Daily Archives: November 10, 2011

‘Ice pick’ robber pleads guilty

By Sabina Mollot

John Martinez

On Thursday, the man who robbed three women in Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village while threatening them with an ice pick last year pled guilty to those crimes as well as an attempt to do the same thing to another woman in Stuy Town.

“This defendant threatened safety and security of women and children in their own apartment buildings,” District Attorney Cy Vance said. “With this guilty plea, a dangerous criminal will be kept out of our neighborhoods.”

In the three robberies, John Martinez would follow his victims onto elevators and pull out an ice pick while demanding cash.

In one of the incidents, on December 2, 2010, he also threatened the three-year-old son of one of the women if she didn’t let him into her apartment for more money than the $80 she’d handed over. Fortunately, when they got to her floor, the woman and her son were able to get into the apartment without Martinez getting in as well. Continue reading →

Letters to the editor, Nov. 10

Things ST/PCV residents don’t need

Photo by Sabina Mollot

Anyone who has lived in the ST/PCV communities for 11 years or more will remember that there was always a list of people hoping to get an apartment in ST/PCV.

Hundreds, if not thousands, waited patiently to get in or to transfer from one apartment to another to accommodate a growing family. (My name was on the list for more than 10 years before the coveted call came.) And they waited without any expectation of ever being able to sunbathe on the Oval, dine on food served out of a truck around the Oval, ice skate in one of the playgrounds or (and my apologies to my good neighbors and friends who are responsible dog owners) have a dog. Continue reading →

Garodnick and STPCVTA write letters questioning legality of ice rink

Letter from City Council Member Dan Garodnick to the Chair of NYC Department of City Planning Amanda Burden, dated October 28.

Dear Chair Burden:

In recent months, Stuyvesant Town residents have seen an increase in the amount of commercial activity taking place within the Stuyvesant Town Oval, which is in an R7-2 zone. The Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association leadership has asked me to investigate whether any of these new activities are in violation of the area’s residential zoning.

With that in mind, I ask that you answer the following questions: Continue reading →