By ANDREA AUSTIN
Pedestrians no longer have to deal with piles of bird droppings, thanks to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer who helped Wildcat and Fedcap workers clean beneath the Pulaski Bridge Thursday in Long Island City.
Van Bramer, city councilman for the 26th District- which serves Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside and Woodside- helped clean the wall and sidewalk beneath the bridge at 50th Avenue as part of a larger effort to keep the neighborhood clean and offer free graffiti removal. Complaints were made to his office regarding the massive amount of bird droppings people had to walk through on their daily commutes. Workers would be back in two days to remove the graffiti, said Mario La Rosa, manager of operations for Fedcap.
Wildcat and Fedcap are non-profit organizations that receive funding through clean initiatives and provide jobs and resources for those who face employment barriers such as being ex-offenders, homeless, or having physical and mental disabilities. The organizations work with city agencies to solve complaints like trash and graffiti removal. They also help clean and maintain neighborhoods, streets, public parks, and large outdoor areas.
La Rosa stressed the importance of reporting problems to 311 and said the complaint is more likely to be addressed when reported by a number of people.
By NAAFUA AKUMAH & RENEE SAFF
The jury in the trial of a 26-year-old man accused of murdering his mother, dismembering his body and posing for a selfie with her dismembered head began deliberations on Thursday afternoon.
The defendant, Bahsid McLean, fell asleep, snored loudly, and even took to drawing during the trial’s closing arguments as his lawyers in closing statements tried arguing to the jury that McLean, who allegedly stabbed his 52-year old mother twice in the neck and then hacked apart her body with a two-foot Black & Decker jigsaw, is mentally ill and did not understand right from wrong.
Throughout the case, McLean wore a plastic garbage bag because he kept wetting himself, and he even showed up once in a hazardous materials suit.
“He has a death sentence hanging over his head, and he’s sitting in the court room singing and drawing,” the defense said. McLean’s lawyer kept reiterating that this is “not a normal case,” given the defendant’s history of mental illness. He has been in and out of mental hospitals since he was 6-years old and reported hearing voices in his head since the age of 10. McLean thought that “angels would descend and protect him.”
McLean killed his mother and then went to a hardware store and bought a power saw to cut up her body, police said. Before hacking up her body and packing her remains into bin bags, he snapped a selfie of himself smirking while holding up his mother’s head as a trophy. McLean called the police to report his mother as a missing person. Her body was found in bin bags inside four different suitcases that were dumped around the neighborhood.
The prosecution’s claim is that McLean was fully aware of what he was doing, and killed his mother in a clear, calculated way, citing a recording where McLean admits that, “I knew stabbing her in the neck will kill her.”
“The reason why he killed his mom was because she wanted him to better his life, get a job and to be a good father to his son,” the prosecution said.
After killing his mother, McLean inserted his SIM card into her cellphone, to prevent people from calling her. When cops showed up and asked McLean what his mother looked like, he avoided showing them the selfie with her severed head.
McLean originally tried blaming his friend, William Harris – who helped McLean get rid of his mother’s body, for killing his mother. Eventually, he admitted to committing the murder but said that “it wasn’t his fault.”
By MARK SULEYMANOV
Meb Keflezighi, born in Eritrea, was separated from his dad for five years as he fled to Sudan to avoid death in a 30-year war for liberation of Ethiopia. Kefliezighi didn’t see a car until he was 10 or watch television until he was 11.
So during an appearance on Thursday in Central Park promoting Sunday’s New York City Marathon, Keflezighi, 41, praised the Team For Kids program that funds running and fitness programs for kids – giving them a chance to stay active and productive.
“I’m so honored to be here and be an ambassador,” Keflezighi said. “Working with Team For Kids, spending time with the kids and the people who put the program together has been special.”
Keflezighi, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the men’s marathon in Athens, Greece, will not run on Sunday. Instead, he will be at the finish line serving as a Grand Marshall. But running in the marathon would do little to solidify his legacy, considering his long list of accolades. In addition to the silver medal, he won the 2014 Boston Marathon despite slim chances, given his age at the time (39).
But the medal, despite its significance in the Olympics means a lot more to Keflezighi than just victory. It’s redemption.
“It was like a movie, like a flashback for me,” he said reminiscing. “Winning the medal in Athens was pretty special because that’s where I met my dad after [years] of separation.”
But Keflizighi was not the only person to grace the stage. Molly Huddle, 32, and Tatyana McFadden, 27, –both of whom competed in the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — promoted the event, too. Unlike Keflezighi, however, Huddle, and McFadden — a Paralympic athlete — will compete on Sunday.
A native of Elmira, New York, Huddle attended Notre Dame High School before moving on to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. However, Huddle is no stranger to running on the city pavement as she’s won the last two New York City Half Marathons in 2015 and 2016 – her time of 1:07:41 this year set an American record for a women’s only race by over 50 seconds.
“It’s still surreal [to me], I kind of, am like, ‘what am I going to be doing?” and ‘what am I doing here?’” Huddle, who is making her NYC Marathon debut, said.
Huddle admitted that she has only been on the track four times since returning from Rio de Janeiro. So, while she’s more focused on a strong performance, rather than just victory, she does have goals for Sunday’s race.
“No[laughs], I don’t think that’s reasonable, honestly,” she said in reference to winning Sunday’s women run. “I mean, I’ll stick my nose into it…but I just want to have a good day, get some experience, and see where I am. I’d love to finish in the top six or so.”
Sitting to Huddle’s left was McFadden, who used her upper body strength to move up from her wheelchair into a high-rise chair to answer questions.
Born with spina bifida, a congenital disorder that paralyzes McFadden from the waist down, it has led to Paralympic sports, where she has dominated. In her Paralympic career, the Clarksville, Maryland, resident has earned seven gold medals, six silver medals, and three bronze medals.
In addition to her Paralympic success, McFadden has won gold at the 2016 London Marathon, the 2016 Boston Marathon wheelchair division and the 2015 NYC Marathon. This has resulted in a hectic schedule.
“I felt like I was kind of globetrotting all over the U.S. but it was amazing; I got to be on Ellen, which was so much fun, and then [more] training,” McFadden said.
Sunday’s race will be McFadden’s final one of 2016. She said that following her Rio performance, she had only one week off before starting training for the NYC Marathon and other races. But she is looking forward to a break.
McFadden will be a part of the Macy’s Day Parade with Team USA in addition to visiting Florida for Thanksgiving with her family and going to Mexico for winter break.
“I’m really excited for some time off,” McFadden said.
New York Road Runners (NYRR), the company sponsoring the marathon, honored two children as part of TFK. It was a message in line with Keflezighi’s struggles as a youth or McFadden overcoming a debilitating condition to become an athletic success.
Eric and Bill Rudin, sons of the late Lewis Rudin, were on hand to present the Jack and Lewis Rudin award for runners who raised the most money for TFK. Speaking of his late father, Bill left the room with a message his dad instilled in the family.
“Life is like a marathon, you have to be a long-distance runner,” he said. “He always taught us to think; you’re going to run into potholes for life and you have to get through it.”
Photo by Mark Suleymanov
By CHRISTELL CHERENFANT
Brooklyn College was the scene on Thursday of firefighters climbing the ladder – of success.
This occurred in the Whitman Theater where 76 members of the Fire Department attended a ceremony in which they were promoted to various ranks, including lieutenant, captain, fire marshal and supervising fire marshal.
Family and friends scrambled to find seats.
“It never starts on time, it’s the Fire Department,” said 27-year veteran firefighter, Philip J. Pillet who was one of the 76 men getting promoted to a higher rank.
“Nobody in this department gets here by themselves,” said the Chief of Department, James E. Leonard from the stage, adding that as captain he was able to motivate others by his force of character. “There is always healthy competition going on in the fire house,” he said.
Leonard said that all of the men have earned their promotion because of all of their hard work. “We don’t give anything away,” he said.
Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro reported that 1.7 million emergencies were responded to this year. “These men are part of a lifesaving mission,” he said.
However, no women and few minority members scaled the promotion ladder at the event, highlighting the past lack of diversity in the ranks. This lack has sparked much controversy.
Although they weren’t present, Nigro briefly spoke about the 300 new probationary firefighters hired recently, among whom five were women.
But the department has made strides recently in this area. Nigro said recently that 40 percent of new firefighters belonged to minority groups and three women, bringing the total to 52 women.
Former Fire Marshall, Owen P. Williams, who was promoted to a Supervising Fire Marshall was excited about moving up the ladder. “I had the opportunity a long time ago but I was part of the reserves,” Williams said. “… I wasn’t able to study as much as I wanted to.”
Williams was one of the two African Americans promoted.
He was a Fire Marshall for 15 years and in the 90’s, when he first started out in the department, there were 200 people in his class and only two of them were black. Williams said that now, there are a lot more minorities coming in because of the Emergency Medical Services and because the department was reaching out to them.
Photo by Christell Cherenfant
By SOHIE DWECK
It looks like not many bats will be scaring trick-or-treaters this year.
With Halloween just days away, officials at the Central Park Zoo announced on Thursday the “Bats for the Future Fund,” a grant program that will spur the development of treatments for white-nose syndrome (WNS) affecting hibernating bats across the United States and Canada.
“The threat posed by white-nose syndrome can’t be overstated,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Director Dan Ashe, said in a press release. “It is the single biggest threat to many North American bats and one of the most pressing conservation challenges facing America’s wildlife today.”
Named for a white, cold-loving fungus that appears on the muzzle of bats, WNS is associated with the high mortality of these mammals in eastern and mid-western North America.
The fund focuses on promoting the survival of bats in the continent by developing existing and new disease treatments and tools to slow the spread of WNS.
WNS was first documented in New York State in 2006. Since then, it has spread rapidly throughout the continent. As of May 2016, bats with the disease are confirmed to be in 29 states and five Canadian provinces, the experts said.
The disease now affects seven out of the 47 bat species living in the United States, two endangered and one threatened federally. Some may even be in danger of extinction. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, over six million bats have died over the past decade from the WNS.
Bats play a crucial role in nature by feeding on insect pests—moths and beetles—that destroy crops and forests, which can benefit the North American economy.
“We’re not going to have more insects because bats disappear,” said Rob Mies, Executive Director of the Organization for Bat Conservation. “But we’re just going to spray a lot more chemicals. It’s not healthy and it’s not economical either. That’s going to drive the price of our food up.
The flying mammals also are pollinators. Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination, including bananas and mangoes. Plus, they are also the main pollinators of tequila.
By RENEE SAFF
City Council unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday urging the State Legislature to mandate biannual CPR training and certification for New York cops, a state bill that still hasn’t been passed six years after an officer’s inability to perform CPR led to the death of an 11-year-old girl.
In addition to the resolution, the Council also unanimously passed a bill requiring the New York Police Department to publish an annual report on the number of officers trained and retrained in CPR and automated external defibrillation every calendar year.
“Our goal is to save lives,” said Carmen Ojeda, mother of Briana Ojeda, the 11-year-old girl who inspired Briana’s Law, which is the bill that City Council is urging the state to adopt.
The Ojeda family’s quest to save lives began six years ago, when 11-year-old Briana Ojeda died on August 27th, 2010 during an asthma attack in a Carroll Gardens playground. As Briana’s mother was rushing her daughter to Long Island University, she turned the wrong way down a one-way street and was pulled over by a police officer who refused to perform CPR on her daughter, claiming that he didn’t know how. By the time a passerby offered assistance, Briana’s fate had already been sealed. She died shortly after reaching the emergency room.
“The police officer who had stopped Briana’s mother, Carmen, on her way to the hospital did not perform potentially life saving CPR because he said he did not feel qualified to do so,” said Councilman Stephen Levin, who is sponsoring the measures promoting life-saving certification. “Last month, Briana would have celebrated her 18th birthday.”
The Council is not empowered to mandate CPR training for the NYPD. Instead, the bill needs to be passed by the State Legislature. Briana’s law passed the Assembly many times before, but the Senate has repeatedly blocked it.
“We pass the Assembly every year, but we get stuck in the Senate,” said Michael Ojeda, Briana’s father. “But with the help of the Council I feel that with the resolution it would go a little further and pass this year.”
While the passing of Briana’s Law is solely up to the state, City Councilmembers continue to support the Ojeda family in their search for justice.
“You have shown such incredible strength, and poise, and dedication in turning your grief into action,” Levin said. “We commend you on your strength, we honor the sacrifices that you made, and we honor the memory of your daughter with this legislation.”
Photo by Renee Saff
By ANDREA AUSTIN & PAUL FRANGIPANE
A Brooklyn jury was shown photos of two bullet holes in a Brooklyn teenager’s head as his alleged killer sat frowning with his hands on his head Thursday in the hushed courtroom.
Malik Streat, now 17, appeared in court for the murder of Darnell Wilkerson, 18, who was shot near a Brooklyn high school in East New York on Jan. 13. The jury was shown autopsy photos and surveillance footage which showed a large group of people walking around and suddenly running. There was no clear view of Streat or Wilkerson in the video.
Det. Christopher Florio told the jury that two empty shells were found on the street along with one deformed bullet, while Wilkerson’s cell phone lay next to a pool of blood.
Another witness, Jessica Tarry, a criminologist, said she tested the fingerprint found on the magazine cartridge but found it indistinct and was unable to use it.
Streat was one of three suspects arrested shortly after the shooting and was charged with second-degree murder, criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon
Wilkerson, a recent high school graduate, was walking near Pennsylvania and Livonia Aves when he was shot, surrounded by students who were just dismissed from school. Another teenager, John Trinidad, 17, was shot in his right shoulder but survived. Police said the shooting may have been gang-related, though his friends and family said he was planning on going to college.
Streat faces 25 years to life if convicted.
By SASKIA NEWTON
The Metropolitan Museum of Art previewed on Thursday, a collection of Native American art pieces representing a diversity of aboriginal forms and that was inspired by a vacation in Mexico by the collectors.
“We got exposed to Native American art in 1971 while on vacation in Mexico, each piece has its meaning and aesthetics was the main drive,” said the collector Charles Diker
“The objects were made by living people, they are deep, intense and beautiful as the objects they made,” added his wife Valerie Diker.
The exhibit was grouped by cultural region in the present U.S.. including California, the Great Lakes,the Great Plains, Northwest Coast and Southwest Coast, ranging from the 2nd Century to the early 20th Century They included garments, such as a dress and belt with awl case, shown right at the entrance of the exhibit; a man’s coat made out of hide, cotton and glass; costumes such as a Yup’ik mask, which was worn during dance ceremonies, baskets by native California women, native composition structures, paintings and drawings. The drawings and paintings could be seen on muslin and animal hides highlighting the authenticity of the objects.
The pieces showcased the the press preview were chosen from their book titled Indigenous Beauty, a title they said they chose because it reflected exactly the collection.
The collectors showed enthusiasm about the exhibit.
“We feel pleased and happy that they MET is having it again,” they said.
Assistant Curator James Doyle said he was excited to work on this project. His favorite piece, the Shaman’s Amulet, can be found in the Northwest Coast section, which he titled “Art Heals”.
“They were designed to heal,” said Doyle of the amulets used by spiritual healers. “They reach us in a way that’s unusual.”
The exhibit was scheduled to open Friday.
Photo of man’s coat from Missouri-Arkansas circa 1840 made of hide, cotton and glass.
By MARK SULEYMANOV
The wife of a former Lenox Hill Hospital employee was sentenced to at least four years in prison in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday for stealing patient information to make purchases worth thousands of dollars at high-end retailers.
Krystle Steed, 31, dressed in a tan jumpsuit and white sneakers with her long, curly black hair tied into a bun resting on her head, showed no emotion at the sentencing.
“Do you have anything you would like to say before I sentence you?” Judge Bonne Wittner asked Steed.
“No, I don’t,” Steed quietly replied.
Wittner then read aloud her sentence as Steed momentarily put her head down.
She was sentenced to serve four to eight year-terms for grand larceny in the second and fourth degree and two to four years for each additional charge, including attempted grand larceny, identity theft, and criminal possession of stolen property, all to be served concurrently.
Steed admitted in a guilty plea last month that she used information – given to her by former Lenox Hill Hospital and husband Kyle Steed — to obtain credit card information of more than 80 emergency room patients. Kyle Steed, 32, worked at the hospital cleaning surgical equipment.
In total, Steed made over $300,000 worth of purchases and tried – unsuccessfully – to make purchases in excess of $1 million at Saks Fifth Avenue, according to court documents. In one case, a patient had died only two hours before Steed took control of their bank account.
Steed managed to bypass security protocol by impersonating the account holders. According to court documents, she would claim to be at a doctor’s office in need of immediate access to pay a bill. Or, she would reach a service representative who would grant her access.
The couple was arrested in December 2015. Steed also has two other open cases – one in Manhattan and one in the Bronx – for identity theft.
Steed’s actions brought patient security at Lenox Hill Hospital into question.
“Protecting the privacy of patient information is a top priority that we take very seriously,” Lenox Hill spokeswoman Barbara Osborn said in a statement last December. “The hospital continues to take aggressive steps to strengthen the security protocols we have in place to protect patient information.”
Steed’s attorney Glenn Abolafia said last month that his client will look improve her life after this case.
“She will move on from this and hopefully lead a productive life,” he said.
By DEREK NORMAN
Colombian citizens living in New York City are keeping tabs on the peace agreements being sorted out in Bogota between President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerilla-rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The 52-year-long war in Colombia between the government and the left-wing rebels is historically one of the longest wars in the region, affecting residents across the country as the government in the capital city of Bogota fought the FARC guerillas in the jungles stretching up to the North. The treaty, for which President Santos recently won the Nobel Prize, was surprisingly voted down by a slim margin on Oct. 2. This came as a shock to most Colombians in New York City.
“The people who lived through war voted ‘yes’ to peace and the people who voted ‘no,’ never lived through it. We are a little selfish, because we don’t see the war, we don’t live the war,” said Milton Carvajal Peleaz, 29, who is visiting the United States from Manizales, Colombia. “Why [do] the people that live in the cities not want the guerillas in Congress? It isn’t fair because they never lived the war. But the people on the farms, in the countryside, they say ‘I don’t care, I don’t care, just no more war.”
According to a 2012 Pew Research Center report, 14 percent of the 1.1 million Colombians living in the United States reside in New York City. To ensure a chance to vote on the peace treaty, polling sites were set up for Colombians at the Colombian Consulate in Midtown, throughout Queens, and in parts of New Jersey.
Colombians in Queens voted on a peace treaty.
“I was in Washington, D.C. recently and there were political analysts there and they tried to explain how the ‘no’ vote would affect the different communities in our culture, like black people, the farmers and women,” said Lilliana Bernal, 32, a native of Manizales, Colombia, residing in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. “It’s not only a deal between FARC and the government, it’s a change for our people. It will change our legacy. What the ‘no’ vote means … is uncertainty.”
Currently, the ceasefire remains between FARC and the Colombian government while President Santos sorts out revisions of the treaty and discusses differences with opposing politicians. The uncertainty in the outcome is sparking activism among a younger generation of Colombians in both the U.S. and Colombia.
“Living here, it doesn’t affect me directly, but it is my country, which I love so much,” said Maria Isabella, a student at Guttman Community College in Manhattan, and an immigrant from Bogota. “Even though they have been negotiating for four years, it’s only now that the people are really getting involved. I want peace but I want peace that favors the majority of the Colombians. I don’t want a peace manipulated.”
Colombians are taking to the streets in Bogota, protesting, demonstrating and following every step of the peace-treaty negotiations, while residents in New York City are voicing their positions and maintaining involvement heavily through social media.
“It shouldn’t have been a political thing. It was about the people. But our country is part of a very exciting moment because people are going to the streets and fighting for their rights and for peace,” said Bernal. “I’m sad that I’m not there now because this is a really important moment. It’s the young people who want peace and everyday they are marching. Marching for peace now – for a new deal now while there is this ceasefire – before people go back to their arms.”
Photos by Derek Norman. Top: The Colombian consulate in Manhattan was one of the locations in New York where Colombians voted on a peace treaty.
