SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Nostrand Houses (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

Lawrence Wright, a 55-year-old Sheepshead Bay resident, was arrested yesterday for the stabbing death of 51-year-old Denise Pannell, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

Pannell, who lived at 2238 Batchelder Street, was apparently a former girlfriend of Wright’s, who lived in the same public housing complex, the Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses, on 2985 Avenue X.

According to CBS-NY, Pannell’s lifeless body was discovered on Saturday at 9:20 a.m. after her neighbors complained of a foul smell emanating from her apartment.

This isn’t the first time we’ve reported on violence at this public housing project. Avery Kelly was murdered in front of his apartment door at 2258 Batchelder Street in 2011 and homeless man, Jimmy Albright, was also murdered last year in an elevator at 2953 Avenue W between Nostrand Avenue and Batchelder Street.

As of this publishing, security cameras have still not been installed at the Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses.

WNYC took it upon themselves to map all of the street stops – a.k.a. stop and frisks – using information from the police department showcasing where guns were recovered last year, since firearm control has been the primary justification for the controversial tactic. The map reveals that, in Sheepshead Bay, the NYPD has turned up no firearms in the areas in which NYPD has concentrated its use of stop-and-frisk tactics.

In Sheepshead Bay, police made 1,324 stops in the Sheepshead Bay-Nostrand Housing projects. Yet only two guns were found in the 61st Precinct’s command, and neither were in the vicinity of the projects.

Two guns were found, however; one at the Log Cabin at 2123 Avenue Z, and the other during a random sidewalk stop near the Kings Bay fields, at Voorhies Avenue and Bragg Street.

Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio has been saying that stop-and-frisk needs reform because it fosters a distrust between citizens and police officials. Others note that it is a major waste of public resources.

Those sentiments have been echoed by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, also a mayoral candidate. Stringer points out that the city is on track to stop and frisk more than 700,000 people this year, of which 85 percent are black and Latino males. Yet only seven percent of stops lead to an arrest, and less than one percent for gun-related charges.

Further, legal advocacy groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union deem stop-and-frisk as “racial profiling.”

An NYCLU analysis revealed that New Yorkers (mostly black or Latino) have been subjected to police stops and street interrogations more than 4 million times since 2002, and that nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers were innocent.

Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg say that stop-and-frisk is meant to get illegal guns out of the streets and criminals behind bars.

“You hear all the time from people who don’t like stop-and-frisk. But you know what people really hate in New York City, and always have? Guns,” said Kelly.

Current data shows that out of 685,000 stops in 2011, about 770 guns were recovered. This means that only one tenth of one percent of all stops resulted in cops finding a gun.

Supporters of the stop-and-frisk procedures say that the police concentrate their hubs of activity where violent crimes are most often reported, and that it is crime, not gun recoveries, which determine where police officers go. Also, because police saturate certain areas, this becomes a deterrent for carrying a firearm.

Similar results to those found at the Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses were also found at the Marlboro Houses, as well as areas citywide in which the city focuses its stop-and-frisk efforts.

What do you think? Are current stop-and-frisk tactics effective?

Nostrand Houses (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

If you saw heavy police activity turn up near 2986 Avenue V at around 2:30 p.m. today, the answer is no, it wasn’t another violent incident in the Sheepshead-Nostrand Housing Projects.

It was just an elevator repairman.

NYPD converged on the scene, aided by hostage negotiators and Emergency Service Unites, after a neighbor called 911 to report what appeared to be a man poised to jump from the roof of the building.

Once the authorities showed up, however, it became clear that it was an elevator repairman, working on the building’s constantly problematic elevator system.

Detectives stand outside the scene of the shooting.

A man has been shot in the head at 2938 Avenue W, near Nostrand Avenue, according to scanner reports.

The call came over police scanners shortly before 2:00 p.m., indicating that a male victim has been shot in the head and is in serious condition.

A crime scene is being established, and the NYPD has issued a Level 1 Mobilization for the area, suggesting the perp is still on the loose.

Update (2:37 p.m.): The shooting occurred inside an apartment unit. The victim has been transported to the hospital.

Update (2:56 p.m.): Victim was taken to Lutheran Medical Center. Not likely to survive.

Update (3:02 p.m.): News vans and reporters have arrived.

Update (3:05 p.m.): He was shot on the 6th floor of the building.

This is a breaking news story and may contain inaccuracies. We will update it as more information becomes available. If anyone has more information or additional photos, please send them to tips (at) sheepsheadbites (dot) com.

Photo by Neil Friedman

The body of a homeless man, who police identified as 32-year-old Jimmy Albright, was discovered inside the elevator of 2953 Avenue W between Nostrand Avenue and Batchelder Street.

After police responded to a 911 call at 7:45 a.m. yesterday morning, the bullet-riddled body of Albright was found inside the elevator of the seven-story Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses building.

According to several reports, authorities are still trying to determine who shot Albright, when exactly the shooting occurred, and why he was in the building in the first place.

This latest murder in the city housing development occurred despite the promise that brand new high-tech security cameras, ID-embedded door locks and new intercom systems would be installed throughout the 18-building complex.

The cameras were supposed to be installed by the first quarter of 2012, with all work finishing no later than March.

Photo by Robert Fernandez

The city is proposing to strategically deploy high-tech security measures in the Sheepshead Bay – Nostrand Houses to deter crime, featuring new cameras, ID-embedded door locks and new intercom systems throughout the 18-building complex.

Find out details of the plan, and what residents and local officials think.

Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

When it was announced a few weeks ago that the cash-strapped New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) was mulling over the idea to place billboards — possibly for booze and fast food — on the sides of its buildings, residents of the Sheepshead – Nostrand Houses, on Nostrand Avenue between Avenue V and Avenue X, came out against the idea, claiming “it would make many rundown buildings look even worse.”

The Housing Authority quietly circulated notice last week that it’s looking to hire a consultant to advise them on selling advertising space in developments that more than 400,000 people call home.

The unprecedented proposal sparked fears among residents that building lobbies, facades, courtyard benches or trash bins could be plastered with ads touting unhealthy products.

However, “Instead of placing billboards,” one resident told News 12, “we need more cameras for our safety.”

Keep reading to find out what happened – or didn’t happen – to those cameras, and why NYCHA’s alternative will prove a waste of taxpayer money.

Nostrand Houses (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

A 27-year-old man was pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital Saturday night after taking several gunshots to his torso.

According to reports, Avery Kelly was found just after 11:00 p.m. after having been shot almost 30 times near the entrance of his apartment building at 2258 Batchelder Street in the Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses. Police told the Daily News they recovered 25 shell casings in the hallway of the building.

One reader writes in: “Just to show how self-contained the projects are, this happened 2.5 blocks from my parents’ house and they had no idea anything happened aside from the obligatory helicopters flying overhead.”

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.

Josephine Rodriguez is comforted by friends after the murder of her daughter, Crystal Melody Sweet, during a triple shooting at the Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses. Source: The Daily News

Deadly gun violence broke out at the start of the Memorial Day weekend during a Friday night bloodbath at 2938 Avenue W, resulting in the deaths of a young mother and her boyfriend.

Continue Reading »

Click to view the video at NY1

A parade of dozens of cars and motorcycles rolled through Sheepshead Bay’s streets with horns blaring last night, in honor of a woman shot and killed in the Nostrand Houses over the weekend.

Ciera Glenn, the 25-year-old president of an auto club named Prime Squad Divas, was killed in the lobby of 2336 Batchelder Street early Saturday morning. Her club members gathered in East New York and drove to the scene of her death.

The unannounced convoy threw many residents and drivers into confusion. Members of the auto club blocked off intersections and began directing traffic along the route. On Knapp Street and Avenue W, members were shouting at uncooperative commuters, and residents of the area stood on the sidewalk watching in confusion. No one knew what was going on. Sheepshead Bites received about a half-dozen inquiries from startled residents about the event.

Event organizers saw it as an opportunity to remember their friend and lift spirits in the wake of her death.

“She was a positive person. And that’s how you have to do. You have to do it positive. Right now, you going to shed your tears; it’s gonna come. But at this point in time — we have to stay positive; we have to keep it alive,” a participant told NY1.