bronx crime

Crime Watch: Another Murder on Decatur

Early Sunday morning, police responded to a 911 call of a male shot in front of 3089 Decatur Avenue, just south of East 204th Street in Norwood. Upon arrival, officers found 46-year-old Gary Rodriguez with a gunshot wound to the torso. Emergency Service workers took Rodriguez to Montefiore Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. There have been no arrests made and police say the investigation is ongoing.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 4

Welcome back to another edition of the Bronx News Roundup. Here are the Bronx stories we’re following today.

Sector George: The Most Dangerous Neighborhood in the Precinct

On a recent Friday afternoon, off-duty firefighter Eddie De La Cruz leisurely walks past Bainbridge Avenue along East 196th Street and stops in front of Our Lady of Refuge Church to chat with Father John Jenik, the parish’s longtime leader. They both greet people passing by, mostly parents with their kids, with pleasantries in English and Spanish. The only sense that this interaction is happening in the most dangerous neighborhoods in the 52nd Precinct, and one of the toughest in the northwest Bronx, is a handful of young men wearing hoodies and expensive sneakers milling menacingly in front of a six-story apartment building down the block. They’re on the lookout and waiting to take over these streets when darkness comes.

Editorial: Honoring the Good Guys

The police and community need each other to combat crime and keep our streets safe. It’s a symbiotic relationship that needs nourishing. And the council breakfast helps feed that relationship. It also introduces us to some often overlooked heroism.

Police Relations Exposed in Council, Court and Class

The police department’s most controversial crime prevention strategies are coming under increased scrutiny with politicians debating their merit and the court system ruling on their constitutionality. In the meantime, the question in the Bronx and elsewhere in New York City remains: Are tactics like stop and frisk and Operation Clean Halls “putting a distance between police and communities?”

52nd Precinct Neighborhood Crime Stats (2006-2011): Overview

In late September, the Norwood News obtained crime statistics for each of the 15 sectors (or neighborhoods) in the 52nd Precinct, which includes all of the neighborhoods that make up the Norwood News’ primary coverage area, including Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham, Fordham-Bedford, University Heights and Kingsbridge Heights. In the graph below, we have aggregated all of the statistics in each neighborhood to give you a six-year sample of how crime trends compare in each neighborhood.

Norwood Church Burglarized, Sound System Stolen

Holy Natity, an Episcopal church in Norwood on Bainbridge Avenue that overcame a devastating fire in 2009, must now deal with the damage left by an invader who broke into the building and stole a sound system.