The Bronx News has learned, through informed sources, that the diversion of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in Co-op City to the liberal Air America Radio is at the center of the city’s probe of corruption at the local club.
The money, which was reportedly paid to Air America as a loan, was supposed to be paid back with interest, two unidentified informed sources told the News. One source added that Air America officials, led by an official of the Gloria Wise Club, agreed to help the local club by publicizing its activities.
To date, no indictments have been handed down in the New York City Department of Investigation’s ongoing probe of the Gloria Wise Club’s reported transfer of funds to Air America…
…The city’s DOI is pursuing the probe because the Gloria Wise Club depends heavily on city funding for its operations. These funds are subject to extensive audits, as are funds received through the state and federal governments.
The Co-op City-based club, which Rosen has built into an empire in the Co-op City community, reportedly has 19 contracts and at least one grant with the city, worth a total of $9.7 million.
Over the last year, Rep. Joseph Crowley has secured two major federal grants for the Gloria Wise Club, one for a day-care program for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers and the other for the community’s NORC program for senior citizens. The grant for the program for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers was for $250,000, while the grant for the NORC program was for $99,410.
In 2003, Crowley secured a $218,500 grant for a mentoring program that the Gloria Wise Club runs.
Cohen, who is reportedly at the center of the Gloria Wise probe, is a Guam-based investors who was reportedly a key principal in the start-up of Air America…
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Gloria Wise City-Funded Programs Transferred Following DOI Investigation
City-funded programs previously operated by the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club and the affiliated Pathways for Youth Boys and Girls Club, both in the Bronx, have been successfully transferred to other providers without disruption of services.
On Friday, June 24th, New York City’s Department of Investigation announced that Gloria Wise and Pathways for Youth had been determined “Non-Responsible City contractors” based on an on-going investigation “concerning allegations that, among other things, officials of Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club approved significant inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were submitted to various City agencies.”
Gloria Wise’s Executive Director Charles Rosen and Assistant Executive Director Jeffrey Aulenbach have both resigned, according to an agency spokesperson.
As a result of the ongoing investigation, programs operated under contracts with the Department for Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the Department for the Aging (DFTA) have been transferred to other providers.
Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA) is now operating three senior centers in Co-Op City as well as NORC and EISEP programs. “The Bartow, Dreiser and Einstein Senior Centers serve approximately 210 seniors daily,” says Christopher Miller, a DFTA spokesperson. “That transition has been going very well. There has been no disruption in services to seniors.”
“We started providing service on July 5th with the current staff,” says Aileen Gitelson, CEO at JASA.
DYCD transferred a total of seven programs – four Beacons as well as individual Summer Youth Employment (SYEP), In-School Youth (ISY) and Youth Development and Delinquency Prevention (YDDP) programs. Alianza Dominicana is now operating the MS 201 Beacon. Police Athletic League is operating the IS 192 Beacon. Mosholou Montefiore has taken over Beacon programs at MS 142 and JHS 113. Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club is operating the SYEP program. SOBRO has taken over the ISY program and Alliance of Guardian Angels received the YDDP operation.
“There were no problems,” says Michael Ognibene, DYCD Chief of Staff. “As of July 5th, everything that should have been operating was operating.”
Information on the transfer of programs under contract with the Department of Education was not yet available.
In many cases, it appears that the program staff from Gloria Wise and Pathways for Youth will continue to provide services under the new management. “The people who have been working there have been offered jobs,” says Gitelson. “There is a place for everyone who wants to stay.”
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Agency Expresses Pride and Regret; Vows to Continue Camp and Pre-School
A Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club spokesperson released the statement following announcement of the DOI investigation and the termination of its City contracts:
“All of us at Gloria Wise Community Center are proud of our decades-long service in the Bronx. We deeply regret that, as a result of errors in judgment by the former Gloria Wise executive director, which did not result in improper personal gain by anyone associated with Gloria Wise, New York City has terminated its funding to our organization, as of June 30… The Goosebay Nursery programs, however, will continue, as well as the Gloria Wise Summer Camp programs that have been operating for decades. We are committed to maintaining our relationship with Bronx residents–particularly those in Co-op City–and hope that our quality services and programs, which are greatly needed in this community, will be continued.”
Good heavens. Another article I read early on mentioned how the youth day camp was involved with fund raising for Err America.