Daily Archives: January 19, 2016

Resident arrested for Stuy Town laundry room ‘groping’

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

A Stuyvesant Town resident was arrested for forcible touching and sexual abuse in a Stuy Town laundry room in the early hours of last Friday morning.

Jason Wilner, 27, was arrested at 449 East 14th Street on January 15 at 1:41 a.m. after allegedly groping another resident while she was doing laundry.

The victim told police that she was folding her clothes in the building’s laundry room when Wilner approached her, put his right arm around her and allegedly grabbed her buttocks. She said that she told Wilner to stop but he allegedly continued to touch her and grabbed her buttocks at least two more times.

“The safety and security of our residents is a priority for management,” Senior Vice President of Global Public Affairs Paula Chirhart said regarding the incident. “Management and public safety are fully cooperating with the NYPD on this incident. We will not allow for any behavior that puts resident safety at risk.”

Wilner’s lawyer did not return a request for comment.

Opinion: A letter from a mom

By Former Assemblyman Steven Sanders

Last week, after the umpteenth rejection by Congress to pass any restrictions on the sale of guns, President Obama acted with an executive order to restrict online and gun show sales of weapons without a sufficient background check of the persons attempting to purchase firearms in this manner. Naturally he was immediately attacked by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and candidates seeking the support of the NRA.

Donald Trump, in his efforts to pander to the gun lobby this week even said that his “first” action as President would be to eliminate all “gun free zones,” in America including the ones near and on school grounds! Of all the outrageous remarks he has made as a candidate for President, that one is probably the saddest of all.

I have written much about efforts to enact sensible restrictions on the sale and possession of dangerous and deadly firearms. I have spoken about the culture of guns ingrained in the American experience. I have strenuously criticized Congress and candidates who look the other way in the face of mass murders with high powered assault weapons. I have trotted out statistics which show that since the assassination of President Kennedy with a mail ordered rifle, 1.5 million people have died at the hands of persons with guns. That is more deaths than all the American servicemen and women who died during all American wars spanning 240 years… combined! And still the politicians look the other way and pretend that the Second Amendment is inviolate and cannot be tampered with, even if a gun could propel a nuclear device. This is utter madness. These arguments fall on politicians ears drowned out by the sound of campaign cash and political endorsement by the NRA.

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Kips Bay teen missing

Jan21 Kyle Hoffmaier

Kyle Hoffmaier

UPDATE: Hoffmaier has been found.

Police are looking for a Kips Bay teen who has been missing since Friday, January 15.

Kyle Hoffmaier, 16, was last seen at his home at 305 East 24th Street and Second Avenue at around 11:30 p.m.

He is described as white with brown eyes, about 5 ft. 4 ins. tall and approximately 145 lbs. He was last seen wearing a grey polo shirt, khaki pants, a black leather jacket and blue sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips by logging onto nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.

Man arrested for fatal hit-and-run on FDR Drive

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Police have arrested a man for allegedly leaving the scene after a hit-and-run on the FDR Drive that killed Anthony Pham, a 29-year-old San Francisco resident.

Mirsad Dzaferovic, 34, was collared on Saturday morning for the accident that occurred a day earlier, in the early morning, on the northbound side of the FDR near East 28th Street. The FDNY received a call around 12:35 a.m. and police responded to the scene at about 1:05 a.m.

When they got there, officers discovered Pham lying in the roadway with head trauma. Dzaferovic had allegedly left the scene without waiting for police and allegedly continued to drive north on the FDR. Pham was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police tracked down Dzaferovic through vehicle parts, including a mirror and door handle with grey paint, that were scattered in the street close to the victim. A check on the serial number of the parts showed that they were from a Toyota Camry and police recovered a car matching that description that was also missing a side mirror and door handle that was registered to Dzaferovic.

The suspect allegedly told police that he was driving that car at the date, time and location of the crash.

A preliminary investigation found that the victim was either standing on the FDR or attempting to cross the highway when he was hit by the car, but no further information about how he got into the roadway was available.