The recent shooting of 15-year-old Yvette Marie Torres and lack of progress in finding the person who shot her has led a group of concerned residents, from the Bronx, Queens and even Massachusetts, to take the investigation into their own hands.
The group, led by Nelson Figueroa, a childhood friend of Yvette's mother, have organized a "Rally for Yvette" this Saturday at 2396 Valentine Avenue, near the corner of E. 187th Street, just below Fordham Road. That's where Yvette was shot after apparently standing up to a bully during a party. They created a "Rally for Yvette" Facebook page to advertise the event.
Figueroa also set up a phone number (347-670-3843) and an e-mail address (JUSTICE4EVIE@gmail.com) so witnesses and or anyone with information about the shooting, who might not feel comfortable dealing with police, could come forward.
According to Figueroa, Yvette was taken out of a medically-induced coma yesterday and given two days to respond. Doctors were checking for brain activity, he said.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Bronx Crime Watch: Rally for Yvette (Updated)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Bronx News Roundup, June 14
Morning, Bronxites! Your weather forecast for today calls for some cooler weather, with temperatures hanging around the low 60s, and a chance of rain this afternoon.
Story of the Day: Getting Down to the Wire in Albany
It's the last week of business for our state legislators before this year's session ends on Monday and they adjourn until January--meaning just five more (business) days to tackle a number of high profile issues and turn some bills into law. As we wrote yesterday, a slew of Bronx representatives are pushing to pass stronger state rent laws before the week ends, including Assemblyman Jose Rivera, who was arrested during a lively protest outside Gov. Cuomo's office.
While the rent issue still lingers, the Senate and Assembly quickly passed an ethics reform bill yesterday. The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 will supposedly keep a closer eye on lawmakers and lobbyists for signs of corruption and conflicts of interest, establishing an independent ethics commission to keep watch over things, and requiring lawmakers to fully disclose sources of income.
Other items still on the legislative agenda this week: a property tax cap and same-sex marriage. Bronx Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., is now the lone Democrat opposing gay marriage. Three other Dems who'd previously been against it, and one Republican, announced yesterday that they now intend to vote yes.
Quick Hits:
Jerome Raguso, owner of Gino's Pastry Shop in Belmont, is taking a delicious stand: he sent City Council members a batch of empty cannoli shells, sans the cream filling, to protest budget cuts to arts and civic groups. The missing cream symbolizes "just how much the city's small businesses need its leading attractions," the Daily News writes.
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested for the weekend shooting of 15-year-old DeWitt Clinton student Yvette Torres.
Residents at a number of NYCHA housing complexes in the South Bronx and Manhattan are demanding that the authority make needed repairs on their apartments.
Giant rats are taking over a neighborhood in Pelham Bay.
The Bronx Re-entry Working Group is trying to help the formerly incarcerated turn their lives around.
A ring of 16 Bronx residents were arraigned yesterday for allegedly scamming car insurance companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Grim LeRogue, the man arrested in October for storming the field at Yankee Stadium and writing threatening notes to player Alex Rodriguez (similar to a bizarre letter sent to one of our publications, the Norwood News), was sentenced to community service yesterday.
A potential strike of union workers at retail department chain Macy's could mean a shutdown for the store's Parkchester branch, and three other city locations.
More drama in the Bronx NYPD ticket-fixing scandal.
Police are looking for a man suspected of robbing and sexually assaulting a South Bronx woman; photo at the link.
