BROOKLYN

STRAY BULLET STRIKES BOY’S HAND IN EAST NEW YORK

Walking only four blocks from the Brooklyn home where his father was fatally shot three years ago, a 9-year-old boy, Lennox Bradley Jr., was shot in the hand late Monday night by a stray bullet.

Police said the boy was walking along Blake Avenue in East New York at about 11 p.m. with his 29-year-old mother when both heard gunfire coming from a nearby roof. After hearing the shots, both began to run down the street in an effort to take cover when the boy noticed a stream of blood coming from his left hand.

Detectives from the 75th Precinct in East New York – one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods – were still investigating the shooting yesterday.

In March of 2003, the boy’s father, Lennox Bradley Sr., was killed after getting shot in the head and chest in front of his house. Three alleged gang members running a drug ring in the neighborhood have been charged in Bradley’s murder and are currently fighting racketeering charges in federal court.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

OFFICER SHOOTS MAN IN LEG AFTER SCUFFLE IN BROWNSVILLE

After being knocked down by a man on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville, a police officer fearing for his own safety shot the alleged assailant in the leg after hearing one of his friends order the man to shoot the officer, police said.

The alleged attacker, who has not been identified by police and might have been armed, was taken to Brookdale Hospital and listed in stable condition, police said. The officer was taken to Jamaica Hospital with a 10-inch gash on his arm, police said. Charges are pending, police said.

According to police, the officer was investigating an alleged assault by a man on his common-law wife, who said he punched her in the face during in an argument in her car. When the officer found the alleged assailant at a nearby barbershop with two others, the suspect threw a bicycle at the officer, knocking him to the ground.

After hearing one of the others yell for the alleged assailant to kill the policeman, the officer fired at least one shot, hitting the alleged assailant in the leg, police said. Officers were looking for two men who fled the scene after grabbing a gun from the perpetrator.

– Special to the Sun

THE BRONX

DIVERS FIND BODY OF MISSING BOY IN BRONX RIVER

Rescue divers searching for a 14-year-old boy who fell off a homemade raft in the Bronx River have recovered his body, police said yesterday.

Joseph Johnson’s body was found at about 3:25 p.m. yesterday near the spot where the boy disappeared the previous evening in the South Bronx, police said.

The missing teenager and six other youths were trying to cross the river in a crude craft made of wood and cardboard at about 8 p.m. Monday when it either capsized or fell apart, police said.

The other children were able to swim to shore. But Johnson, who reportedly could not swim, was pulled under the chilly water by a strong current, police said.

– Associated Press

CITYWIDE

QUALITY OF LIFE SURVEY SHOWS IMPROVEMENT AND PROBLEMS

Life in the city’s neighborhoods is improving, though core problems of pollution, noise, and garbage persist, according to a survey by a group focused on improving neighborhoods.

The third annual survey on quality of life issues conducted by Citizens for NYC showed that concerns varied by borough. In the Bronx, community leaders ranked drug dealing and vandalism as their biggest worry, even as those issues failed to rank in the top five citywide. In Brooklyn and Manhattan, residents ranked litter and garbage at the top of their list, with drugs as the fifth-greatest concern. Staten Island and Queens community leaders identified potholes and dangerous intersections as their greatest concerns.

Only in Manhattan did rats rank among the top five problems. Six hundred community and neighborhood leaders responded to the survey.

– Special to the Sun

APPELLATE COURT UPHOLDS DECISION ON SNAPPLE CONTRACT

The state Supreme Court’s Appellate division yesterday upheld the city’s decision to award the Snapple beverage company an exclusive five-year $126 million contract to sell iced tea, chocolate milk, and water in public-school vending machines as well as in other city-owned and controlled properties.

The decision upholds an earlier ruling by a state Supreme Court. The city’s comptroller, William Thompson, had challenged the Snapple contract on grounds that the company was awarded the deal without a competitive bidding process and that the contract had not gone before the city panel charged with approving all franchise and concessions.

Though the comptroller lost the appeal, the court said future contracts would have to be reviewed by the city’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee. The city’s Corporation Counsel plans to appeal that aspect of the decision.

– Special to the Sun

MANHATTAN

HOSPITAL: SEVEN CASES OF LEGIONNAIRE’S IDENTIFIED SINCE 2004

New York -Presbyterian Hospital said yesterday that it has identified seven patients as having Legionnaire’s disease since March 2004.

According to the medical examiner, Legionnella bacteria was a contributing factor in the death of one of the patients, Myrna Manners, a hospital spokeswoman, said. It was a primary cause in the other patient, according to an autopsy conducted by the hospital, she said.

Five of the seven patients were diagnosed this year: three in March, one in April and one in May. The two deaths occurred this year. There have been no new cases since, she said. Ms. Manners said Legionnella is a common bacteria found in the water supply and only poses a risk to patients with a compromised immune system. The two patients who died had been “extremely ill,” she said.

The city Health Department did not immediately return a call for comment.

Ms. Manners said that after the bacteria was detected last year, physicians working with immune-deficient patients were notified. She said “a broader communication” was sent to all staff April 5 after the five patients were identified.

Ms. Manners said yesterday that the hospital continuously monitors its water for traces of the bacteria, according to city and state health department guidelines, and regularly briefs department heads on the situation.

She said the hospital was continuing to provide bottled water to patients and staff, and has brought in additional consultants to advise on how best to eradicate the bacteria.

– Associated Press