Photo (from July 12) by Stacie Joy
Reporting by Stacie Joy
Updated 7/27: Police reportedly arrested two men in connection with the shooting. We are verifying the information with the NYPD.
The NYPD provided an update on last Friday's fatal double shooting in Tompkins Square Park.
According to the police and media accounts, the victim, 74-year-old Fermin Frito, was selling drugs at the chess tables inside the 7th and A entrance when a suspect shot him and another man, 44-year-old Edwin Rivera, just before 10 a.m.
"This is a targeted attack against a perceived drug rival," an NYPD source told us. The source went on to say that this is what happens if you engage in drug activity ... if you are buying or dealing and emphasized that the rest of the Park is safe, including the playgrounds.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters that Rivera was allegedly a "steerer" who directed potential clients to Frito. Kenny also said that two crews are fighting over the drug trade in Tompkins, as the Daily News noted.
ABC 7 reported that Frito, who has 13 prior arrests, was stabbed in East Flatbush last month. Police are looking into any possible connection to the TSP shooting.
Our NYPD source said that the fact the police haven't released information about the alleged shooter means they have a pretty good idea who the suspect is and are trying to apprehend him without interference.
The chess tables will be closed behind barricades, as they've been after previous bouts of violence. Our source said this is a short-term solution, and between this and 14th Street, the NYPD will need other city agencies to assist.
35 comments:
The rest of the park is safe, unless you get hit by a stray bullet.
In this case and others, amazing that the perpetrators do in broad daylight
It's so crazy how that little corner with the chess tables attracts the drug trade. Back in the 90s, I had a neighbor who actually played chess there and would bring the dealers and users back to our building to get high and crash at his place. It was insanity. I would love for the neighborhood to be able to reclaim that section of the park so anyone can use it.
The LES was always dangerous and a haven for drugs. That’s why it was glorified as Alphabet City. V exciting
I wonder if Frito is the elderly Hispanic guy I've seen dealing in the park before (noticeable because, well, you don't see a ton of senior dealers).
Do the cops believe that bullets bounce off bystanders, so long as they haven't touched drugs recently?
Frito always had pretty decent product as far as P2P meth goes. His fentanyl game was pretty weak though.
Sad to see another EV institution brought down by greed.
R.I.P.
The dealers love that spot because it's on the corner, and if need be, they can flee further into the park, or exit the park right there on 7th Street. I like the idea of reclaiming the section of the park. If the rest of us are hanging out there, they won't be there. It would be great if one of the local small businesses was given permission to open a coffee stand right there. Or maybe people in the neighborhood have other ideas.
"This is a targeted attack against a perceived drug rival," an NYPD source told us. The source went on to say that this is what happens if you engage in drug activity ... if you are buying or dealing and emphasized that the rest of the Park is safe, including the playgrounds. ""
As noted, a pretty dumb NYPD source to say this.
Maybe NYPD should get of their cars in front of St. Brigid School, once in awhile and walk around the park.
@ 11:03 AM In the early 80's, the big lawn in the center of the park was used s the dog run. I was there with my beloved, devoted dog when I felt/heard a bullet whiz past my head. "whiz" is the most accurate word I know, since you do actually feel the air pressure.
Why would the police need additional agencies involved to break up the drug trade?
It’s not the chess tables. At Washington sq park most drug trade is in the north west corner which doesn’t have chess tables (they’re located at the southern west corner). Chess tables is just the most convenient corner (busy). If you shut it down for long enough they’d find something else in the same park.
Only solution is: increase police presence, identify and search all drug dealing suspects, arrest as soon as drugs are found and make sure the DA’s office is lined up to prosecute and ask for significant prison time. This will require rolling back couple misguided “social justice” laws that have made it harder to get actual justice until someone is shot / killed.
Where are all the chess players?
Maybe that NYPD source should bring their children to go play in Tompkins around that time and see how safe they feel. Yeesh. I understand the desire to try to assure people, but it's a very out of touch "Trust us" type argument.
Maybe someone who’s been arrested 12 times shouldn’t have been let go the last time, or the 10th time, or the eight time, or the…
And maybe you're a fascist but life goes on.
Turf wars are the cause of this? Or is it soft on crime policies which let people shoot up and sell in the park?
This article does not mention if the drug dealers typically served drug addicts or recreational users. (I sorta doubt recreational users with the plethora of illegal and legal smoke shops in the neighborhood.)
Maybe if elected officials stop treating Tompkins Square Park like an outdoor harm reduction center would deter drug addicts from buying and doing drugs in the park and reduce crime.
74 and still out clockin'. Only in NY.
I'm glad the cops think they have a good idea of who might have done it. Maybe they're just waiting for him to get bored and call them to get picked up, like the subway shooter in Brooklyn.
Clown show.
Can't be about soft on crime policies, nope! That's "fascism."
@2:03pm: They are not allowed to frisk/search and if they try to arrest anyone, the drug dealer will be out the next day and back at their post. So they need to call this a “social” or “homeless” or “public health” problem and assume some other agency will solve it (of course it won’t!). This is what happens when you get a law and order problem and you baptize it as something else for PC and PR reasons; problem doesn’t go away!
Is that a serious comment? So you’re implying that an individual who has committed 12 crimes should walk the streets freely?
What smoke shops have to do with recreational drug users?
Everyone here is an expert on police MOs. The fact is thar the vast majority of murderers are being caught nowadays, with cameras everywhere.
The rest of the park is safe…except that there is an ongoing drug turf war happening…in the park? This is absurd!
In fairness the guy is 74. He could have committed all his previous crimes before he was 60, served a significant sentence and just recently hit the streets again.
Seems a perfect assignment for these people...
https://www.instagram.com/nypdchess
@9:54- In fairness homeboy WAS 74. Probably mulling over some fancy ways to move his Bishop when he got popped.
They should put in ping pong tables. Worked wonders to clean up a corner of Seward Park. Now there's a line to play all day and night. Used to be a drinking/drug enclave (southwest corner just outside of park fences.) Whoever came up with this idea deserves a medal. Totally transformed that section of the park.
About 5% of Americans are reported to have abused painkillers in the recent past so there is a tremendous demand for drugs. It would be impractical and horrific to incarcerate them all. As long as there is demand, there will be supply. We need safer alternatives to these drugs. We need more addiction intervention programs with less stigma. And we need better work and educational opportunities etc for the people who otherwise find they can only stay on their feet by selling on the streets. This is a very difficult problem.
It's curious why the drug corners at TSP and WSP have been in operation for decades if it's the result of recent liberal reforms.
It is sad people can't enjoy the tables for what they are meant to be used for.
The majority of the park is pretty safe that corner is where all the drug activity happens. I don’t really see anyone playing chess ever ONLY JUNKIES….and just really need to patroll the park !!! have cops get off their fucking phone and out of cars …. and patrol the park it’s not that hard. We have 35,000 cops.
Even drug dealers don’t have enough money to retire in New York😂😂
Its interesting, in a grim way, as an urban design case study because the bunch of rigid tables define that as a separate space that one has to "enter" and that differentiated from the rest of the park. I'd bet if they ripped out the tables (which no one uses anyways), put in either more benches or planting or a little play area, the problem would at least disburse rather than concentrate there (as we've all seen for decades--its the one part of the park I would never go!).
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