Bronx Crime Watch: Still Waiting on Neighborhood Crime Stats

Don't think we've forgotten about this, NYPD. As we've said repeatedly: These neighborhood crime statistics would be an invaluable resource for citizens. It's our contention that precinct-wide crime numbers are almost completely useless if we still don't know, specifically, where the crimes are happening. Our count-up (see below) starts from when we first formally requested sector stats for the 52nd Precinct last June. In October of last year we requested sector stats for every precinct in the borough. We received initial form response letters from the NYPD, but no statistics. For some background, see our Norwood News' editorial here.

Bronx Crime Watch: Granny Robbery Suspect Sought

Bronx robbery suspect Tyrone Rosario

Police say they are looking for assistance in locating Tyrone Rosario (pictured), 40, who they say is wanted in connection with six robberies of elderly women in the 48th and 52nd precincts between April 23 and May 9.

Rosario is described as being 5-feet-5-inches tall and weighing 120 pounds.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477) or submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers' website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577.

All calls are confidential.

Clock Ticking on NYPD Freedom of Information Request for Neighborhood Crime Stats

We’ll keep tallying the days until the NYPD fulfills its duty to provide basic public information to the citizens it has sworn to protect. For more, see here.

Bronx Crime Watch (Editorial): Clock Ticking on NYPD Freedom of Information Request for Neighborhood Crime Stats

Editor's Note: This editorial appeared in last week's issue of the Norwood News. We will continue to display this counter (above) until the NYPD releases sector statistics for every Bronx police precinct.

Editorial: NYPD Hides Neighborhood Crime Stats

The NYPD has been proud to trumpet plummeting crime stats over the last 15 years or so. Citywide and precinct-wide crime stats are easy to come by. But when it comes to information about crime in your neighborhood or on your block, well, not so much.

A little history:

In early 2008, the Norwood News asked James Alles, then commander of the 52nd Precinct, for the previous year’s crime stats broken down broken down by the precinct’s 15 sectors.

No problem, Alles said, directing a lieutenant to print out the stats. It took all of two minutes.

The statistics allowed us to publish a map showing crime trends in specific neighborhoods, something residents have long sought. We received loads of positive feedback from readers.

“Although I feel safe in my neighborhood, evidently our autos are targets,” one reader said. “Is it possible to receive these reports on a sector basis each month? The overall report for the entire precinct does not really inform the public about their own neighborhood.”

Months later, we asked Alles about doing a follow-up piece. He smiled sheepishly and shook his head. He told us the published sector stats had landed him in hot water with NYPD brass and that we would have to go through the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information (DCPI) at police headquarters if we wanted more sector stats.

In December 2008, when we asked for the year’s sector stats, DCPI said we would have to file a formal Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. So, we FOILed. A month later (government agencies are required to respond within five business days of receiving the request) the NYPD wrote us saying they probably had the records but that it would take them three months to dig up the same information that it took the 52nd Precinct two minutes to produce.

By mid-March, three months after filing the request, we wrote an editorial saying the delay was unacceptable. The day the article was published, the NYPD called us and then faxed over the stats. It probably took them two minutes.

Now, here we are again, waiting on the NYPD.

Bronx Crime Watch: Suspect Wanted for Mugging Old Ladies

Police say the man running in the above video is wanted for brutally mugging six old ladies (ages 64 to 81) in the Bronx's 48th and 52nd precincts over the past month. Exact locations of the robberies are unavailable, but the suspect's M.O. is the same in each case. He pushes or punches his elderly female victims and then takes their money. In one instance, the woman fought the attacker off before he could steal her money.

On victim described the attack to the Daily News: "I didn't see [the suspect's] face. He grabbed my face and put his hand over my mouth because I was screaming. He didn't say anything. He scratched my face, and he made my mouth bleed. He went through my pockets. He got 50 cents. All that for 50 cents."

The video, police say, shows the suspect running away after his assaulting his fifth victim on May 4. Below is a still photo of the suspect.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477) or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Embattled Commander of Bronx's 52nd Precinct Replaced

D'Adamo at his desk at the 52nd Precinct in early 2010.

New York City precinct commanders, by rule, don't stay in their jobs long -- two, maybe three years, tops. Then, they move on. It's an unofficial policy the NYPD employs to avoid stagnation or possible corruption.

On Monday, however, the commanding officer of the 52n Precinct, Deputy Inspector John D'Adamo was replaced less than 17 months after taking over the job and less than a month after his wife was caught lying to Clarkstown police about being attacked, a story that made headlines in the city and upstate.

The 40-year-old D'Adamo -- a rising star in the NYPD who took on his first commanding role as head of the 50th Precinct in 2008 at the age of 37 -- will be replaced by Deputy Inspector Joseph Dowling, formerly the commanding officer of Manhattan's 33rd Precinct, which covers Washington Heights. On Tuesday night, Dowling introduced himself at Community Board 7's general board meeting at Scott Towers in Bedford Park. Dowling said he spent more than five years at his last post.

It happened so quickly, the NYPD has yet to change the information on its website. That isn't surprising, but D'Adamo's tenure in the Five-Two does appear to have come to an abrupt end. 

A series of unfortunate events led up to D'Adamo's departure.

Journey into the Heart of Transgender Prostitution in the Bronx

Ed. note: This story appears in the latest issue of the Norwood News, which is out on the streets now. Pick up your copy today.

It’s a slow Monday night for Bianca, a transgender prostitute who operates on the corner of East 192nd Street and Davidson Avenue -- a quiet residential intersection near St. James Park, a place where the “tranny” sex trade has flourished, to the chagrin of local residents, for more than a decade.

“What are you doing here?” Bianca asks a potential customer, smiling coyly. “You’re looking good.”

Bianca’s hair is pulled back tight against her skull, a frizzy, kink of thick dark hair puffs out into a pony tail. Her heavily made-up face is highlighted by voluptuous dark red, almost purple, lips, and big dangling, gold-colored hoop earrings.

“I’m slumming it tonight,” she says, looking down at her baggy, gray-hooded sweatshirt, tight black skinny jeans and high tops. She is tall, but slender. Her sharp jaw line and wide shoulders give off just a whiff of masculinity.

Like the majority of the dozen or so prostitutes who ply their trade here, Bianca has male genitalia, but lives her life as a woman. Off and on, she takes hormones, but for the time being isn’t interested in having full gender re-assignment surgery.

Bianca is 27, she says, and has worked as a prostitute near Davidson and 192nd ever since she was 16.

“My best friend got me into it,” Bianca says. “She was doing it and was making a lot of money at it.” She’s thought about trying to get out, she says, but the money is too good. She earns enough to afford her own apartment on the Grand Concourse and usually only works a few hours a day.

On this Monday night, it’s 11:30 p.m. It’s been two hours and still no customers.

Arrests Made, But Shootings Continue in the Five-Two

After the shooting (Photo: Greene)

By David Greene and Alex Kratz

A wild, sprawling shootout in the Knox-Gates neighborhood in Norwood last Friday night left four people injured, two of them with gunshot wounds.

None of the injuries were life-threatening and police say the shooters were arrested, but the incident underscores a continuing rise in the number of shooting incidents and victims in the 52nd Precinct, which stretches from Norwood to University Heights.

Through August, not including this incident in Knox-Gates or another shooting on Decature Avenue, there had been 20 shooting in the 52nd Precinct this year, compared to 12 during the same period last year. Last year, through August, there had been 14 victims. This year, not including the latest incidents, there had been 25 victims through August.

“It’s frustrating right now,” said Deputy Inspector John D’Adamo, the commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct.

On Friday night, just before 9 p.m., Sept. 17, police were called to Knox Place, between West Gun Hill Road and West Mosholu Parkway North, with reports of a person shot. When they arrived on the scene, they discovered four people wounded -- two Hispanic teenage males with gunshot wounds and two girls who were injured when they fell while ducking bullets.

The altercation allegedly began at the Twin Donut shop on Jerome Avenue, but police had several crime scenes established along Knox Place, Gates Place and W. Mosholu Parkway North.

D’Adamo said the scenes were established around where police found bullets, but that those involved in the shootout were “running from each other” along Knox Place. He said the alleged shooter was apprehended in a car with a loaded firearm, along with two other suspects, near Harris Field in Bedford Park. One of them, Jose Guzman, 17, was charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of firearm, according to a police spokesperson.

D’Adamo said the suspect arrested for the shooting was from Manhattan and that there was a reason he was in the area. Despite the Knox-Gates neighborhood’s reputation for heavy drug trafficking, D’Adamo said the incident did not appear to be drug related.

In 2007, one drug-related shooting left a teenager paralyzed. That same year, another apparently non-drug-related shooting left four young men from Tracey Towers, just across Mosholu Parkway, with gunshot wounds.

One resident who asked not to be identified said, "The police are not patrolling as much as they should, because there are a lot of gangs around here . . . they’re not doing enough."

Earlier last week, police arrested another suspect in a shooting incident at 2860 Decatur Ave.

While shooting incidents continue to pile up, D’Adamo said he’s happy his officers are making arrests and still “extremely proud of the men and women of the 52nd Precinct.”

52nd Precinct Treating Death of Homeless Man as an Accident

Last week, the Norwood News published an in-depth look at the death of a local homeless man named Billy Murphy, aka "Peanut."

Most of the people we spoke with, including friends and others who knew him, believed Murphy was savagely beaten, either before or after falling.  Murphy, who had a serious drinking problem and bad legs, was prone to falling and friends say he could be combative, especially when drunk.

Vicar Bob Rainis of Epiphany Lutheran Church, a former NYPD homicide detective who gave Murphy his last rites hours before he died on Sunday, Aug. 15, said Murphy's wounds indicated that he had suffered more than just a fall.

"I think he went down, but the other wounds indicate it must be the result of a violent altercation," he said. 

But today, Deputy Inspector John D'Adamo said 52nd Precinct detectives had gathered no evidence that pointed to Murphy being the victim of a beating prior to his death. D'Adamo said detectives spoke with at least one witness who told them they had seen Murphy on the night before he went into a coma and that it looked like he had suffered a head wound. When the witnessed asked him what happened, Murphy replied, "I fell," according to D'Adamo.

Rainis said he had heard a similar story, but that something must have happened to Murphy between that point and when somebody called 911 to say they had found Murphy unconscious."There's a 20 to 25 minute period where nobody can attest to what happened to him," Rainis said.

D'Adamo said the investigation was still ongoing and that Medical Examiner's Office was still in the process of completing its analysis. He added that his detectives were all ears if somebody wanted to come forward with new evidence or information. The Medical Examiner's Office did not immediately return phone calls seeking information.

Muphy's death was the latest in as string of what appear to be violent incidents involving the local homeless population. D'Adamo said he wasn't aware of any trends that would suggest people were targeting the this population, but added that he would look into the matter.

New from the Norwood News

The forces of nature could not derail the latest edition of the Norwood News from hitting the streets and appearing online this week. Here's a little preview of what we have in store.

We have a slightly tweaked version of the story we originally ran in this space on Monday about activist Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter's possible run for the senate seat occupied by Pedro Espada, Jr. (We hear Pilgrim-Hunter is holding a fundraiser tonight. These are the types of events that will determine if she's in it for the long haul.)

A profile on the energetic new commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct. Plus an editorial on his prospects and how the NYPD can help communities police themselves. (Here's a hint: it's by providing them with more detailed information about where crime is happening in the neighborhoods they live in.)

In other crime news, we have a story on the two 52nd Precinct cops who were suspended after a video surfaced of them beating a hand-cuffed suspect. Also, there's a brief about the precinct's first murder of 2010. 

The COVE, a youth center in the Knox-Gates neighborhood, has reopened under new (old) leadership and a new focus.

DeWitt Clinton High School just opened a brand new Business Center.

Speaking of high schools, the Bronx Science boys basketball team compiled more wins this year than the last two combined and almost made the postseason.

A team of doctors from Montefiore Medical Center, just back from Haiti, tell their story about participating in the massive post-earthquake relief effort.

Plus: find free programs and services throughout the Bronx in our expanded Neighborhood Notes section (seriously, this page is packed with invaluable info) . . . find out what's going on arts and entertainment-wise in or Out and About section . . . and our Inquiring Photographer asks readers what they think about the looming city budget cuts.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 30

An off-duty NYPD sergeant says he was racially profiled and roughed up by two police officers from the 52nd Precinct, while visiting his girlfriend.

A Bronx man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a woman in Connecticut in 1986.

The city is to relax alternate side parking laws in parts of the north west Bronx.

A Bronx cyclist is suing the NYPD after he was knocked down by a police car near the Macombs Dam Bridge.

Mount St. Michael Academy, a high school for boys in Wakefield, recently won a basketball tournament in upstate New York.

According to State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., the politicians charged with determining Hiram Monserrate's fate are a "big bunch of racists."

A 770-unit affordable housing complex is to be built in Melrose.

A stretch of marshland in Mott Haven - one the city claimed to have cleaned up and dried out -  isn't so clean or dry after all.

Bronx News Roundup July 20

Symphony Space and the Bronx Museum of the Arts recently commissioned a musical piece by jazz musician Arturo O'Farrill in honor of native Bronxite Sonia Sotomayor, who has been nominated to the Supreme Court by President Obama. The composition will be performed by O'Farrill and his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra on November 5 and 6 at Symphony Space.

A recent medical study following pregnant women from the South Bronx and upper Manhattan found that the mothers who breathed in smog while pregnant gave birth to children with lower IQs than children who were not prenatally exposed to smog.

A Bronx Supreme Court Judge is debating whether to throw out his conviction of a Bronx landlord after a 2005 fire causing two firefighter deaths because a member of the jury sent complimentary messages to a firefighter who testified at the case through Facebook.

The New York City Police Department is drastically cutting its budget, but the crime rate is still dropping. At a recent police meeting, the Bronx borough commander argued to keep specialized officers on the streets of the 52nd Precinct, but higher-up police officers wanted to move the officers to a different precinct with more crime. At the end of the meeting, the 52nd Precinct kept the special officers, but it remains unclear how long these officers will remain in the area, especially since the Department will have to decrease their number of officers.

Today, Senator Charles Schumer and Bronx housing advocates will insist that Fannie Mae find a buyer for their mortgages of 19 Bronx buildings in disrepair instead of selling the mortgages through an online auction. Tenants of these buildings (most of them located in Crotona) feel that if another speculator buys the mortgages for the buildings, conditions will not be improved. Senator Schumer would like a preservation agreement to ensure that the buildings will be cared for by the future buyer.

Yesterday, the New York Daily News published a report declaring that heroin is gaining popularity in New York City. Their evidence includes the monumental heroin drug bust in Riverdale over July 4th weekend.

The New York Times published a profile of Arthur Avenue over the weekend. It is still one of the best locales for quality Italian food and grocery shopping.

What do you think about crime in your neighborhood?

[See update below]

Last week, the Norwood News published crime statistics for every sector in the 52nd Precinct, which is one of the biggest precinct's in the Bronx and in the city.

The idea was to give readers an idea of what's going in their specific neighborhood, not just the entire precinct, which is made up of several neighborhoods.

Here's a copy of the the 52nd Precinct crime maps for 2008.

Basically, we just want to start a discussion this week on how you feel about the crime in your neighborhood, whether it's in the Five-Two or any other precinct here in the Bronx.

Just click on the comments icon at the bottom of this post. Let us know your thoughts and we'll post a round-up of all the comments at the end of the week.

Do you feel safe in your neighborhood? Do you feel like crime has gone down? Do you think the police are doing a good job? Are there things you're concerned about?

We want to know what you think.

[Update, Thursday afternoon]

-Here's a link to some crime theories we laid out on Tuesday.

-Vote in our reader poll on the top right hand side of this page.

-Megan Taylor, a fan of the Everyblock blog writes that their efforts to compile local crime stats are limited to what the NYPD puts out in their weekly Compstat reports. For the record, we would like to praise the NYPD for providing these stats to the Norwood News. The only other precinct we have sector stats for is the 50th, courtesy of the Riverdale Press.

-Keep the comments coming.

NYPD Frees Up Local Crime Stats

The latest issue of the Norwood News, including an editorial criticizing the Police Department for obstructing access to local crime stats, hit the streets this morning. A couple of hours later, we got a phone call from NYPD headquarters telling us that the crime statistics we'd been seeking since December - broken down neighborhood-by-neighborhood - were on its way to our fax machine. Lo and behold, there it was.

Coincidence or not, we're glad the NYPD finally complied with our request. The "sector analysis" for 2008 is less than a half page. As we remarked in the editorial, local precinct officials have the capability of producing this extremely basic information practically instantaneously, and they have done so in the past. So, we hope this is the last we've seen of this kind of obstruction from NYPD headquarters.

As for the stats, we'll bring them to you in the next issue of the Norwood News and link to them on the blog.

Confronting Crime: Sunday Meeting at Our Lady of Refuge

Very important meeting this weekend at Our Lady of Refuge, 290 E. 196th St. (Parish Center) at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Basically, community members in the North Fordham area (or Fordham-Bedford, if you prefer), many of whom attend Our Lady of Refuge, want to talk with police about a sharp rise in violent crime in the area.

Here's our story about a recent spate of murders in the area and a police shooting there. Earlier this week, a woman was found murdered close to the church.

This is not the first time residents have asked for more help and accountability from the local police. In November 2007, Deputy Inspector James Alles and other top cops from the 52nd Precinct attended a forum about a surge in crime in the area. Alles is supposed to show up again on Sunday.

Here's a quote from the press release about the event:
>“In addition to needing more police patrol, residents have grown frustrated with slow response time to 911 calls and the lack of police intervention as crimes happen before their eyes. Many residents also report that police donot file police reports after assuring crime victims that they will. This may affect the supposed drop in crime that the NYPD has heralded. Overall, it appears that the NYPD is attempting to contain Bronx crime to the historically-troubled Fordham Beford area.”

In other words, folks are not happy and they want something done about it. Again.

New from the Norwood News

Check out all the new stories from the Norwood News, out on streets and online now!

Crime is down, but hotspots remain hot in the 52nd Precinct.

The constantly evolving plans at the Croton Water Filtration Plant project, including a dramatic design change, may have led to the projects soaring price tag and could lead to unforeseen environmental impacts.

More than a thousand people attended the parish of St. Brendan's 100th year anniversary mass.

A glimpse at the bowling renaissance at Clinton High School.

In an online exclusive this issue, our Inquiring Photographer asks locals what they're doing on election night.

Plus, our 2008 voter's guide, expanded Neighborhood Notes and our Out & About arts and entertainment guide.

Bronx News Roundup July 30

A police officer from the 52nd Precinct has been caught on video tape repeatedly beating an unarmed man with a metal baton in the Lower East Side, according to the Post. The officer, Maurice Harrington, who was working a "special holiday detail" on the day of the attack, has had his gun and badge taken away while the Internal Affairs Bureau investigates. Patrick Lynch, of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, says Harrington's actions were justified.

It's the second time this week that a video tape has surfaced purporting to show a police officer using unnecessary force. In today's Times, columnist Jim Dywer looks at how amateur videography is shining new light on incidents where before the only version of events was the official police version.

A Bronx mom is suing the city after her son, a student at the West Bronx Academy for the Future (located on the Theodore Roosevelt High School campas), was allegely dragged out of school in September last year and falsely charged, she says, with assault and robbery.

It's Wednesday which means the recently launched farmers market on West Mosholu Parkway North at Jerome Avenue is open.

New in the Norwood News

Ladies and gentleman, the latest issue of the Norwood News is out on Bronx streets and online now. Here's a quick preview, with links to our stories:

Two murders rocked the 52nd Precinct two weekends ago, tripling the total homicides for the year.

Fordham Road's express bus service gets an upgrade.

Anna Rogovin, the 91-year-old Norwood resident hit by a semi a couple of weeks ago, is alert, talkative and upbeat despite having both of her legs severed in the accident. Don't miss this heart-warming personal essay.

Advocates of Williamsbridge Oval Park came out in force last week, demanding safety improvements at the local hub from city agencies.

The Bronx council delegation (almost) unanimously supports the mayor's Congestion Pricing initiative.

Plus, an op-ed about immigration reform...volunteers clean the blighted Aqueduct Walk...an extended online version of Neighborhood Notes...and our local entertainment guide.

Enjoy and give us your feedback! Join the conversation!