Got a Tip?
tips at gothamist
About Gothamist

Gothamist is a website about New York. More

Editor: Jen Chung Publisher: Jake Dobkin

About Us & Advertising | Archives | Contact | Mobile | RSS | Staff

Favorites
Newsmap
Contribute

Latest tip:

Regis pays for backing into Greenwich police cruiser <a href="http://www.greenwichtime.co [more]

 

Latest link:

 

Latest Photo:

 

Subscribe
Use an RSS reader to stay up to date with the latest news and posts from Gothamist.

All Our RSS

December 28, 2006

Drug and Gun Ring at the the Helmsley Park Lane

2006_12_helmspark.jpgWe've heard of hotel staffs doing anything for their guests, but providing them with drugs and guns goes a bit too far. The Post revels in news that some employees at the Helmsley Park Lane hotel on Central Park South were arrested for selling six guns and half a pound in cocaine to undercover police officers, because that means they can run unflattering photos of the Queen of Mean.

Police found out about the drug and gun sales from other hotel employees. The cops first got to know night manager Diogenes Pena on one "trip," and then two months later, they visited again and bought five bags of coke, delivered by a room service workers Luis Quinones.

Over the next two months, detectives bought more cocaine in Park Lane rooms and a second-floor bathroom, and even heard Peña telephoning his supplier and ordering him to "bring the doughnuts now."

On Aug. 7, an undercover officer upped the ante and asked for guns, a request Peña allegedly fulfilled. During that transaction, Peña said his partner was waiting downstairs, which allowed cops to get a glimpse of Cesar Victorino, 34, his alleged cocaine distributor.

After two more buys, one of which yielded four guns and more drugs, police swooped in on Peña and Quinones and arrested them at work. Victorino was later arrested outside his Inwood home, police sources said.

The Post reports that Pena is held on $150,000 bail, Victorino made $250,000, and Quinones pleaded guilty and is serving a 2 1/2 jail sentence. And the Queen of Mean, through spokesman Howard Rubenstein, was shocked and worked with the police.

Three years ago, Leona Helmsley took the witness stand when a Park Lane employee claimed she fired him because he's gay (at the time, Newsday wrote about how the tabloids LOVED the story: "The words 'gay' and 'sex' are an orgasmic combination for Post editors on any given day.")

6

Email This Entry







Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!

Comments (5)

HOLY SHIT!
i walk by there everyday... crazy.

 

"The Post revels in news that some employees at the Helmsley Park Lane hotel on Central Park South were arrested for selling six guns and half a pound in cocaine to undercover police officers, because that means they can run unflattering photos of the Queen of Mean."


WOW! That's one of the most jumbled up sentences that I've ever read on gothamist. It might be understandable if you were a 9 year old with an awful case of ADHD. Take your Ritalin, Jen!

Here's to hoping that 2007 brings better grammar and editing to you and yours. Cheers.


 

those who can, blog.

those who can't, complain about it.

 

Are bloggers not writers?

Shouldn't we hold blogs - especially those that claim to have an editorial staff - to the same grammatical standards as traditional media forms?

Those who can, blog well.

Those who can't, protect others who can't.

 

Please. After, what, four years of Jen banging these posts out at an incredible rate, do you really expect an ad hoc criticism to somehow change how she writes them? Have fun tilting at windmills if you like, but isn't it better to look past the grammatical errors and look at the big picture? If the errors bother you so much why do you come back day after day?

 
Post a comment (Comment Policy)

2003-2008 Gothamist LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of Use & Privacy Policy. We use MovableType.

Site Meter