Thursday, July 12, 2012
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Hunt for Commuter Rapist
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Hunt for Commuter Rapist: Man rapes tourist in her hotel room By Dan Gesslein BRONX, NEW YORK, July 12- Cops are on the hunt for a rapist who attacked a to...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): The Week in Crime
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): The Week in Crime: By David Greene MAN SHOT ON DAVIDSON Police officers from the 46th Precinct were called to the scene of a shooting on the Univ...
The Week in Crime
By David Greene
MAN SHOT ON DAVIDSON
Police officers from the 46th Precinct were called to the scene of a shooting on the University Heights / Fordham Heights border and discovered a male shot.
The incident was called into police at just after 4:30 p.m., on Monday, July 9. The victim was transported to a local hospital, his condition was not immediately known.
Police were said to be looking for a male Hispanic, 22 to 23-years old, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.
FIRE AT PAY-O-MATIC ?
An all-hands fire was reported at the corner of E. Gun Hill Road at White Plains Road, that broke out at 11 p.m., on Sunday, July 8.
Sources say the all-hands blaze broke out inside the Pay-O-Matic check cashing center on the Bainbridge/Olinville border. The fire was brought under control after about 25-minutes, the extent of the damage was contained as the center was open for business the following Tuesday. At the time of the incident, fire officials had the address as 3507 White Plains Road, but the center is listed as 697 E. Gun Hill Road, However, the FDNY now has no record of a fire breaking out at either address. A woman at the Payt-O-Matic stated she was not allowed to comment on if a fire took place at the location or not. Calls to their corporate office were not immediately returned.
TWENTY INJURED IN BRUCKNER CRASH
Twenty people were reported to be injured in a motor vehicle accident at Bruckner Boulevard and E. 149 Street, at 8 p.m., on Saturday, July 7.
EMS declared the incident, "a mass-casualty incident," or (MCI) giving the incident special priority and additional resources due to the amount of injuries. None of the 20 injuries reported were thought to be serious.
SEX ASSAULT IN MT. HOPE
Police were called to E. Tremont Avenue and Valentine Avenue, at 3:30 a.m., on July 7.
Officers from the 46th Precinct were called to Echo Park, where the victim stated she was sexually assaulted by two individuals. Police were reportedly looking for a white male about 20-years old and a Black male of unknown age in regard to this crime. No clothing description of either suspect was currently available.
WOMAN SHOT IN CASTLE HILL
Police from the 43rd Precinct were called to the scene of a shooting and discovered a female shot.
Police were called at 3:30 a.m., on Thursday, July 5, to 2160 Seward Avenue. The NYPD's Emergency Services Unit was soon called to 2125 Randall Avenue to conduct an evidence search. No additional information was available at this time.
FORDHAM HEIGHTS SHOOTING
Police were called to 2230 Grand Concourse at E. 182 Street for a report of a person shot. The incident took place at 12:10 a.m., on July 5. No information on the victim or suspect were immediately known.
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS SHOOTING
Police were called to 2287 Loring Place North, between Loring Place and W. Fordham Road, at 11:45 p.m., on Wednesday, July 4.
The male victim was transported to an area hospital and was expected to survive. No information was available on the shooter.
VICTIM WOUNDED IN MORRISANIA
Police and paramedics were called to 745 E. 152 Street for a person shot. Police got the call at just before 11:30 p.m., on July 4. The victim was said to have been removed in stable condition.
LONG ISLAND SOUND RECOVERY
Officers from the 45th Precinct reported a dead body washing up on the rocks at just after 11 p.m., on Wednesday, July 4.
The NYPD Harbor Patrol was called to the Long Island Sound, off the coast of the Bronx in the area of the Bronx / Whitestone Bridge where it's believed a body was removed. No other details on this incident were immediately available.
ORCHARD BEACH DROWNING
Members of the Emergency Services Unit were dispatched to Section 8 of Orchard Beach after life guards reportedly pulled a victim from the water.
The incident was reported by the life guards at 2 p.m. on July 4, and who quickly began giving CPR. ESU arrived within five-minutes and the victim was rushed to Jacobi Hospital where the victim was pronounced dead on arrival.
MAN SHOT IN MELROSE
Cops and medics were called to 346 Thurman Munson Way for reports of shots fired and discovered a man shot.
The aided man was transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition. No information was available on the gunman.
9 INJURED IN PARKWAY CRASH
Nine people were taken to area hospitals after a motor vehicle crash at 2:50 p.m., on Tuesday, July 2.
A collision between a black Ford Fusion and a mini-bus from the Bella Bus Corporation took place at the intersection of Pelham Parkway South and Williamsbridge Road.
Six individuals were removed by EMS in stable condition and three others were reported as serious. Witnesses at the scene say the automobile sped through a red light when the collision took place. None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening.
If you have witnessed or have information on a violent crime, you may give your information anonymously by calling 1 (800) 577-TIPS or TEXT: Crimes. ENTER: TIPS577.
Hot times ahead
COMMUNITY BOARD
NEWS N’ VIEWS
By
Father Richard F. Gorman
Chairman
Community Board #12 (The Bronx)
“Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.”
Remember these words of THE LOVIN’ SPOONFUL? They are taken from a song written by band member Mark Sebastian entitled SUMMER IN THE CITY that was the number one song on the BILLBOARD HOT 100 in August of 1966. The song featured a series of car horns, during the instrumental bridge, starting with a Volkswagen Beetle horn, and ending up with a jackhammer sound, in order to give the impressions of the sounds of the summer in the city. The song is ranked number 393 on ROLLING STONE’S list of THE 500 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME.
While the heat wave of last week has subsided, it is clear that other hot, hazy, and humid days lie ahead. This summer may well prove to be rather uncomfortable, if not brutal, at times in terms of the weather.
What is clear, however, is that this summer will be far from calm or copasetic relative to the challenges that confront the people of
Community Board #12 (The Bronx) all year long. These issues will not be taking a vacation or giving us any rest or relaxation during these hazy, lazy summer days of July and August.
As I related to you last week, the issue of the homeless colony being planned by the City of New York and its Department of Homeless Services (N.Y.C.D.H.S.) on the intersection of Bronx Boulevard and East 238TH Street/Nereid Avenue is front and center once again. If the Bloomberg Administration has its way, two facilities housing well over 300 of our homeless brothers and sisters with chemical dependencies and/or mental health issues will be dumped on a single intersection in a single neighborhood within two years, within a brief stroll of yet a third homeless facility sheltering some 60+ folks, who otherwise would not have a roof over their head, up the hill and around the corner on White Plains Road. The end result is that a single spot in the one neighborhood of Wakefield will now have anywhere from 400 to 500 new residents, most if not all of whom have critical needs to be addressed in a Community Board that has historically suffered a severe scarcity of municipal services. If the circumstances leading to this situation demonstrate any genuine foresight in planning and/or justice in the equal and fair-share distribution of the burden imposed by the presence of municipal facilities in Bronx Community District #12, I wish that I could unearth it. Please, could somebody -- ANYBODY! -- kindly tell me what I am missing and let me in on the secret?
The United States Army and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (U.S.H.U.D.) are preparing to facilitate the transfer of THE SERGEANT JOSEPH E. MULLER UNITED STATES ARMY RESERVE CENTER (MULLER U.S.A.R.C.) located at 555 East 238TH Street/Nereid Avenue to the City of New York for re-use by THE DOE FUND, INCORPORATED as a shelter for some 200 men with chemical dependencies and related social service needs. Simultaneously, PROJECT RENEWAL, a big-time player in the cottage industry that has sprouted up amongst the homeless, is on the verge of undertaking renovation of the structure at 4380 Bronx Boulevard. While these agencies profess with the piety of an old-fashioned cleric that their only desire is for the betterment of the homeless, the fact is that both organizations intend to house them in locales that are not environmentally safe. Both the
4380 Bronx Boulevard sites as well as the shuttered MULLER U.S.A.R.C. right across the street are contaminated with toxic materials that have seeped into the groundwater primarily from the AMERADA HESS Gas Station across Bronx Boulevard at 610 East 238TH Street/Nereid Avenue.
Moreover, if these agencies are seeking to do God’s work, they appear to be doing it in less than a divine fashion. The City of New York should not be preparing to have MULLER U.S.A.R.C. transferred to its Department of Homeless Services (N.Y.C.D.H.S.) because the process by which such transfer should be take place, THE DEFENSE BASE REALIGNMENT
AND CLOSURE ACT (DEFENSE B.R.A.C.), has not been followed. As a matter of fact, the City of New York is concocting a scenario that is as phony as a three-dollar bill in order to make it appear as if the spirit and letter of DEFENSE B.R.A.C. has been obeyed. Meanwhile, questions about the professionalism and competency with which PROJECT RENEWAL has served the homeless at another of its facilities in the Borough of Manhattan have led to complaints, some of which have resulted in the agency literally being dragged into court. Recently, an out-of-court settlement was reached on one of these grievances.
Accordingly, letters have been written and more will have to be
penned. Perhaps, other causes of action will have to be filed in
court. In any event, vacation is not a term that will apply to the
problems that beset our area during this summer. As THE LOVING SPOONFUL put it so well, it is going to be a “hot time” this summer in the City and our necks will probably get quite “dirty and gritty,” but we shall not allow those who do not have our best interests at heart to break them.
Until next time, that is it for this time!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Personal loan or illegal gift?
Engel stonewalls News
By Christopher Hagedorn
BRONX, NEW YORK, July 6- The question of whether or not Rep. Eliot Engel accepted an illegal gift from his largest campaign contributor of up to $250,000 to purchase a co-op in Riverdale as his primary residence is shrouded by his refusal to disclose the terms of a personal loan.
Several facts are known about the loan:
• Engel wrongly listed it as a “mortgage” on a financial disclosure statement.
• He received it from Harry Bajraktari, a contributor.
• No records or documents, other than his federal financial disclosure statement filed in May, reflect the loan as a financial liability.
• The New York City record of the purchase of the co-op at 3725 Henry Hudson Parkway shows a transaction in cash.
• City records show no co-op loan, neither personal nor conventional.
• The House Ethics Committee will not confirm or deny whether Engel received approval for the loan from a contributor, though Engel claims he did get approval
• Reviews of Engel's finances by an accountant, as reflected by his financial disclosure statement,put in doubt whether he could have received a co-op loan from a financial institution.
• Engel has refused to reveal any details of the loan, including interest rate and repayment schedule, according to the Daily News.
The House Ethics Committee has strict standards for gifts, to delineate legality. Rules on gifts state representatives “may accept a loan from a person other than a financial institution, provided that the loan is on commercially reasonable terms, including requirements for repayment and a reasonable rate of interest.”
Engel's refusal to disclose the repayments schedule and rate of interest for a loan from a major contributor is problematic.
Harry Bajraktari is not just a supporter, but also a person with a vested interest in his agenda as an Albanian-American leader, an activist in the Kosovo independence movement.
Bajraktari has invested years in cultivating Engel's allegiance to his cause.
Reportedly, an Albanian supporter said, “Remember that it was Eliot Engel, who, during one of his visits to Pristina, stood in the square and told the Kosovo Albanian mob that he wanted to be the first U.S. ambassador to return to an independent Kosova.”
Engel reported on his financial disclosure statement, filed in May 2012 for calendar year 2011 that he had a “mortgage loan” on his primary residence at 3725 Henry Hudson Parkway, a two-bedroom co-op apartment that he bought in February 2011. A spokesman for Engel told the Daily News, “There is no actual mortgage on the property as this is a personal loan.”
City records of the co-op purchase for $280,000 disclosed no indebtedness in the transaction.
Bajraktari's monetary noblesse has rewarded Engel in another way, by granting him a partnership stake in a Bronx building. Engel failed to disclose the partnership for two years.Monday, July 9, 2012
Pizza Party in the Bronx
CiCi’s Pizza to Open Outside Co-op City
BRONX, NEW YORK, July 9– CiCi’s Pizza, home of the custom pizza buffet, celebrates the grand opening of its first Bronx location on July 16. The grand opening will kick off a five-day celebration from July 16 through July 20.
The first 100 guests each day to purchase an adult buffet at the new location during the celebration will receive a free pizza buffet each month for a year. The 5,313 square-foot restaurant is located at 1776 E. Gun Hill Road in the Bronx at the intersection of I-95 and Gun Hill Road.
CiCi’s endless pizza buffet features more than 28 different pizzas in rotation plus delicious pasta, hot soup, crisp salad and oven-baked desserts. Guests can enjoy CiCi’s everyday value at $6.99 for an adult buffet and $3.99 for the kids buffet.
“The Bronx restaurant opening marks an important milestone for CiCi’s as we continue our ‘Build the Brand’ growth initiative, said CiCi’s Pizza COO Bill Spae. “This restaurant is the first to come to the five boroughs and will serve as a flagship store for continued growth in the area.”
The Ansari Pizza Group, led by veteran CiCi’s franchisees, Tahir and Nabeel Ansari, owns 12 CiCi’s Pizza restaurants in Florida, Tennessee and now New York. The company tapped into experienced CiCi’s operator, Michael Rogers, to run the new Bronx Restaurant.
“New Yorkers know their pizza. Now with CiCi’s coming to town, they’ll have access to the nation’s leading pizza buffet,” said Nabeel Ansari. “Our new restaurant will bring new jobs to the area and offer a family-friendly environment for our neighbors to enjoy great food and endless variety at an outstanding value.”
If guests don’t see their favorite pizza fresh and hot on the buffet, they can just ask and a CiCi’s team member will make it on the spot and bring it directly to the table. All pizzas are also available to go and 15” one-topping carryout pizzas are regularly priced at $5.99.
The restaurant phone number is (718) 671-2575 and its hours of operation for dine-in and carryout are Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Espaillat makes it Official
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Espaillat makes it Official: 100PERCENT By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, July 9- State Senator Adriano Espaillat held a press conference to announce that he ...
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