Updated 9 p.m.
One of the stabbing victims, a 38-year-old man, has died, per PIX11.
Another update here.
Updated 6/24
The suspect, 30-year-old Alejandro Piedra of Brooklyn, has been charged with one count of second-degree murder — depraved indifference and two counts of second-degree attempted murder — depraved indifference, according to the NYPD and media reports.
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There are reports that three to four people were stabbed late this afternoon on 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.
Per Fox 5:
When officers arrived on the scene, they found one man who had been stabbed in the neck, a woman who had been stabbed in the back, and a man who had been stabbed in the leg.All three were taken to Bellevue Hospital. The man stabbed in the neck, and the woman stabbed in the back are both in critical condition.The man who was stabbed in the leg is reportedly in stable condition. A man was taken into custody at the scene, and police say a sharp cutting object was also recovered.
Photos via @UrbanMyth show blood on the sidewalk just west of Trader Joe's, where the various vendors sell items of dubious quality...
There's a lot of conflicting information at the moment, such as the relationship between the victims. We'll update you when more details have been verified.
With drug use/sales and general quality-of-life issues, locals have complained about this relatively lawless stretch of the East Village for years with a tepid response from the city.
In January, a caretaker at Immaculate Conception Church on 14th Street near First Avenue was slashed in the neck with a razor blade after trying to stop a man from urinating between cars.
Updated:
Multiple residents have pointed out crime scene tape on 13th Street just east of 13th Street. One resident witnessed three people fighting here, before taking off running toward First Avenue and 14th Street.
61 comments:
vendors sell items of dubious quality...and from dubious origins
That area has become awful in past few years .. clean that shit up .. feel like 1984 there
Is there a surveillance video of any of these attacks?
This block is a nightmare. There are three (maybe) Chinese women who take food from the Salvation Army and various community refrigerators and sell it on the block. Cops chase them off several times a day but they come right back. There's a drug dealer (and a friend of his who jerks off under a blanket) who tips them off when the NYPD are coming. Yesterday there was a guy strung out on heroin, dressed like JonBenet baking in the sun for hours. On trash day, there are people who rip open all of the trash bags, taking what they want and throwing the rest of it all over the sidewalk. I'm talking 30 garbage bags worth of stuff. Last week a homeless man was telling me how he digs through the tree beds for discarded drugs and used needles.
This news of a stabbing is no surprise. I work on this block and it's a fucking nightmare.
After all these years of crime in this area, maybe this tragic incident will finally move the city government and the police to get off their lazy a**es and do something.
As someone who actually goes to these 13th Precinct meetings (the 13th and the 9th have a joint task force assigned to this issue), Immaculate Conception Church, having inherited the Mary Help of Christians flea market, is a major cause and effect of the illegal peddlers with stolen goods, the drug dealers, the food pantry thieves and the bad crowds that now hang out on 14th Street. There are a lot of moving parts of this issue with plenty of blame to spread around. Maybe this incident will finally get some lasting results. Periodic sweeps are the not the answer.
💯
We've been dealing with this sh-t for 4 years. Carlina has shown up for a photo op to announce a new program, a couple times, but the scene hasn't change. Carlina's ideas have not worked.
Edmund Dunn, thanks for the history. I remember when the Post Office was on this block, it was such a safer block then.
New IDEA: The Catholic Diocese needs to close the flea market.
Does it really aid your story to say these women are Chinese or does it further xenophobia? Just a thought I have any time I have when I share a story: is a physical description, especially when used to describe a minority, crucial to your point or is it adding to a preexisting stigma of a disenfranchised group… I think we are we all just agreeing this street has gotten totally out of control and feels unsafe due various people and lack of help from the city
What a horror show. I came out of that L subway stop probably 20 minutes after this all went down and it was just a sea of ambulances and cop cars and people standing around.
It reminded me of a community meeting Mayor Adams did a Q&A at on February 12 or 13th where one of the questions was about this block. You can find it on youtube if you're interested. I dont hate Adams and at the time he said all the right things but obviously this is a failure on the part of our community leaders. Some excerpts below.
Mayor Adams: ...I walked that street several days. I went out there and I walked that block and it was disgusting. And I had the platoon commander meet me over there and I said, you know, what is this?
So, I'm going to go back over there and see it again, and it better not be what I saw over and over again. No one should be living like that, living on the street, selling everything that you could possibly imagine, laying on the street, having carts full of garbage.
...That is not acceptable. We are going to fix that problem.
Questioner: Thank you. I was walking down it on Saturday night and it was completely out of control. I actually was so nervous, I crossed the street and I shouldn't have to do that in my own neighborhood.
Mayor Adams: You're darned right, you shouldn't, and you're not going to. So, Chief?
Deputy Commissioner Mark Stewart, Community Affairs, Police Department: I hear the message loud and clear... Loud and clear. And you'll see uniforms when you're crossing that street.
"There are three (maybe) Chinese women who take food from the Salvation Army and various community refrigerators and sell it on the block. "
These Asian women who steal from the food pantries, there are 4 of them, also perch on the west side of 1st Ave between 14th and 15h Street when there is a sweep of 14th Street. A 13th NYPD officer at one of the 13th meetings told me he arrested one of them when she refused to show him any ID. They have TJs salmon and chicken packages left out unrefrigerated on their blankets.
BTW everyone, my wife was in TJs when this went down.
And “vendors” is also a stretch.
Exactly- that stretch is horrible- wish traders joes would relocate across the street in the old associated space.
I’ve lived just off the 14th & 1st intersection for many years and I’ve emailed/called Rivera’s office regularly about this intersection for years. Even though there’s been minimal lasting impact I urge people to put pressure on her. She’s silent about a lot (though she recently loved taking about herself at the Met Gala…so seems it just needs to be nonsense to get her vocal). I don’t plan on giving up on the neighborhood.
There was a skirmish the perp had before with some other dubious miscreants napping in front of my building on 13th. Gave the footage to cops.
I’ve spoke at length to both Epstein & Rivera about that stretch of 14th street for years. Both have stated unequivocally that they did not want NYPD involved. Instead they wanted to gain the trust of the addicts, street dwellers, vendors & assorted other sellers on the block. In fact, both thought stores like Target were the problem. I’m pointing this out only to show that the conditions on that stretch of 14th were allowed to degenerate as a direct result of their policies — policy put forth by electeds that people in this district keep re-electing. Vote better if you want to see conditions in the East Village improve
They are far from immaculate there for sure. Lots of fenced goods, good place to look for your missing packages. Can’t begrudge the ones scraping a legit living, but the thieves and counterfeit stuff are not cool.
That so sad
This is literally outside my window From Stuytown - if this doesn't inspire a cleanup, what will?
"With drug use/sales and general quality-of-life issues"
Drugs don't cause people to stab strangers. If anything, access to pure drugs with accurate dosage - instead of the black market bonanza our government implicitly endorses - would result in fewer overdoses, fewer bad trips and fewer violent outcomes. We've tried for how many generations to pretend we can stop people from using drugs? We have failed. It's long past time to stop forcing people to buy impure drugs form criminal enterprises.
Any information about this actual incident? It’s a junkies paradise over there. What was the incident about/how did it start/who is the perp?
And BTW it is the drug market not flea market that’s the problem. Heroin use has been blowing up the neighborhood the last few years, more than ever. The dealers need to be put in for life, enough of this crap already
The trouble started with covid, when the flea market was forced to close and the legitimate vendors were forced to make money outside. (I happen to know this because i frequently shopped the flea and personally knew some of them, who by the way absolutely hated being on the street.) Word got around and all kinds of nasty elements took advantage and started to creep in - and never left. Once it reopened, The flea market organizers were constantly calling the police to clear up the street. I would not blame the church - which since it was on Avenue A and 11th Street has been a a source of income for many legitimate vendors. I would blame the situation.
For real; they are selling junk that they've stolen
I hate getting groceries every week at Trader Joe's because it's always a mess outside. And every time I take the L I'm concerned for my safety. It's just gotten worse and worse the past few years
I live and work on 14th between A & B, I pass through this black regularly, it is always a complete chaotic mess. I go to the Petopia there and the great staff are constantly having to deal.with the insanity on that street. The block had become a hub for drugs and people who have been released from Bellevue. I work.the door of a bar nearby and regularly see deranged people day and night. I know it's inevitable that I will have a problem with one or more of the people the open air market attracts. Mix that with a supermarket, five fast food restaurants, and the regular influx of people on the L train and its amazing that more deaths haven't occurred.
Maybe someone who actually cares about the neighborhood should run against Rivera.
This is awful. Condolences to the dead man's loved ones. Note that it hasn't been confirmed yet that this was related to the thieves' market activity--not that that would be (at all) surprising, just that it hasn't been determined yet.
Also, why are people in the comments describing those women, and only those women, by their race/ethnicity?
Always blame the cops, such a tired thread.
I have told people about this area "I don't think I'll be stabbed here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see someone stabbed."
So in case I need to update my expectations: were any uninvolved civilians stabbed here?
The answer is they need to set up the huge NYPD towers with bright lights like they used to do in Brooklyn back in the day. Set up cameras. Stop illegal selling of BS on the street. Sometimes you can’t even walk on the sidewalk bc of the blankets and nonsense being sold. It’s ridiculous.
It was never like this when Hot & Crusty was on the corner!
What is likely need to get the people to stop congregating is likely some combination of affordable (to them) housing, social and mental health services, and meaningful work. I’m not sure that’s something any of our NYPD or elected officials can easily provide.
@Edmund Dunn: As a former parishioner at Immaculate Conception for many years, Immaculate's OWN flea market has been in existence for ages, and its vendors quite routinely spilled out of the church's interior parking area and set up along 14th Street in front of the rectory & church.
My understanding is that Immaculate Conception gets some nice income by allowing the flea market. And I'll bet Msgr. Nelan will claim that's not true.
Please do NOT try to blame this on Mary Help of Christians parishioners, b/c that Mary Help of Christians had its own flea market that was held COMPLETELY on Mary Help of Christians' own church property; it was well-organized and it was NOT all over the public sidewalk. Then Dolan sold all of Mary Help's property to developers for $$$$, which was the end of that beautiful church, the school, and everything else those parishioners cared about.
The old ladies selling the food line canned goods don't bother me, it's a rough town and they're trying to get by, but the density of crazy crackheads and fellow travelers that hang around in the chokepoint at A is disturbing. I've had young randos raging in my general direction and it's scary now that I'm no longer young. Not sure what the cops would be permitted to do if they wanted to clean it up. Probably no more than park a few cars and foot patrols which I'm guessing we'll see for a brief moment.
Do you mind sharing when the meetings take place?
I am the woman who spoke with Major Adams at the Community Conversation held on February 12 of this year and complained about the situation on 14th Street.
Here’s the YouTube video of that meeting. My conversation with the mayor starts at minute 47:55.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdR9_PpmgOw
Despite the Mayor (and James N. Mccarthy, Assistant Chief at Patrol, Borough Manhattan South, who was at the meeting and with whom I also spoke) assuring me that 14th St. would be cleaned up, despite subsequently following up several times with the police contacts I was given, nothing changed. Police need to be permanently stationed on that out-of-control block 24/7/365 or nothing will ever change. Will it happen now, after yesterday‘s mayhem and murder? Time will tell.
Put up or shut up. Nothing keeping you from running for office with all your handy answers to the problem. People can only vote smarter when offered actual choices. So get out there.
The 9th Precinct Community Council meetings are the third Tuesday of every month...except for July and August. Unfortunately, the last one until September was last week, and was very sparsely attended.
1. "I have spoke at length to both Epstein & Rivera about that stretch of 14th street for years. Both have stated unequivocally that they did not want NYPD involved. "
Well at a 13th precinct Zoom meeting about 2 years ago, it was Epstein who suggested a combined 9th and 13th task force to address the issue, he even offered to help facilitate it.
2. "Please do NOT try to blame this on Mary Help of Christians parishioners"
I am not blaming the parishioners. In fact, I participated in a demonstration organized by Andrew Berman's Greenwich Village Preservation Society to save MHOC. And I am a Stuy Town lifer, graduate/alter boy of Immaculate Conception and I stand by my statement that the IC flea market has had a major cause and effect of the current 14th Street situation. It's the 500 pound gorilla in the room of this issue.
3. "The old ladies selling the food line canned goods don't bother me, it's a rough town and they're trying to get by,"
There are stealing from local food pantries, corrupting the very essence of what a food pantry is. And it's not just canned goods, they leave unrefrigerated food (chicken, salmon, etc.) on their blankets for sale, an obvious food poisoning issue so yes, they do bother me.
Yes, when I walked around the corner from E14 the police were ribboning that area too.
It's Deja vu all over again....
"Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets"
----Travis
Keith Powers' statement on this issue via FB/Twitter:
"Awful news today on 14th St. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.
The situation on 14th St is out of control. This is directly across the street from my district where many of my constituents walk every day. It’s unacceptable to continue to have the conditions on the street remain status quo.
I’ve repeatedly called for a consistent and sustained presence of the NYPD and city agencies to finally put an end to these tragic incidents. In the time where we have received this, we have seen marked improvement.
We need every elected official and agency working to solve these problems: A dedicated NYPD presence to curb illicit activities, continued enforcement of illegal vendors, on-going attention to trash and sanitation cleanup, and more.
I’m deeply grateful for the agencies that have given their resources to help solve these problems and look forward to coordinating on next steps soon. But it’s time that everyone works together to end this madness once and for all."
Jesus Christ. Enough is enough already, the coddle the junkies, dealers, and shoplifters strategy is not working. You know what does work? Cracking heads. It's how TSQ was cleaned up, whether we want to admit it or not. Tolerating those who show no respect doesn't lead to tolerance, it leads to greater disrespect.
The LES has always been very dangerous. Don’t be fooled by the changes. It’s always been a haven for drugs and prostitution. The city has returned to the 70s when it was at its lowest.
I completely avoid this block after I stopped by this Trader Joe’s a few years ago and had to wait in line outside near the peddlers market that is permanently there. I did not appreciate the angry panhandling and heckling from the characters gathered outside around their filthy mess while I stood in line minding my own business. The bottleneck on the sidewalk from their clutter really escalates conflict with passersby who are just trying to do their grocery shopping or get to and from the train. I haven’t shopped at this TJ or on this block since. I really hope the city can resolve this sidewalk mess/loitering before it drives out businesses on the block and vacant storefronts make it worse.
Drugs don’t cause violent behavior but withdrawal can and does. Especially when mixed with desperation / lack of money to fix it. These folks are not taking drugs in a laboratory setting and drug use becomes both a cause and effect of the pattern they are in.
I patronize Trader Joes frequently. This area is very concerning. WTF is happening to our hood and city?
Thoughts are with the injured. Condolences are with the family and friends of the person who died. I am in utter shock and don't have more words at this moment.
I regularly go to TJ's in that location. I walk quickly down the block making no eye contact. A few months ago I was assaulted at the bus stop at A & 14th.
That street is indeed a disaster. The 9th Precinct has done several "sweeps" in the past but "they" always reappear after a day or two.
Carlina is always available for a photo op but ignores issues like this. Luckily her term as a council member is ending. Harvey Epstein is running for her seat. For now, reach out to Debra Glick (I will). She has proven to be effective on various issues. For the future vote for Allie Ryan who is running for Carolina's seat. A fresh face not part of the political machine or a buddy of developers or the entertainment (aka noisy bars) lobby.
The Chinese grifter ladies are being called out because that's what they are and their ethnicity is as much a part of their description as is their height, clothing or hair length. It's PC run amok by some on the Looney Left to think otherwise. They, on the other hand, have no problem with the blanket terminology "white supremacy' or "white privilege."
The crazy thing is that 14St has been a problem for decades. It's a simple fix. It's not like it's a tent city of 10,000 people. Arrest the illegal vendors and take their stolen rancid shit and throw it out. I'd like to say put the mentally ill and dope fiends into a program but as we know that's not possible because billions of dollars are needed to provide for our newly arrived guests.
June 24, 2024 at 9:08 AM " The city has returned to the 70s when it was at its lowest."
LOL - do you go outside at all? Things are definitely grimier than pre-COVID but to link it to the 1970s is WILD.
I hope things go back to pre COVID but who knows
News outlets are almost uniformly reporting that his happened at Avenue A and East 14th Street, but I walked past East 13th Street and First Avenue yesterday less than two hours after the stabbings and the northeast corner of 14th and First was ribboned off with police and resisents congregating. It was gone this morning. Only amNew York and Times world have reported this crime scene, as far as I can tell -- where there multiple sites spanning two streets (13th and 14th Street) and two avenues (First and A)?:
https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/east-village-manhattan-mass-stabbingreports-article-111214154
https://www.amny.com/news/stabbed-east-village-drug-market-june-23-2024/
amNewYork has been sounding the alarm about this neighborhood, where my family and I live, for many years. No word on who the culprit and victims are yet?
XTC - spends a lot of time watching FOX News and Alex Jones.
You sound like an angsty edge-lord.
To 10:22 a.m.,
Read the post until the end, where there is a photo of a crime scene on 13th Street near 1st Avenue.
And the NYPD has not released any info on the suspect or the victims, aside from ages.
"The Chinese grifter ladies are being called out because that's what they are and their ethnicity is as much a part of their description as is their height, clothing or hair length."
Yeah, no, it's not, and note that no one has mentioned their height, clothing, or hair length (or the race of the nodded-out folks on the same block, either).
Christ, you're a rancid old racist. What are you even still doing down here? Trying to prove that old punks can be just as bad as the uptown folks?
I grew up on 13th Street and now live in Stuytown and know the block on 14th Street well. It has always been sketchy between 1st and A. Yet I will attest that it probably is worse now than I've ever known it. In the 80s and 90s the corner of 14th and 1st was a drug selling center due to the L stop (well, it was the "LL" way back then) which made it convenient for users. The really bad hombre Columbian sellers would be there on the weekends and "local" sellers during the week. The dealers made it a point to chase the drug users away after a sale to keep the police from cracking down (the users have a tendency to rob and steal from people). There is still a pretty active drug market on the block - check out the guys who park their car just past the McDonalds/bus stop and sell from it most days. The other issue was the weekend Churchyard sale which has been there virtually forever. There were always some "vendors" who would set up on the sidewalk outside the Church. They used to be fairly legitimate selling antique stuff. Over the past ten years (and well before Covid) the weekend sidewalk vendors began being replaced by street people with substance abuse issues who would set up to sell a few items they had collected (or sometimes stolen) mostly on weekends. They drove away the legit vendors. The street people fight over the spaces and I've spoken to store owners who told me that they can't tell them not to set up in front of the stores or they will break the store windows overnight. And yes, the Asian ladies get free food from the 10th Street Church food pantry on weekends and sell the stuff in front of Trader Joes (along with stuff boosted from the store). The block now attracts people who increasingly stay throughout the week and set up encampments nearby (one guy had a tent, bed and couch between the subway entrances on 1st Avenue for several months). The real difference from the past is that so many of these street people have substance abuse combined with mental illness. One can deal with a junkie nodding out and one can use "street smarts" to try to evade someone looking for a mark to rob - but one cannot deal with the irrational, haphazard encounters fueled by mental illness. These can turn ugly very fast. Frankly, the only way to change this problem is to reinstate the ability to have involuntary commitment of the mentally ill to treatment facilities (oh, right, we closed all of them out of "compassion").
Agreed with you Sarah, interesting how there are other people and behaviors that are mentioned and described in several complaints and yet somehow there is no ethnicity descriptor needed for them but it’s apparently crucial to mention these women are Chinese
"The city has returned to the 70s when it was at its lowest."
This statement is totally bogus and there are zero metrics to back this up. And the data shows that the early 90s was the peak of homicides in NYC. That being said, as a lifer here, there are serious assaults now being done by the mentally ill, Riker's is a corrupt CF and the shelter system is an overwhelmed, corrupt mess. The curve is trending upward and that is a cause for concern.
Reselling the canned goods isn't a grift any more than trash picking cans is a grift. Complaining about "white supremacy" is a tell. The vendors aren't the problem, the crackheads are.
That corner is a bad old days theme park. Anyone remember Union Square when it was out of control? The blocks of junkie flea market on 2nd Ave south of Gem Spa? For those crying "worst ever" imagine the whole neighborhood like that corner.
@anon 9:52 Well then, thank god I didn't mention that the drug dealers were black, I'd hate to receive a copy of your Rachel Maddow editorial guidelines in the mail.
It's all of them who contribute to this problem. The "vendors" who sell stolen food and items from stores, the drug dealers who now work of the smoke shop next to T-Mobile, the drug addicts begging for change, that tiny chick who moans and screams throughout the East Village, and our newest addition - an old lady in a wheelchair with one leg, who rolls up and down the block gyrating like an extra from the walking dead. All of this, all of them, come together to create this problem. For the few commenters that want to play woke politics, I hope you never have to work on this street or with the general public. I say this sincerely. I fear for my life every day.
@anon 10:38 Thank you!
It was like that way before COVID. I’ve lived in the area for over 20 years and it used to be mostly E14th and 1st with all the dopesick and spillover from homeless folks d/c’d from one of the 3 ER’s up the Avenue. Plus “out of towners” getting off at the 1st stop in Manhattan hoping the rumors of a prime major MTA intersection ripe for beggars were true and fight for the best corner there to use the “Annoy-them-to-death-until-they-give-you-a-buck-just- stop-talking” technique. Or they’d just move in between the crosswalk light and trash can and use the “guilt-you-to-death-because-you-have-shoes-and-they-don’t-until-you-pay-them-to-go-“buy-a-pair-of-shoes”-so-they’ll-shove-aside-just-so-you-don’t-have-to-trip-over-their-shoeless-feet-to-cross-the-street” strategy. But they’d always have some crap to sell strewn about for you to trip over anyway. And, of course, the ubiquitous presence of run-of-the-mill assorted humanoids crawling around in the trash and discarded church flea market items they’d try to “display” to sell on that corner - for decades. The spillover from the church is what creeped along the sidewalk Eastward, like a growing magnet. Pre COVID, the 24hr McD’s was a draw for the late night munchies crowd - a prime spot for a major dope drop hub - right at the bus stop. Which was invariably adorned with at least one nodder miraculously defying gravity and just, y’know, nodding. The 24 hr CVS pharmacy on 1st just stopped being 24 hrs 2 weeks ago for that very reason.) It’s this warm weather now, arguably the first COVID-free Summer - I dare say, that has the rest of these poor souls crawling out of the woodwork to Ave A, now another major MTA rider/potential “customers” traffic spot since the L opened there. Church “leadership” would be wise to step up as an integral player at those strategy meetings. It would be the humanitarian thing to do.
Round up the druggies, thieves, loiterers,and those who help them. Close the flea market permanently at Immaculate Conception. Close down illegal smoke shops. Enforce shoplifting laws, set up permanent, 24/7, 375 police presence on 14th Street, and Vote OUT any politician who opposes these measures. Also, there should be a more widespread circulation of Precinct Date Meetings and Beam Living should attend as well. Forget Task Forces. They are sure ways to ensure that nothing will get done.
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