BY THE VILLAGE SUN | One man was left dead and a woman and a second man were injured on a down-and-out strip in the East Village after another man attacked them with a knife, police said.
According to cops, on Sun., June 23, around 5:45 p.m., officers responded to 911 calls of multiple people stabbed just west of the Trader Joe’s market on E. 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue A.
Police found three wounded persons at the location. A 38-year-old man was stabbed in the neck, a 51-year-old woman was stabbed in the leg, and a 32-year-old man had been knifed in the back.
All three were transported by E.M.S. ambulance to Bellevue Hospital. The 38-year-old man stabbed in the neck was pronounced dead. The 51-year-old female wounded in the leg was listed in critical condition. The 32-year-old man stabbed in the back was listed in stable condition.
Officers arrested a 30-year-old man at the scene and recovered “a cutting instrument” there, as well.
Per department protocol, as of Sunday evening, police were not yet releasing the identity of the deceased yet pending proper family notification.
The crime location is in Councilmember Carlina Rivera’s district, just outside the district represented by Councilmember Keith Powers.
In a post on X, Powers fumed, “The situation on 14th St is out of control. This is directly across the street from my district where many of my constituents walk every day. It’s unacceptable to have conditions on the street remain status quo.
“We need every elected official and agency working to solve these problems,” he continued. “A dedicated NYPD presence to curb illicit activities, continued enforcement [against] illegal vendors, ongoing attention to trash and sanitation cleanup and more.”
Statement on today’s attacks on 14th Street. pic.twitter.com/EFgucCe2WK
— Keith Powers (@KeithPowersNYC) June 24, 2024
This small area of the East Village has drawn repeated complaints in recent years since the pandemic, due to unlicensed sidewalk vending, drug use and drinking.
In January, the caretaker at Immaculate Conception Church, just a bit farther west down the block, was viciously slashed on the side of his neck after telling a man to stop urinating on a car in front of the church and on the church itself.
Improving the corridor a bit, last July a Panda Express restaurant opened at the southwest corner of 14th Street and First Avenue, bringing positive activity to that previously down-on-its-heels corner. However, today much of the stretch along the west side of First Avenue from 13th Street to 15th Street remains sketchy.
In March 2022, Keith Kelly reported on how a homeless vendor saved a man who had overdosed on E. 14th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A by giving him a dose of Narcan.
Speaking to The Village Sun last summer, Sal Sadik, a former chef who was vending an assortment of stuff on the sidewalk outside the not-yet-opened Panda Express, said a bad element had ruined the scene.
“This area used to be quiet and nice,” he recalled. “But the people mess it up, drinking and fighting.
“Sometimes they give me a ticket; sometimes they take your stuff,” he said of the cops. “It depends on who it is. If you say you don’t have a vending license, a nice cop would say, ‘Pack up.’”
Carlina Rivera offered no support to the elderly City retirees whatsoever when she was asked to. What exactly does she do for the community anyway?
Councilmember Rivera certainly isn’t listening to her constituents.
She’s my rep. I always try to vote a more reality-based candidate, a change from her, but she always wins our too-woke hood (poor turnout too) & last time her seat wasn’t even contested. She prattles on about programs, resources & services needed, but honestly, that means “put up with it” — you get what you vote for. The “unhoused” who swarm this hood can often be, and too often are, obnoxious, threatening, filthy, violent, etc. But Carlina Rivera/staff tread oh so delicately to protect their “dignity & freedoms/rights” at the expense of decent people. Look across the city. This is what we have citywide because reps like Carlina dominate the City Council, because people shut up, complain instead of voting or keep voting for them.
Strange how elected representatives mount the grandstand — “fume” — when
the situation is blatant. However no such odor emanates from their silent mouths concerning the everyday public safety danger resulting from a long-term lack of a responsible bike/micro-transport culture. The opposition from Transportation Alternatives to NYPD enforcement has proven to be not only
irrational but deleterious to the public well-being and civic quality of life.
An ongoing police presence would go a long way to remedying the situation
on 14th St. But let’s recognize that illicit drug dealing, trafficking in stolen merchandise and drinking are not limited to 14th St. Washington Square Park is a current hot spot for example.
A two-block area or a park can be addressed in a localized manner. But the rampant dangerous riding is a constant ongoing threat. Jeopardy is a way
of life. All over town. Neither Councilmember Rivera nor Powers has uttered a resonant peep to remedy that. What’s in it for them?
Carlina is too busy going to photo-ops and the Met Gala than to deal with pesky local issues. Thankfully this is her last term as our City Council representative.
“The crime location is in Councilmember Carlina Rivera’s district”; ’nuff said. What do you expect when your councilmember spends time defunding the police and heckling the FDNY to take down flags? You get what you vote for. Wise up, people.
What do you expect from a councilmember who votes to chop down 100’s of old-growth trees in this era of global warming!