BENSONHURST'S PREMIER NEWS BLOG

Hit and run suspect found in Bensonhurst backyard (image by Ken Murray for Daily News)

[UPDATE 5:45 p.m.] The suspect has been identified as Brian Pittsley who, according to Brooklyn Daily, may have been squatting in a house on Bay 20th Street between Benson Avenue and 86th Street. The Post is reporting that Pittsley has an arrest record which includes five priors since 2003, including grand larceny, assault, resisting arrest and petit larceny.

It looks like we finally know what all that police activity before – near 18th Avenue and 83rd Street – was about.

According to the Daily News, police were nabbing a hit and run suspect from a Monday night crash in Staten Island. The suspect (pictured above) is currently unidentified.

From the News:

A Brooklyn man has been arrested as the driver in Monday night’s horrific hit-and-run crash in Staten Island that killed a teenager and injured six others, a police source said.

The unidentified suspect sparked a police dragnet around 11 a.m. Tuesday after he fled his Bensonhurst home when detectives tried to question him, a source said.

He was caught hiding in a backyard a few blocks away.

He is still being questioned and has not been charged.

Cops believe the man was speeding in a 1992 Chevy Suburban carrying seven passengers at about 9:30 p.m. Monday when he blew through a stop sign at the intersection of Hillside Terrace and Hylan Blvd. in Eltingville.

A 2009 Nissan Sentra, which was traveling northbound on Hylan Blvd., struck the back of the SUV, causing the Suburban’s driver to loose control and careen into the back of a parked 2003 Chevy Trailblazer.

The Suburban then bounced off the parked SUV and flipped over, ejecting at least one passenger onto the street, cops said.

Angel Rivera, 17, was thrown from the rear seat on driver’s side of the vehicle. He died a short time later at the hospital, police said.

A 17-year-old-girl lost part of her right arm in the accident, police said. Five other passengers suffered cuts bruises and fractures. None of those injuries were life threatening.

The driver of the Suburban climbed from the wreck and fled on foot leaving his injured passengers behind. Cops said the vehicle was not registered.

The 20-year-old driver of the Nissan suffered only bumps and bruises. He was not charged with a crime.

[UPDATE 2:15 p.m.] Our tipster says that police have a suspect in custody. Anyone else know what went down?

We just received word from a tipster that there appears to be a lot of police activity on 18th Avenue near 83rd Street. We’re being told that police are advising people to stay in their homes. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear more.

The Post is reporting that those who lived or worked as far uptown as Canal Street will now be able to receive compensation for health problems resulting from the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Sheila Birnbaum, who oversees the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund, expanded the eligibility zone 10 blocks north to Canal Street. The previous northern cut-off point was Reade Street.

The $2.8 Billion fund could potentially help thousands of additional victims.

From the Post:

Birnbaum said compelling public comments, as well as scientific and medical evidence, persuaded her to expand the zone.

Evidence suggests “that prolonged exposure to dust between Reade and Canal streets created a demonstrable risk of physical harm,” she said.

She also noted there are already a substantial number of patients who live between Reade and Canal receiving treatment in the federally funded World Trade Center Environmental Health Program.

“My goal is for the Victim Compensation Fund to be fair, transparent, and easy to navigate for those who have been affected the most by the devastating events of Sept. 11,” Birnbaum said.

One group who will still not be covered by the fund are those suffering from cancer. In July, Bensonhurst Bean covered the decision by the fund’s head physician to not include cancer stricken 9/11 victims, citing a lack of sufficient evidence.

Bensonhurst Bean would like to know our readers’ thoughts on this matter.

With the knowledge that toxic dust created by the collapse of World Trade Center buildings 1, 2 and 7 contained known carcinogens, do you think it’s wrong for the fund to exclude cancer victims?

Or do you think cancer is far too common in our chemical-laced society to sort out which illnesses specifically resulted from the 9/11 attacks?

Eric Schneiderman (from Jerrold Nadler's office)

If you’ve heard about New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman being kicked off a committee that was supposed to be investigating mortgage abuses and negotiating a settlement with some of the country’s largest banks, then you might be interested in what your local elected representatives think.

Below is a press release from Jerrold Nadler’s office:

NEW YORK, NY – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, and 20 members of New York’s congressional delegation chided Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller for his dismissal of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week from ongoing mortgage settlement negotiations, demanding that Attorney General Miller explain how he intends to ensure that New York’s interests are represented during the remainder of the negotiation talks.  The national committee of state Attorneys General are working to settle numerous complex legal matters arising from the 2008 housing collapse.

 “As members of the New York congressional delegation, we are united in fighting for a fair resolution of the housing crisis that has devastated tens of thousands of families across our state,” the members wrote.  “That is why we are deeply troubled by your recent action to silence New York’s voice by removing New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from an executive committee negotiating a nationwide settlement with the banks.  We ask that you explain how New York’s interests will be protected as negotiations move forward.”

 

Below is the full text of the letter: Continue Reading »

In the above video, which was posted on Youtube by Bogframe, shows the surge from “Hurricane-turned-Tropical-Storm” Irene topping the sea wall at Caesar’s Bay shopping center Sunday morning.

Levi Aron (image by Jesse Ward for Daily News)

The Daily News reported this morning that the Borough Park family of slain 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky is suing the boy’s confessed killer Levi Aron for $100 million.

Nachman Kletzky is seeking punitive damages from Aron for the kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of his son. Aron had abducted the boy as he walked home from camp in July.

From the News:

The civil suit, filed last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court,  says that Leiby “was terrorized, physically and psychologically assaulted and injured, and was murdered and his body dismembered, with parts of his body hidden in a refrigerator.”

The suit was filed on behalf of Nachman Kletzky, who only learned in recent weeks of the gruesome details of his son’s death, a source said.

The lawsuit was initiated the same week that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neil Firetog reprimanded Aron’s lawyers.

In court last Tuesday, Firetog accused defense attorneys Pierre Bazile and Jennifer McCann of being too inexperienced to take on such a complex case. He also chided them for talking to the media and posting comments on Facebook about court proceedings, hinting that the two lawyers may have been the source of Aron’s illegally leaked psychiatric evaluation.

Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst (7802 Bay Parkway) is planning an apple picking trip to a local orchard on Sunday October 2 at 10 a.m.

The outing will take place just days into the Jewish New Year. This year’s religious new year celebration – called Rosh Hashana – will last from September 28 to September 30, 2011. In honor of the holiday, participants will receive a complimentary package of honey.

For more information, please contact Asya Grobov at 718 331-6800 ext. 122.

The Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst is located at 7802 Bay Parkway between 78th and 79th streets.

(image by Galasso/North Jersey Media Group via Daily News)

The Daily News says that the latest round of school budget cuts are hitting some areas worse than others, and that middle class neighborhoods like ours are being spared the deep cuts facing poorer school districts.

The News reported last Friday that close to 800 non-teaching public school employees, such as school aides, in the largest round of layoffs for any one agency since Bloomberg became mayor.

Under the plan, The upper Manhattan neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights stand to lose close to 8% of school aides.

In Brooklyn, East New York, Brownsville and East Flatbush public schools would have their non-professional workers cut by 4.4%.

Meanwhile, Districts 20, 21 and 22 – covering the middle class areas of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Borough Park, Midwood, Dyker Heights, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay and Marine Park – would only have to do without around 1% of aides.

From Daily News:

Those who could lose their jobs are some of the lowest-paid workers in the city and overwhelmingly black and Hispanic. School aides, the biggest group targeted, average about $11,000 a year for part-time work. Even with health insurance and pension costs factored in, the city pays about $27,000 annually for each of these workers.

“We’ve been trying for weeks to meet with Chancellor Dennis Walcott, and each time they canceled . . . at the last moment,” said Santos Crespo, president of Local 372.

“On Monday, they just called us in and hit us with these cuts,” Crespo said. “They didn’t even want to discuss ways we could cooperate to reduce costs.”

At a time when the school system is spending hundreds of millions of dollars for more outside contractors and consultants, it’s crazy to cut the most vulnerable workers.

While a Board of Education spokesperson insists the final decision on who to let go were made by principals on a school-by-school basis, principals point back to BOE budget officials who they say encouraged cutting the number of school aides.

Juan Gonzales, the article’s author observed that those districts which face the worst cuts are, in many cases, the same neighborhoods where city council members have been vocal critics of Mayor Bloomberg.

According to MTA.info, subway service will resume across the subway system at 6 a.m. Monday morning – with limited exceptions.

Affecting Bensonhurst will be changes in N Train service. N trains will terminate at Kings Highway. Shuttle bus service will be available between Kings Highway and Stillwell Terminal.

From MTA.info:

Service will be less frequent than normal, and customers should expect longer waits and more crowded trains.

Frequency of service will improve over the course of the day.

from technodisco.net

News 12 is reporting that the Belt Parkway is open with delays in certain spots, such as Pennsylvania Avenue, where flood water is being pumped off the road.

According to traffic reports, all highways are open with traffic limited to one lane in places due to storm related damage .

Subway service remains suspended while crews continue to inspect the system for any problems. Limited bus service has been restored to all five boroughs.

Con Edison is slowly bringing back electricity to customers affected by last night’s extreme weather. A dozen or so homes remain without power in Bensonhurst while approximately a hundred more are still without service in Brooklyn.

Overall, aside from ongoing problems with subways, the amount of damage was much less than expected. The Bloomberg administration’s hurricane emergency planing appears to have been an almost unanimous success, with many crediting the city for a quick and organized response to the storm.

As Irene – which was luckily downgraded to a tropical storm just before making landfall on Coney Island – continues to weaken as it moves north through New England, both residents and elected officials seem to feel as if we all have somehow dodged a bullet, whether it was aimed at our safety, or in the mayor’s case, his historical legacy.