MONSTER NEXT DOOR

Neighbors Knew he was strange,

Never thought he was capable of slaughter

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, March 6- A community turned out to heckle a man who police say dismembered his mother and left her body parts with the trash, along several blocks of Eagle Avenue.

On February 27, detectives marched Bashid McLean, 23, out of the 40th Precinct station house after being charged in the gruesome murder of his mother Tonya Byrd, 52, whose remains had been discarded with the trash along several blocks of Eagle Avenue, a day earlier.

Wanda Collazo, who once lived next to Byrd before Byrd moved from the Allerton section, spoke to a local television news crew and sparked a debate over mental illness outside the police station.

Collazo stated, "He used to smoke coffee grinds, so my daughter was scared of him. She was scared that he might do something to the little baby. He robbed from her, he used to push her. She was a strong woman, but he was stronger."

Collazo's statement about McLean's  mental condition sparked outrage from an unidentified woman, who fired back, "The government is the one who lets these people get away with this. Every time someone does something they say they have mental problems, they can't all have mental problems."

"He really does have issues," Collazo would reply.

A man in the growing crowd, offered, "He's going to regret what he's done when he gets upstate. That's wrong, man."

Another man speaking with several journalists, gave them a bizarre aspect of the case that was later confirmed by police, stating, "A detective told me that he (McLean) had a picture on his cellphone of him and he was holding his mother's head."

The mental illness debate continued across the street at the Dunkin' Donuts, where a man who owned a nightclub where Byrd was a waitress back in the 1990's, argued,"Even though he's mentally unstable, you still have to have some kind of brains that after you chop her up, put her in garbage bags, your not that crazy... a crazy person would just leave the parts in the apartment."

The unidentified man added, "He should be put to death by lethal injection."

Appearing in court wearing a garbage bag because officials say he kept urinating on himself, McLean was charged with second-degree murder and unlawful dissection of a human body and was being held without bail.

Police would also charge a cohort, identified in court documents as William Harris, who has been charged with assisting McLean in chopping up and dumping Byrd's body.  

Thompson Endorses Cohen

Riverdale Report
By Robert Press



This past Friday, former City Comptroller and candidate for mayor Bill Thompson became the third major Democratic candidate to endorse Andrew Cohen for the 11th council seat. The 11th council seat is one of three Bronx council districts that will become vacant due to term limits where the current council member has served the limited number of terms in office. Many people view term limits as good government for New York City, and want to extend term limits to state and federal offices so legislators do not think of their job as permanent.

At the endorsement outside of PS 81 in the Riverdale section of the district, Thompson echoed the words of others who have already endorsed Cohen for the 11th council seat. Thompson said that through Andy’s hard work on Community Board 8 that he knows Mr. Cohen will be an excellent addition to the City Council.

One reason the endorsement was done outside a school could be the fact that Thompson was the President of the Board of Education, and I asked him to comment on how Mayor Bloomberg has done under Mayoral control of the public school system. Thompson said that it is very important that the next chancellor be an educator, there is real transparency, goals and standards are set, and that parents can know and understand what is expected of their children. Cohen thanked Thompson and said that from when he was President of the Board of Education to his days as City Comptroller Bill Thompson has always been a great public servant and strong advocate for all the people of the city.

Thompson and Cohen then walked over to the Riverdale Neighborhood House to meet Mr. Dan Eudence the director of the RNN. They toured the building and outside area while chatting with Mr. Eudecce on the programs offered by RNN, and some of the problems in getting funding to run said programs. You can go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com to see photos of Mr. Cohen and Mr. Thompson, and some photos of the Riverdale Neighborhood House.

Just to be fair there are two other announced candidates in the 11th City Council race as of now Mr. Cliff Stanton and Ms. Shelley Keeling.

You can also find the latest listing of events going on at Wave Hill, and that as the days get longer Wave Hill will be increasing its hours of operation. Starting on March 15th Wave Hill will be open till 5:30 PM.

Also on my blog are comments from those who want to save the Putnam Trail, and stop as they call it “Bloomberg Boulevard” from ripping apart Van Cortlandt Park. On the subject of Van Cortlandt Park it seems that the issue of a pedestrian bridge over the Major Deegan Highway is not going to die as long as Community Board 8 Chairman Bob Fanuzzi is chairing the Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee. The date of the next meeting and agenda of the CFMC will be on my blog as soon as it is sent out.

If you have any comments about this column or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr, Robert Press.

Cops Hunt Hit-n-Run Driver

Police Seek Driver in Concourse Hit-And-Run

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, March 5- Police are looking for the heartless driver who ran-down a 61-year old man who was crossing the busy Grand Concourse.

Investigators were called to the Grand Concourse at Field Place, in the confines of the 46th Precinct, where police and paramedics discovered the victim in the roadway at just before 7 a.m. March 2. The still-unidentified victim was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital where he remains in grave condition.

Police say the victim was crossing against the light, when the vehicle traveling southbound, struck the man and sped off.

An investigator from the NYPD's Highway One stood in the roadbed and photographed the scene with a 3-D imaging camera as two lanes were shutdown in each direction along the Grand Concourse, between E. 183 Street and E. 184 Street.

A single shoe belonging to the man was left behind on the street.

Detectives working the case are said to be looking for a light colored or gray sedan with front end damage.

Meanwhile, police sources say a Bronx woman is cooperating with investigators and will only face insurance fraud charges, in exchange for her cooperation in locating the driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in Brooklyn on March 3.

Sources close to the investigation say Bronxite Cindy Jasmin, 31, was questioned by Brooklyn detectives at the 47th Precinct on Sunday, March 3. Jasmin reportedly reported the car stolen and with her cooperation police are now looking for the driver, Julio Acevedo of Brooklyn.

Police say Acevedo was behind the wheel of the 2010 BMW when it struck a taxi carrying a pregnant woman and her husband on Kent Avenue, as they headed to a hospital on Sunday.

The Orthodox couple were killed and their newborn baby died the following day.

Anyone with any information regarding either crash is asked to Call CRIMESTOPPERS at (800) 577-TIPS, and all calls remain confidential.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Heart Like a Lion

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Heart Like a Lion: Medal winners 4 from Lyons Mane S tar in Colgate Games By Michael Horowitz CO-OP CITY, BRONX, NEW YORK, March 4- Four mainstays in the...

Heart Like a Lion

Medal winners

4 from Lyons Mane Star in Colgate Games

By Michael Horowitz

CO-OP CITY, BRONX, NEW YORK, March 4- Four mainstays in the Lyons Mane Track Team emerged with medals in the Colgate Women's Games finals, which were held at the New Balance Track and Field arena in Manhattan.

Lauren Lyons, who has her sights set on a future Olympics berth, emerged in first place in the 200-meter dash, despite a nagging back problem that held her score down in the final round.

Lauren, a vivacious 15-year-old student at Cardinal Spellman High School, compiled a total of 72 points to win the competition in the 200-meter dash and a $1,000 grant for her college education.

Brittany Okon, an 18-year-old student at Bronx Community College, finished first in the 55-meter dash, compiling 68 points in the overall competition for youngsters her age and also winning a $1,000 educational grant.

In the 400-meter dash, Brittany Briggs, a 16-year -old student at the Frederick Douglass Academy High School, accumulated 56 points in the competition for youngsters in her age group, finishing second and winning a $500 educational grant for college.

In the competition for middle-school youngsters, Zuri Straker finished in fourth place in the 55-meter dash, accumulating 40 points in the process.

Donald Lyons, a former track competitor who runs the Lyons Mane Track Club, expressed pride in the accomplishments of the four local youngsters, who won medals in the esteemed Colgate Women's Games competition.

Over the years, Lyons has nurtured the four medal winners, watching them grow in mind, body and spirit.

“I am extremely proud of each of the girls from our club who won medals in this year's Colgate Women's Games competition,” Lyons stressed this week. “The Colgate Women's Games brings together some of the finest female athletes for an extremely spirited competition. I am proud of what all of the youngsters in our group have accomplished in a wide variety of ways.”

To learn more about the Lyons Mane Track Club, contact Donald Lyons at (718) 671-3129.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Sonia Supreme

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Sonia Supreme: Pride of the Bronx Sonia Sotomayor Writes of her Early Years By Howard Goldin Book review of “My Beloved World” New York: Alfr...

Sonia Supreme

Pride of the Bronx Sonia Sotomayor Writes of her Early Years

By Howard Goldin

Book review of “My Beloved World” New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. $27.95

BRONX, NEW YORK, March 3- It is rare that a sitting Supreme Court Justice writes an autobiography/memoir. Sonia Sotomayor, nominated to the Supreme Court in May 2009 by President Barack Obama and approved by the U. S. Senate several months later, has written a volume telling of her life’s experiences until her first judicial appointment in 1992. The book was published in early February 2013.

Her memoir, although it includes her education at Yale Law School, her experiences as Assistant District Attorney in New York County and her subsequent work at a private law firm, does not focus on her judicial philosophy. As she tells the readers, “I know some readers will be inclined to sift this chapter [nineteen] for clues to my jurisprudence. I regret to disappoint them, but that’s not the purpose of this book.” (p. 172).

Most of the story takes place in the Bronx, her place of birth. The names of world famous celebrities are not dropped in the 315 page volume as her early years were peopled by family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances who resided in the Bronx.

Her mother and father, natives of Puerto Rico, were part of a large migration to New York City in the 1940’s. Sotomayor introduces the reader to them and to her many other relatives in the Bronx and in Puerto Rico. Her story, told honestly, tells of individuals who, like all others, are a mixture of good and bad, neither saints nor demons.

The earliest positive influence upon her was her grandmother [Abuelita]. Her grandmother’s upbeat personality, warmth and concern for Sonia were a source of strength and happiness to the young girl and remain a sweet memory to the present.

Although both parents worked, their continual arguments, many caused by her father’s alcoholism, were painful to the young girl and her younger brother, now a physician. During her childhood, her mother’s emotional distance from her, only recently greatly lessened, was another cause of sadness for the youngster.

She fully explains the impact of her Catholic school education at Blessed Sacrament, elementary school, and Cardinal Spellman, High School. As with the experiences with her family and neighborhood, she allows the reader to experience the positive and negative of all facets of her childhood years.

An overriding concern to the young girl and her family was her being stricken with juvenile diabetes. The disease was more mysterious and frightening when Sonia was a child than it is today, and it affected her life up to the present in various ways.

Sotomayor details adult experiences as well as those of her childhood years. She relates her feelings regarding her higher education at Princeton University, a then unusual site for a Latina from the South Bronx. She also details her time at Yale Law School and at her first criminal justice position, Assistant District Attorney in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and her work at Pavia & Harcourt, a private law firm. In a more personal vein, she speaks about her marriage and divorce.

Her aspirations to become a lawyer began while being mesmerized watching the television program Perry Mason while a child in the Bronx. They were solidified by her internal thought processing regarding her goals for the future and by individuals who inspired and encouraged her.

Readers who are/were Bronx residents can visualize Sotomayor at places they have seen, the Bronxdale Houses, Co-Op City, stores in Hunt’s Point and Third Avenue at 149th Street, Yankee Stadium, Blessed Sacrament, and Cardinal Spellman. Whether the scenes are familiar or not, the circumstances of her early existence are not unique. With that realization we can more easily fathom the book’s purpose, to inspire and encourage those who only know Sotomayor as one of nine justices on the Supreme Court.

In the preface, she admits she opens her early life and feelings to the public so that “Some readers may find comfort, perhaps even inspiration, from a close examination of how an ordinary person, with strengths and weaknesses like anyone else, has managed an extraordinary journey.” (p. 8).

Sotomayor’s impressive and inspiring life story has struck a chord with readers as her memoir is currently in first place in the New York Times Best Sellers List of hardcover, non-fiction volumes.