BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY October 27, 2019 2
“Our legacy has been tarnished:”
Council okays Mott Haven jail A Bronx pastor was charged
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Despite outrage and opposition
from Mott Haven residents, the
city’s plan to build a community
jail complex in the south Bronx is
moving forward.
The NYC Council made a historic
35-14 vote Thursday, October
17 approving Mayor de Blasio’s
plan to shutter the notorious Rikers
Island facility by 2026 and replacing
it with a borough-based
jail system in the Bronx, Queens,
Brooklyn and Manhattan.
“What we are doing today will
reshape this city for generations
to come and will impact the lives
of every New Yorker,” said City
Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
“We cannot undo all the mistakes
of the past, but we must do everything
we can to move away from
the failed policies of mass incarceration.”
Just days before the initial
vote, the City Council announced
steep reductions in the
height of each proposed detention
center—from 450 feet to 245
feet—due to concerns raised by
the four communities housing
the new jails.
The proposed Mott Haven jail,
to be constructed at the site of an
NYPD tow pound on Concord Avenue
and East 141st Street, will
rise 195 feet as opposed to 245
feet—equivalent of 24 fl oors high
to 19 fl oors high. It is the only
borough-based jail that will not
The proposed site of the Bronx borough-based jail. File photo
be located adjacent to a criminal
courthouse.
Councilmembers Diana Ayala,
Mark Gjonaj, and Rafael Salamanca
Jr. voted in favor of closing
Rikers Island.
“With reduced heights and a
projected jail population of 3,300
by 2026, the borough-based jail
plan will shrink our criminal justice
system and put us on the path
to decarceration,” Ayala said.
The original borough-based
facilities were designed with an
expected average daily jail population
of 5,000 by 2026, according
to the City Council.
Though Salamanca voted in favor
of closing Rikers Island in Queens he
voted against the new Bronx facility
urging Mayor de Blasio to also close
the Vernon C. Bain Center, a jail
barge fl oating off Hunts Point.
Meanwhile, Ruben Diaz Sr. joined
his son, Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr. in opposing the plan.
The borough president denounced
the city’s failure to engage
with the community on site
selection for the project. Diaz is
advocating for the Bronx jail to be
relocated adjacent to the existing
Bronx Hall of Justice.
“With our citywide inmate
population at a historical low, the
Mayor’s offi ce has already admitted
that the size of these jails can
be reduced, which further validates
that the Bronx jail could be
moved to its proper location next
to the court system, like the other
boroughs,” Diaz said.
A vicious opponent to the jail,
community activist Arline Parks,
CEO of Diego Beekman Mutual
Housing, said the future of the
community has vanished.
She, along with the residents
of Diego Beekman Housing, have
waged a long, successful battle to
take back the streets where the
mayor is now siting the new jail.
“It will go down in history as
the worst thing to happen to Mott
Haven,” Parks said. “The future
of Mott Haven was sacrifi ced for
interests that have nothing to do
with criminal justice reform.
“The City Council people
should be representing their people,
and not going against them.”
Parks blamed her councilwoman
for the Mott Haven jail.
“The fi rst thing you will see
is a jail for miles away and that
will be the legacy of Diana Ayala,
a jail. That’s her legacy,” Parks
added.
Pastor charged
with murder in
machete attack
on Tuesday, October 22, for
running over his estranged
wife with a car and brutally
stabbing her with a machete in
front of her two grandchildren,
announced Bronx District Attorney
Darcel Clark.
The defendant, Victor Mateo,
63, of 4 Eastman Place,
Yonkers, a pastor at the Christian
Congregation, The Redeemer
Church in the Bronx,
was charged with murder,
manslaughter, acting in a manner
to hurt a child and illegal
weapons possession.
Mateo is accused of allegedly
killing his wife, Noelia Mateo,
58, outside of her Ellsworth Avenue
home in Throgs Neck at
around 6:45 a.m. on Thursday,
Oct 3., according to Clark.
On that fateful day, Mateo
parked his vehicle near the
home and when Noelia came
out to drive her grandchildren
to school, Mateo allegedly
struck her with his car. The
pastor then got into Noelia’s
car, while she was hiding beneath
it, and repeatedly ran
her over, Clark said.
Afterwards, Mateo allegedly
hacked Noelia to death
with a machete, while her
11-year-old grandson and
9-year-old granddaughter witnessed
the attack.
Leaving Noelia’s defenseless
body on the street, Mateo
fl ed the scene in her car, Clark
said. By the time an ambulance
had arrived at the crime
scene, Noelia was pronounced
dead shortly after arriving
at Jacobi Hospital later that
morning.
Meanwhile, Noelia’s car
was found later that day on Logan
Avenue. The NYPD had issued
a $2,500 reward for information
on Mateo.
He was found and arrested
on Thursday, October 10, in
Hazelton, PA., and extradited
to the Bronx on Tuesday, October
22.
“The defendant cruelly attacked
his wife, from whom
he had been estranged for approximately
a month, in front
of her two young grandchildren,”
Clark said. “We will
pursue justice for the victim,
as well as her family members
who have been deeply traumatized
by the terrible attack.”
Mateo was remanded and is
due to appear in court on January
22, 2020.
NYS denies Miracle City Services, LLC drug treatment permit
The effort to obtain an 822 license
to permit the operation of
an Outpatient Chemical Dependence
Treatment Service at 2800
Bruckner Boulevard in Throggs
Neck has hit a wall, announced
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto
on Thursday, October 19.
On Wednesday, October 16 the
NYS Offi ce of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse denied the application
by Miracle City Services,
LLC, to be a certifi ed substance
use disorder provider. (See full
denial letter on page 12)
The Bronx Times tried to reach
Marco Bassini, who purportedly
owns 2800 Bruckner Boulevard
with James Perrota. He did not
return the call before press time.
According to the agency’s letter
“the proposed application is denied
based on the information submitted
and additional documentation
reviewed which demonstrates
that the certifi cation application
contains several contradictions
and inconsistencies the severity
of which bring into question the
legitimacy of the submission and
character and competancy of the
applicant.”
OASAS was concerned that the
applicant’s ensemble of LLCs suggested
“that Miracle City Services,
LLC was formed simply to conceal
the identities of the actual principals.”
During the state’s review, the
following entities and individuals
were noted as the cause of the
confusion: Miracle City Services,
LLC; Miracle City, LLC; Stewart
Redevelopment; 2800 Bruckner Associates,
LLC; Stewart Ventures,
LLC; Michael D’Alessio; Michael
Fernandes; and Anthony Carbone.
Even the applicant’s reported
offi ce location drew the state’s suspicion.
Miracle City, LLC claims
to have offi ces at 2800 Bruckner
Boulevard in Suites 205 and 206,
but those suites were the same offi
ces Miracle City Services, LLC
claimed it will occupy.
The OASAS letter further
states that “Stewart Redevelopment,
LLC, Anthony Fernandes,
Anthony Carbone and Michael
D’Alessio are all currently being
sued for allegedly conspiring
among associated companies and
associates to defraud real estate
investors.” The pending lawsuits
sent up red fl ags during the review
process.
The area’s elected offi cials
stood fi rmly alongside the residents,
fi ring off letters to OASAS
questioning Miracle City Service,
LLC’s qualifi cations to operate a
drug treatment counselling facility.
First, Assemblyman Benedetto
and Councilman Mark Gjonaj sent
a joint letter, followed by State
Senator Alessandra Biaggi and
then Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortes, as community activist
Egidio Sementelli promoted
a series of Saturday protests in
front of the building to ramp up
the pressure.
The facility’s opponents were
concerned with its close proximity
to These Our Treasure, a special
needs school, and M.S. 304 and
J.H.S. 101. Assemblyman Benedetto
introduced legislation that
would prohibit the siting of a drug
treatment facility within 500 feet
of a school, church or park.
Miracle City Services, LLC has
until October 28, 2019 to disagree
with the determination and submit
an administrative appeal.
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