Results tagged “bensonhurst”

A Bensonhurst man was arrested on Wednesday for selling a dark green liquid mixture of alcohol and marijuana. Yes, liquid marijuana! It's news to us, and Capt. Gerard Dowling of the Manhattan South narcotics division says "it has not been seen around here before." The suspect, 32-year-old Anthony Briordy, told cops a four-ounce dose of it was stronger than one "marijuana cigarette," as the Times daintily puts it.

Early yesterday morning, a 48-year-old man was killed when a suspected drunk driver T-boned his car in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Jorge Cortes, of Maryland, was charged with "manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter 2-degree, criminally negligent homicide and DWI," according to WABC 7.

When a group of intoxicated teenagers decided to pop in to 33-year-old bricklayer Scott Bruno's pad on Saturday night, he must have thought that showing off his 2nd floor Bensonhurst apartment (and possibly dealing them drugs) wasn't enough to impress the Wantagh teens. So police say that Bruno got out his gun and began firing off some shots at his wall as a "party trick." Then believing that he had removed the magazine from the pistol, Bruno aimed the gun at 17-year-old Philip Levy's head and pulled the trigger. Sadly it wasn't empty and Levy (pictured) would die soon after being shot. Bruno is now being held without bail on manslaughter and weapons charges; he has a prior conviction for a DUI in 2006. Levy's mother, who only knew her son was going out with friends Saturday, told Newsday that the MacArthur HS senior was a history buff and had "a passionate interest" in the 9/11 attacks. She said, "He was always cracking us up. He could have been in the theater." Bruno's legal aid attorney insisted in court today that the shooting was an accident and called it a "quirky" case.

Yesterday, the bludgeoned bodies of a 70-year-old landlord Billy Romano and his 37-year-old girlfriend Elviza Aronova were found in the Romano's "ransacked apartment," according to the Daily News. Aronova's mother, worried she hadn't heard from her daughter, discovered the pair when she went to check on them. Residents of the Bensonhurst building on Bay Parkway told the NY Times the landlord had recently sold the building and "described him as a lively man...who was quick with a smile and greeting." However the News says Romano was had drug problems and was deep in debt while Aronova was a crack addict. Apparently police are now questioning someone who rented an apartment from Romano in connection with the possible murders: "Police found a .45-caliber handgun, with the barrel missing, along with a grenade and two shotguns in the tenant's apartment."

A 75-year-old man went into cardiac arrest and died after he was handcuffed during a raid Tuesday afternoon at the Italian social club he managed in Bensonhurst. Besides running the Banner Civic Social Club on 72nd Street, Sam Nastasa had bit parts in The Sopranos and other crime movies like Rounders; neighbors say the club was a hang-out for old men who would chat and play cards. But state and federal investigators say the club was once the base of operations for the Bonanno crime family, and has been patronized by members of the Colombo crime family.

Two seven year old boys were coloring on the couch yesterday when a four foot boa constrictor peeked its head out from one of the couch cushions. "I felt something on my back," one of the boys, Jay Jhomar, tells the Post. "I was excited. At first I thought I found a toy in the couch... It was staring and waiting for someone to eat. I was a little scared, and we were screaming." Jay's mother Danielle summoned the police to her Bensonhurst home, and the snake was subsequently taken away by Animal Care and Control. It's believed to be an escaped pet, but the Post says boas are illegal to own in NYC and it will likely end up in an animal sanctuary. (Jay's futilely lobbying to keep it.) Danielle suspects the boa slithered in through an open window to try and get warm, but the Daily News has a more sinister theory: "The best guess is that the snake slithered into the first-floor apartment by way of a toilet." Aaaand we'll be refusing liquids and food until we can somehow forget about that image.

Over 150 firefighters responded to a three-alarm fire in Bensonhurst this morning, and eight were hurt. WCBS 2, which adds that seven civilians were injured, says one firefighter was "seriously injured after a wall collapsed on him"; FDNY Chief James Leonard said, "We had a firefighter who actually went out a third floor window and rode the collapse down to the basement level... The stuff did land on him. The bricks and the mortar landed all on him." The firefighter is in stable condition at Kings County. The fire apparently "gutted a store...and a portion of apartment above" it at 222 Kings Highway.

The price of the average pizza slice in New York continues to rise dramatically with the price of flour, taking mozzarella cheese and other assorted toppings with it. But not in Bensonhurst.

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients that you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes.

About once a year or so Gothamist makes a pilgrimage to Bensonhurst’s 18th Avenue for some Sicilian soul food. A little over 15 years ago, 18th Avenue between Bay Ridge Parkway and McDonald Avenue was dubbed "Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard." While that entire length may have been named in honor of the Italian explorer, the stretch where we usually explore the wonders of Southern Italian food lies between between Bay Ridge Parkway and 65 Street.