Arrest in Brighton Beach Deadly Shooting

Chaos ensued at the Brighton Beach Boardwalk when a fight erupted into a shooting. Police have arrested 19-year-old Iloune Driver as a suspect in the murder of a 16-year-old girl and wounding of four others. The teen is facing murder and assault charges. (Photo: Patrick Q. Barr for NY Daily News)

Brooklyn

Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of a 16-year-old girl and wounding of four others last week on the boardwalk at Brighton Beach, according to Eyewitness News.

The suspect, 19-year-old Iloune Driver, is facing murder and assault charges.

Investigators are still seeking a second suspect four days after Tysha Jones, 16, was murdered during a fun day at the beach.

In amateur video, there are glimpses people rushing to Jones' aid. She was one of five people shot on Brighton BeachThursday evening. Police says the five victims were sitting on a bench near Brighton 6th Street, when the shooting started.

Jones was struck in her armpit and later died at Coney Island hospital.

"The first shots, everyone ran," one witness said. "Everybody was running the opposite way and throwing themselves on the floor and completely going insane."

Police called a level two mobilization, rushing additional officers in from acrossBrooklyn and Staten Island.

"We didn't know whether to run or to stay," another witness said.

"There were rumors that it was firecrackers, but we saw the man fall," that witness' friend added.

Five .380-caliber shells were recovered from the scene and are being processed, police said.

Detectives do not believe the shooting was a gang retaliation. One of the shooting victims had been involved in a dispute on the beach in which he was hit on the head with a bottle, officials said.

Read More:

Arrest in Brighton Beach boardwalk shooting

Eyewitness News - June 13, 2011

Five Shot, Teen Girl Killed In Brighton Beach Boardwalk Shooting

A Walk In The Park - June 10, 2011

Woman Raped In Inwood Hill Park

Suspect wanted for sexually assaulting a woman in Inwood Hill Park Friday night. (Skectch Courtesy of the NYPD) The 28-year-old victim was raped Friday night near the Dyckman Fields inside the park. Police released these details on Sunday afternoon.

The New York City Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in locating the following suspect who is wanted in connection with a sexual assault that occurred within the confines of the 34th Precinct. The details are as follows:

Manhattan

On Friday June 10, 2011 at approximately 2040 hours in the confines of the 34 Precinct, a F/H/28 was Sexually Assaulted inside of Inwood Park. The victim was walking in the vicinity of the ball fields near Dyckman Avenue and the Henry Hudson Parkway when she was approached by a M/H/30's who began a conversation. The suspect then forced the victim into a secluded area of the park where he sexually assaulted her before fleeing on a red mountain bike. The victim notified authorities; she was taken to an area Hospital where she was treated and later released.

The suspect is described as a M/H/30-35, 5'7" to 5'9" tall, 170 to 180 lbs. He had no shirt on but was wearing a bluish adornment around his neck and was wearing khaki shorts.

A sketch of the suspect is attached.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

Read More:

Woman Raped in Inwood Hill Park, Sources Say

DNAinfo - June 11, 2011

Washington Sq. Park Attacks - Two Stabbed

PEP officers haul away Charles Graham, 51 of Brooklyn who allegedly slashed two people with a broken bottle. Two hours earlier the assailant allegedly punched a park worker in the face.

Manhattan

Two people were stabbed and a park worker was assaulted in two separate incidents yesterday in Washington Square Park. Charles Graham, 51 from Brooklyn allegedly removed a broken bottle from a sock and slashed two males, ages 22, and 27 in a dispute according to an NYPD source. The incident occurred at approximately 1:15 at Washington SQ. NO. & 5th Avenue. The perpetrator fled the scene.

The victims were transported to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

NYPD and multiple PEP units responded. Mr. Graham was apprehended by two PEP Sgt.'s who turned the arrest over to NYPD due to staffing commitments at the Black Eyed Peas concert in Central Park.

Mr. Graham was charged with two counts of felony assault and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. (The arrest and hand over to the police was posted on You Tube)

Mr. Graham was the same individual who allegedly assaulted a Maintenance and Operation Parks Department (JTP) worker two hours earlier in the park.

While the worker was cleaning the park at Thompson St & Washington SQ South at approx. 11:00am, the assailant claimed the JTP removed his belongings and then hit the parks worker in the face and fled the scene. NYPD responded & canvassed area with negative results. NYPD filed a harassment report for the JTP.

Two weeks ago a known methadone addict was robbed and hit in the face with a bottle in the park. The victim spent two days in the hospital and received 27 stitches according to enforcement personnel.

– Geoffrey Croft

Teen Found Stabbed On Coney Island Boardwalk

Brooklyn

A hour before the deadly shooting in Brighton Beach Boardwalk yesterday that claimed the life of a 16-year-old East Harlem girl and wounded four others, a 17-year old male was found stabbed three times in Coney Island Beach according to law enforcement sources.

PEP officers found the teen sitting on a bench with two stab wounds to his chest and one to his neck at W. 19th St & Riegelmann Boardwalk by the Pier at approximately 4:10PM. The perpetrator is unknown and the incident possibly stemmed from an altercation on the boardwalk.

The victim was transported by EMS to Coney Island Hospital conscious and breathing. –Geoffrey Croft

Five Shot, Teen Girl Killed In Brighton Beach Boardwalk Shooting

Chaos ensued at the Brighton Beach Boardwalk when a fight erupted into a shooting.

(Photo: Patrick Q. Barr for NY Daily News)

Brooklyn

A 16-year-old girl was killed and four people were wounded by gunfire Thursday after two groups clashed on a crowded Brooklyn boardwalk, cops and witnesses said, according to the NY Daily News.

Two of the victims were bystanders, sources said.

One man used an umbrella to crack another man in the head as the fight erupted on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk near Brighton Sixth St. about 5:20 p.m. Suddenly, a gunman squeezed off about eight rounds, first shooting in the air before aiming at the brawling crowd, cops and witnesses said.

Onlookers scurried into nearby stores and restaurants, huddling in fear as the bullets flew near the oceanfront, witnesses said.

"It was chaotic," said a 48-year-old Queens woman who was visiting Brighton Beach. "We looked at the boardwalk and everyone was running north. It was hectic. It was panic."

The teen - identified by friends as Tysha Jones, a Landmark High School student - was shot under the left armpit, cops said.

She later died at Coney Island Hospital, where a 23-year-old man was clinging to life with a gunshot wound to his stomach.

Tykwan Beckett, 23, and two other men - ages 25 and 26 - were taken to Lutheran Hospital. All were expected to survive.

The two injured bystanders - one hit inside Tatiana Restaurant - were among those in stable condition, sources said.

"I hope that somebody comes forward," said Beckett's sister, Ebony, 27. "If they don't stop him, [the shooter is] going to keep going."

Five people were shot in the mayhem at the boardwalk. (Patrick Q. Barr for News)

Beckett - a father of 2-year-old twins, a boy and a girl - was hit in his ankle and elbow during the wild shooting.

A 21-year-old Bronx woman who is eight months pregnant said she was 30 feet from the gunfire and feared for her life.

"I got nervous," said the woman, who declined to give her name

"At the moment, you don't know where he was going to shoot," she added. "I left my sandals. I left everything. I could have fell on my stomach - I could have gotten shot."

One stray bullet pierced through the window of an elderly woman's apartment as she sat in front of her TV, witnesses said.

The bullet whizzed through the sixth-floor apartment of Marion Smith, 84, but didn't hit her, said a security guard at the building.

Dozens of cops from Brooklyn and Staten Island swarmed the area. Investigators believe the violence erupted between two rival gangs, cops said.

As the sun faded following a thunderstorm, police were walking shoulder to shoulder on the boardwalk, shining flashlights into the crevices of the pieces of lumber, looking for shell casings.

Read/View More:

Teen girl killed, four wounded on Brooklyn's Brighton Beach boardwalk as gunman fires on crowd

NY Daily News - June 9, 2011- By Kerry Wills, Michael J. Feeney, Trevor Kapp and Joe Kemp

Brighton Beach boardwalk shooting: Tysha Jones 'killed for enjoying a day at the beach'

NY Daily News - June 10, 2011- By Matt Lysiak and Christina Boyle

More Housing Likely For Brooklyn Bridge Park- Report

Brooklyn Bridge Park, Phase One, July 11. 2010. The city is still refusing to take responsibility to pay for the maintenance and operation of the park according to a final draft study released last night. (Photo: © Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on image to enlarge

Brooklyn

If there was any doubt left – all roads now point to the city moving forward with plans to build more controversial high-rise condos at Brooklyn Bridge Park, according to the Brooklyn Blog.

The findings in a final draft of a city-commissioned study by Bay Area Economics released earlier this evening contend there isn’t enough alternative funding opportunities to stop at least some of the new housing set for John Street in DUMBO and by Pier 6 in Brooklyn Heights from being built.

Both developments are slated to bring in $8 million in revenues to help finance the park’s anticipated $16.1 million maintenance budget. The 85-acre park project is being built in segments.

The findings are no shock. They are similar to what BAE’s preliminary report released in February showed: that up to $7 million in annual revenues could be raised through alternatives like selling naming rights and adding additional paid parking spots.

However, $4 million of the $7 million is through a plan to create a Park Improvement District that would raise funds through an additional tax on property and business owners near the park. A PID would need to be approved by the community affected, but such support is dramatically lacking.

Critics say the findings are a sham to push an agenda to build more housing in the park.

Many questioned why the city didn’t study a popular plan to tap into the Jehovah Witnesses’ dozens of properties in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO, convert them into luxury condos and put tax revenues from the sales toward the parks maintenance costs.

BAE and city officials have said it was because the Witnesses aren’t warm to moving fast enough on the plan to meet construction timetables at the park.

But state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn) says the city didn’t try hard enough to study the plan.

He said the report “calls the city’s commitment to complete” the 85-acre park project “into question.”

City officials will now consider what to do with the findings during a June 14 meeting at the Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Heights branch, 280 Cadman Plaza West.

Under a 2010 agreement that allowed the city to take control of the park from the state, the city has to explore alternate revenue sources to the luxury condos planned.

Also, under the deal, the city can’t pursue the John Street housing before next month or Pier 6 condos before July 2013. And – most importantly -- both Squadron and Assemblywoman Joan Millman hold veto power over the construction of housing at those sites.

When asked if he would ever block housing with his veto, Squadron said it’s an option that remains on the table.

Judi Francis, who heads a grass-roots group fighting to keep housing out of the park, ripped Mayor Bloomberg for “denying us a true park” by pushing luxury condos.

Brooklyn Bridge Park has been a political hot potato since project planners announced in December 2004 that more than 1,200 luxury condos would have to be included to raise enough money to offset the park's now-estimated $16.1 million annual maintenance costs.

Only one high-rise offering 440 luxury units at Pier 5 has been built; another 780 units are on hold because of the slumping economy.

Read More:

Report shows more housing likely in future for Brooklyn Bridge Park

The Brooklyn Blog - New York Post - June 9 2011 - By Rich Calder

Alternatives To Brooklyn Bridge Park Housing Gaining Traction

A Walk In The Park - April 22, 2011

ATM's Invade Central Park

Sunset Over ATM - Central Park's Great Lawn. Is this what Calvert and Vaux envisioned. In May the City Council banned exterior ATM machines on city sidewalks. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Manhattan

Yesterday New Yorkers were startled to see multiple ATM's lining Central Park's Great Lawn. Workers from National Cash Register (NCR) began installing eight wireless, diesel powered cash machines in the City's first scenic landmark.

Seven ATM's were placed along the park's walkway - plus one in a VIP area - for this evening's Black-Eyed Peas concert sponsored by JP Morgan Chase. The bank is charging the usual $3 fee to withdraw funds for non Chase customers. According a (NCR) employee this is a pilot program and the first time ATM's have been allowed at the site.

One thousand NYPD barricades have also been adorned with Chase and Robin Hood logos according to workers installing the signs.

According to the Parks Department, JP Morgan Chase is the primary presenting corporate sponsor of the concert and their financial support has enabled Robin Hood Foundation to organize the event and distribute over 50,000 free tickets to the public.

600 VIP tickets were available for sale at $ 500 each.

In May the City Council banned exterior ATM machines on City sidewalks. The bill, sponsored by Councilwoman Diana Reyna (D-Brooklyn), increases the fine for property owners with the illegal ATMs to as much as $5, 000 for the first day and $5, 000 every five days that the ATM is not removed, beginning 30 days after the city alerts the owner.

Attempts to confirm the amount being donated to the Robin Hood Foundation and to Central Park Conservancy by the Parks Department and the public relations firm handling the event were unsuccessful by press time.

"We do not know at this point," said an employee at Rubenstein Communications. "That number has not yet been released.

The ATM machines will be there till Friday according to a Parks Department spokeswoman.

In 1974, Central Park was designated the first scenic landmark in New York City by New York City's Landmark Preservation Commission. Central Park is also a National Historic Landmark park. - Geoffrey Croft

Cash With a View. Belvedere Castle.