UPDATE: Yonkers police department posted on Facebook that after searching a man on Ravine Avenue a loaded, defaced illegal handgun was allegedly recovered. for some reason the department broke with their routine of issuing press releases to the media. A source in the original story indicated that no gun or drugs were recovered. However the police department is test the suspects clothes for the possibility of drug residue. The Original story follows below….

YONKERS: Police Department Commissioner John Mueller claims a man allegedly threatened to shoot people on Ravine Avenue and his officers became intoxicated while searching him

Commissioner Mueller says one of his officers, became semi-consciousness and fell striking his head on the pavement.

The Empress Ambulance call initially came in a possible seizure.

A police source says the YPD recovered no drugs or a weapon in the search.

A Yonkers Police source also says the suspect was hospitalized for a mental evaluation

Other police officers were taken to the hospital to be evaluated and released.

YONKERS: Vivian Bates-Jones’ missing teenage daughter, Stevie Bates, disappeared in April of 2012

Back then, Surveillance video from inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal showed the 19-year-old arriving home in New York after a cross-country trip

She had reportedly told her mom that she was going to meet her boyfriend at the property he’d been squatting at.

Now nine years later, the NYPD was investigating the discovery of human remains at a construction site on Cypress Avenue in Queens.

DNA confirmed the bones, belonged to the missing teenage girl, Stevie Bate

A funeral was recently held to give the remains a proper burial.

Stevie Bate’s mom is desperate to solve this case. If you have any information, please call the police.

Meanwhile, an online fundraiser to help find Stevie has raised more than $27,000.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-stevie-bates-devastating-update

BONKERS: Voiceover Actress Bev Standing’s attorney Robert J. Sciglimpaglia Jr. of Norwalk says in court papers that the La Piñata Bakery storefront in a parking garage at 118 Main Street is the address for Xianxi Liu, the registered agent for Bytedance E-Commerce Inc., doing business as TikTok in New York State.

YONKERS: The owner of the La Piñata Mexican bakery Is Roberto Espiritu, who is also a board member of the Yonkers IDA – where the federal lawsuit and subpoena been served – as well as other TikTok in New York State corporate documents have been mailed.

Bev Standing of Welland, Ontario says she is a voiceover actress, in a complaint filed May 6 in U.S. District Court, White Plains is demanding up to $150,000 in damages for every copyright infringement

It is unclear if La Piñata owner Roberto Espiritu could be held responsible or how he is involved with “Bytedance E-Commerce Inc., doing business as TikTok in New York State”.

Her clients include Kraft Foods, makers of iPad apps and Revlon as well as, automotive makers for TV and radio commercials.

She is also heard of several smartphone prompts and and on hold messaging platforms.

But Bev Standing says she has never authorized TikTok, the social media platform and their users can add her computer-generated voice to their videos without her permission.

She claims that TikTok was also using her voice files for its computer-generated female voice.

She charges TikTok of New York at the La Piñata address with copyright infringement, unfair competition, false endorsement, and deceptive business practices.

BRONX: The Fordham School of Professional and Continuing Students (PCS) announced the launch of its Good Neighbor Initiative for the Fall 2021 term on Thursday, May 6.

According to the university, this unique program, Good Neighbor Initiative, for adult learners provides an automatic 30 percent discount on tuition fees for undergraduate-seeking PCS students at the Bronx campus who live within certain neighboring zip codes.

The selected zip codes cover neighborhoods in the Bronx, lower Westchester County (Mount Vernon, Yonkers) and the very northern part of Manhattan.

Students who participate in the Good Neighbor Initiative may also qualify for additional financial aid, such as merit aid, Pell grants, support from the New York State Tuition Assistance Program, and institutional aid.

Fordham PCS will host a virtual information session about the initiative on June 2 at 6:30 p.m. where they will explain the Good Neighbor Initiative and Fordham’s undergraduate degree programs for adult learners.

Those who attend will have their application fees waived.

For more information, visit https://www.fordham.edu/goodneighbor.

YONKERS: A reward of no more than $500 per conviction will be awarded to any person providing information leading to the detection, arrest, and conviction of the person guilty of defacing buildings or structures, whether privately or publicly owned.

“Yonkers is a booming City on the rise, and we want to protect its beauty for all its glory, beginning with putting a stop to what reflects poorly on our City — graffiti,” said Mayor Spano. “We will not tolerate it and will make sure those found violating the law are prosecuted to the fullest extent.”

Once the act of vandalism has been reported, the owner or agent of a building or structure which has been defaced by writing, painting, drawing, marking, engraving or other forms of graffiti must restore the building or structure to a graffiti-free condition after receipt of a graffiti condition notice from the Department of Housing and Buildings and the Police Department. The owner or agent will then be required to correct the condition within 48 hours. The failure of an owner to comply may subject the owner to a fine of no more than $250 for each offense.

Those individuals found guilty of graffiti will be charged with a Class II offense. Graffiti violations are classified as either criminal or civil penalties, resulting in fines up to $5000 and even imprisonment for up to 15 days. The graffiti stipulations are part of Section 72 of the Yonkers City Code.

YONKERS: To this day many theories claim the “Son Of Sam”‘ killer didn’t act alone

In 1996 Yonkers Police Department reopened David Berkowitz’s case to investigate some of these claims.

There were a lot of reasons why the “Son of Sam”’ case was reopened. Numerous confessions made by David Berkowitz during the trials made everyone believe that he might have had help from others to commit those heinous crimes.

He also made statements that he had been part of a violent Yonkers cult that helped him carry out the murders and that fellow members John and Michael Carr assisted him.

After being sentenced, David Berkowitz claimed that he joined a “satanic cult” in 1975.

Reports claim that he left a note near the bodies of Alexander Esau and Valentina Suriani, which was addressed to Joseph Borrelli, Captain of the New York Police Department.

In the note, David Berkowitz called himself “Son of Sam” for the first time.

At first, Berkowitz said that he was a part of all the killings.

However, he retracted his initial statement and said that he did not pull the trigger in the shooting of Stacey Moscowitz and Robert Violante.

Herald Statesman Journalist Maury Terry, who covered the “Son of Sam” murder case for more than 25 years, is one of the prominent names who believe that David Berkowitz was not alone.

Statement from some of the witnesses did not indicate a dark curly-hair style that David Berkowitz had.

Witnesses also described different automobiles at the scene, including a description of a getaway driver in a yellow Volkswagen.

In an interview with reporter Maury Terry, a claim was made by David Berkowitz saying he was the gunman at only two of the eight shootings attributed to the Son of Sam and that he killed three of the six victims.

His claims were reportedly deemed true by Maury Terry. because of various NYPD sketches that were made after the descriptions provided by the witnesses.

The witness sketch from the first shooting in the Bronx had a clear resemblance to David Berkowitz, but the sketches from other shootings apparently looked like someone else pulled the trigger.

The confusion regarding the case still haunts a lot of people, but as of now, the case is closed.

THIS WEDNESDAY: Netflix premieres “The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness,” a four-part documentary that looks back on one of the most notorious cases in New York City crime History

YONKERS: CONTROVERSY: Director Joshua Zeman, 48, picks up the argument that David Berkowitz, aka the Son of Sam, did not act alone during a one-year spree that climaxed in August 1977 with his arrest in the city of hills and later his full confessions for over a dozen dead and wounded.

Defunct Hearld Statesman journalist Maury Terry uncovered a David Berkowitz neighbor in Yonkers, named Sam Carr – who had sons.

Gannet reporter Maury Terry supposedly uncovered Satanic cults and claims that they sacrificed German shepherd dogs in the Untermyer Gardens on North Broadway – and they saw an unusually high death rate among his suspects.

Maury Terry, who died in 2015, became obsessed with the case and sometimes blogged about it.

The documentary is broken into two different parts. The first is the Son of Sam investigation and whether Berkowitz acted alone.

The second part is about what happens when the police call Maury Terry a crackpot, who gets invested in truth they fall down a rabbit hole and can’t find their way out?

It’s a cautionary tale about the tragedy of Westchester County reporter Maury Terry.

FREE AGENT: Former Syracuse University safety Trill Williams, he versatile 6-foot and 208-pound safety from Yonkers went undrafted and was the highest-rated safety and No. 8 overall player on ESPN’s best available list as the seventh and final round wrapped up.

Trill Williams signed with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent on Saturday night moments after the NFL Draft ended.

Syracuse punter Nolan Cooney also signed a free agent contract with the Saints soon after the draft concluded.

Trill Williams finished his SU career with four interceptions and three forced fumbles in 28 games.

He opted out midway through his junior season this past fall to undergo ankle surgery after attempting to play through a torn ligament.

He scored touchdowns on a punt return, interception, and fumble recovery during his three SU seasons.

Trill Williams could eventually contribute as a safety or cornerback and would likely begin on special teams for the Saints if he can secure a regular-season roster spot during summer training camp.

State Sen. Shelley Mayer commented: “I’m proud to endorse Jose Alvarado for re-election as County Legislator. As the first Hispanic Member of the Board of Legislators, Jose knows how to represent all the people of Southwest Yonkers. He has been a tireless worker at the Board and in the community. Because of his efforts, the County will build a new waterfront park in the district. During the pandemic, he has been active serving food and providing masks to the community and helped establish the vaccination site conveniently located at the Yonkers Armory.”

Shelley Mayer continued: “Jose Alvarado has been a tireless worker for all the neighborhoods in his district. I look forward to our continuing to work together to improve the quality of life for all the people of Yonkers.”

A #Yonkers man was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for burglarizing homes around Westchester County in late 2019 and early 2020.

During the holiday crime spree that winter, #GermanMartinez had been accused of swiping cash, jewelry, laptops and other items from several homes after using unwitting cab drivers to take him there.

Martinez had been accused of forcing his way in to some of those homes using a crowbar or breaking a window, as well as threatening one victim with a knife and injuring another victim….

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/yonkers-man-sentenced-for-burglarizing-westchester-homes-during-holiday-crime-spree/ar-BB1gbSNN

YONKERS: Legislator Jose Alvarado has picked up two big endorsements in the race, from Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano and from County Executive George Latimer.

QUOTE: Mayor Mike Spano says, “Jose is an important partner for me as we expand Yonkers renaissance. Jose and I created the Yonkers Youth Bureau and will always work together for a better Yonkers. Jose Alvarado has kept his promises, now its time to support him with our votes in the upcoming primary.”

The Yonkers Democratic Party is supporting Alvarado for re-election.

But, But, But…. Virginia Perez is a very strong door to door campaigner that likes to focus on seniors that vote.

YONKERS: A disputed JFK Marina parking lot conversion has given Groundwork Hudson Valley a black eye after they partnered with a developer of the Glenwood Power Plant.

Now after a community uproar developer Lela Goren and Groundwork Hudson Valley have withdrawn the proposal to build a parking garage in the JFK Marina with rooftop recreation and green space.

Groundwork Hudson Valley said they would build green houses and give produce to the community, much like they do on the science barge docked by the Yonkers pier.

Two other big supporters for the parking garage was Yonkers Arts Ray Wilcox and Nepperhan Community Center Director Jim Bostic, but both became less involved and vocal as the The Hudson River Community Association (HRCA),the River Communities Coalition of Yonkers (RCCY), The Friends of Trevor Park (FoTP), and Yonkers Committee for Smart Development (YCSD) have joined together and came out in full force.

But protesting groups were having none of it and complained strongly to Mayor Mike Spano, Yonkers City Council President Mike Khader And Council Woman Shanae Williams that the 1,100 foot expanse is the sole remaining area of open public parkland along the Hudson River waterfront in Yonkers.

The developer of the Glenwood Power Plant, Lela Goren, is now trying to figure out where to build a parking lot for the massive project.

But for now, the real Yonkers community activists have made sure that residents this summer season will still have picnic facilities, sports, fishing and boating at the JFK marina.

It feels good when the little people win one, every now and again.

WEBEX EVENT: Tuesday, April 27^th at 4:00p.m.

Meeting number (access code): 185 773 9333

Meeting password: 7f36T54mVi3 

Join by phone: 1-844-621-3956,,1857739333## United States Toll Free 

ALBANY – State Republican Chairman Nick Longworthy has emailed GOP members around the state asking them to select the candidate they support to run against Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo next year.

The 10-person field in Langworthy’s “official poll” includes a handful of Hudson Valley candidates including Yonkers attorney and businessman Joe Holland.

Also included on the list from the Hudson Valley Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro, who lost to Cuomo in the last gubernatorial election; former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino; Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, who is unopposed in his re-election bid this fall; and Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

Rounding out the field in the GOP chairman’s poll are Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of Schuylerville; Congressman Lee Zeldin of Patchogue; Rensselaer County executive Steve McLaughlin; and Lewis County Sheriff Mike Carpinelli.

Previously, Mr. Holland ran for Attorney General of New York in 1994 and 2018 and ran for Governor of New York in 2018; he has also run for New York State Senate.

One of ten children, Holland is the son of Laura Mitchell Holland and Jerome H. Holland, who served as the United States Ambassador to Sweden under President Richard Nixon.

He received a B.A. and an M.A. from Cornell University.

Mr. Holland opened a law office, and also started and ran a 15-bed homeless shelter in a church basement, founded a drug rehabilitation program and acquired a travel agency.

He also opened the first Ben & Jerry’s store in Harlem and a soul food restaurant, staffing both with homeless-shelter residents.

Mr. Holland served as co-chair of George Pataki’s successful 1994 gubernatorial campaign and was appointed Commissioner of the New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal.

He held this position from 1995 until October 1996, when he resigned to “‘focus on resolving outstanding personal business matters'” following “threats by creditors to garnish his state salary in a bid to enforce court judgments.” .

An author, Mr. Holland has published a spiritual memoir entitled  “From Harlem With Love: An Ivy Leaguer’s Inner-City Odyssey“

Mr. Holland is an ordained minister and is married Alisa White in 1995

The couple has three children and the family resides in Yonkers.

QUOTE: Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said, “I am proud to endorse José Alvarado as your County Legislator. No one works harder in the community and at the Legislature. He is an important partner for me too as we expand our Yonkers renaissance. Working together we are transforming parts of our waterfront into park space while also extending the river walk. José and I created the Yonkers Youth Bureau and will always work together for a better Yonkers.”

“José Alvarado has kept his promises to us. Now it’s time to support him with our votes in the upcoming Primary,” concluded Mayor Mike Spano.

Any New York resident aged 60 and up can now be vaccinated without an appointment at any of the state’s mass vaccination sites, beginning on Friday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement from the state’s mass vaccination site in Yonkers, which was set to administer its 50,000th vaccination Wednesday.

Opening up vaccinations without appointments to residents over 60 will help older individuals who are not “internet facile,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

“You don’t have to go on the internet, you don’t have to make a phone call. Just show up at a mass vaccination site and they will give you a vaccine. There are really no excuses.”

Westchester County Executive George Latimer agreed saying the expansion will help older people, especially those who aren’t expert with computers and the internet.