Saturday, April 05, 2008
Biker Bill Says : "If you Can't Ask , Don't Expect Nothin' ".
Friday, April 04, 2008
More Shots Fired in the East Village : A Young Man is Dead
ABOVE and BELOW : As children watch from a window , police search the scene of the shooting , the court yard of 635 east 13th st. and 205 avenue C , for evidence including the empty brass casing from the fatal round .
ABOVE and BELOW : NYPD aviation searches the rooftops in the immediate area of the buildings , Campos Plaza , at the corner of 13th st. and avenue C .
ABOVE : With police personnel filling the foyer of 635 east 13th st in the distance , a news photographer takes a break allowing some neighborhood kids to take pictures of each other with his camera .
ABOVE : 9th precinct commander , in beige suit , confers with other ranking officers representing NYPD units involved in the gathering of evidence and in conducting the search for the 4 young males that were involved in the shooting of David Bookin .
ABOVE and 2 BELOW : Some heavily processed images ,taken through a heavily dirt-fogged window , of NYPD Emergency Services ( ESU) personnel and their police dog waiting to conduct a vertical search of 635 east 13th st. .
BELOW : NYPD ESU personnel leaving 635 east 13th st. after conducting vertical search of building .
For at least the third time this week shots were fired in the East Village . This time one of those shots killed a man .
ABOVE and BELOW : NYPD aviation searches the rooftops in the immediate area of the buildings , Campos Plaza , at the corner of 13th st. and avenue C .
ABOVE : With police personnel filling the foyer of 635 east 13th st in the distance , a news photographer takes a break allowing some neighborhood kids to take pictures of each other with his camera .
ABOVE : 9th precinct commander , in beige suit , confers with other ranking officers representing NYPD units involved in the gathering of evidence and in conducting the search for the 4 young males that were involved in the shooting of David Bookin .
ABOVE and 2 BELOW : Some heavily processed images ,taken through a heavily dirt-fogged window , of NYPD Emergency Services ( ESU) personnel and their police dog waiting to conduct a vertical search of 635 east 13th st. .
BELOW : NYPD ESU personnel leaving 635 east 13th st. after conducting vertical search of building .
For at least the third time this week shots were fired in the East Village . This time one of those shots killed a man .
Shortly after 7:00 PM Thursday evening , in the court yard of the buildings at 635 east 13th st. and 205 avenue C , Campos Plaza , David Bookin , 33 , was reported shot in the back one time . According to witnesses , the four young men that were responsible for the murder fled the scene immediately after the one shot was fired . Mr. Bookin died a short time later either on the way to a hospital or in the emergency room at the hospital .
Reportedly several people , adults and children , were present in the court yard and witnessed the shooting . It is likely that among those present there are some who know who the young men were that are responsible for this murder .
In a brief , sad conversation with David Bookin's very distraught brother we learned that the shooter was someone that both he and his brother knew . According to Mr. Bookin the 4 responsible for the murder of his brother were of a younger generation than his brother . He noted that though his brother was well liked by most in the building and surrounding neighborhood , these younger males were not at ease with the older members of the community such as his brother .There was an altercation and then 1 shot . In short the "new jacks" comming up don't like the "old timers" being around ; not a new story over on avenues and C and D but certainly a sad and troubling story .
Having lived in the neighborhood all his life , this tragedy was a story that Mr. Bookin knew all too well . His last comment was " now he's with our mother" . After our conversation he stoically rode off on his bicycle to his night-time job .
In addition to David Bookin's brother an aunt , with whom he sometimes lived , and some cousins were also at the scene of the murder comforting each other along with some friends .
A conversation with one resident of 205 avenue C revealed that the buildings had been requesting cameras and security personnel for the court yard for some time . The resident noted that there had been 3 murders in this courtyard in the last 3 years .
At the most recent Community Board meeting last week the building again made their request for cameras and security personnel .
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Photo-Fragment Depicting an Interspecies Encounter on Avenue A at the Entrance to Tompkins Square Park
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Man with Camera and Singer Hick'ry Hawkins at Manitoba on Avenue B
Monday, March 31, 2008
Shots Fired at 290 East 4th Street ...
At around 6:15 PM it was reported that something between 4 and 7 shots were fired in a hallway at 290 East 4th Street , Mariana Bracetti Plaza . No one was injured . The gunman fled from the building and has as yet not been captured . Sitings of males that might have been the shooter were reported , first running north on avenue C , then in front of MoonPie Grocery on C and later on Delancey Street while displaying a silver firearm .
A level 1 mobilization was called for 290 East 4th Street by NYPD in order to perform a thorough evidence seach of the building and the surrounding area . 4th street was closed from avenue B to C for the mobilizatioin for a few hours .
Incidents involving fire-arms or fire-arm discharges seem to cluster at a few locations in the East village . Among these locations 290 East 4th Street is one . Some of the other locations are East 4th Walk , lower avenue D between Houston and 8th Street and the area just below 14th Street between avenues C and D.
Time Passes at Key Food on the Corner of 4th Street and Avenue A
P.S. 08 04 01 : We have learned that a few hours before this tragic image was posted James Gonzales was captured in Florida . His location was reported to police by someone that had seen his picture on "America's Most Wanted " TV program .
The community should thank community member John Penley for his efforts to get "America's Most Wanted " to present images of Mr. Gonzales for all of America to see .
1999 : Ron with Radio and Ray's Garbage ...
Ron lived in Riverdale with his mother . For close to 20 years Ron made the long trip downtown to 113 avenue A , Ray's Candy Store . Ron was one of the regulars at Ray's , a member of the special society that could only exist at Ray's , a member with special standing .
Ron met Ray while selling him wholesale film , batteries and other odds-and-ends for his candy store business . A friendship grew with Ray and Ron started comming to Ray's not just to sell film and batteries but to hang-out into the night with Ray and all the other very special regular patrons of his candy store .
We spent many a crazy evening with Ron at Ray's back in the days when all sorts of interesting things still regularly happened in the neighborhood ... when people still regularly socialized at candy stores .
A few years ago Ron developed a problem sleeping . No matter how many doctors and how many different prescriptions for sleeping potions , Ron just could not sleep . By chance one night , a miracle-of-miracles , Ron spread out on Ray's garbage bags and fell asleep . From that night on , on many a night when sleep by any other means was impossible , in the midst of the clamor and chaos of avenue A , Ron could be seen sleeping like a baby , all comfy on a stack of Ray's cleanly bagged garbage .
But for a few visits last summer Ron had been absent from Ray's for the last 4 or 5 years . On his few brief visits last summer many noticed that Ron was not feeling well . Sadly sometime late last year Ron passed away .
Perhaps the picture above seems a little odd for what is a bit of an obituary . Odd as it is though you'll likely remember the up-side-down guy who could only sleep when well nested among Ray's bags of garbage ...and thats the point of this ; to remember Ron .
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday Afternoon : Domestic Tranquility in Tompkins Square Park
1996 : Ms. Van Gogh , Portraitiste , on Avenue A ...
As we recollect she went by the name Ms. Van Gogh and would draw your likeness for $2.00 . She was good at what she did and was quick to finish .
One night she told us of having seen Bob Dylan visting the city that existed below Tompkins Square Park . She explained how he entered the subterranean burg by using a secret trap door under a large green bush in the park .
Ms. Van Gogh was on the avenue for at most a few weeks , then one day she disappeared , never to be seen again .
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