Return to the South Richmond Hill Horror

 

Impunity City 

Spring in South Queens is off to a despairingly dangerous start, particularly with targeted muggings of elderly Indian Sikh men in the same vicinity that’s located on Lefferts Blvd near a Guawdara Temple one block west. First was a violent assault on a 70-year-old man going on an early morning stroll and a little over a week later two other elderly Sikh men were mugged and robbed by two men on the same corner around the same time. In both incidents, the criminals knocked their turbans  religious headwear off their heads, giving credence to Sikh community leaders theories of being hate crimes against them.

 

The two men involved in the brutal attacks eventually got arrested after being on the lam for a few weeks, one of them who was involved in both crimes. Yet something caught my eye from the Queens Chronicle report after the young man involved in the second attack:

Two Sikh men were attacked Tuesday morning in Richmond Hill near where a hate crime against a member of the same community occurred last week. One man is in custody and another is still at large.

The incident occurred near the intersection of 95th Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard just after 7 a.m., according to police, a block from the Sikh Cultural Society gurdwara.

Officers found the two men, 76 and 64 years old, with minor injuries to the head and body. A preliminary investigation determined that the victims were approached by two men who struck them both on the head and body with closed fists and a wooden stick. The victims were taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.

The assailants removed religious headwear from the men and stole their money. The incident is being treated as a robbery and a hate crime, according to police.

Hezekiah Coleman, 20 years old, who police say was squatting at 95-54 Lefferts Blvd., was taken into custody and charged with robbery, assault, hate crimes and aggravated harassment, officials said.

Police believe the suspect they have not caught also committed last week’s assault against Nirmal Singh, 70, said Community Affairs Officer Scott Adelman of the 102nd Precinct at the Community Board 9 meeting on Tuesday night.

The 102nd has a directed post at 95-54 Lefferts Blvd., which appears to be abandoned. It is believed that both suspects were squatters there.

“That car will not leave until the perpetrator is caught,” said Adelman.

Sukhjinder Singh Nijjar is the chairman of external affairs and the elections commission at the Sikh Cultural Society. He says the society is working with the precinct and hate crimes unit in the aftermath of the attacks.

He hopes to see increased police presence and is working to get a car permanently assigned for the temple area. On Wednesday, he and a group of about 15 community members met at the temple at 3 a.m. to patrol.

“We’re exploring all these avenues to see if we can have this area covered, not only for our local Sikh community, but also many other multicultural communities in this area,” he said, adding that the society will continue to hold elected officials accountable on delivering on their promises.

Strong words indeed, especially to elected officials who continue to remain insouciant to the rapid rise of crime in Queens and the other four boroughs and most of all to the party all the time mayor Eric Adams. But in the case they should hold the Queens Chronicle accountable for getting the address of the house were the suspects were squatting in (twice in the same article). The actual address is 94-54 Lefferts Blvd, and  this house has a sordid past and currently is casting an ominous aura. I covered this house exactly one year ago right after a man was found dead on the porch one morning, a result of being bludgeoned in the head by two other homeless men.

Evidently, this abandoned house has got even worse and more squatters are occupying it even if they can’t get inside. 

 

 

 

Queens Family Court pushing back on immigration scam

From NBC:

Some Queens Family Court judges have begun pushing back against young Punjabi men who they think may be looking for an improper shortcut to citizenship, the I-Team has learned.

In the newest examples in an alleged scheme the I-Team first uncovered more than a year ago, young men have been entering the U.S. on school trips to Disney, then hopping buses to New York and telling judges that they cannot return home because their family is abusing them.

Recently, at least one judge expressed skepticism that a family that abused its child would then send him on an all-expenses paid trip to Disney.

Dem council candidate doesn't realize 311 already exists

So this guy, who happens to live in Cedarhurst, Long Island, plans to recreate the 311 system that's already in place?

Gabe visits the Sikhs

Worth watching just to see Gabe's headgear at the end...

No good deed goes unpunished

From the NY Times:

Some months ago, [Mr. Narine] identified his first big cause: to help unify the young members of the Indian and Indo-Caribbean diaspora in southern Queens and develop a political voice for the population. He created a plan to hold a series of events at which young Sikhs and Hindus, the two dominant religions, could “get to know each other, network.”

For the inaugural event, he decided to screen “Sita Sings the Blues,” a 2008 animated feature film that tells a story derived from Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit epic. The film has provoked outrage among some Hindus who believe its portrayal of the Ramayana and Hinduism is offensive. But Mr. Narine, who considers himself a devout Hindu, did not think much of this. He just liked the film.

Then on Sunday, Mr. Narine began receiving e-mails and phone calls from angry Hindus criticizing his choice of film. Dozens became scores; scores became hundreds. They were coming from across the country and around the world. By Wednesday, Mr. Narine had heard from more than a thousand opponents. Most were unkind, some were even threatening. Words unprintable on this Web site were abundant.

Mr. Narine has accepted the blame for inadvertently inviting the protest: He sent the invitations to people he had thought were community leaders and allies. They had forwarded the e-mails to the Hindu groups that waged the campaign against him.

Riot at Sikh temple

From the NY Post:

A holy war erupted yesterday at a Sikh temple in Queens -- where worshippers wielding swords and cricket bats interrupted a prayer session to attack their rivals in a vicious power struggle, police and witnesses said.

Rival factions at the Baba Makhan Shah Lobana Sikh Center in South Richmond Hill have been bickering for months over control, authorities and members said.

The dispute reached a bloody climax yesterday when the infighting turned violent, accompanied by screams, taunts and death threats.

The alleged attackers -- armed with at least one sword about 40 inches long, and another sword, according to a witness -- were part of the old guard that had been recently voted out of power but refused to accept the decision, even going to court to challenge the election.

Here's an update from the Daily News.