Friday, September 28, 2012

Bronx Clergy Teaming Up with Joel Olstein to Feed the Children

By Michael Horowitz
BRONX, NEW YORK, September 28- The Bronx Clergy Task Force, spearheaded by Bishop Angelo Rosario, is teaming up with Rev. Joel Olstein, one of the nation's most widely known ministers, to support the nationwide Feed the Children initiative.
Ray Fraticelli, a chaplain who has been working with Bishop Rosario at the Church of God's Children, said the Clergy Task Force has, in recent months, been responsible for the delivery of much-needed food to impoverished families in the west Bronx and the delivery of food and toiletries to the Town and Country Shelter for Battered Women.
“One of the Clergy Task Force's main goals is to assure that children don't go to bed hungry,” Fraticelli stressed. “I get a tremendous sense of personal satisfaction by knowing that I am doing God's work.”
In recent months, the Bronx Clergy Coalition held a coat drive in which thousands of Bronxites received much-needed clothing during the winter months.
“We have pictures of people going into the coat drive with clothing that was barely in one piece and leaving with ski jackets and other winter coats to keep them warm,” Fraticelli stressed. We are not about glorifying ourselves; we're about meeting the real needs of real people.”
Bishop Rosario, for his part, pointed with pride to the fact that the Bronx Clergy Task Force played a key role in preventing the illegal eviction of the Futa Islamic Center from its mosque at Third Avenue and 166th Street.
Fraticelli said that he will be outside of the Einstein Loop Community Center from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday as part of the city-wide Pray New York initiative.
“We will be there to offer comfort to those who need it,” Fraticelli said. “We will be there to try to address the spiritual and physical needs of those who seek us out.”
Fraticelli noted that the Bronx Clergy Task Force has an ongoing coat-collection effort. Coats are kept at the Church of God's Children in the lower level of the Dreiser Loop Shopping Center.
In recent weeks, the Dress Barn store in Pelham Manor has donated coats to the Bronx Clergy Task Force for future coat drives and for the task force's upcoming Dress for Success initiative among those seeking employment or those seeking better jobs.
To donate coats or to assist the Clergy Task Force in other ways, call (718) 790-9120.
Costumes
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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Stop laptop thieves by marking your items

NYPD Community Affairs Bureau 
Crime Prevention Section 
Weekly Crime Prevention Tip
Mark it . . Register it . . Keep it!
BRONX, NEW YORK, September 27- Almost 1/3 of all laptop thefts occur during the course of a burglary. Once a thief is in your home, small portable electronic items are easily removed and often easily sold. Would you buy a second-hand laptop if it had an NYPD ID number engraved on it?  
Engraving items makes it harder for criminals to dispose of valuables through dark-market channels, and may even deter theft. It can also help reunite you with your lost property.
The NYPD offers a free program – “Operation ID” - whereby a unique serial number is engraved on all portable valuable electronics and the owner’s information is registered with the Police Department. This program can be implemented by contacting your local Precinct's Crime Prevention Officer, or the Community Affairs Bureau direct at 646-610-5323
For more information on all of the programs we offer, or for additional crime prevention tips, please visit our website – www.nypdcommunityaffairs.org
261270_Halloween Costumes
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Little Leaguers Win Boro President’s Cup

BRONX, NEW YORK, September 26- Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the New York Yankees co-hosted the second annual “Borough President’s Cup” Little League Championship. The game featured a match-up between the Little League Raiders and the Bronx Bombers Little League, who competed for the title in a game at Yankee Stadium. The Little League Raiders won the game, for the second time, defeating the Bronx Bombers Little League 6-1. 
To compete for the “Borough President’s Cup,” players for each Little League had to meet a set of requirements unrelated to their performance on the field. Those included a B-average in school, 90 percent or greater school attendance and a demonstrated commitment to community service.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

FIGHTING DIRTY!



Splash Mob Beats Laundromat Clerk












By Dan Gesslein

BRONX, NEW YORK, September 19- A group of thugs beat and robbed a laundromat clerk in Wakefield and all of it was caught on tape.

Police released the video that showed the clerk trying to fight off a male robber while two women took turns beating the worker with a pole. While the beat down was going on, a fourth accomplice made off with the cash register. 

At around 10:40 p.m. on September 16, the group entered the Clean Laundryland Laundromat on White Plains Road and attacked the clerk. As the male robber and the clerk struggled, the two women are seen hitting him with a pole.

The main attacker is described as a black male who was seen wearing a blue-hooded sweatshirt, black pants with white stripes and sneakers. The second suspect is a black woman seen wearing a long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and yellow baseball cap. The other woman was wearing a white tank top and blue denim shorts. The fourth suspect, who made off with the cash register, is a black male who was seen wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, black pants and sneakers.

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 kept strictly confidential.


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Friday, September 14, 2012

Conviction in 27-year-old Cold Case




BRONX, NEW YORK, September 12- Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that a 47-year-old deaf Pennsylvania man has been convicted of manslaughter in the stabbing death of a 21-year-old Bronx man in the Summer of 1985.

Gabriel Thompson, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, pled guilty to one count of manslaughter in the first degree before State Supreme Court Justice Margaret Clancy. The judge set sentencing for Thursday, September 27, 2012 in Part H79. Under the plea agreement, Thompson is to receive a term of four to 12 years imprisonment.

Thompson admitted that on August 31, 1985, he stabbed Miguel Lopez once in the chest causing his death during an altercation on the sidewalk in front of an apartment building at 1013 East 180th Street. According to Thompson’s statement to investigators, he believed that Lopez was romantically involved with Thompson’s girlfriend prior to the attack.

The homicide remained unsolved until September 2010 when Thompson was arrested by Retired Detective Anthony Padilla, then assigned to the NYPD Cold Case Squad. NYPD re-opened the investigation in 2006 after receiving a tip from a witness. During the course of his investigation, Det. Padilla re-interviewed several witnesses, including one who said that he failed to identify Thompson in 1985, because he had been threatened. Ultimately, investigators were led to Thompson who had moved out of state to Pennsylvania. When Thompson returned to the Bronx for an extended visit in 2010 he was interviewed by detectives and admitted that he stabbed Lopez.



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Cougar Gate Claims Naomi!



Challenger Beats Rivera

Tracy Towers Decided the 80th A.D. Race

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK, September 15- It was not until after 12:30 a.m. that the 80th A.D. race was over, and Mark Gjonaj declared the winner, besting incumbent Naomi Rivera and damaging the Rivera political dynasty.

In early returns challenger Mark Gjonaj was ahead by almost 20 points, and by 10 p.m. incumbent Naomi Rivera was already on television thanking those who had worked on her campaign. A rousing roar came from the large crowd that had gathered at the Gjonaj party thinking it was a concession speech, but it was going to be a long night. As more results came in the lead narrowed, and the 20-point lead shrunk to a single digit lead at one point.

The same problem that occurred in the June congressional election happened in this election as voters found that their name did not appear in the registration books. Others found out that their Election District had changed, and that they were at the wrong table while some found that their poll site had changed. I was at one poll site where a woman claimed she voted for many years at this poll site, but her name was not in the book. She even went as far to say that her sister's name (who lives at the same address) was in the book pointing to it.
It was because of situations like that where there was a question of a voter’s status that the voter is then given an “Affidavit Ballot” to fill out which did not get scanned, but was put into an envelope at each desk to be verified by the Board of Elections at a later date after the election. There had to be about 200 of these type of ballots used during the day so any victory by either candidate would have to be even greater than the number of Affidavit ballots. Each side would claim that they had the majority of such ballots in question, and or would question the registration of the person who filled out the ballot. That is what happened in a very close special election for a Brooklyn State Senate seat which took the Board of Elections (and courts) months to decide a winner.

So any win in the 80th A.D. had to be greater than the amount of any outstanding ballots or it could take weeks to get a winner. At 11 p.m. Mark Gjonaj's lead was down to about 150 votes that was not large enough to declare victory yet. People were wondering why it was taking so long to get the full results in, and where was the Tracy Towers’ vote that was thought Gjonaj had won big. Tracy Towers residents had a big problem on their hands with a huge rent increase looming, and when it was said that Naomi Rivera could not help. Mark Gjonaj hired a lawyer to help the tenants stop the rent increase.

By 11:30 p.m. the Gjonaj lead started to grow again not to a safe margin of victory yet, but one could tell it would be a Gjonaj victory. A short time after midnight his lead had grown to over 500 votes (52 - 41 percent) clearly enough to declare victory as 99 percent of the vote was in. It was said that the Tracy Towers poll site (which has been historically late in getting in results) had just come in, and provided the winning margin of victory. Mark then arrived, congratulated everyone in the room, thanked everyone who was a part of his winning campaign, gave a brief speech, and then went around the room to shake everyone's hand.

With his victory decided some time before Democratic primary winner in the 87th A.D., Mr. Luis Sepulveda came in to the ballroom at Maestro's to congratulate Mark Gjonaj on his victory. 

Finally let me say I do not know how the poll workers were able to endure a 16-hour workday, with many putting in even more time. I traveled through-out the 80th A.D. yesterday stopping by almost everyone of the polling sites, and I tried to talk to as many people as I could which included the poll workers. 

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the City Council who are fighting for other workers right to fair pay needs to look into this as the $200 pay if overtime after 8 hours of work is factored in comes out to only $10.00 dollars an hour, without benefits is lower than the recent living wage bill passed by the city council.


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Thursday, September 13, 2012

City Island News BX: Benedetto Seen as Easy Winner in Dem Primary

City Island News BX: Benedetto Seen as Easy Winner in Dem Primary: By Michael Horowitz BRONX, NEW YORK, September 13- In a Democratic Primary today, Assemblyman Michael Benedetto is expected to be an easy...