Chinatown mourns murder victims
BY GABE HERMAN
They may have been without a
home, but the four victims of
Saturday’s murder spree in Chinatown
were mourned at a Monday
vigil as part of the community.
The Oct. 7 vigil and rally took place
at Chinatown’s Chatham Square, just
steps away from where four homeless
men were brutally bludgeoned to death
while sleeping on the streets early on
Oct. 5.
“I just want to address how horrifi c
and tragic this incident is,” said Assembly
Member Yuh-Line Niou, who
hosted the event.
Four homeless men were killed, and
another was seriously hurt in the attacks.
Police arrested another homeless
man, Randy Rodriguez Santos, 24, for
the alleged attacks with a metal pipe.
“These men were our neighbors, part
of our community,” Niou said.
After a moment of silence, Niou
spoke through tears about the city’s
housing crisis and escalating homeless
population. She stressed the need for
changes on the city and state level to
make housing more affordable for all,
and increase services for homeless residents.
“We need systemic change and we
need it now,” Niou said.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer said
funds for homeless services have been
cut in recent years.
“The mayor’s housing policy is fundamentally
wrong,” Stringer said, adding
that affordable housing is actually
unaffordable for people in communities.
“The words ‘low-income housing’
must be part of our policy.”
Other local offi cials at the vigil
A man placed a flower in a memorial in Chatham Square for the homeless
men who were killed near there on Oct. 5.
echoed calls for better housing policies
and more compassion from society,
including Representatives Nydia Velazquez
and Carolyn Maloney, and City
Council Member Helen Rosenthal.
Jason Walker of Vocal New York, a
social services organization, said there
needs to be more compassion for the
most vulnerable New Yorkers, and
more attention to mental health issues
that affect many people living on the
streets.
“We don’t have a homelessness crisis,
we have a housing crisis in this
city,” said Walker, who was formerly
homeless himself. “Governor Cuomo
and de Blasio failed people who rely on
them to protect their lives.”
Before the vigil began, Downtown
resident Vicky Cameron told this paper
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
at Chatham Square that there are inherent
problems in the political system
that punish poor people.
“We’re the richest country and we
can’t take care of our own,” said Cameron,
who is a member of Community
Board 1 in Lower Manhattan.
Cameron said things wouldn’t change
even after these attacks. “We come out,
we’re outraged,” she said. But similar
to gun violence in America, she said,
after people offer thoughts and prayers,
nothing really changes.
“When you’re mentally ill, you have
nowhere to go,” Cameron said. “I’m so
sad. This is such a travesty.”
Read more at thevillager.com
Tragedy spurs
mayor to act
for homeless
MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY
OFFICE
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Two days after four homeless
men were bludgeoned to
death as they slept on Chinatown
streets, Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced on Oct. 7 a series of
new homeless outreach initiatives
in the Manhattan neighborhood.
“What happened over the weekend
shakes the conscience of who
we are as New Yorkers,” said de
Blasio in a statement. “We are sending
experts to the neighborhood to
provide support during this diffi cult
time, and will continue to assess
how to prevent tragedies like this
from happening in the future.”
As part of the new initiative, the
city has dispatched mental health
outreach teams through the Department
of Health and Thrive. HOMESTAT
teams will engage with those
experiencing homelessness and offer
services and assistance.
The support teams in the area
are also meant to provide emotional
support for community members
and connect people to mental
health and others supportive social
services, according to the release.
The teams have access to licensed
clinicians, psychiatrists and
substance use resources such as
naloxone, detox centers and rehabilitation
centers.
According to a press release, the
mental health support teams will be
on-site at “community locations”
throughout the week. NYPD has
sent additional offi cers to patrol the
neighborhood as well.
“Saturday’s terrible act of senseless
violence has shocked Chinatown
and forced a moral reckoning
across our city,” said Council
Member Margaret S. Chin. “As we
mourn the loss of four members of
our community, we must embrace
the moral duty we have to our fellow
New Yorkers.”
Read more at thevillager.com
‘Killer’ had history of violence: cops
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
A 24-year-old homeless man
faces four counts of murder
for going on a cold-hearted
killing spree on the streets of Lower
Manhattan Saturday morning.
Police said that Randy Santos, 24,
allegedly bludgeoned four homeless
men to death with a metal object as
they slept along Bowery and East
Broadway in Chinatown. He’s also
accused of attacking a fi fth sleeping
man, who survived the assault and is
now listed in critical condition.
The New York Post reported that
Santos’ rap sheet includes a November
2018 arrest for biting a man’s
chest in Midtown and a March 2019
arrest in Queens for groping a woman.
Cops had picked him up in May
at a Brooklyn shelter, his last known
residence, for attacking a man with a
metal object, according to the Post.
In an interview with the suspect’s
mother, the New York Daily News reported
that she had thrown him out
of her home three years ago because
of a history of violent behavior.
Cops from the 5th Precinct found
one of the homeless victims unconscious
with severe head trauma on
Bowery near Doyers Street at 1:49 a.m.
on Oct. 5. He was pronounced dead.
The offi cers were approached at
the scene by a second man who also
suffered head trauma, Chief Stephen
Hughes reported.
EMS brought him to a local hospital
in critical condition.
“Two witnesses said that an unknown
male wearing a black jacket
and black pants had struck the victim
numerous times in the head with
metal object,” Hughes said. The
witnesses stated that they had seen
the perpetrator running westbound
along Doyers Street.
Police then dispatched the suspect’s
description and began a wider
search. Offi cers later located Ramos,
who fi t the description, in the vicinity
of Mulberry and Canal Streets.
According to Hughes, the individual
was seen carrying a metal
object believed to have been used
in the attacks. Police said the pipe
is currently being analyzed by
NYPD Crime Scene investigators.
But during the canvass,
Hughes noted, cops came across
three other bludgeoned homeless
men along East Broadway
between Chatham Square and
Catherine Street.
Each of the victims had severe
head trauma and were pronounced
dead, Hughes said.
14 October 10, 2019 Schneps Media
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