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Program to stop teen violence faces cuts

When Jackeline Muniz was 16 years old, she sought counseling at Martin Luther King High School, where she was a student, to help her get out of an abusive relationship.
The fighting caused her to miss class, get bad grades, and nearly cost her high school graduation.
For help, Muniz turned to the Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (RAPP) in her school, which helps teenagers combat relationship abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault and bullying.
“The way that the RAPP program helped me was it helped me to work through that relationship,” she said. “It helped me work through things on my own, to get to know myself better, to build up my self-esteem so I could get out of that relationship.”
However, for several years in a row, including in the 2012/13 fiscal year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed cutting the program’s $3 million in funding out of his executive budget.
Now the organizations that put the program together, including the Center Against Domestic Violence, STEPS to End family Violence/Edwin Gould Services for Children & Families, and CAMBA, a non-profit agency that helps New Yorkers improve their quality of life, are urging the City Council to once again restore its funding
“To have a place where kids could go and just talk, it was something that was just beautiful,” Muniz, who now lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn, said of her experience with RAPP. “To have someone who was always there, you know you can always count on, it was such a good thing.”
Muniz said she started out receiving individual counseling through RAPP and eventually moved on to help her peers.
Part of RAPP, which currently serves 50,000 students in 62 middle and high schools throughout the city, is a summer program in which students are trained to be peer counselors.
As a peer counselor, Muniz took trips with her classmates around the city, such as to go bowling or see a Broadway show. The students also hosted holiday parties.
In addition, Muniz spoke in classrooms and community centers about her experience getting out of an abusive relationship.
However, she said the most important part of going to RAPP was that it enabled her to graduate high school on time, succeed in college, and become a professional teen counselor.
She graduated from City College with honors in 2009, with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and Women’s Studies, and then pursued her Master’s degree in social work, which she finished last June.
Now, Muniz is a RAPP coordinator at Franklin K. Lane High School on the border of Queens and Brooklyn in Cypress Hills.
Muniz teaches students about problem-solving and communicating in relationships. The program also holds sexual assault and rape workshops at the school.
“We teach about healthy relationships,” she said.
“I’m also a role model for them,” Muniz said, because she shares a similar background with her students and is now a successful adult.
One thing that she sees as a RAPP counselor is the cycle of domestic violence. Kids experience it at home, and then perpetuate the behavior because it’s what they’ve been taught, Muniz said.
“A lot of these kids think that these things are okay,” she said, “that these things are normal.”
If the program is cut, the government would have to spend more money helping domestic violence victims and RAPP coordinators could lose their jobs, she said.
“I think that a lot of kids would probably end up in abusive relationships in the future,” Muniz said.

New web site helping New Yorkers “Choose a Family”

“I believe family is based on love, loyalty, trust and support,” said Kim Parshley, Astoria resident and founder of Chooseafamily.com.
“Blood and genes have nothing to do with it,” she added. “Even a small group of friends can easily morph into a small family network.”
This is the theory behind her social networking Web site, designed to foster family-oriented platonic relationships, as opposed to romance and dating.
Parshley launched the site in the beginning of December, at the start of the holiday season, and collected roughly 500 members in its first three months.
“Some of these people have no where to go during the holidays, they’re feeling very lonely,” she said. “And it’s harder for adults to make new friends. It’s really difficult.”
Kids can go to their neighbor’s house and ask another child, whom they may not know, to “come out and play,” Parshley said, but adults are trained to be wary of strangers.
Chooseafamily.com is free to join and allows its members to register as a family member and search for another by zip code.
Options include parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, friends and mentors.
“I cannot believe how many people have been thirsting for this,” said Parshley, who advertises the site on television and the Internet. “Every little exposure of the Web site, I end up having so many people signing up.”
People from all over the world signed up so far, from Canada to California, and England to Greece, she said.
But the site has a particular significance in New York City, since although the five boroughs have eight million residents, many come from other places with no familial connections nearby.
“New Yorkers definitely know first-hand about loneliness,” Parshley said, and specified that “coming from a really small town into a big city, if you don’t have family around, you don’t have anyone you feel safe and comfortable with.”
Often, she said, members are looking to fill a void. Only-children look for the siblings they never had, or a grandfather to play chess with. Some, however, have a healthy family life and want to show support for the less fortunate.
Others are searching for someone with traits similar to a loved one they recently lost.
“When you find people who have the same exact issues and the same story,” she said, “it makes you feel a lot better and you can connect with them.”
Parshley knows first-hand how it feels to lose a loved one in a big city.
After the tenement building on the upper east side of Manhattan that her parents lived in was torn down, shortly after the Valentine’s Day holiday they were married on, Parshley’s family moved across the then-Triboro Bridge to Astoria, where her sister was born in 1973.
Then, when Parshley was 13, their father passed away from skin cancer. After going to college, she became a real-estate agent, with the hopes of buying her mother a new home.
However, in a sad turn of events, her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and passed away 12 days later.
But, she recovered from the loss with the help of her best friends – a support network that inspired her to develop Chooseafamily.com.
“I think the three of them really, really stepped up to the plate when I had that empty feeling, that void in my life,” she said, and added that she wants to give the same opportunity to her site’s users.
However, Parshley warned that like on all social networking sites, people can post whatever information they want on their profiles, whether it’s genuine or not.
She recommended meeting in a public place, and doing background checks on people before inviting them into a home.
“I always tell everybody that you have to follow your gut instinct and your best judgment when you’re meeting someone,” Parshley said. “You’ve got to listen very, very closely.”
Because the site is not intended for sex and dating, it invites less predators, Parshley believes. It’s about building familial and mentoring relationships based on trust and understanding, she said.
“Over time and getting to know someone and developing that comfort and that safety that we all long for in these people,” Parshley said, “you can develop an unconditional love for someone.”

104th Precinct weekly blotter

Monday, Mar. 5

Merrill Villanneva was arrested at Maurice Avenue and the Long Island Expressway for driving while intoxicated by Officer Fenton.
Krysztof Korytkowski was arrested at 79-80 77th Road for assault by Detective Geis.
Krysztof Szelzgowski was arrested at 64-02 Catalpa Avenue for filing a false report by Officer Cadavid.

Tuesday, Mar. 6

Jose Baez was arrested at 861 Cypress Avenue for robbery by Detective Murray.
Rodolfo Molina was arrested at Myrtle Avenue and Saint Nicholas for criminal possession of a weapon by Officer Sciame.
Joseph Montalto was arrested at 75-33 67th Road for criminal trespass by Officer Lodato.
Yu Fang was arrested at Fresh Pond Road and Bleecker Street for trademark counterfeiting by Officer Wynter.
Dylan Morganstern was arrested at 64-02Catalpa Avenue for obstruction of governmental administration by Officer Friedrich.

Wednesday, Mar. 7

Nora Donavan was arrested at 57-11 Myrtle Avenue for petit larceny by Officer Oliveri.
Christopher Barbara was arrested at 20-12 Harman Street for assault by Officer Florio.
Steven Lazzarz was arrested at Flushing Avenue and Troutman Street for outstanding warrants by Officer Rodriguez.
Christopher Maley was arrested at 19-49 Troutman Street for assault by Officer Lodato.

Thursday, Mar. 8

Kevin May was arrested at 57-11 Myrtle Avenue for criminal possession of stolen property by Officer Ricottone.
Pedro Montes De Dea was arrested at Grove Street and Woodward Avenue for unauthorized use of a vehicle by Officer Varecka.
Shawn Hines was arrested at Forest Avenue and Greene Avenue for forgery by Officer Sciame.
Lubov Pavskyy was arrested at 19-37 Woodbine Street for assault in the third degree by Officer Rogers.
Jian Qi was arrested at 58-89 56th Street for driving while intoxicated by Officer Miller.

Friday, Mar. 9

Antonio B. Wright was arrested at 59-36 Cooper Avenue for assault by Officer May.
Michael Rund was arrested at Hart Street and Onderdonk Avenue for criminal possession of a weapon by Officer Peart.
Ergys Fundo was arrested at Fresh Pond Road and 68th Road for criminal possession of a weapon by Officer Wynter.
Jason Goyco was arrested at Palmetto Street and Forest Avenue for grand larceny by Officer Saoler.

Saturday, Mar. 10

Richard Deno was arrested at Clove Place and Cypress Avenue for a forged instrument by Officer Sunden.
Felix Roman was arrested at Rust Street and Flushing Avenue for driving while intoxicated by Officer Fox.

Saturday, Mar. 11

Raymond Bardroff was arrested at 62nd Street and 74th Avenue for criminal mischief by Officer Reyes.
Matthew Moya was arrested at 69th Street and Myrtle Avenue for criminal mischief by Officer McElligott.

Vietnam Veterans chapter buries 60th indigent veteran

Queens Chpater 32 of the Vietnam Veterans of America reached a milestone recently, carrying out the 60th burial of an indigent veteran.
On Monday, February 27, the chapter assisted in the burial of David Lamar Wilson, a Vietnam Veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1961-1965. He was discharged honorably.
Wilson was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and died at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Up until his death he lived in Long Island City.
According to Paul Narson, president of Chapter 32, the organization began overseeing the burials of indigent veterans in October of 2002, when the group buried its first indigent veteran, a highly decorated war hero who did seven tours of duty in Vietnam.
According to Narsen, when a veteran dies the city contacts the chapter’s partner, Hess-Miller Funeral Home in Middle Village, which makes arrangements to accept and handle the body.
When the funeral home becomes available, a small memorial service is held and the casket is taken to Calverton Cemetery on Long Island, the closest military cemetery to the city.
Until Queens Chapter 32 began making arrangements for a proper burial, indigent veterans were buried in New York City’s potter’s field on Hart Island, the largest public graveyard in the world.
“The city refused to transport the bodies outside of New York, and there is no military cemetery within city limits,” said Narson. “These people served their country, and we felt they should be buried with honor and dignity.”
The city first began using Hart Island as a public graveyard in 1869. Today, there are more than 850,000 people buried there.
Narson said that the records from burials on Hart Island are currently being examined, and in the future, the bodies of known veterans could be moved to a military cemetery for a proper burial.
“Nobody knows how many veterans are buried there,” he said.

Metro Ave sewer project set to begin

A dangerous section of Metropolitan Avenue between Cooper Avenue and 80th Street will finally receive a new storm sewer to alleviate flooding.
For years, residents have noted that the stretch of road near St. Johns Cemetery created flooding conditions across all four lanes of traffic after moderate rainfall. The standing pools of water became a breeding ground for mosquitoes in the summer and created dangerous black ice conditions in the winter.
“For too long, even the slightest rain created dangerous flooding conditions on Metropolitan Avenue near St. John’s Cemetery,” said Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley.
In April 2010, Crowley wrote a letter to then Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway requesting the department investigate the area. After conducting a study, the DEP added the location to its capital project, and after persistent follow-ups, work began on March 5.

CB5 to discuss T.D. Bank coming to Grand Ave

Community Board 5 will hold its next monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 14th at 7:30 p.m. in the Christ the King Regional High School cafeteria, at 68-02 Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village.
The agenda includes a public hearing on an application to the Board of Standards and Appeals for a special permit to allow a T.D. Bank to occupy the space formerly held by a Blockbuster Video at 73-49 Grand Avenue in Maspeth. The bank intends to demolish the existing 5,000-square-foot building and construct a one-story 2,939-square-foot building with a parking lot for 16 vehicles.
The agenda also includes a public forum, a review of current applications for the sale of alcoholic beverages, and committee reports.
For additional information or to register in advance to speak call CB5 at 718-366-1834.

104th Police Precinct Blotter

Monday, Feb. 27

Gelacio Medina was arrested at 665 Seneca Avenue for assault by Officer Ferraris.
Reinaldo Perlaza was arrested at 85-45 Fleet Court for assault by Detective Spagnola.
Freddie Perez was arrested at 64-73 58th Road for burglary by Officer Sanchez.
Damian Olmeda was arrested at 64-73 58th Road for burglary by Officer Sanchez.
Oscar Fajardo was arrested at 64-73 58th Road for burglary by Officer Sanchez.
Cindy Hoffman was arrested at 67-05 Myrtle Avenue for petit larceny by Officer Ricottone.
Valerio Massaro was arrested at 60-13 56th Avenue for assault by Officer Toor.
Steven Garcia was arrested at 60-57 Palmetto Street for robbery by Detective Diaquoz.

Tuesday, Feb. 28

Tito Rodriguez was arrested at DeKalb Avenue and Seneca Avenue for assault by Detective Ebron.
Arlene Acosta was arrested at 66-26 Metropolitan Avenue for I.D. Theft by Officer Dambinskas.

Wednesday, Feb. 29

David Vittor was arrested at 80th Street and Metropolitan Avenue for unlawful imprisonment by Officer Nappi.
Denise Forgione was arrested at 59-35 72nd Street for assault by Detective Lundy.
Marek Jendroska was arrested at 52-29 74th Street for criminal mischief by Detective Ebron.
Juan Jacquez was arrested at 510 Onderdonk Avenue for criminal contempt by Officer Skorzewski.
Kimberly Alba was arrested at 62-81 60th Road for assault by Officer May.
Elizabeth Williams was arrested at 62-81 60th Road for assault by Officer May.

Thursday, Mar. 1

Piotr Adamski was arrested at 66-35 Forrest Avenue for criminal contempt by Officer Skorzewski.
Clifford LaValley was arrested at 53-00 65th Place for criminal contempt by Officer Gomez.
George Paniagua was arrested at Seneca Avenue and Himrod Street for assault in the third degree by Officer Caputo.
Victor Perez was arrested at 64-17 Fresh Pond Road for criminal trespass by Officer Varecka.
Robert Rickert was arrested at 64-02 Catalpa on an outstanding warrant by Officer Varecka.
Evelyn Garcia was arrested at 62-21 74th Avenue for assault in the third degree by Officer Miller.
Enrique Vasquez was arrested at 476 Onderdonk Avenue for assault by Detective Geis.

Friday, Mar. 2

Janice Osborno was arrested at 585 Onderdonk Avenue for assault by Detective Geis.
Jenny Badillo was arrested at 1016 Seneca Avenue for criminal mischief by Detective Murray.
Raia Barrett was arrested at 60-09 Maspeth Avenue for assault by Officer Diaz.
Kenneth James was arrested at 1842 Norman Street for criminal possession of a weapon for Officer Conde.
Carol Esposito was arrested at 1916 Linden Street for assault by Officer Aviles.
Piotr Wasilewski was arrested at 58-22 84th Place for criminal mischief by Officer Chowdhury.
Sharon Taylor was arrested at 70-07 66th Street for petit larceny by Officer Dunbar.
Robert Powlikaski was arrested at 60-60 71st Avenue for burglary by Officer Day.

Saturday, Mar. 3

Kevin Vasquez was arrested at Norman Street and Cypress Avenue for reckless driving by Officer Peart.
Jaine Miguel was arrested at Norman Street and Cypress Avenue for harassment by Officer Peart.
Dylan Esjeyez was arrested at Norman Street and Cypress Avenue for harassment by Officer Peart.
Alexis Vasquez was arrested at Norman Street and Cypress Avenue for harassment by Officer Peart.
Adrian Lizardo was arrested at Norman Street and Cypress Avenue for reckless endangerment by Officer Peart.
Gregory Hernandez was arrested at 1812 George Street for assault by Officer McCarren.
Jonathan Cruzado was arrested at 1628 Hancock Street for a warrant by Officer Mendez.

Sunday, Mar. 4

Bertha Vera was arrested at 1042 Seneca Avenue for assault by Officer Capace.
Yuriy Korsenko was arrested at Metropolitan Avenue and Tonsor Street for driving while intoxicated by Officer Christian.
Ion Balan was arrested at 59-60 55th Road for driving while intoxicated by Officer Bublin.
Victor Estrella was arrested at Metropolitan Avenue and Flushing Avenue for driving while intoxicated by Officer Taveras.
John Gulino was arrested at 60-11 83rd Street by assault for Officer McKevitt.
Kwan Chen was arrested at 60-11 83rd Street by assault for Officer McKevitt.

Police: Crime down in the 104th

Overall crime is down in Ridgewood, with police making headway on the area’s biggest problem – prostitution – Captain Michael Cody of the 104th Precinct told attendees at a Citizens for a Better Ridgewood meeting on the evening of Monday, February 27.
“One of the major complaints I got when I first got to the precinct was the prostitution problem,” Cody said at the meeting, which was held at the Saint Aloysius Parish Hall on Onderdonk Avenue.
The precinct, which monitors Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale and Middle Village, has conducted three undercover operations so far, in which officers are sent out to catch people who patronize prostitutes.
In the three operations, officers made 27 arrests and seized four stolen vehicles.
Cody said he went with a team on the prior Friday night.
“We did a great job, right out in the rain,” he said. “We got nine arrests.”
A representative from the Queens District Attorney’s office attended the meeting, along with Councilwoman Diana Reyna, and said Queens is surpassing its fellow boroughs in safety.
For example, Queens had 22 percent of the city’s total violent felonies in 2011, with a violent felon conviction rate of 7.7 percent.
In addition, Queens has the highest conviction rate for domestic violence in the entire city, the representative said.
Cody said the 104th Precinct had 27 reported crimes in the last month, up 42 percent from the 19 in the same month in 2011. But, he said, the snowstorms in the winter of 2011 helped keep crime down.
The precinct is down in grand larcenies and stolen vehicles, Cody said. It is also down five percent in felony assaults and 7.8 percent in burglaries.
He said most felony assaults reported to his precinct jurisdiction are domestic. One was in a bar.
Currently, the biggest complaint the precinct receives involves robberies.
There were 15 robberies in the last month, Cody said, which could be because “the weather’s a lot warmer this year, there’s a lot more people out on the street than last year.”
He added, “one of the major crimes we get is robberies of electronic devices.”
For iPhone users, Cody recommended downloading the iCloud application, which works like a global positioning system and locates missing phones, iPads and iPods.
Burglaries are also an issue, he said, particularly in the Ridgewood area. One occurred Monday morning, at about 11 a.m., when two men invaded a home in the vicinity of 58th Road and 64th Street and attempted to rob it.
However, the occupants of the apartment walked in on the burglars, who then ran off.
“One resident called 911 while the other individual kept the bad guys in sight,” Cody said, and praised the residents for helping to catch the perpetrators and their getaway driver.
“We’re looking into that to see if it can tie into other burglaries in the area,” he said.
A piece of good news Cody delivered at the meeting is the installation of four cameras near the Ridgewood Savings Bank on Cypress Avenue.
“It’s almost like putting another police officer out on the street,” Cody said of the security cameras. “It’s a very good multiplier of our resources.”
Cody plans to meet in the future with local representatives about putting up more cameras, he said.

Attempted rape in Ridgewood

The Queens Special Victims unit is searching for an individual wanted for an attempted rape that occurred on Sunday, February 19, in the vicinity of Saint Felix and Cypress avenues.
According to a report from the 104th Precinct, at about 10:30 p.m., a 25-year-old woman was grabbed from behind and pushed to the ground by the suspect, who attempted to rape her. When the victim screamed for help, the perpetrator ran off with her purse.
The suspect is described as a black male, between 25 and 35, roughly six feet tall and 210 pounds. He has short black hair and was wearing a gray jacket, according to police.
At a Citizen’s for a Better Ridgewood meeting on Monday, February 27, Captain Michael Cody of the 104th Precinct said the investigation is ongoing, but no new information has surfaced since the incident.
“There fortunately have been no further incidents,” he added.
Police ask that anyone with information about the suspect call 800-577-TIPS. Tipsters can also log into NYPDcrimestoppers.com or text TIP577 to 274637 (CRIMES).

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