Caught on Tape: Cops Hunt Chain Snatchers

(Cops say this man ripped a chain off a woman’s neck as she rode the subway.)

By Dan Gesslein

BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 29- Police are looking for chain snatchers who have targeted people on the subway and in building elevators. The two separate incidents occurred two days apart in different neighborhoods in the West Bronx but both attackers were caught on tape.

At around 9:30 a.m. on May 15, a woman was sitting on the northbound D train at East 182nd Street and the Grand Concourse. The rider was approached by a man who ripped the chain from her neck. He fled but not before his image was caught on subway surveillance cameras. 

The suspect is described as a 40 to 50-year-old black male. He was seen wearing a black Nike skullcap, black leather jacket, blue jeans and dark sneakers. 

Another, unrelated, chain snatching occurred the next day in East Tremont. At around 6 p.m. on May 16, a man was entering the elevator of his Morris Avenue building when the mugger followed in behind him. The thief grabbed him forcibly and ripped two chains from around his neck before fleeing the elevator.

The attack was captured on tape from the elevator’s surveillance camera. 

The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 20-years-old, 5 foot 9, with short black hair and dark complexion. He as last seen wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information is urged to call CRIMESTOPPERS at (800) 577-TIPS. 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.

All calls are strictly confidential.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Mets honor ‘Mo’

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Mets honor ‘Mo’: By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 29- Mariano Rivera has had many memories in Flushing Queens as a New York Yankee. Since the inception...

Mets honor ‘Mo’

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 29- Mariano Rivera has had many memories in Flushing Queens as a New York Yankee. Since the inception of the Subway Series between the Yankees and cross-town Mets, the all-time saves leader in baseball, who is retiring after this season, closed many games on the mound at Shea Stadium and Citi Field.

Baseball teams around the country have been paying tribute to Rivera this season with various ways of honoring the Panamanian native. Tuesday evening, prior to the second game of the four-game Subway Series at Citi Field, Rivera threw out the first pitch via an invite from Mets Chief Operating Officer Fred Wilpon.

It was only appropriate, because Rivera is more than a Yankee. To many, he has represented baseball well and in New York Rivera has become a baseball icon even as he wore pinstripes.

Wilpon, along with New York City Fire Department Commissioner Sal Cassano presented Rivera with a mounted hose nozzle from a FDNY truck and an authentic call box.

The call to the pen has made Rivera the all-time saves leader, and coming into the game Tuesday night he was one game away from surpassing Dennis Eckersley for sole possession of fourth place on baseball’s all-time games pitched list which stands at 1,071.

“Mariano,” commented Wilpon, “we’ve watched you for so many years. It’s a great honor to have you here for the last time. I wish we could see you in the World Series but I’m not sure that is going to happen.”

In the final game of the 2009 Subway Series at Citi Field, Rivera recorded his 500^th career save and he threw the final pitch of the 2000 World Series at Shea Stadium won by the Yankees.  

And the way the 2013 season is transpiring for the Mets it most likely won’t happen that Rivera will meet the Mets again. This is probably not the last time Rivera will be at Citi Field this season as he makes another visit as a member of the American League All-Star team at the Mid-Summer classic on Tuesday evening July 16^th.

Rivera smiled and said to Wilpon, “You never know,” about the Wilpon World Series reference.

“It will be my last game here,” he said. “It has been a great career and I have enjoyed every game that I have played here. I’ve saved some games and I have blown some games here. Overall, it has been wonderful.”

The FDNY tribute was appropriate. Rivera has been tabbed as the greatest “Fireman of all-time.” Mets all-time closer John Franco, 276 saves, was behind home plate and caught the ceremonial first pitch thrown by Rivera.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Deja Vu All Over Again

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Deja Vu All Over Again: Mets Beat Yanks 2-1 By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 29- Game #2 of the Subway Series on Tuesday night was delayed for 1 hour and 31 ...

Deja Vu All Over Again

Mets Beat Yanks 2-1

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 29- Game #2 of the Subway Series on Tuesday night was delayed for 1 hour and 31 minutes by heavy showers, but there was never an intention to postpone the contest.

A phalanx of camera operators was gathered behind home plate to capture the ceremonial first pitch. Mariano Rivera, the premier closer in baseball history, was being honored on the occasion of his final game at Citi Field by tossing the ball to John Franco, the finest closer in Mets history.

Pitching continued to be in the spotlight when the regular season game began. Starters Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Harvey have, thus far, been the aces of their staffs. The possibility of a perfect game or a no-hitter by either hurler was eliminated early in the game.

The second Met batter in the game, Daniel Murphy, singled to right. The hit was the 24^th in his previous 60 at bats, .400, for the hot hitting infielder. Yankee shortstop Reid Brigniac led off the third with a single to right, his first hit as a Yankee.

Although the pitching of the two starters was not perfect, it is only fair to state it was excellent. In a replica of the game of the night before, neither team scored during the first five frames.

As also took place on the night before, the Yankees scored their only run of the game in the top of the sixth. Another similarity was that both run scoring rallies were begun by a base hit by Brett Gardner. On Wednesday, Gardner singled and went to second on an error by rightfielder Marlon Byrd. A single by Lyle Overbay drove Gardner across the plate. 

Of the hit by Overbay, Mets manager Terry Collins remarked, “He [Harvey] made a mistake and it cost him.” 

After the game, Harvey agreed, “as soon as I let it go, I wanted to take it back.”

Although both starting pitchers pitched well enough to earn the win, they were not involved in the decision. Kuroda pitched seven innings, allowed no runs, walked no batters, gave up only four singles and fanned seven. Harvey, Kuroda’s junior by 14 years, pitched equally well. He yielded six hits, all singles, fanned 10 and did not issue a base on balls, but did give up one run in the sixth.

This season, the 24 year-old has compiled superlative stats, 5-0 won/loss mark, 1.85 ERA, opponents’ batting average of 1.72, 9.7 strikeouts per 9 innings. Smiling, Collins commented, “He’s really going to be fun to watch in the years to come.”

The outcome was determined in a strikingly similar manner to the game the day before. The victim was not reliever David Robertson but surprisingly was the seemingly prefect closer Mariano Rivera. With a 1-0 lead in the ninth and Rivera going for his 19^th consecutive save of the season, ran into trouble. In only nine pitches, Daniel Murphy, David Wright and Lucas Duda got consecutive hits to score two runs. Rivera admitted, “It did happen quick.” The humble baseball great took the responsibility, “There’s no excuse. Kuroda pitched an excellent game. For me to do that is unacceptable.”

The final two games of this year’s Subway Series now shift to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Two righties will face off on Wednesday night. David Phelps (3-2) will start for the Yanks against winless Jeremy Hefner (0-5) for the Mets.

Mets Edge Yanks, 2-1, in Subway Series Opener

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 28- The Subway Series kicked off its 17th consecutive year on Monday night at Citi Field with an exciting pitchers’ duel. Unlike the schedule of previous seasons, the two New York teams will play two consecutive two-game series this week, Monday and Tuesday in Queens and Wednesday and Thursday in the Bronx.

The ceremonial first pitch appropriately saluted veterans on Memorial Day and the Mets in their home ballpark as Joey Falcone, a Columbia student and Navy veteran, tossed the ball to his dad, Pete Falcone, a former Mets hurler.

The two starting pitchers, Phil Hughes of the Yanks and Jonathan Niese of the Mets, did not allow a runner to cross the plate during the first five innings. One baserunner for each team reached third base during that period.

David Wright tripled with two out in the first. With one out in the top of the second, David Adams and Ichiro Suzuki singled. Lyle Overbay drew a base on balls to fill the sacks for the Yanks. Catcher Chris Stewart grounded into a double play to end the rally.

The first single tally for each club came quickly. Brett Gardner began the sixth with a triple to deep center. The next batter, Jayson Nix, singled to score Gardner. It appeared that Gardner would be the game’s star as he robbed Daniel Murphy of a two-run homer with an outstanding catch above the 385’ sign in center in the bottom of that inning, but the hero’s mantle would be placed elsewhere before the game concluded.

David Wright blasted a 2-2 pitch into the left field seats to lead-off the seventh and tie the contest at 1-1. Mets manager Terry Collins spoke of his team’s captain, “Big players make big plays [and] that’s why he’s the captain.” Yankees skipper Joe Girardi was no less impressed by Wright than Collins was, “He’s a superstar and he put a superstar at bat on him [Hughes].”

The impressive pitchers’ duel between the two starters ended in the eighth as both starters departed at the conclusion of the seventh frame. In addition to the one earned run, Niese yielded eight hits and walked one batter. Collins praised his starter, “He gave up some hits but got outs when he needed them.” Besides the four bagger hit by Wright, Hughes only gave up three hits and did not walk a batter.

The Mets broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth with reliever David Robertson on the mound. With runners on first and third, and two men out, Murphy drove in the winning run with a single to center. The hot hitting outfielder is batting .373 (23 for 59) in his last 15 games.

Mets closer Bobby Parnell converted his sixth straight save opportunity by shutting down the Yanks in the ninth. Collins believed this performance was a turning point for Parnell, “I think he’s come of age for sure. He hasn’t pitched in a game like tonight. I think he’s going to be good for a long time.”

The second of the two games in Queens will feature another potential pitchers’ duel between Hiroki Kuroda (6-3) of the Yanks and undefeated Matt Harvey (5-0) of the Mets.

Soccer Showdown at Yankee Stadium

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 26-Two of the major powers of the English Premier League, Chelsea FC and Manchester City FC, clashed on the pitch of Yankee Stadium on Saturday evening. The teams have met many times in their more than 100 years of history.
Their latest encounter before Saturday’s game was two days earlier at a sold-out Busch Stadium in St. Louis. In that exciting meeting, Manchester City came back from a 3-0 deficit to capture the friendly by a 4-3 margin.

Neither world-renowned football club is a stranger to the New York area. City faced the Red Bulls in 2010. Chelsea participated in the first soccer match at the current Yankee Stadium last year, when they defeated PSG (Paris Saint Germain).

Earlier in the week, a partnership between Manchester City and the Yankees was announced. The two highly successful century old sports organizations will work together, with City being the majority owner, to operate the newest team in the MLS (Major League Soccer), the New York FC. Although a home stadium has yet to be determined, the team will begin play during the 2015 season.

On the day of the match, the 161 BID (Business Improvement District), under the direction of its director, Dr. Cary Goodman, tried to make the neighborhood businesses especially accommodating to the international visitors. Several area sports bars gave a total of 400 sky blue commemorative mini-soccer balls to its patrons on Saturday. On behalf of the businesses, Goodman remarked, “We want everyone to enjoy this great soccer match. These are two great teams, representing two great soccer traditions. It should be great.”
Directly prior to the English match, all the fans in the stadium that arrived early had the opportunity to watch live coverage on the gant screen in centerfield of the 2013 UEFA Champions League championship from Wembley Stadium that was captured by Bayern Munich over Borussia Dortmund, 2-1. Members of Chelsea, had particular interest in viewing the match as they were victorious over Bayern in the 2012 title tilt.

Despite the cold, (58 degrees), windy, (22 mph, gusting to 35) and rainy afternoon in the Bronx, 39,465 purchased tickets to the match. The crowd exceeded in size the crowd who saw Chelsea in 2012 and the attendance at 14 of the 24 home games of the Yankees this season. These figures demonstrate that world class soccer can be taken seriously as a spectator sport in the United States.

As in their game on Thursday, there was no dearth of goals scored by the two English sides at the friendly in the Bronx. Manchester continued its superior play of Thursday by netting the only two goals of the first half. Midfielder Gareth Barry scored at the three minute mark and was followed by Samir Nasri 26 minutes later. City goaltender Joe Hart, who will be joining the English National Team upon his return home, stopped all five Chelsea shots on goal.

The two sides alternated goals in the second half. Ramires, the Brazilin midfielder, scored the first two for Chelsea. The third was scored on a free kick by Spain’s striker Juan Mata at the 82 minute mark.

A native of each of three European nations scored a goal in the second half for Manchester. France’s Nasri made his second score of the match, England’s James Milner and Bosnian Edin Dzeko each scored.

It was announced on the day of the match that Chelsea will return to the U.S. in the summer to participate in the Inaugural Guinness International Champion’s Cup with seven other world renowned sides, A.C. Milan, Inter, Juventus, Real Madrid, Valencia, Everton, and L.A. Galaxy.