During a deadly four-week stretch, four men were slain on President St. in Crown Heights - spreading fear in a neighborhood already plagued by a substantial rise in homicides.
“This block is hot,” said Clarence Jones, who lives a short walk from where Randy Long, 24, was shot dead April 26. “They're dropping like flies on President St.”
Long - a felon from Poughkeepsie who was shot twice in the back at 10:20 a.m. inside 1020 President St. - was the latest to die.
Four murders in 4 weeks
As we CrownHeights.info have been keeping you all informed of what has really been going on in Crown Heights in the last year, Murders, Muggings and Car Break-ins, we now finally have a very small part of it picked up by the NY Daily News. Note: This article is only covering President St.
During a deadly four-week stretch, four men were slain on President St. in Crown Heights – spreading fear in a neighborhood already plagued by a substantial rise in homicides.
“This block is hot,” said Clarence Jones, who lives a short walk from where Randy Long, 24, was shot dead April 26. “They’re dropping like flies on President St.”
Long – a felon from Poughkeepsie who was shot twice in the back at 10:20 a.m. inside 1020 President St. – was the latest to die.
He staggered outside the building and was Kings County Hospital, where he was declared dead 25 minutes later. No arrests have been made.
The morning shooting was the fourth homicide on a 10-block stretch of President St. since March 31. The stretch falls within the 71st Precinct, where the number of murders more than doubled last year compared with 2004.
“We don’t see any connections among the cases,” said Police Department Deputy Inspector Frank Vega, commanding officer of the 71st Precinct, as he tried to allay residents’ fears.
The block where Long was gunned down has been designated one of several hot spots in the precinct, meaning cops patrol the area more on weekends when statistics show the most violent crimes take place.
Even in a precinct where death is more common that other areas of the city, the timing of the attack on Long was out of the ordinary.
“This is very unusual at this hour,” Vega said, adding that cops would consider altering the patrol schedule as the weather gets warmer.
In the wake of the last year’s spike in murders, a dozen cops were added to the precinct in January. But police said they still need help from the residents of President St.
“We need more eyes on the street,” Vega said, noting that no active neighborhood watch group operates on the block where Long was murdered.
Three longtime residents gathered at a neighbor’s house near Bedford Ave., as police cars lined the street and detectives went door to door looking for clues.
“It’s very sad, and it’s frightening,” said a 73-year-old woman who said she has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and asked not to be named. “The landlords don’t care who they let into some of these buildings. We’re surrounded by undesirables.”
Citywide, the number of homicides is up 3.8% – rising to 162 from 156 – through the end of April compared with the same period last year, when homicides plunged to a level not seen since the early 1960s.
Eight people have been killed in the 71st Precinct this year, up from five during the same period in 2005. Serious crime in the precinct, which includes about 110,000 residents, is down 5.5%, with shootings and robberies declining. But it’s the killings that have people talking.
“I can’t even let my kids play in the yard,” said a homeowner, who would only identify herself as Sharon. “It’s really scary. What are we supposed to do?”
The spate of killings on President St. began March 31 when Lamar Leftridge, 27, was stabbed to death by his supposed friends during a fight over a video game inside 1030 President St. Pierre Joeless and Kevin Lilly, both 18, have been charged with his killing.
Nine days later, Leon Wilson, 38, was shot three times during an argument at 1714 President St. No arrests have been made.
On April 19, Scott Hill, 27, allegedly stabbed his elderly uncle after accusing him of stealing his mail. David Husband, 69, was shot six times in his bed at 1685 President St. Hill has been charged with the slaying.
“What happens on President St. reflects on the whole city,” said Richard Green, who heads the Crown Heights Youth Collective. “Young people shouldn’t have to grow up around this kind of violence.”
Haim Mitnizki
I hade now idea it is that bad.
Is it good to know it all? or we will fill better, not knowing any bad news?.
CH Mentsch
It is about time that the quickly disintegrating situation in our community caught the medias attention, and then MAYBE someone who came begging us for our votes would do something about it.
MAYBE!
some one
This is all crazy, some one has to stop this.
zxcxv
The mother of Leon Wilson was putting up signs for the capture of the murderer of her son. She said his murder was not gang or drug related (he worked for a law firm) and that the police didn’t put up any signs to find the murderer (probably because of bias) so she had to do it herself. Also, the murder was in front of 1714, probably from a passing car, not at it.
BrookAve
When I moved to Rogers Avenue, you all laughed. President and Utica is wicked! It is a lot safer by me. I guess the President Street novelty is wearing off.
A word to the wise
If our community was not “led” by a , officials would be more sensitive to the danger here. In the past when Community Council leadership addressed complaints to the police and other public officials, NYPD acted decisively.
Now it is every man for himself. EVERY gunshot you hear should be phoned to 911 by EVERYONE who hears it. Every act of vandalism and petty crime should be phoned in to 911 – car breaks, window breaks, everything. The more attention you pay to the police the more attention they will pay to crime.
A recent minor hate cime was reported directly to the NYPD (NOT the Community Council). It was responded to by two patrolmen, a sargeant, four detectives, and officers from the hate crimes div. at 1 PP.
When citizens work with the police crime gets attention. The anting of our present “leadeship” gets contempt and disdain.
Bochur
thet say that muggings are down but a lot more chabad people are getting affected then the norm. The shootings are a very scary thing and there is not that much a person could do with those guns floating around this place.
BOY
m i s h o g e h
Chaya Mushka
There IS much a person can do, and that is to say Tehillim. It’s been tried and proven true. Say a kapital after davening, learn a Rashi from Chitas if you don’t already do that, give some spare change to Tzedaka. The point is not that police should respond, the point is that they should INVESTIGATE.
So nu? If you ask Hashem, He’ll fulfill your tefillos instead of your kvetching.