SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION News And Information www.ssa.gov Unflinching In The Fight Against Fraud by Rosa Rodriguez Social Security Assistant Dist. Manager in Bushwick If you’re like most people, you protect what’s valuable to you. To protect your family financially, you buy health and life insurance. To protect your home, you get homeowner’s insurance, a security alarm, or perhaps a large dog. To protect your jewelry, you hide it in a safe place or buy insurance in case you need to replace it. To protect your money, you invest it, perhaps in a bank that offers FDIC coverage. Social Security is much the same. We value the people we serve, our employees who work hard to provide world-class customer service, and the integrity of our programs. We protect these by using many tools to identify, prevent, and stop fraud, and we seek the maximum punishment for those who commit it. The tools we use help us predict where fraud may occur, and, by monitoring cases closely, we identify fraud sooner rather than later. We also have stiff penalties that discourage people from committing fraud. Social Security has a zerotolerance policy for fraud. While we cannot prevent every instance of fraud any more than law enforcement can prevent all crime, we aggressively investigate and pursue prosecution of those who try to cheat the system. Our message to those who would defraud Social Security is clear: We will find you; we will prosecute you; we will seek the maximum punishment allowable under the law; and we will fight to restore to theAmerican public the money you’ve stolen. Social Security takes fraud seriously and so should you. If you suspect someone is committing Social Security fraud, report it online at http://oig.ssa.gov/report or call the Social Security Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271. from different churches throughout the borough were invited to celebrate and engage in an exchange of ideas and dialogue. Rev. Henry Fury, president of the Ecumenical Clergy Association and rector at United Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, greeted churchgoers and clergy with a welcome address. Each year, a specific theme inspired by a biblical passage is chosen for the Week. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Jesus said to her: ‘Give me to drink’” from the Gospel of John. In John 4: 1-42, Jesus, tired and thirsty from travel, meets a Samaritan woman by a well and asks her for a drink of water. The gospel is a depiction of how two people of different, and sometimes warring, backgrounds and faiths can come together. Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez of the Diocese of Brooklyn, who is also pastor of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills, delivered the sermon and reflected upon the meaning of unity in the gospel passage. “This encounter reminds us that Jesus also invites us to drink water from the well of His goodness and His love,” Bishop Sanchez explained, “Like the Samaritan woman, we recognize that we also need wells to lean on, to let go of our disputes, to worship.” The bishop then recounted a tale of friendship between a Trappist abbot and a Muslim namedMohammed.According to Sanchez, the abbot was killed in Algeria in 1996, but the story of unity endured. “The two of them used to pray together, even though they were aware of the differences, Sanchez explained. “They were also aware that there were different schools of thought that would warn against praying together.” The pair eventually devised a way to pray together by referring to it in different terms. “Rather than calling them sessions of prayer, they mentioned themselves as digging a well,” Bishop Sanchez said. According to the story, the Abbot asked Mohammed if they will find Muslim or Christian water at the bottom of the symbolic well, to which he replied: “At the bottom of the well we are digging, we will find God’s water.” Sanchez went on to quote Pope Francis, who he believes “continues to challenge us Catholics to hear God’s word in a new way.” The bishop recalled a quote from Pope Francis’ “Joy of the Gospel” which declared: “There is no act of love which we perform that will be lost...no generous effort which is meaningless.” According to Bishop Sanchez, Pope Francis, much like Unity Week founder Fr. Wattson, “constantly reminds us of the needs of the poor and challenges us to cultivate the spirit and virtue of mercy.” Rev.Joseph Zwosta, associate vicar of Ecumenical Religious Affairs and associate pastor at St. Helen’s Church in Howard Beach, underscored the importance of this year’s theme of unity through differences. “This celebration brings Christians together from all different churches and communities to pray for that unity we seek, that unity that Jesus prayed for at the Last Supper,” he said. Sanchez echoed this sentiment. “In meeting and praying together, we can encourage one another against what Pope Francis said recently is a globalization of indifference,” he explained, “We recognize that we come together as people of Faith with the goal of doing God’s will and hopefully repairing the world.” News From The Queens Tourism Council orchestra plays Peter and the Vegetable Garden, featuring Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. LeFrak Concert Hall, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, www.queenssymphony.org. • Sunday, Feb. 1, Endangered by the Moving Image: The Criminalization of Black and Brown Bodies, 2 to 5 p.m. Leading African American cultural commentators, including Jelani Cobb,MiaMask, and Greg Tate, discuss how African Americans are represented in film and television, beginning with D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation and continuing through contemporary movies and TV programs. $12/$9 for seniors and students. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us. • Sunday, Feb. 1, Open Studio: Inspiration, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is a drop-in educational program to learn more about the museum and art. Free. Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Rd., LIC, www.noguchi.org. • Monday, Feb. 2, StoreFronts, 7 p.m. Kevin Walsh, an historian who runs the Forgotten NY blog, displays classic NYC storefront signs and discusses their history and lore. Some are still around, some are gone, but they’re rapidly disappearing. $5. Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway, Fourth Floor, LIC, www.astorialic.org. • Tuesday, Feb. 3, Reception for Isamu Noguchi, Patent Holder: Designing the World of Tomorrow, 5 to 9 p.m. This exhibition surveys the symbiotic relationship between sculpture and design in LIC-based artist Isamu Noguchi’s work in the years leading up to the 1939 World’s Fair and his extensive design work beyond this period up to 1985. Free and on exhibit through Mar. 19 at the Dr. M. T. Geoffrey Yeh Art Gallery, St. Johns University, Sun Yat Sen Hall, 8000 Utopia Pkwy., Jamaica, www.stjohns.edu/yehgallery. • Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 3-4, Creative Writing Workshops, 10-week course. Nancy Agabian, an adjunct assistant professor at Queens College and part-time teacher at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU, teaches a series of creative writing workshops to help participants find their voice or work on long-term projects, such as a memoir or novel. One session starts on Feb. 3; the other begins on Feb. 4. Address provided upon registration. $450 for 10 classes, www.nancyagabian.com. • Wednesday, Feb. 4, Queens College Choral Society Tryouts, 6 to 7:15 p.m. The Queens College Choral Society holds auditions for new members for its Spring 2015 season, which will feature Faure’s Requiem and Poulenc’s Gloria. The society welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds with prior singing experience. Free. Room 246 of the Music Building at Queens College. To schedule an audition, contact James John, music director, at 718-997-3818 or jmsjhn@aol.com. • Wednesday, Feb. 4, Monthly Jazz Clinic and Jam: John Coltrane and his Dedication to Practice, 6 and 7 p.m. The Queens Jazz OverGround holds its monthly open clinic, followed by a jam session. Musicians are encouraged to play; others are encouraged to enjoy. Free. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, www.flushingtownhall.org. The “It’s In Queens” column is produced by the Queens Tourism Council with the hope that readers will enjoy the borough’s attractions. More info at www.itsinqueens.com. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 16- Keeping Faith For Church’s Unity At Special Glendale Service TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015 • 28 -CONTINUED FROM PG. 15-
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