01.12.09

The Terrible Troubles of Cycling the City

Posted in RW1 Class Stories tagged , , , , at 4:40 pm by matuas

As the summer was coming to a close, Alexander Toulouse and his father, Christopher were out a bike ride, one of the 8-year-old’s favorite pastimes. His father sped up to lead his son Alexander as they made the turn onto Boerum Place from Livingston Street in downtown Brooklyn.

Moments later, the boy was dead. Hit by a postal truck whose driver didn’t even see him.

Police didn’t charge the truck driver. Accidents between motorists and pedestrians, like the one that killed Alexander, are common at this Brooklyn intersection—one of the city’s worst. It’s a five-way whirlwind of cars, busses, and suddenly-stopping delivery trucks where two people have died in the past year and where 11 serious accidents occurred between 1995 and 2005.

Despite the dangers, New Yorkers are increasingly turning to their bikes as a cheaper, greener source of transportation. In fact, biking is up 35 percent this year, according to the Department of Transportation. At the same time, 23 cyclists died last yea the highest number in eight years. In New York State, about 25 percent of non-motorists who died in fatal highway accidents were cyclists—nearly double the national average, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Bike advocacy groups estimate that there are thousands of collisions resulting in injuries between cyclists and motorists in the state every year. Collisions are harder to track than fatal accidents, however, since many incidents go unreported.

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10.15.08

Fresh food lacking in Hunts Point

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , at 3:17 pm by matuas

Divine Lipscomb refuses to shop for groceries in Hunts Point. The young father, who moved to the neighborhood two and a half years ago, was disgusted by the meat and produce in the only supermarket in the neighborhood, which he said is overpriced and often rotting.

“Their fresh veggies aren’t fresh,” said Lipscomb. “The meat is more grey than red.”

That’s why Lipscomb took at job as a health educator at Health Outcomes Through Peer Education, or HOPE, a drop-in health outreach center on Hunts Point Avenue created by Urban Health Plan. One of the group’s main focuses is to promote healthy eating habits in a neighborhood that has very poor ones.

Hunts Point has long had a nutritional deficit, despite being home to the country’s largest wholesale produce market. Finding fresh fruits, vegetables, and wholes grains among the neighborhood’s many fast food restaurants and bodegas has long been a challenge. Recently, however, several community groups have had enough and are starting initiatives to provide residents with healthier options, but in a neighborhood with more fried foods than veggies, many residents are apathetic over what they eat.

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10.06.08

“The Best School In The Universe” finally makes the grade

Posted in RW1 Class Stories tagged , at 11:49 am by matuas

Gianna Fornabaio, a short woman with large, bright eyes, may not look imposing, but she certainly sounds it to her fifth-grade class. As the students stare, gulping, at small note cards taped to their desk, she explains in a firm, booming voice how these tiny pieces of paper—their educational goals— would determine their education for the next few months.

“Do not lose these goals. Get to know them,” she said. “We are going to work, day in, and day out on each and every one of these goals, so that everyone achieves them.”

The pieces of paper are a cornerstone of PS 48’s educational strategy. At the beginning of the year, after an assessment by their teacher and conferencing with the child, teachers assign two specific goals to each of the school’s students: one for Math and one for English. Each goal is tailored to the student, encouraging them to strive to better their own skills, not merely to improve scores on a test.
“The goal cards were developed last year,” said Fornabaio. Everything is broken down and analyzed student by student to get their individual goals.”

Embracing a motto that calls their school “the Best School in the Universe,” teachers and administrators at PS 48 in Hunts Point have managed to transform a once-struggling school of over 1,000 students into a beacon of education in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Unlike many schools that teach to standardized tests, teachers at PS 48 are encouraged to implement a different philosophy: education and student engagement comes first, test-taking comes second.

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10.01.08

Forensic experts testify in Park Slope murder

Posted in RW1 Class Stories tagged , , , , , at 3:06 pm by matuas

The handle of the knife used to stab a man to death in Park Slope last year held the DNA of both the deceased and his attacker, forensics experts told a Brooklyn jury yesterday.

Rebecca Mikulasovich, an expert in forensic biology with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner testified in the murder trial of 30-year-old Antonio Bruno of Bushwick. She described the process by which her team of forensics scientists tested samples swabbed from the knife. A swab of the handle taken by the NYPD at the scene of the crime contained the DNA of both Bruno and William Rosario, the deceased.

A second swab, taken after Mikulasovich’s team received the knife, was inconclusive, she said.
“The NYPD’s swab tested negative for blood, but positive for other biological material, which could be tissue or skin cells from a hand,” she said. “William Rosario and Antonio Bruno contributed to a mixture of DNA on the handle.”

Bruno faces charges of second degree murder, first degree manslaughter, and fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon, all related to the stabbing death of Rosario on November 12 last year. According to court files, the incident occurred during a heated argument between the two men in front of 298 12th St. in Bushwick. Rosario was 26 when he died.

In morning session one other forensic expert from Mikulasovich’s team who had inspected the knife confirmed that DNA of both men was on it.

Forensic expert Melissa Smith, , said clothing worn by the men that was inspected at the scene came up with inconclusive results, except for Rosario’s jacket, which was stained with his own blood.

The defense does not deny that Bruno stabbed Rosario, but the specific circumstances surrounding the stabbing is at issue in the case.

The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Samantha Magnani, has spent the lengthy trial, which has lasted nearly a year attempting to convince the jury that Bruno was the aggressor.

According to documents outlining prosecution’s version of events, Rosario was on his way home from a bowling alley with two of his children and some friends when he encountered Bruno, who got into an argument then threatened and attacked Rosario with the knife. Rosario’s family has corroborated these versions of events.

Ivan Vogel, Bruno’s defense attorney, said he didn’t think the DNA evidence presented yesterday helped the prosecution’s case.

“DNA evidence is all about whodunit,” he said. “We’re not denying the stabbing of a person, but it was done in self-defense. If he didn’t defend himself, he would have ended up dead.”

Vogel said there is evidence that Rosario and his friends were armed on the night in question.

“They were looking to cause serious injury to my client,,” he said, adding added that Rosario had escalated the initial argument, that his client tried backing away from Rosario and his friends, and that Rosario had both alcohol and angel dust in his system when he died.

He said that the two men did not know each other prior to the incident.

Vogel, whose short defense lasted only an afternoon called only one witness to bolster his version of the incident, Detective Alfredo Hidalgo of the NYPD’s 72nd precinct.

Hidalgo testified that while he was investigating the case, he interviewed an eyewitness named Ben Smith, who said that Rosario and two friends had bottles in heir hands. Vogel said that he will argued that these bottles were used as aggressive weapons.

Both sides of the trial will give their summations today.

09.27.08

Building Trust With Tacos

Posted in RW1 Class Stories tagged , , at 11:33 am by matuas

José Francisco Ortega can still remember the smell of the tomato sauce he made at the Italian restaurant where he first worked as a dishwasher and later as a chef.

Nowadays, Ortega, a Mexican immigrant who arrived in New York in the eighties, makes his own sauces—and dishes—at Real Azteca, an often-teeming restaurant on East 163rd Street in Hunts Point that he started nearly decade ago with his brothers, Carlos and Javier.

“I don’t like the food of other restaurants,” said Ortega. “I make the Mexican meal, the same as my mom.”

Real Azteca Restaurant serves sumptuous Mexican dishes to a diverse clientele

Real Azteca Restaurant serves sumptuous Mexican dishes to a diverse clientele.

Ortega’s story is common in this South Bronx neighborhood. Mexican immigrants, once a rare sight in Puerto Rican-dominated Hunts Point, are on the rise in the area. As more Mexicans moved into the community in the past decade, they’ve demanded their own food, and entrepreneurs like Ortega responded by opening traditional Mexican restaurants. Today, eateries like Real Azteca and Pedro Food provide a rallying point for the Mexican community and its culture. But the restaurants also serve up an effective way to help improve relations with other ethnic groups in the neighborhood.

Real Azteca has become so popular that earlier this year it expanded into the building next door, opening a large dining room. The restaurant’s Mexican staples such as traditional, stacked plates of non-folded tacos and massive, bulging, sauced-covered burritos appeal to residents.

“It ain’t Taco Bell, but it’s damned good,” said James Small, an African-American on his way out of the restaurant, steaming gordita in hand.

Ortega’s guiding principle is that his food should be simple and real. It’s also cheap—a concern for his customers, as the area is one of the city’s poorest. Many items on the menu are under $3, and customers can get an incredibly filling lunch for $5.

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09.23.08

One dead after fight in Flatbush turns deadly

Posted in RW1 Class Stories tagged , , , at 3:01 pm by matuas

One man is dead and another is in the hospital after a fight between two groups of young men escalated into a shooting in the lobby of an apartment complex in East Flatbush, Brooklyn Monday night, police said.

Jamel Wisdom, a 19-year-old who lived on nearby Ocean Avenue, was declared dead shortly after police and ambulances arrived, police said.

According to Ellen Borakave, a representative from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Wisdom died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head, torso, and right arm.

“When I see that one go in the ambulance, he wasn’t doing nothing,” said the superintendent of a nearby building who declined to give his name. “He was just white.”

The injured man, a 19-year-old that police have yet to publicly identify, was taken to nearby Kings College Hospital, where he is recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg, and is in stable condition, police said.

The altercation began last night between two groups of youths, thought to be in their late teens or early twenties, outside of an apartment building at 68 E. 19th St., police said. Police confirmed that both groups knew each other.

Just before 11:00 p.m., Wisdom and at least two other youths ran into the building’s lobby, where Wisdom and one other victim were shot, police said.

The building’s superintendent, Carlos Ayala was eating dinner with his family when he heard several gunshots. He said that there was a group of about eight people outside of his building at that time.

“Some guy is shooting in the lobby, he kills people,” he said. “All the time, it’s in the street. This time, it’s in the building.”

Some eyewitnesses, who refused to give their names out of fear that the gunman would attack them, said they saw a man with a gunshot wound in the knee run around the corner shortly after the gunshots.

Police and ambulances arrived shortly thereafter, responding to a quick 911 call, while residents quickly streamed outside to watch the commotion, police and Ayala said.

A 22-year-old man who declined to give his name knew the injured victim but only identified him by his street nickname, “Geddy.”

The altercation was caught on the lobby’s video cameras, Ayala said, and South Brooklyn detectives were on the scene reviewing the tapes and looking for possible eyewitnesses Tuesday morning.

A handful of uniformed police also stood outside of the building, garnering glares from passing residents. Residents and witnesses were reluctant to give details to reporters.

While few residents spoke to police and reporters, friends of Wisdom quickly made a heartfelt online memorial for him on MySpace. The mournful page contains pictures of Wisdom and identifies his by his street name, “Smooth.”

Police said that there have been several shootings in the area recently, including one on nearby Parade Place.

As of Tuesday night, police said that no arrests had been made and that the investigation is ongoing.