New York Desk

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The New York Sun

CITYWIDE


CIVILIAN FIRE FATALITIES DECREASE BY 35%


Mayor Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicolas Scoppetta announced yesterday that the number of civilian fire fatalities had dropped by more than 35% this year when compared with last year.


“We are really happy to announce that we are down in civilian fatalities,” Mr. Scoppetta told reporters before the Columbus Day parade yesterday. “There were 88 to date last year to September and there are only 58 now. I think the department is doing a great job of getting to fires in a hurry and also doing a great job about educating the public about fire prevention.”


The numbers fly in the face of concerns that the closing of a handful of firehouses in the city to save money would mean that there would be more civilian casualties. Mr. Bloomberg, for his part, said the good news on fatalities mean the changes in the department were working.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


POLICE BLOTTER


KNIFE FIGHT BETWEEN TEENAGE GIRLS ENDS WITH ONE DEAD


A spat between three teenage girls believed to be over a two-timing boyfriend turned deadly yesterday afternoon, as one 16-year-old girl of Hispanic descent fatally plunged a butcher’s knife into the chest of a 15-year-old girl of Asian descent, outside a public housing complex in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens.


At 4:47 p.m., police responded to a 911 call and found the 15-year-old girl in the street. She was taken to New York Hospital Queens and was pronounced dead less than an hour later. Names were not released late yesterday evening because all involved were minors, police said.


According to initial interviews with witnesses, the police said the 15-year-old had a verbal argument with two other girls, a 16-year old of Hispanic descent and 16-year old of Caucasian descent. During the argument, the 15-year-old pulled out a razor-like instrument that police believe could be a box cutter, then slashed the Hispanic teen in her face, opening a gash. At that point, police said the 16-year-old Caucasian handed a butcher’s knife to the 16-year-old Hispanic, who mortally stabbed the 15-year-old with one thrust.


Criminal charges are pending. Both the Hispanic teen, who was treated for the razor-induced cut, and the Caucasian teen were taken into police custody.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


BUILDING WORKER HAS LUCKY SLIP OF FATE


A construction worker narrowly missed a potentially fatal plunge from the top of the New York Stock Exchange late yesterday evening after he slipped on roof scaffolding.


Frank Balbuena had been washing windows on the roof when he slipped just after 10 p.m., security officials at the scene said. The worker dropped about 10 feet and landed on a terrace-like area, thus avoiding the 25-story free fall from the roof of 11 Wall St. Mr. Balbuena was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for what stock exchange security officials said were minor injuries.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


WOMAN IS ASSAULTED, RAPED


A woman who was walking home from a friend’s house in Greenpoint early yesterday was assaulted by two men and raped. The men remain at large, police said. A woman in her 30s was grabbed at 4:15 a.m. by two Hispanic men inside a building at Driggs Avenue and North 8th Street. One of the men claimed he had a weapon and forcibly raped the victim while the other stood as a lookout, police said. The suspects then fled the scene. After a neighbor heard screams and called 911, police responded and found the victim. The investigation is ongoing.


In a separate incident on Staten Island, a man was arrested for sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl, police said. Garth Decohen, 48, is accused of sexually abusing the girl at 9 p.m. Sunday, police said. Police found Mr. Decohen at his nearby home. Mr. Decohen was arrested after a struggle and charged with sex abuse, endangering the welfare of a child, and resisting arrest. The girl was treated and released at a nearby hospital. The man and the girl lived in the same neighborhood near Oakwood Beach but did not know each other, police said.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


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