Roosevelt Island Resident Says He Was Victim Of Hate Crime Assault,14 Year Old Male Arrested By NYPD Yesterday For Incident - RIOC Wants To Control The Communications Narrative And Refuses To Tell Community About The Incident

At the end of a very contentious May 2 Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department (PSD) Community Engagement meeting:

Sparks Fly At May 2 Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department Community Engagement Meeting - Residents Tell RIOC PSD And NYPD 114 Precinct About Assaults, School Bullying, Harassment & Fire Setting By A Group Of Teens

a resident told the assembled group, including Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Shelton Haynes, PSD Chief Kevin Brown and NYPD 114 Precinct Commander Kenneth Gorman that he was the victim of a hate crime assault last April. According to the resident, he was targeted and kicked in the head while sitting on the waterfront promenade with his girlfriend by a group of teenagers.

A few days later on May 8, the NYPD Crime Stoppers tweeted:

🚨WANTED-ASSAULT: 4/14/23, approx. 7PM, rear of 575 Main St @NYPD114PCT Queens. The suspects kicked a 35-yr-old male victim in the head & made anti-white remarks. Any info call us at 800-577-TIPS or anonymously post a tip to https://t.co/TRPPY5zHV2 Reward UP to $3,500 pic.twitter.com/AlEoaRSETM

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) May 9, 2023

In response to my inquiry, a NYPD Spokesperson added:

The NYPD is seeking the public's assistance in identifying the three individuals depicted in the attached media in connection with an assault that occurred within the confines of the 114 Precinct. The details are as follows:

It was reported to police that on Friday, April 14, 2023, at approximately 1900 hours, in the rear of 575 Main Street, a 35-year-old male victim was approached by three unknown individuals. One of the individuals kicked the victim in the head and two of the individuals made Anti-White remarks. The individuals fled towards the Roosevelt Avenue MTA 'F' train station. The victim sustained pain to the head but did not require being removed to the hospital.

This incident is under investigation by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force.

 I asked the NYPD for an update yesterday. According to a NYPD spokesperson:

A 14 –year-old male was arrested on May 16, 2023 and charged with Assault as a hate crime.

But RIOC has been silent on this matter, not saying a word about the incident to the Roosevelt Island community.

On May 9, I asked RIOC President Shelton Haynes and PSD Chief Kevin Brown:

The NYPD Tips is reporting a Hate Crime Assault on Roosevelt Island occurring on April 14.

Does RIOC have any comment on this matter?

Why is the Assault not listed in the RIOC Public Safety Incident Blotter for April 14 or any other day that I can find?

During a meeting last night with Congressman Jerry Nadler, several Roosevelt island residents claimed that RIOC is deliberately failing to publicly report crimes on Roosevelt Island in order to make Roosevelt Island appear safer than it is. As you are aware, a similar charge was made at the May 2 Public Safety Community Engagement meeting.

Does RIOC have any comment on that charge?

To date, there has been no comment from RIOC on the hate crime assault incident or their failure to disclose any information about it to the community.

As reported December 29, 2022:

... RIOC's relatively new Vice President of Communications, Akeem Jamal, has made it extremely difficult for the local Roosevelt Island media to obtain information about important issues of concern to the Roosevelt Island community. In response to a prior Public Safety incident last October, Mr Jamal replied to my inquiry: 

... In the event of community concern in the case of such an incident, RIOC would work to advise the public should there be a need. In the future, if you would like information regarding any incident or have other inquiries, please submit a FOIL request. 

This email serves as notice that RIOC will no longer respond to these incidents or other matters unless a FOIL request has been submitted.

I've asked Mr Jamal why he refuses to answer press inquiries on issues of concern to Roosevelt Island residents.

Mr Jamal's answer was:

RIOC wants to control the narrative....

During the April 4 RIOC PSD Public Safety Community Engagement Meeting I asked RIOC President Shelton Haynes and PSD Chief Kevin Brown why RIOC will not respond to press inquires about Roosevelt Island public safety incidents. Both deferred answering my question to Mr Jamal who said:

Communications on Roosevelt Island is a complex issue. During my 6 months here I've learned we are a very unique Island community but more importantly we have a communications structure that is fractured...

... to ensure that the communication and more importantly, transpire what happened in an instance is correctly reported and making sure that it's seen and heard and making sure that it's articulated in a way that is accurate, the  Roosevelt Island Corporation will be issuing Public Safety department alerts in the immediate future.

Here's the question and answer.

 

Mr Jamal is right to the extent that RIOC communications is fractured. 

But it has been fractured since Mr Haynes became RIOC President. 

It was not fractured under former RIOC Presidents Charlene Indelicato and Susan Rosenthal who understood the role of local media in providing accurate, timely and independent news to the Roosevelt Island community.