An ex-cop was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday for robbing drug dealers with a gang—whom he outfitted in NYPD gear—on the side. Though Emmanuel Tavarez tried to "portray himself as a victim who had been forced into participating in the robberies," the judge on the case was having none of it, telling Tavarez his claim was "arrogant and insulting to this court. You acted out of greed and not duress." more ›

A well-financed criminal organization has been using a Dassault Falcon executive jet to cater to discerning marijuana connoisseurs who cannot tolerate reefer that's grown dry and impotent during a long truck ride from the West Coast. The operation is allegedly run by the formerly powerful gang the "Westies," and don't let their cutesy name fool you; these guys mean business. Just look into the eyes of John Bokun, the alleged kingpin. If he doesn't creep you out, the guns on his buddy should. Whatever you do, don't make fun of his watch. more ›

Whitney Houston's family has requested that her funeral, which is is taking place in Newark today, be a private ceremony for family and friends only. Although some fans have gathered around the neighborhood where the New Hope Baptist Church is located to pay tribute, most people are respecting those wishes—and that even includes gang members, who have called for a day of nonviolence to honor Houston. more ›

A rapper who was indicted on drug charges in 2010 and accused of running violent drug gang out of the Gowanus Projects has now been indicted for a murder he tweeted about getting away with. Ronald Herron, a.k.a. Ra Diggs, a.k.a. "The Big Homie," was indicted for three murders, including one that prosecutors say he bragged about on Twitter. Herron's tweets include claims that he once had someone "shot from a hospital bed" and that his team of "niggas will kill for meee." Authorities also say he boasted online about how he "beat a body," allegedly referring to the murder of one Frederick Brooks. "His Tweets were premature," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said today. more ›

Chaos erupted in an Emergency Room waiting area at a Bronx hospital last night when an unidentified man opened fire during an altercation. Details about the 7 p.m. shooting are still emerging, but witnesses say the gunman had come to the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in search of a rival gang member he'd fought with earlier in the day. "All you heard was a ruckus," one witness tells NY1. "Next thing you heard was a pop, pop, pop, and the next thing you know, you see all these kids and everyone running back to where the doctors are." more ›

City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito was driving her mother to the airport at 10:30 p.m. last month when the two heard a "thud" against their Volkswagon Golf as they traveled down Third Avenue. That "thud" happened to be a 9mm bullet fired by a 16-year-old boy, who indiscriminately shot 14 bullets at a rival gang member stopped at a red light. "If I would have been driving any slower. If I would have been, whatever…It just puts things in perspective," Mark-Viverito tells the Daily News. The boy has been arrested on reckless endangerment and weapons charges, but the law seems lacking in a proper statute for nearly killing someone for no reason. more ›

Nineteen alleged members of the “Goodfellas” gang in Harlem have been arrested for smuggling guns and stashing them in every conceivable place they could find, including gutters, mailboxes, roofs, and under stoops. All 19 were charged with conspiracy, and some were also charged with weapons possession, firearms trafficking and attempted murder. “With today’s law enforcement action, we believe we have dismantled one of Central Harlem’s most violent and destructive street gangs,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. more ›

Coinciding with this weekend's funeral for slain Brownsville mom Zurana Horton, the Post published a harrowing look at gang violence in Brownsville, where young thugs are organizing in increasingly smaller, irrational, and "hot headed" groups. If you're a fan of the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings, you're going to love today's hot new micro-gangs, which include groups such as 8 Block, the Rock Stars, and the Very Crispy Gangsters. (Their arch-enemies: the Soggy Assassins.) more ›

Residents of the crime-ridden neighborhood of Brownsville were unified last night at a vigil for Zuranna Horton, the 34-year-old mother of 13 who killed in a gang shootout while picking up one of her children from P.S. 298 Friday afternoon. Over 100 outraged community members gathered together to urge anyone with knowledge of the shooting to come forward. While the catchphrase "stop snitching" is infamous in the ghetto, last night distraught locals shouted, "It’s not snitching, it’s saving a life!" more ›

As police try to find the suspect whose Friday afternoon shooting from a Brooklyn rooftop left a woman dead and another woman and an 11-year-old girl injured, the slain woman's family remains bereft. Zurana Horton, 34, was killed when picking up a child from P.S. 298 in Brownsville, at Pitkin Avenue and Watkins Street, and apparently died trying to shield other youngsters. One of Horton's children told the Post that she actually walked by the crime scene, not realizing her mother was the victim, "I was wondering where my mother was. I found out later [the body] was my mother. My little sister [Alexis] said, ‘Mommy died. She got shot.’" more ›

Following reports of a "turf war" between residents and roving bands of teenagers in Brower Park and the Park Slope Playground, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes is seeking to assuage fears that his office is out of touch with the issue. "We are definitely aware of the increase in gang activity in parks and playgrounds," Hynes's spokesperson Jerry Schmetterer told the Daily News. According to Schmetterer, the DA's Gang's Bureau is "monitoring their activity. And we are in touch with the community about it." more ›

Twelve people were arrested for selling drugs out of a now-closed Queens restaurant following a ten-month investigation dubbed "Operation Dinner Out," which authorities say had members of the Trinitarios, Latin Kings and Bloods gangs working together. more ›

The NYPD has been watching social media pretty closely lately, but that didn't stop several members of the Crips gang in Brooklyn from using the sites to spread the word about a "Crips Holiday" that was going to happen in East Flatbush yesterday. more ›

Former NYPD Police Commission Bill Bratton, who was hired under Mayor Giuliani and is widely credited with stemming the city's reputation for crime through the broken-window theory and Compstat, has been appointed as an unpaid "consultant" to Scotland Yard. Bratton was personally chosen by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who told Parliament that the UK "should be looking beyond our shores to learn the lesson from others," with regard to the widespread rioting that has gripped London in recent days. "He thanked me for accepting the engagement," Bratton told the Daily News, "I thanked him for the opportunity." more ›

The NYPD rescinded a permit for an annual block party between Amsterdam and Broadway on 152nd street in Harlem days before it was scheduled and after organizers spent $20,000 on its preparations. "The block worked hard to put this together," one of the planners tells the Daily News, "We had a deejay. We had a band…we're not going to get our money back." Despite city approval of the event on July 7, the gathering was shut down because of concerns that a neighborhood gang—the Original Young Gangsters—would show up and pose a threat to public safety. more ›

A 16-year-old girl has been arrested and charged in the murder of a rival gang member. Police say that Sahiah (Uzi) Davis was ordered to kill 16-year-old Nathaniel Walcott in April by her new crew, the Wave Gang. "They wanted her to do this to show that she's down with them," one source told the News. more ›

Authorities have few answers in Saturday's shooting in Brooklyn that killed 15-year-old Dequan Mercurius and wounded a 13-year-old boy, but some neighbors are speculating that the victims were caught in the crossfire of gang-related violence. A 17-year-old witness tells the Daily News, "Everything was good," at PS 119's playground, until bullets started flying into the yard from outside the fence. "It's Bloods and Crips out there," the boy said. "It was wrong place, wrong time," the boy's aunt says, "We know he's not in a gang. Not this child." Police say the wounded 13-year-old has "told investigators very little." more ›

A hoodie-clad gunman jumped out from behind a parked car and opened fire on a group of teenagers in Queens in an early-morning attack that left one dead and a suspect on the loose. more ›

More details have been revealed about the motivations behind the Latin King Goonies anti-gay attack last fall. Nine members of the gang were arrested last year for allegedly torturing three gay men (and injuring another man) because of their sexual orientation. It seems that before the attack, the gang members tried to extort protection money from one of their victims—and when he wasn't able to pay up, they sodomized him with a miniature baseball bat. more ›

A 17-year-old was stabbed to death early Saturday morning in the Bronx when he tried to get a $10 refund after he was kicked out of a house party. Police found Damien Martinez with a stab wound to the chest on Bathgate Avenue in Tremont; he was pronounced dead at the hospital. "They killed my brother over $10. My brother didn't deserve to die over $10," said sister Starleena Vargas. more ›

Gang violence broke out on Staten Island Wednesday night, sending two victims (and one assailant) to the hospital while terrifying a packed bus of witnesses. Around 8:30 p.m. seven suspects allegedly attacked two men, aged 20 and 22, with box cutters in the middle of an S74 bus which had just left the St. George Ferry Terminal. The gang is said to have been retaliating over a prior assault. more ›

Territorial gang warfare in Harlem has seemed to have gotten worse over the past year, and younger and younger teens are being recruited and initiated into groups such as 2MF, 40 Wolvez, the 137th Street Crew, and more. To try to combat the upswing in gang violence, Harlem Children's Zone has begun deploying "Safety Knights" to patrol parts of Harlem near Fifth Ave. And they're armed with bright orange vests, so watch out! more ›

So your friend is getting sentenced in court and you want to show him support. You are a good friend! But you know what isn't ok? Showing support by threatening the family of their victim. A group of Bronx Bloods discovered this the hard way yesterday at the sentencing of Robert Denis, 18, who will be spending the next 26 years behind bars for killing Rayquon Story in 2007. more ›

Last week, 14 juvenile members of Harlem gang the "137th Street Crew" were arrested and hauled into court on a number of charges, including attempted murder and weapons possession. The 137th Street Crew was once known as 2MF (2 Mafia Family), a crew who have been terrorizing the streets of West Harlem for years. But things are even worse in East Harlem. more ›

Manhattan DA Cy Vance wants you to know he is tough on crime. So tough, in fact, that today he personally went before a judge to read the charges his office is bringing forth against 14 members of the "137th Street Crew," an alleged Harlem gang. "This isn't just about a threat to safety and our streets," Vance explained in a conference earlier today. The crew "targeted children and young teenagers to hold and transport firearms of individual gang members." more ›

If you've been in Queens Supreme Court recently, you may be wondering if there's been a major migration of people from Cincinnati, judging by all the Cincinnati Reds red-and-black caps which seem to populate the building. But the Big Red Machine hasn't kicked the Mets out of Queens' heart just yet; members of the Bloods have appropriated the Cincinnati insignia to get under the skin of their rivals, the Crips, and to show solidarity with fellow soldiers on trial. "They should not be coming into this courthouse wearing their colors. This is our territory, not theirs," says Mariela Palomino Herring, the chief of the Queens district attorney's gang violence bureau. more ›

This holiday season, are you dreading dealing with huge crowds and interminably long lines en route to purchasing those perfect gifts for your loved ones? Why not hire a personal shopper! You don't even need to meet in person: just send your order via text, and a certified member of the Bloods will service all your handgun needs! more ›

There's a lot of things that stink in Hunts Point, but the NYPD has been making a concentrated effort over the last months to clean it up by bringing down one of the largest gangs in the area, the "Satan's Bloods." Over 32 members and associates of the drug syndicate were arrested in morning-raids yesterday, or already in custody. "This is in the top-10 bad places I've ever lived - and I've lived in some bad places. It's the slum of slums, but maybe they did some good out here today," resident Thomas Gibson told the News. more ›

Territorial gang warfare between gun-toting teens has been escalating and terrorizing citizens all over the city lately, from East New York to the Bronx. Since September, a rivalry between two such gangs, 2MF (2 Mafia Family) and 40 Wolvez, has claimed the lives of at least two teens, age 18 and 15, and no one has been willing to speak about what's going on. One veteran cop told NY Magazine, “A few years ago, you would see kids 19, 20 years old. Now these kids are babies—15, 14—and they are vicious. They will shoot you in a heartbeat and not think twice about it.” more ›

The Post's rantin' Steve Cuozzo is in rare form today with his takedown of the new plaza planned for the Barclays Center/Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. Cuozzo calls the design "singularly malevolent in its ugliness," and "more conducive to hosting a Crips-Bloods scrimmage than the intended upscaling of the neighborhood." The best part? When "He Who Yells At Cloud" lays the blame for this "travesty" at the feet of the project's biggest opponent. more ›