Results tagged “howardbeach”

A man who was wrongly jailed on Rikers Island for 17 months has accepted a $145,000 settlement with the city because a detective misidentified his fingerprints. Dwight Gomas was residing in Atlanta in 2004 when he was suddenly arrested by U.S. marshals for an armed robbery at a Howard Beach jewelry store. Detective Eileen Barrett had matched a partial finger print from the crime scene to Gomas, whose prints were on file after his only prior arrest as an adult: driving with a suspended license in Brooklyn. Gomas maintained his innocence before a grand jury, but was indicted and couldn't make bail. Languishing on Rikers, his Legal Aid lawyer urged him to accept a plea offer of five years in prison, but he refused. Luckily, veteran detective Daniel Perruzzaa finally conducted a routine review of the fingerprints. He tells the Daily News, "When I looked at it, I said, 'You know what? This is a screwup; this is not his fingerprints." Oopsy! Gomas was released after 523 days in jail, but by then his girlfriend and their child moved in with another man. On the plus side, he pulled in $145K in less than two years on Rikers, so we're sure there's no hard feelings.

Cheyenne Jeudy's parents had been meticulously planning her $50,000 sweet sixteen birthday party for two years, but what they didn't plan for was the appearance of a group of drunken, unruly party crashers from a wedding reception held in another part of the catering hall. According to a lawsuit filed by Cheyenne's mother Denise, a NYC cop, the party turned ugly because Russo's on the Bay, a Howard Beach catering hall, didn't stop the party crashers from molesting young girls at the Sweet 16, nor from beating up her nephew outside.

Earlier this year, a woman confessed to shooting her retired cop husband in their Howard Beach home. Barbara Sheehan later claimed self-defense, saying Raymond Sheehan had abused her (neighbors and relatives say she had been abused; a neighbor even clapped for her when she was apprehended). Now her defense lawyer makes some much more detailed and dramatic accusations.

Police say Barbara Sheehan confessed to killing her retired cop husband in their Howard Beach home, saying, "I shot him. I shot him. I think he's dead." Sheehan, charged with second-degree murder, pleaded not guilty and was held without bail.

A UPS delivery man saw the body of a retired police sergeant, shot in the torso, on the floor of a Howard Beach home and called 911. The police arrested the sergeant's wife and charged her with murder.

The Queens DA's office is allegedly split over how to handle a Halloween night fight in Howard Beach.

Howard Beach residents are probably shaking their heads over reports of yet another allegedly racially motivated attack in their neighborhood. The police say that a group of white teenagers claims they were attacked by a group, who were made up of Hispanics and blacks.

We briefly mentioned the wild melee between some Staten Island residents and the cops on July 4th, after the police investigated a call about illegal fireworks. Nineteen people had been arrested, while 10 others received summons, and residents are now complaining that the police were too aggressive. Cops, many of whom were injured, say they were doing their job.

The Daily News and Post both use the alleged JFK Airport terror plot - that would have involved blowing up the airport's fuel oil pipeline - to move papers: The cover of the Daily News teases an interview with a waitress who served an "alleged mastermind" (cover headline: "Evil Ate at Table Eight") while the Post wonders about the whereabouts of one of the alleged plotters (headline: "Invisible Man"). The story doesn't crack the NY Times' front page, though the Times' big story is how the plot was "less than mature" based on the criminal complaint. In fact, apparently two of the plotters were ambivalent, and the retired JFK worker allegedly involved, Russell Defreitas "appeared to possess little money, uncertain training and no known background in planning a terror attack," although he did dream of "of inflicting massive harm."

While the State Assembly may be the face of dysfunction, we have to say their passage of a bill allowing New York City to increase the "failure to scoop dog doo" fine is something we can get behind. The bill, which would open the gate for fines to be increased from $100 to $250, still needs the State Senate's and Governor Spitzer's approval, but Assemblyman Audrey Pheffer of Howard Beach tells amNewYork he's sure it'll pass. "The fact is, it is a nuisance, it's a health problem."

City Councilman Leroy Comrie wants the city to ban the n-word. Comrie said he hoped that a dialogue would be sparked by his resolution and that society can move "toward a place where the n-word is simply unacceptable to be used in any context." And hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow, who joined Comrie at the press conference, said, "We need to stop looking at ourselves like we are niggas or niggers, so that we can elevate our minds to a better future. So I challenge the hip-hop community, I challenge you to abolish that word during the month of February - Black History Month - and beyond."

Three Queens brothers were tied up when robbers entered their house on Wednesday. The robbers bound the boys and put pillowcases over the two youngest boys' heads; the 16 year old was blind-folded. The men then took Christmas gifts - a Playstation 2, cellphones, saxophone, and some designer purses- as well as some cash from the boys! What's more, a surveillance camera caught the men on tape entering the Howard Beach apartment building: They arrive empty handed but leave with bags.

When you borrow $100,000 from mobsters and stop repaying, you'd have to expect some retribution. So after Howard Beach resident Yvonne Rossetti was threatened to be stuffed into a trunk by two "reputed Bonanno soldiers," the mobsters were jailed for Christmas. Rossetti claimed the men could make a killing on a real estate deal, and when they figured out it was a scam, they threatened her. So her husband wore a wire and turned them over to the feds. But it doesn't mean the mobsters' lawyers didn't try to point out Rossetti's flaws.

Of all the things you say to a police officer of another color, is using a racial epithet really the best idea?

Last week, the body of a missing Queens man was found in his Howard Beach home, and now the police have arrested two 17 year olds for his murder. Billy Ray Staton and Alex Brown allegedly confessed to beating John Canora beyond recognition with a bat and fire extinguisher and leaving him in his basement's drainage ditch. The two say that Canora hired them to do odd jobs around the house. One evening, the three smoked pot and watched porn films. When Canora made an unwanted advance, Staton and Brown attacked him. They left with two of Canora's cars and some porn films.

A man was found beaten to death in his basement Saturday. Fifty-seven year old John Canora had been missing for the past few weeks, and on Saturday, a friend or relative went to his 96th Street Howard Beach home to check on him. A side door was unlocked, and the police were called when blood was found on the walls. When they looked at the basement, Canora's body was found in a drainage ditch.

The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating why 28 year old black man ran into the Belt Highway, where he was hit by a car. Eyewitnesses say that two white men "struggled with" and "forced" Michael Sandy into traffic on Sunday night. Given that Sandy's race and the fact he was in Plumb Beach, a gay cruising area off the highway, the police have been investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. The Post has this account:

At about 9:40 p.m., he was confronted by two young white men, who began looking through the interior of the vehicle before Sandy ran off toward the Belt, witnesses told cops.

Continue reading "Police Investigate Belt Parkway Hit-and-Run"

One of the many things I love about this town is that there are a thousand places where you might find yourself saying, “It doesn’t even feel like I’m in New York City anymore.” I started driving a yellow cab, in large part, to try to find as many of those places as I could.

An ugly tale from this weekend unfolded from the Queens District Attorney's office. Two white men were charged with beating two Chinese-Americans in Douglaston, and then tried to get away from police later on by crashing into the police cruiser and hurting the officers. From the DA's press release:

District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal charges, four Asian males – Reynold Liang, 19, John Lu, 19, David Wu, 19, and Wing Chung Poon – were in a white Lexus at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2006, when the defendants [19 year old Kevin] Brown and [20 year old Paul] Heavey pulled up alongside of them in a 1998 Toyota and began cursing and shouting racial slurs. At one point, the defendants allegedly drove behind Liang’s Lexus and intentionally rammed it. Fearful, Liang drove away in an attempt to escape from the two defendants. Believing he had eluded the defendants, he pulled over at the intersection of 44th Avenue and Douglaston Parkway, where victim Lu got out of the car to inspect the damage to the rear of the Lexus. As he did so, the defendants reappeared. Exiting their vehicle and approaching Lu, the defendants allegedly punched him about the head and body, causing him to suffer lacerations requiring multiple stitches and substantial pain, including several loose teeth. During the attack the defendants are alleged to have uttered more racial slurs. In coming to his friend’s aid, victim Liang was also allegedly punched and kicked about the head and body by the defendants. Crawling back to his car, Liang picked up “The Club” which was then allegedly grabbed from him by the defendants who used it to hit him numerous times about the head and body, causing him to sustain a possible fractured skull and substantial pain to his chest.

Continue reading "Asians Targeted in Queens Hate Crime Attack"

Oh, Fred the cat - and detective - everyone misses you! After news of your death, all the major papers are giving you your due. with the Daily News calling you a "claws celebre" and Newsday reliving your brave bust of a fake vet in Brooklyn. The NY Times' Michael Brick, who wrote about Fred the Cat back in February in a staccato, noirish tone eulogizes Fred in a similar way and also explains how Fred ran into the street from owner Brooklyn ADA Carol Moran's home:

At home in Howard Beach, Queens, Fred settled into an indoor life of chases and naps and sudden pounces. There was air-conditioning. There were sunbeams.

Continue reading "Fred the Cat Dearly Missed By All"

Tonight, Gothamist will definitely be watching Tabloid Wars, the reality show that follows the innerworkings of the Daily News. While the reviews have noted it's perhaps more mild than we'd want it, we're excited to see the city beat reporters in action. New York magazine's John Leonard wrote in his review, "By the end of the second hour, you will probably decide, as I did, that the tireless Kerry Burke is our hero, not only because he sounds public-school instead of preppy and always talks to strangers with respect, but because he hates celebrity stories."

Nick Minucci, who was on trial for beating a black man in Howard Beach, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Queens DA had charged Minucci with a hate crime when he repeatedly hit Glenn Moore with a baseball bat in June 2005, given Minucci's use of the "n-word," which sparked a discussion of what's in a word when jurors were selected. Minucci continued to deny racism motivated his actions, telling the court after being sentenced:

"I accept responsibility for my actions 100 percent. This had nothing to do with race. This had to do with me going to defend a friend. This was a hate crime because of Howard Beach."

- And the Howard Beach hate crime victim will sue his attackers

Since I’ve dubbed myself The Hungry Cabbie, I thought my first post as Gothamist’s outer borough food correspondent should be about a classic eating institution that absolutely every cabbie should know: New Park Pizzeria.

A jury was selected for the trial of Nicholas Minucci, who was charged with a bias attack after beating a black man in Howard Beach last June. The jury includes four whites, four blacks, three Hispanics, and one Asian, but more interesting is how the jury was selected and how the defense seems to be approaching the trial. Prosecutors charged Minucci with a hate crime because he said, "What up n-----" during his attack on Glenn Moore (Moore suffered a fractured skull from the beating administered by Minucci and his friends in the middle of the night). The NY Times says Minucci's defense "is expected to suggest that a young man growing up in a mixed neighborhood in New York City uses 'the N word' as a matter of course and that the word no longer carries the racially charged overtones it has historically." The defense asked potential jurors if they were offended by the "n word" while prosecutors asked the jury pool if they listened to rap music. Minucci's mother Maria said the trial was a way for the Queens DA to get publicity and said of the word of the day, "Every kid in the neighborhood uses it. It doesn't mean the same thing anymore. They all say it all day long, no matter what race. They all grow up saying it now... All of Nick's friends — black, white, Spanish, Chinese — they all use the word. You should hear when they talk on the phone to him in jail. "

Yesterday, there were two separate hate crimes in Brooklyn and Manhattan. A black man was beaten and robbed by a group of white men in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn, while a man was attacked by men yelling anti-gay slurs as he and another man were on their way to a Chelsea Bar. Alex Moore was beaten by the a group, which had a baseball bat and an iron pipe. The Brooklyn incident was only broken up when a car stopped to help Moore. Moore told the police and Brooklyn district attorney that he "was called the n-word," as D.A. Charles Hynes said, making the beating a bias crime. Unlike Howard Beach where there was a recent racial attack, Mill Basin is racially mixed, and the NY Times said the "generally peaceful, integrated" community was shocked.

The city is still reeling from the racial attack on three black men, which resulted in a serious head injury for one, in Howard Beach. It was revealed that 19 year-old Nicholas Minucci, the first man arrested, had previously been arrested for beating a Sikh man after September 11, allegedly saying, "F---ing Arab! Why don't you blow this up!" Another man, Anthony Ench, was arrested, while the third member of the group, Frankie Agostini, turned himself in with his police detective father and was not charged (he's a witness). The Daily News and Post point out that Minucci aspired to a kind of hip-hop, "blingy" life, wearing a $6,000 Rolex, $4,000 gold chain and driving his cousin's $60,000 car.

Early yesterday morning, three black men who were walking in the predominantly white neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens, were attacked by white men. Two of the men managed to flee, but one, Glenn Moore, had tripped on a curb was beaten badly by the attacked; he now has a fractured skull. The police are calling this a hate crime, as the attackers allegedly used racial epithets. The three black men, Moore, Richard Pope and Richard Walker, told the authorities they were in the area looking for a Chrysler 300 to steal and wandered into Howard Beach; Nicholas Minucci passed by them in his car, and then returned with his friends. Minucci was arrested and confessed to the crime; the police are still looking for his friends.