Results tagged “eastflatbush”

Yesterday morning, reggae artist Major Mackerel was slashed by a neighbor who thought that Mackerel had harassed his wife. And the neighbor, Oliver Joseph, used a 26-inch samurai sword to get his point across.

A 15-year-old Brooklyn boy was arrested yesterday after accidentally shooting himself in the penis. The Post's stupid headline is, "So much for packing a, um, rod," and there are going to be plenty of bad jokes about going off half-cocked in the comments, but we can't help but pity the kid. Khamir Grant told cops he was walking home from Amersfort Park in East Flatbush around 1:30 a.m. Sunday with a gun in his waistband when the piece began to slip into his pants. When Grant grabbed for it, he accidentally pulled the trigger, firing a bullet "right through his penis," in the Post's words. Grant staggered home, told his mother what happened, and they took a livery car to Kings County Hospital, where Grant was released after treatment and then arrested. He's charged with reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon—the same charges levied against Plaxico Burress, who last year shot himself in a nightclub under similar circumstances, albeit with less catastrophic results.

Now that everyone is paying attention to Javier Bardem and James Franco as they film scenes in Brooklyn, Gerard Butler's publicist is clearly leaking stories to the press as a reminder that he is also still in the borough making movie magic! The NY Post reports that he set for the new Jennifer Aniston film The Bounty (in which he co-stars) has been surrounded by paparazzi, and one bodyguard "allegedly flipped out and keyed a photographer's car—causing thousands of dollars in damage" to his 2003 Infiniti. The WireImage photographer was the victim of the East Flatbush incident, saying that he was "surprised that the community had my back." The guard was assigned to protect Gerard Butler, who is rumored to be dating Aniston; perhaps he was trying to stop the photog from taking this photo of Butler in flagrante delicto with another woman!

On Tuesday night, Kester La Roc was killed in gunfire near his East Flatbush home. LaRoc has been taking his son Kessai home around 10 p.m.; according to the Daily News, the "2-year-old Brooklyn boy was splattered with his father's blood when the dad was ambushed and killed." LaRoc was hit twice in the chest while a friend was hit in the thigh; apparently the friend was able to bring Kessai inside the house. Police have not found a motive for the shooting; LaRoc did have a criminal record (marijuana possession, disorderly conduct). LaRoc's girlfriend and the child's mother told the News, "He was a good dad. He spent time with his son, picked him up from day care, watched him. A very loving person," while LaRoc's mother said, "He was not perfect, but no one deserves this, to die like he did. He wanted to get his life straight."

Early this morning, some sort of dispute led to gun violence on East 93rd Street in Brooklyn—and the gunfire continued at Brookdale University Hospital. According to the Daily News, a "17-year-old boy died at the scene" at E. 93rd Street near Avenue B, while a 22-year-old was shot in the leg managed to go Downstate hospital. However, a 32-year-old who was injured was driven to Brookdale, where "another vehicle rolled up and someone inside started firing. Police sources said he was hit at least once at the hospital. Emergency workers put him into an ambulance and carted him off to Kings County Hospital where he's listed in critical condition. Police said he was shot in the leg and groin." A police source told the News, "What a gun battle. They have been watching too much TV," while a resident near the scene heard the gunshots, "I rolled out of bed onto the ground to protect myself. Bullets penetrate windows, you know. We hear gunshots a lot in the summertime."

The couple arrested over the weekend for stashing drugs inside the daycare center they ran was arraigned inside a Brooklyn courtroom yesterday. Police first came to Special Moments Day Care after it was robbed at gunpoint Friday morning, leading to a shootout between cops and one of the burglars, who ended up shot twice as a dozen young children napped peacefully below. But something about the robbery didn't add up to police, who returned to find ten pounds of marijuana and $100,000 cash hidden in the basement of East Flatbush's Special Moments, run by Donna and Sherwin Rogers. The robbers knew that it was weed delivery day and came into the daycare posing as parents. Yesterday a judge set bail at $50,000 for the owner Donna and 25k for her husband, but cops wanted stiffer penalties. A police source told the News, "It put kids at risk. The shooting happened right exactly where the kids were sleeping."

It turns out that the Brooklyn daycare center where cops and robbers had a shootout above napping children Friday wasn't just a pickup spot for neighborhood parents. After cops returned to Special Moments Day Care in East Flatbush with suspicions that the burglars going after a suitcase full of cash might be part of an inside job, they discovered that the center was doubling as a drug den when they uncovered ten pounds of marijuana and $100,000 in cash.

Two men were shot dead in East Flatbush outside a barbershop on Avenue A last night. The Daily News reports that 38-year-old Lennox Lewis and 26-year-old Dwayne Pascoe were gunned down in front of Diffrance Barbershop while they were hanging out with friends just after 8 p.m. (Earlier reports said that the two men had gotten into a fight when they shot each other.) Also injured was Pascoe's father, who is in critical condition at Brookdale Hospital. Both murder victims were also fathers—Lewis had three children and Pascoe two, with one on the way. Apparently the bodies of both men remained on the sidewalk for several hours. A neighbor told NY1, "Nobody deserves to die like that and to have to lay in the street and for everybody just be gawking at their bodies 'cause it was just a horrible scene before the police got here, they were just laying there."

A 31-year-old woman was shot to death in front of the God's Battalion of Prayer Church in East Flatbush on Saturday night. The Daily News reports that church had been holding an anti-violence meeting at the time, "The sound of gunfire interrupted talks about an upcoming anti-violence rally." The victim was Francilyn Blake, and a witness told WCBS 2 that Blake's daughter was seen near her mother's lifeless body, "Imagine that. Seeing your mother dying in front of you, at such a young age." On Sunday, the church's parishioners said the police told them it was not a random incident but a shooting from a domestic dispute and that Blake knew the shooter—the News says the shooter fired from an SUV. Police are asking for anyone with information to call CrimeStoppers (1-800-577-TIPS/1-800-577-8477); and the church youth leader who called the police said, "We were crying inside knowing that we're meeting to address these issues of violence and this woman was being shot right outside."

Police are looking for the driver of a white SUV that struck a woman and two children they crossed the intersection at Avenue H and Utica Avenue in East Flatbush. According to WABC 7, "The pedestrians were crossing a street" when the SUV hit them and took off. "The three were then struck by a second vehicle." The driver of the second vehicle stayed at the scene and was charged with driving with a suspended license. The woman and 11-year-old boy are in stable condition while the 8-year-old is in critical condition.

Much like the tragic story that had just been seen on screen, an afterparty for the opening night of Notorious turned violent Friday when four men were stabbed inside a Brooklyn nightclub. A chaotic scene emerged as one clubgoer described it, "I didn't know what happened, but whenever people start screaming and running out of a club it means someone either has a gun or a knife, and I wasn't going to stick around to find out which it was."

A six-year-old boy in Brooklyn was struck and killed by an SUV Friday afternoon as he and his mother waited to cross the street in East Flatbush. Shawna Spaulding was walking her son Clarente Turner home from PS 219 in Brooklyn when they were hit waiting in the median of Kings Highway. A collision between a Nissan Pathfinder and a Chrysler Pacifica sent the SUV flying into the median where it hit both mother and son. Clarente died at the scene. Spaulding remains in stable condition with various injuries.

Three people were shot last night around East 94th Street and Church in Brooklyn. A car is also full of bullets. WABC 7 reports that while the "conditions of the victims are unknown," one victim may have been shot in the head, another was shot in the arm, and a third victim was able to drive to the hospital. Police are investigating.

In late November 2005, police officer Dillon Stewart and his partner, Paul Lipka, stopped a 1990 Infiniti for a traffic violation (driving with dealer plates) in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. One of the men inside fired five bullets into the unmarked police car (Stewart and Lipka were uniformed), and Stewart (pictured) and Lipka proceeded to chase the car. But then Stewart realized that he had been shot -- the bullet had missed his bulletproof vest by a quarter of an inch and hit his heart.

Beautiful lawns, flowering bushes, and planters with lush greenery: This morning, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden announced the winners in its 13th annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest. The residential first place winner was MacDonough Street between Stuyvesant and Lewis Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant (pictured above) while first place for a business/commercial block was Hoyt Street between Atlantic Avenue & State Street in Boerum Hill (pictured below).

In just a few hours, there were five separate shootings all over Brooklyn last night and early this morning. The violence began at 10:20PM in Ditmas Park, when three people were shot at East 21st and Dorchester Road when a gunman opened fire on a man. The 25-year-old known as "Indian" died while a 23-year-old and a 50-year-old, who was shot inside his/her home, were both in stable condition.

As we mentioned, City Councilman Charles Barron held his press conference yesterday to announce his candidacy for the 2009 Brooklyn Borough Presidency. He told the crowds that his platform included affordable housing, health care accessibility, more jobs, standing up to developers who use eminent domain, ending mayor control of schools and more would help everyone. "Am I going to be a borough president for all the people? Absolutely. But I'm letting y'all know now, I'm taking care of black folk. Unapologetically."

If you live in the 40th District, an area that covers parts of Crown Heights, Flatbush and East Flatbush, you can vote in tomorrow special election to the seat that used to belong to former City Councilwoman - now Congresswoman - Yvette Clarke. And there's another special election for a City Council seat in Staten Island as well, so South Shore voters, head to the polls.

Last night, a 24 year old Tennessee resident was stabbed in East Flatbush off East 54th Street. The NY Times reports that 24 year old Justin Carney was visiting and helping his aunt move into her new apartment building, and around 6PM, yelling was heard from a nearby alleyway. Witnesses say that two men dressed in black stabbed Carney "without warning." Carney managed to go back to the apartment building, but later died at Kings County Hospital.

Dusk, by Paulo C.

Hopscotch, by Wayne's New York. Tag yours "gothamist" on Flickr if you want us to use them.

+ Red Auerbach, who coached the Boston Celtics to 16 championships, died at 89. He grew up in Williamsburg, learned how to play basketball at PS 122 and almost coached the Knicks.

At the farmer’s market you’re entranced. The stalls swell with the season’s natural bounty—corn, tomatoes, peaches, peppers—all the foods that taste right only when eaten at this time of year. You buy pounds and lug the harvest home. But as the shortening days slip by, those special $2 bags of veggies risk going to rot in your fridge. It’s enough to make a gourmet’s heart sink. What do you do? Can it. That’s what some people in the city are learning to do. It may seem like a lost art, but canning could be coming into a revival. “Putting up” food has an old-fashioned homey appeal, not unlike that of knitting, another noble homestead craft that has spurred a recent craze. This summer the Unitarian Church in Brooklyn Heights threw a couple “jam sessions,” and the Park Slope CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group gave a tutorial for members last week. If you’re a believer in the importance of buying locally, canning gives you a way to have your cake and eat it too. Stock up on berries now, cook them into jam, and eat them in January without any guilt. Preserving food at home can even feel a little revolutionary in this era when industrially produced food is the norm.

The Post reports on two motorcycle deaths yesterday. Ivette Hernandez was killed after being thrown off her boyfriend Louis Perez's motorcycle on the Gowanus Expressway. According to the Post, a car had swerved towards them, and when Hernandez fell, another motorcycle in their group hit her. Perez, who was supposed to propose to her that day, was charged with DUI and "blamed the accident on a motorist trying to merge into traffic."

We actually have had Salvation Army pick up items we wanted to donate when we lived in Astoria. To arrange a pick up of donations, call 1-800-95TRUCK. One thing to keep in mind, however, is there is really no guarantee with them. When we lived in East Flatbush, they didn't have a driver anymore for that area so we were stuck. If you have time, you can try to spread it out over a few weekends of making trips to the donation centers. Or rent a car for a day. Perhaps you can attend to other errands at the same time, or find other people in your same situation that would be willing to chip in to cover rental costs.

The heated fight for Major Owens' Congressional seat gets hotter as City Council member Yvette Clarke has landed three important endorsements - two from big unions and the other from Congressman Anthony Weiner. Brooklyn's 11th District covers Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Park Slope, and the race has already attracted four would-be candidates (who would likely be elected to the seat in November): City Council members Clarke and David Yassky, State Senator Carl Andrews, and Owens' son, Chris Owens, with Yassky the only white among the three black politicians. Now, with these two endorsements, signs are indicating that Clarke's campaign is getting stronger. And that Weiner is thinking to the 2009 mayoral race by endorsing a black woman with Caribbean roots (her mother is Jamaican). From the NY Times:

When asked if his endorsement was made with the expectation of support in 2009, Mr. Weiner said, “My only thought about 2009 is that Yvette Clarke will be an incumbent member of Congress.”

Continue reading "Controversial Brooklyn Congressional Race Starts to Shape Up"

A Brooklyn barbecue party became the scene for a melee involving the partiers and housing cops. The police 'shot 28 year old Robert Ramirez after he allegedly hit one of the cops with a scooter. And Ramirez, whose left lung was removed and is at Brookdale Hospital, was provoked when his stepfather, known as both Adiel Ramirez and Jose Morales, was confronted by the police. It all started when the police asked the courtyard party at the Glenwood Houses in East Flatbush to turn down the music, and then it's they said, they said. Witnesses claim that the police were roughing up Adiel Ramirez (one said, "They handcuffed him and started beating him") after asking him for ID and that his stepson stepped in defend him. However, the police say there were people smoking pot and that a DJ punched one of the officers in the face. After the younger Ramirez hit police officer with a Razor scooter, the officer shot him in the chest. The Daily News reports that a partygoer shot video on a cellphone, but the video doesn't show the police beating Adiel Ramirez or the younger Ramirez hitting the cop with a scooter.

See, this is why angry mobs aren't really a good idea. They're just too quick to judge. For example, yesterday afternoon in East Flatbush a livery driver seemingly lost control of his vehicle and swerved into an 8-year-old riding a bike. When the hack finally stopped crashed his cab into a wall a "group of dozens of bystanders confronted and attacked him."

- And an L train crashed at the end of the line in Canarsie - WNBC is quick to report that the train isn't computer-operated at that point

- 4:42AM: Three people "stabbed or slashed" at East 45th and GlenwoodResidents admitted that while crime was down overall, it's still depressing that some people continue the violence. One woman told the NY Times, "Sometimes it's just stupidity, simple arguments. Sometimes it's with their own friends," while another man said, "Why, when a young person leaves the house for a party, why do they pack a gun?" All victims are in stable condition and are expected to survive.