Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Maritime Snaps Losing Streak 

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BRONX, NEW YORK, January 23- The Maritime basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak in dominating fashion on Tuesday night at the Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium, claiming its second victory of the season, 79-57, over Skyline opponent Mount St. Vincent. The Privateers improve to 2-11 (1-7 Skyline) with the victory, while the Dolphins fall to 4-12 (2-7 Skyline).
“I am so proud of our team tonight,” said head coach Jake Scott. “Everything we have been working on to this point came together. They deserve to be excited after that win. We will continue to work and improve every day. It was a great team effort.”
Sophomore T-Vaughn Gibson (Freeport, Bahamas/Sunland Baptist) led all players with a career-high 28 points; 17 of them coming in the second half. Classmate Sean Corley (Harlem, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall) drained 19 points, while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out six assists. Senior Ron Bethea (Harlem, N.Y./Humanities Prep.) was limited in the second half due to an apparent leg injury, but still scored 13 points and had a game-high seven rebounds in just 27 minutes.
The Privateers charged out to a 21-point lead, 28-7, at 7:48 of the first half, but Mount St. Vincent fought back with nine straight points in just three minutes, all but two were off of Maritime turnovers. The Red and Blue were able to correct their mistakes and held a 12-point, 35-23, lead at halftime.
The Dolphins picked up their game early in the second half and the lead was cut down to just eight points, 45-37, at 14:03. However, a long stretch from 10:22 to 4:24 of the second saw the Privateers expand their lead to a game-high 23 points after a 20-7 run made the score 71-48. It was capped off by Gibson nailing two free throws.
Mount had three players score in double-figures, led by junior James Zuccaro, who had 18 points. Sophomore D’Andre McPhatter added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds and junior Gerard Fraser scored 11.
The Privateers shot a season-high 51.0-percent from the floor (26-for-51) compared to the Dolphins’ 32.8-percent (22-for-67).
Maritime is back in action on Thursday, when the squad will travel to Brooklyn to take on NYU-Poly. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Jays’ Jacobs Gymnasium.


Westchester Square News: St. Raymond High School Basketball Past Meets Bask...

Westchester Square News: St. Raymond High School Basketball Past Meets Bask...: --> BRONX, NEW YORK, January 23- Excitement filled the air at the St. Raymond High School for Boys gym on January 20 as alumni,...

St. Raymond High School Basketball Past Meets Basketball Present

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BRONX, NEW YORK, January 23- Excitement filled the air at the St. Raymond High School for Boys gym on January 20 as alumni, family and friends of the school celebrated the past and present of the basketball program.  
Gary DeCesare ’81 coached the St. Raymond Varsity basketball team for 16 seasons until 2003. After coaching stints with DePaul University and Richmond College, DeCesare now helms the St. Rita High School varsity team in Chicago who visited to take on St. Raymond.  
St. Raymond entered the game with a record of 10-5, and a number six ranking in New York City according to MSG Varsity. More than 75 alumni from the school attended to watch DeCesare take on first year coach Jorge Lopez and the St. Raymond team. The game was exciting throughout, with St. Raymond emerging victorious by a score of 56-52. Leading the Ravens were Tory Ferguson with 15 points, Shawn Jones with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists and Luis Santos with 11 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks.
After the game, all players and fans remained in the gym as Coach DeCesare recognized the 20th anniversary of St. Raymond’s first state championship in 1993. Many of the players, managers and coaches of this team returned to celebrate the past and present of St. Raymond basketball. “It is great that so many guys were able to come back today,” said Alex Perez ’95, one of the team’s student managers.  
Each player was presented with a St. Raymond windbreaker, championship t-shirt, framed photo of the team and news clippings from their historic season. “That really was a true team,” coach DeCesare said. “You had 12 guys that battled every day in practice.”  
Charlton Clarke ’95 approached the podium next to provide plaques to coach DeCesare and assistant coach Greg Scott ’72 on behalf of the 1993 championship team.  Coach DeCesare led St. Raymond to New York City Championships in 1991, 1993, 2000 and 2001, and state championships in 1993 and 2001.  
The St. Raymond varsity team rode the momentum of the St. Rita victory into wins in their next two road contests: January 21 at Moore Catholic and January 22 at Mount St. Michael.  The defending city champion Ravens are now 13-5 as they enter the final stretch of their schedule before the playoffs.    
St. Raymond has been welcoming back alumni throughout the basketball season, acknowledging the 40th anniversary of the first Varsity B team and the 35th anniversary of the first freshman city championship team at the annual homecoming event in December. 

Westchester Square News: Bronx Seeing Major Drop in Crime

Westchester Square News: Bronx Seeing Major Drop in Crime: --> BRONX, NEW YORK, January 23- Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. released statistics highlighting the decrease in murders in th...

Bronx Seeing Major Drop in Crime

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BRONX, NEW YORK, January 23- Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. released statistics highlighting the decrease in murders in the Bronx in 2012. Last year, the Bronx had a total of 112 murders, down from 148 in 2011 and an all time low in the borough since the early 1960s.
“We are fed up with the negative stereotypes and the erroneous images about who we are as a Borough. The Bronx is a different place from when I was a teenager in the 80s and 90s, and hopefully we can make 2013 safer. This is a good first step, but we have much more work ahead of us,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
“I would especially like to thank the hard work of the NYPD, our elected officials, community organizations and everyone who continues to help make our borough a safer place to live.”
With roughly 1.4 million residents in the Bronx, statistics show that in 2012 the Bronx had a murder rate of 8.0 per 100,000 residents. For example, in 2012 Philadelphia’s murder rate stood at 21.4 per 100,000 residents, while Boston had a murder rate of 9.1 per 100,000 and Newark had 33.1 per 100,000 in 2012.
Other cities with significantly higher murder rates than the Bronx included New Orleans, Detroit, Atlantic City, Cleveland, Buffalo, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dallas and Houston. Los Angeles, with a murder rate of 7.7 per 100,000 residents, barely edged out the Bronx in 2012.
“The Bronx is outpacing the nation in a wide variety of areas, including crime reduction. These statistics show that our borough, which continues to suffer from an inaccurate image as a dangerous place, is indeed outpacing some of the nation’s biggest cities when it comes to violent crime reduction. Given these numbers, it’s time for people across the nation and the world to reconsider how they think about the Bronx,” said Borough President Diaz.
Since the NYPD began tracking crime statistics through CompStat 19 years ago, the Bronx has seen a 70.4 percent total drop in crime, including a 78.1 percent drop in murders. This year’s drop is the lowest number of total murders since 1963. In 2012, the borough saw a drop in shooting victims of 7.7 percent and in shooting incidents of 6.7 percent from the previous year. In the past 19 years, the Bronx has seen shooting victims drop 65.1 percent, and shooting incidents drop 68.5 percent.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Westchester Square News: Beware Phony Workers

Westchester Square News: Beware Phony Workers: --> Scam Artists Target Morris Park Seniors By Dan Gesslein BRONX, NEW YORK, January 21- Police are warning seniors to b...

Beware Phony Workers

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Scam Artists Target Morris Park Seniors
By Dan Gesslein
BRONX, NEW YORK, January 21- Police are warning seniors to be on the lookout for a pair of phony repairmen who scam their way into the elderly’s home just to steal their valuables.
Investigators released a sketch of the man they say has been targeting seniors in Morris Park. Cops have linked the scammer to three robberies in one week. In each case the man in the sketch poses as a repairman or government worker checking on a phony report of a leak or other problem in the victim’s home. Once the victim is distracted the scammer’s accomplice sneaks into the victim’s bedroom and steals jewelry and cash.
The first incident took place at around 3:45 p.m. on January 9. In that case, the suspect rang the doorbell of a 71-year-old Morris Park home owner. The scammer said he was fixing a neighbor’s adjoining fence and needed access to the senior’s yard. Once distracted the accomplice snuck into the house and began looking for items to loot. However, the home owner came back into the house and spotted the thief. The 71-year-old went after the red-handed scammer, who then fled the home along with the phony repairman. They fled in a grey pick up truck. 
The thieves were more successful the following day striking twice. At around 3:15 p.m. the scammer posed as a water company worker. He knocked on the door of an 89-year-old woman claiming he needed to check her basement for leaks. Once distracted, the accomplice removed jewelry from the woman’s bedroom dresser.
A short time later the scammers struck again. This time posing as DEP workers they approached an elderly married couple. The phony worker told the husband and wife, both 73 years old, that he needed to investigate a fictitious complaint. As the husband and wife tested the water in their kitchen the two men took cash from the couple’s bedroom dresser. 
Cops say that in none of the cases did the crooks display phony badges or wore uniforms indicating that they worked in an official capacity.
The suspects are described as a white male and a Hispanic male. They are both between the ages of 25 and 25, 5 foot 10 and 170 pounds. 
Anyone with information should call CRIMESTOPPERS at (800) 577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
All calls are strictly confidential.
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