Fireworks

(Photos by Gary Quintal) 

Independence Day came early this year as Bronxites celebrated the birth of our country. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and State Sen. Jeff Klein held the annual Salute to America fireworks event at Orchard Beach on Friday. In addition to a host of fireworks which rivals Macy’s annual event, Bronxites were treated to the sounds of Alive N Kickin’.

Crackin' Up

Yankees Bullpen Fails to Save

White Sox Win, 4-3

(Maybe it's the heat but Yankee fans weren't the only ones who exhibited strange behavior. The bullpen blew Ivan Nova's stellar performance. Photos by Ken Carozza)

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 29- The Yankees relievers in the ninth inning of Thursday night’s contest failed to preserve a 3-1 lead. A three-run homer by Dayn Viciedo of Chicago ended the Yankees five-game winning streak and the six-game winning streak over the White Sox. New York remained five games in front in the American League East as every team in the division lost on Thursday.

Yankees starter Ivan Nova made a strong attempt to win his sixth straight decision. The 25-year old pitched 7.1 innings. He gave up only a single run during his impressive stint on a two-out home run to Alejandro de Aza in the fifth. He surrendered five other hits, walked three batters and fanned five.

The Sox threated Nova only in the fourth as base hits put runners on first and third with no one out. A short fly to Center and a double play ended the threat without a run being scored.

Chicago starter Dylan Axelrod also pitched an outstanding game. Axelrod only faced difficulty in the fourth and fifth frames. A-Rod doubled to lead-off the fourth. After two batters were retired, Nick Swisher and Raúl Ibañez walked to load the bases. Eric Chavez grounded to third to end the inning without a Yankee run.

The Yankees put their first runs on the scoreboard after two were retired in the following inning. Curtis Granderson singled. He scored on A-Rod’s second double in two innings. Rodriguez crossed the plate on a double by the next batter, Robinson Cano.

A two-out homer by Mark Teixeira, his 13^th of 2012, in the bottom of the eighth put the Yanks ahead, 3-2.

The outcome was determined in the top of the ninth as the White Sox put three on the board against Yankees relievers. The Yankees pen men entered the contest second in the majors in ERA and second in allowing inherited runners to score.

Alex Rios began the ninth with a single off Cody Eppley, who retired the final batter in the eighth. Yankee skipper Joe Girardi then brought in Clay Rapada. The lefty did what was hoped for, got A.J. Pierzyinski to ground to the pitcher for what appeared to be an easy double play. Instead of two men being out, Rapada threw the ball into center field. David Robertson a righty, then came into the game and gave up the winning blow.

In the post-game press conference, Girardi faced a barrage of questions regarding his use of the relievers. Of not using closer Rafael Soriano, who has 17 saves in 18 opportunities this year, “I can’t run him out five out of six days after the very tough day yesterday and get him hurt.”

Explaining why he didn’t begin the ninth with Robertson, he said, “We’ve only used him once back-to-back. I’m going to be cautious.”  Robertson was on the disabled list from May 15-June 14.

Adam Warren of the Yanks will make his Major League debut in the second contest of the four game series on Friday night. He will face Jose Quintana (2-1) will a minuscule Era of 125.

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Ump Blows it as Yanks Win

Replay Debate Heats Up after Screw Up

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 27- Phil Hughes pitched eight strong innings and the New York Yankees, with a three-run first inning and a late home run from Alex Rodriguez overcame a ninth inning rally and defeated the Cleveland Indians 6-4 in the Bronx Tuesday night.

But the game story was not about the Yankees hitting another home run, a solo shot by Rodriguez in the seventh that gave New York a 5-0 lead. It was a ball that was supposedly caught by Dewayne Wise when he went over the wall down the left field line with two outs in the Indians seventh inning, on a ball hit off the bat of Jack Hannahan.

Third base umpire Mike DiMuro, after the game, saw the play on replay and realized the ball hit off Wise’s glove and fell in the stands. At the time, the Indians had a runner on third base.

Had the play been ruled a foul ball, it may not have mattered in the final outcome. Though Cleveland would score four runs in the ninth off Cory Wade, including a home run before Rafael Soriano recorded the final out and his 16^th save.

DiMuro, a veteran umpire of twelve years said, “Now that I see the tape it is obvious that the ball fell out of his (Wise) glove. In hindsight, I should have asked him to show me the ball since he fell into the stands and out of my line of vision.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said about the play, “It was a tough play. As much as we want them to be perfect (umpires) they are so much under a micro scope.” But, the Yankees, as with every team in baseball have been the victims of calls that have gone against them.

This time they could joke about the play and call. However, the missed call once again brings up the question about expanding the use of instant replay in the game.

Wise got a huge ovation from the crowd and tapped the glove of Yankee captain Derek Jeter as they ran to the dugout.

“What was I supposed to do run back to left field?” commented Wise about the play that also got a smile from Hughes. “I saw him looking at my glove so I just got up, put my head down and ran off the field,” he said about the call from DiMuro.

Hughes (8-6) gave up six hits, and struck out four in winning for the fifth time in his last seven starts. Rodriguez hit his 13^th home run and 642^nd of his career. The Yankees increased their major league lead home run total to 116 and won their fourth straight game.

“We only hit one home run,” said Girardi that got a laugh from media in his post game press conference. New York had a streak end of five straight games with two home runs or more. 

They look to sweep Cleveland Wednesday afternoon and are a season high 17 games over .500, with a four game lead in the American League east.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

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Business Booming for Bronx Bank Robbers

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 25- With unemployment in the borough once again at record levels, a handful of individuals have been robbing banks at an alarming rate--keeping themselves and cops extremely busy with no less than 21 robberies or attempts since January.

In the latest incident a gunman entered the Capital One Bank at 725 Co-op City Boulevard at Just before 10 a.m., on June 16. The suspect fled with an unknown amount of cash. The NYPD has not released any information pertaining to this case.

In the other recent cases, it was just after 10 a.m. on June 14, when a man entered the Bank of America branch located at 2198 White Plains Road. The suspect passed the teller a note, demanding cash before fleeing.

Police described that suspect as a male Black, 5 foot 8, with a medium build. The perpetrator was reported to be wearing army-style shorts and hat.

Less than an hour earlier a man entered the HSBC Bank located at 3478 Boston Road. The suspect passed the teller a note demanded cash, but apparently fled empty handed.

That suspect was described as a male Black wearing a fishing hat.

On Wednesday, June 13, police were called to the Banco Popular at 752 E. Tremont Avenue, after a man held up the bank at gunpoint.

A source close to the investigation stated at the time that the suspect was possibly wanted for another recent robbery at the same bank. That suspect was described as a male Black in his 20's, 6-feet tall, wearing a black pea-coat, black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

On June 12, a man robbed the Capital One Bank at 19 E. Mt. Eden Avenue. That suspect was described as a heavy-set male Black, weighing 220 pounds, wearing a purple shirt and hat.

Back on June 8, a man entered the Chase Bank, located at 360 E. 149 Street, passed the teller a note and fled with an unknown amount of cash. This suspect was described as a Black male, 5' 5'' with a slim build.

A Baychester CitiBank was robbed on June 7. Police were called to 3955 Baychester Avenue at 9:30 a.m., that suspect was only described as a male Black, dressed in black.

On May 30, police once again were called to Capital One on Co-op City Boulevard, when two suspects, only described as male Black's, stole $3000 in US currency.

On May 18, police were again called to the Banco Popular on E. Tremont Avenue, after a hold-up. The gunman fled with an undetermined amount of cash.

On May 16, a robbery was reported at the Emigrant Savings Bank at 101 E. 170 Street. The perpetrator was described as a male Hispanic wearing a black shirt.

On May 14 a man robbed the HSBC Bank on W. 235 Street in Riverdale of $3,228. Police would later release a surveillance photo of the suspect, described as a Black man in his 20's, wearing a fake beard and a black baseball cap.

The same suspect is also wanted for two similar hold-ups in Brooklyn.

On May 5, an incident at the Chase Bank at 5 E. Burnside Avenue was reported, but it is not known if the suspect fled with any money.

The Chase Bank at 784 Castle Hill Avenue reported a robbery by a Black male on April 21.

On March 31, a hold-up was reported at the Chase Bank at 3775 Riverdale Avenue. Police were reportedly looking for a white male, who apparently fled empty-handed after the teller hit a silent alarm.

On January 18, an attempt was made at the Capital One Bank located at 2159 White Plains Road. Determined to make a withdrawal, sources say the suspect then walked over to the Chase Bank at 2126 White Plains Road and robbed that location.

The CitiBank at 1265 Castle Hill Avenue was held-up at gunpoint on January 17. Despite the handgun, this male suspect fled empty handed.

Leaving no bank behind, on January 14, the Chase Bank at 1489 Metropolitan Avenue in Parkchester was robbed of an unknown amount of cash.

On January 10, a woman entered the Chase Bank at 1308 E. Gun Hill Road. Witnesses say the woman claimed she had a bomb, but fled empty handed. The determined woman would return to the same bank on January 12, but once again fled empty-handed.

The year began with an attempted robbery on January 3, at the Chase Bank at 3514 White Plains Road.

Two hours later the Apple Bank at 44 E. 162 Street was robbed by a male suspect, who fled with an undetermined amount of cash.

Meanwhile, two Bronx men were charged on Thursday, June 15, with an October robbery of a Yonkers bank-- with a pellet gun.

Cops say Michael Johnson, 36, of Walton Avenue and his cousin Andre Johnson, 29, of Co-op City, were charged in connection with an October 7 hold-up of the Key Bank, located at 2500 Central Park Avenue.

The suspects in that case fled with an estimated $100,000.

The Johnson cousins are suspected in a half dozen other bank robberies in Yonkers, Nyack and surrounding areas. The pair were being held without bond in White Plains.

Andre Johnson is reportedly cooperating with the FBI, who is assisting local police in the investigation.

Anyone with any information on the Bronx cases are asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stopper's hot line at 1 (800) 577-TIPS, all calls remain confidential.   

Plucked!

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Yankees were no “chickens” as they dominate Mets in Subway Series

(Photo by Gary Quintal)

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 25– A chicken became a story line Friday night at Citi Field before the New York Mets took the field for the first of three against the cross-town Yankees. Sunday evening, after the Yankees took the finale of their six-game inter league series, they Yankees were not the chickens.

Instead, Robinson Cano hit the go ahead home run for the Yankees in the eighth inning at Citi Field. The Yankees won their fifth straight individual series against the Mets. 6-5, and a chicken joke about the team, initiated by Mets reliever Frank Francisco, became a novelty.

Because the Yankees once again proved they are the better baseball team in New York, a chicken joke to them meant nothing. They took five of six games from the Mets, the first time they have done that since 2009.

“They hit balls out of the ballpark like there’s nothing to it,” said Mets manager Terry Collins who admitted it may have been a mistake not bringing in lefty Tim Brydak to face Cano.

Miguel Batista (1-2) gave up the home run ball, the 16^th by Cano leading off the eighth with two strikes. It was hit straight to center, the 15^th home run hit by the Yankees against the Mets in the six games. Seven of those long balls were hit at Citi Field the past three games, which accounted for 24 of the Yankees 32 runs.

The Yankees were not chickens in this latest installment of the Subway Series that had some more interest the past few weeks. The Mets have been a better team this season and that also accounted for another sellout at Citi Field, 42,364 the largest crowd for the ballpark that opened in 2009.

And Francisco was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a strained muscle on his left side. So the chicken initiator, who saved the Mets win Friday night, had no bearing on the outcome of the finale. 

It was supposed to be an anticipated pitcher’s duel. R.A. Dickey of the Mets, without allowing an earned run in 44.2 innings and dominant with an 11-1 record and 2.00 ERA ,who will most likely get the start for the NL all-stars in a few weeks at the midsummer classic.

He surrendered a run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly. He threw a wild pitch in the fifth inning and allowed five runs earned. The streak is over for now.

“I didn’t have a great knuckleball,” commented Dickey. “It was just coming out wobbly a little bit. I kept searching for it,” he said.

The 37-year old helped the Mets overcome a four-run deficit. He got a single off CC Sabathia the Yankees starter in the fifth inning. Sabathia did his part, 9 hits in 5/2-3 innings. But he gave up five runs, one earned.

“My focus was on tonight,” said Dickey who made a point that it was like a playoff atmosphere pitching against the Yankees in a crowded ballpark. “It was nice,” he said about the scoreless streak. “I’m hoping to start another one.”

Ruben Tejada in his first game back from the disabled list went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs, and a single off Cory Wade tied the game in the sixth.  Andres Torres also had two hits and drove in two runs, including a two-out hit that went past Mark Teixeira at first in the same inning.

“Tomorrow is another game,” said Torres who experienced his first stint of games against the Yankees.

And with the chicken quickly disappearing from the scene, there is a realization that the six games, which have been a part of this home and home series, will be a thing of the past.

Next year, with the schedule going more towards more inter league games, the Mets and Yankees cross-town series will be reduced to three games which was the original format when inter league play started in 1997.

“We don’t get caught up taking two of three here,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

He also won’t complain about the series going back to three games next season. Girardi is an advocate for that more balanced schedule and winning games against teams in your division.

The Yankees have won 14 of their last 18 road games, with or without the balanced schedule. Collins won’t mind not seeing the Yankees again, unless of course they should meet in October.

“Not bad for a bunch of chickens,” added the Yankees Nick Swisher who got hold of a Dickey knuckleball and hit his 11^th home run to right-center in the Yankees four-run third inning.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

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Yanks fry up some Amazin’ Chickens

(Photos by Gary Quintal)

By Howard Goldin

QUEENS, NEW YORK, June 24- For the second consecutive evening, home runs accounted for all the runs scored by the Yankees. Unlike the previous night, the four runs were sufficient to the give the Yankees the win. The Yankee win ended the team’s longest losing streak of the year, three games.

The home runs and excellent relief work by the bullpen contingent of the Yanks combined to earn the Yanks the win over the Mets.

Although Yankee starter Ivan Nova only pitched 5.2 innings and was not involved in the decision, he managed to raise his undefeated road streak to 16 starts. His record during the streak is 12-0.

The first hit Nova surrendered was a lead-off home run to Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the third.

An error by Alex Rodriguez on Scott Hairston, the first batter in the following inning allowed him to reach first. Hairston crossed the plate on a double to center by Omar Quintanilla.

The final Mets run off Nova came on an RBI single by his counterpart, Chris young, with two out in the sixth. Nova left the game after the hit. He gave up five hits and three walks while fanning seven in his stint.

The Yankee relievers continued their outstanding work for the final 3.1 innings of the contest. The five hurlers, Clay Rapada, Cody Eppley, Boone Logan, David Robertson and Rafael Soriano, combined to keep the Mets scoreless while giving up only two hits and two walks. Eight of the ten outs were recorded by strikeout. The save for Soriano was his 14^th in 15 save opportunities.

The Yankees bullpen staff entered the game second in the American League in ERA and first in allowing the lowest percentage of inherited runners to score. They improved their numbers in each categpry during the game.

Both managers were impressed by the performances of the Yankees relievers. Mets skipper terry Collins said, “They threw the ball good; they made good pitches.”

Mets starter Chris Young kept the Yanks scoreless and yielded only two singles in the first six frames. The visitors scored all four runs in the seventh and all by the long ball.

Mark Teixeira led-off by drawing a base on balls. Nick Swisher’s 1,000^th hit in the majors was a double to right that Lucas Duda dived for but could not grab. The next batter, Raul Ibañez, tied the game at three with his 11th home run of the year.

After the homer, Jon Rauch entered to relieve Young. Eric Chavez was sent by Yankees manager Joe Girardi to pinch hit. On an 0-2 count, the 34 year-old veteran hit his 237^th big league homer, but first as a pinch hitter to left field. The blast decided the outcome in favor of the Yankees.

Girardi spoke highly of the two veterans whose homers gave the team the victory, “They’re experienced guys. They’re not going to get caught up in the moment. They know how to get the ball out.”

The Yankees lead the majors in homers with 11o. The four bagger has been their decisive weapon this year. The Yankees have a compiled a 41-15 mark in games during which they homer while finishing 1-13 in games in which they don’t drive the baseball in the seats.

The rubber game of the second Subway Series of 2012 will feature a potential pitching duel as CC Sabathia (9-3) hooks up with R.A. Dickey (11-1) on Sunday night.

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Mets Walk All Over Pettitte

(Photos by Gary Quintal)

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 23- Yanks fans are left shaking their heads after the improbable loss to the Mets as the Amazin’s win their first game in the Subway Series. What is most troubling is the fact that old reliable Andy Pettitte gave up five runs in the first inning. 

Although Pettitte settled down after the first inning massacre, the damage was done. 

Then a ninth inning rally was thwarted by Frank “They’re All a Bunch of Chickens” Francisco. The ace struck out Curtis Granderson leaving the tying runs on the base.

The Mets went on to win it 6-4.

Burn in Hell

Mother to Son's Killers: ‘Burn in Hell’

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 19- For the first time, the mother of murder victim Jorge Arrango is speaking about her son and his brutal killing along E. Gun Hill Road, where the 20-year old, well liked young man grew up and was mortally wounded on May, 18.

Jeanette Febles, 55, the victim’s mother spoke exclusively to this

publication and offered insight into her life that has been turned

upside down, since the brutal beating and knife attack in which he was stabbed a reported 15-times in the chest, arms and legs-- all caught on surveillance video run by a local community watch program.

Currently undergoing cancer treatment, Febles must stand strong for Arrango's two brothers and six sisters, as they prepare to face life without Arrango, and an eventual trial when they must all come to face Ramon Sanchez and Luis Davis, who late last week were charged with murder.

After his death the grief-stricken mother returned to the Carib Restaurant at the corner of E. Gun Hill Road and Jerome Avenue, where she and her son would often have dinner after attending mass at St. Ann's Church on Bainbridge Avenue, searching for answers to this new puzzle she lives with every waking moment of her day.

Febles recalled the fateful night, saying, "He was with a friend of his, they came to my house and he said, "Mom, give me some money and I'll be right back," and he met with these people he met a month ago."

She continued, "One of the guys started arguing with my son," so she gave him the money.

Recalling the events leading up to her sons fatal confrontation,

Febles states, "You don't want to deal with it, they cut people, you don't know what there going to do. So the other guy pushed him and was antagonizing him, and then someone punched him."

Arrango knew little of life outside of the family apartment he shared with his brothers and sisters or the Norwood neighborhood where he was raised, with the exception of a recent and unexpected trip to Europe.

Now recalling her son, Febles says that Arrango attended public school at P.S. 94 across the street, but did not make it to high school as a severe case of asthma would sideline the youngster and he was forced to drop out of school. Later on he would get a high school equivalency diploma and get a certificate to become a home health aid.

"He didn't go to high school," Febles recalls, "most of his life he

was sick with asthma at home, so he flunked a lot of courses... a lot of times he flunked the grade because he was sick all the time."

Determined to give her son a proper burial, Febles says, "I made

arrangements, but I'm still collecting money," having recently visited Woodlawn Cemetery and was floored to learn that a modest sendoff to her beloved son would cost roughly $20,000. $7,000 for the funeral,$10,000 for the funeral home and $3,000 for the headstone.

She says, "I can't afford that, so I started collecting. I can't even

think, their doing it for me," referring to family members and

friends throughout the neighborhood, who continue to pay their

respects at the building where the memorial has been set up, that is quickly growing and turning into a shrine to Arrango.

Asked if the mother needs help, she replies, "Yes I do, it's too much and I can't afford that."

In more recent years, Febles says her son's health eventually improved to where he could take his General Equivalency Exam and pass the course to earn his home health aid attendant certificate, when he went to care for an elderly retired doctor in upper Manhattan.

Febles explains, "Unfortunately the patient died and he was very

effected by this, this was last year. The man left him some money, so he went to France, he visited Europe."

She continued, "When he came back he says, "Mom, I can't be a home health attendant anymore," he could not deal with the fact that the patients die. He got used to seeing the man everyday and enjoyed helping him."

On the day he died he had a job interview in Yonkers, where the young man expected to get a call back, as soon as the boss returned from vacation.

In the days since the stabbing, she agreed for doctors to remove

Arrango from life-support, Febles recalls, "His brothers and sisters are all crying. They come and see me and they go out to the card shop and they go out to the alley," where the make-shift memorial to the young man now stands.

The mother then paused and added, "and they don't know what to do with themselves."

The mom says her son was the, "center," of the family as, "he liked to party and get into every person's situation. He wanted to know what a person was doing or what they could do together."

Family members will miss the young man's casual singing in the apartment and his sketch's as Arrango also loved to draw.

A religious woman, Febles is asked if she could speak to her son's killers, what would she say, responding, "I don't like to be mean or bad but I just hope, and I know... I hope that they would burn in hell for eternity, that's all I can say."

Providing her health holds up, Febles expects to be in the courtroom with all of her daughters, but does not want the trial to, "sidetrack" her surviving children's own families, anymore than it has too.  

Questionable practice

Engel Took Out Co-op Loan with ‘Slumlord’ Donor?

By Michael Horowitz

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 21- When most people need a mortgage, they go to a bank or another financial institution.

But that's not what Rep. Eliot Engel did when he needed a loan for the purchase of the two-bedroom cooperative apartment he maintains at 3725 Henry Hudson Parkway in Riverdale.

The Congressman engaged in a questionable ethical practice, which required the approval of the Ethics Committee, before he could accept a mortgage loan from a long-time campaign contributor and business partner.

Engel, whose district lines were recently redrawn to include Co-op City, engaged in a questionable ethical practice to help pay for the Riverdale apartment.  

The long-time Congressman, who has engaged in other seemingly questionable practices over the years, bought the apartment for $280,000 on Feb. 14 of last year, taking out a cooperative loan of between $100,000 and $250,000 with Harry Bajraktari, his Albanian-American business partner, the Congressman's most recent financial-disclosure statement notes.

A comprehensive disclosure of assets and liabilities, revealing information that members of Congress could hide in the past, was not required until this year.

The existence of the loan from Bajraktari, a prominent leader in the Albanian-American community, was first revealed in Engel's financial-disclosure statement for 2011, which he filed on May 15 of this year.

In 2009, Engel was caught misrepresenting his home at 9925 Conestoga Way in Potomac Village, MD, as his primary home in order to get a homestead-tax deduction.

When he was caught taking the illegal deduction, Engel stopped the practice, but state officials in Maryland did not require him to return the $7,000 in deductions that he had claimed in deductions over the prior decade.

When he first ran for Congress in the 1990s, Engel enlisted the help of Louis Moscatiello, a mobster union leader who was convicted of labor racketeering and subsequently served a jail sentence for his crimes.