Results tagged “bronx”

Vada Vasquez, the 15-year-old Bronx student who was shot in the head Monday afternoon by suspects targeting someone else, was taken off her ventilator and remains in critical condition. The intended target spoke to the Daily News, "I'm so sad about what happened to her. I feel terrible. She's innocent, like I'm innocent."

Though prosecutors say he gave a written and videotaped confession, the 16-year-old Bronx boy accused of shooting two teens on a crowded street Monday afternoon pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday. As his mother wept in the third row of the courtroom, Carvett Gentles and four other young men—all members of the "Gorilla Stone Blood" gang—were arraigned and sent to Rikers Island without bail. Gentles lawyer maintained his client's innocence, insisting, "He does well in school, he comes from a nice family." But some members of this "nice family" happen to be the older gang members who allegedly handed Gentles the gun and told him to shoot—because he was the only one without an arrest record.

A 16-year-old boy has confessed to the Monday afternoon shooting that left a Bronx girl in a medically-induced coma. Carvett Gentles, a sophomore at Bronx Leadership Academy who rarely attended class, had no criminal record before this week, and police believe that's why the .40-caliber pistol used in the shooting was passed to him, in a street version of "hot potato." The four other young men who were with him Monday afternoon all have extensive arrest records, and those boys—also members of a Bloods gang spin-off called "Gorilla Stone Blood"—passed the gun around until it ended up in Gentles's hands.

Police have arrested five young men allegedly involved in the altercation that led to the shooting of innocent bystander Vada Vasquez, a 15-year-old Bronx girl who was chatting with a friend after school Monday afternoon when a stray bullet struck her in the head, shattering inside her skull. She is currently in critical condition and on a ventilator. The bullets were directed at Tyrone Creighton, 19, who was hit in the back as he fled five men who had confronted him outside a bodega near Bronx Latin School. Police believe revenge was the motive.

Take 100 middle school students, dozens of soccer balls, and one confined space and what do you get? A lawsuit! The staff at Intermediate School 219 in the Bronx used that dangerous recipe to pass by a rainy day last year. One dodgeball expert told the Daily News, "The force of those balls going across the gymnasium, especially thrown by middle school students, could be quite strong."

A 15-year-old Bronx teen, not too far from her school in the Morrisania section, was shot in the head by a stray bullet yesterday afternoon. She had apparently walked into a dispute between two men—the Daily News reports, "As Vada Vasquez underwent emergency brain surgery, cops hunted for a bicycle-riding gunman who fired wildly at a man suspected of being a snitch." The apparent target of the gunfire, a 19-year-old man, was also shot in the abdomen and leg and taken to a hospital.

For well over two years now, Bronx gym teacher and coach Dan Smith has been sidelined in one of the Department of Education's infamous "rubber rooms," thanks to an allegation of sexual misconduct in March 2007. But while other teachers (over 600 hundred of them!) use their rubber room time to play Sudoku and nap, Smith has been hatching a plan to get out.

As if watching NFL football wasn't torture enough, a Bronx man claims he was literally tortured by his guests at his Super Bowl party last year. Michael Terry, 40, says he invited his drug-dealing neighbors over to watch the big game, but after the Giants defeated the Patriots, his guests overstayed their welcome, and used his apartment to sell drugs to other buyers. When he tried to throw them out, Terry says they handcuffed him to a chair and put him through hell.

Dios mio; on Saturday Nestle is opening its first U.S. "Nestlé Pure Life Mercado del Agua" (Water Store) to "bring the benefits of Nestlé Pure Life Purified Water to the Hispanic community." And they've got Hispanic TV personality and Pure Life spokesperson Cristina Saralegui to appear at the grand opening to help target the demographic. In the press release announcing the store, Saralegui (the Hispanic Oprah) says, "It is my privilege to join Nestlé Waters in celebrating the grand opening... I want to help increase awareness for our community about how drinking water is critical to living a healthy lifestyle."

The story of the 13-year-old who jumped to his death from his Mosholu Parkway apartment building keeps getting more tragic. The Bronx teen's mother — who was cooking dinner for her son when he took his own life — saw him take his fatal leap, the Daily News reports.

Following the suspension of a Bronx English teacher who assigned 11th graders a short story about tragic masturbation attempts, students have defended the instructor while adults have expressed skepticism over his decision. Louella Hatch, whose grandson attends the Bronx School of Law and Finance, is one of the adults who objects to teacher Greg Van Voorhis' assignment of "Guts" by "Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk. "Well, I really don't go for that. Well, I'm old fashioned anyway, but I don't like things like that," she said. "If it is true, he can't still be around the school, you know?" she added.

Yesterday afternoon, a 13-year-old jumped to his death from his family's apartment terrace at the Tracey Towers on Mosholu Parkway. The Daily News reports that Juda Agyemang "was sent home from school for not paying attention" (according to family members) while the Post says he had been "pulled from his school's basketball team because of poor grades."

Before Cablevision visited her Riverdale home, 79-year-old Elizabeth Bernd says she was active for her age. But when the cable guy arrived, the Daily News reports, he allegedly "unfastened preexisting wiring that had been fastened together underneath (her) computer desk/station," she tripped over the wires left loose, broke her leg, had a stroke and now is living in a nursing home. Bernd is suing for $5 million, accusing the cable company of negligence noting that she cannot "even talk or eat without great difficulty."

It comes as no surprise that the off-duty NYPD detective who fatally struck an elderly pedestrian early Friday morning in the Bronx has an alcohol problem. Detective Kevin (Spike) Spellman had a blood alcohol level of 0.21 percent—more than twice the legal limit—almost six hours after the accident. Now it's being reported that this isn't the first time booze has caused problems for Spellman and others.

This seems like one of those instances when it's best to keep your mouth shut. Brooklyn sculptor Diego Medina's "14-foot-tall tagger's dream" has remained graffiti-free in front of the Bronx River Arts Center since the unpainted plywood sculpture was installed in July — a fact so astounding to the Daily News that the tabloid decided to jinx celebrate the artwork by dedicating an entire article to the shocking lack of tagging.

The off-duty NYPD detective who fatally struck an elderly pedestrian early Friday morning in the Bronx had a blood alcohol level of 0.21 percent almost six hours after the accident. Despite delaying the test for hours by refusing to cooperate without a warrant, 22-year NYPD veteran Kevin Spellman, 42, was still very intoxicated. (The legal limit is 0.08 percent.) Spellman's alcohol level was certainly much higher at the time of the crash, but because people metabolize alcohol at different rates, it's anyone's guess how wasted he was at 6:30 a.m.

Yesterday around noon, a 16-year-old student at Bronx Regional High School was shot around 12:30 p.m. According to NY1, the teen told the police that the suspect was trying to rob him. And one student said, "They said the boy wanted his jacket and Paul said 'I'm not giving you my jacket.' And somebody said they was fighting at first, people was around watching and they didn't take it seriously. And they shot him."

Get ready for another NY Post expose on the jaywalking epidemic. It's being reported that a 22-year-old Bronx man was killed after being hit by a city bus while "darting" across the street. The Daily News notes that Luis Rivera was "crossing midblock when he was crushed by a Bx21 bus heading north on Boston Road in Tremont at 10:30 p.m. Saturday." They add that the bus driver was not drunk and has a clean driving record, but that Rivera was jaywalking.

Owners of 14 businesses destroyed by a five-alarm fire on Saturday may get a hand from the city—the city's Department of Small Business Services emergency response unit has been meeting with them, according to the Daily News. The agency said, "Our team is helping these businesses obtain copies of permits/licenses consumed by the fire, expedite [Fire Department] reports required for insurance claims as well as connecting them to other N.Y.C. Business Solutions services."

Yesterday's five-alarm fire has devastated the owners of 14 businesses along Bainbridge Avenue in the Norwood section of the Bronx. Mahmoud Zaghari, whose brother's convenience store was ruined, told WCBS 2, "All our money was in this store, all our investment was in this store, and in two, three hours, nothing - that's it."

The off-duty police detective who fatally struck a pedestrian in the Bronx yesterday morning was charged with vehicular homicide, criminally negligent homicide, and DWI. Detective Kevin Spellman had been driving a Chevrolet into the Bronx intersection of W. 232 Street and Kingsbridge Avenue, hitting 67-year-old Drana Nikac. A witness said, "He had a red light. He went through a red light and he was speeding. He was speeding."

Firefighters have been fighting a 5-alarm fire at 3105 Bainbridge Avenue off East 204th Street in the Bronx. WCBS 2 reports, "Though firefighters arrived shortly after 3 a.m. to find only heavy smoke, it quickly turned into a conflagration. The fire could be seen for blocks, and smelled for miles."

Earlier this morning, around 7 a.m., a woman was struck by a vehicle at West 232nd Street and Kingsbridge Avenue. The woman later died at St. Barnabas Hospital and now an off-duty police officer has been taken into custody.

Because the Department of Transportation is changing alternate side of the street parking rules (the streets will be cleaned just once a week, versus twice), parking rules will be suspended as the signs are being changed out. Which will take 6-8 weeks. One resident said, "I heard about it a while ago, and I've been waiting on this religiously. I'm thrilled it's finally happening." The Daily News says, "Any community board can request a reduced street-cleaning schedule from the Sanitation Department." In this case, it took a year and a half to get it approved.

       

The Bronx Museum recently opened an exhibit featuring Bronx "artifacts" from 1971 to present day. Urban Archives: That Was Then This Is Now is "the first of a new, multi-year series of exhibitions that look at contemporary culture as a living archive.” This one was drawn primarily from personal collections of artists that have been working in and on the Bronx for decades, and "in their collections, the testimonies of long-time residents and occasional visitors coexist in the form of mementos, documentation, artwork and other sort of cultural artifacts." Check it out sometime between now and March 1st.

The 18-year-old who is accused of firing a gun into the air—and killing a 92-year-old woman in her Bronx home—pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder. Jamal Blair is being held without bail and his lawyer is trying to explain that his client has had a tough childhood, "In 1993 he was 2 years old and witnessed his father murder his mother. He stayed with his mother's body until his grandparents found discovered what happened almost a day later. It still stays with him."

Although Jamal Blair, the 18-year-old arrested for killing a 92-year-old Bronx woman, allegedly confessed to police, he told reporters last night, "I didn't do it. I was framed by the police. The police did it, they framed me, man. No justice."

The police announced that an 18-year-old was arrested in connection to the death of a 92-year-old woman in her Bronx home. Sadie Mitchell was apparently struck by a stray bullet on Tuesday evening, when a shot was fired during a fight between two groups of youths. Witnesses told cops that Jamal Blair, 18, was the shooter and he allegedly confessed. A source tells the Daily News, "He told cops he thought he was shooting up in the air. The lady was 15 feet [above ground] in her home when the bullet hit."

Family and friends of the 92-year-old who was fatally killed by a stray bullet in her Bronx home on Tuesday are still reeling from the tragedy. Sadie Mitchell's daughter Sharon van Rooij said, "When someone is in their 90s, it's inevitable that they're going to die, but not like this... Not at the hands of some punk. I hope [the killer] will fry. I don't care how old you are -- 18, 19, 30 or 12. I hope you fry."

Neighbors are outraged after a 92-year-old was fatally shot by an apparently stray bullet that entered her home on East 224th Street in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx. According to the NY Times, "It was unclear whether Ms. Mitchell was the intended target, but the police said it appeared some youths had gotten into a fight on the street" before the 5:30 p.m. incident.