Results tagged “chinatown”

Cops cuffed a 17-year-old accused of stabbing and killing 18-year-old Nelson Rafael Pena near the corner of Hester and Forsyth Streets on Nov. 18. Police charged Victor Fong with second-degree murder when he surrendered at the Fifth Precinct station house on Monday. According to cops, Fong and another man approached Pena and an 18-year-old whose name has not been released as the victim walked home from his job at Footlocker in SoHo. A short time later, at around 6 pm, Fong allegedly stabbed Pena in the leg and chest, and stabbed the 18-year-old, who survived the attack, in the neck. Pena's relatives say he did not know the attacker and that he was stabbed "over a look." Police believe the suspect and the victim knew one another through people in the neighborhood and that there was a dispute behind the stabbing, which was not gang-related. Fong's mother defended her son: “He’s a good boy, a very, very good boy.”

Yesterday, a truck hit a Chinatown business near the Manhattan Bridge—and it was the second time this year wireless store has been hit. The Post reports that a "runaway cement truck" which "apparently lost its [brakes] at about noon on Canal Street near the Manhattan Bridge, careen[ed] out of control along the busy street" and "sideswiped half a dozen cars -- including one filled with children -- and then crashed through the front of a wireless-phone store." (See this picture.) One witness said of the scared children, "They were very distraught. It was traumatic. The truck was bearing down on them. They were both crying." Ten people (no pedestrians) had minor injuries; no criminality was involved.

Life in a notoriously squalid Chinatown boarding house only got worse after the city tried to bring the building at 81 Bowery up to code, the Village Voice reports. For years, poor immigrant tenants have paid around $100 a month for tiny cubicles on the kitchen-less fourth floor of the lodging house, where they share two shower stalls, a urinal, and four toilets. But after the city evacuated tenants last year because of fire code violations, the landlord tore down the tenants' handmade partitions, which blocked the sprinklers but had given residents a slight sense of privacy.

This Chinatown surveillance video depicts a heated altercation between an NYPD traffic agent and a car owner on Lafayette Street around 3:15 p.m. on October 8th. The video appears to show irate traffic agent Twana Chapman striking driver Qiang Nian Zhu after he tried to cover his registration sticker, so Chapman could not scan it. A crowd gathers, and Chapman is seen getting in one bystander's face, as another traffic agent pulls her away. But because there is no audio, it's not possible to verify an allegation that Chapman also made racist remarks.

Yesterday's runoff elections saw a total of 228,000 ballots cast, which the Post calls a "record low." Based on estimates that the runoffs would cost the city $14.4 million, that's about $63 per vote. Another way to cut the numbers: That's 7.3% of registered Democrats.

That controversial Grand Street bike lane, beloved by cyclists and loathed by some business owners because it makes receiving deliveries onerous, now has a new enemy: Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson. The comptroller was in Chinatown doing some pandering campaigning yesterday when he announced that, if elected, he would tear up that dedicated bike lane, which is buffered from traffic by a row of motor vehicle parking. Thompson told voters, "I'm in favor of bike lanes but you can't put bike lanes in without speaking to the community. You can't put bike lanes that are doing damage to local businesses."

Despite their uber cheap ticket prices, Chinatown bus companies are often shredded by complaints from riders for their recklessness and neighborhood residents for their blatant clogging of the area's already congested streets. According to amNewYork, the NYPD has finally stepped in: towing 11 buses and handing out 63 summonses on August 14, 20 and 21. This comes after it was revealed that most bus companies owe an average of $5,600 in fines. One company in particular, New Century Travel, takes the cake owing a whopping $136,387.35. Most of their tickets even date back to July 2007! "It's way overdue...This cannot be a one-time thing," Susan Stetzer, district manager for Manhattan's Community Board 3, said of the towing effort. "They're using public streets as their locations to make money as a private business and on top of it, they're not even paying fines. It's a loss of revenue for the city." The buses have been called "purgatory on wheels," and solutions for their vehicular messes have been thrown around for years now— one of which was creating a terminal to house them— but to no avail.

Tenants at 128 Hester Street in Chinatown were evacuated yesterday, because the Department of Buildings found the tenement unsafe—and ordered that the five-story building be demolished. And the tenants are fuming, because they say that their complaints about the building's problems have gone ignored: Besides the vacate order, there are 32 complaints to the DOB, including ones from months ago (April, February), indicating that neighboring construction created cracks in the walls of 128 Hester. City Councilman Alan Gerson's says the DOB ignored tenants' complaints.

After a 7.1% decrease in summonses for petty crime last year, the number of "quality of life" summonses is on the rise, according to an article in the NY Post that neatly credits the Post for the change. The NYPD issued about 297,000 criminal summonses for minor offenses during the first half of 2009; that's almost a 5 percent jump over the 283,000 summonses from the same period last year. And the Post claims credit for shaming the NYPD into action with an article last year calling attention to the drop in summonses—an unidentified "well-placed official" says, "It is fair to say there was a push... and [The Post's] articles did it." So next time you're busted drinking a beer on your stoop, it's only proper to send Rupert Murdoch a thank-you note. Of course the NYPD can't officially lionize the Post, and spokesman Paul Browne says the stat just seems dramatic in light of the previous decline. The biggest "quality of life" increase so far is in Chinatown's Fifth Precinct, where police have not been doing as little as possible; summonses have doubled from 2,344 to 4,708 as of last Sunday.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice, starring Nicolas Cage, has been shooting all over New York lately, most recently taking up residence on Eldridge between Division and Canal streets. While the deluge of red lanterns were likely a welcome adornment, last week confetti used for one scene found its way to the roof of #22, clogging the drain and causing a ceiling collapse. Nothing a little fireball explosion won't distract from!

Retailers at the city-owned East Broadway Mall in Chinatown say they've been forced to pay costly cash bribes or "key money" in order to move in or extend their leases with the building's management company. Local activist Steven Wong tells City Room the key money shakedown has been part of life in Chinatown for decades, and is also called "yum cha," or "dim sum money." The payoffs can range from a few months' rent to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Yesterday, prosecutors dropped charges against Aleksander Vacaj, who was accused of hiring two men to slash his ex-girlfriend's face last year in Chinatown. The ex-girlfriend, Artende Gjeli, had been working at 123 Baxter Street when two men grabbed and slashed her. An off-duty NYPD detective had been on the scene and shot the attackers, killing one (pictured, the cut on the head that the detective received during the altercation). According to the Post, the prosecutors' suffered when Gjeli apparently "changed her story about why her ex-boyfriend had been harassing her" and then Vacaj's lawyer "announced he would grill the victim on a host of alleged crimes, including drug smuggling, immigration fraud, shoplifting and perjury." The Daily News adds that Vacaj's lawyer also accused Gjeli of stalking Vacaj, "She was calling my client more than my client was calling her." Vacaj, who served two months in prison, said, "I never had anything to do with anything, and justice was done."

The Fire Department says that a faulty extension cord sparked the early morning five-alarm fire in a Chinatown tenement yesterday morning. The blaze started in the 3rd floor apartment of Tony Wong, 33, who was found dead by firefighters, and his girlfriend Anna Luu, also 33, who died later at a hospital. Three other people were seriously hurt, nine firefighters also suffered injuries, and dozens of people—about 60 families from the building at 22 James Street as well as two others—were evacuated. A fire official told the NY Times, "The building had no fire alarm. It is a very old building. By code it would not be required to," and many tenants escaped by heading to the roof, where some jumped to neighboring roofs.

A fire broke out in a 6-story Chinatown tenement at 22 James Street around 3:47 a.m. this morning. The fire apparently started on the 4th floor, but spread to the 3rd. CityRoom reports that a man was found dead inside and a woman who may have jumped from the building is critically injured; there are at least 20 others injured and the building's other residents, dozens of adults and children, are currently homeless. WCBS 2 says the fire department, which rescued some tenants from fire escapes, had a tough time fighting the blaze due to the high winds.

Reader Phil sent us this photograph of a pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle (believed to be the van) this morning around 10 a.m. at Canal and Centre Street. And there was a traffic agent on the scene when it happened! Phil tells us the pedestrian seemed okay (though he/she was rubbing his/her head).

             

Yesterday may have been a big TV day, but it was also a gorgeous day to be outside. Those who flocked to Chinatown to see the annual Lunar New Year Parade were rewarded with a vibrant procession of dragons, lions, and performers. Enjoy readers' photographs of the festivities!

Tomorrow, you can celebrate the Year of the Ox by heading to Chinatown for the annual Lunar New Year Parade. It starts at noon or 1 p.m. (Explore Chinatown says the former, Better Chinatown Society the latter)—and you might as well go early and get dim sum!— the route begins at Mott & Hester Streets, going down Mott Street to Chatham Square, E. Broadway and Chrystie Street. There's also a cultural festival starting at 11:30 a.m. at Grand & Chrystie Street. Gong hei fat choi!

The Better Chinatown Society says that next Sunday's Lunar New Year Parade will honor the two children who were killed when an unoccupied van struck them last week. The group's president Steve Lin told Newsday that parade organizers were meeting to discuss how to recognize the kids, 4-year-old Hayley Ng and 3-year-old Diego Martinez. Little Hayley and Diego were buried yesterday; the Daily News reports that Diego's father Francisco Martinez, "who sobbed and clutched another one of his son's toys, a stuffed blue monkey," is an EMT assigned to Chinatown—he was "off duty the day of the accident, but might have responded to the accident if he'd been on duty." Yesterday, Diego's mother said the day care program didn't contact her about the accident, and mourned how her son died in the hospital alone.

The mothers of the children killed by an unoccupied van, left in reverse while the driver was making a delivery, spoke to the Daily News, and it's just a heartbreaking interview. Wana Wu, whose 3-year-old son Diego Martinez, said the day care program didn't call her about the accident, "My son died by himself in an emergency room. [I was] not able to see my son take his last breath, not to know that he was in pain, not to be by my side - that's the worst thing that can happen to a parent. All I want is justice." And May Ng, whose 4-year-old daughter Hayley died immediately on the sidewalk, "Our children were killed and the driver walks away without even a ticket. How can this be? How can this be allowed?" Their children were good friends; Wu said, "Diego was holding Hayley's hand when they were hit." Lawmakers and community members have demanded the city re-examine traffic in Chinatown.

After the Thursday incident where an unoccupied van—left in reverse—barreled into a group of pre-schoolers on a Chinatown sidewalk, killing two children and injuring many others, lawmakers demanded that the city better enforce traffic in the neighborhood's busy streets. The NYPD deemed it an "accident," because the driver thought he put the vehicle in park when he jumped out to make a delivery, but State Senator Daniel Squadron and Manhattan Borough President outlined a nine-point plan to prevent further tragedy and demanded the city take action immediately.

The horrible incident where a van—left empty and running by a driver making a delivery—rolled onto a curb in Chinatown and killed a four-year-old girl and three-year-old boy, plus injured 11 other toddlers and two adults, was deemed an accident by police yesterday. The NYPD did question the van's driver, but spokesman Paul Browne said, "It turns out this was an accident," and, therefore, the driver, who was questioned and whose blood alcohol was negative, will not be charged.

A tragedy is unfolding in Chinatown: One child is dead and others are injured after a minivan jumped a curb and struck them. The incident occurred around 38 East Broadway, near Catherine Street. WCBS 2 reports, "Police say the van apparently backed up onto the sidewalk, striking the children. At least two of the victims were pinned below the vehicle."

Residents and business owners who have been complaining about the new Grand Street bike lane now have a video that they say demonstrates the traffic mess caused by the lane, which provides a dedicated space for cyclists separated from traffic by a row of parked cars. Sent to us by the Soho Alliance, the video depicts a truck driver turning from West Broadway onto Grand Street and mistaking the parked cars for idling traffic.

In broad daylight, a group of masked robbers stole over $27,000 from a travel agency in Chinatown. May Chow owner of Golden Express Agency, which runs a low cost bus line and is located at 15 Division Street, told the NY Times, "One of them jumped over the counter and said: ‘This is a holdup, I’m not kidding. Where is the safe?’ I told him there is no safe in the office.” She brought them money from her bag, but the robbers, who seemed to be aged 14 to 19, spotted envelopes with money from the weekend's earnings. The robbers tied up the employees, cutting Chow's face in the process, and told them not to attempt to get help any time soon. But the victims managed to break free and call the police. Chow doesn't believe the robbery was related to bus line competition, "I think it’s just random. They’re really young guys.”

We're hearing reports that a pedestrian at Bowery, near Grand, in Chinatown was fatally hit by an 18-wheeler. The 18-wheeler may have tried to flee the scene, as the truck went over the Manhattan Bridge. The truck was stopped on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and the investigation is ongoing. A few months ago, a few blocks away on Canal, a speeding truck hit a bus, which then fatally hit a pedestrian on a sidewalk. And earlier today, an elderly woman was fatally hit by a car at 75th St and 14th Ave in Brooklyn; the car fled the scene.

Opponents of Bloomberg's proposal to rezone and develop Willets Point weren't the only ones angrily protesting yesterday; the public hearing held by the City Planning Commission [CPC] also drew outrage over a rezoning plan for the Lower East Side. The change would place height limits on buildings in an area that has swelled with luxury high rises, from Delancey Street to East 13th Street, and east of the Bowery to Avenue D. But NY1 reports that many residents outside the zone believe it would make neighborhoods like Chinatown even more of a bulls-eye for developers. Josephine Lee of the Coalition to Protect Chinatown told the commission, "We know that you will pass this plan regardless of how many people it displaces, regardless of how many people speak out against it."

A march from the Brooklyn Bridge through Chinatown to celebrate the Beijing Olympics is exposing a big rift in Manhattan's Chinese immigrant community. Opposed to the celebrations are older Chinese-Americans from Taiwan and Hong Kong who've seen their ranks diminished; on the other side are newer immigrants from the mainland who've poured into Chinatown in recent years. A 74-year-old business consultant tells the Sun,"The mainland government, they're Communists, and we don't like that. The new immigrants came from China in a happier time, so they like it more than I do." Jimmy Cheng, an organizer of this weekend's festivities, says, "People who protest about human rights in China, they don't get it. China needs to do what it needs to do."

The dark and discreet cocktail lounge The Randolph at Broome was deemed one the top ten bars of 2007 by the nightlife editors at Citysearch. But co-owner Hari Kalyan wasn’t satisfied with all the buzz, so he shut down for renovations and reopened in May with an even darker, more mysterious aesthetic, livened by a piano player, DJs and an excellent specialty cocktail menu from Matty Gee, a bartender from the Milk & Honey school of high-end drinks. Gee recently answered our questions about what sets his cocktails at The Randolph apart, and also divulged one of his favorite drink recipes, the Strawberry Cucumber Fizz. Pictured after the jump, it does look appealing, but if you happen to stop by The Randolph don't miss The Gershwin – made with their signature cold gin, it's one fancy cocktail that manages to justify its steep price.

At this week's E3 conference for computer and video games, it was announced that Nintendo DS would be getting a version of Grand Theft Auto. Specifically, it's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. No other details--aside from it being available this winter--were divulged, much to gamers' disappointment (some are hoping this will pave the way for a GTA title for the Wii). Now, there are many Chinatowns across the country, but we wonder the Triads, turf wars over discount buses, or counterfeit goods will be part of the game play.

After a dump truck crashed into a Fung Wah bus in Chinatown and killed a pedestrian, it was discovered the truck was unsafe, with a number of brake problems. Now, the president of the truck firm was charged with "unlicensed collection of trade waste," according to the NY Times.