As Alphabet City copes with its second stabbing in a week, many are still talking about a chaotic incident last weekend that is said to have increased tension between residents and the police.
A fight involving a father, his son, and a police officer last Saturday grew into a melee that took over Avenue D and spilled into a police station house, said residents of the neighborhood. Videos obtained by The Local offer a glimpse into the clamorous street scene.
The Local spoke with several people living in the Jacob Riis Houses or nearby who said they had heard that a 14-year-old boy and his father were stuck in the head by a police officer. Ashley Serrano, another 14-year-old who was involved in the tussle, said that the father’s face was bruised and cut. “They made his whole face bleed,” she said.
“It was a hot night out there,” said Lieutenant Steve Nusser, one of the officers of Police Service Area 4 who responded to the incident. “There was a fight between a couple people, a crowd of people came over, and the cops I’m sure did something to halt that action, and it escalated from there,” he said. “When the crowd surged, some people came to the PSA [station house] and we had to control the crowd. Some were out of order.” Read more…
Suzanne Rozdeba
Suzanne RozdebaGood morning, East Village.
Take note, pet owners: the flyer above and another at right went up around the neighborhood recently.
The Post reports that Kenneth Moreno, the former police officer who was acquitted of raping a woman on duty but fired after being found guilty of official misconduct, is thinking about suing the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for allegedly planting incriminating evidence.
You’ll recall baggies of heroin were found in Mr. Moreno’s locker, and woes at the stationhouse continue: The Post hears from a source that the last of four 9mm pistols stolen from the locker room was swiped after officers were assigned to patrol the room.
Speaking of guns, The Daily News reports that two teens were arrested at the Union Square station when police officers who stopped them for evading the fare found a pair of guns and two bulletproof vests on them. Read more…
Tim Schreier Protester arrested at Sara D. Roosevelt ParkWhen we filed our final report on May Day activities in the wee hours of this morning, the police would say only that more than 30 were arrested during yesterday’s demonstrations. The final tally is now in: City Room reports that 34 people were taken into custody and another 52 issued desk appearance tickets.
The photo above is one of Tim Schreier’s newly posted shots from the Wildcat March at Sara D. Roosevelt Park. And arrest videos have also emerged on YouTube. A video posted by Kg4 shows a protester kicking out a police car window from inside of a cruiser. Read more…
Photos of the march across the Williamsburg Bridge, Sara D. Roosevelt Park, and the Wildcat March by Jared Malsin.
As documented on The Local’s liveblog, demonstrations and arrests took place across the city today as anarchists, union members, Occupy Wall Street supporters, employees of The Strand, residents of public housing in Alphabet City, and even banjo players used May Day as an occasion to protest the status quo.
The proceedings were for the most part orderly, but scuffles broke out when approximately 200 demonstrators, many dressed in black and some covering their faces, assembled in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, at Second Avenue and Houston Street, at 1 p.m. for a pre-planned, unpermitted “Wildcat March.” Read more…
Photos: John Penley. Speaking in first photo: Tuli Kupferberg of The Fugs.
Earlier this morning, we reprinted Ellen Moynihan’s account of the 1990 May Day riots in Tompkins Square Park. Now, let’s look back at John Penley’s photographs of the day, from a collection of his work at N.Y.U.’s Tamiment Library.
Speaking to The Local from his current home in Asheville, N.C., the activist and photographer said he sensed trouble was brewing that night, twenty-two years ago. “I was ready for this one,” he said. “The ’88 riot I wasn’t ready for, but this one I had a lot of film, I had batteries, and I expected stuff to jump off.” He added, “There’s nothing like riots, man, especially as a photojournalist – as long as you don’t get beat up or your cam doesn’t get broken or something bad doesn’t happen to you, you can’t miss with the photos.” Read more…
Jared Malsin The Local’s raw footage of this morning’s events. Yoni Miller, 18, is dragged off and arrested around the 4:00 mark. Video contains explicit language.
City Room reports that a total of six protesters were taken into custody during this morning’s clashes between police and Occupy Wall Street protesters in Union Square. Charges include resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration. Meanwhile, a non-Occupy demonstration protesting what many say is a lack of justice in the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin is slated to occur in the park this evening.
A little over a month after Superman climbed the George Washington statue in Union Square Park, an Occupy Wall Street protester – wearing a keffiyeh instead of a cape – climbed onto George’s horse early this morning and held court for about 40 minutes. NY1 has footage of police officers escorting the man to an ambulance after he finally came down, and reports that about 50 protesters spent the night in the park.
Daniel Maurer At Eighth and Avenue B.In a show of solidarity for Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in Oakland, a group marched from Washington Square Park, as far north as 29th Street, and then back south to Tompkins Square Park – with a symbolic stop at the former Charas/El Bohio community center. Witnesses reported smashed bottles and arrests in the East Village last night.
Shortly before 10 p.m., protesters who had gathered at Washington Square Park three hours earlier made their way to the former P.S. 64 building on East Ninth Street, which was at the center of demonstrations last month. As The Local has reported, some residents want the developer who owns the vacant building to use it as a community center again.
After hearing a few words about the building’s history, the group – escorted by a column of police officers in the street – walked down Avenue C, then Eighth Street, and then Avenue B before stopping at East Seventh Street, at the entrance of Tompkins Square Park. Read more…
Daniel Maurer Medics treat the motorcycle accident victim.Two incidents marred New Year’s celebrations in the East Village during today’s early morning hours. At Second Avenue and 13th Street, around 3 a.m., dozens of police officers moved to detain Occupy Wall Street protesters as helicopters circled over the neighborhood; about an hour later at 12th Street between Avenues A and B, a man was struck by a motorcycle and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The motorcycle accident occurred around 4:20 a.m. When The Local arrived on the scene, a man lay facedown, bleeding onto the street, having been struck by a BMW with Maine plates as he crossed the street well away from the intersection at Avenue A. Paramedics transported him to Beth Israel Hospital, where the police said he arrived with severe head trauma and is currently in critical condition. The driver of the motorcycle, a 38-year-old male, is not suspected of criminality.
The earlier incident at Second Avenue and 13th Street occurred after protesters clashed with police at Zuccotti Park shortly before midnight. The Post reported that one officer was stabbed in the hand with a pair of scissors then, and City Room reported that just before 1:30 a.m., police officers entered the park to clear it of about 150 people, five of whom were led off in handcuffs. After a group marched north, 60 to 100 people, eyewitnesses told The Local, arrived at Second Avenue and East 13th Street around 3 a.m. There, their progress was stopped by a wall of police officers. Read more…
