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.