Gunman shoots up Bronx street caught on tape

Highbridge News: #Bronx Bloodshed At The BBQ,

Highbridge News: #Bronx Bloodshed At The BBQ,: #Bronx Bloodshed At The BBQ, Six Wounded on The Grand Concourse By David Greene Five teens and one adult were w...

#Bronx Bloodshed At The BBQ,

#Bronx Bloodshed At The BBQ,

Six Wounded on The Grand Concourse

By David Greene

Five teens and one adult were wounded during an illegal midnight barbecue at Franz Sigel Park, in the Concourse Village section of the borough.

Police and EMS were called to the Grand Concourse and East 153 Street, at just after midnight on July 20. Arriving paramedics discovered three victims at the scene.

One victim was reportedly discovered across the street at 730 Grand Concourse and another victim was discovered at East 161 Street, across the street from Bronx Supreme Court. One victim removed himself to Lincoln Hospital.

Officials say the victims included five young men and one woman, five of the victims were teens and one victim was a 20 year-old man.

Police say a 17-year-old male was shot in the right knee, a 16 year-old was hit in the right leg and another slug tore through the forearm of another 16 year-old. The 20-year-old victim was shot in the left calf and the female victim was struck in the right thigh. A 14 year-old was also shot in the left foot.

All of the victims were being treated at Lincoln Hospital and Bronx Lebanon Hospital and none of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening.

Detectives were reportedly looking for the lone gunman seen running from the scene after the shooting. Sources say police had taken an unidentified 19 year-old male to the 44th Precinct for questioning, but that could not be confirmed.

Several trays of untouched food were left at the parks entrance across the street from Cardinal Hayes High School-- as the large crowd quickly dispersed when the gunfire began.

The bloody barbecue capped an end to another bloody weekend in which five people were murdered across the city, including two people shot dead in seperate shootings in the Bronx.

The shooting comes a month after 350 officers were taken off of desk duty and moved to street patrol as part of the"Summer All Out" program, which puts additional police officers in high-crime areas such as Concourse Village.

Police officials could not immediately say how many of the 330 officers were sent to the 44th Precinct.

One area resident claimed there was gunfire the night before at the local McDonald's and two weeks earlier a man was shot dead on Gerard Avenue. The resident added, "I stay away when they barbecue and this is why."

A second resident who slept through the gunfire, added, "There's always something going on in that park."

The park which closes at dusk, sits behind the Bronx Supreme Court and is named after German-born educator Franz Sigel, who taught in the New York City public school system and co-founded the German-American Institute.  

Highbridge News: Cops Coming to Reduce Crime

Highbridge News: Cops Coming to Reduce Crime: City Hall Finally Listens to Wakefield  Cops Coming to Reduce Crime By Robert Press BRONX, NEW ...

Cops Coming to Reduce Crime

City Hall Finally Listens to Wakefield 

Cops Coming to Reduce Crime

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK,JULY 16- Elizabeth Gill, President of the 47th Precinct Council, demanded action when crime was going way up last year in the 47th Precinct, and it seems that City Hall heard her.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton came to Cardinal Spellman High School to explain the new 'Summer All Out' police department program. It is a three-month program called 'Summer All Out' in the 10 highest crime police precincts. The mayor and police commissioner praised the new program that was started last month. Crime decreased in the 47th Precinct in Wakefield with shootings down 70 percent for the past month.

In the past the Mayor said that there was a chain of command that had to be gone through to change the deployment of police officers in a precinct. Now that red tape has been cut to allow for an almost instant redeployment of officers where they may be needed when problems pop up. The 47th Precinct has been assigned 26 additional officers for three months, and several other officers commonly refereed to as 'House Mouse Officers' have also been deployed into the streets of the precinct. In all there are 330 additional officers that have been sent to the 10 precincts in the 'Summer All Out' Program which began on June 8th. Other Bronx police precincts in this three month program are the 43rd, 44th, and 46th according to Bronx Assistant Chief Commanding Officer Larry Nikunen. 

Deputy Inspector Stevenson of the 47th Pct. had only praise for his police officers, and he thanked 47th Pct. Council President Elizabeth Gill for her help in getting his command the much needed manpower to reduce the high crime rate. 

Commissioner Bratton spoke of how the NYPD must keep coming up with new strategies to keep ahead of the bad guys. However when asked the question - that it looks like the first thing that the new street officers are doing is looking at car registration and inspection stickers when they arrive on their beat. I then said that to me it looks like these officers might have a ticket quota to fill. 

Commissioner Bratton fired back to me, 'Well that's what it looks like to you', and then stepped away from the podium without any real answer. I asked one of the new officers the same question, and was told if the situation warrants a summons it will be given. 47th Pct. Commanding Officer Stevenson said 'No Comment' when I asked him the same question.  

#NYPD #MayordeBlasio #Bratton #SummerAllOut #Bronxnews

Highbridge News: Blaz hails record # of affordable housing units

Highbridge News: Blaz hails record # of affordable housing units: Blaz hails  record # of affordable housing units By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, JULY 13- Mayor deBlasi...

Blaz hails record # of affordable housing units

Blaz hails record # of affordable housing units

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK, JULY 13- Mayor deBlasio took a victory lap in the Bronx to hail the record number of affordable housing units created on his watch.

In an announcement in front of a 66-unit affordable housing building, located at 950 Summit Avenue (just north of Yankee Stadium), Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Bronx Borough President, and many local Bronx elected officials cheered that more affordable housing were created last year than since 1978. 

Mayor de Blasio said, “This is real progress, in real time, for real families. Together with the city council, community based organizations, and the private sector this will remain a city for everyone.” 

Speaker Mark-Viverito said, "It is imperative that we proactively protect affordability in our communities.” 

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said that his office will continue to work with the de Blasio administration to plan and build new affordable housing units that work for the people of the Bronx. 

Other Bronx elected officials on hand included Congressman Jose Serrano, State Senator Jose Marcos Serrano, Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, Assembly members Latoya Joiner (who thanked the Rent Guidelines Board for its rent freeze for one year leases), Michael Blake, Luis Sepulveda. HPD Commissioner Vicki Been said that surpassing the goal of 20,000 units this year is a testament to the work that is being done at HPD. HDC President Gary Rodney added that the record breaking 20,000 plus units demonstrates the the de Blasio Administration is achieving concrete results towards its ambitious vision of Housing New York.

The 66-unit building on Summit Avenue is currently under construction, and is slated for completion in a little over one year from now. A lottery system will be put into place to select the winners of the various income level tiered apartments which will be advertised a few months before construction on the building is finished. 

The goal of Mayor Bill de Blasio's affordable housing plan is to have 200,000 new or rehabilitated current affordable units by 2021 completed or in construction.  

#BilldeBlasio #AffordableHousing #Bronxnews