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By ALAIN GAILLARD
A gang member testified Thursday for the prosecution in Brooklyn Supreme Court that he tried to de-escalate the violence between his clique and a rival gang, which led to the fatal accidental shooting of Carey Gabay, an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during J’Ouvert, a predawn celebration that occurred before West Indian American Day.
Todd Wilkins, aka “The Ghost,” on cross-examination, said that he was aware of the conflict between the two gangs but not the severity of the animosity. He explained that he and a friend were jumped during an altercation by about five or 10 members of the Folk Nation, the gang to which the four alleged members now on trial for the fatal shooting belonged.
“I tried to diffuse the situation,” Wilkins explained, while the four defendants in the courtroom, each flanked by lawyers, looked at him with contempt. “One of them pulled up his shirt to show me his gun. My friend ran, and members of the Folk Nation ran after him; I was obligated to help. That’s when they jumped us,” he added.
The gunfight nearly three years ago was a sad reminder of the continued presence of vicious gangs in New York City. Wilkins, 23, explained that he had been a gang member since he was 12 years old. And the incident drew negative publicity to the festivities on West Indian American Day, prompting some calls to cancel the parade.
One of the weapons used during the barrage of 30 bullets that the police reported were sprayed that night was found on the windshield of a car one month later at Bergen Street, Brooklyn.
Gabay, the son of Jamaican immigrants, was a lover of the parade and relished celebrating his Jamaican heritage by going every year to J’Ouvert. He also was considered a rising star in Democratic state political circles.
It was on September 7, 2015, the shootout broke out in what appeared to be a turf war between the opposing Folk Nation and Eight-Tray Crips gangs. Gabay, 43, a Harvard-educated lawyer, tried to hide behind a car when he was struck in the head by a stray bullet. He died a week later at Kings County Hospital Center.
If convicted, all four alleged members of the Folk Nation face 25 years behind bars.
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By THUYA KYAW
Representatives of the new CUNY school of labor and urban studies, which is expected to open in August, requested additional funding of $800,000 from the city during their meeting with the City Council committees on Higher Education and Civil Service and Labor on Thursday.
Council members Inez D. Barron and I. Daneek Miller, who head the committees, were among those who heard the testimony by CUNY officials who are changing the approach of the existing Murphy Institute from general topics to a focus on labor and urban studies.
“The school would be a success if a lot of leaders in this country can claim it one day,” said Vita Rabinowitz, the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost at CUNY, on her visions for the school.
The plan to refocus the institute started in February 2014, but was held back after a task force established by CUNY stalled the plan over concerns raised by the Labor Advisory Board.
Eventually,the CUNY Board of Trustees approved a resolution to establish a new school of Labor and Urban Studies in June, giving them just a little more than a year to implement a transitioning plan.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved $2 million for services and expenses, and $1.5 million for additional fees. However, CUNY is requesting the extra $800,000to get the school up and running smoothly this year.
Four-hundred students currently enrolled at the Murphy Institute will be transferred to the new school, and the first semester expected to begin with 15 faculty members.
“Our students will be earning a degree of urban and labor studies and this is important,” said Dr. Greg Mantsios, who was named founding dean of the school.
“They will recognize that this isn’t a field that is buried.”
Two scholarships will be offered to students, for diversity and labor scholarship and tuition assistance scholarship.
Students will also have an unlimited access to the library in Baruch College, which will include special privileges like taking out books and laptops.
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By THUY KYAW
The sound of bagpipes echoed around Washington Square Park on a rainy Thursday morning as the city honored one of its bravest.
The New York City Fire Department and New York University hosted a joint memorial service for a Fire Marshal and fallen local airman, who was killed earlier this month along with seven others in a helicopter crash at the Iraq-Syria border.
Christopher Zanetis, known by his nickname Tripp, was deployed by the Air National Guard where he was trained to fly the Air Force combat search and rescue chopper.
“He loved New York, he loved the people and the values,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who attended both the procession through the Park and ceremony at NYU’s Kimmel Center. “He loved New York and New York loved him right back.”
The ceremony, which was named “Celebration of Life” in the memory of Zanetis, started around 10:30 a.m. as his coffin was carried into the park by fellow firefighters for the funeral service.
Firefighters in their uniforms, members in the US air force and friends and family were present to bid final goodbyes to the firefighter-turned-soldier
Zanetis was an NYU alumnus, graduating with honors in political science a decade ago and serving as president of student body.
“As NYU President, I often talk about the types of students we hope to nurture,” said Andrew Hamilton. “Tripp was the perfect example of that.”
The 9/11 attacks, however, made him reconsider his future in politics as they inspired him to join the fire department.
He then moved on to the Air National Guard in 2008 after four years in the fire department, and managed to graduate from Stanford Law School last year while on still active duty.
“Tripp could have been anything in life but he chose to be one of us,” said Firer Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
He had interned with the Office of Legal Affairs at NATO Headquarters in Belgium, and was working as an associate at a New York law firm at the time of his death.
Zanetis is survived by his parents, grandmother, sisters, uncles, nephew, and partner.
By THUYA KYAW
A key eyewitness in the trial of the alleged gunman accused of murdering in broad daylight a Queens imam and his assistant failed to identify the defendant on Thursday — instead pointing to a random man in the courtroom.
Juan Salcedo, the fourth witness of the day called to the the stand by deputy prosecutor Peter Lomp, was testifying about how he saw a black Chevy Trailblazer purportedly being driven by the defendant Oscar Morel as it hit a cyclist on Aug. 13, 2016, the afternoon of the killing. The witness further testified that he followed the car after the incident to write down the plate number which the evidence shows matched Morel’s. He identified the driver as a person of either Hispanic or Indian background.
However, when he was asked to point him out in the courtroom, he selected instead a random white man sitting in a front row who looked like nothing like the defendant .
Everybody in the courtroom seemed surprised and confused by the mistaken identification, especially the bespectacled spectator who was Identified as the killer.
Morel, 37, of East New York, is accused of killing Imam Maulama Aknojee and assistant Thara Uddin in the vicinity of the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque shortly after afternoon prayers, an incident that shocked the city the raised the specter of an anti-Muslim hate crime.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his defense in the opening statement accused the police of planting the murder weapon in his apartment.
After the witness’s mistaken identification the judge adjourned the trial till Friday.
By MICHELLE CUMMINGS
Marking Black History Month 150 students in the Bronx were treated to a free screening of the Black Panther movie Thursday as part of City Councilman Andy King’s and the Bronx Youth Empowerment Program’s initiative to empower students of color by highlighting African greatness.
King united students from across his district at a movie theater in Co-op City to thrill to the Black Panther phenomenon firsthand.
The aim was to ensure black and brown children were comfortable in their own skins by seeing themselves in positions of power and grace on the big screen. King aide Brian Melford said that leaders must create experiences that unveil the community’s strength.
“I feel energized seeing black people in power,” said one student.
Although the film’s story is based in the fictional city of Wakanda, elements of Africa’s exceptional accomplishments are reflected in the plot. “This is what African beauty is, powerful,” said one girl who attended the screening.
Clip of excited children shouting “Wakanda” from CM King’s Instagram. Permission to publish granted by Brian Melford.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfgRiLHFxUf/
The movie became a blockbuster, setting a record $235 million debut in the U.S. over the holiday weekend. This cultural phenomenon brought awareness of black culture and fortified students inundated with negative storylines about Africa and black people.
Attendees were moved to reject the Eurocentric narrative that African-American history is only about slavery and resignation. Erik Killmonger’s last words in the film resonated with audience members when he said, “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ’cause they knew death was better than bondage.”
After attending the screening, the Bronx students exuded a deep sense of pride and gratitude.
“We can move forward and reimagine our future and tell history more honestly,” said another student.
Educators across the country are stressing the importance of having young people see the movie. “Congrats to the entire #blackpanther team! Because of you, young people will finally see superheroes that look like them on the big screen,” said former first lady Michelle Obama in a tweet Monday. “I loved this movie and I know it will inspire people of all backgrounds to dig deep and find the courage to be heroes of their own stories.”
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By RADHIKA VISWANATHAN
A young woman charged with killing her newborn infant was sentenced to 16 years in state prison on Thursday, marking the end of what the prosecution called a “really troubling case.”
Tiona Rodriguez, 21, walked into the Manhattan courtroom wearing prison khakis, round and thick glasses, and a large, silver cross dangling from her necklace. Simply shaking her head when Judge Thomas Farber asked if she had any words, she accepted her negotiated sentence: 16 years of incarceration plus five years under supervision.
“I don’t think anything more needs to be said on the record,” Farber said, referring to the widely publicized case, which began in 2015. “This is a horribly sad and tragic case.”
Rodriguez, who initially faced life in prison, agreed to a plea bargain that reduced the murder charge to
first-degree manslaughter. One of the most damning pieces of evidence was a text message that Rodriguez sent to a friend describing her plan to dispose of the tiny body: “dig a hole, put it somewhere, lol, then we go eat IHOP.”
The case received widespread media coverage due to its grisly details; in 2013, the then-17-year old mother, suspected of shoplifting from the Victoria’s Secret store in Herald Square, was stopped by a security guard. The guard found the shoplifted clothing in her bag—along with a dead newborn boy.
As the case unfolded, details about Rodriguez’s life revealed a troubled teenager who first got pregnant at 14 years old. A year after giving birth to her son, who is now four years old, she got pregnant again. It is still not clear what happened to her second child. The murdered baby was Rodriguez’s third pregnancy, all of which she struggled to keep hidden from her family.
She gave birth to the baby in her friend’s bathtub in October 2013 and killed him soon after, said the indictment. The cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation.
Rodriguez’s sole surviving child is currently living with her mother in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
