GARCIA MAKES METS AS CLONES CLINCH BACK PAGE INSIDE BROOKLYN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER Including The Downtown News, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Paper and Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Paper Painters take on avant-garde Published weekly by Brooklyn Paper Publications at 26 Court St., Brooklyn, NY 11242 Phone 718-834-9350 © Brooklyn Paper Publications • 16 pages including GO BROOKLYN • Vol.26, No. 36 BWN • September 8, 2003 • FREE Cop saves woman from Slope rapist By Patrick Gallahue thug took off and Ward chased him and tack- instinct was to go over and chase the perp Bridge. A suspect was arrested in the incident. The Brooklyn Papers led him near Prospect Park West. down,” said Deputy Inspector Edward On July 10, a 45-year-old woman was at- The suspect, Bennie Hogan, 39, of Browns- Mullen, commanding officer of the 78th tacked at Lookout Hill, inside the park off A quick-thinking police officer chased ville, has been charged with attempted rape, as- Precinct. Prospect Park South and Terrace Place, at down a career criminal and convicted sex sault and resisting arrest. The scooter was purchased for the precinct around 10:45 am. offender on the Park Slope side of The beaten and bloodied victim was taken last Christmas by Park Slope Councilman Bill The assailant was scared off by another Prospect Park on Tuesday after the sus- to Kings County Medical Center where she DeBlasio using discretionary funds allocated jogger as the victim tried to fight off her at- pect allegedly attempted to rape a 33-year- was treated for severe cuts and bruises. to his office by the city budget. tacker. old woman. According to the city Department of Cor- DeBlasio has been among those to voice “It’s the fact that the attack, and the couple Callan / Tom Police officer Anthony Ward, 30, of the rection, Hogan has 18 prior arrests dating concerns about crime in the park and has of similar incidents over the last year, have 78th Precinct’s Prospect Park detail, was pa- back to 1987 — ranging from robbery to as- urged the city to look at ways to beef up park occurred in a place that most people regard as trolling the park in his three-wheel motorized sault — and was last released from custody security. a safe, urban oasis that is so disturbing,” De- scooter when he passed an abandoned bicycle on May 30, after serving six months in Rikers “I am meeting with the 78th Precinct next Blasio said, adding that overall he believes around noon on Sept. 2. Upon investigation, Island for sexual abuse. In the 1990s, Hogan week to discuss this and other recent inci- the park is safe. Papers The Brooklyn he saw a man pummeling a woman in the served time in state prison for second-degree dents in Park Slope that have caused some Tupper Thomas, the Prospect Park Admin- A reveler dressed in full regalia marches down Eastern Parkway woods near the Third Street entrance at robbery and was released in 1999 from Og- concern for neighborhood residents,” DeBla- istrator, said that the despite the incidents the during Monday’s West Indian American Day Carnival Parade. Prospect Park West. densburg Correctional Facility, a medium-se- sio said on Wednesday. “Needless to say, the police response shows the vigilance with “The left hand was on her neck choking curity prison in upstate New York. 78th deserves a lot of credit and gratitude for which the park is patrolled. her, pushing her on the ground,” said Ward. “[Ward] frequents the areas off the beaten their effort in Tuesday’s incident.” “It is basically a safe place to be,” she said. “His right hand was in a closed fist punching path and inaccessible to regular motorized ve- One evening last January, a woman report- “That was a tragedy, but luckily the police away at her face.” hicles, so he uses his three-wheel scooter, and ed to police that she was raped in Prospect were there and they caught this guy immedi- When the cop called out to the suspect, the he came upon the incident and, of course, his Park near to what is known as the Three Arch ately.” Murder New system compounds stains start of latest school year By Deborah Kolben parade The Brooklyn Papers As more than a million New York City children prepare to return to public school Monday, there is bound to be some confusion. West Indian festival was In addition to the ordinary hustle and bustle of back-to-school shopping, families now have a dizzying array of changes with which to contend. Gone are the local in honor of James Davis school district offices. Associated Press with The Brooklyn Papers Community school boards? A thing of the More on Back Violence marred the festive atmosphere of the West Indian past. American Day Carnival Parade on Monday, which organizers The former Board of to School: p4 had dedicated to the memory of Fort Greene Councilman Education headquarters James Davis, who had himself been fatally shot. at 110 Livingston Street? Slated for condo development. Toward the end of the festivities, a man wearing a mask and stand- All of these changes, in addition to a new uniform reading and math cur- ing on a parade float shot another man in the head as he tried to get on riculum, come under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s new greatly expanded the float, said Det. Kevin Czartoryski, a police spokesman. The victim, control of the public school system. Anthony Bartholomew, a Brooklyn College student, was taken to Kings So what does all this mean for parents? County Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were A lot of confusion, according to Clara Hemphill, author of the school- searching for the shooter. rating guidebooks “New York City’s Best Public High Schools,” “New On Wednesday, the Daily News and New York Post had somewhat York City’s Best Public Elementary Schools” and “New York City’s Best conflicting reports of what transpired. The News reported that Public Middle Schools.” Bartholomew was shot for bumping into the shooter, who had been “There’s enormous confusion over applying to gifted programs. You dancing and flailing his arms. It quoted a “high-ranking police source,” used to go to district offices, where do you go now?” she asked. as saying, “This guy is a good kid. It’s over nonsense. He bumped into Gifted programs aren’t the only things that may throw parents for a loop. someone, and he gets shot, and the killer managed to blend into the Instead of seeking variances, voicing concerns and filing complaints crowd.” with the district offices, parents must now head to one of the 10 learning The Post, however, cited a confidential eyewitness to the cold-blood- support centers. ed murder as saying Bartholomew was killed because he laughed at a Under the mayor’s new system, the 32 former school districts have Bloods gang member who was making gang hand signs. been consolidated into 10 regional divisions guided by one of the 10 re- The witness told the Post that after Bartholomew laughed at the gang gional superintendents. Those regional superintendents will oversee a member, he and two other gang members stared at Bartholomew from near group of local instructional supervisors, who oversee no more than a a tree. When Bartholomew and a friend saw a float they like and jumped a dozen schools. police barrier, the three gang members following them, the source told the Those superintendents will be housed at the 10 new learning support Post. / Tom Callan / Tom centers located throughout the city. Parents are able to visit any of the cen- The witness said the man Bartholomew laughed at, who was wear- ters, not just the one in their area. ing a red bandana, purposely bumped into Bartholomew and when the “The good news is that learning support centers are polite and pleasant, victim turned around he pulled out a gun, firing two shots, one of which which is a step in the right direction, said Hemphil. “But a lot of them don’t struck Bartholomew in the head. know a lot.” Police could not verify that account. As of this school year, districts 13, 14, 15 and 16, including Brooklyn Later, across the street from the shooting, another man was stabbed The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Sunset Park, Red Hook, in the neck. The victim, Jean Thomas, 29, of Montclair, N.J., was taken First-grader Catalina Gaya, 5, with her older sister, sixth-grader Tricia, 11, are all smiles Wednesday Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Boerum Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, Fort to Kings County Hospital in “extremely critical” condition. He is ex- before heading into first day of classes at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic school in Brooklyn Heights. See CONFUSION on page 4 See MURDER on page 3 Hillary: B’klyn air needs testing Profs picket By Deborah Kolben “[Former EPAAdministrator] own health and well being. She is any remaining contamination. The Brooklyn Papers Christine Todd Whitman went changed it to put in very reassur- Clinton called on the federal along with the White House ing happy talk and justified that government to foot the bill for Strike LIU over wages, benefits The plume of smoke that changing some of the cautionary by saying that it was needed for any required cleanup. streaked across Brooklyn language of the experts in EPA national security grounds, which “Brooklyn has to be involved By Patrick Gallahue no payment from the university.” following the attacks on — the people who actually makes no sense to me.” because of the obvious proxim- the World Trade Center The Brooklyn Papers The union unsuccessfully asked the know about air quality — who The first-term senator also ity to what happened,” she said.