Latest news with #RandallsIsland
New York Times
01-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Can Gen Z's Nostalgia Save Chain Restaurants?
When you walk into a chain restaurant, time stands still. For some young people, that's the whole point. Ana Babic Rosario, a professor of marketing at the University of Denver, calls this 'emotional time travel.' With the country in an unstable economic time, potentially edging toward recession, those memories become more potent, Dr. Babic Rosario said. 'We tend to crave some of those nostalgic moments because we think they're more stable,' she said. 'That's how our mind tends to remember the past — more rosy than it really was.' That's true for Bea Benares, 27, who said she looked forward to meals at Outback Steakhouse and 'eating the bread and sitting down with my family.' 'Now with fast causal, you may not sit down and you go your separate ways afterward,' Ms. Benares said, referring to eateries catering to office workers, like Sweetgreen and Cava. 'It sounds kind of funny, but you lose a sense of community. It's kind of sad.' That missing sense of community may be why 10,000 people, mostly in their 20s, traveled to Randall's Island in New York last fall to attend Chain Fest, a food festival started by the 'Office' actor B.J. Novak that served 'exclusive gourmet versions' of classic chain restaurant dishes from Red Robin, Cracker Barrel and others. The festival's Los Angeles version had a 25,000-person wait list. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Reuters
30-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Sha'Carri Richardson investing in team-based track and field league
May 30 - Building off the success of its inaugural event in 2024, Athlos will debut a team-based track and field league in 2026, with Olympic gold medalists Sha'Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall on board as founding adviser-owners. Athlos, which was created by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, drew 3 million viewers for its women's track event last September in New York. Thomas and 1,500m women's world-record holder Faith Kipyegon were among the 35 female athletes participating for the largest prize purse for a women-only track and field event. "I take pride in doing what is right for people," Richardson told ESPN. "Joining ATHLOS as an advisor-owner gives me the opportunity to create something that genuinely empowers people both on and off the track." Slated to debut following the World Athletics season, the league -- designed for and by athletes -- will feature teams competing in multiple meets in major cities. A championship event will determine the overall winner at the end of the season. "Gabby, Sha'Carri, and Tara represent a new generation of athletes who have put this sport on their shoulders and deserve to be compensated for being the standard-bearers," Ohanian said in a press release. "We were focused on bringing them into the league as founding owners to ensure we're building a League that our athletes will love." Before the league debuts, Athlos will hold another event at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island on Oct. 10, with Thomas and Davis-Woodhall among the athletes committed to compete, with six track events and one field event on the docket. Fellow Olympians Masai Russell, Marileidy Paulino, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Brittany Brown are also slated to participate. Last year, Brown finished first in the 200 meters and second in the 100 meters and claimed the largest prize total. --Field Level Media
CBS News
28-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Daughter of Randall's Island attack victim says judicial system failed her mother
Daughter says mom is still fighting for her life after Randall's Island attack Daughter says mom is still fighting for her life after Randall's Island attack Daughter says mom is still fighting for her life after Randall's Island attack A Queens mother remains in the hospital, fighting for her life, nearly two weeks after she was attacked on Randall's Island. Diana Agudelo, 44, was found brutally beaten, bleeding and unconscious along a bike path on Randall's Island on May 16. Her daughter said Agudelo was riding home from the Museum of the City of New York, where she worked. "I know that she's fighting" As Agudelo clings to life in a hospital bed in Elmhurst, Queens, her daughter, Stephanie Rodas, is holding onto hope. "They did tell me that she did have a 99% mortality rate, so they're actually surprised that she's still here, but I know that she's fighting," Rodas said. "I know there's a possibility that my mom could be in a vegetative state. I know the doctors told me that, and that's really hard for me as well." She says doctors told her Agudelo's latest prognosis is promising. "I prayed to God and I told Him, I was like, 'Give me a sign, God. Give me a sign that my mom is supposed to be here with me.' And after that, I think a few hours later, the doctors came and that's when they told me they saw her better than they did last Friday," Rodas said. One day before the vicious assault, her family says Agudelo was at a Shakira concert, laughing and having fun. "I just know my mom can't speak right now, but I just want to be her voice and I don't want her to be forgotten," Rodas said. Loved ones have put up posters all around the hospital as prayers pour in from across the city. "I put all my faith in God. God is the only one that can make miracles," Rodas said. "You failed my mother" Police arrested 30-year old Miguel Jiraud last week for attempted murder. CBS News New York learned he is a convicted rapist who lived at a nearby shelter. Police sources say he was wearing an ankle monitor when he was arrested, and that data tied him to the scene. "I don't even know what to say to him, but I do say to the judicial system that you failed my mother," Rodas said. The suspect is due back in court June 18. In the meantime, a GoFundMe page the family set up to pay for medical expenses has raised over $70,000.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
How GPS ankle monitor exposed ex-con accused in Randalls Island attack of single mom Diana Agudelo
Hours after allegedly bashing in Diana Agudelo's skull during a chance encounter on Randall's Island, ex-con Miguel Jiraud tried to paint himself as a good Samaritan who did the right thing and called 911 after innocently finding his victim's broken body near a bike path. But his court-ordered GPS ankle monitor — a stark, uncomfortable reminder of his past crimes — exposed his lie, cops and prosecutors said Saturday. The ankle monitor put the 30-year-old parolee right at the spot where Agudelo, 44, was found at the exact time police believe she was attacked on May 16, cops said. An illuminated headlamp on Agudelo's cherished black and blue e-bike also flashed a light on Jiraud's alleged crime, catching an NYPD detective's eye as he reviewed hours of dark surveillance footage near the spot where the bloody assault took place. 'I observed an individual on the shoreline throwing what appears to be a large object with an illuminated headlight into the river,' Detective Anthony Ippolito wrote as he outlined his case against Jiraud in court papers. 'I then observed the individual leave the shoreline and walk towards 64 Sunken Garden Loop, which is a shelter located on Wards Island.' Jiraud is a resident of the shelter. Reviewing surveillance footage inside and outside the building, Det. Ippolito saw Jiraud wearing a beige sweater with the word 'ESSENTIALS' on the front, wet, light-colored jeans, and wet Timberland boots. Detectives noted that his hands appeared to be cut and bloody. He entered the shelter at 11:51 p.m., just 20 minutes after Agudelo rolled onto Randall's Island and 15 minutes after her e-bike was thrown into the East River, prosecutors said. Police say he called 911 about six hours after Agudelo was attacked to report a woman was lying near a bike path. Despite all the mounting evidence against him, Jiraud proclaimed his innocence as he was taken to court Friday, where he was ordered held without bail on attempted murder charges. 'I did nothing wrong! I found her!' Jiraud screamed to reporters as he was put into a squad car outside the 25th Precinct stationhouse in Harlem. 'I've done nothing wrong since I've been out. Not a violation, not jumping the turnstiles! Nothing!' Agudelo's daughter Stephanie Rosas was left stunned by Jiraud's defiance. 'I think he's very inhumane,' she told the Daily News. 'I think the things [Jiraud is saying] is ridiculous, because if he really is innocent, then why did someone tell me about his ankle monitor and that it was showing the location, that he was there at the time that it happened?' The night Agudelo was attacked appeared pretty routine — at least at first. Through interviews with co-workers and recovered surveillance footage, detectives determined she left her job at the Museum of the City of New York on Fifth Ave. at E. 103rd St. on her TotGuard e-bike at 11:23 p.m. on May 16. At the time, Agudelo was wearing a pink sweatshirt, black pants, shoes, and carried a light blue backpack, cops said. Cops tracked her from the museum to the 103rd St. footbridge, which took her to Wards Island on the southern tip of Randall's Island. It was 11:31 p.m. She was expected to ride around the southern tip and take the RFK Bridge into Queens, which would put her just a few blocks from her Astoria apartment, but she vanished after riding into a dead zone a few hundred yards from the bridge where there are no surveillance cameras. Cops weren't alerted to the attack until about 5:15 a.m. the next morning when Agudelo's battered, bloody body was found sprawled out on an outcropping of rocks 'in a grassy area just north of the 103rd Street footbridge,' cops said in court papers. The 911 call came from Jiraud, who gave the dispatcher a fake name 'because he was on parole and concerned with police contact,' Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Edward Smith said at the ex-con's arraignment Friday night. Jiraud claimed he was on his way to work at another Wards Island shelter around dawn when he found Agudelo's body. One of her black Skechers sneakers was found in a trash can near the scene, cops told the family. About six hours after she was attacked, EMS rushed Agudelo to Elmhurst hospital. Her chance of recovery was grim, Smith said. 'The victim is not expected to survive and has already undergone multiple brain surgeries and remains unconscious in a coma,' he said at court. Agudelo also had deep cuts and abrasions on her back and a 'penetrating wound to her left temple,' according to court records. Rodas, 21, has kept a constant vigil by her unresponsive mother's bedside. But there was one point where she believed her mother tried to reach out to her. 'She was tearing up with me because I was crying,' Rodas recalled. 'It was before her surgery. I think a few hours before. And I was just begging her, 'Please don't go, please don't go.' Like I still am waiting for her. 'I told her, 'I'll be waiting here for you,' and that she better come back,' she said. 'And then I saw her tearing. I saw one tear.' Agudelo's family has been left shattered by the attack. In Colombia, the victim's mother had a heart attack and had to be hospitalized when she heard the news, Rodas said. As a Saturday, more than $52,000 has been raised for Agudelo's medical care through a GoFundMe post. The money will help — and remind the wounded family that there are actual good Samaritans in this world. Not just predators in disguise. Data-driven investigation still has unanswered questions Detectives were able to track the 911 call to Jiraud, who had spent nine years in prison for rape in the Bronx in 2013 when he was 16. When he was paroled in September, he was ordered to wear an ankle monitor that tracked his movements. After discovering the footage of someone throwing the e-bike into the river near where Agudelo was attacked, cops sent divers into the water on May 20 and found the single mom's e-bike 'approximately seven feet from the shoreline.' Jiraud's GPS monitor filled in the rest of the blanks, the detective noted. 'At approximately 11:32 PM, the defendant's GPS ankle monitor places him just north of the 103rd Street footbridge in the area where the victim's body was found,' Ippolito wrote in the complaint against Jiraud. 'Thereafter, the defendant's GPS ankle monitor shows him traveling towards the shoreline where the victim's e-bike was recovered. As the defendant is moving from the north to the south, between 11:32 PM to 11:36 PM, the defendant appears to be traveling at varying speeds, up to 16 MPH.' Police believe Jiraud rode the e-bike to the spot where he threw it into the water. He then was caught on camera walking back to his shelter. But while detectives have a solid case against Jiraud teeming with GPS data and surveillance footage, it's not clear why he attacked Agudelo, police admitted. At Jiraud's arraignment, Smith noted that the ex-con was just released from prison eight months ago. After being convicted, he was also accused of 'promoting prison contraband while incarcerated,' he said. 'Clearly, he has already demonstrated that he cannot abide by any terms of release,' Smith explained. A history of violence Jiraud has been on the state's sex offender registry ever since his rape conviction. In that case, he was accused of raping, beating and choking a 28-year-old woman inside a Courtlandt Ave. apartment building near E. 165th St. in the Melrose section of the Bronx on Feb. 23, 2011. 'Don't scream, I swear I'll shoot you, you white b—h,' the 16-year-old suspect screamed at his victim as he choked her into unconsciousness, prosecutors said at the time. Jiraud took the woman up to the roof where he raped and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said. 'Don't fight it or I will kill you,' he said as he threatened to throw her off the roof, according to court papers. 'You're the third one I've had.' He also said he was about to jump on a plane at JFK. 'You'll never see me again,' he said. After his arrest, he admitted that he followed his victim for one block before grabbing her in the elevator. 'I pulled her pants down and began to rape her,' he confessed. 'I seriously injured her.' Jiraud's family said the parolee was trying to cobble his life back together as he eked out a living on Randall's Island. The ex-con told them that he had found Agudelo and was 'cooperating with police,' but didn't believe he was responsible for the attack. 'He's been doing so good,' the suspect's older brother, Luis Jiraud, told The News. 'He works there, lives there. [He] reported this. I think they're going by his history. He ain't going to be stupid.' Jiraud's niece believes detectives pinned the attack on him solely on his prior criminal record. 'It happens all the time,' Doris Jiraud said. 'Even the people from the shelter are also saying they don't believe [the charges]. 'He's doing so good,' she said about her uncle. 'He got employment really fast. He got in all his paperwork that he needed. His parole officer was happy for him. He's been viewing apartments to get housed. So I don't understand.'
CBS News
23-05-2025
- CBS News
Person of interest taken into custody in Randall's Island bike path attack, sources say
Police are questioning a person of interest after Queens mother Diana Agudelo was attacked on Randall's Island last week, sources tell CBS News New York. The 44-year-old woman remains hospitalized after she was found bleeding and unconscious along a bike path last Friday. Her bike had been stolen. "One of the doctors told me she has a 99% mortality rate… and honestly, I think he only gave me that remaining 1% because he felt bad. Still, I'm holding on to that 1% with everything I've got. Please, if you can, keep my mother in your thoughts and prayers," Agudelo's daughter, Stephanie Rodas, said in a statement Thursday. What happened to Diana Agudelo? Her children say she left her job at the Museum of the City of New York but did not return home. A colleague from the facilities department notified them about the attack. "Someone that she worked with at work came over to our house because someone found her phone and they handed it in to where she works," Rodas said. "They knew something was wrong so they came to our house." The museum is now fundraising to help the family. "Diana is a devoted mother, and her household now faces significant challenges, including medical and living expenses," organizers said in a statement. Police had asked for public's help, because the bike path is in a remote area and lacks security cameras. Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via their website.
