Public Advocate Letitia James. Photo by Cate Dingley
Caribbean Life, DECEMBER 25-31, 2020 3
By Tangerine Clarke
Brooklyn Borough President, Eric
L. Adams honored retired Guyanese-
American Registered Nurse, Joyce
Yvonne Chase with a Proclamation
on the auspicious accession of her
90th birthday on Dec. 11, during an
opulent virtual celebration fit for a
queen.
The jovial senior citizen accepted
the proclamation which read in part,
“I salute Joyce Chase, who earned a
Master of Science in Nursing, who
have provided over 50 years of dedicated
and exemplary service, and
also raised funds to support various
initiatives, and serving on the hospital
advisory board.
Born in the small village of Golden
Grove in Guyana, Chase, despite
having relatives living in America,
when she immigrated, said she never
depended on anyone to help her succeed.
The Brooklyn resident, and a life
member of the National Association
of Negro Business and Professional
Women’s Clubs Inc., quipped that her
secret to longevity is eating green
plantain for breakfast and lunch,
skipping rice and bread.
She certainly knew how to avoid
the pitfalls that comes with aging.
For this, she lived to a ripe old age,
and according to her, she is not wanting
for anything.
“If you can help somebody as you
pass along, then your living, will not
be in vain,” she recited, adding that
her love of giving to the less fortunate,
her church and charities in her
Brooklyn community, gave her the
will to live a long and happy life.
She made contributions to the
NAACP 100 Black Women, and is a
member of Key Women of America
Inc., and the American Nurses Association.
By Nelson A. King
A major Haitian immigration advocacy
group in Miami has wholeheartedly
welcomed the United States’ extension
of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for
nationals from Haiti until Oct. 4, 2021.
The US Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) announced last week
that it was also extending TPS, until
the same time, for beneficiaries from El
Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua
and Sudan.
“This is wonderful news!” exclaimed
Marleine Bastien, the Haitian-born
executive director of Family Action Network
Movement (FANM). “Folks have
been frantic and restless worrying about
the January deadline.
“TPS holders and their families can
rest easier after months of anguish,”
she added.
But Bastien said, while her organization
and Haitian TPS beneficiaries are
relieved by the US government’s decision,
“TPS recipients need permanent
and not temporary protection.
“FANM will continue to organize our
members and fight for those in the (US)
Senate to pass The Dream and Promise
Act,” she said. “We will not stop until we
have a path to permanent residency for
all TPS holders.
“We urge the Senate to act promptly
to find a permanent solution for all TPS
recipients and their families,” Bastien
added.
Through the notice in the Federal
Register, the daily Journal of the United
States Government, DHS said it was
taking actions “to ensure its continued
compliance with the preliminary
injunction orders” of a number of US
district courts.
Several immigrant advocacy groups
had filed lawsuits in district courts
challenging the Trump administration’s
decision to terminate TPS for nationals
from Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras,
Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan.
The cases were heard in US District
Court for the Northern District of California
in Ramos, et al. v. Nielsen, et. al.,
and the US District Court for the Eastern
District of New York in Saget, et.
al., v. Trump, et. al.
The US District Court for the Northern
District of California has issued an
order to stay proceedings for the termination
of TPS in Bhattarai v. Nielsen.
DHS noted that a panel of the US
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
vacated the injunction in Ramos on
Sept. 14, 2020.
By Nelson A. King
New York Attorney General, Letitia
James on Tuesday announced an agreement
that secures more than $1 million
in rent credits for harassed tenants
and provides housing placements for 10
homeless families.
The agreement with private equity
firm Madison Realty Capital comes after
James found that the company aided and
abetted tenant harassment and other
fraud by notorious landlord Raphael
(Rafi) Toledano.
“Today’s agreement stands up for all
the tenants harassed and pushed out of
their homes by a fraudulent landlord and
the lender that financed his unlawful
operation,” said Attorney General James.
“Madison Realty Capital aided one of
our city’s worst landlords in his unlawful
scheme, but we’re holding the company
to account and delivering real relief to
the many victims through rent credits
and housing placement,” he added.
“My office will continue to stand up for
tenants who rely on affordable, rentstabilized
housing by stopping dishonest
landlords and their unscrupulous financiers
dead in their tracks.”
With the financial backing of Madison
Realty Capital, James said Toledano harassed
tenants through coercive buyouts;
executed illegal construction practices;
and failed to provide tenants with utilities,
repairs, and other necessary services.
Even with this track record, in 2015,
the attorney general said Madison Realty
loaned Toledano over $100 million to
purchase a 15-building portfolio in the
East Village, despite his limited experience
in managing a portfolio of this size,
evidence of prior tenant harassment,
and plans to continue to vacate rentstabilized
tenants and renovate units in
violation of law.
James’ investigation found that Madison
Realty Capital knew or should have
known of Toledano’s history, that the
proposed conversions were unlawful, and
that the aggressive schedule for buyouts
and renovations was likely to result in
tenant harassment.
As a result of the loan that allowed
Toledano to take over management of the
East Village Properties, she said Toledano
did exactly that —”harassing hundreds
of tenants, engaging in dangerous construction
practices, and failing to provide
basic services.”
In March 2017, the East Village properties
filed for bankruptcy.
Under the terms of this agreement —
which also resolves claims filed against
Toledano’s former business entities in
New York bankruptcy court — James
said Madison Realty Capital must now
take ownership of the 15 buildings in
the East Village portfolio subject to $1.05
million in rent credits.
Guyanese-American Registered
Nurse, (retired) Joyce Yvonne
Chase. Chuck Monah
James wins over $1M in rent
credits for harassed tenants
Haitian group welcomes extension of TPS
BP Adams
salutes
Joyce Chase