Monday, May 6, 2013
Wakefield News: Searching for Answers
Wakefield News: Searching for Answers: Fire Destroys Shops, Injures 10 in Wakefield (Photos by David Greene) By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- Investig...
Searching for Answers
Fire Destroys Shops, Injures 10 in Wakefield
(Photos by David Greene)
By David Greene
BRONX, NEW YORK, May 6- Investigators continue to sift through the ashes from a devastating fire that wiped-out an entire city block, leaving a row of stores and an apartment building in ash and rubble.
Officials say at least 11 shops were destroyed in the fire that broke out at just after 6 a.m. on May 2. The fire was officially under control by 9 a.m., but firefighters would battle pockets of fire that would flare up, for most of the day.
Destroyed was a cell phone and check cashing store, a deli, a laundromat and a mosque.
Fire officials say the 5-alarm fire started in a garage on E. 225 Street and quickly spread to the shops. The bustling White Plains Road and the overhead subway were shut as the billowing black smoke could be seen for miles on a clear spring day.
Officials say 200 firefighters battled the blaze, leaving 11 with minor injuries. An 11-year old girl was also treated for smoke inhalation.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Wakefield News: Wakefield Fire
Wakefield News: Wakefield Fire: Wakefield War Zone Fire Rips Through Businesses Could Lax Rules and Wooden Structures Been the Cause of Blaze? By Dan Gesslei...
Wakefield Fire
Wakefield War Zone
Fire Rips Through Businesses
Could Lax Rules and Wooden Structures Been the Cause of Blaze?
By Dan Gesslein
BRONX, NEW YORK, May 2- As the embers from an early morning Wakefield fire continue to smolder, merchants and residents are trying to piece together how it happened and how to rebuild.
“It looks like a war zone,” said Rev. Richard Gorman, Chairman of Community Board 12 of the damage along White Plains Road.
Seven stores and apartment buildings as well as a mosque have been gutted by the fire that tore through the wooden structures of East 225th Street. Some 25 to 30 have been displaced by the blaze.
A meeting for merchants affected by the fire will be held at 8 a.m. tomorrow at Community Board 12.
The landlord is helping to relocate his tenants who have been displaced. In the coming days Gorman said civic leaders will work to keep the merchants in the community and help them rebuild their businesses.
“It’s going to have a huge impact. It wiped out a whole of stores,” said Councilman Andy King.
Seven businesses have been impacted including a mosque, a deli, laundromat, salon and check cashing. Fire officials are still assessing the neighboring apartment building to see if residents can return.
King, who sits on the small business committee of the NY City Council, said his office has been reaching out to other businesses in the community who can lend a hand. One of the businesses gutted by the fire is a salon. King’s office has arranged for a nearby salon to have the beauticians work out of there.
They are also working on finding space for merchants to reopen their stores. One thing King stressed was that the displaced merchants will pay market rate rents.
“We’re not going to take advantage of these merchants.”
King has already worked out a plan in which members of the mosque can have services in another house of worship in the community.
The fast moving fire started in a private garage behind the White Plains Road stores. It is unclear if the fire was a result of someone performing car repairs but Gorman said such sights are common in the area. Residents frequently work on cars, sometimes as a business and others as personal repair on the street and in the residential garages in the area.
“This points to a problem of people working on cars out of their own garage,” Gorman said.
News columnist Mary Lauro has frequently documented the problem of illegally converted apartments and people performing tasks in a residential area that they should not be. The fear that in a community of connected wooden buildings a fire could cause serious damage.
Gorman pointed to an example of a man cooking jerk chicken on an open flame out of the back of a truck. This makeshift food truck posed a potential fire risk since the flames would rise out of the back of the truck near other cars on the street.
“You can’t do that here. People are living closer together and there are things like gas and power lines to worry about,” Gorman said. “The rules are not here to harm but to protect people.”
Gorman said the administration should take notice of how fast the wood framed stores went up in flames. Ladder 39 was two blocks away from the fire and yet the row of stores still were gutted.
The FDNY moved Ladder 39 out of Woodlawn and up the road from the community of wood-framed houses as a cost saving measure. Gorman fears a fire would be able to spread throughout Woodlawn by the time firefighters arrive.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Wakefield News: College is not for everyone
Wakefield News: College is not for everyone: Wakefield Area News By Mary V Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, April 18- Some of the most profound medical and physical discoveries were made...
College is not for everyone
Wakefield Area News
By Mary V Lauro
BRONX, NEW YORK, April 18- Some of the most profound medical and physical discoveries were made during a time when college was not for everyone and yet, no one worried about it. Nowadays, it seems everyone worries about it. Why that is so, is anyone's guess.
First there is the question of money. Colleges cost so much that upon reflection they force couples to choose between having children and sending them to college. The Bachelor of Arts is expensive. The higher degrees are more so. There are no refunds. Children who decide to drop out still have a huge debt which manages to curtail not only their lives, but that of their families and children.
To the normal fertile brain, college study work is not difficult. But, as with other parts of the body, the rate of its development in every person is not the same. A young person may enter college thinking he would like to spend his life as a math teacher only to find it is too difficult for him or it does not interest him at all. A young woman may want to be a doctor but drops out of Pre-med when she realizes she is far more fascinated by History. Why are we spending so much money on what's called higher, education, when truth be told we are not doing so well on primary education?
Fifty years ago it was believed best to go to work immediately after graduating from High School. Working, it was believed matured the mind and taught the individual that life was not all fun and games. Today, it is the opposite. One is rushed or rushes into college as soon as possible. Whatever for? Does reading more books make one more intelligent?
If that were the case today's elementary school children would be a lot smarter than they were 20 years ago, but that is not the case. Tests seem to indicate the opposite. The blame is placed on the teachers who are accused of caring more for their jobs and wages than the success of their teaching arts.
This is not meant to be another diatribe against the teachers union. Far from it. It is meant to stem the indebtedness thrust on our young by the enormous cost of “higher” education. There are so many ways to earn a living without having to pay for learning it. Many of these are honorable jobs. Unfortunately however, in today's world, they don't earn million or billions, but they do earn sufficient wages to live a good life.
There would be no social order if there were no civil order. So, we may come to understand that a job in Sanitation may be more life serving than one in legal matters. Policing may be more lifesaving than teaching. And how about all those other wonderful jobs too numerous to mention, but all so necessary masonry, painting, plumbing, cooking, driving, cleaning, sewing, etc.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Drug crew charged with murders
Crack Crew Members Charged with Murders
BRONX, NEW YORK, April 12-Additional charges against 12 alleged members of drug trafficking crews based in the vicinity of Allerton Avenue Co-ops and the Parkside Houses in the Bronx.
Eleven of the 12 defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and possessing, brandishing, and discharging firearms in connection with and in furtherance of the charged crack cocaine conspiracy. In connection with the crack cocaine conspiracy, ARMANI CUMMINGS is charged with the January 2010 murder of Lequan Jones and the June 2010 murder of Carl Copeland, both of whom were shot in the Bronx. BRYAN RHODES is also charged with Copeland’s murder. JOSE MUNOZ is charged with the December 2011 murder of Shameek Young, who was shot in the Bronx. In addition, JESSIE MCCOLLUM is charged with a non-fatal, drug-related shooting in the Bronx on that same day. MUNOZ is also charged with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, participation in a Hobbs Act robbery, and his use of a firearm in connection with and in furtherance of it.
Nine of the defendants are already in custody in connection with charges contained in previous indictments related to this prosecution, which led to the arrests of 63 individuals and was the result of a coordinated operation involving federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. Two of the defendants were released on bail following their arrests in December 2011. One of the defendants remains at large. The defendants will be arraigned today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on the charges in the Superseding Indictment at 2:00 p.m.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The charges in this indictment once again put the nexus between drugs, guns, and fatal violence into stark relief. Through patient and painstaking work, the investigators and prosecutors targeted violent drug operations, charged drug crimes at first, and eventually were able to charge drug-related murders, shootings, and other violent crimes which might have gone otherwise unaddressed. The law enforcement drumbeat will continue until we clean up the streets of our communities once and for all.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos said: “The link between drug trafficking and gun violence could not be better illustrated than with this investigation. The defendants, initially charged with narcotics offenses, now stand charged with crimes of violence, including three fatal shootings. Policing drug trafficking reduces the threat of gun violence. That is the reason the FBI and the NYPD work these cases.”
NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said: “The charges announced today make clear the nexus between illicit drugs and violence, including murder, as well as the risk faced by police officers who work undercover to provide a modicum of safety to law abiding residents of public housing. I commend the NYPD detectives and the prosecutors in U.S. Attorney’s office for their thorough investigation.”
As alleged in the superseding indictment returned Wednesday and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court:
From 2006 through February 20, 2013, undercover officers with the NYPD made hundreds of purchases of crack cocaine from drug dealers in the Allerton Avenue Co-ops and Parkside Houses. During the buys, officers were able to purchase significant street level quantities of crack. In addition, members of the drug trafficking organization used firearms, threats of violence, and violence to secure and enforce their drug territory. This included the 2010 murder of Lequan Jones, the 2010 murder of Carl Copeland, and the 2011 murder of Shameek Young, all of which occurred in the Bronx. During the incident involving the fatal shooting of Young, an innocent bystander was shot and critically wounded.
A chart containing the ages, residency information, and charges against the defendants, as well as the maximum penalties they face is below.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the NYPD. He added that the investigation is continuining.
The prosecution of this case is being overseen by the Office’s Violent Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy D. Sini and Hadassa Waxman are in charge of the prosecution.
BRONX, NEW YORK, April 12-Additional charges against 12 alleged members of drug trafficking crews based in the vicinity of Allerton Avenue Co-ops and the Parkside Houses in the Bronx.
Eleven of the 12 defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and possessing, brandishing, and discharging firearms in connection with and in furtherance of the charged crack cocaine conspiracy. In connection with the crack cocaine conspiracy, ARMANI CUMMINGS is charged with the January 2010 murder of Lequan Jones and the June 2010 murder of Carl Copeland, both of whom were shot in the Bronx. BRYAN RHODES is also charged with Copeland’s murder. JOSE MUNOZ is charged with the December 2011 murder of Shameek Young, who was shot in the Bronx. In addition, JESSIE MCCOLLUM is charged with a non-fatal, drug-related shooting in the Bronx on that same day. MUNOZ is also charged with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, participation in a Hobbs Act robbery, and his use of a firearm in connection with and in furtherance of it.
Nine of the defendants are already in custody in connection with charges contained in previous indictments related to this prosecution, which led to the arrests of 63 individuals and was the result of a coordinated operation involving federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. Two of the defendants were released on bail following their arrests in December 2011. One of the defendants remains at large. The defendants will be arraigned today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on the charges in the Superseding Indictment at 2:00 p.m.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The charges in this indictment once again put the nexus between drugs, guns, and fatal violence into stark relief. Through patient and painstaking work, the investigators and prosecutors targeted violent drug operations, charged drug crimes at first, and eventually were able to charge drug-related murders, shootings, and other violent crimes which might have gone otherwise unaddressed. The law enforcement drumbeat will continue until we clean up the streets of our communities once and for all.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos said: “The link between drug trafficking and gun violence could not be better illustrated than with this investigation. The defendants, initially charged with narcotics offenses, now stand charged with crimes of violence, including three fatal shootings. Policing drug trafficking reduces the threat of gun violence. That is the reason the FBI and the NYPD work these cases.”
NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said: “The charges announced today make clear the nexus between illicit drugs and violence, including murder, as well as the risk faced by police officers who work undercover to provide a modicum of safety to law abiding residents of public housing. I commend the NYPD detectives and the prosecutors in U.S. Attorney’s office for their thorough investigation.”
As alleged in the superseding indictment returned Wednesday and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court:
From 2006 through February 20, 2013, undercover officers with the NYPD made hundreds of purchases of crack cocaine from drug dealers in the Allerton Avenue Co-ops and Parkside Houses. During the buys, officers were able to purchase significant street level quantities of crack. In addition, members of the drug trafficking organization used firearms, threats of violence, and violence to secure and enforce their drug territory. This included the 2010 murder of Lequan Jones, the 2010 murder of Carl Copeland, and the 2011 murder of Shameek Young, all of which occurred in the Bronx. During the incident involving the fatal shooting of Young, an innocent bystander was shot and critically wounded.
A chart containing the ages, residency information, and charges against the defendants, as well as the maximum penalties they face is below.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the NYPD. He added that the investigation is continuining.
The prosecution of this case is being overseen by the Office’s Violent Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy D. Sini and Hadassa Waxman are in charge of the prosecution.
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