The two men who got into a Monday night shootout at the Rugged Sole store on Utica Avenue—wounding a 12-year-old boy and a 33-year-old man—have been identified. The store's guard, Kenneth Meeks, 45, was arrested after the shooting and charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon (firearm) and reckless endangerment while Gerald Spears, 23, turned himself in last night. more ›

A 12-year-old boy was inside a sneaker store with his father last night when a violent confrontation erupted between a Rugged Sole employee and another man. According to the store's owner, surveillance video shows the employee, apparently a security worker, pulling out a gun after an armed man showed his gun. Sang Han told the Daily News, "They both had guns and the boy got caught in the crossfire. The kid was just an innocent bystander." more ›

Last June, the Brooklyn DA made a big announcement about the arrests of Damien Crooks and Jamali Brockett, who were accused of forcing a 13-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl into prostitution in 2003—and continuing to rape, assault and sexually traffic her for the next eight years. Two of their "associates," Jawara Brockett and Darrell Dula, were also charged with raping the victim. But this week it emerged that the alleged victim recanted her accusation almost immediately, telling detectives she was a prostitute for five years and simply made up the rape allegation. more ›

Waiting on subway platforms can be boring, so why not pass the time jumping down into the tracks to play chicken with oncoming trains? It's unclear exactly when this video was taken (the winter clothing suggests it wasn't any time in the past week), but we can all agree that such sensationally stupid behavior is timeless. Watch as a group of boisterous adolescents leap up and down into the track bed in a competition to see who will be the idiot who comes closest to getting killed: more ›

Two men are dead after fatal shootings in Crown Heights and downtown Brooklyn last night, and several others were left wounded by shootings and stabbings after a particularly violent night. Gunfire broke out just before 8 p.m. at the corner of Prospect Place and Schenectady Avenue in Crown Heights. First responders found 18-year-old Daquan Weston bleeding from gunshot wounds to the lower torso, and rushed him to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced DOA. A second victim, age 15, was also shot in the leg and is listed in stable conditions. No arrests were made. more ›

The country's richest woman spent a day with a Hasidic family in Crown Heights, and when she realized they had no idea what an "Oprah" was, she was apparently transformed into a normal person. "I didn't know I was more Hasidic Jew than I thought," she told Rabbi Motti Seligson in an interview after the visit. "I respect its reverence for a sense of family, a sense of harmony, a sense of grace and graciousness within the family." more ›

Yesterday the Times profiled Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, the rapidly gentrifying boulevard and the "epicenter of renaissance" previously seen in Park Slope and Williamsburg. Though there are plenty of residents in the historically black and Hasidic neighborhood that welcome the influx of students, young professionals and families, a Crown Heights native and Medgar Evers professor notes,"There's a social cohesion gap right now." And Nick Juravich, a Columbia grad student and Crown Heights blogger, tells us, "There definitely is to certain degrees. But there are also signs that the groups living in the neighborhood are becoming remarkably integrated." more ›

The yuppie goyim are TAKING OVER Crown Heights, turning the once idyllic neighborhood into a wicked G-dless hellhole known among interlopers as "ProCro," a veritable Sodom where they party half-naked on rooftops and corrupt the area youth! So says one local landlord, who has fired off an open letter begging fellow property owners not to rent to these licentious libertines. In a desperate missive titled "Take Back Our Neighborhood," the anonymous landlord writes: more ›

The driver who killed 38-year-old Donna Fountain as she headed to work on Christmas morning in Crown Heights remains at large, but her family says investigators have located the vehicle. According to witnesses, the driver may have been engaged in illegal street racing when he or she ran down Fountain on Eastern Parkway, leaving her to die in the street. Police are poring over traffic camera footage from the area, while the local community has come together to raise $25,000 for Fountain's orphaned son Elijah, age 8. more ›

And here is the utterly heartbreaking story of Donna Fountain, a 38-year-old home health care aide who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Crown Heights on Christmas morning. Fountain was blocks from her home when she was run down at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Troy Avenue. Back at her apartment, her 8-year-old son waited with a babysitter for his mother to return from her morning shift and open presents with him. more ›

A 38-year-old woman was killed while crossing an intersection in Crown Heights yesterday morning, and police say she was the victim of a hit-and-run driver. more ›

The firefighter who was severely burned fighting a fire in Crown Heights yesterday morning nearly lost his life while searching for people in a brownstone that was unoccupied. The firefighter, Robert Wiedmann, 38, was with others searching for victims on the top floor when flames suddenly exploded into the front room. Video obtained by a bystander shows him on fire and leaping onto an aerial ladder just as it reaches him. “The firefighter was about to jump," witness Victor Vargas tells the Post. "He was screaming like crazy." more ›

A firefighter is hospitalized in critical but stable condition after sustaining burns over 42 percent of his body while battling a two alarm blaze in Crown Heights this morning. FDNY units responded to the scene around 9 a.m. at 1102 Prospect Place, where a three-story brownstone was engulfed in flames. Here's video of the fire, via Firefighter Nation. (Be warned, the video shows a firefighter engulfed in flames): more ›

For the third time in recent weeks a livery driver has been brutally attacked while on the job. Last night around 10:30 p.m. Dame Ndiaje was shot in the arm and chin after picking up three men and a woman outside 1373 Pacific Street in Crown Heights. Ndiaje survived but is fighting for his life, according to the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. more ›

A Brooklyn Hasidic man who has been in Israel for the past three years, avoiding NYC authorities, will be extradited back to the U.S. to face charges related to the beating of a young black man in Crown Heights. The Daily News reports, "A Jerusalem court Thursday approved the extradition of Yitzhak Shuchat, 28, who’s been indicted for assault as a hate crime and other counts for the alleged baton beatdown of Andrew Charles in 2008." more ›

An 18-year-old who was convicted of repeatedly stabbing her 16-year-old cousin and then stealing her sneakers and other belongings was sentenced to 15-years-to-life in prison yesterday. Tiana Browne was 15 when she stabbed Shannon Braithwaite 49 times with a kitchen knife. Browne's aunt, Marva Braithwaite, had taken Browne in and said in court, "She rewarded me by leaving me childless, reaping out my very being. When you sit behind bars, you can never say you weren't loved. Shannon loved you. I loved you." more ›

Brower Park in Crown Heights is ground zero for what the Daily News is calling a "turf battle" between residents and roving bands of teenagers who "skip school, smoke pot, and drink alcohol during the day." 13 people have been shot in the area this month, including Denise Gay, who was killed. While an NYPD spokesperson claims they "will do whatever it takes until they stop shooting," they acknowledge that "these kids are trying to take over the park. It's a problem." more ›

Speaking at the funeral of Denise Gay, the 56-year-old Crown Heights woman who was killed by a stray bullet on her stoop, Reverend Al Sharpton issued a stern plea for the seemingly senseless violence to stop. "Somehow you must reach inside you and stand up for what's right." Gay may have been killed by one of the 73 bullets fired by NYPD officers in their attempt to subdue shooter Leroy Webster, who had killed Eusi Johnson around 9 p.m. on Labor Day. Ballistics results remain pending. According to the Daily News, Sharpton said, "Whatever the results of that investigation, there's no doubt you must stop shooting." more ›

The Reverend Al Sharpton has vowed to find out who killed 56-year-old Denise Gay, an innocent bystander who was shot and killed in a fierce Crown Heights shootout on Labor Day. "We don't know where the bullet was from," Sharpton said as he stood with the Gay family on Friday, "We know where it wasn't from—the guy at the shootout. We will not give up until we find out what happened to Denise." more ›

A day after the Daily News columnist Michael Daly (and a News editorial) demanded that the NYPD release video of the shooting between a murder suspect and police that left an innocent bystander dead, the NYPD has made the video public. It shows suspect Leroy Webster exiting a building on Park Place, shooting and killing Eusi Johnson, and then how police fire at Webster as he tries to reenter the building. However, it does not show slain neighbor Denise Gay, who may have been killed by a police bullet. more ›

The violent Crown Heights shooting left two people dead—Eusi Johnson, who was allegedly killed by Leroy Webster, and Denise Gay, a neighbor sitting on her stoop. Webster's gunfire attracted police, who fired 73 times at him, hitting him twice. Initially police believed that one of Webster's shots killed Gay, but now ballistics tests reveal that the bullets do not match Webster's 9mm and they are more similar to bullets from a Glock—which is what the police use. more ›

During an intense shootout in Crown Heights Monday night that left two dead, police fired 73 bullets in their attempts to subdue gunman Leroy Webster, who shot and killed Eusi Johnson and injured two police officers. Authorities say that Webster also killed innocent bystander Denise Gay as she sat on her stoop with her daughter, but the Times reports that "a ballistics analysis had yet to conclude where the bullet came from." Gay's cousin tells the paper, "She was well known on this block. You could say her name and people know exactly who she is, what she stood for. She was an awesome person, with an awesome spirit." Gay, who told others she was afraid for her safety, died in her daughter's arms after being shot in the head. more ›

An innocent bystander who was shot and killed on her stoop in Crown Heights feared gun violence at the West Indian Day parade. 56-year-old Denise Gay was shot in the head by a stray bullet fired by gunman Leroy Webster, who also shot and killed Eusi Johnson after a dispute. Webster, who also shot two police officers in a massive firefight on Franklin Avenue at Park Place, remains in critical condition, and did not die as was originally reported. "She was afraid to go outside because of the parade," Gay's sister tells the Daily News, "Denise was always worried about gun violence." Gay reportedly collapsed into her daughter's arms after being shot. "She thought her mother tripped. Her mother died in her arms," Gay's sister said. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Over 40 bullets were fired last night in a Crown Heights shooting near the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Park Place, leaving three two people dead, injuring two NYPD officers, and putting a bloody exclamation point on a very violent Labor Day weekend. Police say career criminal Leroy Webster, 32, emerged from a Park Place building around 9 p.m. and opened fire on Eusi Johnson, 29, who was walking with his cousin. Johnson was fatally shot in the neck, and bystander Denise Gay was shot in the head as she sat on her stoop with her daughter. Gay, 56, died from her wounds. more ›

Friday was the 20th anniversary of the divisive Crown Heights riots, three days of violence and chaos which were spurred by the death of a 7-year-old black boy—killed by a Hasidic driver—and then, three hours later, the death of a 29-year-old Orthodox Jewish scholar, who was stabbed by a black man. The Rev. Al Sharpton, who recently decided to bow out of a panel about the riots, has an opinion piece reflecting on the tumultuous incident in the Daily News, which also published a 1991 photograph of Sharpton in one of his colorful track suits to go with the essay. And Sharpton admits he made some missteps, "I'd like to share a few of my reflections about the choices I made, including the mistakes, with an eye toward advancing racial understanding and harmony." more ›

After a few days of uproar over his possible participation at a panel about the 1991 Crown Heights riot, the Rev. Al Sharpton has decided not to attend. He sent a letter to organizer Rabbi Marc Schneier, explaining his decision, but also took a few shots at critics. In praising Schneier as "One who can provide a fair forum even if your congregants may question or disagree with the speaker, whether it's Hillary Clinton coming to your Synagogue after kissing Arafat's wife's cheek or Glenn Beck last week," Sharpton said, "Please do not let shallow petty people reduce you from your coveted role in this nation. However, there are those who want to distort and rewrite history for their own purposes." more ›

Yesterday, a judge sentenced three men involved in a horrific rape and robbery to over 150 years in prison. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei was so troubled by the crimes, which included the rape of three women—a woman, her 17-year-old daughter and a teenage family friend—that he said to the man who was convicted of the rapes, Glendon Jackson, "Somebody wrote a book, Dante Alighieri, where he ranked the crimes and this has to be one of the worst crimes and you have to be one of the worst offenders," and sentenced him to 260 years. more ›

A 14-year-old boy was killed in front of a Crown Heights bodega last night. Tyrek O'Hara-Morris was out with friends when he was shot at Park Place and Troy Avenue. His mother Althea O'Hara told WCBS 2 that detectives came to her home just a few blocks away with the news, "My son was shot, was shot. Got shot in the left eye,” she said. more ›