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Ex-Bronx Senator Pedro Espada Found Guilty of Theft

By Marcos Sierra

Former Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. was found guilty this morning on four counts of theft by a federal jury for stealing money from the non-profit healthcare network he helped found. Each count carries a sentence of up to 10 years.

The jury, which has been in deliberations for two weeks, has yet to announce a verdict on the four remaining counts against Espada, including additional charges of theft, as well as fraud and conspiracy. There was also no announcement of a verdict on the counts against Pedro G. Espada, the former Senator’s son, who is also charged with looting Soundview Healthcare Network.

Both are accused of using hundreds of thousands of dollars from Soundview for their own personal use.

For more coverage, here are the stories from NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Daily News, and DNAinfo.

Bronx Crime Watch: Cops Shoot Armed Suspect Near St. James Park

By Alex Kratz

Last Friday night, two off-duty police officers were riding home from work when they saw a young man firing a gun into St. James park, according a report released by the NYPD. When they confronted the armed man, the suspect fled north on Creston Avenue toward 190th Street and fired at the officers who were in pursuit. One of the officers fired back and hit the suspect in the torso. The wounded suspect was taken into custody and sent to St. Barnabas Hospital for treatment.

The suspect, identified as Javon Julien, 19, a Queens resident, is listed in stable condition. Police say no one was injured by the shots fired into St. James Park, which has seen its share of violence over the years.

Julien is being charged with attempted aggravated murder and assault of a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon. Police recovered a .25 caliber gun (pictured) that they say was used by the suspect.

Bronx Crime Watch: ‘Vaseline’ Burglar Busted

By Marcos Sierra

Luis Gonzalez, also known as the “Vaseline Bandit,” has been indicted by a grand jury on a litany of burglary charges for allegedly looting several homes in the Bronx, many of them in Norwood and Bedford Park.

Police say they were able to identify Gonzalez, of 231 Echo Place, through DNA left on a Gatorade and Malta bottle he left behind at separate burglaries. He was indicted on 35 felony and misdemeanor counts for offenses that occurred between May 2011 and February 2012.
Gonzalez, who struggled with a devastating $300 dollar-a-day heroin addiction, broke the locks to gain entry into six apartments and unsuccessfully attempted to break into a seventh, according to court documents. Cops dubbed him the “Vaseline Bandit,” because they believe he used the substance to block up peep holes, according to the New York Daily News.

In each successful break-in the defendant allegedly ransacked the bedrooms before fleeing with cash, jewelry, and electronic equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars. Investigations are continuing into the suspect’s involvement in additional burglaries in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Read more

Bronx Notes: Public Safety Workshop Series Start Tonight

Bronx State Senator Gustavo Rivera is holding a series of public safety workshops during May that each focuses on a different topic. The workshops will be held at the senator’s office, 2432 Grand Concourse, 4th Floor, Room 419. The workshops include: “Bullying and Cyber Bullying,” presented by STEPS to End Family Violence, Thursday, May 3, 6 to 7:30 p.m.; “Gang Violence,” presented by NYPD School Safety Outreach Department, Thursday, May 10, 6 to 7:30 p.m.; “Stop and Frisk,” presented by 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, Thursday, May 17, 6 to 7:30 p.m.; “Domestic Violence,” presented by STEPS to End Family Violence, Thursday, May 24, 6 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, call Katrina Asante, (718) 933-2034 or e-mail asante@nysenate.gov.

Ed. note: Every weekday, we highlight Bronx programs, announcements, services, opportunities, public meetings/hearings or community events. Find a full listing on our Neighborhood Notes page. Send your neighborhood notes to us at norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.

Bronx Notes: Neighborhood Association Workshop Tonight at Mosholu Library

On Monday, April 30 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., as part of an ongoing community organizing/quality of life initiative, Community Board 7 is conducting a “Neighborhood Association Workshop” at the Mosholu Library, 285 E. 205th St. The objective of this event is to provide information and encouragement to residents in the area while educating them on the process and benefits of being involved in organized active associations. The workshop will provide residents with the information necessary to form and sustain tenant/block/neighborhood associations with the goal of increasing community involvement in the area. By creating various associations, the goal is to provide a network of support for potential network events such as neighborhood cleanups, while promoting the expansion of the programs offered at the Mosholu Library.

Ed. note: Every weekday, we highlight Bronx programs, announcements, services, opportunities, public meetings/hearings or community events. Find a full listing on our Neighborhood Notes page. Send your neighborhood notes to us at norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.

Bronx Links, Monday

By Jeanmarie Evelly

It will be in mostly sunny in the Bronx today, with temperatures in the mid-50s. A chance of rain is expected for tomorrow. Here are some top local headlines in the news this morning:

Seven members of a Bronx family died in a horrific car crash yesterday afternoon when their SUV hit a median on the Bronx River Parkway and plunged off of an overpass, landing near the Bronx Zoo. Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, which killed a couple visiting from the Dominican Republican, their two daughters, who lived in the Bronx, and three grandchildren.

Two people were charged with attempted murder yesterday for stabbing a 19-year-old man near the Fordham Road subway station, in an argument over an iPhone.

In another iPhone robbery: two Bronx men are being held without bail in the killing of Riverdale resident Hwangbum Yang, 26, who was shot on April 19 during an attempt to steal his phone.

The Bronx County Historical Society is facing some financial burdens after the recent death of one of its major funders.

A 22-year-old Bronx man was shot and killed last week while attending a candlelight vigil in remembrance of friend who was shot to death nearly a year ago, the New York Times  reports. Jonathan Lewis was shot outside of a Webster Avenue apartment building on Wednesday, where he and others were celebrating what would have been the 25th birthday of Michael Ikoli, who was shot there the year before. Police say there does not appear to be a link between the two killings.

The Bronx Home Pigeon Club, one of the largest organizers of pigeon races in the northeast, is facing accusations of illegal gambling and animal cruelty. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says it has been investigating the organization and will present its findings to the FBI and the NYPD today.

Bronx Crime Watch: Arrests in Two Murder Cases

Police recently made arrests in two high-profile Bronx murder cases.

In a case covered by the Times today, police arrested 18-year-old Daniel Patillo for the murder of 22-year old Jonathan Lewis.  Lewis was found dead with two gunshot wounds to the torso in front of 2427 Webster Avenue on Wendnesday night. He was shot while attending a gathering to mark the birthday of Michael Iloki, who was killed almost a year ago.  Friends and law enforcement officials say they don’t believe the murders are linked. A .38 caliber revolver was recovered at the scene. Police found the Patillo under a van in front of 312 East 187 Street, and arrested him. The suspect was charged with murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon.

An investigation into the murder case of Hwang Yang, a 26-year-old Riverdalian, who was killed last week while coming home from work, has resulted in the arrest of two men.  Alejandro Campos, 21, and Dominick Davis, 20, were arrested for murder of the young chef yesterday. Police say Davis was arrested around 7:30 p.m. on Webb Ave. and admitted to killing Yang. Campos was brought into the precinct later that day and police say he admitted to driving the getaway car. Both were charged with murder, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property. The incident marked the 50th Precinct’s first homicide this year and Riverdale’s first since May 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Police Looking For Two Missing Bronx Teenagers

Police sent out two media alerts this morning, asking for help in locating two missing Bronx teenagers: 13-year-old Ross Harrison and 14-year-old Darniese Dervin. Both live in the 46th Precinct.

Darniese, who lives in the River Park Towers (30 Richman Plaza), was last seen leaving her residence on Friday, April 20 at 7:30 a.m. She is described as being 5’4″ tall, 180 lbs., medium build with brown eyes and black hair.

Ross, who lives in University Heights (17 West 182 St.), was last seen leaving his residence on Tuesday, April 24, at 7:22 a.m. He is described as being 5’9″ tall, 130 lbs., thin build with gray eyes and short black hair. He was last seen wearing a black sweater, black shirt, black pants and brown sneakers.

Anyone with information about these two teenagers is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All call are strictly confidential.

Bronx Crime Watch: Riverdale Man Killed During Robbery

According to the Riverdale Press, 26-year-old Hwang Yang, a Riverdale resident and immigrant from South Korea, was shot and killed early this morning. Police said Yang was returning home from his job as a cook in Manhattan when a robber targeted him for his iPhone. After a struggle, thief shot Yang in the chest. It was the first murder in the 50th Precinct, which includes Riverdale and Kingsbridge, this year.

Bronx Links, Thursday

Here are the Bronx stories we’re reading this Thursday. Weather: Looks gorgeous right now, not a cloud in the sky with an expected high in the low 60s, but there’s a chance of showers in the afternoon. 

In a story published last week, the Daily News writes about the Jaguars running program at PS/MS 15, a stellar school on Andrews Avenue in University Heights. This summer, just as they did last summer,  the school’s runners, coached by English teacher Shawanda Weems, will participate in the Children’s Summer Games in Athens, Greece. In March, Weems was honored as a “Champion of Change” at a White House event and panel discussion hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Police are looking for a scam artists who is preying on immigrants looking for cheap rent in the northwest Bronx. Sally Dunford, of West Bronx Housing, says this type of scam is becoming more and more prevalent.

Six Bronxites are being charged with running a prescription drug ring out of four Bronx daycare locations. Authorities said they confiscated 122,000 pills, including Ecstasy, Xanax, Viagra and Percocet. Ecstasy is illegal and its illegal to distribute the other drugs without a prescription.

A vacant storefront in near Crotona Park is becoming a showcase for emerging artists.

David Oliveras, 18, was struck and killed last night while riding his bicycle on Williamsbridge Road near Mace Avenue. The driver is not being charged.

Heart Gallery NYC, a nonprofit dedicated to finding permanent homes for foster children used the Bronx Museum of the Arts as a backdrop earlier this week. Heart Gallery uses the photos to recruit parents.

A Wall Street trader photographs and writes captions about his encounters with South Bronx residents, many of them drug addicts or prostitutes.

Bronx Links, Wednesday

Welcome back to Breaking Bronx. Here are some local news stories we’re reading this Wednesday afternoon:

It’s baseball season! But for some Bronx teams, there are challenges to face before hitting the field. Players at the Bronx High School of Science, and other high school who were hoping to use the sparkling new baseball diamonds at Harris Field, are unexpectedly stuck waiting another season because the grass on the fields is not ready. The Riverdale Press first wrote about the delay in March; the Times‘ School Book blog covered it today, with a video (see below). Students have been without the Harris ball fields since construction started in 2008, part of a makeover financed by the Croton Water Filtration Plant fund. The project was further delayed when ground contamination was discovered at the site in 2009.

In other Bronx baseball news, the new field at Macombs Dam Park–promised by the New York Yankees in exchange for public parkland the team paved over to build its new stadium–officially opened Monday, hosting its first game when All Hallows High School took on Cardinal Hayes. And though players said the fields were “perfect,” resentment lingers over how long it took the Yankees to build the parks, leaving local teams without a field for six years.

“We want to be positive about the future. But we do remember that the Yankees were inconvenienced not for one minute and the community was for years,” former Community Board 4 member Joyce Hogi told the Daily News.

Hundred of Bronx residents turned out at the Bronx Museum of the Arts on Monday for a public discussion about the state’s plans to overhaul how it handles juvenile offenders from the city. Gov. Cuomo’s Close to Home Initiative will transfer young offenders held in non-secure state facilities to the city’s custody starting this fall.

The assistant principal at PS 106, in Parkchester, turned himself in to police on Tuesday after he was accused of fondling two female students at the school.

More damaging testimony coming out of the trial of former Bronx State Sen. Pedro Espada. He had his nonprofit health clinics, Soundview, paying exorbitant monthly fees for janitorial services, spending thousands of dollars on cleaning services that should have cost around $100 a month, a witness said on the stand. The cleaning company getting paid? One operated by Espada’s own son, Pedro Gautier Espada, who is also facing charges with his father.

Police are looking for a robber targeting Bronx beauty salons.

Motorcyclist Killed on Mosholu Parkway in Latest Deadly Road Incident

By David Greene

A young motorcyclist was killed this morning after crashing on Mosholu Parkway in a tunnel that runs underneath Jerome Avenue. The crash site was just a short distance away from where a young pedestrian was struck and killed in a hit-and-run incident back in December.

Officers from the 52nd precinct arrived on the scene on Mosholu Parkway, just after 8 a.m., and discovered the mortally-wounded motorcyclist who was identified as Justin Bravo, a 28-year-old resident of North Babylon, NY. Police say he was transported to Montefiore Medical Center where died on arrival.

Few details are available the this time, but police say Bravo, described as a white male, was traveling north-bound when he struck the concrete overpass (that runs under Jerome Avenue) and was thrown into the street. A police source not authorized to speak to the press said the victim was apparently thrown under the wheels of an oncoming SUV.

Read more

Bronx Notes: Senior Safety Day, Wed., March 21

On Wednesday, March 21, Bronx Community Board 7 is hosting a Senior Safety Day. The event will start at 2 p.m. at Scott Towers, 3400 Paul Ave. Guests will include representatives of the 52nd Precinct and Bronx DA’s Office. They will be providing safety tips for seniors.

Ed. note: Every weekday, we highlight Bronx programs, announcements, services, opportunities, public meetings/hearings or community events. Find a full listing on our Neighborhood Notes page. Send your neighborhood notes to us at norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.

Finance Chief for Nonprofit Founded By Ruben Diaz, Sr., Arrested for Embezzlement

Clement Gardner, the financial officer for a charity founded by Bronx State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., was arrested yesterday for stealing $75,000 from the organization, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman– funds that were intended for programs to serve Bronx children and seniors.

Diaz, Sr., founded the organization, the Christian Community Benevolent Association, in 1977 and served as the executive director for the nonprofit  until 2002, and directed nearly $500,000 in public member item money to the group in 2006 and 2007, according to the New York Times. Diaz told the paper he was “shocked” by the news.

In a press release sent out this morning–one of his now very regular “What You Should Now,” blasts–Diaz addressed the charges and said Gardner, whom he called a “former staff and
close ally,” had brought “shame to one of the best Bronx not-for profit organizations that ever existed.”

According to an article in the Daily News, another charity associated with the Christian Community Benevolent Association, called Christian Community in Action, was investigated by the FBI in 2008 for a home attendant program largely funded with public money secured by Diaz and his son, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who was a state assemblyman at the time. Both men served on the charity’s board of directors then, according to the article,

Diaz Sr. has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Gardner, according to the Times.  He defended himself in today’s press release.

“For now, my dear reader, you will have to wait for the results, but I assure you that if I ever lose my salvation, it will not be for taking money because I am in the business of giving not in the business of taking,” Diaz wrote.

Bronx Links, Wednesday

Good morning! Welcome back to Breaking Bronx. We’re in for another beautiful day of spring weather today, with plenty of sunshine and a high of 68. Enjoy it. Here are the local news stories we’re following this Wednesday:

Local leaders and politicians are once again looking for ways to battle the ongoing problem of dog poop on sidewalks here in the Bronx. Raising fines and increasing funding for enforcement of the city’s pooper-scooper law are among the suggestions, according to the Daily News.

Opening arguments being today in the corruption trial of former Bronx State Sen. Pedro Espada. Espada and his son are accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the network of nonprofit health clinics they ran.

Bronx student activists, including those from Sistas and Brothas United, the youth arm of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, are protesting what they are calling overly punitive punishments in schools doled out to Bronx students of color. Recently released data showed that nearly half of the 532 summonses that school safety officers issued to New York City students during the last three months of 2011 were written in the Bronx alone.

A grand jury will decide whether or not criminal charges should be sought against the NYPD officers who shot and killed unarmed Bronx teen Ramarley Graham last month.

Students at Bronx Regional High School and Arturo A. Schomburg Satellite Academy, which share a building, are fighting the city’s plan to co-locate a charter school for teens involved in the criminal justice system into the space.

A new Fine Fare supermarket is coming to Williamsbridge, at East Gun Hill Road and White Plains Road. The city is giving $4.5 million in tax breaks to the project under the FRESH initiative, which looks to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in neighborhoods that lack major grocers.

Nonprofit group Project Enterprise is helping entrepreneurial Bronxites get their businesses off the ground by providing them with small loans.

 

Stop & Frisk Rates Spark Call for Reform; A Bronx Man Tells His Story

By Alex Kratz

Ed. note: In response to latest statistics showing a sharp increase in stop-and-frisk tactics, police reform activists have painted a mural in Hunts Point to alert passersby of their rights when stopped by police. A version of this story appears in the March 8-21 edition of the Norwood News.

Whenever he ventures out into his University Heights neighborhood, whether by car or foot, Blandon Casenave thinks there is a strong possibility he might be stopped and searched by police for no other reason than the color of his skin.

“I’m conscious of it all the time,” Casenave said.

As a black man living in New York City, Casenave has good reason to believe his travels might be interrupted by a police encounter.

Last year, police officers stopped people and questioned them 684,330 times, according to a report recently released by the New York Civil Liberties Union. Many of them were also searched and the vast majority of those stopped — 87 percent — were black or Latino. Nearly 90 percent of the stops did not result in an arrest or a ticket and most of those that did result in an arrest or summons, were for low-level offenses. Read more

Bronx Crime Watch: Robbery Suspect, Arrests in Two Shootings

By Alex Kratz

Police Looking for Home Burglary Suspect
This past fall, police say a single suspect was responsible for seven home burglaries in Norwood and Bedford Park. In almost all of the cases, the suspect entered through the front door during daylight hours and left with as much cash and jewelry as they could carry.

Police say Luis Gonzalez is responsible for the burglaries and they are seeking the public’s assistance in locating him. (See photo)

The first burglary occurred in late August at a home on Parkside Place. He struck five more homes on Decatur and Perry avenues during September and then burglarized another home East 196th Street on Oct. 7.

Police say Gonzalez is 40 years old, 5-feet-9-inches tall and weighs between 150 and 190 pounds. Inspector Joseph Dowling, the commander of the 52nd Precinct, said they are working with a couple of other Manhattan precincts where Gonzalez is also believed to have operated.

Ed. note: A version of this story appeared in the Feb. 23-March 7 issue of the Norwood News. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.

Teen Arrested in Shooting of 8-Year-Old
By now most of us have heard or read about the shooting of 8-year-old Armando Bigo, who was hit with a bullet while buying candy with his mother in a Bronx bodega. Yesterday, police arrested and charged a 15-year-old with the shooting, although the teen’s lawyer was quick to cast doubt on the witness who identified the suspect.

Man Arrested in Stabbing of 17-Year-Old
In a less publicized crime, 17-year-old Michael Baez was stabbed to death inside a Crotona-area apartment on Wednesday night. Last night, police announced the arrest of 41-year-old, who lives at the apartment, inside 2160 Clinton Ave., where Baez was stabbed.

In State of the Borough Speech, Diaz Touts Bronx Businesses, Job Creation

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Photos by Adi Talwar

On Thursday, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., delivered his third State of the Borough address to a packed, darkened auditorium at Harry S. Truman High School. A bevvy of city and state elected officials were in the audience for the 54-minute speech, which covered the usual political topics–schools, health, transportation, crime–and recalled the accomplishments of Diaz’s last three years in office.

But the gist of Diaz’s speech was jobs, jobs, jobs. The Borough President spent much of the first portion of his address reeling off a list of recent economic efforts and business projects that are taking root in the Bronx: the Smith Electric trucking company, the mall project planned at the former Stella D’Oro cookie factory, negotiations for the Hunts Point Produce Market to stay put, Fresh Direct’s move to Harlem Yards and, of course, the potential redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory.

As we mentioned in Friday’s Bronx Breakdown, despite all the economic mentions, Diaz opted not to bring up the Bronx’s unemployment rate, which remains the highest in the state at 12.2%. He also didn’t address recent criticism of his financial support for Fresh Direct’s move–$1 million in capitol grant funds, of the $127 million in tax breaks and subsidies the company will receive from the city overall–which many have criticized as too generous for a company that pays 38% of its workers less than $25,000 a year, and doesn’t offer services to most neighborhoods in the Bronx.

There were a couple of Fresh Direct protestors outside Truman last week (see photos, above). You can listen to the entirety of the address in the embedded recording below. What do you think of his speech? Let us know in the comments section.

Bronx State of the Borough by Norwood News

Bronx Crime Watch: NYPD ‘One Step Closer’ to Hit-and-run Driver

By David Greene

After releasing a building’s surveillance video that they say shows the driver of a stolen car who struck and killed a Norwood man on the morning after Christmas, police say they are one step closer to catching the suspect.

Josbel Rivera, 24, a Radio Shack employee, was struck and killed as he crossed Mosholu Parkway at Paul Avenue, at 4:24 a.m., on Monday, Dec. 26. At the time, police would only say that the vehicle was traveling westbound and the driver fled the scene.

On Feb. 9, the NYPD released a building’s surveillance video showing a man parking a stolen 1999 Suzuki Vitara at the corner of Review Place and West 238th Street in Kingsbridge, in the early morning hours of Dec. 28. Moments after the man exits the vehicle, the car burst into flames. Read more

Bronx Links, Monday

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Happy Monday, everyone! Lots of Bronx news to catch up on today and from this weekend. If you missed it, Alex Kratz took a look at Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s State of the Borough speech in Friday’s Bronx Breakdown. We’ll have more on that–with some photos from the event–later today. In the meantime, here are some local stories we’re following this morning:

• An elderly Parkchester man and his 46-year-old mentally handicapped son were discovered dead in their apartment on Saturday. Though the cause of their deaths is unclear, neighbors speculated that Joseph Valerio Sr., 85, may have died of natural causes, and that his son–who was dependent on his father for everything–may have died later, with no one left to take care of him.
• An NYPD officer from the Bronx’s 42 Precinct, claims that he and other cops at the precinct were forced to keep up with an illegal quota system enforced by supervisors, and were penalized if they did not meet a required number of street stops and arrests each month. Resident in the South Bronx community, which includes Morrisania and Melrose, told the Daily News that getting stopped by the police for no reason is a regular occurrence.
• Another look at the criticism surrounding the city’s $128 million deal to get Fresh Direct to move to the Bronx : WNYC has a cool feature which maps the zip codes the online grocer services, along with the median household income of those neighborhoods. Fresh Direct delivers to only four of the Bronx’s 27 zip codes–the four in the borough’s highest income bracket. You can read some background about the Fresh Direct deal here.
• Woodlawn’s only supermarket–popular among the neighborhood’s Irish residents–is being forced to close its doors next month because of high rent and taxes. 
• Backlog in the Bronx court system leaves those accused of crimes lingering for years before a trial date is set. According to the Daily News, defendants routinely wait two to three years for a trial, a delay many blame on the 2004 merger of the Bronx Criminal Court and the borough’s Supreme Court.
• An accident involving several cars early this morning resulted in a livery cab crashing into a home near the Cross Bronx Expressway in Parkchester. Photo at the link.

Bronx Breakdown: The State of the Borough

By Alex Kratz

Welcome to another thrilling edition of the Bronx Breakdown. This week we talk about the real state of the Bronx, hypocrisy in the FreshDirect deal, an ongoing racism problem at Fordham University and one ridiculously sad crime story and what you should do this weekend. Let’s break it on down.

The State of the Borough: 12.4 Percent Unemployment
I did not attend Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s state of the borough speech yesterday — though I followed along on our Twitter feed thanks to superstar reporter Jeanmarie Evelly’s deft thumb work in the darkened auditorium at Harry S. Truman High School — but I know, from reading the transcript of the speech, that he declined to mention the Bronx’s unemployment rate, which sits firmly above 12 percent. And that doesn’t even include those existing on welfare programs who have given up looking for work.

It was probably a smart move. At a whopping 12.4 percent in December, that’s 2.2 points higher than the next highest New York county, Oswego (10.2 percent).

Diaz spent much of the speech talking about all of businesses he is ushering and enticing into the Bronx and that will help. (How much it helps is, of course, up for debate. Diaz’s “strong written agreement” with FreshDirect guarantees Bronxites nothing.) And the construction projects will keep construction workers, at least some from the Bronx, working.

But it’s not going to solve the Bronx’s intractable unemployment problem. Not by a long shot. The truth is that nothing a politician can do will solve the problem. Read more

Bronx Breakdown: Church and School Confusion, FreshDirect, Just 1 Crime Story and SNL

The Bronx Breakdown is back with a special President’s Day edition, where we wrestle with our favorite three subjects — the separation of church and state, city subsidies for development projects, ridiculously sad crime stories — and have some fun with SNL. Let’s break it on down. (FYI, above is our temporary new Bronx Breakdown logo. It’s taken from a photo my mother took of Mercedes Benz parked on Seattle street. The Bronx is everywhere!)

One Bronx Church Gets Reprieve
Turns out only one church, University Heights-based Bronx Household of Faith, was able to worship in a New York City public school this weekend.

On Thursday, it appeared dozens of congregations throughout the five boroughs would be allowed to worship inside schools during their off hours after Judge Loretta Preska issued a temporary restraining order on a city policy that bans religious groups from worshiping inside city school buildings.

But on Friday evening, the judge clarified the restraining order, saying, in so many words: actually, um, the only church/religious group this applies to is Bronx Household of Faith, which filed the original lawsuit against the Department of Education and its policy 17 years ago.

The result was mass confusion. Some churches who had applied and were approved for permits received cancellation notices and spent the weekend scrambling to find space to hold services on Sunday. Others did not receive cancellation notices and went ahead with services in the schools they’ve been using. Read more

Bronx Weekend Links: Final Day for Churches in Schools, More NYPD Fallout From Ramarley Graham Shooting & More

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Here are some local news stories we’re following, from this morning and this weekend, here on Breaking Bronx:

• Dozens of churches across the city that rent public school space for services will have to find new homes this week, after the Department of Education’s ban on the practice went into effect yesterday. The issue has become a crusade for Bronx City Councilman Fernando Cabrera, who has been campaigning for the State Legislature to pass a bill that would disallow the city’s ban. That bill passed in the Senate but still needs the approval of the Assembly and Gov. Cuomo before it can become law.“It is claimed these small houses of worship are recruiting and evangelizing impressionable children. Yet, the schools are rented only when they are empty. The houses of worship use the spaces when classes are not in session,” Cabrera said in a statement sent out yesterday.

• A Bronx teen was stabbed to death in Brooklyn Saturday night during a scuffle following a game of street football, the Daily News reports. Edgar Soto, 17, lived in Van Nest and was a student at Lehman High School. There were no immediate arrests.

• The NYPD is ordering a review of how it trains of all its street-level narcotics teams, following the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Bronx resident Ramarley Graham earlier this month. The officer who shot the unarmed Graham inside his Wakefield home had not undergone proper training and was not qualified for the detail he was on that day, WNYC reports. His death has sparked outrage and protests against the NYPD in the Bronx and across the city.

• Soundview, the struggling health care network founded by ex-State Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr.,  is in financial straits this month, laying off employees and facing expulsion from the state’s Medicaid program, while Espada himself continues to collect a paycheck from the nonprofit, according to the New York Post. Soundview is getting banned from Medicaid in part because Espada and his son, who are facing a slew of corruption charges for funneling money from the clinics for their own personal expenses, ignored a judge’s order to cut ties with the organization.

• The teenaged son of a high-ranking NYPD union official has been arrested in connection with a January shooting near Co-Op City. Police arrested 17-year-old Hameed Abdul-Jabbar after a search of his bedroom turned up a gun and drugs. Abdul-Jabbar is the son of Officer Mubarak Abdul-Jabbar, Second Vice President of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

• A 42-year-old woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Soundview Saturday night.

Weekend Bronx Links

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Breaking Bronx’s roundup of local news from today and this past weekend.

Tensions are high here in the Bronx after police officers shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old, Wakefield resident Ramarley Graham. The Amsterdam News reports that Graham’s family and friends have been rallying today and over the weekend. The Daily News and the Times report that Graham’s grandmother, who was home when the shooting occurred, says she was held for hours by police afterwards for interviews, against her will. Recently released surveillance video footage of the incident shows officers kicking down the door to Graham’s home after the teen had entered it.

In other Bronx/NYPD news:
The Associated Press reports that the lawyer for Jateik Reed, a 19-year-old whose beating at the hands of police officers was caught on tape and went viral, is asking for a special prosecutor to investigate the incident on the grounds that Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson is too close to the NYPD to to be considered impartial.

Fernando Cabrera is taking his fight for churches using public school space to Albany today. The councilman and a number of faith leaders are hoping to garner support for a state law that would reverse a city ban on churches holding service in schools.

DNAinfo profiles the two men behind the Bronx Brewery, the Mott Haven-based beer makers who turn out brews like the aptly named Bronx Pale Ale.

The Daily News profiles Deirdre Scott, head of the Bronx Council on the Arts. 

The Department of Education will vote Thursday on whether to close 25 schools on the city’s list of struggling ones, which includes Samuel Gompers, a vocational high school on Southern Boulevard. Four other Bronx schools are on the list of possible closures, and the city wants to eliminate grades at another. You can find the full list here. 

 

Bronx Breakdown: Unarmed Teen Shot By Police & Other Bronx News

By Marcos Sierra and Alex Kratz

The Bronx Breakdown, brought to you commercial-free every Friday, spent the week compiling all of the latest and most compelling Bronx stories and packaged them here for your reading consumption. Enjoy. And please, tune in again next week.

Unarmed Bronx Teen Shot by Police Officer

It’s never a good thing when police and citizens are trading body blows. This week, we’ve seen victims on both sides of the law. So far, the tally includes three dead (and one badly-beaten up) citizens and one cop fighting for his life after taking a bullet to his head. The latest altercation played out to its fatal end yesterday afternoon in the Wakefield-area of the Bronx, near the corner of East 229th street and White Plains Road.

Ramarley Graham, 18, was pronounced dead at Montefiore Medical Center after being chased by a group of plainclothes narcotics officers into his home at 749 East 229th Street and fatally shot.

According to police reports, plainclothes officers spotted Graham on White Plains Road in the Wakefield section at around 3 p.m. Thursday. They saw him adjusting his belt and thought he had a gun, so they chased him into his home on East 229th Street. In the bathroom, a struggle ensued and Graham was shot in the torso, while his 6-year-old little brother and grandmother watched.

The NYPD’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne said, “there was no evidence that he (Graham) was armed” when the officer, a member of a narcotics unit, shot him once in the upper left chest, according to the NY Times.

Today, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly addressed the shooting with reporters. He said the officers involved saw a gun sticking out of Graham’s waistband and that he fled when they approached him. After Graham went into the apartment he lived in with his grandmother, one of the two officers pursuing him became entangled. The struggling officer’s partner said he heard his colleague yell, “Gun! Gun!” before the fatal gunshot rang out out. Kelly did not say that Graham was actually carrying a gun, although police say they did recover a small amount of marijuana at the apartment.

Graham’s friends and family say the punishment didn’t fit the crime. Read more

Bronx Crime Watch: Children Injured in Two Bronx Shootings

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Two shootings that took place this week in different Bronx neighborhoods left a 10-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy recovering from bullet wounds, according to the New York Daily News.

On Tuesday, a gunman opened fire in the crowded basketball court in Vidalia Park, on E. 180th Street and Daly Avenue in West Farms. A 12-year-old boy was injured, as were two 20-year-olds and an 18-year-old. Police believed the assailant was targeting one of the older victims; no arrests had been made as of yesterday. All four injured are expected to recover.

On Wednesday, a 10-year-old girl was nicked in the leg by a bullet while walking home from school after someone opened fire in a Morrisania intersection. She is expected to survive.

Bronx elected officials sent out statements conveying their alarm over the two incidents.

“Innocent children and their families should not be scared nor terrorized to play in their neighborhood playgrounds in fear of becoming a victim of senseless violence,” City Councilman Joel Rivera said in a statement after the West Farms shooting.

State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., responded to the Morrisania shooting.

“I thank the Lord that she is expected to be fine, and hope that she will be able to put this trauma behind her fairly quickly, resume her life as a child, not fear her walk to and from school, and not fear growing up in her neighborhood,” he said.

Bronx Crime Watch: Commercial Robberies in Bedford Park (Video of Suspects)

By Marcos Sierra

Bedford Park merchants and vendors are on guard following two commercial robberies and a “noticed increase” in crime during the past month. The two robberies happened on Bedford Park Boulevard, near Jerome Avenue. (Police are looking for help identifying and locating the suspects from the second robbery, shown in the video above,, of Connie’s Laundromat, located at 39 East Bedford Park Blvd., on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m.)

At approximately 3 p.m., on Jan. 5, a robber, described by police as a Hispanic male, standing between 5-feet-5 and 5-feet-7, and weighing 150 pounds, brazenly entered the K & C Candy Store, located at 239 East Bedford Park Blvd., while the store was filled with customers.

According to the owner who declined to be identified, he walked up to the cash register and menacingly barked two words, “Open and money,” while gesturing as if he were armed.

“I was in shock and afraid to move, so he just reached over and grabbed all the money; he didn’t care that the store was full of people and children,” said the owner who has been a staple in the area for the past 21 years.
Read more

Bronx Crime Watch: Cops Find Marijuana Farm in 5-Story Van Nest Building

By Alex Kratz

Bronx police raided a five-story building in Van Nest yesterday and found an expansive marijuana growing operation that they estimated was producing $250,000-worth of product each month.

At about 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, police executed a search warrant and discovered 593 plants, some seven-feet tall, inside 610 Morris Park Ave. They said there was also 75 pounds of marijuana already cut, dried and packed in plastic. Combined with the plants, police said there was a total of 1,550 pounds of marijuana on the premises.

Three Bronx residents — Brian Munoz, 24; Diego Reyes, 25; Victor Reyes, 23 — were arrested in connection with the massive grow house discovery and charged with criminal possession of marijuana and criminal use of drug paraphernalia.

“It’s kind of genius,” local resident Dwayne Dent told the NY Times. “Until they got caught.”

Bronx Crime Watch: iPhone Shooting Suspects and Arrest in Car/Child-jacking

By Alex Kratz

iPhone Robbery Attempt Ends in Gun Violence
Police are looking for two suspects (pictured in the above video) who they say shot a 23-year-old man who refused to give up his iPhone during a recent robbery attempt in University Heights.

On Jan. 18, at about 6:30 p.m., the victim and a friend were walking on West 190th Street, between Grand and Aqueduct avenues, when they were approached by two men who demanded the victim give up his iPhone. When the victim refused and turned to run, one of the suspects shot the victim in the back. The suspects then fled on foot. The victim was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital and treated for his injuries, which were not life-threatening.

Suspect #1, who is believed to be the shooter, is describing as being 5-feet-7 and 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a dark Marmot jacket, blue jeans, black boots and carrying a gun. Suspect #2, 5-feet-8, 150 pounds, was last seen wearing a blue Yankees cap, black jacket, black pants and brown boots.

The robbery attempt occurred in almost the exact location where Bimal Chanda was killed during a violent robbery attempt almost three months ago. Police arrested one of the two suspects in Chanda’s case last week. The other suspect remains at large.

Anyone with information in regards to this robbery is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Police: We Caught Carjacker Who Stole Child Along with Car Read more

Bronx Breakdown: Terrifying Attack Leaves Woman Hurt, Frustrated and ‘A Nervous Wreck’

By Alex Kratz

This is a special edition of the Bronx Breakdown, dedicated to a singular story of a broken down woman struggling after a savage brush with death.

A woman called the Norwood News office this morning with a harrowing tale of unprovoked violence. I want to share her story here because it can happen to anyone, but also because it doesn’t happen to everyone. She’s not ready to go public with her name or exact location just yet (calling the newspaper and telling her story to a reporter was an important step in regaining her confidence), so I will call her “Jane.”

Four days before Christmas, Jane arrived home at her Norwood-area apartment building, laden with bags from some last-minute gift shopping. When she got to the door, she noticed a large man behind her, talking on his cell phone. “No need to buzz me in,” he told the person on the other end of the line. She was a little suspicious of his presence, but has lived in the area for 25 years and didn’t think too much of it. “I wasn’t alarmed,” she said.

After she made it through the building’s security doors with the man following behind, she headed to the stairs. “Can I help you with your bags?” the man asked. But when she turned around to get a better look at him, he shielded his face. When Jane headed up the stairs, he grabbed her and forcefully carried her up to the top of the steps and put his hands around her neck.

“Shut the [expletive] and give me all your money or I’ll kill you,” said the man, who Jane described as being about 6-feet tall and weighing 300 pounds. He was older, she said, not some kid, which surprised her. Read more

Bronx Public Safety Forum Tonight at Monroe College

The leaders at Community Board 7 want to invite anyone in the Bronx to talk about public safety and quality of life issues at a forum tonight at Monroe College’s King Hall Gym, 2501 Jerome Ave., from 6 to 9 p.m.

Walter Bell and Community Board 7 Chairman Paul Foster say they hope the forum allows people to speak up about their concerns, whether it’s violence, prostitution, litter or any other issue they feel is affecting their lives. For more information, call CB7 at (718) 933-5650.

Bronx Crime Watch: Arrest Made in Murder of Bengali Man; Police Looking for 2nd Suspect (Updated)

By Alex Kratz

Police arrested a suspect yesterday in the murder of Bimal Chanda, a Bengali immigrant and longtime northwest Bronx resident who was beaten to death in the stairwell of his apartment building at 30 W. 190th St. on Oct. 29. Inspector Joseph Dowling, the commander of the 52nd Precinct, said police are still looking for a second suspect in the case. (Update: We’ve removed some of the information included in this post in order to assist authorities in apprehending this suscpect.) Read more

Monday Bronx Links

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Happy Monday, readers! Hope you enjoyed the cold and snowy weekend. Here are some news stories we’re following this morning on Breaking Bronx:

A double shooting on Hone Avenue in Morris Park left one dead and another wounded on Saturday. There have been no arrests, according to NY1.

Who knew? Single men in New York City outnumber single women, according to a Census data analysis conducted recently by the EDC. And if you’re looking to meet an un-wedded guy, Kingsbridge is a hotpot neighborhood, with a ratio of 1.7 single men for every woman.

Good news for uninsured artists! Lincoln Hospital launched a new program that will let musicians, dancers, artist who don’t have health insurance put their creative talents to use at the hospital in exchange for needed medical services.

The Times writes about how schools like the Bronx’s PS 55 are using technology to connect students with tutors.

A man is suing the city after a broken traffic light on Webster Avenue caused him to collide with an oncoming livery cab. Both cars got the green light to go ahead.

An interesting twist to the typical tenant/neglectful landlord dispute story: the Department of Education is on a rent strike, refusing to pay the landlord who owns a rundown Jerome Avenue building that houses PS 315, until he makes needed repairs on the property.

Bronx Breakdown: Star Bronx Teacher Banished to Basement & More (Updated)

By Alex Kratz

[Video: See an introduction to the Green Bronx Machine and then read about its plight below.]

This week on the Bronx Breakdown we break news about Discovery High School teacher Steve Ritz whose successful program somehow landed him in the basement and unable to continue the work he started. Plus, speaking out about the unspeakable violence over jackets, the Bronx’s famous new resident and what you should do this weekend.

The story of Steve Ritz, the special ed teacher at Discovery High School who turned an in-class science project into a training ground for environmentally-friendly food production and “green” jobs, has been well-documented here and in the pages of the Norwood News. It’s garnered nation attention and spawned a separate nonprofit group, Green Bronx Machine, that has nearly 3,000 Facebook fans. Last year, some 500 people came to Discovery and bought fresh produce that Ritz’s students had grown.

Tomorrow, Ritz is giving a presentation about the program at a high-profile TEDx (Technology, Education, Design) event in Manhattan called, “Changing the Way We Eat.” The Norwood native will attempt to show 245 slides in 13 minutes. Most of those slides will be from the Discovery High classroom where it all began more than two years ago.

There’s just one little problem. The program no longer exists at Discovery.

Local administrators forced it into homelessness this fall when Ritz was banished from his large, well-lit classroom with running water and high ceilings to a cramped, glorified closet in the basement that he shares with an English teacher. A large pipe hangs from the middle of the ceiling that might injure a big man on the Walton basketball team. There isn’t room to fit the vertical growing walls that Ritz used to teach and train his students and there isn’t any water source to feed the plants even if the walls did fit. Read more

Officials Step Up Efforts Against Cyber-Bullying

Editor’s Note: The following story was originally published in Bronx Youth Heard, a publication of the Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative, a free journalism program for Bronx high school students run by the Norwood News. We are currently accepting applications for our spring semester. To find out more about the program and how to apply, click here. The Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative is supported by the North Star Fund, the Johnson Family Foundation Fund, and City Councilman Fernando Cabrera, and is run in collaboration with CUNY’s College Now program at Hostos Community College.

By Giselle Lam

Last month, 17-year-old Kenneth Wong was tidying up his bedroom when his Blackberry vibrated on his desk. He was expecting to read a text from a friend, but instead found words that beat him up inside. The anonymous text accused him of being a bad friend who would “die alone from smoking” and need a “brain transplant for being a dumbass.”

Sixty percent of kids have experienced mean and hurtful things said to them either online or through their phones, according to i-SAFE, a non-profit foundation dedicated to educating the youth on internet safety. In addition, more than 50 percent have admitted to saying these insulting words to another person online.

Traditional schoolyard bullying has moved from campus grounds to the computers, and cell phones, of many teenagers. After a rash of bullying-related deaths last year, the public’s awareness of cyber-bullying has grown, and school administrators and government officials are taking more serious actions to prevent it.

Read more

Ex-Bronx Senator Espada and Son Indicted, Again

By Alex Kratz

Federal prosecutors piled more criminal charges on former Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. and his son, Pedro Gaultier Espada, last night, as first reported by Capitol Tonight’s State of Politics blog. The two were charged with using a for-profit janitorial services company to bilk money from Espada’s nonprofit Soundview Healthcare Network. Father and son already are already facing charges of the embezzling money from the health care clinics that Espada founded in 1978.

Both have pleaded not guilty to the previous charges and will be arraigned on the new charges, Jan. 25. For the past several months, Espada and his supporters have been fighting the government’s efforts to deny Soundview from receiving Medicaid funding, its primary source of income. Espada was ousted from his seat in the Bronx’s 33rd District in 2010 by Gustavo Rivera.

Parks Department Worker Charged in Doll Hanging

By David Greene

After a 3-week long investigation by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force, police have arrested an employee with the Department of Parks and Recreation who allegedly hung a doll at the Parks Department’s Bronx headquarters on Bronx Park East.

Police were called to the site on Tuesday, December 20, after workers discovered a black doll hanging from its neck by a metal chain, inside a fenced-off area, but was clearly in public view. A photo was taken and quickly distributed to media outlets by the group New York City Park Advocates.

Last Thursday, the NYPD announced the arrest of Fariz Ahmemulic, described as a 38-year-old white male, charging him with aggravated harassment and aggravated harassment as a hate crime. He was released without bail.

Repeated attempts to reach Ahmemulic, believed to be a resident of Morris Park, were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the Parks Department has suspended Ahmemulic without pay and the worker who discovered the doll has served the city with court papers notifying the city he plans to sue for, “emotional distress.”

Tuesday Bronx Links

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Welcome back to the workweek, Breaking Bronx readers. Hope you enjoyed the long weekend, if you happened to have off. Here are some local news stories we’re following this morning:

A new study that looks at the earnings of retail workers found that those in the Bronx make less than in any other borough, with a mean pay of $8 an hour. Some chains pay their Manhattan workers more than their Bronx workers for the same job, the study found. Mayor Bloomberg, meanwhile, said in his State of the City speech last week that he supports raising the city’s minimum wage. But the Bronx-based “living wage” bill, which sought to up pay for workers in city-subsidized development projects, would not do much for retail workers if the latest, watered-down version that Council Speaker Christine Quinn is backing is what’s ultimately passed. The “compromise” version of the legislation would require firms receiving subsidies – but not their retail tenants – to pay the higher wages.

Members of the Caldwell Temple A.M.E. Zion Church in Morrisania marked the Martin Luther King holiday by giving back at the parish’s soup kitchen.

Read more

Teenager Arrested in Shooting of 11-Year-Old Bronx Boy

By Alex Kratz

[Video: After making an arrest on Friday, police say they are still looking for one of the suspects on this video clip.]

Police arrested a 17-year-old on Friday and charged him in connection with the shooting of 11-year-old Ryan Aguari, who remains in “serious” condition at Jacobi Hospital after being shot in the stomach last Thursday night. Investigators are still looking for a second suspect they say was caught on video (above) at the Creston Avenue apartment building where Ryan lives.

Kijana Jenkins, who lives on Claflin Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights, just blocks away from where the shooting took place, was charged with assault, weapons possession and reckless endangerment and arraigned on Saturday. NY1 reported that police said Jenkins made incriminating statements to police.

Police say Jenkins is one of two suspects caught on video around the time the shooting took place. They are still looking for the second male suspect and are seeking the public’s help in tracking him down.

Ryan was reportedly playing video games late Thursday night, Jan. 5, when the door bell rang. When he went to answer it, several bullets were fired through the door, one of them hitting him in the stomach.

It was the second time a child has been shot in the 52nd Precinct in the past two months.

Editor’s note: Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Monday Bronx Links

Happy Monday! Here are some local news stories that Breaking Bronx is following this morning:

Police are looking for a man who groped a woman in the Kingsbridge Road B/D train subway station.

Local Bronx activist Brian Hynes, of Bedford Park, was among a group of demonstrators arrested and convicted of disorderly conduct for protesting Guantanamo Bay detentions during a House of Representatives session in Washington, D.C. According to the blog Legal Times,  Hynes was one of five people convicted for shouting slogans during hearing at the capitol; he told the website he was happy the incident could bring their cause to a wider audience.

Cops have identified the one of the suspects accused of shooting  11-year-old Ryan Aquari.  According the Daily News, police arrested 17-year-old Kijana Jenkins as one of the assailants. Aquari was shot Thursday in his apartment building at 2735 Creston Ave.

Two off-duty corrections officers were arrested in the Bronx this weekend, one for getting into a brawl on E. 204th Street in Norwood, and the other for allegedly trying to pick up a prostitute in Hunts Point.

Meanwhile, a Bronx assistant district attorney was arrested for drunken-driving early yesterday.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., continues to make his case for the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, this time with a YouTube video urging the City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to talk a vote on the bill. For some background on the legislation, see some of our coverage here. Check out Diaz’s video below.

11-year-old Bronx Boy Shot Inside Creston Ave. Apartment; Police Seeking Suspects

Police say they are looking for two suspects (shown on the above video) in connection with the shooting of an 11-year-old boy inside a Creston Avenue apartment building.

According to NY1 and the Bronx Borough President’s office, 11-year-old Ryan Aquari was playing video games when the door bell rang at his apartment at 2735 Creston Avenue. As he approached the door, three shots were fired though it, one of which struck him in the stomach. Ryan was taken to Jacobi Hospital where police say he is in stable condition.

It is the second time in the past three months a child has been shot in the 52nd Precinct. In November, 4-year-old Cincer Balthazar was shot during a botched robbery attempt about a mile away at Grand Avenue and Evelyn Place.

Bronx Borough President released a statement denouncing the violence earlier today: Read more

One Dead, Two Wounded at Webster Avenue House Party

By David Greene

In the predawn hours of New Year’s Eve, one teen was shot dead and two others were wounded when a Webster Avenue house party turned violent.

Officers from the 48th Precinct were called to the four-story building, at 2366 Webster Avenue,  just after 2 a.m. on Saturday to discover the wounded victims had been shot inside the building’s lobby.

The most seriously injured was a 19-year old male, shot three times to the torso and one time to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Another 28-year old man was shot in the back and listed in stable condition at Jacobi Hospital. The third victim, an 18-year old male, was shot in the leg and transported to St. Barnabas Hospital, and was also reported as stable.

The victim was later identified as Shaneek “Boom” Young, 19, a life-long resident of the Pelham Parkway Houses who was described as a leader and keeper of the peace at the complex.

Hours after the killing, Young’s grief-stricken friends gathered outside his home and set up a make-shift memorial.

“He was always cracking jokes, I never heard anything bad about him,” said one neighbor, who said her own son was a friend of Young’s.

“That’s why I tell my son, I don’t like house parties,” she said.  “It’s too much for a parent too bare. Kids are supposed to be burying us, but we’re burying our kids now.”

Police continue to investigate the killing, but no arrests have been made. Police have not yet released a description of the shooter.

Tuesday Bronx Links: First Baby of 2012, Espada Drama & More

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Happy 2012! Everyone here at the Norwood News wishes you and yours a healthy and happy new year.

Here are some of the local stories Breaking Bronx is following this morning:

The first baby born in New York City in 2012 hails from the Bronx. Little Rania Ali was born at Montefiore Medical Center just as the clock struck midnight, weighing in at seven pounds. Her parents, Alia and Imdad Ali, live in the Boogie Down, along with 3 1/2-year-old big brother Ryan. Congrats!

In college basketball news: the Fordham University Rams will take on the Harvard Crimson tonight at Fordham’s Bronx campus.

Supporters of the healthcare network owned by former State Sen. Pedro Espada journeyed to Mt. Kisco, NY, yesterday to rally near Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s home, protesting what they say is the politically motivated decision to ban the Soundview Healthcare clinics from the state’s Medicaid program. The State Department of Health and the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General booted Soundview from Medicaid over the summer, citing the network’s failure to comply with state laws. Espada is facing federal corruption charges that he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Soundview, accusations that Cuomo first charged in a civil suit back in 2010, while he was Attorney General.

Read more

2011 Year in Review: Senseless Violence Puts Grand Ave. in Spotlight

By Alex Kratz

Editor’s Note: The latest edition of the Norwood News is out now, and its our annual Year in Review issue–a recap of the biggest stories that took place in 2011, in the Bronx and beyond. Over the next week or so, we’ll be rolling these top stories out here on Breaking Bronx. Enjoy, and a happy and healthy New Year to all of our readers!

At a community meeting near Fordham Hill in November, Inspector Joseph Dowling told the crowd that a recent uptick in random

neighborhood violence, which had claimed the life of a 59-year-old father and badly-injured a 4-year-old boy, did not tell the whole story of violent crime in the 52nd Precinct.

It may not tell the whole story, but it was certainly the biggest crime story of 2011.

Last March, Dowling took over command of the Five-Two from John D’Adamo, a young deputy inspector who was re-assigned after making tabloid headlines when his wife was caught lying to Westchester County police.

Up until this fall, Dowling, who previously commanded a precinct in Washington Heights, had enjoyed a relatively quiet beginning to his tenure. Then, at the end of October, a series of seemingly random acts of violence, most of them on or around Grand Avenue and Fordham Road, put the community on edge and a neighborhood in the spotlight.

The three most frightening and disturbing incidents happened within days of each other.

Read more

Crime Watch: Hit-and-Run on Mosholu Pkwy

By David Greene

Police are looking for a driver who hit struck and killed a man on Mosholu Parkway early Monday, before
taking off.

According to the NYPD, the victim, identified as a 23-year-old Hispanic male, was crossing Mosholu Parkway at Paul Avenue around 4:30 a.m., on Monday, Dec. 26, when he was struck by a passing vehicle. The car took off before police arrived, and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mosholu Parkway was shut down in both directions outside of DeWitt Clinton High School for several hours, as investigators from the NYPD’s Accident Investigation Squad pieced together details from the holiday tragedy.
The man’s body was discovered more than twenty-feet from the crosswalk, landing on a patch of grass next to the curb. One of the victim’s shoes landed nearby.

According to the NYPD, there have been no arrests.Several sources say police are looking for a gold vehicle with front end damage.

“One guy’s dead and another will probably go to jail,” one Paul Avenue resident at the scene said. “It’s not a nice way to spend the holidays.”

Bronx Crime Report: Murder on Marion Ave.

By Alex Kratz

Acting on a 911 call early this morning, just minutes after midnight, police say officers from the 52nd Precinct found a 51-year-old Hispanic man inside a North Fordham-area apartment building with a gunshot wound to his torso. Emergency workers pronounced him dead when they arrived at the scene inside of 2700 Marion Ave., which is between East 195th and East 196th streets.

Police are awaiting family notification before releasing the name of the victim. No arrests have been made and police say the investigation is ongoing.

Borough President’s Survey Finds Bronxites Want Better Schools, More Jobs

This summer and fall, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s office asked residents to fill out an online “wellness” survey, asking questions to gauge how Bronxites feel about living in the Boogie Down, what areas they’re happy with and what things they think need fixing.

Last week, Diaz’ office released the results of the survey, which 1,901 people filled out.

The majority of respondents said they think Bronx schools are the area that needs the most improvement, with 57 percent listing education as their number one priority. Other areas ranking as less-than-stellar were crime/public safety and economic development/jobs.

However, just over half of participants said they think the Bronx is a “good” or “excellent” place to live; 46 percent of those surveyed ranked the borough as “fair” or “poor.” Most of the people who completed the survey, meanwhile, indicated that they’ve lived here for a while, with more than three-quarters saying they’ve been in the Bronx for over a decade.

Read more

Seabrook Jury Split; Judge Warns Defense Team

The jury deciding the fate of City Councilman Larry Seabrook is split on whether or not to convict the Bronx rep, who faces federal corruption charges of fraud, money laundering and soliciting bribes.

Deliberations began last week, and the jury announced Friday that they were deadlocked over one of the charges against Seabrook–that he’d given a lucrative Yankee Stadium contract to a boilermaker in exchange for $50,000. After a second day of deliberating yesterday, the group announced they could not agree on any of the 12 counts charged against the councilman.

The group continues to review evidence today in the hopes of reaching a verdict.

Meanwhile, the judge overseeing the case in Federal District Court in Manhattan warned Seabrook’s lawyers to “be careful” of what they say to the press, according to the Times, after prosecutors complained about comments made by defense attorney Anthony L. Ricco that they say could influence the jury.  Ricco told reporters yesterday that the jury “hasn’t accepted the government’s theory of the case” and that “people shouldn’t be asked to compromise their views for efficiency or expediency.”

In addition to allegedly bribing the boilermaker, Seabrook stands accused of taking kickbacks from nonprofits staffed by his family and friends, which he funneled city money towards, and for notoriously forging a receipt for a $177 bagel. The councilman is still representing his Co-op City-Edenwald-Wakefield-Eastchester Bronx district–he collected $110,163 for the gig last year–but he’ll automatically get the boot if he’s convicted. City Hall News has compiled a list of candidates campaigning to fill his seat.

Bedford Park Man Shot in Kingsbridge Heights

By Alex Kratz

A 21-year-old Bedford Park man is clinging to life today at St. Barnabas Hospital after being shot several times in Kingsbridge Heights. Police found the man, who a police source identified as Richard Leonardo, in front of 2780 University Avenue at about 6 p.m. bleeding from gunshot wounds to his torso and right arm. Police say the victim is listed in critical condition at St. Barnabas, no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. The shooting occurred in the 50th Precinct.

Bronx Church’s Petition to Worship in Public Schools Denied by Supreme Court

By By Alex Kratz

The Bronx Household of Faith, a small congregation in University Heights, and dozens of other churches throughout New York City will become homeless on Jan. 1 after the Supreme Court decided today not to review an appeals court ruling in June that upheld the city’s policy of excluding churches from using public schools for worship services.

The Supreme Court denied the petition without comment except to note that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a native Bronxite, “took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.” A public information officer at the Supreme Court wouldn’t elaborate on why Sotomayor didn’t participate.

Lawyers for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which has represented Bronx Household of Faith in its legal battles with the city’s Department of Education for 17 years, couldn’t be reached for comment.

The ADF has argued that the city is unfairly singling out churches for exclusion and, consequently, violating their Constitutional rights. The city says holding worship services in schools amounts transforming the building’s into churches and the appeals court ruling back in June upheld that position.

“The Department [of Education] is quite properly concerned about having any school in this diverse city identified with one particular religious belief or practice,” said Jane Gordon, who argued the city’s case, about the June ruling. “The decision is a victory for the city’s schoolchildren and their families.”

But the appeals court decision was divided 2-1 and earlier courts had ruled in favor of Bronx Household, allowing them to conduct services at PS 15 on Andrews Avenue in University Heights for the past decade. ADF lawyers felt strongly that the Supreme Court would take on the case.

We wrote about Bronx Household of Faith’s plight in-depth back in June, but it’s been back in the media spotlight lately as the Supreme Court drew closer to a decision on whether to take on the case.

Bronx Household is not the only local church affected by the decision. Love Gospel Assembly has been meeting at MS 399 since its building on Webster Avenue was destroyed in a fire last year. There are at least 60 churches using public schools to conduct worship services.

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• Be Healthy!: Monte Kids Dance the Night Away Wed, May 16 at 5:00pm
• Bronx Notes: Open House for Webster Ave. Select Bus Service Wed, May 16 at 3:00pm
• ‘Vital’ After-School Programs on the Chopping Block Wed, May 16 at 1:31pm
• Ex-Bronx Senator Pedro Espada Found Guilty of Theft Mon, May 14 at 2:35pm
• MS 80, Other ‘New’ Bronx Schools, Get New Names; Hiring Stalls Due to Lawsuit Fri, May 11 at 2:46pm

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