First of all- we can't fault the gang members- They are immigrants or perhaps their parents are immigrants- so we must treat them nicely with dignity and respect.
36
@Aaron for the humor impaired, this is ironic sarcasm.
6
Most of the new recruits are teens, living at home. Go after the parents, who may not have any control over these criminals, but then they must cooperate with police, or the National Guard. Neighborhoods will never be safe without ridding the cities of this scourge. As to the adults, with whom do they live? Are they on benefits, or living with a girlfriend who is? Lots of avenues to examine. Confiscate their cars, for starters.
31
@Rosalie Lieberman There are no "parents" just a young, single mom living in poverty usually on benefits. Its been a growing problem in nyc for decades as documented 20 years ago in nyt. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/16/nyregion/dominicans-scrabbling-for-ho...
30
As someone who lived for ten years on 182nd street, a few blocks away from the scene of this tragic murder, perhaps you would be interested in the view of the neighborhood people, rather just the New York police or your affluent readers, many of whom seem to enjoy holding immigrants or Dominicans or their children, in other words, the victims to blame for this terrible crime.
The truth is, there is no other economic activity in neighborhoods like East Tremont but drug dealing. That is why even good kids like Lesandro wind up as targets. It is possible to violate some dealer's territory just grocery shopping.
Whose fault is that? The poor people who live there? What happened to the good Union manufacturing jobs New York workers once had available?
In the view of people in minority neighborhoods, the police and the drug dealers, above the street level, are not adversaries but partners. When they see these criminal gangs operate with impunity year after year, what other conclusions can they draw? I recall there were two crack dealing houses on my block alone. Everyone knew about them--but not mysteriously the NYPD.
Here's a tip. The motorcycle gangs found in the ghettos with both Gang and NYPD members are the middle men between the drug gangs and the police.
I do not expect you to follow up on this tip. US newspapers cannot report this partnership because they are kept afloat by loans from banks who are themselves enriched by Narco dollars.
38
@Red Allover Thanks for writing this . I found it to be the most informative comment of all the comments here.
10
@Red Allover
"The truth is, there is no other economic activity in neighborhoods like East Tremont but drug dealing."
The truth is, most neighborhoods don't have economic activities besides little grocery stores and watch-repair shops.
The truth is, even the poorest kids can avoid drug dealing if they apply themselves in school and commute to where there are many economic activities. You know, the way the rest of us do.
19
@Red Allover. So true. Wherever there is organized crime there is complicity with the police and city officials. This is basic 101 stuff in gangland history.
Your comment is by far the most informative of all the comments to this article. Thanks for writing.
3
Celebrate diversity!
17
@John Doe Did you say that in the 1850s when the Irish gangs emerged, or is your comment only targeted at people of color?
13
What are they even doing in our country???
40
@ABC
Direct flight from DR; "Coming to visit a tia."
6
@ABC Getting free medical care, free prenatal care and delivery, having babies who are automatic citizens, free education, WIC, section 8, working, etc.
When I a medical student at Columbia in the 90’s they would come straight from JFK to the ER with AIDS all the time. I also delivered lots of babies to the teenage girls who would be grandmothers now. Sweet people but I dont think the taxpayer got a good deal.
12
Just another reason to legalize drugs, take all the money out of selling them.
49
The gang also gets money from robbery, extortion and kidnappings.
10
Yeah, let's keep importing more these upstanding immigrants. Such nice young men. Do we have any credentials needed or is the bar so low anyone can step over it to get into our country?
89
Within 15 years all low skilled jobs will be automated. WE DO NOT need anymore unskilled labor. We do need highly educated people however for specific jobs
29
@CC Where in this article does it state the gang members are immigrants? You can be Dominican and still have been born and raised in New York.
20
@CC--another Trump troll? Don't get me wrong CC I am a progressive but not a bleeding heart liberal.
The only thing as bad as a bleeding heart liberal is somebody like you ready to denigrate the vast majority of immigrants who have traditionally done the dirty jobs throughout our history that people like you don't want to do.
11
When I was in NYC/Brooklyn 40 years ago from 1969 to 1989 , we had these same problems with with blacks & hispanics. The former changed to a large degree; the Hispanics not so much. Today only hispanics are a major problem.
How can we drive this work sourse into work for long hours in their very early 40s & put their women on medicine until their late 30s.
We are the elect; we need to ready our country for an upcoming major sometime in mid 2020s or a bit later; there are critical books on this issue.
1
I have read your article I don’t see if
These young man are Illegal immigrants.
The reason I ask is when I have seen the defendants in court
they seem to have interpreters.
I believe they might be. And I find allot of the media does
not want to make illegal immigrants look bad .
It does not fall into your narrative illegal immigrants are hard-working and honest.
22
It’s time to get hold of the gang problem in NYC. We need jobs and programs for youn people to participate in - with meaningful incentives. And we need to work with the community to devise a strategy best likely to break up gangs and reduce violence. Get going NY
5
While I was growing up in NYC in the 80's it seemed that New York's gang era was long gone, part of the city's history, in every account of how gangs spread it seems the common denominator is that they formed for protection in prison, these gangs are a result of the zero tolerance policies of the 90's.
4
Meanwhile crossing GWB, just one mile away from Dominican dominated Washington Heights, Koreans thriving. Intact nuclear family, dearth of violent crime, college educated, great neighbors.
19
Given the fact that the police seem to be incapable of dealing with these gangs on an ongoing basis, and the people of the neighborhoods seem to know who the gang members are, perhaps it is time for a neighborhood peacekeeping force to mete out a bit of the same things the gangs use.
3
America has a long history of organized crime and gangs. They are all brutal and get involved with illegal activities like drugs, prostitution, and developing partnerships with corrupt city or law enforcement officials.
Irish immigrants swamped NY city in the 1850's. Most were illiterate, penniless, and had no job skills. They crowded into the worst tenements in the city. Soon the multiple Irish gangs of NY
were at large.
The Italian- American mafia emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century following waves off impoverished Italian immigrants especially from Sicily and southern Italy. The Mafia is immortalized in story and film for it's geographicly wide ranging and highly organized illegally activities and brutality.
Now we have a highly organized Dominican gang in NY with offshoots in several other states AS WELL as abroad.
And there is MS-13, which is now an INTERNATIONAL criminal gang who's original members in LA learned the brutality they practice in the front lines of the civil war in El Salvador.
Then there is the Nigerian INTERNATIONAL criminal gangs that arose in the 1980's owing to globalization and a high level of lawlessness already in the country They are the most notable of all African criminal enterprises and operate in more than 80 countries.
What stands out to me the highly sophisticated international corporate structure of organized crime today. This makes sex, drugs, and arms trafficking almost impossible to eradicate.
21
@Gwen Vilen Well, legalize prostitution and part of the problem is solved. (but don't legal human trafficking).
2
Upper manhattan, the Bronx is home to
"El Nuevo Conquistadores," that is what they call themselves: i.e. Dominicans.
11
Only a couple of months ago, Councilmember Laurie Cumbo was crying - literally - that it was unfair that the NYPD kept a gang database, and that it was biased to do so. Interesting that she hasn't said any such thing recently.
31
@EJ
Well, now that we have abolished racial profiling, thankfully, what we have is lifestyle profiling.
I think that's okay.
My schoolteacher cousin in the Bronx, who taught many gang members (many of whom liked her very much -- once, one gave her his gold teeth to hold as he was being dragged away by the cops; more often, they protected her as she left the school and headed for her car), always told them that it's not their color or ethnicity that made people dislike them, but their behavior.
If it walks, talks, dresses, carries weapons, and brawls like a duck, then it might very well be a duck, and one has to keep an eye on it.
6
A reasonable question is why are these murderous Dominican gang members still in the US?
28
@EGD Probably mostly American citizens. Some gain citizenship through chain migration and the others born here from mothers who immigrated by chain migration. Dominicans have been immigrating since the 1980’s.
5
Not sending their best
12
Some of the commenters here are conflating immigration with unspeakable violence; they are not inextricably linked. Is it because he was Latino? This young man is dead. That he’s Latino shouldn’t become part of the “immigration debate.”
There are MANY good young people who live in neighborhoods where they walk a fine line of not wanting to join gangs AND not wanting to upset them/incure their wrath either.
This young man was doing what most urban teenagers do/did on a nice evening: hanging out, going to the local bodega, minding his own business. He ended up horrifically murdered, through no fault of his own.
18
Why are these people allowed to buy guns?
5
@Langej
The article said they use machetes; different from Chicago.
9
There are a number of comments here extrapolating from this story to a concise viewpoint on immigration and its control. I wonder if it would be possible for the New York Times to provide a detailed look at immigrant flows into this country - not only where people are coming from and in what numbers but also where they end up and what kinds of lives they lead. It would be helpful to know whether gangs and their violence reflect 10 percent of immigrants, 1 percent, .01 percent, .001 percent , .0001 percent... or whatever. I realize that it would be a huge undertaking but I'm sure that everyone would be grateful for the ability to form policy opinions based on a clear understanding of the overall picture.
15
Where's the mayor?
19
@Amy Where are the local police precinct, councilman and Bronx president?
2
Perhaps the New York Times can tell us again why we need to have a 100% open borders policy.
97
Perhaps you can point me to that NYT article where they espoused a 100% open borders policy.
11
Is that the policy the Times supports? I hadn't read that.
5
@Ron Wilson - Surprise! Trump supporters jump all over any excuse - no matter how tenuous - to support their opinion that all people south of the US are rapists and murderers. Thanks for being predictable.
BTW - I'm from the good part of Illinois.
3
From reading this article I get the impression that many young people in urban America have not choice but to live surrounded by gang members and all the tragedies that come with them. Sad!
3
@Domer And if enough immigrate to Iceland their will be gangs their too. Seems that some here would blame it in Iceland.
This violence is not just deadly for the immigrant communities, it is deadly for democracy. As long as Trumpites can point at this community nihilism as immigrant-related and brand any opponents to any totalitarian scheme as defenders of gang murder, all justice in all walks of life is compromised. I pray these horrors of human beings are not simply imprisoned, but are punished very lastingly for the sake of everyone in this country, especially the fragile immigrant population.
13
Yeah, real tough guys. A bunch of adults ganging up on a 15 year old. And not too smart of ones at that.
15
Actually this is exactly why we should not be spending 100's of millions of dollars locking up innocent people at the border. That money should be used to support law enforcement to deal with and lock up these gangs and criminals.
Ever heard of the Italian, Russian mafia etc.. they kill people too and yet many Americans glorify them.
35
@AJ
Actually, many Americans glorify illegal entry into this country.
We also make very strong efforts to imprison mafiosi of all nationalities. Unlike the illegal aliens, though, they're already here.
15
@AJ Every crime committed by an illegal alien in the United States would not have occurred if the illegal alien was not here. Keep these criminals in the DR.
6
My apologies but where in the article did it state the criminals nationality? Three majority of the criminals here were teenagers. Chances are the were born here. Let's try to be constructive here and concentrate on the real problem: poverty, exploitation, gang violence and lack of constructive activities for youth to occupy them. It's not as exciting as xenophobia and "make America white again," but it has root cause of the problems since the 20's.
5
On the evening of June 20, Lesandro left his home on Bathgate Avenue and 184th Street at about 10 p.m. to lend $5 to a friend, his mother, Leandra Feliz, said in a recent interview as she cradled photos of her son in her living room, only a block from where he died.
Journalism like this is third rate. It's manipulative. The word "cradled" is maudlin and manipulative.
I don't understand the 5 dollar scenario. Wouldbn't the friend just return home to retrieve more money for his purchase? Who doesn't have 5 dollars? Presumably, the kid had a cell phone with which he called or texted Lesandro to ask for five dollars. These are kids with phones and calling plans. I get that teenagers don't have credit cards or debit cards. Maybe I have too much income to understand that people borrow 5 dollars from one another. If I were a detective, I wouldn't believe Leandro's explanation for going out. I'm sorry he died. i just think this is semi-shoddy journalism. The stuff about gang strucuture is interesting.
7
@richguy Maybe you don't understand poverty, or the fact that a child could really need $5 to get home, because that was the ruse that got him outside. In fact, Junior's mother gave him the $5 to lend, because he didn't have it himself. It isn't semi-shoddy journalism; you just can't relate to the people in the article.
52
I find it somewhat amazing that this group of thugs feels emboldened enough to just drag someone out of a store and attack and kill him. Like they have no concerns whatsoever about what may happen to them, or no fear.
32
It would be interesting to know how many of the Trinitarios are illegal aliens.
43
@John Quinn. The really fun news is, that if they were born here, no matter what their parents status, they're citizens, with all the benefits and protections that affords them.
6
Time to wake up DeBlasio. Take care of your house and quit hiding behind your lectern.
31
The Trinitarios sound very similar to MS-13. Only difference seems to be that the NYT refers to "their" gang as "bloodthirsty" rather than "animals". Less offensive I guess.....
30
"Deeaaar kindly sergeant Krupke
Ya gotta understand
It's just our bringin' upke
That gets us outta hand
Our mothers all are junkies
Our fathers all are drunks
Golly moses, naturally we're punks."
8
The boys born to young, single mothers that came up from the DR just like the children crossing the borders with only mothers will become. How can a single mother who must work properly supervise boys in a foreign country with a foreign language? This is why we need to close the border. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/16/nyregion/dominicans-scrabbling-for-ho...
46
@allright
Just FYI, while these gangs are awful, their kill rate falls below that of American-born inner city types, whose mothers and grandmothers (and perhaps great-grandmothers, if they all had their first child by the age of 16) spoke English and had access to American public schools, which used to be the envy of the world, but had no interest in rearing their children to be responsible citizens.
You blame our troubles on those who speak a "foreign language"?
Immigrants to our city tend to rear kids who respect their parents, work hard in school, start businesses or get into fine colleges, and help out their families. They're the ones who get into Stuyvesant, by the way.
Look at all the Russian kids, the Chinese kids and other "Asians," kids from the Caucasus, and so on. Their parents might not speak English, but they do speak the language of respect for education, which is exactly what a lot of American-born people, both white and black, do not have.
16
@allright I don't think that's a fair generalization. My mother arrived from the Dominican Republic with three children to the Bronx in the 90s. A ton of hard work, strong values, and many years later led to three professional adults with good education and good incomes. The immigrant struggle is real, but there are a lot of positive outcomes out there. Sadly, the positive outcomes don't come out in the news. It's just the way life is
10
According to the article "new members receive a rule book". It is unusual that there would be such a book in a criminal organization, as it would identify members. Perhaps the NY Times could post a copy.
One of the problems you run into when combating a criminal conspiracy is the dearth of research materials to draw from. This type of information seems to be repressed on the internet and elsewhere, probably because it is viewed as aiding other criminal organizations. However, openly publishing it would make it easier to combat the problem, especially for those outside of law enforcement (who, it seems, are rarely involved in these rackets). For example, understanding the psychology of gangs and how gangs communicate would be useful.
5
Like you, I consider the notion that there's a rue book to be somewhat dubious, however, I am unclear as your basis for drawing this conclusion. Even if one does exist, it doesn't have to have member names. It's a gang, not a country club. Also, no jeans and jackets required for Saturday dinner. T-shirts permitted at the pool.
3
I am so ashamed to be Dominican. This is pure evil at its worst and I sure hope this gang and all its thugs get what they deserve.
40
Don't think like that. The vast majority of Dominicans, like every other group, are peaceful people. Violent criminals are hell, especially when they are organized, but they don't represent the norm. They are the bottom of the barrel.
And by the way, these kids (just like the "Italian" mafia in NYC) are American, not Dominican.
24
@Ju
This has nothing to do with Dominican, Irish, Italian, African American, German, Japanese, French, etc., etc. This has to do with Young Men with No Goals, No Future and No Hope.... If you study the Middle-East and the decades of war an terrorism, the base for such horrors are no different.
26
This article confirms what I've been suspecting. Parents have to monitor their teenage children's social activities very closely and be strong about not allowing them to leave the house or socializing outside of the home after a certain hour. Sorry to society and his family and friends and affiliated organizations for the loss of a young man with a promising future.
16
@bfrllc trust me, their parents are just as bad
10
Assuming that the parents are not also criminals, do you think that they can influence the behavior of somebody who is willing to take a machete to another human being?
12
@bfrllc Single, young, mothers on benefits busy with domestic jobs and a rudimentary grasp of the language don’t have the same power over their teenage boys that you may have over yours.
2
I’ve read more than one article in the NYT about how Trump’s concerns about MS-13 are overblown and are just used to engender fear. Of course, MS-13 isn’t the end of the discussion and there are many other similar gangs including but not limited to Trinitarios.
79
You'll have to provide links in order to be believed.
The problem with Trump is that, as we saw over the past couple of days, he uses language very imprecisely. That's a nice way of saying he exaggerates and lies a lot.
I find it impossible to parse through his comments to find any grain of truth and then ignore the hyperbole and hate speech.
In other words, I don't view him as a credible, reliable source on anything.
9
@Third.coast. There are ~1.2 million gang members in the u.s. Almost 50% are Hispanic, ~ 35 are black. Both are out of proportion to the numbers in the general public. From "national gang center", but the numbers are close from most other sources.
2
@Al Thanks for those numbers.
When gangs hold weekly meeting and distribute rule books, why can't police identify members and take appropriate action?
27
NYC police have a hands off approach now. Don’t you see it on the street with the homeless running amok and bicycles blowing lights at will.,it’s a free for all.
11
Such a sad and terrible waste of life and talent. Image if they were able to apply themselves to legal businesses.
6
@JC
"Image if they were able to apply themselves to legal businesses."
Look to the white house for a real-life example of that.
6
“God, homeland and liberty.” Enough said.
5
Not the first.
No religious wars.
Unless you want to change the Constitution.
thanks.
3
Another story that confirms the President's wishes to keep undesirables out of the country.
57
@Joe. This is the kind of thing that will get Trump re-elected. It’s as if the Times likes that plan.
3
The website Dominican Today has a page from 4/21/17 titled "Dominicans become New York’s largest Latino group: study".
It said a study conducted by the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies, of the City University of New York (CUNY) had learned that "Between 1990 and 2015 the Dominican population doubled, from 349,000, or 20% of Latinos, to 723,000, or 29 percent of the Hispanic population, making it the largest group, displacing Puerto Ricans."
I am wondering if this large community provides any structure for its young people? Who are its formal and informal leaders, and what are they doing to counteract gangs and help their young people grow up? Dominicans of all economic levels could be contributing to the building and running of their own community centers. Such centers could provide safe activities in which they could make new friends, learn social and general life skills, do charitable work, sponsor parties, and so on. The Dominican community could be taking more responsibility for itself.
29
@ann As is typical, you assume without knowing anything. You post here that Domincans are the largest group of Latinos in NYC as if that's news to us. As a New Yorker, I can tell you that you can literally barely walk a few blocks without running into a Domincan. They are everywhere. Guess what? The vast majority are just working stiffs like the rest of us, plugging away to pay rent and make a better life for their kids. Their communities are filled with everything all American communities have: schools, sports teams, after-school activities, bands, cultural arts classes etc. Poverty is an issue, but that issue tends to resolve itself over a few generations.
Next time you're in NYC, stop by a ballpark in Washington Heights or El Barrio and strike up a conversation with a Dominican family. Nothing to fear.
12
@ann
The most absurd part of your post is about how Dominican kids could "learn social...skills."
My Dominican students could run circles around American kids' social skills. They come from tight-knit, family-based communities where socializing is required with people of all ages. Love my Dominican kids. Lesandro's murder was a true tragedy.
14
This is a terrifying article and there must be the toughest crackdown on such a gang. We are not to be subject to such criminality. Crackdown now.
58
"a gang that provides protection to members in prison and funds its operation with drug-dealing on the streets and behind bars."
I think that this may go beyond aggravated criminal activity into terrorism--an organized attempt to destabilize civil society and undermine the criminal justice system.
60
@Retired in Asheville NC
You're right, "an organized attempt to destabilize civil society and undermine the criminal justice system" is terrorism. So why is trump still in the white house?
6
@Retired in Asheville NC
Providing protection to members in prison and funding it's operations with drug dealing on the streets and behind bars is SOP for all organized crime both past and present.
Want to upgrade their status to terrorism. Why not. Terrorism is one of the worlds favorite labels right now.
But you better make that domestic and foreign terrorism, as many of these gangs are international now.
3
@Retired in Asheville NC. It might. But this is the MO of all gangs in organized crime. Remember the Italian American gangs of the 1930's to 1950's and beyond?. Same protection rackets, inside and outside of prison.
1
As a member of the Dominican-American community in the Bronx who has put a lot of effort getting my education and working hard to move forward I'm ashamed to see teenagers full of opportunity arrive here and opt for a life of crime. Its even more painful to see how they misuse the name of "La Trinitaria" to label their senseless gang. I hope justice is brought upon them. Lock 'em up!! The message has to be loud and clear, crimes like these will not be tolerated in our great city
24
"...Trinitarios, a gang that provides protection to members in prison and funds its operation with drug-dealing on the streets and behind bars."
Here is another example of how our utterly failed "War on Drugs" creates more crime and victims than the drugs themselves. Criminal gangs here and abroad have an easy and steady revenue stream feeding the US drug habit. Illegal immigrants from Central America fleeing gang violence are victims as well. (Then, at the border we victimize them a second time kidnapping their children.)
Will we ever come to the public conclusion that the War on Drugs is far, far more destructive than just the drugs?
15