who provide necessary treatment, and can live peacefully with others, should be placed in housing in the neighborhoods in all five boroughs of the city.

MICHAEL J.

GORMAN

But the state senator has lagged far behind the fundraising of other candidates, having raised just $70,000 in the most recent reporting period and failing to qualify for

But the coveted endorsements of District Council 37 and the United Federation of Teachers have yet to be announced. Ramos, formerly an employee of a DC 37 local and a regional branch of the Service Employees International Union, will be hoping to receive both as one way to raise her profile in what’s shaping up to be a crowded Democratic primary, albeit one without the incumbent.

China. The Chinese are the largest holders of U.S. debt. If they decide to start dumping U.S. bonds, I don’t think that will help our economy. Another issue is that some citizens think that having businessmen in power is a good idea. But most of us are either workers or retired workers. The idea that those who work so hard to keep salaries low will actually use their power to benefit us is illogical enough to make Mr. Spock’s head explode.

Add to that a president who’s an incompetent businessman who’s had six bankruptcies. But even a competent businessman like Michael Bloomberg proved to be a bad mayor. City employees got nothing but real money pay cuts and wage freezes from him. So if this country’s workers want to get ahead, they have to stop voting for their enemies.

Richard Warren

To the Editor: The proposed New York Health Act would provide on a statewide level what Medicare-for-All would provide nationwide. Yet in recent issues, it has been claimed that the reason some unions oppose this is because the medical plans they already have provide benefits that this proposal would not include. Now as a retired transit worker, I have always had good health coverage since I started working for the system in 1979. But one friend who was an excellent Transport Workers Union Local 100 rep had serious health issues before he recently passed away. He had a stroke while he was still working, and had to fight numerous large bills for medical care that was supposed to be covered. I remember him saying, “I have great coverage as long as I don’t get sick.” Under the New York Health Act, patients would not have to worry about fighting bills. They would not

Skeptical of Union ‘Health’

Duncan Freman / The Chief

Dozens of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Workers walked a picket line after the layoffs of 70 workers were announced in February.

Texas county that swung to Trump grapples with immigration crackdown after bakery is targeted

BY VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press

Leonardo Baez and Nora Avila-Guel’s bakery in the Texas community of Los Fresnos is a daily stop for many residents to share gossip over coffee and pick up cakes and pastries for birthdays, office parties or themselves.

When Homeland Security Investigations agents showed up at Abby’s Bakery in February and arrested the owners and eight employees, residents of Los Fresnos were shocked.

But the bakery’s owners, Baez and Avila-Guel, a Mexican couple who are legal U.S. permanent residents, could lose everything after being accused of concealing and harboring immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally. It’s a rare case in which business owners face criminal charges rather than just a fine.

“I was surprised because I know that they’re not taking advantage of the people,” Esteban Rodriguez, 43, said after pulling into the bakery’s parking lot to discover it was closed. “It was more like helping out people. They didn’t have nowhere to go, instead of them being on the streets.”

The reaction in the town of 8,500 residents may show the limits of support for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in a majority Hispanic region dotted with fields of cotton, sugarcane and red grapefruit where Republi-

Shopping at Abby’s is now a political statement.

— a Los Fresnos, Texas, resident

Interior

cans made gains in last year’s elections. Cameron County voted for a GOP president for the first time since 2004. For neighboring Starr County, it was the first time since 1896.

Los Fresnos, which is 90 percent Latino and counts the school district as its largest employer, is about a half-hour drive from the U.S.-Mexico border. Hundreds of school bus drivers, painters, retirees and parishioners from the nearby Catholic church come into Abby’s Bakery each day. Customers with silver trays and tongs select pastries from glass-door cabinets.

Six of Abby’s eight employees were in the U.S. on visitor visas but none had work permits when Homeland Security Investigations agents came to the business Feb. 12. The owners acknowledged they knew that, according to a federal complaint.

Employees lived in a room with six beds and shared two bathrooms in the same building as the bakery, according to an agent’s affidavit.

Baez, 55, and Avila-Guel, 46, have pleaded not guilty. They referred questions to their attorneys, who noted the workers were not held against their will and there was no attempt to hide their presence, as a smuggler would.

As green card holders, the couple could be deported if they are convicted. They have five children who are U.S. citizens.

The bakery closed for several days after their arrest, drawing about 20 people to protest on an uncharacteristically chilly evening.

Monsignor Pedro Briseño of St.

Cecilia Church often visited before early morning Mass for the campechana, a flaky, crunchy pastry dough layered with caramelized sugar. His routine was interrupted when plainclothes immigration agents arrived in unmarked vehicles.

“A woman came here crying. She said, ‘Father, Father, they’re

Department

staff,

including those at national parks, offered buyouts and early retirement

BY MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press

Employees across the Department of the Interior had until the end of Wednesday to respond to the latest offer to take buyouts or early retirement, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press, as the Trump administration continues its efforts to reduce the federal workforce.

The offer for deferred resignation, often described as a buyout, or early retirement was sent April 4 — one day after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order for national parks to “remain open and accessible” and directing officials to ensure proper staffing.

The memo says the department is also planning for reductions in force “to maximize workforce efficiency,” but some positions will be exempt from layoffs because they are “critical to public safety” or “directly linked to the highest priority programs.”

The document, which was sent to assistant secretaries and heads of bureaus and offices, said the buyout and retirement offers were department-wide.

But not all workers can take the buyouts or retire early. Among the workers exempt from the offer are wildland firefighters, law enforcement officers, aviation jobs and cy-

ber security positions.

Some National Park Service jobs are exempt — those with “on-site duties” and those who work at National Wildlife Refuge visitor centers — with written approval from a senior level, the memo says. Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of Government Affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the offers are an attempt to pressure dedicated staff to resign or face arbitrary firings.

“The administration’s relentless attacks are crushing the Park Service,” she said. “Park staff are constantly questioning whether they will be able to perform – or even keep – their jobs. Forcing another round of buyouts is yet another reckless action.”

In response to questions about how many people might take the offer, Interior spokeswoman J. Elizabeth Peace said the department doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

Other agencies under Interior include the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Similar offers were recently made to Department of Homeland Security workers. Their offer includes a lump-sum payment of up to $25,000 in some cases.

and saw agents use zip ties to bind employees’ hands.

Support for deportations has limits

There is overwhelming bipartisan support to deport people who are in the U.S. illegally and have been convicted of a violent crime, with 82 percent in favor, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in January. Support softens considerably for deportations of all people in the country illegally, with 43 percent in favor and 37 percent opposed. Trump and top aides repeatedly emphasize they are deporting criminals. But, as border czar Tom Homan often says, others in the country illegally who are there when officers arrest criminals also will be deported, a departure from the Biden administration’s practices.

So far, Trump has avoided the large-scale factory and office raids that characterized his first term and that of Republican President George W. Bush. Scattered reports of smaller operations included the recent arrests of 37 people at a roofing business in northern Washington state.

ICE says it made 32,809 arrests in Trump’s first 50 days in office, or a daily average of 656, which compared with a daily average of 311 during a 12-month period ending Sept. 30. ICE said nearly half (14,111) were convicted criminals and nearly one-third (9,980) had pending criminal charges but did not specify the charges.

People with deep ties in their communities and no criminal records tend to generate more sympathy.

Abby’s reopened after the owners were released on bond. Chela and Alicia Vega, two sisters in their 60s who retired from

the school district and have known the bakery owners for years, were among the customers filling trays with pastries. Chela Vega said the couple once took a week off from work to drive them to San Luis Potosi in Mexico after their sister died. When a hurricane struck, Leonardo Baez cut down their damaged trees without charge.

For Terri Sponsler, 61, shopping at Abby’s is now a political statement. “With everything going on right now in our country, we need to find ways to protest,” she said. Mark W. Milum, the city manager, said Abby’s is an important business that contributes property and sales tax revenue to the $13 million annual municipal budget. Some customers just love the products.

“Other bakeries, they pop up, right?” said Ruth Zamora, 65. “But when you go there, it’s not the same.”

National Park Service

A Department of the Interior ranger gave visitors a tour of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.

Valerie Gonzalez/AP Photo

Customers visit Abby’s Bakery in Los Fresnos, Texas, after the owners reopened their doors, March 4 following their arrest for allegedly harboring unauthorized workers in their building. taking my brother,’” Briseño said. The priest walked over

10803 Ana

1020 Grand Concourse, Apt. 16G Bronx, NY 10451

Ana T Munoz Matta 86 Vanderbilt Ave., Apt. 1 Brooklyn, NY 11205

Anatwine, Inc. 1440 Broadway New York, NY 10018

Anderson Fmly Jackpot 107 School Rd. Liverpool, NY 13088

Andre Thomas 531 Shirley Ave. Buffalo, NY 14215

Andrea Beth Friedman 13 Hudson Dr. Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522

Andrea Chambers 1331 Blake Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11208

Andres Cabral

195 Crandon Way Rochester, NY 14618

Andrew Beame 91 Lakeside Drive Katonah, NY 10536

Andrew J Pojani

102 E 22nd Street, Apt. 7G New York, NY 10010

Andrew James Trustee 1 Bell Tower Dr., Apt. 1304 Watervliet, NY 12189

Andrew Jay Katersky

100 W 58th St., Apt. 4E New York, NY 10019

Andrew M Cohen

97 27th St. Copiague, NY 11726

Andrew Schultz 445 Furrows Rd., Unit 464 Holbrook, NY 12822

Andrew Slater 2 Soundview Ave. Rye, NY 10580

Andrew T Levine

215 Park Ave. South, Ste. 1403 New York, NY 10016

Andrew T Miltenberg

363 Seventh Ave, 5th Floor New York, NY 10001

Andruline Alleyne 331 Legion Street, 2nd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11212

Angela J Cohen PO Box 48 Mountain Dale, NY 12763

Angela Zavulunova 6735 Yellowstone Blvd., Apt. 3T Forest Hills, NY 11375

Angelina Astashova 901 Eastern Pwky., Apt. 1B Brooklyn, NY 11213

Anita C Devanandan 17 North Street Albany, NY 12205

Anita Stavin Barr 11 Old Katonah Dr. Katonah, NY 10536

Ann Abernethy 371 Feather Lane East Williston, NY 11596

Ann Arackal 134-19 242nd Street Rosedale, NY 11422

Ann Laveaux 8824 Merrick Blvd., Apt. 2E Queens, NY 11432

Ann M Tenglund 101 North 21st St. Olean, NY 14760

Anna Sobel 28 Beechdale Rd. Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522

Anna Villa 121 E 97th St., Apt. 11 New York, NY 10029

Anne C Weld 1025 Pleasantville Rd., #204 Briarcliff Man, NY 10510

Anne Seiden 87-19 204th Street, Apartment A45 Hollis, NY 11423

Anne Wynne 186 Riverside Dr., Apt. 13A New York, NY 10024

Anthony A Florence Jr 376 Oyster Bay Rd. Locust Valley, NY 11560

Anthony Consentino 2475 W16th St., Apt. 13A Brooklyn, NY 11214

Anthony Donatelli 15111 26th Ave. Flushing, NY 11354

Anthony F Dannible 4939 Harvest Ln. Liverpool, NY 13088

Anthony J Klimek III 2059 State Route 5 Utica, NY 13502

Anthony L Amos 31 Bell Rd. Cheektowaga, NY 14225

Anthony Rasco 8 Lilac Lane Holtsville, NY 11742

Anthony Ricotta 119 Sprucewood Drive Cheektowaga, NY 14227

Anthony S Tomasula 5902 Corinne Ln. Clarence Center, NY 14032

Antoine Kelley 112-15 197 Street Saint Albans, NY 11412

Anubhav Kumar 19 Katherine St. Port Jefferson, NY 11776

Arc PC 12 W 23rd St., Ste. 300 New York, NY 10010

Arnold Monno 960 Ladue Rd. Brockport, NY 14420

Aron Goldberger 49 Skillman St., Apt. 6A Brooklyn, NY 11205

Aron Schoenblum 1155 47th Street Brooklyn, NY 11219

Arthur Muller 156 Vernon Ave. Yonkers, NY 10704

Arthur Atchabahian 110 Bleecker St., Apt. 21E New York, NY 10012

Arthur F Nacht 437 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10022

Arturo Alonso 199 Bowery, Apt. 7D New York, NY 10002

Asher Vaknin 11230 69th Rd. Forest Hills, NY 11375

Ashi Adamjee 315 E 86th St., Apt. 11RE New York, NY 10028

Asia Bank, N.A. Profit 13534 Roosevelt Ave. Sharing Plan Flushing, NY 11354

Assunta G Vitti 7 Scandell Ct. Nyack, NY 10960

Asteria N Gallero 2104 Holland Ave., Apt. 5G Bronx, NY 10462

Athena Matos 518 Fort Washington Ave., Apt. 3C New York, NY 10033

Aud M Preston 406 Glen Ave. Scotia, NY 12302

Avant Services Corp 60 E 42nd St. New York, NY 10165

Avier L Gaitan 6555 Eclipse Ridge Ct. Las Vegas, NY 89135

Avraham Y Goldberg 86-91 Palo Alto Avenue Hollis, NY 11423

Ayala Santos 526 E 138th St., Apt. 6F Bronx, NY 10454

Ayanna Hakim 92 Marvin Ave., Apt-1 Hempstead, NY 11550

Aytan Y Bellin 85 Miles Ave. White Plains, NY 10606

Babak Hakimizadeh 175 Chelsea Rd. White Plains, NY 10603

Baburam Jagmohan 107-03 120th Street, Apt. 1 South Richmond Hill, NY 11419

Baltazar Melendez Jr 949 Copperkettle Rd. Webster, NY 14580

Bank Hapoalim BM 1120 Avenue Of The Americas New York, NY 10036

Barbara A Rowe 13128 223rd St. Laurelton, NY 11413

Barbara Talabisco Life Ins Tr 685 3rd Ave. New York, NY 10017

Bari Zahn 300 W 23rd St., Apt. 7N New York, NY 10011

Baron Carlson 360 East 89th Street, Apt. 11A New York, NY 10128

Barry G Bernstein 401 E 74th St., Apt. 5H New York, NY 10021

Baya Khenaka 6776 Booth St., Apt. 1D Forest Hills, NY 11375 Beesham Seecharan 3525 77th Street, Apt. B25 Jackson Heights, NY 11372

Bella Urman 2840 Ocean Pkwy., Apt. 16G Brooklyn, NY 11235 Belle B Newton 50 Webb Trl. Garrison, NY 10524

Ben Fitzgerald 379 Washington Ave., Apt. 5F Brooklyn, NY 11238

Ben L Saltzman 214 Riverside Dr., Apt. 712 New York, NY 10025

Benjamin E Hauer

Benjamin E. Eisenberger 1448 56th Street Brooklyn, NY 11219

Eisenberger 1448 56th Street Brooklyn, NY 11219

Benjamin Ho Apt. 401, 155 E 23rd Street New York, NY 10010

Beny J Primm PO Box 139 New Rochelle, NY 10802

Benzion Waks 1072 49th St. Brooklyn, NY 11219

Berenice A Mariscal 111 Bowery New York, NY 10002

Berkley J Bowen PO Box 4247 East Hampton, NY 11937 Berkshire Capital 535 Madison Ave., Fl. 19 New York, NY 10022

Berkshire Capital Securities LLC 535 Madison Ave., Fl. 19 New York, NY 10022

Bernard Abdo 45 Warren Street, #4 New York, NY 10007

Bernard J Coffey 40 Franklin St. Dansville, NY 14437 Bernice F Forbes 2830 Jackson Ave., Apt. 17M Long Island City, NY 11101

Berta I Miranda 1414 Bryant Ave., Apt. 1A Bronx, NY 10459

Bethany Coleman 704 Clinton St. Buffalo, NY 14210

Bhav Basnet 8601 144th St. Jamaica, NY 11435

Bilal Asif 10 Balsam Ln. Commack, NY 11725

Billah Sleep & Lung Medicine 18306 Dalny Rd., Ste. 102 Jamaica, NY 11432

Blair G Connelly 6 Sundale Place Scarsdale, NY 10583

Bonnie Langendorf 150 Spring St. Kingston, NY 12401

Boris Metlitsky Irr Trust 1025 5th Ave., Apt. GN New York, NY 10028

Bracor Inc 346 Delaware Ave. Buffalo, NY 14202

Bradley Langston 11 North Moore St., Apt. 2A New York, NY 10013

Brandon Jackson 70 Virginia Ave. Staten Island, NY 10305

Bravo Builders 380 Lexington Ave., 26th Fl. New York, NY 10168

Brenda Ginardi 4 Kline Ct. Clifton Park, NY 12065

Brendan Finn Ttee UTA 6 Stuyvesant Oval, Apt. 8G New York, NY 10009

Brendan J O’Connor 205 Hempstead Avenue Rockville Centre, NY 11570

Brian A Hall 92 Christen Court Lancaster, NY 14086

Brian A Schafer P O Box 507 Massena, NY 13662

Brian Eizenstat 135 East 79th St., Apt. #3W New York, NY 10075

Brian Hodgens 109 Otisco Street, Apt. 401 Syracuse, NY 13204

Brian J Carley 210 East 15th St., #70 New York, NY 10003

Brian Joseph Hanlon 10510 Cheese Factory Rd. Corning, NY 14830

Brian Thompson 111 Harrington Road Syracuse, NY 13224

Bushra Wazed 166-05 Highland Ave., Apt. 7M Jamaica, NY 11432

Candace M Hall 222 1/2 West Chestnut St. East Rochester, NY 14445

Candice Cohen Sabatini 200 West 20th Street, Apt. 1216 New York, NY 10011

Cardel Family Irrevocable Trust PO Box 438 Water Mill, NY 11976

Carl F Plossl 345 W 55th St., Apt. 8H New York, NY 10019

Carl Gordon 555 Glenwood Ave., Apt. 1 Buffalo, NY 14208

Carl P Desir 823 Classon Ave., Apt. 6D Brooklyn, NY 11238

Carlos Arias 191 Washington Park Brooklyn, NY 11205

Carmel Borlaza 72-43 51st Drive Woodside, NY 11377

Carmen Adams 240 Audubon Ave. New York, NY 10033

Carol Burke 38 Timbertrail Ln. Medford, NY 11763

Carol Gonsalves 8940 218th Street Queens Village, NY 11427

Caroline A Walsh 225 E 86th St., Apt. 1205 New York, NY 10028

Caroline Bucci 245 E 25th St., Apt. 8D New York, NY 10010

Caroline Raitses 175 Poplar Drive Roslyn Heights, NY 11576

Caroline Townes 133-20 232nd Laurelton, NY 11413

Carolyn T Zuhoski 105 Cindy Lane Mattituck, NY 11952

Cascades USA 148 Hudson River Rd. NY 12302

Cassandra B Gandia 200 Heatherstone Lan Rochester, NY 14618

Cassandra R BryantWilliams 908 McClellan St. Schenectady, NY 12309

Cassidy Alexandre 1111 Ocean Ave., Suite 403 Brooklyn, NY 11230

Catherine Mineur 2068 Stablegate Dr. Canandaigua, NY 14424

Cathy Leonhardt 65 E 96th Street, Apt. 8B New York, NY 10128

Cauldwell Wingate Company LLC 380 Lexington Ave. New York, NY 10168

Cello Capital Management 12 East 49th St. New York, NY 10017

Chad Nichols 282 E 95th St., Apt. 1R Brooklyn, NY 11212

Chaim A Jakob 972 51st St. Brooklyn, NY 11219

Chaim D Berger 750 Addison St. Woodmere, NY 11598

Chaim Freund 101 Taafee Pl. Brooklyn, NY 11205

Chaim Grunfeld 133 Taaffe Pl. Brooklyn, NY 11205

Cham C To 270 Aspen Knolls Way Staten Island, NY 10312

Chan-Nyein Maung 355 Kings Hwy., Apt. 4B Brooklyn, NY 11223

Chantalle Michel 205-27 Hollis Ave., Apt. 1R Queens, NY 11412

Charlene Lee 950 Underhill Ave., Apt. 12J Bronx, NY 10473

Charlene Willis 3310 Kossuth Ave., Apt. 36 Bronx, NY 10467

Charles A Florence 40333 Selos Rd. Carthage, NY 13619

Charles E Dexter 3rd 310 W 56th St., Apt. 9G New York, NY 10019

Charles J Evans 245 East 58th Street, Apt. 12F New York, NY 10022

Charles J O Donnell 161 Beach 124th St. Belle Harbor, NY 11694

Chayim Weiss 66 Seven Springs Mountain Rd. Monroe, NY 10950

Cheryl Stein 205 W End Ave., Apt. 23G New York, NY 10023

Cheskel Brach 196 Middleton St., # 2 Brooklyn, NY 11206

Chester Szachacz 194 Storm Drive Holtsville, NY 11742

Chinyere Onyenekwu 234 East 45th St. Brooklyn, NY 11203

Chris Kampitsis 300 Martine Ave., Apt. 4F White Plains, NY 10601

Chris W Ring 84 Delaware Road Buffalo, NY 14217

Christa Zangara 5605 Kippen Dr. East Amherst, NY 14051

Christian Y Jaillite 40 Church St. Tarrytown, NY 10591

Christiana Lambson 371 E 54th St. Brooklyn, NY 11203

Christine E Fallon 125 Hawthorne Ave. Ronkonkoma, NY 11779

Christopher Duplan 1076 Washington St. Baldwin, NY 11510

Christopher Gay 30 Main St., Apt. 10B Brooklyn, NY 11201

Christopher K. Weidling 327 E 101 Street, Apt. 7E New York, NY 10021

Christopher Mimnaugh 52 Poplar Street Garden City, NY 11530

Christopher N Martins 546 Dunnbridge Dr. Webster, NY 14580

Christopher Rosen Irrv Trust 165 Lawrence Hill Rd. Cold Spg Hbr, NY 11724

Christopher Rugen 23 Glenda Dr. Deer Park, NY 11729

Christopher Sarkis 146 Nassau Blvd. Garden City,

Madison Ave., Apt. 11A New York, NY 10016

Craig M Price 205 Hicks St., Apt. 3C Brooklyn, NY 11201

Cristina B Georgescu 75-14 192 St. Fresh Meadows, NY 11366

Cynthia A Hoffman DiPace 6 Bridle Ct. Latham, NY 12110

Cynthia M Romano 5 Pine Drive Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724

Daisy Cartagena 9019 88th Ave., Apt. D42 Woodhaven, NY 11421

Dalton J Li 450 N End Ave., Apt. 15E New York, NY 10282

Danes Henry 344 Fulton St. West Babylon, NY 11704

Daniel Gobetz 24 Concerto Dr. Lake Grove, NY 11755

Daniel J Molloy 75 Deer Run Orchard Park, NY 14127

Daniel J Schnurman Irr Trust 350 E 79th St., Apt. 27B New York, NY 10075

Daniel K Thomas 636 Brooklyn Ave., Apt. 15H Brooklyn, NY 11203

Daniel Shtraykher 1545 Ryder Street Brooklyn, NY 11234

Danna Kiel 234 W 148th St., Apt. 3C New York, NY 10039

Danny Han Kang 45-42 Springfield Blvd. Bayside, NY 11361

Danya C Mermelstein 323 W 96th St., Apt. 606 New York, NY 10025

Daphne Pierre-Paul 685 Jackie Lane Baldwin, NY 11510

Darcey L Morgenthaler 83 Gulf St. Lindenhurst, NY 11750

Darin D Liu 116 South Waldinger Valley Stream, NY 11580

Darrell Ramos 75 Winthrop Street Brooklyn, NY 11225

Darren T Doell 5485 Thompson Rd. Clarence, NY 14031

Daryl Hagler 1 Hunters Run Suffern, NY 10901

David A Greenberg 6 Jennifer Lane Campbell Hill, NY 10916 David A Marmon

50 Charles Lindbergh Blvd, # 608 Uniondale, NY 11553

Grace Frimpong

225 E 149th St., Apt. 11D Bronx, NY 10451

Grace Lim 71 Park Ave., # 3D New York, NY 10016

Gregory Bourne 683 East 49th Street Brooklyn, NY 11203

Gregory C Farrell 63 Roebling St., Apt. 4H Brooklyn, NY 11211

Gregory Cage 776 Ave Of Amer., Apt. 18K New York, NY 10001

Gregory Hannibal 60 Dillon Road Larchmont, NY 10538

Gregory J Karp 195 Begley Road Esperance, NY 12066

Guang L Mei No Street Provided Flushing, NY 11358

Guenther Koehne 55 First St., #314 Pelham, NY 10803

Gwendolyn D Simmons PO Box 745 New York, NY 10150

Ha Un Chon

1950 Hutchinson River Pkwy., Apt. 9H Bronx, NY 10461

Hai H Do 35 West 33rd St., Apt. 14B New York, NY 10001

Halim Slilaty 4713 Amherst Ave. Vestal, NY 13850

Hang W Kim 14543 226th St. Springfield Gardens, NY 11413

Hannah Bodenstein

1347 East 17, Apt. 1E Brooklyn, NY 11230

Harry Karpiak

847 King Rd Road Cambridge, NY 12816

Harry S Gierer

47 Roe Blvd. Patchogue, NY 11772

Hayden Klei 8 Spruce St., Apt. 28F New York, NY 10038

Hazel A Morrison 215 Adams St., Apt. 16G Brooklyn, NY 11201

Heba Hasan 45 Hamilton Ave. North Babylon, NY 11703

Hector Lenis

3360 Old Jerusalem R Wantagh, NY 11793

Heidi Choe

4545 Center Blvd., Apt. 1120 Long Island City, NY 11109

Helen K Nicolli & Elizabeth K Nemec

66 Leonard St., Apt. 11B New York, NY 10013

Helena Ottaviano 32-06 158th Street Flushing, NY 11358

Hena B Friedrich

275 Skillman St., #2 Brooklyn, NY 11205

Hend Elzohiry 1977 73 St., #2 Brooklyn, NY 11204

Herbert Minott 5507 Kings Highway Brooklyn, NY 11203

Herman I Rosenberg 40 Girard St., Fl. 1st Brooklyn, NY 11235

Heywood Shelley 60 Remsen St., Apt. 1F Brooklyn, NY 11201

Hilda Cobos

5908 5th Ave., Apt. 2L Brooklyn, NY 11220

Hillel Lieberman

78 Spencer St., Apt. 4R Brooklyn, NY 11205

Himayani Puri

860 United Nations Plz., Apt. 23C New York, NY 10017

Hirokazu Takaya

186 W 80th St., Apt. 10B New York, NY 10024

House Of Spices

12740 Willets Point Blvd. Flushing, NY 11368

Hudson Technologies

One Blue Hill Plaza Pearl River, NY 10965

Hugo R Cohen Jr 96 Spring Glen Rd. Mountain Dale, NY 12763

Huntington Crescent PO Box 1800 Huntington, NY 11743

Hyung Lee 323 E 198th St., Apt. B602 Bronx, NY 10458

Hyung Suk Nam 43-25 Hunter St., #4210W Long Island City, NY 11101

Ignatius H Lau 29 Neal Path South Setauket, NY 11720

Immacula Duperval 109 Elzey Avenue, 2nd Floor Elmont, NY 11003

Impressions By Briana 10 Sherwood Dr. Endicott, NY 13760

Ira S Bernstein 148 South Liberty Dr. Stony Point, NY 10980

Irina Gelfand 4533 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11235

Irwin Franchise Capital 2700 Westchester Ave. Purchase, NY 10577

Isaac Jacob 48 Lorimer St. Brooklyn, NY 11206

Isabel Urena 460 E 147th St., #5H Bronx, NY 10455

J David Barrett 230 Park Avenue New York, NY 10169

J&W Insurance Brokerage 5006 16th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11204

Jaclyn E Morrison 1220 Bay Shore Blvd. Rochester, NY 14609

Jacob A Warner 950 Washington St. Spencerport, NY 14559

Jacob E Darrow 86 Phaeton Dr. Penfield, NY 14526

Jacob J Gold 25 Stern St., 101 Spring Valley, NY 10977

Jacob Vernon 7140 Combs Dr. Hanburg, NY 14075

Jacqueline Dejesus 500 Peconic St., Apt. 255B Ronkonkoma, NY 11779

Jacqueline M Barczak 171 Franklin St. Lackawanna, NY 14218

Jacqueline M Heim 39 Leicester Rd. Buffalo, NY 14217

Jacques L Gabrilove 25 E 86th St., Apt. 5A New York, NY 10028

Jada Garvin 203 Cutchogue Court Melville, NY 11747

Jaime M Knopman 25 E End Ave. New York, NY 10028

Jake A Nasar 211 W 56th St., Apt. 23K New York, NY 10019

Jake Clark 31285 Gardnerville Rd., Lot 75 Evans Mills, NY 13637

James A Cohen 182 Washington Ave. Ext., Apt. 104 Albany, NY 12203

James A Renner 22 Forrest St. Sag Harbor, NY 11963

James Asher Lassner 161 East 91st Street, Apt. 1-E New York, NY 10128

James C McLoughlin 2014 98 Bull Path East Hampton, NY 11937

James Condon 29 Indian Wells Rd. Brewster, NY 10509

James J Drumm Jr 278 Old Rd. Cropseyville, NY 12052

James John Biasucci 705 Greenwich St., Apt. 2 New York, NY 10014

James McEleney 6 Edgewater Rd. Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

James O’Connor 55 Misty Pond Cir., Apt. 11 Moriches, NY 11955

James Palace 85 5th Ave., Fl. 12 New York, NY 10003

James R Fotheringham 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036

James W Cannan Jr 28 Riverview St. Stuyvesant, NY 12173

Jamie Waters 469 Route 164 Brewster, NY 10509

Jan M Slomba 227 80th Street Brooklyn, NY 11209

Jane H Sugden 118 8th Ave., Apt. 4E Brooklyn, NY 11215

Janice Lau 96 Schermerhorn Street, Apt. 10F Brooklyn, NY 11201

Janny Movilis 53 Madison Ave. Brentwood, NY 10717

Jaquayia Younes 77 Clinton St. New York Mills, NY 13417

Jarrett C Wolfe 56 W 45th St., Fl. 2 New York, NY 10036

Jason Briggs 151 Wayne Ave. Suffern, NY 10901

Jason Gardner 201 Terrace Ridge Rd. Fishkill, NY 12524

Jason H Deblinger 65 E 79th St. New York, NY 10075

Jason Mandelbaum 9745 Queens Blvd., Apt. 502 Rego Park, NY 11375

Jason Narod 1330 Grand St., Apt 203 New York, NY 7030

Javier E Andrade 4615 Center Blvd., Apt. 1004 Long Island City, NY 11109

Jean Louis Lelogeais 200 E 89th St., Apt. 35A New York, NY 10128

Jean M Spencer 64 Herkimer St., Apt. 14 Brooklyn, NY 11216

Jean Paul Miranda Alos 315 E 56th St., Apt. 5D New York, NY 10022

Jean R Duvivier Jr 90-44 184th Place Hollis, NY 11423

Jean W Relation 450 Duquette Rd. West Chazy, NY 12992

Jeff Hayward 2010 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo, NY 14207

Jeffery P Bobrick 223 E 111th St., Apt. 3D New York, NY 10029

Jeffrey A Schneider Box 0501 Poughkeepsie, NY 12604

Jeffrey A Tochner 18 Pondview Close Chappaqua, NY 10514

Jeffrey Cooperstein 209 Cedar Ave. Hewlett, NY 11557

Jeffrey D Ponkow 123 Randwood Drive Getzville, NY 14068

Jeffrey Dooley 186 Spring Street Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Jeffrey Foster 15 East 17th Street New York, NY 10003

Jeffrey Harlib 265 E 66th St., Apt. 27D New York, NY 10065

Jeffrey M Lefcourt 145 Central Park W, 1 New York, NY 10023

Jeffrey S Eichas 218 Macintosh Dr. Rochester, NY 14626

Jeffrey Zober 47 Magnolia Lane Roslyn Heights, NY 11577

Jennette Jepson 979 E 15th St. Brooklyn, NY 11230

Jennifer Hanrahan 19 Woodhull Landing Road Sound Beach, NY 11789

Jennifer L Valente 72 Cortelyou Ave. Staten Island, NY 10312

Jennifer Mandell 49 E 7th St. New York, NY 10003

Jennifer S Perkins 31 Mayhew Ave. Larchmont, NY 10538

Jenny O’Hare Ullett 150 W 58th St., 6D New York, NY 10019

Jeremy D Sanders 101 W 81st St., #711 New York, NY 10024

Jeremy M Reed 55 Beckman Avenue Croton On Hudson, NY 10520

Jeremy Peter Silberger 3687 Woodbridge Lane North Wantagh, NY 11793

Jerinson Avalo 1263 Jerome Ave., Apt. 7 Bronx, NY 10452

Jerold C Feuerstein 77 Hillandale Rd. Rye Brook, NY 10573

Jesse K Sheff 4 East 89th Street, Apt. 10FG New York, NY 10128

Jessica Copeland 8019 Kings Hotel Pl. Cicero, NY 13039

Jessica D Lopez 411 Wilkinson St., Apt. 2 Syracuse, NY 13204

Jessica Ulrich 4 Eve Ln. Rye, NY 10580

Jesus Pagan 92 Lyon Pl. Lynbrook, NY 11563

Jewelle J McIntosh 575 East 81st St. Brooklyn, NY 11236

Jill E Giuffrida 5 E End Rd. Rocky Point, NY 11778

Jill R Caro Irrevocable Trust 25 Haverford Ave. Scarsdale, NY 10583

Jillian S Young 346 E 29 St., Apt. 1D Brooklyn, NY 11226

Jin-Hwei Julianna Bair 50 W 34th St., Apt. 10B1 New York, NY 10001

Joane Noresca 570 Ocean Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11226

Joanna L Gifford 497 Garfield Rd. Troy, NY 12180

Joel Hersko 5721 15th Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11219

Joel Lefkowitz 15 Lynch St., Apt. 5A Brooklyn, NY 11249

Joel Lieberman 3 Lemberg Ct., Unit 301 Monroe, NY 10950

Joel Zupnick 26 Taylor Street Brooklyn, NY 11249

John B O’Neill 321 Avenue C, Apt. 8E New York, NY 10009

John Buscema 91 Boutonville Road South Salem, NY 10590

John Cintolo 44-14 Newtown Rd., Apt. 4B Astoria, NY 11103

John Cobb Jr 21 Old Wheatley Rd. Glen Head, NY 11545

John Costable 2001 Marcus Ave., Ste. E240 New Hyde Park, NY 11040

John Curley 63 Van Nostrand Great Neck, NY 11024

John D Hogan Ttee UTA DTD 2-14-02 17 Heights Rd. Manhasset, NY 11030

John F Conlon 5 Mountainview Road Patterson, NY 12563

John J Culkin 198 Frederick Avenue Babylon, NY 11702

John J Dalesandro 9 Westmore Ave. Queensbury, NY 12804

John J McDermott 1200 King St., Apt. 100 Port Chester, NY 10573

John J McElroy 624 Paradise Rd. East Amherst, NY 14051

John K Vargas 45 Tunstall Rd. Scarscale, NY 10583

John Keenan 3440 29th Street Astoria, NY 11106

John Kim 21 W End Ave., Apt. 4302 New York, NY 10023

John McMonagle 150 Charles St., Apt. 3DS New York, NY 10014

John Michael B Foster 850 Park Ave., Apt. 1A New York, NY 10075

John P Teutonico 19 Oak Ln. Glen Cove, NY 11542

John Park 7 Astor Drive Mahopac, NY 10541

John R Bryant 70 Undercliff St. Yonkers, NY 10705

John T Thomas 34 Hillcrest Drive Penfield, NY 14526

John Z Shillingford 222 Purchase St., # 297 Rye, NY 10580

John Zhang 4 Columbus Circle, 4th Fl. New York, NY 10019

Johnny Lara 321 Barbey St. Brooklyn, NY 11207

Jolene J Charles 1233 Ocean Ave., Apt. 4-E Brooklyn, NY 11230

Jon Paul Bernard 346 9th St. Brooklyn, NY 11215

Jonathan E Okon 382 Central Park West, Apt. 5E New York, NY 10025

Jonathan Elias 42 Tara Drive Roslyn, NY 11576

Jonathan G Kortmansky 345 East 81st Street, Apt. 10E New York, NY 10028

Jonathan Greene 207 E 74th Street New York, NY 10021

Jonathan K Morrow 1421 Creek Locks Rd. Kingston, NY 12401

Jonathan Lelonek 20 W 9th St., Apt. 3R New York, NY 10011

Jonathan M Van Huben 16 Clearview Dr. Spencerport, NY 14559

Jonathan Mizrachi 5 Manor Lane New York, NY 11598

Jonathan N Kruh 686 Lorimer St., Apt. 3L Brooklyn, NY 11211

Jonathan Schwartz 61 Catherine Rd. Scarsdale, NY 10583

Jonathan Willistein 15 Clover Park Dr., Apt. 3 Rochester, NY 14618

Jordan Franzblau 61 Jane Street, Apt. 2K New York, NY 10014

Jordan Hoch 110 W 96th St., Apt. 7A New York, NY 10025

Jordan L Bliss 629 Alvarado St. San Francisco, NY 94114

Jorge Antonetti 2 Greenbriar Way East Green Bush, NY 12061

Joseph A DeCicco Jr 33 Westerly Drive New City, NY 10956

Joseph A Opoku 231-16 147th Ave. Springfield Gardens, NY 11413

Joseph D Abruzzese 70 Great Plans Rd. Southampton, NY 11968

Joseph E Oconnor Trustee 130 North Front St. Kingston, NY 12401

Joseph E Sheldorfer 148-08 60th Ave. Flushing, NY 11355

Joseph F Farina 3832 Arthur Ave W Seaford, NY 11783

Joseph Gasbarro 192 Maple Ave. Acra, NY 12405

Joseph I Raj 5 Foxcroft Road New Hartford, NY 13413

Joseph L Gorelick 415 W Park Ave. Long Beach, NY 11561

Joseph L Thomas III PO Box 2405 Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Joseph P Romano 465 Manhasset Woods Rd. Manhasset, NY 11030

Joseph Quattrocchi 266 Lamoka Ave. Staten Island, NY 10308

Joseph R Montemarano 711 President St., Apt. 2 Brooklyn, NY 11215

Joseph S Weintraub 49 E 21st St., Apt. 9D New York, NY 10010

Joseph Schneerson 1126 E 12th St. Brooklyn, NY 11230

Joseph Titano 60 W 23rd St., Apt. 2009 New York, NY 10010

Joseph W Spalding 2780 W Lake Rd. Skaneateles, NY 13152

Joseph Walshe 185 W End Ave., Apt New York, NY 10023

Joseph Weberman 8 Carter Lane, #001 Monroe, NY 10950

Joshua K LaBarge 7541 Shalako Cir. Baldwinsville, NY 13027

Joshua S Roberts 21 Whitley Ct. Pittsford, NY 14534

Jovel Calderon 2791 Ogden Dr. Yorktown Hts, NY 10598

Joycemarie Washburn 123 Mamaroneck Ave., Apt. 210 Mamaroneck, NY 10543

Juan C Zequeira Diaz 175 19th St., Apt. 402 Brooklyn, NY 11232

Juan Salvador Tejada 240 Willopughby St., #18A Brooklyn, NY 11201

Judah M Gomberg 7315 Park Dr. E Flushing, NY 11367

Julia A Flanagan 1735 York Ave., Apt. 19B New York, NY 10128

Julia Stedman 319 E 50th Street, Apt. 3F New York, NY 10022

Julian Barrowcliffe 2006 Trust 103 Greene St., Apt. 3A New York, NY 10012

Juliana Baul 6224 Fort Hamilton Pkwy., Apt. B6 Brooklyn, NY 11219

Justin M Hoppe 223 Sylvan Road Rochester, NY 14618

K S McAlinden 07’ Irrv Trust 45 E 89th St., Apt. 23E New York, NY 10128

Kadijatu Turay 55 Holland Ave., Apt. 5H Staten Island, NY 10303

Kahlila C Brooks-McCallum 6 Lowell St. Westbury, NY 11590

Kahlila C Brooks-McCallum 6 Lowell St. Westbury, NY 11590

Kamen Genov 132 E 35th St., Ste. 1 New York, NY 10016

Kamini Ramgoon 135-26 127th Street South Ozone Park, NY 11420

Kareem Wilkerson 753 Classon Ave., Apt. LD Brooklyn, NY 11238

Kareen Smith 1782 92st St. Brooklyn, NY 11236

Kari M Hazzard 250 Johnson St., Apt. 5E Palmyra, NY 14522

Kari O Kontu 195 Newtown Lane East Hampton, NY 11937

Karl H Kostusiak PO Box 947 Pittsford, NY 14534

Katarzyna Matyjaszek 148 40th St. Lindenhurtst, NY 11757

Katherine Millingtonchancy 1130 Loring Avenue, Apt.1 Brooklyn, NY 11208

Katherine O Dea 200 Beverly Drive, Apt. 3 Syracuse, NY 13219

Katherine Parks 321 Inwood Dr. Rochester, NY 14625

Kathleen A Johnson 38 Park Pl., Apt. 1 Brooklyn, NY 11217

Kathleen HalloranTarantelli 8 Hunter St., B Estate Glens Falls, NY 12801

Kathleen M Holub 231 Scotch Ridge Road Schenectady, NY 12306

Kathleen Olsen 1215 Capital Ave. Utica, NY 13502

Kathryn M Pagano 414 Third Ave.

John A Katinos 653 10th St. Brooklyn, NY 11215

Joseph G McDermott 56 Kensett Rd. Manhasset, NY 11030

Meghan Kirksey 163 Ocean Ave., Apt. N4 Brooklyn, NY 11225

Melissa K Frey

7 W 81st St., # 10AB New York, NY 10024

Melissa Robbins 30 Bayard St., Apt. 11C Brooklyn, NY 11211

Melvin M Melathe

253 Betsy Ross Dr. Orangeburg, NY 10962

Mendel Weiss 5611 12th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11219

Mendy Bornstein

40 Doughty Blvd. Lawrence, NY 11559

Merline Mitchell

532 E 82nd St. Brooklyn, NY 11236

Mertel Halloway 473 Herzl Street, Apt-2F Brooklyn, NY 11212

Messing Fam Life Ins Tr Dated

50 W 47th St., Ste. 1520 New York, NY 10036

MH Life LLC 10 W 33rd St., Rm. 900 New York, NY 10001

Michael B Nulty 3 Hillside Terrace Nanuet, NY 10954

Michael C Miller DDS 316 Chappaqua Rd. Briarcliff, NY 10510

Michael Crosier 111 Cemetery Rd. Stratford, NY 13470

Michael D Bunnell 201 Crestwood Drive Camillus, NY 13031

Michael D Tucci 80 Dogwood Lane Rye, NY 10580

Michael E Kosinski 31 Rockleigh Dr. Buffalo, NY 14225

Michael E Sande

410 7th Ave., #1R Brooklyn, NY 11215

Michael F Czupil 83 Bockes Rd. Greenfield Center, NY 12833

Michael Fein 20 Park Ave. New York, NY 10016

Michael H Day

351 W 54th St., Apt. 4C New York, NY 10019

Michael Hsiung

1 Versailles Ct. Glen Head, NY 11545

Michael Ireland 252 Vineyard Rd. Halesite, NY 11743

Michael J Compagni

25 Cross Road Syracuse, NY 13224

Michael J Ostolski 7122 Larry Ct. North Tonawanda, NY 14120

Michael L Hays

194 Hillrise Dr. Penfield, NY 14526

Michael Levine

73 Ivy Way Port Washington, NY 11050

Michael Lieberman 2000 Broadway, Apt. 20B New York, NY 10023

Michael McGuigan 35 Burtis Ave. Rockville Centre, NY 11570

Michael P Modrzynski

625 Delaware Ave., Ste. 304 Buffalo, NY 14202

Michael S Leeds Ins Trust PO Box 718 Syosset, NY 11791

Michael Seaman

2415 Queens Plz N, Unit 5E Long Island City, NY 11101

Michael Waczkowski

128 Lyndale Ave. Tonawanda, NY 14223

Michael Wood 105 Duane Street, Apt. 21A New York, NY 10007

Michaels Group LLC 10 Blacksmith Dr. Malta, NY 12020

Michele T Interante 176 Grant Ave. Farmingdale, NY 11735

Michelle A Sartain 535 Dean Street, Apt. 209 Brooklyn, NY 11217

Michelle Boyd 74 Donaldson Rd. Buffalo, NY 14208

Michelle N Schor

300 Edwards St., Apt. 1HW Roslyn Heights, NY 11577

Mid-Hudson Co-Operative 220 Harborside Drive Schenectady, NY 12305

Mila Belgrade 163 Hilburn Rd. Scarsdale, NY 10583

Milenko Pekija 6584 Austin St., Apt. 2S Rego Park, NY 11374

Milton Alley Inc PO Box 227 Lagrangeville, NY 12540

Mimi J Lee 38 Woods Dr. Roslyn, NY 11576

Mina Attaalla 15 North St. Glen Head, NY 11545

Minhaj A Patel

200 E 71st Street, Apt. 9J New York, NY 10021

Miriam E Eisenberger 1448 56th Street Brooklyn, NY 11219

Mobile Anesthesia Associates PC PO Box 1766 New York, NY 10156

Moe S Cho

738 41st Street Brooklyn, NY 11232

Mohammed S Alam 172-14 90 Ave. Jamaica, NY 11432

Mohini H Mistry 10440 Queens Blvd., Apt. 10V Forest Hills, NY 11375

Momo Fully 180 Park Hill Ave., Apt. 5D Staten Island, NY 10304

Monica Allen 603 Bristol St. Brooklyn, NY 11212

Monica Ping Ting Hui 4550 Pearson St., Apt. 5N Long Island City, NY 11101

Mordchai Stern 13607 59th Ave. Flushing, NY 11355

Mordechai Furth 80-02 Kew Gardens Rd., 10th Floor Kew Gardens, NY 11415

Mordechai Gold 1920 59th St. Brooklyn, NY 11204

Mordechai Herzog 1755 59th Street Brooklyn, NY 11204

Morris Maxine 333 Lafayette Avenue, Apt. 9B Brooklyn, NY 11238

Morris Protective Service PO Box 991 Syracuse, NY 13201

Moses Yeboah 85 Riverdale Ave., Apt. #A329 Yonkers, NY 10701

Moshe Fischer 2 Mezabish Pl., Unit 211 Monroe, NY 10950

Moshe Friedman 2174 59th St. Brooklyn, NY 11204

Moshe J Geller 1536-50th Street Brooklyn, NY 11219

Muriel F Hungerford 33 Montrose Dr. Delmar, NY 12054

Musu Conde PO Box 40655 Staten Island, NY 10304

Myong Lee 140 Arleigh Rd. Little Neck, NY 11363 Myra Aguilar 646 47th St. Brooklyn, NY 11220

Nachiketa Das 1173A 2nd Ave., Apt. 238 New York, NY 10065

Nadeen N Ayala 101 West 87th Street, #303 New York, NY 10024

Nadia U Sajous 27 Calhoun Ave. New Rochelle, NY 10801

Naftali Tessler 1317 42nd St. Brooklyn, NY 11219

Nahreen Mamoon 26 Lee Avenue Albertson, NY 11507

Nancy A Rugnetta 5736 Saunders Lakeview, NY 14085

Nancy J Silverman 6 Hirst Road Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510

Nancy Shaw Dempsey 51 Grace Church St. Rye, NY 10580

Naomi Forkuo 165 East 19th Street, Apt. 4M Brooklyn, NY 11226

Nassau Radiologic Group 990 Stewart Ave., Fl. 4, NY 11530

Natasha Griffin 321 Depot Rd. Huntington Station, NY 11746

Nathalie Boyce 369 Cumberland Street Brooklyn, NY 11238

Nathan S Petruzzo 609 W Court St. Ithaca, NY 14850

Nathaniel Epstein 200 Blackheath Rd. Lido Beach, NY 11561

Natisha A Doodnath 1099 Little East Neck Rd. West Babylon, NY 11704

Neal Moszkowski 750 3rd Ave., 22nd Fl. New York, NY 10017

Neda Rajablou 255 Huguenot St., Apt. 2317 New Rochelle, NY 10801

Neil Vogel 31 Tompkins Place Brooklyn, NY 11231

Nelys Sanchez 8734 90th St., Apt. 2 Woodhaven, NY 11421

Neurological Associates 421 Huguenot Street New Rochelle, NY 10801

Niall D O’Murchadha 884 W End Ave., Apt. 74 New York, NY 10025

Nicholas Avitabile 601 W 57th St., Apt. 6K New York, NY 10019

Nicholas Collins 100 Caton Avenue, Apt. 2M Brooklyn, NY 11218

Nicholas Pallotta 201 W Broadway, Apt. 121 Port Jefferson, NY 11777

Nicolette A Cooper 14 Elk St., Apt. 1A Hempstead, NY 11550

Niko Koklanos 19619 42nd Avenue Flushing, NY 11358

Nishit Mehta 475 48th Avenue, Apt. 2208 Long Island City, NY 11109

Noah W Dinerstein 505 Cottage Place, Apt. 2 Utica, NY 13502

Noemi Diaz-Justino 101 Ryerson St., #2 Brooklyn, NY 11205

Noemi Garcia 16 Pine St., Apt. 1 Brooklyn, NY 11208

Noor Hashmi 4 Farmwoods Ln. Glen Head, NY 11545

Norma J Carr PO Box 582 Oneonta, NY 13820

Norman Harold Chait 2 Overhill Rd. Scarsdale, NY 10583

Norman L Roof Sr 7747 Woodbattle Rd. Copenhagen, NY 13626

Nuch Bonah 153 Brabant Ave., Apt. 5C Staten Island, NY 10303

Numis Securities 180 Waverly Place New York, NY 10014

Ocean Physicians PC PR 1615 James St. Merrick, NY 11566

Olga M Torres PO Box 180372 Richmond Hills, NY 11418

Olga Watkins 2500 East Ave., Apt. 4Q Rochester, NY 14610

Oliver Platz 768 Hancock St. Brooklyn, NY 11233

Olivia Janssen 318 Franklin Ave. Sea Cliff, NY 11579

Oluremi Ogunsanya 81 Fleet Pl., Apt. 14D Brooklyn, NY 11201

Omadai Mahadeo 13339 147th St. Jamaica, NY 11436

Oppenheimer & Co Inc Vault 85 Broad Street New York, NY 10004

Oralyn Benoit 524 Bristol St., Apt. 1F Brooklyn, NY 11212

Orly Taber 535 Forest Ave. Woodmere, NY 11598

Ornella Harvey 2928 Ricky Drive Endwell, NY 13760

Osberto Hernandez 153 S Broadway White Plains, NY 10605

Paolo Costagli 188 E 64th St., Apt. 1906 New York, NY 10065

Pasquale Curra 406 Franklin Ave. Hewlett, NY 11557

Patrice A Williams 89-22 208 St. Queens Village, NY 11427

Patrice Griffin 57 Greenbush St. Cortland, NY 13045

Patricia A Matusiak 238 Carpenter Buffalo, NY 14223

Patricia Armour 139 Chesterfield Dr. Rochester, NY 14612

Patricia Foulkes 255 Ocean Ave., Apt. 4B Brooklyn, NY 11225

Patricia G Bruzzano 769 Pelham Rd. New Rochelle, NY 10805

Patricia J Balducci 7 Primrose Ln. North Babylon, NY 11703

Patricia Moore 140 Park Hill Ave., Apt. 5V Staten Island, NY 10304

Patricia Paul 8214 Avenue M, 1 Brooklyn, NY 11236

Patricia W Bristel 2566 Morgan Ave. Bronx, NY 10469

Patrick Allen 695 Ensminger Road Tonawanda, NY 14150

Patrick J Durkin 132 E 72nd St., Apt. 4 New York, NY 10021

Patrick Kearney

460 W 20th St., Apt. 4J New York, NY 10011

Patrick M McClarren 816 Co Rt 138 Broadalbin, NY 12025

Patrick Sweeney 3 Chapel Gate Glen Head, NY 11545

Paul Blackman Irrev Trst 323 W 87th St. New York, NY 10024

Paul Guggenheimer 36 Mianus Dr. Bedford, NY 10506

Paul J Harmon 7 Merion Ct. Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567

Paul Joseph Gardner 500 High Point Dr., Ph 13 Hartsdale, NY 10530

Paul Mole Barber Shop 1034A Lexington Ave. New York, NY 10021

Paul R Azzariti 101 Riviera Dr S Massapequa, NY 11758

Pauline Sergie 100 Carver Loop, #8E Bronx, NY 10475

Paystream Software Inc. 768 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11205

Peconic Opthalmology 137 Hampton Rd. Southampton, NY 11968

Pedro A Arellano 1 N 4th Pl., Apt. 2e Brooklyn, NY 11249

Peter A. Rodriguez-Velez 1119 Woodycrest Ave., Apt. 1E Bronx, NY 10452

Peter C Richard Inter Vivos 633 E Main St. Riverhead, NY 11901

Peter J Koys 7 Indian Wood Ct. Wading River, NY 11792

Peter Onghena 447 East 87th Street, 3W New York, NY 10128

Peter R Skelton 880 Titus Ave. Rochester, NY 14617

Peter T Lee 3 Bailey Dr. Massapequa, NY 11758

Petro Borodin 16 Omega Drive Rochester, NY 14624

Phedre L Rosarion 175 Lott Street, Apt. 3B Brooklyn, NY 11226

Philine Logan-Mitchell 778 Lenox Rd., Apt. 1st Fl. Brooklyn, NY 11203

Philip C Lee 174 Benziger Ave. Staten Island, NY 10301

Philip J Salierno 470 River Rd. Saint James, NY 11780

Philip Maiorana 182 Spackenkill Rd. Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Philip Varrichio III 600 Shore Rd., Apt. 4D Long Beach, NY 11561

Phillip G Casper 108 Leonard St., Apt. 11C New York, NY 10013

Phylise Sands Ttee Uta 02/15/06 181 E 90th St., Apt. 16A New York, NY 10128

Phyllis M Brant 123 Salmon Creek Dr. Hilton, NY 14468

Pittsford Paving PO Box 20284 Rochester, NY 14602

Plaza Consulting Services Inc 2750 Nostrand Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11210

Pranna Jagmohan 107 03 126 St., Apt. 1 South Richmond, NY 11419

Proskauer Rose LLP Eleven Time Square, Ste. 2300B New York, NY 10036

Psyop Media Company LLC 105 Rivington St., Fl. 2 New York, NY 10002

Rachael Jones PO Box 147 Northville, NY 12134

Rafaelina M Abreu 33-05 109th St., Apt. 1A Corona, NY 11368

Ralph S Ingraham 690 Janes Rd. Rochester, NY 14612

Ram Challa 50 Wooster St., Apt. 4NR New York, NY 10013

Rana Kaplan 253 W 73rd St., Apt. 9C New York, NY 10023

Rashmi Verma MD 11 Hazelwood Drive Jericho, NY 11753

Raymond Givens 245 Fort Washington Ave., Apt. 3F New York, NY 10032

Raymond Matthews 68 Church St. Ellenville, NY 12428

Raymond Rodriguez 5500 Fieldston Rd., Apt. 2AA Bronx, NY 10471

Raymond S Chan 201 West 72nd Street, Apt. 6E New York, NY 10023

Reconnaissance Advisors LLC 747 3rd Ave., Fl. 19th New York, NY 10017

Reesha Rafiq 30 Morris Drive Deer Park, NY 11729

Regina Da Silva 8345 Vietor Ave., Apt. 6C Elmhurst, NY 11373

Richande Evans 123 Valentine Lane, Apt. 6F Yonkers, NY 10705

Richard A Cirillo 246 E 33rd St., Apt. 1F/R New York, NY 10016

Richard A Weston 76-16 271st Street New Hyde Park, NY 11040

Richard E Stearns 66 Bittersweet Ln. Slingerlands, NY 12159

Richard M Young 6715 102nd St., Apt. 2U Forest Hills, NY 11375

Richard S Berry 340 E 72nd St., Apt. 11F New York, NY 10021

Richard T Jackson 21 Whitney Place Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Richmond Ahiabu 58 Northfield Court Staten Island, NY 10303

Rick Gustave 325 Kent Ave., Apt. 427 Brooklyn, NY 11249

Ricky Eisen 343 E 30th St., Apt. 21C New York, NY 10016

Rifka R Owrutsky 8 Holland Ln.

Robert

Robert C Happy 19 Lawrence Way Averill, NY 12018

Robert F Ceglowski 128 Keys Rd. Salem, NY 12865

Robert Greenberg 5 Tudor City Place, Apt. 720 New York, NY 10017

Robert H Deegan 108 Garnet Dr. Gamillus,

4R Scarsdale, NY 10583

Robert Kozlowski 11 Wrentham St. Kingston, NY 12401

Robert L Robertson 2 Beekman Pl., Apt. 1B New York, NY 10022

Robert M Mordekhai 2 Moreland Ct. Great Neck, NY 11024

Robert McNally 75 Redan Dr. Smithtown, NY 11787

Robert Urban 43 W 118th St., Apt. 1 New York, NY 10026

Rocco D DeSimone 113 Hight St. Catskill, NY 12414

Ronald D Osgood Irrevocable Trust 35 Cassandra Cir. Churchville, NY 14428

Ronald Michelli 4 Weber Ave. Malverne, NY 11565

Rose Amable 3 Tappan Ter. Ardsley, NY 10502

Rose Bevilacqua 103 Sawyer Avenue Staten Island, NY 10314

Rose Katz 486 Harding West Hempsted, NY 11552

Roselina Pina De Estevez 1500 Vyse Ave., #2 Bronx, NY 10460

Rosemary Schwartzberg 133 N Delaware Ave. Lindenhurst, NY 11757

Rosemond Asante 721 White Plains Rd., Apt. 5H Bronx, NY 10473

Roshini Malaney 27 Ramsy Lane Farmingville, NY 11738

Roslyn Bowers 525 W 238th Street, Apt. 1B Bronx, NY 10463

Russell H Ireland III 10 Ponderosa Ln. Nesconset, NY 11767

Russell Karp 23 Croft Rd. Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Ruth De Leon Martinez 3881 Sedgwick Ave., Apt. 5G Bronx, NY 10463

Ryan Blaney 2340 State Rte. 80 Lafayette, NY 13084

Ryan J Connor 62 Peppermint Road Commack, NY 11725

Ryan McGinley 83 Canal St., #205 New York, NY 10002

Sahadeo D Ramnauth 14455 Melbourne Ave., Apt. 5H Flushing, NY 11367

Saintilaire Valcin 7 Bartlett Dr. Middletown, NY 10941

Samantha L Henrichs 24 Holly Ave. Mineola, NY 11501

Samantha Santiago 1580 E102nd Street Brooklyn, NY 11236

Sameh Elias 191 28th Ave., 1B Brooklyn, NY 11214

Samia Sam 8 Cardinal Ct. Wheatley Hts, NY 11798

Samuel D Isaly 1001 5th Ave., Apt. 15A New

Mohammad M Azam 50 Briarfield Ln. Huntington, NY 11743

Nita Seepersand 104-10 205th Street St. Albans, NY 11412

Noah Bennett 300 W 55th St., Apt. 12T New York, NY 10019

Pervez Qureshi 1063 Adrienne Dr. North Bellmore, NY 11710

FDA reverses course on telework after layoffs and resignations threaten basic

BY MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press

Weeks after ordering all Food and Drug Administration employees back into the office, the agency is reversing course, allowing some of its most prized staffers to work remotely amid worries that recent layoffs and resignations could jeopardize basic functions, like approving new medicines.

An internal email obtained by

The Associated Press states that FDA leadership are “allowing review staff and supervisors to resume telework” at least two days a week. The policy shift was confirmed by three FDA staffers who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal agency matters.

The message was sent last week to some of the FDA’s hundreds of drug reviewers. Staffers said a similar policy was communicated to reviewers who handle vaccines, biotech drugs, medical devices and tobacco products— although not always in writing.

It’s the latest example of the Trump administration’s chaotic approach to overhauling the federal health workforce, which has included firings, a scramble to rehire some employees, and then additional layoffs last week of an estimated 3,400 staffers, or more than 15% of the agency’s workforce. When FDA

employees were called back to the agency’s Maryland headquarters last month they confronted overflowing parking lots, crowded offices and broken or missing supplies.

A spokeswoman for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration is returning to “preCOVID telework arrangements for reviewers, whose read and write work output is tracked in 15-minute increments to ensure productivity and accountability.”

While many agencies switched to telework during the pandemic, the FDA began embracing the practice nearly two decades earlier. The flexibility was seen as a competitive perk for recruiting employees who can often earn more working in industry.

Entire offices cut

Last week’s cuts included entire offices focusing on FDA policy and regulations, most of the agency’s communication staff and teams that support food inspectors and investigators. Senior officials overseeing tobacco, new drugs, vaccines and other products have also been dismissed or forced to resign. Staffers have described rank-and-file employees “pouring” out of the agency.

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler called the cuts “devastating, haphazard, thoughtless and chaotic” during an April 9

House hearing.

When Kennedy announced plans to eliminate 10,000 staffers across the federal health workforce, he noted that FDA medical reviewers and safety inspectors wouldn’t be impacted.

In February, HHS was forced to recall some probationary employees who were fired, including hundreds of medical reviewers at FDA, whose salaries are largely funded by industry fees, not federal dollars. But last week’s cuts combined with resignations and retirements have raised a new threat: that FDA

CHIEF CLASSIFIED

funding could fall so low that it short circuits a long-standing system in which companies help fund much of the agency’s operations.

Nearly half the FDA’s nearly $7 billion budget comes from fees collected from drug, device and tobacco companies. The agency uses the money to hire thousands of extra staffers to quickly and efficiently review new products. For example, about 70 percent of the FDA’s drug program is financed by user-fee agreements, which must be reauthorized by Congress every five years. But the agreements stipulate that

if FDA’s federal funding falls below set levels, companies are no longer required to pay fees and, in some cases, can claw back their money. The threshold requirements are designed to ensure Congress continues funding FDA, rather than relying entirely on the private sector. FDA and industry groups are supposed to begin negotiations later this year to renew several user-fee agreements, including those for drugs and devices.

“I don’t think the agency nor regulated industry can afford for ‘user fees’ not to be reauthorized,” said Michael Gaba, an attorney who advises FDA-regulated companies.

Whatever the reasoning behind the telework shift, former government officials say it’s a sign that recently confirmed FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is trying to retain and rebuild staffing and resources. Makary made his first appearance at FDA’s headquarters April 2, one day after the mass layoffs. According to the memo obtained by the AP, Makary signed off on the return to telework.

“Dr. Makary needs to rebuild teams and restart the engine of productivity lost to weeks of job insecurity, uncertainty and shortages of team members,” said Steven Grossman, a former HHS official. “Turning commuting time back into work time is a great first step in achieving both.”

whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Gabriela Saper, 77 E 12th St, #17J, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. 041025-1 4/18/25-5/23/25

#9A, NY, NY 10021. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 011725-4 4/18/25-5/23/25

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Crimson Core LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/24/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is 301 Park Avenue, Unit 2102, New York, NY 10022. The principal business address of the LLC is 301 Park Avenue, Unit 2102, New York, NY 10022. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. 041025-2 4/18/25-5/23/25

SEMYON HOLDING S.A. (the “Company”) a BVI Business Company (IN VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION) BC No. 1845684 NOTICE is hereby given pursuant to section 204(1)(b) of the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 that the Company is in voluntary liquidation. The voluntary liquidation commenced on April 8th, 2025. The Liquidator is Mr. L. Marlon Marquis, with address at Alpha Solutions (BVI) Limited, The Alpha-Sphere, Ellen Skelton Building, Fishers Lane, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. DATED: April 8, 2025. 041125-1 4/18/25

Notice of Qualification of APTURA LABS LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State: 4/8/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE: 4/7/25. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 401 Park Ave. So., 10th Fl., Office #947, NY, NY 10016, principal business address. DE address of LLC: Cogency Global Inc., 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: all lawful purposes. 041125-3 4/18/25-5/23/25

Notice of Qualification of BKNY Vessels

Notice of Formation of THE JOURNEYZ AHEAD LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/02/25. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Bryan Zaslow, 301 East 64th St., 7-B, NY, NY 10065. Purpose: Any lawful activity. 041025-4 4/18/25-5/23/25

MISCELLANEOUS CITATION File No. 2023-2238/A SURROGATE’S COURT : NEW YORK COUNTY CITATION THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK TO: Albert Garcia, Israel Santos, Kevin Chavez, Edwin Martinez, Michael Gibb, and Elaine Ahlberg, whose whereabouts are unknown, if living, and if they died subsequent to the decedent herein, to their heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, legatees, executors, administrators, assignees and successors in interest who names and places of residence are unknown and cannot be ascertained after due diligence; and to the heirs at law, next of kin and distributees of Nancy B. Fray, a/k/a Nancy Fray, a/k/a, Nancy Beth Fray, deceased, if living, and if any of them be dead to their heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, legatees, executors, administrators, assignees and successors in interest whose names are unknown and cannot be ascertained after due diligence; Attorney General of the State of New York, Susan B. Fray Decker, John Fray, Catherine Ollman, Helen Fanucci, Paul Fray, Pamela Bradley, Richard Bradley, Dowen Chandler, Jr., Saul Alejandro, Vincent Celenza, Oswaldo Jave, Nancy Ancowitz, and Animal Medical Center A petition having been filed by Public Administrator of the County of New York, who is domiciled or in the case of a corporation, its principal office, at 31 Chambers Street, Room 311, New York, New York 10007. YOU ARE HEREBY CITED TO SHOW CAUSE before the Surrogate’s Court, New York County at 31 Chambers Street, Room 503, New York, New York, on May 16, 2025 at 10:00 o’clock in the forenoon of that day, why a decree should not be made in the estate of Nancy B. Fray, a/k/a Nancy Fray, a/k/a Nancy Beth Fray, deceased, and lately domiciled 4 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10010,

A portion of the Food and Drug Administration’s campus in Silver Spring, Md.

DCAS HIRING LIST

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services established a 459-name list for Fraud Investigator on January 15, 2025. The list is based on Exam 5076, which was recently held. Readers should note that eligible lists change over their four-year life as candidates are added, removed, reinstated, or rescored. The list shown below is accurate as of the date of establishment but list standings can change as a result of appeals.

Some scores are prefixed by the letters v, d, p, s and r. The letter “v” designates a credit given to an honorably discharged veteran who has served during time of war. The letter “d” designates a credit given to an honorably discharged veteran who was disabled in combat. The letter “p” designates a “legacy credit” for a candidate whose parent died while engaged in the discharge of duties as a NYC Police Officer or Firefighter. The letter “s” designates a “legacy credit” for being the sibling of a Police Officer or Firefighter who was killed in the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Finally, the letter “r” designates a resident of New York City.

UPCOMING EXAMS LEADING TO JOBS

Below is a roundup of New York City and State exams leading to public-service positions. Most of the jobs listed are located in the New York Metropolitan area and upstate.

There are residency requirements for many New York City jobs and for state law-enforcement positions.

Prospective applicants are advised to write or call the appropriate office to make sure they meet the qualifications needed to apply for an exam. For jobs for which no written tests are given, candidates will be rated on education and experience, or by oral tests or performance exams.

DCAS Computer-based Testing and Application Centers (CTACs) have re-opened to the public. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, walk-ins are no longer accepted and appointments must be scheduled online through OASys for eligible list or examination related inquiries.

All examination and eligible list related notifications will be sent by email only, you will no longer receive notifications via the US mail.

All new hires must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, unless they have been granted a reasonable accommodation for religion or disability. If you are offered city employment, this requirement must be met by your date of hire, unless a reasonable accommodation for exemption is received and approved by the hiring agency.

For further information about where to apply to civil service exams and jobs, visit the thechief.org/exams.

The Federal Government has decentralized its personnel operations and holds few exams on a national or regional basis. Most Federal vacancies are filled by individual agencies based on education-and-experience evaluations. For information, contact the U.S. Office of Personnel Management or individual agencies, or see www.usajobs.gov.

$69,500-$123,000

60025660 Sanitation Inspector/ Sanitation Inspector I $71,000$110,000

60025670 Police Automotive Shop Supervisor I $53,581-$111,654

60025680 Sanitation Dispatcher $77,000$125,000

60026520 Assistant County Assessor Trainee $39,439-81,164

60026530 Assessment Services Supervisor I $49,306-$102,986

60026870 Claims Settlement Agent I $31,680-$63,016

60026930 Director, Revenue Cycle Management $151,000-$200,000

66748010 Fleet Automotive Shop Supervisor

JOB HIGHLIGHT

The city is accepting applications through April 29 for painters ahead of multiple-choice exams scheduled to begin July 8. Painters are being sought by the city generally, and also at CUNY and New York City Health + Hospitals.

The current minimum salary is $50.66 per hour for a 35-hour work

City, CUNY, Health and Hospitals accepting applications for painters starting at $50/hr

week. The application fee is $96.

THE JOB Painters, under supervision, do inside and outside patching and painting of a general nature, including all coats. They work on and from ladders, platforms and scaffolds as jobs may require; erect ladders; may rig lines and scaffolds; prepare, fill, and prime surfaces for painting; mix paint components and match colors; apply paint with a brush, roller, or spray gun to sur-

faces; apply

to surfaces, including

and taping

take proper care of all materials, tools and equipment; They keep work records as required; may hang wallpaper; and may operate a motor vehicle in the performance of assigned duties. All painters perform related work. Some of their physical activities and environmental conditions experienced are: working on and from ladders, platforms and scaffolds; erecting scaffolds and ladders; lifting and carrying objects weighing up to 65 pounds; bending, kneeling and crouching while working; working in confined spaces; and using vision to check color matches.

REQUIREMENTS

44 and 303 on List 3044 for 4 jobs in Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING MAINTAINER–3 eligibles (Nos. 11-13 ) on List 2601 for any of 20 jobs at NYC Transit.

POLICE ADMINISTRATIVE AIDE–250 eligibles between Nos. 47 and 508 on List 3072 for 5 jobs in Police Department.

RESIDENT BUILDINGS SUPERINTENDENT–14 eligibles (Nos. 1-14) and on List 4087 for 11 jobs at Housing Authority.

SPECIAL CONSULTANT (MENTAL HEALTH STANDARDS AND SERVICES)–203 eligibles between Nos. 12 and 256 on List 1177 for 4 jobs in DOHMH.

PROMOTION

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER–106 eligibles between Nos. 1 and 113 on List 1552 for 10 jobs in Department of Finance.

ASSOCIATE INSPECTOR (CONSUMER AND WORKER PROTECTION)–5 eligibles (Nos. 11-15) on List 4511 for any of 10 jobs in Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

CAPTAIN (FIRE)–367 eligibles between Nos. 69 and 637 on List 1551 for 100 jobs in Fire Department.

GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT (SANITATION)–162 eligibles between Nos. 74 and 239 on List 1534 for 4 jobs in Department of Sanitation.

SENIOR SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKER–258 eligibles between Nos. 15 and 272 on List 3579 for 13 jobs in Department of Environmental Protection.

SUPERVISOR ROOFER–4 eligibles (Nos. 1, 7, 9 and 10) on List 2518 for 1 job at Housing Authority.

Department of Education.

ECONOMIST–15 eligibles between Nos.

VENTILATION AND DRAINAGE MAINTAINER–5 eligibles (Nos. 2-6) on List 3725 for any of 8 jobs at NYC Transit.

Successful candidates will have either 1) five years of full-time satisfactory experience as a painter; or 2) At least three years of full-time satisfactory experience as a painter and sufficient full-time satisfactory apprentice painter experience to make up a total of five years of acceptable experience.

Six months of acceptable experience will be credited for each year of apprentice painter experience. The experience requirement must be met by April 29. If the experience was on a parttime basis working less than 35 hours per week, candidates will need to convert their part-time experience to full-time experience based on this formula: (number of

hours worked per week/35) x (number of months worked).

For example, if candidates worked at a job for 21 hours per week for 12 months, they would make the following calculation: 21/35 x 12 = 7.2 months.

Candidates may be given the test before their qualifications are verified, but they are responsible for determining whether or not they meet the education and experience requirements for this examination prior to submitting their applications.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Medical standards for this position. Accordingly, all eligibles who have been offered a position will be required to undergo and pass a medical examination prior to the date of appointment to ensure that those medical standards have been met and that they can perform the essential functions of the position. Where appropriate, reasonable accommodations will be provided for a person with a disability to enable them to take the medical examination and/or to perform the essential functions of the job.

For appointment to certain positions, candidates will be required to possess a valid driver’s license, which must be maintained for the duration of employment.

City residency is not required. Incumbents must be able to understand and be understood in English.

THE TEST

Candidates will be given a multi-

ple-choice exam at a computer terminal. Test scores will be used to determine places on an eligible list. A passing score is at least 70 percent.

The test may include questions on knowledge of methods and techniques for preparing wood, metal, plaster, and other surfaces for finishing and refinishing; knowledge of mixing paints and matching colors; knowledge of the methods, techniques and materials used in the painting trade, including their applications and uses; knowledge of the safety and cleaning practices and procedures applicable to the painting trade; knowledge of the tools and equipment used in the painting trade, including their design, uses, cleaning, repair, and maintenance; knowledge of various types of paints, stains, varnishes, lacquers and other additives, including their applications and uses; knowledge of repairing water damage; standards of proper employee ethical conduct; and other related areas.

It may also include questions requiring the use of any of deductive reasoning, information ordering, memorization, number facility, problem sensitivity, spatial orientation, written comprehension and expression.

For complete information on the position, its requirements and the test, go to https://www.nyc. gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/ noes/20255099000.pdf

LABOR AROUND THE WORLD LABOR AROUND THE WORLD LABOR AROUND THE WORLD

Voices from coal country say closures of MSHA offices will endanger mine safety

BY JOHN RABY and LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press

Retired coal miner Stanley “Goose” Stewart questions whether it’s safe for anyone to work in the industry right now, even as President Donald Trump has pledged to reinvigorate “beautiful clean coal resources.”

The Department of Government Efficiency, created by President Donald Trump and run by Elon Musk, has been targeting federal agencies for spending cuts. That includes terminating leases for three dozen offices in the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the agency responsible for enforcing mine safety laws.

The proposals for MSHA are “idiotic,” Stewart said, and would give coal companies “the green light to do as they please.”

Safety laws and their enforcement played a significant role before and after the Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia blew up 15 years ago Saturday, killing 29 of Stewart’s co-workers.

Stewart was there that day but soon stepped away for good, focusing on his love for hunting, fishing and tending to his chickens and his garden when the weather warms.

Advocates for the mining industry argue that state government is up to the task of keeping mines safe, although some lawmakers in West Virginia’s Republican majority have used the existence of federal inspectors as justification for curtailing the state inspectors’ enforcement power. They also point to the dwindling number of mining fatalities — and mines in general.

Republican Tom Clark, a West Virginia state lawmaker and a former MSHA inspector and supervisor who worked in one West Virginia office slated for closure, said he expected it to shutter years ago.

Eight MSHA employees currently work in the Summersville office,

Clark said, less than a third of the workforce that existed there about 10 years ago. Clark said he doesn’t have any concerns for miners, as long as those inspectors are transferred to other coalfield-based offices. Clark, who worked on MSHA’s Upper Big Branch investigation, said he supports the Trump administration’s efforts to streamline government and stimulate the economy. “It’s going to take time and there’s going to be some pain for all the American people, I think,” he said. “But if we can hang in there and battle through, we all may be better off. I hope so.”

Clark said the federal government should not cut down on inspectors

Starbucks imposes new limits on what baristas can wear under their aprons

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

Starbucks is imposing new limits on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons.

Starting May 12, employees will be required to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. Shirts can be short- or long-sleeved and collared or collarless, the company said in a memo released Monday. Starbucks will give each employee two free T-shirts.

Starbucks said the new dress code will make its green aprons stand out and create a sense of familiarity for customers. It comes as the company is trying to reestablish a warmer, more welcoming experience in its store.

“By updating our dress code, we can deliver a more consistent coffeehouse experience that will also bring simpler and clearer guidance to our partners, which means they can focus on what matters most, crafting great beverages and fostering connections with customers,” the company said in a post on its website.

But some workers protested the move. Starbucks Workers United, a labor group that has unionized workers at more than 550 of Starbucks’ 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, said it told the company last week that it has already negotiated a tentative dress code agreement during bargaining sessions with the company. The union said it opposes any changes to the dress code until bargaining concludes and a labor agreement is reached.

Jasmine Leli, a Starbucks barista and union bargaining delegate, said the company should be focusing on things that improve store operations, like appropriately staffing stores and giving workers a guaranteed number of hours.

“Instead of addressing the most pressing issues baristas have been raising for years, Starbucks is prioritizing a limiting dress code that won’t improve the company’s operation,” Leli said in a statement provided by the union. “They’re forcing baristas to pay for new clothes when we’re struggling as it is on Starbucks wages and without guaranteed hours.”

The new guidance comes nearly a decade after Starbucks loosened its dress code to give employees more opportunity for self-expression. In 2016, the company expanded the color of shirts employees could wear, adding gray, navy, dark denim and brown to the previous guidance of black or white. It also allowed patterned shirts in those colors.

In 2019, the company tweaked the dress code again, allowing one facial piercing as long as it was no larger than a dime. The new dress code still allows one facial piercing.

and said black lung benefits need to be funded. He said the government should use money they’re saving to make sure those programs have what they need. “Funding shouldn’t be a consideration for keeping people healthy,” he said. “It really shouldn’t.”

But Stewart, the former miner, said the MSHA office closures will impact safety. “I wouldn’t recommend anybody get in the mining industry right now because of what’s going on with Trump and Musk,” he said. Stewart said he’s never supported Trump and never would, but he struggles to explain the loyalty of many West Virginians, including coal miners, to the president. He

said Trump had never done anything to help them. “I can’t wrap my brain around why they can’t see what a con man he is. I just hope someday they’ll wake up. It may already be too late.”

Inspectors check every section Congress created MSHA within the Department of Labor in 1978, in part because state inspectors were seen as too close to the industry to force coal companies to take the sometimes costly steps necessary to protect miners. MSHA is required to inspect each underground mine quarterly and each surface mine twice a year. MSHA inspectors are supposed

to check every working section of a mine. They examine electrical and ventilation systems that protect miners from deadly black lung disease, inspect impoundment dams and new roof bolts, and make sure mining equipment is safe, said Jack Spadaro, a longtime mine safety investigator and environmental specialist who worked for MSHA.

Mining fatalities over the past four decades have dropped significantly, in large part because of the dramatic decline in coal production. But the proposed DOGE cuts would require MSHA inspectors to travel farther to get to a mine, and Spadaro said that could lead to less thorough inspections.

“It’s a stupid proposal made by stupid people who obviously have no concept or no knowledge about mine safety,” Spadaro said.

Conflicts within the coal industry go back over a century. The West Virginia Mine Wars involved a long-running dispute between coal companies and miners fed up with deadly work and poor wages and living conditions. When union organizers showed up, the companies retaliated.

Membership in the United Mine Workers union peaked in 1946, then plummeted as government support waned and the industry waged an all-out war on union mines. Today, a majority of U.S. coal mines are nonunion and the UMW is a shell of the powerful safety advocate it once was.

UMW President Cecil Roberts said workers’ safety will be left “solely in the hands of employers” in the absence of protections from the union and the federal government.

“History has shown us time and time again that doing so is a recipe for disaster, especially in the mining industry,” he said.

AP writer Bruce Schreiner contributed to this report.

Strike possible after NJ Transit train engineers reject labor deal

BY DANA DIFILIPPO

New Jersey Monitor

NJ Transit locomotive engineers have rejected a tentative contract deal in a dispute over wages, setting the stage for a possible strike next month.

Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen voted overwhelmingly against the offer, with 87 percent of the 427 engineers who cast votes in opposition.

Bargaining teams for the union and management had signed a tentative deal March 6, but it required ratification by union members and approval by NJ Transit’s board.

By nixing the deal, the engineers set the clock ticking for “self-help,” under which they could strike under the rules of the Railway Labor Act or NJ Transit could lock out workers. Self-help could begin on May 15. The monthlong delay is meant to allow time for further negotiations.

James Louis, the union’s vice president, said both sides will return to the bargaining table to try to resolve their differences. Engineers already have authorized the union to call a strike if a voluntary settlement isn’t reached.

“We want to have uninterrupted rail service for all who depend on it, but we also want to reach a fair agreement for engineers,” Louis said in a statement. “If we fail to reach an agreement in the next month, we’re prepared to strike.”

‘I am committed to returning to the bargaining table immediately.’

— Kris Kolluri, NJT’S CEO

Kris Kolluri, the agency’s president and CEO, said he was disappointed by the vote but still hopes to reach a deal.

“I am committed to returning to the bargaining table immediately and meeting every day, for as long as it takes, to get it done,” Kolluri said in a statement.

News of the union’s rejection of the deal came hours after Gov. Phil Murphy said Amtrak and NJ Transit were making repairs that would avert another summer of service delays and cancelations. When the two sides reached the tentative deal last month, Kolluri and BLET general chairman Thomas Haas said it reflected “NJ Transit’s commitment to fairness, efficiency, innovation, and long-term financial sustainability.”

Haas said this week that NJ Transit’s locomotive engineers have not had a raise since 2019.

Sagging salaries have prompted some engineers to leave NJ Transit for nearby railroads with higher wages, union officials said.

“We earn less than our peers at other commuter railroads that share the same platforms,” Haas said in a statement. “For years, we have faced managers who prioritized spending on pet projects including a half-billion dollars for a corporate headquarters with penthouse views, but those same managers couldn’t find an extra dime for their train crews.”

Staffing shortages during the Christie administration contributed to service delays and cancellations, and union officials warned that could happen again.

“Between retirements and those leaving for greener pastures elsewhere, NJ Transit is facing a repeat of the previous engineer shortage, compounded by an inability to recruit new engineers due to substandard wages,” Haas said. The last railroad strike against NJ Transit was in 1983, according to the union. The agency narrowly avoided a strike in 2016, when contract negotiations settled mere hours before the strike deadline. NJ Transit is the nation’s third-largest commuter railroad, with 195,000 passengers on an average weekday, according to the union.

The New Jersey Monitor is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news site. https:// newjerseymonitor.com/

David Goldman/AP Photo

Coal miners returned on a buggy after working a shift at the Perkins Branch Coal Mine in Cumberland, Ky., in October 2014.