Results tagged “Harlem”

       

Last night, Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater was dedicated to the memory of Michael Jackson, one of the biggest stars to be discovered at the legendary West 125th Street venue. Impersonators and fans took turns showing off MJ moves. Here's video from USA Today of some of the highlights:

An observant Jewish senior at Mott Hall High School in Harlem is missing her graduation—because the ceremony takes place on the Sabbath. The Post reports that Li Morse, "who is one of just nine white students in the 400-person school and the only Jewish student in her grade," is really upset: "This is one of the most absurd situations in my life. I'm very angry." Morse's mother pleaded with the school's principal, pointing out that even her daughter's classmates made sure the senior class trip didn't conflict with Jewish holidays. But the school held firm, only offering a diploma ceremony at the school library on Friday. Morse's mother said, "She shouldn't have to choose between her religion and her high-school graduation," while the teen, who will attend the College of Staten Island this all, said, "It's my high-school graduation. I went through 12 years of school. It's a big life event, and I wanted to do it, and I can't." The school nor the Department of Education had comment for the Post.

An abandoned church in Spanish Harlem is, at least temporarily, re-opened and housing a new religious-themed art exhibit. Animal NY reports that St. John’s Episcopal American Catholic Church on the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 102nd Street, closed in the '90s and is now the backdrop for Sacrosanct, a group exhibition produced by curator Sophie T. Lvoff.

Two potential witnesses who took cellphone video in the moments following last month's fatal cop-on-cop shooting in Harlem were told to leave by an officer at the crime scene, WABC reports. The two men, who showed the video to reporters but requested anonymity, say they were in a vehicle at a stoplight where Officer Omar Edwards chased the man who broke into his car. They didn't see the shooting because their view was blocked by another vehicle, but they heard the gunshots.

Sources tell NY1 that three witnesses heard the officer who fatally shot an armed, plainclothes off-duty officer In Harlem Thursday night identify himself as NYPD. Those three witnesses include the two other cops who arrived on the scene with officer Andrew who fired and the car break-in suspect that slain Officer Omar Edwards was chasing, Migueal Goitia. According to the Post, Goitia [earlier identified with the last name alias "Santiago"] has been hospitalized several times for unknown reasons since his arrest.

At today's rally for Omar Edwards, the off-duty police officer who was killed by another cop in East Harlem, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was asked if he had advice to give President Obama, who is visiting NYC this evening. The Daily News reports that Rangel delivered a "snide" answer, "Make certain he doesn't run around in East Harlem unidentified." Edwards, who was black, had been chasing a man suspected of breaking into his car; he was out of uniform with his gun drawn when he was fatally shot by a white officer. Rangel, who wants a federal investigation of the shooting, also said, "If you become an officer and you have a pistol and you are of color, in or out of uniform, your chances of getting shot down by a police officer are a lot heavier than if you were not of color." Photo: jschumacher on Flickr

The family of Omar Edwards, the rookie off-duty police officer who was shot by a fellow cop in Harlem on Thursday night, were grieving yesterday. A family friend told the Daily News that Edwards' mother said, "My son is dead, my son is dead. They killed my son." The friend also said Edwards' wife Danielle is "in pieces right now....For the sake of the kids, the family is trying to remain strong." The Reverend Al Sharpton, who has already called for a federal investigation of the shooting, is holding a vigil and rally in Harlem this morning.

The off-duty police officer who was fatally shot by police in Harlem last night as he chased a burglar with his gun drawn died from a gunshot wound from the chest. But a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner says that though the fatal bullet was recovered from the front of Officer Omar Edwards's chest, the bullet actually entered the left side of his back before hitting his heart and left lung. Another bullet struck his left arm, and a third hit his left hip. The NYPD is still withholding the name of the white cop who fired on Edwards and is conducting an investigation to determine whether officers identified themselves. But Rev. Al Sharpton wants a federal investigation; speaking to 1010WINS, he says sees "a growing pattern of black officers being killed with the assumption that they are the criminals." On that note, City Room takes a compelling look back at the many incidents of white cops shooting black cops over the years, including one such report from 1940 with the antiquated yet eerie headline "Patrolman Slain by Fellow-Police: Negro, Off-Duty and Chasing a Burglar, Felled by Shots of Men from Radio Car."

       

A white cop fatally shot a black off-duty officer in plainclothes who was chasing a robbery suspect in East Harlem last night. The victim, a recently married father of a 1-year-old and 7-month-old from Brooklyn named Omar Edwards, had been an NYPD officer for two years and patrolled housing projects as part of the Housing Bureau Impact Response Team. Police sources say that when Edwards left duty and went to his car around 10:30 p.m., he found his driver's side window broken and a man inside searching for valuables. According to the Post, he called 911 before confronting the thief.

       

Located at the intersection of St. Nicholas Place and 150th Street, the James Bailey House is now for sale and could be yours for just $6.5 million dollars (coming down from $10 million). Not a bad price for a castle, 12,000-square-feet of living space and a 62.5 x 100-foot lot. Originally built in 1888 for the co-founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, the freestanding structure is saturated with plenty of luxurious details throughout the interior (stained glass, hand-carved wood), but is said to need significant repairs. The Wall Street Journal reports that it was purchased by a former funeral home director in 1951 (Marguerite Blake, who still lives there with her niece), but only Wikipedia says the house was actually a mortuary at one point—so we're guessing there's probably no need to bring in the Ghostbusters. Check out more photos at Harlem Hybrid, who just went on an open house tour.

With college graduation season in full swing, New York is about to be invaded with this year's crop of postgrads following the legends they've heard of this safe version of New York City that now apparently even promises affordable apartments in neighborhoods they've seen in movies since they were kids. The Times talks to recent transplants and realtors about just how affordable Manhattan apartments have gotten recently. One apartment hunter tells them, “I can type in my search criteria now and see 50 listings in Manhattan...they are definitely there and two years ago, they weren’t.” Others say that they're just satisfied with how spacious apartments are in neighborhoods they find pleasantly surprising such as Gowanus and Harlem. A recent grad described how many college friends she has in Astoria saying, “I guess it’s the same idea as immigrants—they find ways to stay near one another." One realtor tells the paper that things certainly have changed since the 32,000 graduates who arrived in 2007 when "Wall Street gave them $60,000 a year and $10,000 in moving fees.”

In January 2008, subway conductor Maurice Parks was walking home in Harlem when he was mugged by a group of attackers who also stabbed him. Parks, a martial arts expert, chased them off but thought he ran into one of them—and fatally stabbed the man, who turned out to be a bystander. Parks is now on trial for Flonarza Byas's death: Prosecutors say Parks "took it upon himself to exact the most ancient form of justice - an eye for an eye," stabbing Byas 15 times. However, Parks' lawyer said his client was "acting under fear and great distress" and "reasonably believed” Byas was one of the attackers, adding, "Mr. Parks was a very innocent victim who made a mistake about another innocent victim." The NY Times has audio of Parks' 911 call, where he tells the operator that he's been attacked and then apparently sees Byas and stabs him—Byas's screams can be heard.

Last night around 6 p.m., a 14-year-old on a bicycle was hit by two vehicles. First, a Lincoln Navigator hit him near 60 West 142nd Street. WCBS 2 reports, "The impact sent the teenager flying up in the air and straight into another vehicle"—a tan Chevrolet SUV—"traveling in the other direction, west on 142nd Street." The Navigator's driver got out to help the teen, "but the other vehicle just kept on going west on 142nd Street." The boy is in critical condition at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Police are looking for witnesses and information about the Chevrolet SUV's driver and asking people to call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-577-TIPS.

Surveillance video obtained by the Post depicts the early Sunday morning shooting of a teenage Harlem father who died on the very streets he struggled and failed to escape. Police say 17-year-old Cory Squire, the father of a 3-year-old boy, died after being shot once in the head from behind on West 141st Street around 4:30 a.m. Sunday. His distraught 18-year-old girlfriend tells the tabloid that Squire had tried to sever ties with the Bloods after their son was born, and even "joined the Job Corps and was training to be an electrician, but he always knew the only way he could get out of that gang was the way he got out."

Christopher Owen, 13, remains in critical condition after being shot in the head at a barbecue in Harlem early Sunday morning. Over three hundred people had attended the event, where a gunman apparently just started firing in the crowd. The Daily News reports, "Hordes of revelers were drawn there by food and drinks offered outside the Paris Blues lounge. The crowd grew unruly soon after midnight, as several small fights broke out among the predominantly teenage partygoers." Apparently some teens were seen running from the party before the gunman fired at the crowd. Besides Christopher, a 17-year-old and 26-year-old were each shot in the leg. Christopher's mother said, "He's a wonderful kid. Help me catch who shot my son."

From the NY Post: "A man died after he was hit by a drunk driver in Harlem last night -- and his ambulance got into an accident while rushing him to a hospital, officials said. The 20-year-old victim was struck at West 120th Street and Seventh Avenue at around 10:30 p.m. His ambulance, en route to St. Luke's Hospital, collided with a car at Cathedral Parkway and Manhattan Avenue." He was pronounced dead at the hospital. The Post adds that the driver in the initial crash was arrested for DWI.

While no arrests have been made yet, more details have emerged on the Inspector General's Wednesday raid on the State Liquor Authority's Harlem office, where some two dozen employees control 65 percent of the state’s operating licenses and permits for bars, restaurants and liquor stores in NYC, Long Island and Westchester County. Police sources say employees would not only accept cash bribes in exchange for expedited license processing, but also bottles of booze, and gift cards for meals and clothes—some payoffs even included Applebee's gift cards. Stay classy, SLA.

Lines have been drawn, and the Obama Fried Chicken saga is at a standstill. This weekend the NY Times reported that the outpost in Brooklyn had changed its name to "Popular Fried Chicken" after protesters, politicians and community leaders leaned on them. However, today amNewYork reports that the very same restaurant is now refusing to change their name. Manager Mohammad Jabbar told them “We are not changing the sign. Everyone is coming and saying they love the sign.” You know who doesn't love it? The White House. A spokeswoman there "said they frown on the use of a president's name for advertising." Reportedly the scheduled protest went down yesterday, and Rev. Al Sharpton and Councilman Charles Barron were both in attendance and say that the owners are playing games (hmm, free publicity games?). Meanwhile, the Obama Fried Chicken and Pizza on St. Nicholas just south of 116th Street has already changed the "Obama" to "Bam" on their signage.

Is your home safe from deed fraud? Oh, you rent? Well, is your landlord's home safe? New York prosecutors say deed fraud is on the rise, and they're citing one recent indictment as proof: Brooklyn contractor Enrique Castillo has been charged with forging documents claiming that the deceased owner of a vacant Harlem brownstone had signed the deed over to him. Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau says, "He wanted to make money on the property by selling it," and accuses Castillo of also filing fake mortgage records with the city. According to Morgethau, "This mortgage, in which no money actually changed hands, was in effect a lien on the building so nobody else could get it, sell it." Castillo was caught, prosecutors say, after he tried filing bogus power of attorney forms with the city to wrest control of the brownstone from the dead woman's cousin, who had inherited it. That backfired, and he faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. The scheme is reminiscent of that stunt in which a Daily News reporter forged documents to transfer ownership of the Empire State Building to a non-existent company, just to teach people a lesson... People like Castillo.

The economic crisis has left plans for revitalizing Harlem's 125th Street in limbo at best. According to the Post, "At least 14 projects along 10 blocks of 125th Street have been delayed, mothballed, killed or downgraded as a much-heralded development boom fails to materialize on uptown's iconic main street... Dozens of often bitter mom-and-pop businesses -- including neighborhood staples like Bobby's Happy House, M&G Diner and Manna's Soul Food -- were booted for high-rises that never rose." The city offered ambitious plans for the area, requiring the neighborhood to be rezoned (with divided sentiment). Last December, a proposed Major League Baseball-anchored 21-story tower was scrapped, and lawsuits are holding up other projects. One business owner told the Post, "This is the grand letdown," and blamed the city for relying on big business and not local ones, "All they know is corporate America, and corporate America is kaput now. It's us little guys that got kicked out, that are unique and specialized, that bring people to New York."

Unsurprisingly, not everyone is a fan of the Obama Fried Chicken joints that have popped up around town. Councilman Charles Barron says, “It’s exploitative. It's like saying Obama is a watermelon lover.” He is now planning a protest outside of the Brooklyn outpost on Monday. Another Brooklyn establishment cashing in on the name is the Crown Heights restaurant called Obama Flavor Caribbean Soul Food. However, one local argued, “I liked it even better...It is showing respect (to have) Obama’s name in the community.” The White House couldn't be reached for comment by amNY, but they point out that the feds ruled that Sixpoint Craft Ales' Hop Obama draft was a violation of certain alcohol sales rules (but it is legal for restaurants to use the name). What do you think, is using Obama's name in this scenario a point of pride or prejudice?

Earlier this month, following the Meal O'Bama food cart reveal, our own Joe Schumacher spotted a recently re-branded fried chicken place on St. Nicholas just south of 116th Street, now called Obama Fried Chicken. Is number 44 following in the footsteps of JFK and Lincoln—both of whom have had their names plastered on many a fried chicken joint? Looks like it. The Smoking Gun now points out another Obama Fried Chicken outpost in Brooklyn (previously known as Royal Fried Chicken). Has the President's name found its way onto an awning near you yet?

            

The New York Historical Society has some noteworthy photo exhibits coming up in the next month. We'll have a full preview coming up prior to their openings, but after taking a peek at Camilo José Vergara's "Harlem 1970-2009" exhibit, this sequence seemed worth sharing now. The street photographer and MacArthur Foundation genius award winner visited this one spot repeatedly, documenting the ongoing transformation in the neighborhood. Only eight photographs, taken between 1977 and 2007 outside of 65 East 125th Street, are included in the exhibit, but there are 24 on his website, where you can see what starts off as a local nightclub transform into a vacant storefront.

As an old building at 117th and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem gets renovated, some pieces of the past are surfacing. Joe Schumacher recently discovered these three old posters, one for a supreme court judge election in Manhattan and the Bronx, another unidentifiable one, and finally one for British Invasion band the Dave Clark 5's performance at the now-closed Paramount Theater. What a nice urban archaeology find! Allegedly the DC5 played the Paramount around the time of one of their many appearances on the Ed Sullivan show in early 1964, just before the theater closed—making these posters about 45 years old!

      

The driver of a van in Harlem today lost control, causing the vehicle to jump the curb and injure six people while simultaneously toppling a scaffolding. The scaffolding had just been cited last month by the Department of Buildings for not meeting safety code standards. An owner of a nearby deli at 136th Street and Lenox Avenue told the News, "It sounded like the whole building fell down."

A man who is a stock broker by day and cab driver by night is in a coma for the third consecutive day after being brutally beaten up at a Harlem gas station Saturday night. Bekoe Adigun-Bomani was punched in the head at the BP gas station on West 125th Street by an assailant who drove off in a silver Nissan. A surveillance tape has been unable to assist police in tracking down a suspect. Adigun-Bomani's mother told NY1, "I can't bear to see my son laying there with tubes all over, fighting for his life. So, that person, whoever you are, we are going to find you. We won't give up because we are a strong family." The last few days have been a tragically unlucky stretch for the taxi industry with the livery cab driver in Staten Island killed in a hit-and-run and a cab dispatcher in the Bronx shot dead outside his apartment.

           

Yesterday, the Apollo Theater celebrated its 75th birthday week by announcing special programming for the upcoming season. Besides its cornerstone Amateur Night at the Apollo on Wednesday nights (tonight's Amateur Night will be a birthday celebration with the first 750 tickets going for just $7.50), a big year is planned, full of concerts, panels, collaborations with other cultural institutions and a revival of a beloved musical.

       

Our very own Jake Dobkin braved some disintegrating buildings in Harlem this past weekend. Both the ballroom (in the first photo) and the school (shown in all other photos) are located in Central Harlem about 10 blocks apart from each other, and are clearly abandoned now. He notes of the former: "This building looked like it had been empty for twenty years. Trees were growing out of the floors and poking out of dozens of holes in the roof. All the windows were gone, and the floors that weren't covered with snow were thick with dust and the skeletons of dead pigeons. There wasn't any evidence of human habitation-- no footprints, homeless encampments, or graffiti."

Two masked and armed men stole about $200,000 from a Harlem check cashing operation yesterday morning. The Daily News reports that the suspect, "disguised by black ski masks and hoods and packing handguns," "blitzed a 53-year-old employee as she opened RiteCheck at 2602 Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Witness said, "I thought maybe it was something when they came out with hoods. They walked out. They got in the car. That was it." The employee was not injured, and RiteCheck president Joseph Coleman told the News they would probably beef up security at various locations, "It seems to be a necessity in the current economic situation." Related: Bank robberies are up nationwide and, almost one year ago, two men tried to cash their dead friend's check...and brought the dead body to the check cashing storefront.

Atomic Wings Harlem: Oh yeah, it's on, people. Hot on the heels of their new location in Park Slope, Harlem residents are getting their mouths set ablaze by what many deem the best wings in town. And it's not just about the wings, either; they're doing soups, salads, burgers and even healthy wraps. But, really, it is pretty much about the wings, which "sane" diners can order in degrees of spiciness ranging from mild to medium to hot, and "insane" wing freaks can order "abusive, nuclear, or suicidal." If your number's up, death by wing isn't so bad, really. Oh, and this location is more upscale than your average wing joint; they've got big flatscreen TVs, internet access, and a cushy lounge area, all of which makes this, we're told, "the most well-appointed Atomic Wings to date." Your move, Jersey City. 2090 Frederick Douglass Blvd, (212) 222-8850