NYPD busts 10 Bx. Trinatarios gang members
Mugshots of the alleged gang members. Photos courtesy of CrimeStoppers
CB10 meeting provides update on Pelham Bay Landfi ll site
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O BTR CTOBER 18-24, 2019 3
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The NYPD arrested ten Trinatarios
gang members, including two
that are connected to the murder of
15-year-old Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman
Feliz at ten separate locations
in the Bronx between Tuesday, October
8 and Wednesday, October 9.
The raids were a crackdown on the
gang’s general activity in the Bronx
and parts of Manhattan rather than
a continuation of Junior’s case.
Although the names of the arrested
have not been disclosed as of
press time, they did appear in Manhattan
court on Thursday, October
10.
The defendants are members of
the ‘Los Sures,’ a subset of the Trinitarios
gang that feuded with members
of the ‘F.E.B.,’ a rival subset of the
gang based in Washington Heights,
according to court documents, the
Manhattan District Attorney’s offi ce
and statements made on the record in
court.
The alleged ringleader, Diego Suero
Lorenzo, is being charged with
ordering other gang members to
carry out attacks on members of the
F.E.B., the District Attorney’s offi ce
confi rmed.
“They instilled fear in communities
across Upper Manhattan and the
Bronx, chasing their victims into bo-
degas and restaurants and brutally
attacking them with knives, batons,
and machetes,” said Manhattan DA
Cyrus Vance.
Those arrested are being rung up
on 11 counts of attempted murder,
gang assault, and conspiracy, according
to the Manhattan DA.
“They used WhatsApp to send encrypted
messages with instructions
to a group of more than 100 Los Sures
members, as well as to a smaller
group that was tasked with carrying
out their ‘missions.’ In one message,
an alleged gangmember, Ramirez
Perez, notes that they use WhatsApp
to evade law enforcement, writing
“Encryption is what maintains this
app that the government cannot see
anything…So we good for now,” the
DA’s offi ce disclosed.
One specifi c incident disclosed by
the DA’s offi ce was when a group of
approximately 20 men, including fi ve
of the defendants, gathered in Fort
Tryon Park before chasing the fi rst
victim into a bodega on the corner
of West 192nd Street and St. Nicholas
Avenue.
The defendants, holding a bat,
knives, and a machete, attempted to
attack the victim, who hid behind
the deli counter. They then chased
the victim outside and attempted to
strike him with the weapons, but he
managed to escape with only minor
injuries.
Soon after, a block away on Audubon
Avenue between West 192nd
and West 193rd Streets, the group
attacked a second man, repeatedly
stabbing him and striking him with
the bat and machete.
“We believe this is random acts of
violence,” said NYPD Chief Tim Mc-
Cormack on Wednesday, October 9;
mentioning it likely has to do with
the gang expanding and claiming
territory throughout the boroughs.
“(We are looking at) very vicious
acts of violence with knives and machetes,”
the chief said. “They’re random
acts that occurred against innocent
bystanders,” he continued
Police also arrested a person they
believe to be a high-ranking member
of the gang in the two-day raid, Mc-
Cormack announced, noting that fi ve
of the suspects had outstanding warrants..
Cops also recovered a shotgun
and handgun at one of the ten Bronx
locations.
The takedown was part of a larger,
ten-month long operation, the police
said.
BY STEVEN GOODSTEIN
‘Something’s rotten’ off Eastchester
Bay and on Thursday, October 10,
Community Board 10’s Parks and Recreation
Committee held a meeting at
their offi ce on 3165 E. Tremont Avenue
to receive an update on the decomposing
mountain of trash that constitutes
the Pelham Bay Landfi ll.
The meeting was attended by CB
10 board members, residents, Councilman
Mark Gjonaj and Pelham Bay
Park administrator Marianne Anderson,
who led a slideshow presentation
to provide an update on the status of
the site.
Anderson said there is a collaborative
effort underway by several
city agencies - the NYC Department
of Parks and Recreation, NYS Department
of Environmental Conservation
and the NYC Department of Environmental
Protection - that has resulted
in recent remedial improvements,
such as improved groundwater quality
and reduction in leachate quantity,
from 12,000 to 3,000 gallons per day.
These improvements have resulted
in less stringent mandatory reporting
and sampling frequency requirements
over the past few years.
However, the Parks and Recreation
is currently awaiting the EPA’s
approval of two city petition requests
- a work plan for decommissioning
and demolition of the majority of the
leachate management system, and direct
discharge of rain water into Eastchester
Bay.
Another concern for the site is the
condition of the seawall, which was
damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011
and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
As a result of these storms, sections
of the protective seawall eroded
and some of the fence footings have became
exposed, threatening the site’s
security and increasing the chance
of a fence collapse. An eight-foot tall,
4,000-foot long perimeter fence encircles
the former dump. The edge of the
landfi ll cap liner was also exposed by
the storms.
The design and construction of the
seawall repairs are to be managed by
a capital engineering contract. The reconstruction
of the seawall is expected
to begin in the summer of 2022, with
completion set for the end of summer
2024.
Anderson, who represented NYC
Parks at the meeting, said that she was
happy to be able to provide an update
on the landfi ll.
Under the authority of the NYC
Department of Sanitation, the site accepted
household waste from 1963 until
1978. In 1982 the state placed the
landfi ll on the list of Inactive Hazardous
Waste Sites. DOS transferred
jurisdiction of the site to the DEP in
1991.
DEP completed remediation activities
in 1998, which included the installation
of a plastic containment cap over
the entire site, as well as the installation
of landfi ll gas collection, fl are,
stormwater management and leachate
collection systems.
In 2010, the DEC re-classifi ed the
landfi ll to allow for limited access, before
DEP transferred jurisdiction of
the landfi ll to Parks and Recreation
in the summer of 2013. Parks intends
to convert the site to passive parkland
with public access eventually.
The 95-acre landfi ll site includes 81
acres that are covered with fi ll. The
peak’s elevation rises 130 feet above
sea level.
Councilman Gjonaj speaks at the Community Board 10 meeting.
Schneps Media / Steven Goodstein