Last Friday, a lone gunman, identified as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother in her home, took her legally purchased firearms and proceeded to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he had once been a student. Lanza forced his way into the school and shot and killed six adults who worked at the school and 20 children, all ages 6 and 7, before committing suicide on the scene.
Later that day, Congressman Jerry Nadler issued a statement condemning the attacks and asserting that such unthinkable violence merits swift action on gun control laws.

“I am absolutely horrified by news of the cold-blooded shooting of dozens of children in Newtown. Yet another unstable person has gotten access to firearms and committed an unspeakable crime against innocent children,” Nadler said in the statement. “We cannot simply accept this as a routine product of modern American life. If now is not the time to have a serious discussion about gun control and the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our society, I don’t know when is. How many more Columbines and Newtowns must we live through? I am challenging President Obama, the Congress and the American public to act on our outrage and, finally, do something about this.”
Fellow New York Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who represents the Upper East Side and parts of Queens and Brooklyn, echoed Nadler’s call for action.

“Our first thoughts must be with the families of those killed and injured today. But we can no longer allow tragedies—like Columbine, and Virginia Tech, and Tucson, and Aurora, and Newtown—to occur over and over without finally taking meaningful action to prevent them from happening again,” Maloney said in a statement. “Together as Americans, we must engage each other in a civil discourse about ways to deter would-be mass killers who are currently able to legally purchase guns and ammunition more easily than they could register an automobile.”

Mayor Bloomberg also spoke forcefully in support of stricter gun control laws, and on Monday announced the release of a series of videos produced by the Mayor’s Alliance Against Illegal Guns. The 34 videos (the same number of Americans who die every day due to guns), which can be viewed on DemandAPlan.org, all feature stories from people around the country who have been personally affected by gun violence.

“Gun violence is a national epidemic—and a national tragedy—that demands more than words. We are the only industrialized country that has this problem,” Bloomberg said at a press conference at City Hall. “That’s why we need immediate national action, from the president and from Congress. It should be at the top of their agenda because what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School was, sadly, no aberration.”

VIOLENT BOYFRIEND
A domestic dispute left a young woman bleeding and bitten last Friday. The 23-year-old victim reported that she was hanging out with friends in her West 65th Street apartment in the evening, then got into a fight with her 21-year-old boyfriend. During the dispute, the boyfriend kicked open a door, grabbed the woman by her hair and bit her on the neck. The woman retreated to the bathroom, but the boyfriend forced his way in and used a shard from a candle holder that he broke to slash her right hand. The woman went to the police after the incident, and the boyfriend was arrested for assault.

FORGOTTEN ELECTRONICS
A man lost numerous electronic devices in an elevator on Friday. The 56-year-old was riding up to his apartment on West 72nd Street around 5 p.m. and accidentally left a bag behind. Inside the bag was a Macbook, an iPad, two cameras and binoculars, which combined with other items and the bag itself were worth almost $3,500. The man used Apple’s GPS tracking feature to pinpoint the location of his property at another building down his street, whose doorman revealed that only one resident lived there. Police spoke with the resident, who claims to know nothing about the incident.

NEWSSTAND BREAK-IN
A news vendor returned to his stand on Broadway early in the morning of Monday, Nov. 19, and found that he had been robbed. An unknown perp managed to remove a lock on the front gate and enter the stand. Inside, the crook swiped $6,380 in cash and $2,400 worth of cigarette cartons. The vendor, a Queens resident, reported the robbery to the police, but a suspect has yet to be identified.

KNIFE-POINT ROBBERY
A man was robbed while leaving the subway early in the morning on Tuesday, Nov. 20. The 38-year-old was passing through a turnstile at 72nd Street Station around 5:30 a.m. when a thief grabbed him and threw him against the wall. A second thief appeared with a knife, and the first said, “I should kill you.” The thieves removed the man’s property and forced him to remove his sneakers, which they did not steal, then fled the scene. The man reported the crime to police after he left the station. The two thieves remain at large.

JACKET HEIST
An unknown number of thieves stole jackets from a clothing store on Broadway by smashing one of its windows. The burglary occurred around midnight on Monday, Nov. 19, when the crook(s) used a brick to shatter the store’s side window, then reached into the store and grabbed three Geox down jackets worth $315 each. Cameras were on the scene, but police have yet to identify the criminal(s).

Photo by Gregory Wild-Smith, courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Weapons tend to be frowned upon in church, but last Saturday New Yorkers brought 509 of them into New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Queens. The cops were there waiting for them — with cash.

The church hosted one of N.Y.P.D.’s Gun Buyback events. People show up with a firearm (illegal or legal), hand it in to the cops, and receive a $200 gift card.

Last weekend’s stash included 245 revolvers, 168 semi-automatic pistols, 35 rifles, 26 shotguns, 5 sawed-off shotguns and 2 assault weapons, according to a police press release. “Notable weapons” included an AK 47, a tec-9 and a Calico 9mm with a 50 round magazine.

N.Y.P.D. says that the buyback program has collected over 8,200 weapons since it began, and mentions that guns can be turned in 24/7 to any Police Precinct, Transit District or Housing P.S.A. for a reward.

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

There are some Maserati-loving thieves on the loose in the City, and they’ve gotten totally bold.

(by Alissa Fleck)

This week alone, two Maseratis have been filched from their respective owners, Gothamist reports. One case involved a recent Florida transplant to the City, who was driving his ritzy ride around Times Square at 5 a.m., when two thieves pulled just about the oldest trick in the book.

The man briefly exited his vehicle, keys still in the ignition, when the men approached asking if they could pose for a photo inside, reports the news blog. After he gave his consent, the men got inside and went nuts, fleeing in the swanky station wagon.

Then, last night in Jamaica, Queens, an off-duty corrections officer left a deli only to find himself in a holdup over…you guessed it—his Maserati. The officer handed over the keys to his $130,000 vehicle, and the thieves made off into the night.

The officer alerted cops to the situation, which resulted in a high-speed chase, ultimately ending in the thieves crashing the Maserati. They ditched the ride in an alley, according to Gothamist, and fled on foot, said witnesses. Gothamist reports, and we agree, it’s something straight out of Director Nicolas Refn’s blockbuster hit, Drive, minus Ryan Gosling.

Photo Courtesy of Raymond Normandeau/Normandeau Newswire

Raymond Normandeau, press secretary of the Queensbridge Houses Tenants Council in Queens, was tired of the conditions in the Queensbridge housing project where he has lived since 1973, and decided it was time to engage in a little community activism.

While he may no longer be a member of the Astoria ambulance corps (or small time film actor) as he was in the eighties, Normandeau, who is legally blind, always has several projects on his plate—primarily non-threatening but direct ways of getting the authorities to pay attention to tenants’ plights.

And it’s not the violence at Queensbridge with which Normandeau is most concerned, violence which rappers like Jay-Z—who grew up in Queensbridge—have memorialized in their music.

“I lived here through the crack epidemic,” said Normandeau, “when we heard gunshots once a week.” He added he’s grown accustomed to life in the Queens borough project, as, surely, “even people in Afghanistan grow accustomed.” And, Normandeau points out, security has been better since so many chain hotels have cropped up in the area, some “just a gunshot away.”

“Maybe a tourist got robbed or something,” said Normandeau, of the increased security. “I go online to see their [hotel] room prices.” Many prices are in the $129-$200 range.

No, it’s the day-to-day quality of life with which Normandeau takes issue. One major problem confronting Queensbridge tenants, according to him, is the amount of dog feces which accumulates around the housing project (inside and out). It may sound like a joke—even I had a good laugh when the ever-eloquent Normandeau described the situation—but then I saw the pictures. Frankly, they were beyond disturbing.

Unfortunately it seems the only way to get anything done, is to “raise a stink” (my words). It has to be the right kind of stink though, explains Normandeau, it must come about through the graceful “pressuring and embarrassment” of local officials. He’s already tried, with little success, to get the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)’s attention on Twitter, where he actively follows their feed and peppers them with questions about when various repairs will come through.

Photo Courtesy of Raymond Normandeau/Normandeau Newswire

That’s why Normandeau started the “Queensbridge Landscaping Magazine” (more of a magazine cover, but that’s just a technicality), and in conjunction with the endeavor, Normandeau also organized a contest.

“I asked people to send in photos,” said Normandeau. “The freshest pile, the strangest-looking pile, a pile that had been stepped in a lot.” And piles, he accrued. Thirty-nine of them to be exact, which is how many photos are featured on Normandeau’s website, devoted to the contest (click strictly at your own risk).

Normandeau then took his “Landscaping Magazine” covers, complete with graphic visuals, and began distributing them at community meetings, where local politicians and government officials would convene. This seemed to be exactly the sort of whimsical embarrassment Normandeau describes, the very kick-in-the-pants humiliated officials needed to clean up Queensbridge a bit.

It doesn’t stop at the fecal matter though. Normandeau knows better than anyone it’s not easy navigating a rundown project when you’re technically blind. Obstacles on sidewalks, lights that stay burned out for years…it’s a blind man’s Ironman. That’s why Normandeau released the “Blind Navigating” cover for his “Queensbridge Landscaping Magazine.”

“Blind Tenants Navigate Booby Traps,” the cover headline reads. He handed this one out at meetings too.

Photo Courtesy of Raymond Normandeau/Normandeau Newswire

Normandeau describes the positive aftermath: “‘Blind Navigating’ got [the] sidewalk fixed within days after I handed it out. [The] sidewalk had been like that for over one year.”

Tenants may “feel that NYCHA treats [them] as unwanted,” as Normandeau points out, but as one man, he has finally found a way to be heard through his acts of vigilanteism.

Normandeau also operates the Queensbridge website, which takes, among other things, event submissions: “Having an Event? Community meeting? Open house for Apartment sublet? Art show? Performance? Gun fight?”

The website leaves no wrong untouched, also decrying NYPD and NYCHA’s laissez-faire policies: “Smoking knapsack at a sensitive location? Take photos, run to safety. The NYPD may not be interested, but we are!”

Queensbridge Houses website (courtesy of Normandeau)

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

There has undeniably been a spate of gun violence in New York City as of late. Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilmembers Fernando Cabrera and Jumaane Williams have announced their decision to launch the CeaseFire program, with the aim to reduce city gun violence.

The CeaseFire program is a  “public health model designed to reduce and prevent incidents of violence across the City.” It was designed in cooperation with the City’s Task Force to Combat Gun Violence, created last fall. The Force intends to release its full report soon.

Quinn called CeaseFire “an innovative approach to preventing gun violence that draws on the strength of our communities, and focuses on both rapid responses and early prevention.”

“We believe this initiative will complement the work of the NYPD and help save lives,” she said.

The program was developed from a model of “violence interruption and personal engagement,” and has been in the works for the past year, while the Force analyzed various safety and prevention approaches and practices. CeaseFire employs a model of immediate response, based on fostering relationships in the community and avoiding retaliation. Essentially it involves implementing a system wherein outreach counselors arrive immediately on scene in the wake of gun violence and try to build and nurture community bonds through peaceful means and dialogue.

Councilmember Williams said: “Our reward will hopefully be the sons and daughters of this city who we see walking our safer streets, rather than lying on them.” He acknowledged nonetheless the City still has a long way to go toward this ideal of safety.

The program will be implemented, with Council funding, in two neighborhoods determined most in need—the South Bronx and South Jamaica, Queens. A pilot program will also be implemented at Richmond University Medical Center to analyze a hospital-based approach.

“Our work in Crown Heights has demonstrated the positive impact that broad-based community-based collaboration can have in fighting the scourge of gun violence,” said Alfred Siegel, deputy director of the Center for Court Innovation.

The City’s Department of Health will fund two other programs in Harlem and East New York in conjunction with the City Council’s project.

—Alissa Fleck

Goodbye “iron triangle,” hello Wal-Mart?

The big-box chain has been working to establish its first New York City branch in Brooklyn’s Gateway II for over a year, and now the Daily News reports that Wal-Mart might also be looking to set up shop at Willets Point, the industrial neighborhood across from Citi Field in Queens.

The Daily News cited two unnamed elected officials who claimed that the company is lobbying behind the scenes for a spot in Willets West, an enclosed retail and entertainment complex planned for the blighted section of town as part of a larger scale urban renewal project.

“They were looking at Willets Point as a possibility for a new site in New York,” said one elected official. The other confirmed that the Wal-Mart had been courting support.

Wal-Mart itself has kept silent about any prospective plans, and a spokesperson for the Willet West’s co-developers, Related Companies and Sterling Equities, told the Daily News that they do not “anticipate” housing any large-scale stores in the complex. The New York City Economic Development Corporation also tweeted at Fox News that the report is “absolutely without merit.”

Most politicians are opposed to the idea of bringing the enormous chain — and its highly scrutinized labor practices — to the city, said the Daily News.

But Wal-Mart spokesperson Steve Restivo argued that Wal-Mart “can be part of the solution for folks who want a job or need more affordable grocery options close to where they live or work.” He refused to comment on the prospective Queens branch, and told the Daily News, “We don’t have any announced projects in the city, but continue to evaluate opportunities all across the five boroughs.”

Via Wiki Commons

by Adel Manoukian

A kidnapped man was found inside a police detective’s garage in Queens this past Saturday.

The victim was found after police traced a $75,000 ransom demand phone call to the Springfield Gardens home of 17-year NYPD veteran and member of a Brooklyn gang investigation unit, Ondre Johnson.

There is not enough evidence to arrest Johnson, who denies use of the detached garage and any part of the kidnapping but his badge and two guns have been taken away.

During questioning, Johnson claimed that he lives in one apartment of the two-story home while his cousin lives in the other. Property records reveal that Johnson has owned the house since October 2009, according to DNA info.

Police also found a safe in the alleged cousin’s apartment that contained equipment like printing presses and blank plastic cards needed to make fake credit cards.

The 30-year-old cousin, Hakeem Clark, was arrested that Saturday and charged in the kidnapping. Three other men suspected of helping Clark, Jason Hutson, James Gayle and Alfredo Haughton, were also taken into custody but no charges have yet been filed against them.

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Two are dead and six were wounded in shootings in the Bronx and Queens this past Sunday. These primarily drug-related shootings follow a long streak of summer violence, including a 3-year-old being struck with a stray bullet.

The weekend following the Fourth of July saw seven deaths and 21 injuries from shootings and stabbing violence, reports Gothamist. Seventeen people were shot on the Fourth of July holiday. Between July 2 and July 8, a total of 77 were shot in the City.

Mayor Bloomberg said the Fourth of July traditionally sees a large number of shootings in the City, but this year is particularly out of control. Joe Coscarelli at New York Magazine called the recent shootings “at best a statistical anomaly and at worst a disturbing new trend.”

The Magazine reports the numbers have jumped from last year: “There have been 12 percent more shootings on the year so far, and murders are up to 21 from 18 at this point in 2011 — a jump of almost 17 percent.”

On the issue of whether there is a correlation between heat waves and shooting spikes, a police source recently told the New York Post: “Warm weather means shorter tempers, and the people know that police are doing less stop-and-frisks, so more people carry guns.”

It’s the perfect storm this steamy summer—cops do blame hotter temperatures for the rise in violence, though they also point to recent scrutiny aimed at stop-and-frisk procedures.

Until the recent heat wave, the murder rate was “on pace to be the lowest in years,” reported Business Insider.

—Alissa Fleck

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