Dove benefit takes flight
To kick off its fifth-year anniversary, Urban Dove, the Chelsea-based program for at-risk youth, last week held its first annual fundraiser at Manhattan Penthouse, 80 Fifth Ave. Among the honorees were Sonni Holland, community development officer of the Charles Hayden Foundation, above left, and Mike Jarvis, men’s basketball coach at St. John’s University, right. Holland played for Jarvis on George Washington University’s basketball team. Jarvis speaks regularly to Urban Dove kids about the importance of education and hard work. At center is Jai Nanda, founder and director of Urban Dove. Urban Dove’s after-school programs are intended to help youth gain self-esteem and hope they might not otherwise have found.
Actress shot by her boyfriend dies
Lyric Benson, an actress featured in billboard ads for the Tribeca Film Festival who was shot by a former boyfriend on April 24 in front of her Lower East Side apartment in the presence of her visiting mother, died the following day in Bellevue Hospital.
Benson, 22, a recent graduate of Yale and a hostess at Balthazar, the Soho restaurant, had broken up with Robert Ambrosino, 32, two months before he shot her in the eye at 211 E. Broadway as her mother was opening the door and then turned the unlicensed handgun on himself. He died at the scene.
Benson’s mother, a school teacher from North Carolina, had dessert with her daughter at Balthazar and then went to the victim’s apartment to wait for her shift to end, according to police. Ambrosino, a former merchant seaman who was on the waiting list to join the New York City Fire Department, had left notes for friends and family members in his Greenpoint apartment, according to police.
Benson’s friends and co-workers describe a beautiful woman with a compelling voice and boundless enthusiasm who seemed destined to succeed as an actress.
Missing Tribeca boy’s remains found
The body of Max Guarino, the Tribeca youth who disappeared with three companions after setting out in a small boat from City Island on a cold night last January, was found on Fri. April 25 on City Island.
The recovery of Guarino spurred new efforts by police divers to find the three other youths, Charles Wertenbaker, 16, of City Island; Andrew Melnikov, 16, of the Upper East Side and Henry Badillo, 17, of the Bronx.
The families of the boys have filed papers concerning their intention to file wrongful death lawsuits on the grounds that police mishandled a brief 911 distress call that Badillo made by cell phone as the boys’ boat was taking on water.
Barbara Dufty, Guarino’s mother, said on Sunday that she and the other mothers would also lobby Albany to take quick action to pinpoint the locations of all 911 calls from cell phones. A surcharge on cell-phone calls is supposed to fund the system, which has never been set up.
“I just don’t want this to ever happen to another mother — knowing that help could have come but didn’t,” said Dufty.
Sidekick killed, rapper shot in gun
battle on W. 22nd St.
Police this week were still investigating a shooting during the early hours of Fri., April 25 on W. 22nd St. near Sixth Ave. where one man died and a hip-hop artist, Ezekial Jiles, who performs as Freaky Zeeky, was injured.
The victim, Eric Mangrum, 28, a friend of Jiles, died in St. Vincent’s Hospital where Jiles was also treated for gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen.
The incident started on 21st St. between Sixth and Fifth Aves. where several hip-hop clubs are located — the now-closed Limelight is at the corner of 21st St. and Sixth Ave. Jiles and three friends had just left a club when a light-colored sedan pulled out from the curb and collided with their Jeep Cherokee, police said.
The two cars pulled around the corner of Sixth Ave. and then onto 22nd St. where a fight broke out, followed by gunfire. Police said dozens of shots were fired from two different guns. Witnesses told police that they saw Jiles put a 9 mm gun in a trashcan, where police recovered it.
The people in the sedan fled and there have been no arrests and no charges yet, police said on Tues. April 29. There was no evidence that the Jiles party and the people in the sedan were acquainted, police said.
Jiles is a member of a hip-hop group, The Diplomats, which released its first album, “Diplomatic Immunity,” in March.
The Diplomats were involved in a shooting incident in February in Boston when a passenger in their tour bus shot a car on the highway. Four people traveling with the group were arrested on weapons and drug charges but none of the four performers were charged.
Society tours classic Village homes
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation will conduct its fifth annual “The Way We Live Now” tour of classic Village houses from 2-5 p.m. on Sun. May 4.
Homes on the tour will include a 19th century townhouse on W. Ninth St.; a Greek revival townhouse on E. 11th St.; an early 19th century house on Bedford St. with a guesthouse converted from a former filling station in the yard and a four-story early 20th century house on W. 13th St.
Tickets for the tour start at $75 and may be reserved by phone at 212-475-9585 ext. 39 or purchased the day of the tour at First Presbyterian Church, Fifth Ave. and 12th St. A $175 ticket includes a post-tour cocktail reception at a West Chelsea art gallery.
Hearing set on Hudson Sq. rezoning
The Department of City Planning will conduct a hearing on the proposal to allow residential development in the Hudson Sq. manufacturing district on Wed. May 7 at the City Planning auditorium, 22 Reade St.
Community Board 2 last month voted to recommend rezoning the south end of the district bounded by Spring, Washington, Canal and Greenwich Sts., to allow new residential and commercial development, prohibit new manufacturing but allow existing manufacturing to continue.
At the same time, the board voted against rezoning Hudson Sq.’s north end, bounded by Morton and Barrow Sts. on the north, Hudson St. on the east, Clarkson and Leroy Sts. on the south and Greenwich, Washington and West Sts. on the west. The rezoning would create a special mixed-use district in the north that would allow the development of both manufacturing and residential buildings.
The May 7 hearing will also consider the environmental impact statement developed in connection with the Hudson Sq. rezoning.
Mayor focuses on air outside bars
E.P.A. Administrator Christie Todd Whitman joined Mayor Bloomberg on Earth Day to celebrate New York City’s new “green” status. To earn the designation and entry into the Department of Energy’s “clean cities” program, cities must develop a program using private and public cooperation to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and promote using alternate fuel sources.
“By incorporating low-emission and alternative-fuel vehicles into our transportation system, we will significantly decrease levels of air pollutants, lower asthma rates and reduce our dependence on imported oil,” he said.
New York City operates 6,300 alternatively fueled vehicles. More such efforts are needed, Bloomberg said.
