Volume 21, Number 25 | The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan | Oct. 31 – November 6, 2008
Police Blotter
L.E.S. stabbing Marcelino Luciano, 81, was stabbed to death on Sunday afternoon Oct. 26 in his apartment at 45 Rutgers St. in the LaGuardia Houses, police said. The victim was found on the floor shortly after 2 p.m. tied up with three puncture wounds in his abdomen and was pronounced dead at the scene. A friend, Eduardo Cruz, told neighbors that he and the victim were selling loose cigarettes, bought tax-free from Indian reservations, from their apartments, according to newspaper reports. Police were still looking for suspects on Oct. 29.
Truck kills Con Ed man A customer operations agent for Con Edison was killed near his co-workers around 1:30 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24 when a tractor-trailer struck him in front of 106 Bowery, between Hester and Grand Sts., police said. The victim, James Dong, 60, of Queens, was about to enter a company car when the truck hit him, according to a Con Edison spokesperson. The driver was not aware of the accident and was stopped on a highway in Brooklyn. He was not charged.
Broadway fire A two-alarm fire burned at 261 Broadway near Chambers St. for an hour late Thursday night, Oct. 23, before firefighters got it under control. The building was evacuated and no one was injured, a Fire Dept. spokesperson said. The fire started in an apartment on the building’s 12th floor and its cause is still under investigation. A resident of the building, who did not want to give his name, said the apartment where the fire started suffered severe burn damage, and many other apartments in the building had water damage.
G-men raid The FBI last week arrested 11 members of the Banya Organization, based in Chinatown and Flushing and involved in a broad range of criminal activities including kidnapping and assaults involved in extortion from bus and van companies and from illegal gambling and narcotics operations, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan.
The defendants are among 13 named in an indictment unsealed on Oct. 21, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. Members of the group typically come from the Banya Village in the Fuchow region of China, the indictment says.
60 Hudson smoke Black smoke spilled out of 60 Hudson St. late Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 29 when a cable inside the building failed. Con Edison emergency responders closed part of the sidewalk in front of the building on Worth St. between Hudson St. and W. Broadway. Sixty Hudson St. is a telecom hotel that houses sensitive electronic equipment, backup generators and large amounts of diesel fuel to support it. Community Board 1, Tribecans and local politicians launched many protests against the building over the years. The city granted 60 Hudson a special permit to store the excess diesel two years ago.
Road rage plea Mamadou Ndadaye, 33, charged with first degree assault in a Sept. 19 road rage stabbing at the intersection of Church and Cortlandt Sts. near the World Trade Center construction site, pleaded not guilty on Tues., Oct. 28. The defendant, a Brooklyn resident, remained free on $1,000 bail pending a Nov. 11 court appearance, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Ndadaye jumped out of his car at a red light at the intersection and stabbed the driver of a car ahead of him four times with a screw driver, according to the charges.
Basement break-in A burglar who broke into the basement of Maggie’s Cajun restaurant in the rear of 12 John St. sometime between Friday night Oct. 10 and Monday morning Oct. 13 tried but failed to force a door leading to the restaurant, police said. The frustrated intruder smashed several bottles of juice on the basement floor and left the way he came in, police said.
Office burglary An employee of Arcade Books on the 28th floor of 116 John St. discovered on Wednesday morning, Oct. 15 that his desk drawer had been forced open and four credit cards and $37 in cash had been stolen, police said. Three of the four cards had unauthorized charges totaling $451.50.
— Albert Amateau with Julie Shapiro
