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WPCNR FBI WIRE From the Federal Bureau of Investigation March 11, 2016:

A four-count indictment was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging sixteen defendants with four narcotics trafficking conspiracies, including conspiracies to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine), ethylone (molly), and marijuana.  The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields at the federal courthouse in Central Islip.

The charges were announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); James J. Hunt, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Michael Tangney, Commissioner, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD).

“This indictment should serve as notice to all gang members – we will not tolerate the flooding of our streets with illegal drugs.  We are committed to rooting out all drug trafficking and gang activity on Long Island,” stated United States Attorney Capers.  Mr. Capers thanked the FBI, DEA Long Island Drug Task Force and LBPD for their assistance with the government’s investigation.

“Today, 16 members and associates of the Latin Kings Gang are facing charges related to drug trafficking in parts of Long Island.  When criminal operatives and gangs bring in illegal drugs into our neighborhoods, they also bring violence, turf wars and other criminal activity.  The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to dismantle gang activity and keep our communities safe,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez.

DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Hunt stated, “Today’s arrests have dismantled an alleged drug gang that preyed upon the Long Beach community.  The indictment charges that this organization illegally distributed cocaine, crack cocaine, ethylone and marijuana; all of which furthered crime, addiction, and violence.  Law enforcement worked collaboratively to reclaim this neighborhood for the law abiding citizens who deserve to live without intimidation, fear, and drug trafficking.”

LBPD Commissioner Tangney stated, “The Long Beach Police Department is very appreciative of the assistance the FBI and DEA provided to the LBPD in this joint operation.  Removing these dangerous individuals from our streets makes this community that much safer.  This joint investigation was very successful and demonstrates that when federal and local law enforcement work together, great results are achieved.”

As alleged in the government’s detention memorandum, the indictment is the product of a two-year investigation during which law enforcement identified the most prolific narcotics traffickers in the Long Beach area, including numerous members and associates of the Latin Kings street gang.  Court-authorization was then obtained to intercept telephone communications between the defendants, all of whom were intercepted on multiple occasions engaging in narcotics trafficking activities.  The charged conspiracies involved over 50 kilograms of cocaine, five kilograms of crack cocaine, two kilograms of molly, and 500 pounds of marijuana.

If convicted of the charges in the indictment, Amparo, A. Andujar, R. Andujar, Cerda, Cobb, Curry, Diggs, Fernandez, Ojedis, Ramirez, and Rupay face a maximum of life imprisonment.  Ayala, Collins, Vanroten, and Wilson face a maximum of 40 years’ imprisonment, and Labella faces a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.  The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the office’s Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Lara Treinis Gatz, Mark E. Misorek, and Grace M. Cucchissi are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants:

Jose Giovanny Amparo
Age: 46
Bronx, New York

Amanda Andujar
Age: 26
Baldwin, New York

Roxanne Andujar
Age: 36
Baldwin, New York

Jordan Ayala
Age: 20
Long Beach, New York

Fernando Cerda
Age: 38
Long Beach, New York

Tysaun Cobb
Age: 24
Hempstead, New York

Arthur Collins
Age: 38
Island Park, New York

Travis Curry
Age: 37
Long Beach, New York

Sean Diggs
Age: 28
Long Beach, New York

Nelson Fernandez
Age: 35
Long Beach, New York

Frank Labella
Age: 35
Oceanside, New York

Daniel Ojedis
Age: 37
Baldwin, New York

Anthony Ramirez
Age: 29
Hempstead, New York

Ronald Rupay
Age: 35
Long Beach, New York

Gregory Vanroten
Age: 38
Baldwin, New York

Sly Wilson
Age: 30
Long Beach, New York

 

 

WPCNR WEST SIDE STORY. March 10, 2017:

A opening was held this morning at The Prelude, as previously named, the first to be completed building as part of the the Winbrook Revitalization Project. The building, constructed by Jonathan Rose Associates at a cost of $42 Million, with the Housing and Urban Development office paying $3.5 Million and the City of White PLAINS $1.5 Million for the first floor education, was officially opened today with county and federal and city officials attending. Demolition on the vacated building behind The Prelude is scheduled to begin shortly to make way for the second building of an original 7 buildings.

As previously reported by WPCNR:

“The project was originally aproved in 2006. And due to HUD withdrawing its promise of financing for complete rebuild of 7 buildings, the rebuild is proceeding one building at a time. WPCNR has learned the second building will be put out to bid shortly.

The Prelude is the first, and was begun in 2013, after HUD agreed to finance half the $5 Million cost of the first floor training center. The building was built and financed for $42 Million by Jonathan Rose Associates.

At the time that change in plan, that occurred in 2011, WPCNR reported:

” The Common Council approved the first step in the ongoing Winbrook Revitalization Project, approving a 10-story building,housing an Education Center , which will be built first, however funding is only available for the first floor housing the education center on the first floor.

The city is funding $1.5 Million of the project and the Housing and Urban Development, $3,500,000 as of this spring. The Housing and Urban Development press office in New York confirmed to WPCNR, HUD is still funding the $3.5 Million “only for the education facility,” the spokesman explained.

During the 2012 hearing on the Winbrook project, William Null, the attorney for the enterprise said in response to a question by Council President Beth Smayda that plans for subsequent buildings in the project would be submitted on a project-by-project basis and built individually according to the individual’s financial model, and not as part of a connected project.

Design, Null said would depend on whom the Housing Authority was working with to develop each building in the future, so, Null suggested that it was somewhat impossible to present the kind of comprehensive (building)plan that Smayda suggested.

The architect for the project (Dattner Architects) stepped up to say that the Authority had not applied for the financing yet, because it needed  approval to do so and would be applying to state agencies for tax credit financing after approval.  The Housing and Urban Development agency in Washington told the authority in the spring of this year (2012), its funds were no longer available for financing the entire project.

Previously, a delay in applying for HUD financing for the entire rebuilding fell through possibly in part because the White Plains Housing Authority missed the deadline to apply for HUD financing, which might have secured the financing before the financial crisis of 2008

The Winbrook Revitalization plan began almost 10 years ago  in the Joseph Delfino Administration when a coordinated design vision of the project  from the White Plains Housing Authority envisioning a mixed  subsidized housing and market rate housing, consisting of 7 new buildings with a coordinated design was displayed. The 450 tenants of Winbrook were assured at the time new buildings would be built one at a time and no tenants would be displaced during construction.

The city rezoned the Winbrook/Lexington Avenue site as mixed use, allowing retail on the street level of the complex. An agreement was struck where the Department of Housing and Urban Development would finance the project.

As economic conditions deteriorated beginning in 2008, HUD informed the Housing Authority it would no longer fund the project.