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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gun violence is directly challenged by teen-owned businesses
CONCOURSE, The Bronx (PIX11) — June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, and while some new statistics from the NYPD show significant — and even record-breaking — progress in the fight against gun crimes, some other information from the police shows that there's still much work to do. That was the upshot of a gun violence awareness event organized by leaders of government, law enforcement, and education in The Bronx on Monday, in Lou Gehrig Plaza, on 161st Street. More Local News But right across the street, in Bronx Borough Hall, another event took place that's meant to both counter and reduce crimes involving gun shooting. It was all happening exactly three weeks after a stray bullet took the life of Evette Jeffrey, a 16-year-old innocent bystander in a schoolyard in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. One of the leaders of the gun violence awareness rally spoke about the tragedy directly. 'As a mother, as an educator, and a lifelong Bronxite,' said Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, 'this hit home.' Aviles-Ramos joined with Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, District Attorney Darcel Clark, NYPD Assistant Chief Benjamin Gurley, and violence interruption groups at the Gun Violence Awareness Month launch event. It happened at the same time that the city reported its lowest number of homicides in any five-month period ever, as well as recording a 21 percent drop in shootings this year, citywide. Still, said Assistant Chief Benjamin Gurley, the highest ranking NYPD officer in the Bronx, 'There's so much work to do, because we also see that there are a lot of guns in the street. [There are also] a lot of shots fired, and those are just shootings that missed,' Gurley said at the gun violence awareness event. He was referring to stats like the following, which the NYPD released at the same time as its record low homicide numbers: shooting incidents are up 30.8 percent in the Bronx's 40th Precinct this year, and up more than 112 percent in the last two years; there was a 200 percent increase in shootings — from 1 to 3 — in the last week of May in the 42nd Precinct in the Bronx. A big part of the problem, according to District Attorney Darcel Clark, 'It's just so much more rampant that the younger kids are getting the guns now.' She said that with each passing year since 2018, when state law raised the minimum age for adult sentencing to 18 from 16, there has been a higher incidence of early teens committing gun crimes. Drawing attention to that, as well as other gun violence issues, is why violence interruptors and city leaders are encouraging people to wear orange, the color of the gun violence awareness campaign. Across the street from the launch event, inside Bronx Borough Hall, the color was seen on the chests of young people at tables lining the perimeters of the building's cavernous central hall. It was the presentation of teen entrepreneurs' business projects, as they received grants from the city to fund them. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Councilmembers Kevin Riley and Althea Stewart helped secure grants ranging from $500 to $5,000 for about two dozen businesses and non-profits started by Bronx-based high schoolers. They were on hand for the Monday fair, with their orange ribbons pinned to their blouses, shirts, and sweaters. 'It's supposed to symbolize anti-gun violence month,' said Shania Mayfield, a senior at the Academy of Scholarship and Entrepreneurship, in the Wakefield section of the borough. She was at the fair, at a table displaying the work of the non-profit she founded with fellow senior Kayla Moore, who was seated beside her. Guardian Angels Tutoring Services, Inc. is the non-profit they founded. It trains and schedules tutoring and mentoring services. Its purpose, said Moore, is that 'students can have something to do after school, and it's something where they can earn money, while helping other people.' The fair and the program in which they're involved are run by the organization Parents Uplifting our Daughters and Sons, or PUDS. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson went to the fair right after leading the gun violence awareness rally across the street. She said that just as important as gun violence awareness is the promotion of teens' business skills. They're an antidote to the violence, she said. '[It gives] young people opportunities to be successful,' Gibson said in an interview, 'where they don't have to think about engaging in negative behavior.' Jamila Davis, the founder of PUDS, said that the entrepreneur grants are given out at the end of the school year, strategically. It's right before the summer season, which tends to be the busiest time for teen entrepreneurs' sales. That busy sales season comes at the same time as the city typically sees a rise in gun violence. In other words, said organizers of both the Gun Violence Awareness Month launch and the teen entrepreneurs' fair, the teens' businesses directly counter gun violence in the borough. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
25-04-2025
- CBS News
N.J. auto theft ring stole "millions of dollars worth" of vehicles, used Bronx garages as showrooms, authorities say
Nearly a dozen people have been arrested in a takedown of an organized car theft ring in New Jersey, authorities announced Friday. Investigators said they found 43 luxury cars valued at more than $3.6 million in two parking garages on Jennings Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx. Authorities say the garage owners did not know the cars were stolen. More vehicles were found in shipping containers at ports in New Jersey and New York, bound for countries in West Africa. Investigators say 11 people were arrested in connection with the crime ring, including a juvenile. Two more men are still being sought. New Jersey attorney general's office "Millions of dollars worth of stolen vehicles" "Auto theft is certainly not unique to New Jersey. But easy access to neighboring states, to ports and international waters make us particularly susceptible to organized theft rings," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. "These are organized rings. They identify high-end vehicles and they use organized teams to take them, transport them and sell them." "Millions of dollars worth of stolen vehicles—including a $475,000 Rolls Royce—were taken to a Bronx parking garage that defendants used as a showroom. The vehicles wound up in shipping containers in Elizabeth and then in West Africa," Bronx DA Darcel Clark said. The crews were allegedly paid with cash wired from West Africa to mid- and high-level fences in exchange for the stolen vehicles, according to authorities. The vehicles were stolen from towns all over New Jersey. Some thefts were caught on surveillance video, which shows masked men breaking into homes to steal key fobs while residents sleep, and then driving off with the high-end vehicles. "No one should be afraid that a thief will enter their home while they are sleeping to find their key fobs to steal their car, as is alleged in this case," Platkin said. Police said one way to catch more car thieves is with automated license plate readers. New Jersey's attorney general was notified recently that more than $1 million in funding to buy more of those readers has been cut by the federal government.
CBS News
25-04-2025
- CBS News
N.J. car theft ring stole "millions of dollars worth" of vehicles, used Bronx garages as showrooms, authorities say
Nearly a dozen people have been arrested in a takedown of an organized car theft ring in New Jersey, authorities announced Friday. Investigators said they found 43 luxury cars valued at more than $3.6 million in two parking garages on Jennings Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx. Authorities say the garage owners didn't know the cars were stolen. More vehicles were found in shipping containers at ports in New Jersey and New York, bound for countries in West Africa. Investigators say 11 people were arrested in connection with the crime ring, including a juvenile. Two more men are still being sought. New Jersey attorney general's office "Millions of dollars worth of stolen vehicles" "Auto theft is certainly not unique to New Jersey. But easy access to neighboring states, to ports and international waters make us particularly susceptible to organized theft rings," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. "These are organized rings. They identify high-end vehicles and they use organized teams to take them, transport them and sell them." "Millions of dollars worth of stolen vehicles—including a $475,000 Rolls Royce—were taken to a Bronx parking garage that defendants used as a showroom. The vehicles wound up in shipping containers in Elizabeth and then in West Africa," Bronx DA Darcel Clark said. The crews were allegedly paid for the stolen vehicles with cash wired from West Africa to mid- and high-level fences, according to authorities. The vehicles were stolen from towns all over New Jersey. Some thefts were caught on surveillance video, which shows masked men breaking into homes while residents sleep to steal key fobs, and then drive off with the high-end vehicles. "No one should be afraid that a thief will enter their home while they are sleeping to find their key fobs to steal their car, as is alleged in this case," Platkin said. Police said one way to catch more car thieves is with automated license plate readers. New Jersey's attorney general was notified recently that more than $1 million in funding to buy more of those readers has been cut by the federal government.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
32-year-old fighting for his life after being dragged along Bronx street trying to stop brazen car thief, disturbing video shows
A 32-year-old man is fighting for his life after he was violently dragged by his own Infiniti Q50 along a Bronx street when he attempted to thwart a brazen broad-daylight car theft Thursday, shocking video shows. The unidentified victim left his running vehicle double-parked on Westchester Avenue in Pelham Bay around noon to pick up Chinese food when an SUV drove up beside it, according to law enforcement sources and footage obtained by The Post. As the car thief emerged from the backseat of the SUV and quickly hopped into the driver's side of the Infiniti, the victim raced from the sidewalk and attempted to save his car. The man grabbed hold of the driver's side window and attempted to run along with the car as it sped off, dragging him across the street, the video shows. Officers found the victim badly injured with trauma to his head and leg a block away on Wilkinson Avenue, the NYPD said. He remains in critical condition at Jacobi Hospital while the perp remains on the loose, authorities said. The Infiniti was later abandoned and recovered on the northbound Hutchinson River Parkway, according to cops and photos captured by The Post, which showed the extensive damage on the driver's side. The violent car robbery comes on the heels of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch this month calling the Bronx 'the absolute best place' in New York City to steal a car as she accused the borough's District Attorney Darcel Clark of a soft-on-crime approach. While car thefts were down 12% across the city in the first three months of 2025, the Bronx saw a 3.6% bump in stolen vehicles, Tisch said on April 15. The district attorney's office defended its prosecuting decisions at the time, stating that 'there is a difference between what the police charge at arrest and what we can prove in court.'
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Bronx DA's Office organizes support event for victims of violence
FORDHAM, THE BRONX (PIX11) — Survivors of violence and families of crime victims gathered in the Bronx Thursday night in a show of support for each other. The gathering at an event space in the Bronx Zoo was organized by the Bronx District Attorney's Office, with help from the unit that offers support services to victims. More Local News Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark told PIX 11 News, 'The Bronx events are so important, so Bronx folks can know they have each other.' The event comes as two New Yorkers were shot and killed in two days by bullets meant for someone else. Excenia Mette, 61, died Tuesday night after running outside on Lenox Avenue when hearing gunshots. She feared her 24-year-old grandson was in the line of fire. On Wednesday night, 28-year-old Daoud Marji died of a bullet wound to his head on University Avenue in the Bronx. A 33-year-old woman was shot in the hip and survived. Both of the Bronx victims were also innocent bystanders. Darcel Clark said, 'We are trying to get to the root causes of why so many young people are deciding it's okay to put up guns and shoot at each other. We are losing a generation of people.' Yanely Henriquez attended the Bronx gathering for victims and victims' families. Her 16-year-old daughter, Angellyh Yambo, was also an innocent bystander shot to death while walking home from school in the Bronx in April of 2022. Henriquez told PIX 11 News, 'To be honest with you, I'm numb, it's something that's happening so many times that it's like a norm, and that's a problem. When things like that become a norm, there's something wrong, and we have to fix it. I don't know what's going to fix it, but we need to do better for our community, we need to do better for our kids.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
