A fire broke out at 1793 Sedgwick Avenue just before 4 a.m. and WCBS 2 reports, "A New York City firefighter and several civilians suffered serious injuries after the staircase collapsed. The destruction of the stairway has also left several people stranded on the building’s top floor." WABC 7 adds, "Firefighters were forced to make numerous rescues, helping women and young children on fire escapes. The residents will not be able to return home because officials say the stairwell in the apartment building is compromised." It's believed that the civilians' and firefighter's injuries are not life-threatening. more ›

A city-run apartment building for homeless families has put a Bronx toddler in danger—twice this week. Five days after Dymond Salgado and her family were forced to leave one apartment in their Grand Concourse building because the two-year-old was suffering from lead poisoning, a ceiling collapsed in their new apartment, covering the child in "debris and plaster teeming with water bugs and centipedes." more ›

Yesterday, police found a woman's body, wrapped in plastic bags, in an alley off Walton Avenue in the Bronx. According to the Daily News, "A woman called police to say her boyfriend had helped get rid of a body outside the Walton Ave. apartment building... The tipster told cops she had a guilty conscience and said her boyfriend had confessed to her that he helped another man dump the body." The ME's office will determine cause of death and the Post says the victim was apparently a Jehovah's Witness who lived with her mother in the building. The News reports that it seems the victim had been dead for a few days, adding that the super "said he used Clorox to clean the Morris Heights building's elevator after tenants complained about a smell. Still, the odor lingered." more ›

Gotham Gazette has an excellent look at the effects of "a housing bust" by Queens College demographer Andrew Beveridge. This map shows how much income goes towards mortgages; Beveridge notes:

The median income of those paying less than 30 percent of their income on housing is $120,900. For those paying between 30 and 50 percent of their income, though, the median is $74,390, and for those paying over 50 percent the median income is $39,900. more ›

- Employment and training incentives will promote increased employment and earnings or combine work activities with specific job training activities. For instance, exemplary attendance in elementary could earn $25 every two months, while exemplary high school attendance earns $50. Getting high scores on exams is worth $200-300, and things like going for check-ups or keeping a job would also be rewards. The city estimates families will earn $3,000-5,000. more ›

Witnesses were able to pick Nicholas Morris out of a lineup related to the Easter shooting death of 2 year old David Pacheco Jr. yesterday, and Morris was charged with two counts of murder. Police are still looking for Ronneil "Burger" Gilliam, who they believe was with Morris when they got into a fight with another group of young people in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. The NY Times has two sides of Morris, who turned himself in on Monday for the accidental crime: Friends and neighbors were shocked by the crime, noting that he worked with kids in an after school program while the Bronx DA sees Morris' history of arrests, though for petty offenses. At any rate, police had to escort Morris to the station under high security, as onlookers yelled at him angrily.
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