Reclining her hospital bed yesterday, the 66-year-old Harlem woman who took a stray bullet in the leg in Harlem Wednesday sent a strong message to Mayor Bloomberg about what Harlem needs: "Bloomberg's getting in there and making the place look fancy and all of that, but it's not safe and people won't want to come here," Virginia Valree told the Daily News.
"If he could purify the city instead of beautifying it, that's what's needed. People are running away from New York now. Something needs to be done." She also revealed to the Post that in the days before she was shot, she had been praying for Vada Vasquez, the 15-year-old girl who caught a stray bullet in the skull. Valree doesn't blame God for answering her prayers in an extremely mysterious way, but she has lost her faith in New York.
Valree, who's lived here for almost 50 years, said Wednesday's misfortune may finally drive her away: "My family [in Virginia] have been trying to get me to leave. Now they're really going to be on my tail." She was delivering groceries to a sick friend when a bullet struck her left leg and knocked her into traffic on West 135th Street. No arrests have been made, and she explained, "The bullet's still in there. It's not nice."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg was at Gracie Mansion today with local community leaders to discuss what's to be done about all these youths squeezing off rounds like Jiffy Pop whenever they detect the slightest disrespect. Bloomberg asked the gathering, "Do they listen to the D.J., or the clergy or the coach? What we have done hasn’t reached them." He also had some harsh criticism for one of the victim's in Monday's Bronx shoot-out, 19-year-old Tyrone Creighton: "Half of his family was in and out of Rikers. It is a dysfunctional family, and they don’t have the guidance at home."
The Rev. Al Sharpton also met privately with Bloomberg today, and when City Room asked if Bloomberg was out of touch, Sharpton replied, "A lot of people have been out of touch."
