The Sing for Hope Pianos places artist-designed pianos throughout NYC’s parks and public spaces for anyone and everyone to play. For three weeks this June, the pianos will bring individuals and communities together in an open festival of art for all. After their time on the streets, Sing for Hope will transport the instruments in NYC public schools, where they will become hubs for Sing for Hope’s ongoing creative programs and enrich students’ lives for years to come.
This year, Sing for Hope will place its 400th unique piano artwork in the five boroughs, making NYC host to more street pianos than any other city in the world. As New York City’s largest recurring public art project, the Sing for Hope Pianos impacts an estimated 2 million people each year.
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the guilty plea of Steven Croman, a major New York City landlord with more than 140 apartment buildings across Manhattan, for fraudulently refinancing loans and committing tax fraud. Under the terms of his plea, Croman would serve one year of jail time on Rikers Island and pay a $5 million tax settlement – marking a significant precedent in the effort to combat landlords who base their business model on the displacement of rent-stabilized tenants.
Rarely, if ever, has a landlord been sentenced to serve time in jail for engaging in these practices. The jail time and multi-million settlement announced today send a strong message to landlords that the Attorney General will pursue anyone who engages in these types of practices to the fullest extent of the law.
“Steven Croman is a fraudster and a criminal who engaged in a deliberate and illegal scheme to fraudulently obtain bank loans,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “He went to outrageous lengths to boost his bottom line – including falsely listing rent-stabilized units at market rates when his efforts to displace those renters had failed. Now Mr. Croman faces a year in Rikers and a $5 million settlement – and unscrupulous landlords are on notice that we’ll pursue them to the fullest extent of the law.”
Appearing at the courthouse at 100 Centre Street Tuesday morning in a dark blue suit and blue tie, Croman read an allocution in front of state Supreme Court Justice Jill Konsiver admitting details of his scheme directing employees to file documents – including inflated rent rolls – that would allow him to secure bigger mortgages on his multifamily properties.
“I knew the documents were false,” he said.
Come WING IT with us on June 9th for our GRAND OPENING!
Enjoy the sounds of DJ Reach, and specials like FREE French fries to the first 100 people and FREE waffle [fries?] with any tender order through the entire weekend! Did we mention we're also raffling off a brand new mountain bike to one lucky guest!!
A 2017 Preparedness survey conducted by Global Strategy Group indicates that while 67 percent of New York City residents say they feel very or somewhat informed about what to do in the event of an emergency, one in four (25 percent) remain unsure about whether they live in a hurricane evacuation zone. In addition, the percentage of residents who say they live in an evacuation zone but cannot identify which zone they live in has increased by 7 points since a similar preparedness survey conducted in 2015 (2017: 57 percent don’t know, 2015: 50 percent didn’t know).
Hurricane evacuation zones are based on coastal flood risk resulting from storm surge (the “dome” of ocean water that is pushed ashore by the winds and low barometric pressure of a hurricane), the geography of the city’s low-lying neighborhoods, and the accessibility of these neighborhoods by bridges and roads. The city may order residents who live in a zone to evacuate depending on a hurricane’s forecast strength, track and storm surge.
