Cops Hunt Arsonists

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 8- Police are asking for the public’s help in trying to catch a gang of arsonists.

Cops released surveillance video of one of five suspects wanted in connection with an arson at a construction site. Investigators say that at around 8:52 p.m. on August 5, the group entered the rear of 3701 Jerome Avenue and set fire to a hut on the construction site. 

Anyone with information is urged to call CRIMESTOPPERS at (800) 577-TIPS. he public can also submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers' website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

Bird Brained Subway ‘Gunman’

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 8- Police nabbed a real bird brain near the Westchester Square Station when a suspect tried to sneak on the subway with a “gun.”

At around 4:30 p.m. on August 7, police were conducting bag screenings at the Westschester Square Subway Station on the Number 6 line. Officers observed a man with appeared to be a handgun in his front pocket.

Sergeant Reinaldo Colon and Police Officer Rafael Baez followed the suspect out of the station and stopped him on the corner East Tremont and Westchester Square. Cops found the suspect to be in possession of a BB gun, which looked very much like a 9mm handgun. 

Police arrested 25-year-old Alexis Santillan of Pelham Bay and charged him with criminal possession of a weapon.

Wakefield News: Alice in Wonderland

Wakefield News: Alice in Wonderland: Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, August 8 - In a recent editorial, the Daily News suggested that all Member Items be ...

Alice in Wonderland

Wakefield Area News

By Mary V. Lauro

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 8- In a recent editorial, the Daily News suggested that all Member Items be eliminated. We tend to agree. In many cases they are a waste of our money. They are sometimes used, as reported in the case of Councilman Larry Seabrook, to fatten the politician's wallet or reward his friends and relatives or, as is often the case, to buy the good will of a community in order to garner its votes at election time. It is only rarely that a politician will act without self-interest. When he does, he becomes a statesman.

What is a member item? It is an amount of money which an assemblyman, senator or councilperson is able to include in that year's budget for use by a favored group. The favored group must apply and frequently has to jump through hoops before the grant is appropriated. Thus the Bronx Business Alliance (BBA) under the leadership of Margaret Arrighi (CEO) and Kathy Zamachanski (consultant) received beaucoup funds from Albany and the City Council.

As we already reported, in previous columns, Arrighi had contempt for any interference in her alleged schemes. When she decided, and stated in a letter, that the best thing that could happen to White Plains Road was the construction of a 70-unit supportive housing for HIV/AIDs patients on White Plains Road opposite the Food Town Supermarket, it was time to look at corporation papers and By-laws. We found the By-laws were a pastiche of some old merchants association By-laws and the opening clauses of By-laws of the very people who were going to build that 70-unit HIV/AIDs housing! How enormously strange, would you not say?

One of the opening clauses of the By-laws said the corporation had no members which is at it should be, but in later clauses it speaks of members. Indeed, it states that the members of the Board of Directors are chosen on a yearly basis by the members of the organization at the January meeting! Plainly, this whole operation was illicit, yet it was receiving thousands of dollars from various government sources.

John Bonizio and this writer tried to rewrite those By-laws for which consent of the existing BoD was needed. Because Arrighi insisted on retaining Board members who never appeared at meetings, it was not possible to legalize the operation. John Bonizio, a very able and trustworthy person resigned in a year's time.

At this point, I inherited the position of President of the BoD of an illicit operation. Since Senator Klein was one of the main sources of funding for the BBA, I turned to him for assistance in legalizing the operation. Unfortunately, I had to deal with his assistant, John Doyle who, at first saw nothing wrong with the By-Laws which he had obviously not read. When sent to him again at a later date, he insisted that Senator Klein's office did not deal with internal affairs of organization as if Klein's funding a member item of $200,000 was not dealing with internal affairs. Furthermore, at this time, which was during the Woodlawn fracas, Doyle had requested and received a copy of the Woodlawn By-laws which he said was to assist them in becoming a 501C3 organization. He did not consider that as interfering with internal affairs. Did he not know that corporation papers, not By-laws, determine 501C3 eligibility? The point here is that if proper attention had been given, BBA might still exist.

I resigned one day before Arrighi. The BBA is no more. But, I cannot end without pointing out that Arrighi suffered greatly when Governor Patterson froze all member items in the 2009 budget. Arrighi went without pay for two and half years. Her house went into foreclosure. And her health deteriorated.

Yanks Rub Out Mariners

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 6- The Yankees captured the rubber game of the weekend series over Seattle with a 6-2 win on Sunday afternoon. It was the eighth time in the last 10 occasions that the Yankees successfully rebounded from a shutout loss with a victory.

Unlike the previous day’s contest, the game on Sunday hardly featured a pitching masterpiece. Both starters pitched five innings. Mariners’ starter Hisashi Iwamura gave up four runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batsman. The Yankees scored a single run in four of his five innings on the mound.

The run in the fifth was scored on a solo home run by Raúl Ibañez, the homer was his 14^th of 2012 and the major league leading 168^th for the Yanks. The team is currently on pace to shatter its single season mark of 244, set in 2009.

In the following frame, Ibañez came to bat with two out and the bases loaded. The veteran drove in two runners with a single.

In addition to Ibañez, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Chris Stewart each twice hit successfully.

Jeter raised his career hit total to 3,228, 24 hits below Napoleon Lajoie. He scored his 1,830^th run in the first, which tied him with Frank Robinson for 14^th place.

Cano has hit safely in 33 of his last 27 games. He and Jeter began the game with identical team leading batting averages of 

.313.

Suzuki’s double in the seventh raised his consecutive game hitting streak to 12. He also tied Don Slaught for the longest hitting streak at the start of a Yankee career. It also is the longest Yankees hitting streak in which a player had exactly one hit in each game.

Freddy Garcia pitched the requisite five innings to qualify for the win. The victory ended his three-game losing streak. The 35-year-old hurler recorded his 150^th career win, a high for pitchers born in Venezuela. Garcia ranks 12^th in wins for all pitchers who were born in Latin America. 

Of the accomplishment, Joe Girardi remarked, “It just goes to show how consistent he’s been.”

Garcia gave up five hits and two runs I his five frames. Girardi was quite pleased, “Freddy’s going to give you everything he’s got every time he goes out. That’s just what Freddy does. He keeps us in every game.”

The bullpen easily carried the remaining four innings, allowing only one baserunner in four innings.

The Yanks now embark on a seven game road trip, four games in Detroit and then three in Toronto. Girardi looked forward with hope, “We won a series leaving. Hopefully, this will get us on a good streak.”

Supreme Yankee Fan

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor Roots for her Favorite Team at Yankee Stadium

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 5- A very large mid-week matinee crowd of 44,593 were at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday and saw a one-sided 11-3 Yankee victory over the Baltimore Orioles. One of the dedicated Yankees aficionados in the ballpark was Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The distinguished jurist returned to her place of birth to witness an event she loves, a Yankees game. The Bronx native of Puerto Rican ancestry has been a baseball, specifically New York Yankees, fan since her childhood. Her father, Juan, hails from Santurce and her mother, Celina, is from Lajas, in Southeast Puerto Rico. The youngster lived in the Bronxdale Houses in Soundview and later in Co-op City as a youngster. She attended Cardinal Spellman High School in the borough and later graduated with honors from Princeton University, the NYU School of Law and Columbia University Law School.

Interestingly, in a time of bitter partisanship between the major political parties in the United States, Sotomayor’s credentials led to her being appointed to the bench by presidents from both parties. She was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by George H. W. Bush in 1991. Six years later, Bill Clinton selected her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She reached the height of her profession in 2009 when Barack Obama nominated her to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Her visit on Wednesday was neither her first time in the current Yankee Stadium nor her first time at a Yankees game. Sotomayor threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a Yankees game on September 26, 2009 and she spoke humbly and emotionally as the graduation speaker at the NYU Commencement in May of 2012. On Wednesday, her presence was not political nor to gain attention. She wanted to watch and root for her favorite sports team.

In an informal meeting with reporters during the game, she stated, “Having sat in the old stadium bleachers anonymously, there is quite a chord that gets touched when you come back on a day like today and people are screaming out ‘Justice’ or ‘Sonia’ and it brings a little bit of a tear to my eye.”

Of her feeling at being in Yankee Stadium, she emotionally stated, “The spirit of the Yankees is still in the house. It’s very moving to me and important to me that the comfort they gave me most of my life-watching [them] win-continues.”

Before the game began, she joined the “bleacher creatures” in the roll call of the Yankees starters. Of the group of fans she sat with, she remarked, “I pay homage to the bleacher creatures; they are the greatest fans…To sit in sweltering heat when the sun is blazing, to sit out there in the rain, to sit out there on days when we’re losing and not to take it out on the players takes heart…I felt proud to be out there with them”

When asked why she came to the game, she replied, “I went to watch the Yankees play the [Washington] Nationals in Washington, DC and they won and [Media Relations Director] Jason [Zilo] asked me to come and sit in the bleachers.”

She spoke of her greatest Yankee memory, “The Bucky Dent home run against Boston. I was in law school and made a bet with my best friends.”

Asked if she was the only Yankees fan on the Supreme Court, she responded, “Justice [Anton] Scalia is fond of reminding me that he was the first Yankees fan on the Court…I keep telling him the only difference is that I was born in the Bronx and he wasn’t.’” Although the two justices are divided on judicial principles and philosophy, the two are united in support of the Yankees.

Her tribute to the fans of her favorite club is as follows, “We have the best fans in the world; they are so knowledgeable.” 

In 1995, a Sotomayor ruling had a very important impact upon the sport of baseball. The baseball strike of 232 days ended after she issued an injunction that prohibited MLB from unilaterally implementing a new collective bargaining agreement using replacement players.

She still remains loyal to the sport of baseball, to her favorite team, the Yankees, and to her birthplace, the Bronx.

National Night Out

WAKEFIELD AREA NEWS

By Bill Ludwig

BRONX, NEW YORK, July 31- The 29th annual National Night Out (NNO) against crime will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 7th.

The 47th precinct will be holding NNO activities from 5-8 p.m. at Grenada Place between Ely Avenue and Laconia Avenue, across the street from the 47^th precinct.

This year's theme is “Respect Your Neighbors - Think Quality of Life!” The opening ceremony will be at 6 p.m. The event is being co-sponsored by the 47^th Precinct and the 47^th Precinct Community Council. Deputy Inspector Paul DeEntremont and Community Affairs Officers David Belle and Gary Bucknell and the 47^th Precinct Community Council have planned an enjoyable afternoon and evening for children and adults.

Our elected representatives have been invited. There will be representatives at tables from New York City agencies, and other organizations who will be giving out valuable free information. Refreshments will be served.

For children's activities there will be rides and games. There will also be entertainment for the community to enjoy. The slogans this year are: Say No To Drugs, Help Unite Our Community, No All Night Parties, Talk to Your Neighbors, Love Your Block, Do Not Block Your Neighbors Driveways, No Loud Music, and A Quiet Neighborhood is a Good Neighborhood.

Bring the family out, learn about crime prevention, and have fun at the same time.

So, what exactly is NNO? It is a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW). The NATW is a nationwide organization dedicated to the development, maintenance, and promotion of community-based, law enforcement- affiliated crime prevention activities.

NNO is designed to: (1) Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; (2) Generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs; (3) Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and (4) Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

Along with the traditional display of outdoor lights and front porch vigils, cities, towns and neighborhoods "celebrate" NNO with a variety of events and activities such as: block parties, cookouts, visits from local police, parades, flashlight walks, contests, and youth programs. An event doesn't have to be big or elaborate. It can be as simple as having a conversation in a neighbor's yard.

The important thing is to talk to your neighbors and plan to get together. NNO has proven to be an effective, inexpensive and enjoyable program to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships in our fight for a safer nation. More than 37 million people are expected to participate in various anti-crime programs and activities this year.

Remember, the key to participating in NNO is: turn your outside lights on, come outside to meet your neighbors, and participate in your neighborhood's special events. This way you can be a part of the nation's largest annual crime/drug prevention event on Tuesday evening, August 7th.