Results tagged “citycouncilwomanletitiajames”

Yesterday morning, a 200-foot long chunk of a rooftop parapet on a Brooklyn building collapsed onto the street. While this would be news no matter what or where it happened, the building is the Ward Bread Bakery, which happens to be one of many buildings that are being demolished for the massive Atlantic Yards project in downtown Brooklyn. The Department of Buildings is inspecting neighboring buildings and 350 people, including those living in a shelter next door, were evacuated as a precaution.

Yesterday, officials welcomed Barclays as the winner in the $400 million naming rights derby for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. The NY Times reports that the Nets looked at various entities to pitch the idea of becoming lucky one to pay lots of money to have its name on the Frank Gehry-designed arena and decided Barclays Bank "needed a game changer, that they don’t have as big a presence or brand recognition here as in the U.K." As they say, a sucker is born every minute!

It had been a few days since anyone had seen Haydee Soto or her children, 13 year old Valerie Rivera and 15 year old John James Bordoy at the Walt Whitman Houses in Fort Greene. A smell had been coming from the family's apartment, so neighbors and relatives asked the police to open the door, only to find a grim scene. The dead bodies of Soto, Rivera, and Bordoy, as well as Hector Viera, in different rooms. Police believe Viera killed the three with a baseball bat and then committed suicide by overdosing (a hypodermic needle was found in his arm). The bodies were so badly beaten that the NY Times says that "it made it unclear what had caused their deaths," but City Councilwoman Letitia James said, "All indications are that it was a murder-suicide." The Post on the crime:

Cops theorized that Viera first killed the mom in the living room while her children were at school, then dragged her body into her bed to make it seem as if she were sleeping. They suspect he then separately killed each of the children as they arrived home.

While the NY Times delicately writes the relationship between Soto and Viera was "murky," the Daily and Post report that Soto and Viera were half-siblings may have been lovers as well. While Soto would call Viera her brother, the Post reports that Rivera told friend Carmen Tirado about her mother and Viera, saying Soto "doesn't like to be by herself." Tirado told the Daily News, "He always slept in her room. Valerie didn't believe that was her uncle, because why would her uncle sleep with her mom? In the street, he acted like she was his girl." Soto and Viera's family, however, deny the allegations. Bordoy's aunt said about Bordoy and Rivera, "They were great kids. Their father is destroyed." Bordoy had muscular dystrophy and used a wheelchair.

Sergeant James Rector had just left work at a police recruiting office near the Walt Whitman Houses in Fort Greene when he saw a teenager pointing a gun execution-style at a man on the street. Rector yelled for 17 year old Eric Hines to stop and identified himself as a police officer, but Hines shot him twice. Rector, while hit in the ankle and butt, managed to shoot 11 rounds at Hines, hitting him in the leg and on the right side. Rector is recovering from his wounds while Hines died from his injuries. Hines's initial target was treated for a shot in the leg and was also questioned by police.

People are wondering why City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is so quiet about the Atlantic Yards project. The Observer points out that Quinn was instrumental in leading City Hall opposition to the West Side Stadium, with the suggestion being that Quinn is thinking about running for Mayor and will need to keep certain people happy. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's Daniel Goldstein tells the Observer, "It would not be a principled position for her to support it as it is currently proposed," while City Councilwoman Letitia James, whose district will be affected by the project, says, "We’re still negotiating with the Speaker’s office. She definitely remembers that I was there for Hudson Yards.” Oh, yeah, Hudson Yards - that's what the West Side project was called.