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April 15, 2022 • Schneps Media
LOCAL NEWS
His next stop: jail
Bk. subway shooting suspect nabbed in Village
Feeling fenced in: Chinatown residents blast jail plan again
Straphang- Frank R. James smirks as he’s
loaded into a police vehicle at
the 9th Precinct in the East Vil-
BY KEVIN DUGGAN AND
DEAN MOSES
Officers from the 9th
Precinct cuffed the alleged
Brooklyn subway
shooter in the East Village on
Wednesday following a 30-hour
citywide manhunt.
Cops nabbed Frank Robert
James, 62, near the corner of 1st
Avenue and St. Mark’s Place just
before 2 p.m. on April 13 for the attack
on a Manhattan-bound N train
at 36th Street station in Sunset Park
on the morning of April 12 that injured
23, including 10 who suffered
gunshot wounds.
He was due to appear in Brooklyn
federal court on April 14
for arraignment on terrorism
charges, which carry a maximum
sentence of life behind bars,
according to prosecutors.
Police got a tip from bystanders
that James was at a McDonald’s
on 1st Avenue and E. 6th Street on
April 13, but when the Boys in Blue
arrived he was already gone, so they
circled the area until they picked him
up off the street near 1st Avenue and
St. Marks Place, law enforcement
officials said.
Two cousins in the East Village
happened to be in the right place
at the right time, and helped the
NYPD collar the alleged Brooklyn
subway shooter.
Zack Tahaan and his cousin
spotted the suspect at the
McDonald’s restaurant and
called for help.
The cousins recounted the
scene later on Wednesday afternoon
to members of the press
stationed outside the 9th Precinct,
where James was brought
following his arrest.
“When the Police Department is
pulling up on the street, we go to
them and stop them. We say, ‘He’s
like, one block away. He’s over there
wearing a cap, carrying his bag,’”
Tahaan said. “And those officers
went to him and they caught him
right away.”
The news about the shooting
on April 12 in Sunset Park,
Brooklyn — in which James allegedly
shot 10 people riding a
Manhattan-bound N train at the
36th Street station — shook the
cousins. They said they had seen
the images of James circulated in
the media and had recognized the
suspect on sight.
Tahaan said James was arrested
without further incident, and didn’t
appear to resist the officers at all.
“They directly recognized him,
they directly approached him and
put the handcuffs on his back,”
Tahaan said. “He didn’t fight, he
didn’t do anything. He totally surrendered
and went with them.”
James allegedly got on the Manhattan
bound N train at Kings
Highway early Tuesday morning
and when the train pulled into
36th Street station just before
8:30 a.m., on April 12 he put on
a gas mask, pulled canisters out
of his bag that filled the subway
car with smoke, and fired 33 shots
at straphangers.
Dramatic footage from the scene
shows smoke billowing out of the
train car as coughing riders run out
and wounded commuters hobble
onto the platform, with blood stains
covering the ground.
James apparently got off the train
with his victims and boarded an
R train on the opposite side of the
platform alongside them, riding it
one stop north to 25th Street station
where he slipped away and out
of the underground transit system,
according to NYPD Chief of Detectives
James Essig.
BY DEAN MOSES
Shortly after sunrise on April
11 protesters rallied against
the erection of construction
fences around a portion of the
Manhattan Detention Complex,
also known as Tombs, along the
intersection of Centre and White
Streets in preparation for a new,
larger jail in Chinatown.
Neighbors United Below Canal
(NUBC) and its co-founder
Council Member Christopher
Marte, along with fellow advocates,
continued their ongoing
battle against the boroughbased
jail plan. While Marte
and others in attendance are
in support of closing Rikers
Island, they have decried the
creation of a “mega jail” in a
community they say continues
to suffer from the negative social
and economic impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Design
and Construction (DDC) was
set to prepare for the destruction
of the Tombs in order to
create a bigger, new jail site
starting with fencing that was
set to be placed around a portion
of the facility much to the
ire of locals, business owners,
and elected officials.
“The Community has organized,
testified, rallied, and
marched. Together with experts
in the field, we have presented
alternative proposals. But on
Monday, per City Hall, construction
fences will go up anyway,
around the Chinatown jail to
prepare the site for demolition,”
Marte said.
In 2017, former Mayor Bill
De Blasio unveiled his “Roadmap
to Closing Rikers Island,”
by creating four borough-based
jails in Manhattan, Brooklyn,
Bronx, and Queens. Supporters
for this plan believe that these
new jails would make it easier for
families to visit their loved ones
who are incarcerated while also
providing a safer space.
In response to Monday’s rally,
the mayor’s office is still working
full steam ahead in ensuring
that Rikers Island closes by 2027
as required by laws passed by
the City Council.
“This administration will always
follow the law, and the law
says the jails on Rikers Island
must close on time. To follow
the law and protect the safety
of the community and all involved
in this project, this work
is proceeding. We have engaged
deeply with the community every
step of the way, and we are
committed to continuing to
work with them to limit the disruption
of this project,” a mayor’s
office spokesperson said in
a statement.
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
Frank R. James smirks as he’s loaded into a police vehicle at the
9th Precinct in the East Village on April 13, 2022.
PHOTO BY ADRIAN CHILDRESS
Protesters held a rally to halt the creation of a new jail in
Chinatown on April 11.