Thursday, November 21, 2024

The Human Trafficking Enrichment Scam by Former Principal Emmanuel Polanco....It Goes On and On

Emmanuel Polanco was removed as principal of JHS 80 in The Bronx two years ago amid complaints he forced teachers from the Dominican Republic to pay rent for an apartment owned by his late mother and for rooms leased by a group of DOE administrators.Richard Harbus

From Betsy Combier:

Posted below is another scam created and paid for by the New York City Department of Education to use taxpayer money for the benefit of the "chosen few" but not tax-paying citizens and City workers who refused the COVID vaccination and have been left almost homeless. First responders and municipal workers who do not get the vaccine are told they cannot get remote assignments, wear masks, or get tested for COVID and get paid, because they would cause the City an "undue burden". This is, of course, a lie.

But the NY Federal and State Courts are political agencies that perform as the party machine wants them to.

Former Principal Emmanuel Polanco and his wife Sterling Baez have been posted on the blog before, in 2022:

Bronx Principal Emmanuel Polanco Accused of Shake Down of Teachers Brought To NYC From the Dominican Republic

Seems like no one has stopped them.

This is NYC, where the more willing you are to break the law to benefit the chosen few, the less likely you will be stopped of face consequences. The NYC Department of Education has been the focus of my investigations for 25 years, so I am biased when I say that I cannot image a more corrupt agency anywhere.

And what is even more despicable is, at the same time that Mr. Polanco, Ms. Baez, Mayor Adams, and thousands of others are stealing taxpayer money:

Mayor Eric Adams' Administration Falls Apart Under Federal Corruption Charges


And this is only the tiny tip of the iceberg.

Exiled NYC school staffers rake in fat paychecks as two-year human trafficking probe drags on

By 
Susan Edelman and
 
Georgia Worrell, NY POST, November 17. 2024

A NYC principal and his wife, accused masterminds behind a bilingual teacher scandal exposed by The Post, have raked in more than $500,000 in salary for the past two years — while the foreign educators they recruited are forbidden to visit their families back home if they want to keep their jobs.

Some 20 teachers from the Dominican Republic have been barred from traveling outside the US without losing their well-paying Department of Education jobs and enrollment in a city-paid Master’s Degree program amid a federal probe of Bronx principal Emmanuel Polanco, his wife, teacher Sterling Baez, and a group of Dominican-American administrators who allegedly exploited the newcomers.

The Department of Homeland Security has given the teachers, who lost their original visas in the turmoil, a “Continued Presence” status, which is meant for victims of human trafficking to remain in the US as potential witnesses to crimes. Under the rules, they can’t travel outside the country and return pending the probe, teachers told The Post this week.

“The last we heard was that they were still investigating,” one said. “Sometimes I wonder when this is going to end, because it’s been two years already, and we are still waiting.”

“We don’t know what’s happening.” said another Dominican teacher who was warned she might lose her job and protected status if she visited the DR when her mother underwent cancer surgery. 

“We are in limbo.”

A third teacher, working in a Bronx high school, can’t visit his family in the DR, though his wife and three kids have come to the US twice to see him in the last two years.

“Nobody tells us anything,” he said.  “How long do we have to wait?”All three teachers asked for anonymity, saying supervisors warned them not to speak to reporters. But they want their plight known.

Sterling Baez, Polanco’s wife, personally collected rent from Dominican teachers for the apartment owned by her late mother-in-law.

Homeland Security launched a probe in November 2022 amid complaints that Polanco, principal of JHS 80, led a shake-down scheme to force the teachers to rent overpriced rooms leased by ADASA, a fraternal group of Dominican-American administrators — and threaten them with deportation if they balked.

The DOE yanked Polanco from JHS 80. His wife Sterling Baez, a teacher at PS 595 in the Bronx, was also removed when it emerged she personally bagged more than $3,000 a month from three teachers told to share a Marion Avenue apartment owned by Polanco’s late mom.

Neither has been charged with a crime. They did not return requests for comment.

Polanco and Baez have not returned to their schools, but remain on the city payroll – collecting a combined $245,850 in Fiscal Year 2023 and $311,303 in FY 2024, records show. Polanco’s current salary is $185,112;  Baez’’ is $95,365. 

Polanco, as first vice president of ADASA, was a pet of then-Chancellor David Banks, who praised the group – dormant since the scandal erupted – for “getting stuff done,” using Mayor Adams’ mantra.

But disturbing details soon emerged. 

ADASA put 11 teachers in a cramped two-family house on Baychester Avenue in the Bronx, charging 10 of them $1,450 a month each, and one $1,300 a month for single rooms with a shared kitchen and bath, The Post  reported.

The total $15,800 in revenue would net an $8,900 monthly profit over what ADASA paid to lease the duplex.

Daniel Calcaño, an ADASA treasurer and former assistant principal, rounded up rent payments from three Dominican teachers and one spouse required to live in a three -bedroom apartment on Pilgrim Avenue.Obtained by The New York Post

Daniel Calcaño, an ADASA treasurer and former assistant principal, rounded up rent payments of some $4,500 a month from three teachers and one spouse in a three -bedroom apartment on Pilgrim Avenue – once banging on their doors at 11 pm.

Calcaño, still on the city payroll, makes $151,409 a year.

Calcaño, Polanco and Baez, have all been “reassigned to central administrative roles,” the DOE said, refusing to specify their duties, if any. “Reassigned” is DOE lingo for rubber-roomed, which means they do little or nothing while under investigation.

Five Dominican teachers have given up their DOE jobs in frustration, and gone back to the DR permanently. The 20 remaining have since found housing on their own. They get DOE salaries of $66,000 to $75,000, plus overtime.

They also attend City College for a Master’s Degree in education – paid by the DOE –  which can lead to certification and permanent status as working immigrants.

A spokeswoman for Homeland Security Investigations would not answer questions about the probe: “Due to law enforcement sensitivities, HSI is unable to confirm or deny the existence of an open investigation.” 

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Sunday, November 10, 2024

Out-going NYC Department of Education Chancellor David Banks' Daughter Promoted Without Qualification For the Job

 

Chancellor Banks, right, with his daughter Aaliyah, holding a bouquet, at the press conference announcing his exit from the city Department of Education..                                                                [picture:James Keivom]

Daughter of outgoing NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks promoted to district job — despite lacking qualifications

By 
Susan Edelman, NY POST
Published Oct. 12, 2024

Schools Chancellor David Banks may be leaving, but his daughter is moving up the ranks in the city Department of Education, The Post has learned.

While Banks, his brother Philip and his wife Sheena Wright have all quit Mayor Adams’ administration amid multiple corruption probes, David’s daughter Aaliyah has landed a coveted district-level post without meeting the posted requirements.

Aaliyah Banks, 35, has a state license to teach students with disabilities in grades 7 through 12, but started this fall in Brooklyn’s District 14 as an ELA (English Language Arts) Implementation Specialist for elementary grades, said a spokesman for the city Department of Education.

The job requires “at least eight years of successful teaching experience,” according to a DOE ad for the position. She has five years as a state-licensed teacher.

The job posting, which a DOE spokesman provided, also says applicants must have a teaching license in early childhood education, which covers birth to grade 2, or in grades 1-6. Aaliyah has neither.

She was a special-ed teacher in grades 6 to 12 at the Bronx School of Law, Government and Justice, founded by her father.

“It’s not surprising that the chancellor’s daughter is benefitting from the Banks family’s second generation of nepotism,” said a teacher informed of the move. “Why would I expect his daughter to meet the minimum requirements?”

DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer insisted the younger Banks has eight years of teaching experience, saying she started in 2017 under an alternative NYC certification. But city and state records show otherwise.

She obtained a transitional special-ed teacher certificate in 2019, and her initial certificate in February 2023, according to a state education department registry.

City payroll records, posted on Seethroughny.net, list her as a community associate — a non-teaching position –in Fiscal Year 2017, a special-ed substitute in FY 2018 and FY 2019, and a special-ed teacher for five school years starting in FY 2020.

Her current salary, $98,481, is based on eight years of teaching with a Master’s degree, Styer said. The district job does not increase it. That’s up from $79,193 in FY 2022-23, the latest payroll data available on seethrough.net.

David Cintron

District 14 superintendent David Cintron, a former Bronx principal promoted by David Banks in June 2022, recently hired the chancellor’s daughter to join his team.

“We all met her at our first principals’ meeting. She introduced herself by saying she was from the Bronx,” a District 14 administrator recalled.

“One of my colleagues pulled me aside and told me [she was David Banks’ daughter]. He was advised to be very careful what we say around her.”

Despite not having the required license, “The totality of a person’s resume and experience were considered, and Ms. Banks’ certification in special education made her an ideal candidate for this role,” Styer said.

He said nine of 33 applicants tapped for the jobs in nine districts “were hired with licenses outside of those listed on the job description,” including six in special-ed.

Chancellor Banks introduced and hugged his daughter at the Sept. 25 news conference with Mayor Adams when he announced his retirement from the DOE and congratulated Melissa Aviles-Ramos on her appointment as his successor.

Two students from the Bronx school gave bouquets to both father and daughter, praising Aaliyah as “amazing” and “the greatest NHS (National Honor Society) adviser,” bringing her to tears.

The chancellor hailed Meisha Ross Porter, his predecessor and former principal at the high school, for first hiring his daughter.

“She just recently left at the beginning of this school year,” Banks said, without explaining where she went.

“She followed in my footsteps in education,” he said. “Nothing could make me prouder as a dad, to see my daughter carrying on the values that I poured into her.”

Chancellor Banks, superintendent Cintron and Aaliyah Banks did not return requests for comment.

Betsy Combier
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Tracy Collins, Girlfriend of NYC Mayor Adams, Retires From Her 'No-Show' Job at the NYC Department of Education

Tracey Collins landed a significant promotion and raise after Mayor Eric Adams took office. Now she's retiring amid swirling investigations. (Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic)

From Betsy Combier: 

Advocates who work in New York City trying to assist parents/grandparents/guardians with their children who need services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech, paraprofessionals, and other service providers know what a disaster the New York City Department of Education is in terms of providing those services.

Department chiefs repeat their slogans, "There is no money" or "We are trying to find a provider," while at the same time requiring so much paperwork for providers who receive half or a third of their hourly rate that it is almost not worth the effort to provide these services. 

Of course, some employees donate their time, and I know many of these gold stars. They help children despite the hardships. Thank you to all!

This post is not really about these providers. It is about the ugly political favors that Mayor Adams has given out while in office. I use the word ugly because all the stronger words I would say about this are not my style. You can get my drift. I am so angry about the corruption in my City.

On November 1, 2024, Mayor Adams' girlfriend Tracy Collins "retired" from her no-show job at the department, where she was paid $279,684. The Special Commissioner of Investigation is looking into her cushy position at the Department, which her boyfriend, Eric Adams, has had control over since he took office in 2021. Adams is also being investigated, as are most of his Department chiefs.

Former NYC DOE employee Diane Pagen wrote this on Medium (Oct. 2, 2024):

"Tracey Collins, another of Eric Adams’s friends and family hires, took big salary and big gifts while her unvaccinated coworkers got fired.

by Diane Pagen

Imagine for a moment what it is like to be a tenured, professional educator waking up everyday in September 2024, an educator who was pushed out of the NYC Schools in fall of 2021, just because I declined to take the Covid shot. You know, the shot that Dr. Jay Varma has now admitted I never needed. I’ve awakened everyday to the parade of characters in NYC Schools and beyond whose alleged graft, greed, and selfishness makes my “vaccine noncompliance” finally seem like the non-event it always should have been.

While I and thousands of other workers were harassed and maligned and our careers taken from us for not taking a Covid vaccine, and the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education (DOE) was not allowing us to go to work (and still isn’t), DOE employee Tracey Collins was allegedly being paid a lot more than most of us for a job she did not go to much, and was accepting gifts of great value like super luxury travel and nights in the best hotel in Istanbul. Whether she took these gifts directly from her partner the Mayor or from people seeking favors from the City doesn’t matter, both are an ethical violation.

According to the NY Post, the gifts Collins accepted amount to $45,000 or more. To put her alleged conduct in perspective, every year I was at the DOE, we got an email in December from the Mayor reminding us that the City code of ethics prohibited me from accepting any gift exceeding the cost of a cup of coffee.

It does seem too that Collins either took a lot of time off from work to be able to do that travel, or alternatively, was allowed to work fully remotely during a time when the DOE Chancellor was telling unvaccinated workers that we could not work remotely because it would place a “burden” on the schools.

There just seems to be a pervasive crisis of ethics and conduct going on that cannot be explained away by the one bad apple theory in NYC. The whole bowl seems to be rotting. Recently, a Staten Island principal allegedly thought it was fine to make hiring decisions based on skin color, and openly discriminate against white males, regardless of the individual’s qualifications. That principal, instead of being terminated, is being horizontally moved. She will lose no salary despite her racism. She is also getting her opportunity for due process that was not given to her coworkers who only declined a Covid shot. Why is that.

Last year we heard about Amanda Lurie, another high level DOE hire who also did not like showing up for work and when she did, she spent City time selling stuff on Poshmark. She got due process too. Her punishment? She was moved to a better paying DOE job.

Does anyone see a pattern here?

The City seems to have been overrun with a small army of people of questionable ethics, who call everyone else racists but they themselves practice it; or who are system gamers; or who accept gifts that violate City ethics and compromise their ethics. And it appears that one effect of the Covid years is that while everyone was being told to spend time shaming unvaccinated educators like me, who actually came to work gladly for the 2020–21 school year to make sure kids had help in person, and who worked remote on our own personal phones and computers when schools shut down, somehow the mission of the agency — educating and enriching the lives and well-being of children — was forgotten. While De Blasio and then Adams were doing mass firings of unionized unvaccinated workers who had never committed misconduct, the agencies filled up with people who don’t want to work, don’t see anything wrong with nepotism, take gifts of great value, and use power to set up profitable deals for themselves and friends.

At the DOE in particular, this situation did not start with David Banks. Richard Carranza should have been investigated for shamelessly hiring his girlfriend (while married) and creating a half dozen $200K jobs for friends, but he never planned on sticking around, because for him it was clearly never about the kids. But under Banks it has continued, quite intensely. And terminating very experienced, tenured, moral workers under the pretext of “public health” because we did not wish to take a Covid shot is part of how City administrators did it. It was puzzling to me when Mayor Adams became Mayor that all the various friends and family hires were for the most part permitted; did anybody in power actually think that nepotism would improve City agencies? Banks announced that he is retiring in December: people should know that actually that the agency culture discourages staff leaving mid year as it (used to) recognize that changing staff on children mid school year was not good for the kids. I guess Banks forgot that rule, or, like many DOE rules, these only apply to the employees on the bottom, which I suspect is part of how DOE has derailed so quickly in just a few years. The proof is in the children — chronic absences are up, anxiety and bullying reports are up, academic excellence overall is down. Our children need better and deserve better.

Across the street from the DOE on Chambers Street, we have the NYC Department of Health, where the Health Commissioner has now declared he is resigning “for personal reasons.” Is this what our City has come to, a bunch of leaders who hate us too much to answer our questions and who duck out to save themselves? By the way, does anyone else think it is possible that the current or former Health Commissioners probably knew or should have known what Dr. Varma was up to while unvaccinated workers were being destroyed by the “rules”? Does anyone else want to hear what they think or what they knew? I do.

To corrupt any agency is a two step process. You need to a) fill it with people who are corrupt, or who will be silent in the face of corruption and b) identify all people who do not stay silent, and who won’t just do whatever their told and find a way to get rid of them.

And that, my friends, is what the vaccine mandate was for."

I agree.

Betsy Combier

Tracey Collins, Eric Adams’ partner, retires from NYC schools amid ‘no-show’ job investigation.

By Alex Zimmerman, Chalkbeat, November 8, 2024

Tracey Collins, Mayor Eric Adams’ romantic partner, has quietly retired from a senior position at the Education Department amid allegations that she didn’t show up to work and failed to disclose luxury travel benefits.

Collins — who received a significant promotion and a roughly $50,000 raise after Adams took office in 2022 — wrapped up her last day of work on Nov. 1, a department spokesperson confirmed.

Her retirement comes after a former department employee tipped off city investigators that Collins “has had a no show job,” according to a complaint obtained by Chalkbeat and first reported by the New York Post. The former employee, who requested anonymity, said Collins had not appeared at work since last Thanksgiving.

A spokesperson for the Special Commissioner of Investigation confirmed they received the complaint and are “looking into the matter.” The city’s Department of Investigation is also reviewing the allegations, according to the Daily News, which first reported Collins’ retirement. A DOI spokesperson declined to comment.

Some evidence seems to back concerns about Collins’ absence. In the eight months after being promoted as a senior advisor in the Division of School Leadership, about three-quarters of the days on her work calendar were empty, according to records first revealed by Chalkbeat.

Her calendar showed about 40 scheduled meetings and events, including “hot heat” sessions to review superintendent performance, a one-on-one sitdown with a school food leader, and meetings with officials managing the influx of migrant students.

Officials at the Education Department’s public records office said this week they could not provide more recent versions of Collins’ daily schedule until February, despite initially indicating the records would be provided Nov. 5. (The department regularly ignores its own deadlines for responding to public records requests.)

Collins could not be reached for comment. Education Department spokesperson Nathaniel Styer did not say why she retired.

“Ms. Collins served public school students for over 30 years as a teacher, principal, and administrator, and we wish her the best in her retirement,” Styer wrote in an email. He noted that her responsibilities included “strategic planning, making recommendations on agency priorities, and providing advice and support to senior leadership.”Collins was thrust into the spotlight through the mayor’s federal indictment last month. She allegedly benefitted from tens of thousands of dollars in travel perks from Turkish officials who sought to influence Adams, according to the indictment. Those benefits were not listed on Collins’ financial disclosure forms as required, Politico first reported. Adams also omitted them.

Collins has not been charged with any crimes connected to that investigation. A spokesperson for the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board said they could not confirm whether the agency is looking into the matter.

Questions about Collins’ role at the Education Department began swirling soon after she landed a promotion in 2022, where she earned about $221,000 as a senior advisor.

Along with other non-union Education Department officials, Collins recently got a pay bump, bringing her salary to nearly $253,000, records show.

Collins moved this summer from the Division of School Leadership to be a senior advisor for the deputy chancellor of family and community engagement — a role occupied at the time by Melissa Aviles-Ramos. Aviles-Ramos was appointed schools chancellor last month after David Banks abruptly stepped down under pressure from the mayor. (Banks’ electronic devices were seized in September by federal investigators, though he has not been accused of wrongdoing.)

Collins isn’t the only Education Department official related to Adams. The mayor’s sister-in-law also got a job in the school system, earning a significant pay bump. Still, Adams has rejected any suggestion that his relationship with Collins helped her win a promotion and has defended her work ethic.

“There was a job vacancy. She filed for it. Being the significant other of the mayor should not stop your track,” he previously told reporters. “Tracey does her job and she does it well.”

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
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Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Mayor Eric Adams' Administration Falls Apart Under Federal Corruption Charges

 

VIDEO of Resignation of Philip Banks

Story by Chris Sommerfeldt and Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Four more aides to Mayor Adams have left his administration in the past week — a dramatic set of City Hall departures that comes on the heels of multiple other high-level resignations and the mayor’s indictment on federal corruption charges, sources told the Daily News on Monday.

Among those leaving are two longtime aides ensnared in federal probes: Rana Abbasova, the director of protocol in Adams’ International Affairs Office, was fired Monday, and Winnie Greco, the mayor’s liaison to local Chinese communities, has resigned, the sources said.

Greco was called in on Friday and told to resign, sources familiar with the matter said. Greco, who has worked for Adams in both governmental and political capacities since his tenure as Brooklyn borough president, was spotted at City Hall that day, at one point appearing comforted by Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ embattled chief adviser. Their heads were lowered and Lewis-Martin rested a hand on Greco’s shoulder as they left the building.

Like Greco, Mohamed Bahi, senior Muslim liaison to the mayor, resigned from his post effective Monday, a source close to the matter said. And Ahsan Chughtai, a senior mayoral adviser for South Asian and Muslim affairs, was fired on Sept. 30, multiple sources said.

“Both Winnie Greco and Mohamed Bahi today tendered their resignations. We thank them for their service to the city,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Adams, said late Monday.

Levy would not divulge a reason for the firings of Abbasova and Chughtai, who has also worked on political efforts for the mayor. Levy didn’t elaborate on why Bahi and Greco resigned, either.

Abbasova was placed on unpaid leave after the feds raided her home last year in connection with the probe scrutinizing whether Adams accepted and solicited bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors.

Prosecutors say Abbasova, who is not named in the mayor’s five-count criminal indictment, coordinated with Turkish officials to set up straw donations and travel upgrades for Adams. She is cooperating with federal authorities and is considered a key witness against Adams, The News previously reported.

Abbasova’s firing comes after prosecutors turned over evidence Adams’ lawyers said could be used to discredit her. Alex Spiro, Adams’ lawyer, had said previously that a staffer was “lying,” referring to Abbasova.

“These prosecutors, finally, after much delay and misdirection, have admitted they were hiding Brady material about the key witness in the case that proves Mayor Adams is innocent,” Spiro said in a statement.

Adams, who was indicted in the case late last month, has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, fraud, conspiracy and soliciting political contributions from foreigners.

Rachel Maimin, Abbasova’s attorney, declined to comment.

Greco’s Pelham Bay homes were raided in February. On the same day, the feds also raided the New World Mall in Queens — where Greco helped host lucrative fundraisers for Adams’ 2021 campaign that generated some illegal straw donations, as reported by the news outlet The City.

The full scope of the Greco probe remains unclear, though investigators are known to also be looking at trips she has taken to China with the mayor funded in part by the country’s Communist government.

Greco returned to her post as Asian affairs director in May after being placed on paid leave following the FBI raids on her properties.

Chughtai has been an influential Adams campaign surrogate in the city’s Pakistani communities, and he also donated $1,000 to the mayor’s reelection campaign in June 2023, records show. He didn’t return a request for comment late Monday, and neither did Bahi.

Word of the latest City Hall shakeup came just hours after news broke early Monday that Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks resigned over the weekend.

He is one of five top Adams advisers who had their homes raided and electronics seized on Sept. 4 as part of several federal corruption investigations.

Schools Chancellor David Banks, senior Adams adviser Tim Pearson and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, who were all raided that day, too, had already announced their resignations prior to Deputy Mayor Banks’ exit. First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, the fifth adviser raided on Sept. 4, was initially expected to resign this past Friday, but has yet to formally step down.

Betsy Combier
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