Suffolk's Festering Anti-Latino Hate Crimes Problem

WNYC's Amy Eddings talks with Newsday's court reporter Eric German about the latest allegations that the gang that attacked and killed Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero last November, had been on a year-long rampage against Latinos.



Links:
Teenagers Charged In Hispanic Man’s Death Accused Of At Least Eight Other Attacks On Latinos - Feet in 2 Worlds
Alleged LI hate crime victim wonders what became of police probe - Newsday

Intel Finalists - Muy Brainy & Diverse

Once again, New York leads the country with 9 finalists in the prestigious Intel science competition -- that's 22% of the total. Seven of the brainy New Yorkers are from Long Island counties; 1 is from New York County (Manhattan); and 1 is from Westchester County.

New York also had the most semi-finalists with 114 (or 38% of the total 300 semi-finalists); California with 22 was a second.

LI region finalists:

Kings County
Adam Benjamin Sealfon (Stuyvesant High School)

Nassau County
Chelsea Lynn Jurman, Roslyn (Roslyn High School)

Queens County
Josepher Li, Flushing (Bronx High School of Science)
Anissa Yuenming Mak, Oakland Gardens (Stuyvesant High School)

Suffolk County
Preya Shah, Setauket (Ward Melville High School)
Christine Lee Shrock, Setauket (Ward Melville High School)
Patrick Jeffrey Abejar, Smithtown (Smithtown High School West)

Each finalist receives a $5,000 in scholarship, a new laptop computer and an expense-paid trip to the finals at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC this March. They'll also visit Congress. Previous finalists have met with the president or vice president and congressional leaders — including in a recent year when then-Sen. Barack Obama introduced himself.

The big prize: $100,000; with $75,000 for the runner-up and $50,000 for third place.

Photo by Tony Jerome: (L to R) Christine Lee Shrock, Preya Shah, Patrick Jeffrey Abejar, Chelsea Lynn Jurman

Link:
Intel Science Talent Search 2009 Finalists

Latinos in College - A New Guide to Success by Mariela Dabbah

Mariela Dabbah has a new book, Latinos in College, a guide to help Latino junior and senior high school students and college freshmen navigate the college system. The Argentina-born Mariela is a prolific author, speaker and consultant with a single purpose: to help Latinos Crack the American Code® so they can achieve great success.

Links: MarielaDabbah.com
Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny's Stony Brook University
Hispanic College Fund Call for Applicants
Dr. George Sanchez's Smart Moves for Briarcliffe College

Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny's Stony Brook University

Links:
Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny (official bio)
Stony Brook University president Shirley Strum Kenny to retire in 2009
A Response to Newsday Article: A Crisis at LI Campus

Inauguration is lesson plan at Obama Elementary

Inauguration is lesson plan at Obama Elementary
Emily Thomas, left, 9, Wendy Lopez, second from left, 10, Tiara Henry, second from right, 10. and Esta Thomas, 10, students at Barack Obama Elementary School, cheer as they watch television during the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 in Hempstead, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Related: Age of Obama - Inauguration
Harlem Village Academies 7th Graders Blog the Inauguration
Obama is an inspiration to a 14-year-old watching from Harlem
Hempstead's Barack Obama Elementary School

Amazing Video of the Ditching and Rescue of US Airways Flight 1549

The ditching of US Airways Flt 1549 and immediate response by passenger ferries is captured in this incredible 10 minute segment video from a security camera.

Here's what you'll see:

• The plane appears to hit water at 3:31:00pm and begins a fairly rapid drift down river.
• The camera zooms in at 3:32.39 to find passengers spilling out onto the wings.
• The camera pans right and records at 3:32:49 the first ferry steaming towards the plane. It makes contact at 3:35:08.
• A second ferry enters the frame from the Manhattan side on the left at 3:36:09, quickly followed by a 3rd ferry from the same direction at 3:36:49.
• By 3:38:00 the ferries surround the quickly drifting plane and began pulling people off the wings.
• The rescue happens while the plane, 3 large ferries and 150 passengers are pushed downstream by a strong current of the frigid Hudson.

Immigrant advocates hold candlelight vigil in Nanuet Saturday

The Rockland Immigration Coalition will on Saturday hold a candlelight vigil to protest hate crimes in the area and across the nation.

Organized by the Rockland Immigration Coalition, an immigrant advocacy organization, the vigil will give members of local faith, civil rights and human rights groups the opportunity to join together to commemorate the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and to call attention to the intolerance against immigrants that has been highlighted by the recent murder of two Hispanic men, one on Long Island and the other in Brooklyn.

Link: Immigrant advocates to hold candlelight vigil in Nanuet Saturday

Justice, FBI & U.S. Attorney Launch Probe Into Suffolk's Handling of Anti-Latino Hate Crimes

The U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District today announced the launching of a joint probe of Suffolk County's handling of hate crimes against Latinos.

The investigation is in response to this complaint filed by the Manhattan-based LatinoJustice in the wake of the hate murder of Marcelo Lucero documenting a climate of hate and neglect towards Latino victims promoted and/or tolerated by Suffolk County officials.

Link: Feds probe handling of hate crimes
Assaults on Latinos Spur Inquiry
Justice Department probes Long Island hate crimes

Latinos Recall Pattern of Attacks Before Long Island Killing

Reporter Anne Barnard (Latinos Recall Pattern of Attacks Before Long Island Killing, NYTimes, 1.8.09) does a terrific job detailing the pattern of attacks on Latino Immigrants in and around the Village of Patchogue (Suffolk County, New York) as well as the pattern of neglect by Suffolk County officials.

Suffolk officials dismissing the pleas of immigrant leaders allowed an escalation of attacks and the eventual hate murder of Marcelo Lucero in November.

Carlos Orellana, a construction worker from Ecuador, was walking home from work in this small Long Island town on July 14, he said, when about a dozen teenage boys on bicycles knocked him to the ground and kicked and beat him, shouting, “Go back to Mexico.”

-- snip --

Attacks like the one Mr. Orellana reported have drawn new attention since Marcelo Lucero, another Ecuadorean immigrant, was stabbed to death on Nov. 8 near Main Street. Prosecutors say seven 16- and 17-year-old boys, mostly from neighboring Medford, were attacking Mr. Lucero when one of them rushed at him with a knife. The attacks were such an established pastime that the youths, who have pleaded not guilty, had a casual and derogatory term for it, “beaner hopping.” One of the youths told the authorities, “I don’t go out doing this very often, maybe once a week.”

That was not news to Latinos in Patchogue, who say that regular harassment, muggings and assaults have had them living in fear — 11 men told The New York Times of 13 attacks, nine of them in the past two years.

But the Suffolk County police said it was news to them.

Reports of Attacks on Immigrants in Patchogue

Related: Reports of Attacks on Immigrants in Patchogue

Holiday Violence Against Mt. Kisco Latinos

The Journal News reports that four masked thugs assaulted two Latinos and attempted to rob a Latino business in Mt. Kisco over the Christmas holiday.

Mt. Kisco is an affluent town one hour north of mid-town Manhattan in upper Westchester County, New York. While an estimated 25% of the population is Latino, none of the town's elected or appointed officials is Latino.

While we don't yet have any information on the thugs, what we do know is that Mt. Kisco area Latinos are in the crosshairs of racists. Read some of the comments at the end of the article to glimpse what Latino immigrants in Lower Hudson area are up against.

Mt. Kisco police are 'investigating'. Of course, they have thus far failed to find any of the criminals responsible for the brutal slayings of 6 Latino immigrants over the past few years. Protecting immigrants and bringing anti-Latino criminals to justice just does not seem to be a priority for Mt. Kisco Police.

Photo: Fernando Mateo of Hispanics Across America and Westchester DA Janet DiFiore at a vigil for slain Latino immigrant Rene Perez.