A selection of the 354 guns surrendered on June 4, 2011 as part of a cash-for-guns event in New York City. (AP Photo/NYPD)

Brooklyn has the rest of New York City outgunned.

Law enforcement data indicates that the borough has a disproportionately large number of the city’s guns. It’s a tough statistic to nail down, says Rory O’Conner, Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the ATF’s New York Field Division. Due to the large numbers of unregistered and illegally purchased guns, he says, “it’s obviously impossible to give an exact figure.”

But overall, law enforcement recovered nearly twice as many guns in Brooklyn as in any other New York City borough in 2010—1,614 guns were recovered in Kings County that year, according to data released by the ATF. While that number decreased to 1,469 in 2011, according to the NYPD, this number remains proportionally higher than other boroughs. These totals include those guns recovered via stop-and-frisk as well as arrests and other means.

In an effort to get illegal guns off the street, Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD have employed two major campaigns—one that many people love and another one they hate. Gun buy-back events held by police have earned praise and support from local clergy, citizens, and politicians. The other method, “Stop-and-Frisk,” has infuriated many and drawn criticism from government officials—including State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who recently began examining the policy for signs of racial bias.

The Brooklyn Ink analyzed gun recovery data for a perspective on the unique set of costs and benefits associated with both stop-and-frisk and the gun buy-back program.

Stop-And-Frisk

While nearly 1,500 guns were recovered in Brooklyn last year, only 300 were recovered via stop-and-frisk—and it took nearly a quarter million stops for police to pick up those 300 firearms.

There were 228,354 stop-and-frisks in Brooklyn alone and 685,724 stop-and-frisks citywide in 2011, according to the NYPD data provided to The Brooklyn Ink by the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Of the people stopped and frisked in Brooklyn last year, only 0.13 percent of all of them were carrying a gun, a recovery rate that continues a largely stable trend seen in data over the last decade, according to NYPD data provided by John Jay College’s Center for Race, Crime and Justice.

While Brooklyn is the city’s largest borough—home to 31 percent of the city’s population, according to 2010 census data—it still has a slightly larger ratio of guns recovered per capita by borough. In 2010, Brooklyn had 37 percent of the guns recovered citywide. The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island meanwhile had a combined stop-and-frisk gun recovery rate of 0.11 percent.

That’s 13 guns for every 10,000 people frisked in Brooklyn, and 11 guns for every 10,000 frisked outside of Brooklyn.

From an efficiency perspective, this is what bothers many stop-and-frisk critics.

“The issue with stop-and-frisk is that the number of guns that are confiscated during that procedure is so miniscule compared to the number of people that are stopped, questioned, frisked, and had their liberty interfered with,” says Professor Jones-Brown, founder of the Center for Race, Crime and Justice at John Jay College.

“One of the big issues is, if police seem to be doing better with the buy-back programs, why do they continue to interfere with so many innocent people—people who are not carrying guns?” Professor Jones-Brown asks.

Buy-Back Programs

Since the gun buy-back program began in October of 2008, the NYPD has recovered 7,642 guns citywide, with 2,442 collected in Brooklyn alone—an average of more than 600 guns a year in Brooklyn.

It is true that the NYPD gun buy-back events bring in far more guns in far less time, but it comes at a price. The amounts offered have varied slightly, but anyone willing to return a handgun typically walks away with $200 and those surrendering a shotgun or rifle get $50. In a series of six Saturday events in 2009, the city shelled out $637,572 dollars for 3,551 guns—about $180 a gun.

Despite the hefty price tag, some would say that the gun buy-back program gives the NYPD more “bang for its buck” than stop-and-frisk. And while putting a dollar amount on the time and resources spent to employ the stop-and-frisk policy is difficult, measuring the political capital spent in continuing the controversial program seems simpler.

This calculus is not lost on Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. He was not always supportive of stop-and-frisk himself.

The New York Times reported that Kelly publicly criticized stop-and-frisk tactics back in 2000, saying that they “sowed new seeds of community distrust” and said that the community policing programs in the mid-nineties had been abandoned too soon.

But in recent years, the commissioner has been a staunch advocate for stop-and-frisk. And while Kelly has also regularly praised the buy-back program, Capital New York reported that he seemed to belittle it in a heated exchange this March. In the City Council meeting, Kelly defended the use of stop-and-frisk to Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito, and questioned what leaders in communities of color were doing to stem violence, adding, “What is their tactic and strategy to get guns off the street? Don’t tell me ‘a gun buy-back program.’”

Police insist that they must employ a variety of strategies to eliminate illegal firearms in New York City and routinely point to the city’s illegal gun market as a source of violence.

Guns that were purchased by undercover NYPD police officers are displayed during a news conference in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010. (AP Photo)

The Brooklyn Gun Market

Even as law enforcement and city officials remain locked in a bitter debate over stop-and-frisk, there’s a 38 caliber Smith and Wesson for sale somewhere in Brooklyn—only $600. Black market gun dealers feed demand for illegal guns by smuggling them into the city as they have for decades, says ATF Agent Rory O’Connor.

They buy from gun stores in Pennsylvania and other states with more relaxed gun laws down the I-95 corridor and drive them into Brooklyn. So while O’Conner says the source of guns is outside the city, “New York is a market area.”

“Say an undercover agent is going to negotiate for a pistol from a bad guy in the street,” the agent explains. “It’s probably going to be like 500 dollars—500 to 700 dollars for a handgun, for a pistol, for a revolver.”

Automatic pistols are the most recovered firearms from criminals, according to ATF statistics, with 2,497 recovered citywide in 2010. While the .38 Smith and Wesson revolver remains the single most recovered make of gun, only around 180 were recovered in New York.

“On the street a revolver is looked at like an antiquated piece, as opposed to a glock pistol,” because there’s a certain “sexiness” associated with semi-automatics—likely from being featured in films and video games, O’Conner says.

So far, there have been 128 shootings in Brooklyn in 2012, according to crime tracking website SpotCrime. Last year, there were 138 in Brooklyn during the same timeframe and 300 in 2011 overall. The NYPD reports that there were 298 homicides by gunshots citywide in 2011 and 119 in Brooklyn alone—nearly 40 percent of all shooting deaths in New York City. The Bronx was the second-most-lethal borough with 94 deaths or 31 percent of the city’s total shooting deaths.

Police haven’t escaped the danger either—eight NYPD officers have been shot in the last 5 months.

And while federal agencies like ATF continue to run undercover operations to eliminate small arms dealers selling out of the trunks of their cars, local law enforcement continues their own efforts to seize those illegal guns that do end up in New Yorkers’ hands.

But law enforcement has no illusions about the scope of the problem.

“What we do, what the local police do, its effective,” says ATF agent Rory O’Connor. “But its not going to stop the problem of illegal handguns. They’re going to be used in crime.”

This story is part of a series of stories that focuses on the less economically vibrant parts of Brooklyn. For more, check out the rest of our Under the Radar series.

Senator Eric Adams in his Brooklyn Office. (Khadijah Carter / The Brooklyn Ink)

Is the New York Police Department misusing its stop-and-frisk-policy?  New York State Senator Eric L. Adams, a retired police captain who was elected to the state senate in 2006, thinks so. Adams, who represents sections of Boro Park, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Sunset Park, and Windsor Terrace, has been vocal about various issues that affect the neighborhoods he serves, including his objections to stop-and-frisk. He recently sat down with The Brooklyn Ink to discuss stop-and-frisk and other ways he feels the police and the community should work together.

THE BROOKLYN INK: Senator, you’ve been vocal about the stop-and-frisk issue, what is the main problem with it in your view?

SEN. ADAMS: Many people say they are either for or against this thing called stop-and-frisk.  And they’re saying that with a lack of understanding of what it is.  We have not given people a simple education on what it is. That’s where I believe the failure is. People don’t know what is being done, that’s wrong. I think 80 percent of New Yorkers, if they knew what the police department was doing with stop-and-frisk, would also join those of us who are saying stop the abuse.

How is stop-and-frisk supposed to work?

If a police officer observes someone committing, or about to commit, what appears to be a crime, the police officer has the right to stop that person, question him and frisk him. That means that if late at night I see somebody hiding in an alley and I’m Mr. Joe Cop, I approach that person and say what are you doing? If that person is hesitant about answering questions, I can question him further.  If I look at that person and he has a bulge on his body that appears to be a gun or a weapon, I can run my hand outside that area to see if it’s a gun or a weapon.  If it is a gun or a weapon, I can remove it and place the person under arrest.  If after questioning the person, I find that he’s lying or committing a crime, I can place him under arrest. Without a stop-and-frisk rule, I could never stop and question that person.

That doesn’t sound unreasonable. What is being done in practice, in your view?

Police officers are told at the beginning of the night, “Officer Johnson you are going to go out and you are going to search 10 people.  Now if you don’t come back with 10 people, or fill out 10 of those forms, it’s going to impact your vacation days. It’s going to impact your transfer.” So what is that police officer doing?  He’s not looking for that person who is hiding in the alley, he’s not looking for the person that has possibly committed a crime.  He’s now just going out to fill his quota.  So little Johnny is coming home from school, [the officer] doesn’t care if Johnny’s committed a crime or not, he’s stopping Johnny and he’s questioning him.  He’s no longer frisking to see if little Johnny has something that appears to be a weapon.  He’s now going through his pockets, which the rule doesn’t permit.  Wow, I found a joint on you, now you’re being arrested. That’s where the abuse is coming from.  That’s why you are seeing large numbers of black and Hispanic children being arrested for carrying a joint or a bag of marijuana.  It’s not stop, question and search, it’s stop, question and frisk.

How many people have been impacted by this policy?

The outcry that we’re having is that the police conducted over 700,000 stop-question-and-frisks last year. Over 95 percent of the people they stopped was found to have done nothing wrong at all.  So you have a countless amount of young black and brown children who walk the street and are being stopped for no reason and being searched by police.

Police officers stop and frisk a man in Harlem. (Khadijah Carter)

Do you think it’s important to make stop-and-frisk a national issue?

I believe it should be an international issue. We’re traumatizing black and brown children. We are making them have an inferiority complex and that’s a human rights issue.  At a minimum, how you put it on a national level though is delicate because people will use it to polarize the election.

Some people think it’s an effective crime-fighting tool. What do you say to them?

When people commit crimes they should go to jail. We should have strong, proactive policing.  But you can’t break the law to enforce the law.  Stop-and-frisk is a good tool, but use the tool correctly.  Don’t abuse the tool. Because if you stop little Johnny four times, now he’s anti-police. Now he hates the police.  Instead of creating an atmosphere where police and the community are in partnership like in other communities, you create an atmosphere where they’re adversaries.  That’s not good policing.

What do you think qualifies as good policing?

Good community policing is when you know your cop, you know his name, you see him on the beat.  You walk past him on your way to your school or your job, so now one day when you walk past, you’re going to whisper in his ear, Officer Murray, there’s a guy down the block who’s been on the corner for a couple of days.  You’re comfortable approaching that cop.  You’re not comfortable approaching someone that you feel is just occupying your community.

Do you think that plays into why more cops have been shot in the last few months?

I never like to give people justification for doing anything wrong. But I do know that there’s a tipping point in life when people have had enough. I would hope that people won’t respond with anger. But you can’t control human emotions. People respond to the department based on their personal interactions, based on the conversations that take place in and around Christmas, Thanksgiving tables, barbecues.  So if no one is stopping and searching and frisking my child over and over in my community, when I sit down at the kitchen table on Thanksgiving, I only have good stories. All of us feel good about having a cop on our corner but when that cop on the corner is disrespectful to your son as he walks home, you no longer want to see this guy on your corner.

There is a large outcry after what happened in Florida about volunteer community patrols. Should they exist?

Yes. Community patrols are residents that go out and partner with the police. They’re trained. They go through the police civilian academy. They wear jackets, identifiable jackets, they know what they should do and shouldn’t do. Their most powerful tool is not a gun; it’s a cell phone to call 9-1-1. We should not allow the Zimmerman and Trayvon incident to discourage people from ensuring public safety in their community.

What else can communities do to improve their relationship with police?

You can’t change the system from the outside.  During recruitment time, churches, preachers, pastors should recruit young intelligent people to be cops. It’s a great career that’s often overlooked.

Anything else?

We’ve got to take personal responsibility. If your son’s coming home driving a Benz with no job, you know he’s doing something wrong. There should come a day when no cops have to patrol our block because our block is so safe. Go patrol somewhere else.

Are you going to run for Brooklyn Borough President?

We haven’t 100 percent decided if we’re going to or not. We’re looking at it. What we’re clear on doing is telling people that Marty Markowitz is not running for reelection. He’s term limited out so he can no longer run for the Borough President position. We’re not running against Marty. We’re looking to extend his legacy. It’s about continuity. I’m in the senate seat that he held at one time. And so it’s a natural seamless transition for me to go to Borough Hall.

Read more at: The Wall Street Journal

The parents of a girl who was molested in elementary school by her band teacher hold a portrait of their daughter. PHOTO: AP

Sitting on bench near the entrance to P.S. 262 in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon, Maddy Cruz patiently awaits for her daughters to come out of the doors.  “I always tell my kids, ‘Don’t talk to any adult.’  I don’t care who it it is,” she says, shaking her head.

Cruz’s warnings to her children could not ring louder. Last year, 13 teachers were arrested for sexual misconduct, forcible touching and sex abuse across the country. But so far this year, over seven teachers and teachers’ aides in New York City have faced similar accusations.  The latest incident occurred on April 3 with the arrest of an assistant principal from P.S. 106 in the Bronx.

“Most parents do not talk to their kids about this,” Cruz says. As a survivor of sexual abuse by a family member, the mother of three is fully aware of the psychological and physical impact these incidents can have on a young life – and she makes sure that her two daughters, Skye, 12 and Jaylin, 5, know it too.

Since 1983, April has been designated Child Abuse Prevention Month—by presidential proclamation in 1983, according to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. April is also National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The aim of both programs: to help communities prevent child and sexual abuse. With new cases of misconduct surfacing almost every day, this year April’s awareness events seem more important than ever, especially for the parents of New York City school children.

The latest two cases in New York City involve an assistant principal, Joseph Ponzo, 59, from PS 106 school in Bronx – arrested just this Tuesday for allegedly cornering and touching two female students in the school corridor- and Esran Boothe, 49, a teacher at the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment in Crown Heights, who has been accused of grabbing the buttocks of a 16-year-old female student just last week. Ponzo is said to have turned himself in to the police late Tuesday evening, but no other information on his case is available at this time.

According to the Department of Education, Booth has officially been transferred out of his teaching position and into a “desk job” pending legal proceedings. Parents were assured via public communication by school Chancellor  Dennis Walcott that the DOE is working hard to protect its students. Calls for comment about how the department is doing that were not returned.

The incidents have raised parental concerns. Cruz claims to be especially worried  because she says her two girls are “nice” and come from a loving home that has brought them up to be confident and trusting.

“I have always been aware and I have always told my kids to watch out for the signs, because I am a survivor myself,” she says. But, “Teachers touching kids is a surprise to me. [Children] are supposed to trust teachers to take care of them.”

Cruz seems to have trained her youngsters to be alert. “If the bad person tries to touch your cookies, what do you say?” Cruz asks her youngest, Jaylin. Little Jaylin doesn’t respond, but Skye is quick,  “I would tell my mom, or a teacher, or maybe my counselor,” she says.

Government assistance and resource guides are important to help fight the problem once it happens, but preventing it from happening at all should be more of a priority, experts say.

Indeed, this year’s awareness program is geared towards early prevention, both at home and in schools, writes Bryan Summers, Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families on the organization’s website. An extensive resource guide published by the The National Child Traumatic Stress Network is available for free online and also takes parents through the dangers and the signs of abuse as well as offering prevention techniques, both inside and outside of the home.

“It has been proven that effective early prevention efforts are less costly to our nation and to individuals than trying to fix things later,” Summers wrote.

A key aspect of prevention is communication between parents and their children. Too often, children are afraid to speak out against authority figures—such as teachers—and that can contribute to the repression of sexual assault incidents.  And the longer that trauma is allowed to go on without parental or psychological support, the higher the chances are that children will develop long-term post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, the NCTSN warns. Parents have to play an active role.

“I have been honest with my kids since they were old enough to know, that no one is allowed to touch them inappropriately,” Cruz says. “Secrets are not allowed [in our home]. If someone ever touches them inappropriately, I want to know. It can be the father, the brother, the uncle [or] the teachers especially because these kids trust and confide in teachers.”

Click here to listen to the interview: Sexual Abuse Survivor: Maddy Cruz

Besides encouraging their children to communicate, many New York City parents, like Cruz, have started demanding more scrutiny and safety in their children’s schools. The public’s backlash to the latest incidents has resulted in tighter supervision of student-teacher relationships, according to the Department of Education.  The education department has begun reviewing older cases of alleged misconduct and it is also developing measures to control teacher-student interactions both inside and outside the classroom. According to an official statement released in February, Chancellor Walcott and the DOE are looking to constrict interaction between students and teachers on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to avoid personal communication of any kind.

At this time, a total of four teachers aides have been fired, and two tenured teachers has been placed on temporary leave, as a result of the DOE’s increased investigation and review of over 230 cases of possible abuse dating back to 2000.

“We have been crystal clear about the consequences for this kind of behavior,” said Chancellor Walcott in a statement to the New York Times. “A staff member who violates the trust of our students and families does not deserve to work in our schools — period. Anyone who does will be removed, and we will do everything in our power to make sure they never work here again.”

Attempts to reach the United Federation of Teachers for its comments on new measures of teacher scrutiny were unsuccessful.

Parents like Cruz appreciates the system’s efforts, but Cruz adds that she does not believe that the department’s probing has gone far enough. “They [protection agencies] should make a big deal about it. And they should interview teachers and go beyond, go to their past, because the signs are all there,” she says.

“I do research,” Cruz adds, pointing to her youngest daughter. “I know her teacher’s name. I do research on the school.”

Cruz’s best advice to other concerned parents, however, is to “Listen, Listen, Listen.”

“If you know your child and you take time with your child, you will know the difference,” she says. “Just talk to your child every day, even if there are no signs, let your kids know that it is ok to talk to you.”

Cruz said specific signs do exist, however, including uncontrolled urination and the expression of constant fear for no apparent reason. Unusual new behaviors are a signal too.

“If you see that your child has become aggressive and angry and there is no aggression in the house, that’s a sign,” Cruz warns.

For aditional information on some tell-tale signs of abuse, read the accompanying “Tip Sheet – Sex Abuse: How to Spot the Signs” -with insight from former District Attorney, Ama Dwimoh.

With seven recent cases of sexual abuse in our city’s schools, parents are on high alert.  Ama Dwimoh is a former prosecutor for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and the creator of a bureau that exclusively handled the sexual, physical abuse and murders of children under the age of eleven.  Dwimoh talked to The Brooklyn Ink and offered these insights: 

What can parents do to create a safer environment?

-Parents and all responsible adults must pay attention. Know who is around your child—who has access and an opportunity to betray your trust

-Create an environment for your child that embraces truth. There should be nothing that your child is afraid to tell you. Simply, we–as a family have no secrets

-Remind your child from time to time that there is no one more important to you than they are

-Follow your intuition

It’s all about creating a safety net around your children and also paying attention to the actions and behaviors of the adults around your child, and your child’s responses to adults.

Warning signs to look for:

-Behavior extremes

-Problems sleeping—fear of the nighttime or of going home or to a particular location

-Eating disorders, poor hygiene, inappropriate dress

-Depression, listlessness, extended periods of sadness

-Sexually inappropriate behavior

Although these are possible indicators that something may be wrong in your child’s life, you know your child best. There is no better investment of your time than to pay attention to your child and not just what is actually being said, but what is not. Look at all the circumstances and always encourage and maintain an open and honest dialogue with your child.

What should you do when a child says he or she has been abused

Once a child has disclosed abuse, he or she must be protected and put in a safe environment, and the authorities need to become involved. Victims of these types of crimes must be supported and provided with counseling by therapists who specialize in this subject matter.

Every child victim must be reminded (along with their respective families)—it’s not their fault. We don’t blame children for the criminal actions of the predators that abuse them. It’s a child’s basic civil right to be cherished, protected and to live free of abuse at the hands of any abuser.

When children are victims of sexual abuse, its more than a betrayal of trust—it’s a crime.

Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. (AP Photo/Martin Family Photos, File)

Neighborhood watch groups across the United States, including in Brooklyn, are facing increased scrutiny following the death of an unarmed black teenager shot by a member of a Florida group.

“We’re not trying to apprehend, or chase, or follow. Crime is a police job,” said Terence Joseph, one of the founders of the Community Observation Patrol program in Brooklyn.

“We’ll just be the eyes and ears for the community.”

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida, appeared to take a different tactic. About a month ago, Trayvon Martin, 17, was walking back from a local store in Sanford, Fla., wearing a hoodie and carrying an iced tea in one hand and a pack of Skittles in the other, when Zimmerman shot him after a brief altercation.

Zimmerman said that he was acting in self-defense and that Martin was acting suspiciously.

The case – and the hoodie – has gained tremendous notoriety with many calling for Zimmerman’s arrest.

“A simple article of clothing has been transformed to a powerful symbol of protest for justice,” said Letitia James, a New York City councilwoman for Brooklyn’s 35^th Council District, in an email.

The Florida incident has also shed light on neighborhood crime watch groups: Who are they and how are they organized and trained? And why was an armed man with no association to the police walking around his neighborhood to protect it?

“He [Zimmerman] wasn’t supposed to be chasing anybody. He had no business coming out of that car and chasing him,” said Joseph, the Brooklyn patrol group co-founder.

Joseph and fellow Brooklynite Terry Heinds have formed Community Observation Patrol, a neighborhood watch group of volunteers who live in the 67^th precinct, which covers the Flatbush area. Heinds and Joseph said that an increase in neighborhood crime led them to start the group with 15 other neighbors.

A neighborhood watch sign displayed on a lawn. (AP Photo/L.M. Otero)

“We won’t be armed. We’ll drive around in a car, and if we see something suspicious, we’ll call the police,” said Joseph.

They were, in part, inspired by Shomrim, a licensed organization of volunteer Jewish civilian patrols, which have been set up in Hasidic neighborhoods in the U.S. to combat crimes and anti-Semitic attacks. Shomrim in Hebrew means watchers or guards.

The New York Police Department will start training the 15 volunteers of Community Observation Patrol on April 4th, and they will start their patrols soon after.

“You see it [a crime], and you report it, and you maintain a safe distance,” Heinds said.

Some organizations have also started up online crime watching tools.

Jay Ruiz is another Brooklynite, who decided to tackle crime in his neighborhood of Park Slope. Ruiz founded the Brooklyn Bike Patrol, a group of men who accompany women home from subway stops.

“All my guys have vowed to protect women we walk like if we’re walking home our mother or our wives,” he explained.  All the group’s volunteers have been vetted by the NYPD.

“In no way shape or form are we like what happened in Florida. We don’t carry guns, we don’t carry weapons at all,” said Ruiz.

Still, the story of Trayvon Martin rang a bell with Ruiz.

“When I first heard this story, I thought, ‘Oh my god,’ because I’m pretty gung-ho when I protect someone,’” said Ruiz. “It really made me think what would happen if I was walking home and someone attacked us… no one can answer that until something like that happens.”

Additonal reporting by Maru Opabola and Frank Runyeon.

]]> http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/03/30/43771-brooklyn-watch-groupds-under-scrutiny-after-trayvon-martin-killing/feed/ 1 http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/03/18/43116-chester-and-the-chocolate-factory/ http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/03/18/43116-chester-and-the-chocolate-factory/#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:17:18 +0000 Jessica Hartogs http://thebrooklynink.com/?p=43116

Tumbador Chocolates ready for the Easter holidays. (Jessica Hartogs/The Brooklyn Ink.)

 

It’s nearing the end of the day at Tumbador Chocolates, and most of the workers have gone home. Only a couple employees remain to wash up the chocolate covered pots and pans; the scent of chocolate wafts through the air as you walk up the four steep flights of stairs of 34, 34th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Inside, rows and rows of little chocolate bunnies and chickens solidify in the cooling room, ready for Easter.

“I was a 100 pounds lighter when I started here,” laughs Chester Almonor, a sales associate at Tumbador Chocolate, as he gives a tour of the factory.

The 26-employee company makes those fancy handcrafted chocolates you find on pillows at the Pierre, Setai, Mark, Mandarin Oriental and Trump International hotels, to name but a few.

But this isn’t just a typical chocolate factory. Since Michael Altman and Jean-Francois Bonnet, a former pastry chef at the three Michelin-star restaurant, Daniel, opened Tumbador in 2005, they have hired about 60 employees through programs that rehabilitate ex-convicts into society.

And Bonnet admits, although the two partners are committed to giving back something to society, sometimes the process has not been easy.

“You would send someone on delivery, and because they have the freedom of having a car, they would slip up and go hang out with friends,” said Bonnet, “We had one guy who was threatening the other one he was working with, saying, ‘I want to see my friends in the Bronx and if you say anything, I’ll kick your butt.’”

However, Bonnet and his partner stuck with the idea. “Just because you were 14, you killed someone, it doesn’t mean you are a rotten apple,” Bonnet said.  “You were bad at that time and now you’ve learned.”

Chester Almonor in his office at Tumbador Chocolates. (Jessica Hartogs/The Brooklyn Ink.)

That’s the philosophy of both men: giving people like Chester Almonor a second chance.

And Almonor is grateful for this opportunity, after spending 16-and-a-half years in prison. Asked what he was incarcerated for, he says, matter of factly, “Murder.”

Almonor started working for Tumbador as a driver making $8 an hour, earning less than $20,000 for the year. He was quickly promoted to maintenance manager and then as the assistant to the vice-president of marketing.

He’s now a sales associate, a position that requires he reaches out to new clients and confirms existing ones. He makes above $60,000 a year.

“Not bad for someone who was in jail five – six years ago,” said Bonnet.

Brooklyn-born Almonor was released from jail in 2008. Upon his release, Almonor approached the Fortune Society, an organization that helps people integrate with society, who told him about a driver position at Tumbador Chocolate.

“The next day [that] I was released, I went to get a license back,” said Almonor. “Lots of people try to get rich quick, and it puts them into a cycle, and they keep going back [to jail]. They don’t know that it’s better to get a job.”

Not that it was easy for him however.

“It was a little difficult, re-adjusting to a 9-5, but for me, prior to being incarcerated, I was working, and paying taxes, and voting, so I had a structure,” he said.

“It was just [about] re-adjusting to how times have changed and not trying to play catch-up with what I missed. It was just taking it from that day forward,” added Almonor.

]]> http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/03/18/43116-chester-and-the-chocolate-factory/feed/ 0 http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/29/42142-video-saving-the-youth-one-push-up-at-a-time/ http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/29/42142-video-saving-the-youth-one-push-up-at-a-time/#comments Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:29:03 +0000 Jessica Hartogs http://thebrooklynink.com/?p=42142

Will Crandall is an ex-convict who runs a fitness program for young men and women in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Through his rigorous training, he hopes to reform teenagers and keep them from making the same mistakes he did.

Produced by Jessica Hartogs and Sarah Munir.

]]> http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/29/42142-video-saving-the-youth-one-push-up-at-a-time/feed/ 0 http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/26/41946-new-yorkies-in-brooklyn-stay-on-your-leashes/ http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/26/41946-new-yorkies-in-brooklyn-stay-on-your-leashes/#comments Sun, 26 Feb 2012 13:47:15 +0000 Rebecca Ellis http://thebrooklynink.com/?p=41946 Three long aisles at Puppy Paradise near Brooklyn College lead the customer past leashes and puppy toys to the grooming, and play areas in the back. Behind a closed door that says Do Not Enter, about 20 cages filled with romping puppies greet potential buyers – as well as entice thieves.

Last Friday, a seven-week-old Yorkie was stolen from the shop and the puppy and whoever stole it are still at large.

“The police are on it,” said Joseph Sever, security consultant for the store. He said the puppy was nabbed at around 4:07 in the afternoon—and the theft was caught on security cameras.

The puppy was taken at an opportune moment when Sever wasn’t there, and the other assistants were helping customers and the door, while closed, was unlocked.

Merri Weinstein is assistant manager at Puppy Paradise. She warns that puppy thefts endanger puppies' lives if they are not cared for properly. Rebecca Ellis / The Brooklyn Ink

This isn’t the store’s first case of a stolen pup. According to Puppy Paradise owner David Dietz, dogs have been stolen about four times in last 30 years of the store’s existence. That doesn’t seem like much, but guard your puppies.

This is just one of a slew of increasing puppy thefts, according to the American Kennel Club. The club estimates that dog theft is up 32 percent this year nationwide. In fact, the group notes that stolen pet reports have risen from 150 to 224 in the past year, having climbed steadily since 2009. The kennel club says that a bad economy may be to blame.

Detective Nell, Information Officer for the NYPD, said that pet thefts are not tracked separately, because they are considered property thefts, either larceny or grand larceny, depending on the value of the critter.

But the executive director of the Humane Society, Sandra DeFeo, reports that Queens and Brooklyn have a higher rate of thefts than Manhattan.

“Brooklyn and Staten Island are more vulnerable,” DeFeo said. “Mainly because many residents in these boroughs are more likely to have backyards than in Manhattan.”

Pet stores and animal advocates alike are encouraging pet owners to take precautions against pet napping by micro-chipping. Overall, a combination of microchipping, the insertion of a small chip that serves as an electronic ID tag into the shoulder muscles of the animal, putting registration tags on collars, and supervision are key to preventing pet theft.

“We try to educate people,” said DeFeo. “People lose animals to theft often because of negligence.” She added that if a theft happens, “We counsel people to get the word out, to put up flyers and to mention if animal needs medical attention or special meds.”

DeFeo says that most animals the Humane Society receives are not microchipped, but the organization does microchip its animala and include the cost in the adoption fee, which is around $125 for cats, $250 for dogs. The Humane Society also offers low-cost microchip procedures for people who already have pets. While other vets charge as much as $85 just for the microchip operation on dogs and cats, the Humane Society charges only $35 for both the microchip and a check-up.

To find out more on microchipping services and fees, click here.

However, Puppy Paradise assistant Merri Weinstein warned that despite the fact that all the animals they sell at the Brooklyn shop are microchipped, they can still get lost or stolen. The reason: the microchip is not a GPS device that lets owner locate their pets if they are lost or escape the house

To track animals, many pet owners in Brooklyn use online services like FIDO, a lost and found dog and adoption service in Prospect Heights, which emails over 700 members for free, whenever a dog is lost in the neighborhood, as well as puts up posters.

To read about how Brooklyn pet owners are increasingly spending more on grooming their pets, click here.

Aside from microchipping, both the Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals urge pet owners to prevent theft by not tying up their animals outside and making sure they have ID collars.

The U.S. Humane Society attributes dog thefts to dog fighting rings, where people wage bets of $10,000 to $50,000 to see which dogs wins in a fight to the death.

Yorkies are valued for their temperament and are preferred by et thieves. Rebecca Ellis / The Brooklyn Ink

Puppy Paradise sells a collection of usually smaller dog breeds, such as Yorkies Shi-Tzus, and Pomeranians. Not the kind that are typically nabbed for fighting rings. However, Sever said that Yorkies, known for their gentle temperaments, are valued at $1,500 each, and for this reason, are a preferred breed for dog nappers.

“While the police view dogs as “property” theft it’s hard to get them excited about helping you,” said Bob Ipcar of FIDO’s Lost and Found Dog and Adoption services in Prospect Heights.

To find out more about FIDO’s services and to sign up for emails, click here.

Since the recent theft, the owners of the puppy store on Flatbush Avenue are taking measures to upgrade security and to raise awareness about how stealing puppies endangers the puppies’ lives. Their main concern is for the puppy, which still had to be bottle fed with vitamin water.

Rather than putting up posters, the store has put out a call to the New York 1 and other media that covered the story to whoever has the puppy to take good care of it.

“We have to protect the safety of our animals,” said Weinstein, store assistant. “We are afraid the puppy has passed away. Even if a person who purchased the stolen puppy called, we know they are not guilty of a crime for buying the dog. We just want to know the Yorkie is OK and being cared for properly.”

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]]> http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/26/41946-new-yorkies-in-brooklyn-stay-on-your-leashes/feed/ 0 http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/18/41590-brooklyn-jail-reopens-neighborhood-not-as-worried-as-youd-think/ http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/02/18/41590-brooklyn-jail-reopens-neighborhood-not-as-worried-as-youd-think/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:41:42 +0000 Jessica Hartogs http://thebrooklynink.com/?p=41590

The Brooklyn Detention Complex is located in a residential area of Boerum Hill. (Jessica Hartogs/The Brooklyn Ink)

When the Brooklyn Detention Complex reopened last week, articles sprung up in many New York publications quoting residents expressing their fears of having men who broke the law housed so close to their doorstep.

However, it seems that the biggest concern for many residents of Boerum Hill are not the men being housed at 275 Atlantic Avenue, but rather, where will the Department of Corrections employees park their cars and correction vans?

“Mostly when you talk to people, they go, ‘Oh my God, it’s another, how many people working, bringing their cars to downtown?’” said Howard Kolins, President of the Boerum Hill Association. “The big concern is traffic.”

The Brooklyn Detention Complex opened its doors in 1957 as the Brooklyn House of Detention. The facility was closed in June 2003 with plans to double its capacity.

Approximately 500 employees will staff the jail, seven days a week. That’s an average 50 to 100 correction officers per shift. The single-cell jailhouse at full capacity will house 759 men, most awaiting trial in Brooklyn and Staten Island courts.

“We are committed to ease residents parking fears. Our staff have been asked to take public transportation to and from the facility,” said Sharman Stein, Deputy Commissioner for Public Information of the NYC Department of Correction. But just in case they do drive, the department spokesman says, the facility has it covered.

“We have a corrections officer who will be patrolling the building 24/7 to deal with any parking violations,” added Stein.

Residents aren’t only worried about more cars parked in the area, some fear visitors might smuggle illegal goods into the facility.

“People have some concern about visitors coming through the jail with some contrabands; again that’s something we think both the police and the DOC will keep an eye on,” said Kolins.

Some nearby businesses expect to profit from the jail reopening. Fast-food spots including a Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts, are located in the area, as well as several bond shops.

“I look at it in the same way as if a hospital had opened. It expands more business, with people being there 24 hours long. People need to get coffee, go on coffee breaks, get dry-cleaning done,” said Adero Gaudin, who works at the Bail Shop directly across from the facility. “It’s helped everyone in this little community.”

“Traffic is not a problem yet,” added Gaudin, who fears that once the Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards opens in September 2012, congestion will increase.

“The stadium is going to be ten times worse in terms of traffic,” she said.

So far, approximately 150 inmates have been brought over from Rikers Island, which will shut down parts of the institution for refurbishment over the summer.

“We are moving them gradually over the next couple of weeks,” said Stein, adding that the move is expected to be completed by the end of March.

Residents who remember the detention center before it shuttered its doors in 2006, barely blinked this week when inmates began to arrive.

“Longtime residents were always aware that the jail would reopen, “ said Kolins. “So it doesn’t come as a shock. What is of some concern is that the area immediately adjacent is very residential.”

However, newly arrived residents who paid a pretty penny for the properties are said to be upset. A house on nearby Slate Street was sold for $3.4 million in July 2011.

“Most residents are not thrilled about the jail, but it makes sense that it services the [nearby] court house. And for the prisoners, it lessens the burden for anyone going through that,” added neighborhood association president Kolins.

“We’re all human-beings at the end of the day,” said bail shop owner Gaudin.

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