Day: September 5, 2024

A Crown Heights man was shot and killed in a Bed-Stuy subway station late on Wednesday night, according to police. 

Law enforcement sources said the victim — 47-year-old Freddie Weston of Sterling Place  — was killed next to a MetroCard vending machine at the Rockaway Avenue train station in Bedford-Stuyvesant at around 11:14 p.m. on Sept. 4.

Officers from the 73rd Precinct and NYPD Transit District 33 found Weston on the station’s mezzanine level, next to the vending machine, with a single gunshot wound to his head. 

Paramedics rushed Weston to Brookdale University Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Sources familiar with the case said that so far, detectives have not located any witnesses to the shooting, and that an MTA worker heard the shot before making the grim discovery and contacting police. One bullet casing was also found at the scene.

The Rockaway Avenue station was immediately shut down and police officials could be seen hurriedly rushing up and down the staircase leading to the C line into the early morning hours.

The NYPD did not immediately have a description of a perpetrator. Detectives are now canvassing security video taken in and around the station, hoping to find clues that lead them to Weston’s killer.

As of Thursday morning, no arrests had been in the ongoing investigation.

The killing was the fourth shooting death in New York City’s subways this year, according to Gothamist. Three of those killings, including Weston’s, occurred in Brooklyn — in January, 45-year-old Richard Henderson was shot and killed on board a train at the Franklin Avenue station in Crown Heights, and a 36-year-old man was shot in the head during a fight at Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station in March. 

Despite those shootings, transit crime is down across the city. Officials on Wednesday said 2024 has so far been the safest year for subway crime since 2010 — not counting the pandemic, when ridership was uncharacteristically low — and both homicides and shootings are also down citywide so far this year.

But the 73rd Precinct, where Wednesday’s shooting took place, is an outlier, per the latest NYPD statistics. In 2024, homicide in the precinct is up 116.7% compared to last year, and shootings are up 20%. Transit crime in the precinct has climbed, with 44 total incidents reported so far this year, up 41.9%.

Anyone with information regarding the incident or the perpetrator’s whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.

A version of this story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site amNewYork. 

— Additional reporting by Kirstyn Brendlen

New York City opened 24 new public schools on Thursday, the first day students returned to the classroom to start the next academic year.

The schools, which accommodate grades K through 12, are located in Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. The new buildings come outfitted with a variety of new learning spaces, including reading and speech resource rooms, art and music classrooms, science labs and prep rooms, special education classrooms, libraries, gyms, and auditoriums.

The buildings bring more than 11,000 new seats to the public school system, NYC Mayor Eric Adams said, adding that the buildings will have “state-of-the-art” technology.

“With modern and flexible spaces, state-of-the-art technology, science labs, music rooms, sensory gyms, and more, these new schools are going to be incredible spaces for students and staff alike, will play a crucial role in fostering a sense of well-being for our children, and will help us build a safer, more affordable, and more livable city,” the mayor said.

NYC School Construction Authority (SCA) president and CEO Nina Kubota said the agency’s mission is committed to “create and maintain safe, nurturing and inspiring” learning environments.

“These new schools are more than just buildings, they are vibrant, dynamic spaces where young minds can explore, create and grow,” Kubota said. “They also underscore the SCA’s dedication to providing equitable access to quality education for all New York City children, highlighting the importance of investing in educational infrastructure as a foundation for student success.”

Here’s where the new public schools in NYC are located

Manhattan

Oscar De La Renta Educational Campus

District 6

3761 10 Ave.

K to 8th Grade

Bronx

P.S. 195/196 Addition

District 12

1250 Ward Ave.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

P.S. 87 Addition

District 11

4200 Grace Ave.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

P.S. 108 Philp J. Abinanti Addition

District 11

1166 Neill Ave.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

P.S. 138 Samuel Randall Addition

District 8

2060 Lafayette Ave.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

The Aurelia Greene Educational Campus

District 9

1302 Edward L Grant Highway

Pre-K to 5th Grade

Academy for Personal Leadership and Excellence Elementary

District 10

2347 Morris Ave.

Pre-K to 8th Grade

Leaders of Excellence, Advocacy and Discovery

District 7

639 St. Ann’s Ave.

Pre-K to 8th Grade

P.S. 163 The Arthur A. Schomburg Educational Campus

District 9

2075 Webster Ave.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

Queens

P.S. 32 Addition

District 25

171-11 35 Ave.

Pre-K to Fifth Grade

P.S. 41 Addition

District 26

214-43 35 Ave.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

P.S. 96 Addition

District 27

130-01 Rockaway Blvd.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

The Paul Vallone Community Campus Addition

District 25

18-25 212 St.

K to 8th Grade

P.S. 174 Addition

District 28

65-30 Dieterle Crescent

Pre-K to 5th Grade

P.S. 85 Annex

District 30

23-35 29 St.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

Brooklyn

P.S. 413 Joanne Seminara School of Law and Medicine

District 20

280 Senator St.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

P.S. 253 Addition

District 21

601 Ocean View Ave.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

Middle School 407 School of Technology, Arts and Research

District 20

650 86 St.

Grades 6-8

P.S. 321 Annex

District 15

753 President St.

3-K to First Grade

P.S. 464

District 20/75

1514 72 St.

Pre-K to 5th Grade

Pacific Park Campus

District 13

491 Dean St.

Grades 6-8

P.S. 313 The Detective Wenjian Liu School of Civics and Entrepreneurship

District 20

6312 13 Ave.

K to 5th Grade

District 13 STEM Center (room conversion)

District 13

One Clinton St.

K to 12th Grade

Khalil Gibran International Academy High School

485 State St.

P.S. 373 Brooklyn Transition Center at H594K

District 13/75

561 Grand Ave.

Grades 9-12