Hate Crime and Domestic Violence Stats, by Neighborhood, to be Posted Online

A new City Council bill, signed into law yesterday by Mayor Bloomberg, will soon require the city to post neighborhood hate crime and domestic violence statistics online. The information, which should go up over the next few months, will be on the city's "My Neighborhood Statistics" site, where you'll be able to search out the number of reported incidents by police precinct, community board, or school district.

"These statistics will enable local residents and advocates to more easily and effectively monitor trends in these two crimes," said Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, who co-sponsored the bill with fellow Bronx Council Members Fernando Cabrera, Oliver Koppell and Annabel Palma.

Violent crime is up this year, across the city. The new requirement also comes on the heels of last month's bias attacks, where men from a Bronx street gang beat several other men who they believed were gay.

You can check out the "My Neighborhood Statistics" site here. The city already posts numbers on rape, larceny, and other crimes, along with a ton of other neighborhood stats.

Seven Arrested in Bronx Bias Attacks

Big Bronx crime news. Police say a group of nine young men held two teenagers and a 30-year-old man hostage in an empty Morris Heights apartment and then beat and tortured them over the course of several hours last weekend while hurling anti-gay slurs at them.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly held a press conference this afternoon to announce the arrest of seven of the nine suspects, while two remain at large.

The emerging details are gruesome. One of the teenagers was “thrown into a wall, made to strip naked, hit in the head with a beer can, cut with a box cutter and sodomized with the wooden handle of a plunger,” said Kelly, according to a story on the Times' City Room blog.

The 30-year-old man was forced to drink 10 cans of beer, beaten with a chain and sodomized with a baseball bat, Kelly said. The other teenager was forced to burn the man with a cigarette.

The suspects are all members of a group called The Latin King Goonies, but Kelly said they weren't affiliated with the Latin Kings street gang.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. quickly released a statement condemning the attacks. “The news of these hate crimes sadden us all, and I am grateful that the NYPD has moved so quickly against those responsible for these homophobic attacks. Bronxites will not tolerate any form of bigotry in our borough, and we stand together as 1.4 million residents to condemn these actions and to oppose hatred in all its forms,” Diaz Jr. said.

Here's the Post story and the Daily News story. NY1 has some video of Kelly's press conference.

Bronx news Roundup, Oct.6

The Bronx Zoo has many tricks up its sleeve this year, with Halloween attractions for everyone.

Bronx resident Jose Soto decided to bring color to his neighborhood by building a casita that would remind him of his home in Puerto Rico. Today, it is one of the oldest houses in the city and was featured as the centerpiece in the 1991 exhibit “Las Casitas: An Urban Cultural Alternative.” An updated version of the exhibit, to mark its 20th anniversary, opens tonight at the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College.

The Bronx knows what’s cooking: 30 restaurants in the borough made the pages of Zagat’s 2011 best dining guide. Some of the newcomers joining the list this year include Italian restaurant Ann & Tony’s on Arthur Avenue, the Chinese restaurant New Hawaii Sea on Westchester Square, and NYY Steak at 161st Street.

Asian Bronx immigrants say they have had enough of the assaults they call hate crimes. At a press conference yesterday, residents demanded more police patrol in the Parkchester area, saying Bangladeshi immigrants there have suffered 25 assaults over the past two months. Police, however, argue there isn't enough evidence to support that the attacks were biased.

Video confession of a 25-year-old woman admitting she killed a beloved grandmother may be enough evidence to convict her, prosecutors say.

The African-rooted percussion and dance tradition bomba y plena is being celebrated at Hostos Center for Arts and Culture this week at BomPlenazo, with a new performer taking the stage every night through Sunday.

The body of a missing pregnant woman was found yesterday in a car parked next to a Bronx police station.

The New York Times and NBC's "Today Show," shadowed a college admissions officer as he visited two Bronx high schools, Dewitt Clinton and Bronx Science.  Video at the link.

Espada: Assaults are 'Hate Crimes'

This afternoon, State Senator Pedro Espada, Assemblyman Nelson Castro, and others, held a press conference on Walton Avenue at East 182nd Street, to bring attention to a recent spate of vicious assaults in the neighborhood.

Police say a group of men of Dominican origin have been deliberately targeting Mexican immigrants. Last Saturday, the group allegedly shouted anti-Mexican slurs at two men before attacking them. Another man was assaulted on Sunday in similar circumstances, and another on Monday. At least one of the victims was stabbed.

“Obviously these are hate crimes we are dealing with,” said Espada, the Senate's majority leader. “There is a tidal wave of hate crime against immigrants in the Bronx, in New York City, in New York State, and throughout this country.”

He said he's offering a $1,000 reward – “my personal money” – to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators. He also talked about bringing together local clergy, community leaders, police, and youth, to form a "task force" with the aim of changing the perception some people have of immigrants.

“Our Mexican brothers and sisters have earned the right to be respected and to be protected in their homes and in their community," added Rev. Katrina Foster, pastor of nearby Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church. "They have come here to contribute and not to take away.”

PHOTO: Pedro Espada (talking) and Nelson Castro (right)