Update, Saturday, 3 p.m:
Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, the 15-year-old arrested for the Times Square shootings on Thursday night, is being charged as an adult, according to the NYPD. The charges leveled against him are: 2 counts of attempted murder; assault; attempted assault; and 2 counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Rivas-Figueroa was expected to be arraigned on Saturday, when a judge will determine the next steps in the case.
Original Story
By Carol Tannenhauser
Police on Friday arrested a teenager who lives in the Stratford Arms Hotel on West 70th Street, alleging that he shot at a security guard and wounded a tourist while trying to rob a Times Square sporting goods store Thursday night.
At a Friday news conference, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said the teenager, Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, 15, also allegedly “shot not once, but twice at police officers” who were chasing him. If Rivas-Figueroa had hit an officer, “We’d be having a whole other conversation,” Chell said.
According to Chell, Rivas-Figueroa “came to our country [last] September from Venezuela.” The Stratford Arms, which police named as his residence, is currently used as housing for newly-arrived migrants, many of whom are asylum seekers from Venezuela. Chell also reported that the teen had a “very large .40-caliber handgun” and was considered “armed and dangerous.” “He had no problem firing into a crowd,” the police chief added.
At 5:30 p.m., Mayor Eric Adams, Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban, and NYPD executives will provide an additional update regarding the incident.
The event will be streamed live and available on @NYPDnews.
Subscribe to WSR’s free email newsletter here.
Just a reminder this was suppose to be a family shelter and one would assume those invited were heavily vetted as such. For all those who virtue signaled you can see now why people are concerned when 300 migrants moved in over a weekend….thx Gale Brewer
Vetted? People are arriving with no ID or documents.
I believe that all that is meant by a family shelter is that there is a parent or two and a child or children under 18 years old. When we hear “family”, we may think it is young innocent children, but as we see from this tragic and despicable incident, that is not always the case. Of curse, an incident like this could occur within any family, as we have sadly seen. But this should have remained a a dorm for the students at AMDA.
Why does everyone assume that everyone knows what acronyms stand for? We’re living in a world of acronyms.
What is AMDA?
I meant a “dorm” – please correct@!
Sorry – American Musical & Dramatic Academy for training actors. They have been in the neighborhood for decades and took over the Stratford Arms as a odor for students some years ago. It was close to their classrooms and theaters on West 73rd (Ansonia) and West 61st.
Hard to tell unless the NYPD took a look at his tattoos but sounds like tren de aragua. They are terrifying. It’s no wonder the exit polls of both parties cite the southern border as their biggest worry
https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/this-venezuelan-criminal-gang-could-be-already-operating-in-the-united-states/ss-BB1i24Ja#image=3
How could it “sound like” tren de aragua when all they said is a 15 yr old from Venezuela? He didn’t arrive with the 40calibre handgun. He got it here – somewhere. All it takes is some money.
I agree the shelters must have a higher level of surveillance and police presence, HPD, regular PD or armed security. Or perhaps even armed Federal tactical team from Homeland Security.
Where did he get the gun and the money for it? More illegal immigrant crime. These shelters must be patrolled and have curfews.
Good question but It doesn’t seem likely he walked into a gun shop or show and bought it!
It appears that a local gang has recruited 15-year-olds, putting them through a boot camp where they are taught using their language and supplied with a gun from the gang’s storage.
Recent news reports indicate that moped migrants are dragging pedestrians and stealing phones in the Bronx. I’m relieved that the mopeds parked around 70th Street were cleaned up by the police before any of our pedestrians were harmed or dragged.
https://lavocedinewyork.com/en/new-york/2024/02/06/moped-migrant-gang-strikes-again-dragging-a-woman-along-the-sidewalk/
The NYPD, or any other agency authorized to make seizures, should be seizing illegal mopeds EVERY day until this problem is neutralized.
please, but they should also be seizing cars with no plates, paper plates, fake plates etc. but they do not.
Moped crimes are not new. They have been occuring regularly for over two years. But yes, they are up exponentially.
Not new and rules never enforced. It’s a far bigger outrage than giving people needed shelter.
Please continue buying candy on the train from the ladies with kids in tow and donate clothing and food to the poor migrant folks. Dont let a few bad apples change the perception of folks in dire need. We have space and we need unskilled labor to address economic needs.
Thank you, Talia for your kindness & compassion
lol
Yeah right.
I will buy from a store
I wonder where the kids in the train get there inventory from?
Get a clue
https://www.curbed.com/article/migrant-children-selling-candy-new-york-subways.html
There are 6 year olds on the subway selling candy! Sometimes their parents are nowhere in sight. This is a violation of our Child Labor Laws. And children should not be doing it! We are already in danger of having weakened those laws with 13 year olds working in food processing plants! Hard won protections for children now in jeopardy!! This practice on the subways should be stopped at once.
Wrong. We don’t need or want people selling candy on the subways or sprawled on the streets doing the same. Bringing down our standards of a civilized society is not the route to take.
Those are actually illegal businesses without the proper permits. The NYPD had started deploying spanish speaking officers to shut them down
That is utter nonsense. We already have unskilled labor here and this forces wages down for OUR own citizens. This also drains people with means and motivation from the countries these people are coming from trapping those countries in a cycle of stagnation
“Our” citizens don’t want those jobs. And we don’t have enough of them to take them. Of course if those jobs paid better and offered benefits- that’s what you should be upset about.
“…this forces wages down for OUR own citizens.”
How many American citizens do _you_ know that pick fruit for a living?
I don’t know any American citizens who work in automotive plants. I guess that means that no Americans work in automotive plants.
while living in NYC? Not many. Don’t know many programmers, politicians, or electrical engineers either.
Pick fruit in NYC…? …not many. American citizens who work as maids, porters, janators, day labourers, etc. MANY!
Our compassion and empathy have been taken advantage of. Not by the people who crossed the border illegally but by politicians. Why was our border ever allowed to become completely porous. Where has the NY Congressional delegation been? Why haven’t our local leaders moved quickly to revoke the law prohibiting NYPD cooperation with ICE? Why hasn’t the right to housing law been amended?
What did you think would happen we let migrants participate in local elections?
There are things we can do. Does the NYS Constituition encourage this? It does and we can elect people to change that.
The Right to Housing isn’t a law it’s a court consent decree. The city is in court again to amend it and I believe they are in arbitration over it.
One reason: the failed bipartisan legislation, torpedoed by Republicans, shows that Republicans — oh, I mean Trumpers now, almost all of them — WANT chaos on our southern border to rage until Election Day. So they can blame Biden.
This is really bad news, on so many levels, most importantly that is seems that criminals are indeed claiming asylum to enter the US, and we are paying to house and feed them while ignoring the needs of own citizens. It’s not right.
This is on top of lack of housing reports. Vacant hotels and buildings should be turned into housing for residents, not shelters, which also bring in, not cost, tax dollars.
All of these migrant felons should be deported ASAP.. US taxpayers shouldn’t have to waste precious money on gang or would-be gang members and murderers.
We don’t know who is coming into this country and living in our neighborhoods. Everyone should be against illegal immigration. One bad apple causing harm to US citizens is reason enough!
Where are his parents or guardians since it is a family shelter? Gale Brewer tried to convince us even before families moved in that it is “all families “. During the summer insanity she galslighted everyone complaining “..same people call..”
Is everyone happy now that we have gun toting criminals in our backyard? Oh, I forgot, we are supposed to believe that they are all long -suffering victims and are just wonderful human beings!
Fed up.
I don’t think NY should be a sanctuary state and will vote for any politician with the same view.
We need more migrants ,not less.
We need more LEGAL immigrants. Not ILLEGAL ones. Big difference.
Let’s talk about accountability. Is anybody going to be accountable for placing unvetted aliens including criminals in the midst of our neighborhood? Endangering us, our children and elderly?
Gale, any comment?
The thing is, he’s 15. How much vetting of children can or should be done?
They shouldn’t be here. That’s all.
Two things are true about the world we live in: (1) the climate is changing, fast, so a lot of things about where we can live safely are no longer the same or won’t be the same or long. This is exacerbating crop failures and conflict in many parts of the world. (2) More people are moving – due to economic and political disaster, wars, climate change etc – than even the huge displacements after World War II – back then, 65 million people were leaving or displaced from countries all over the globe. U.N. agencies and DP camps housed people for years. In this decade, we are looking at 100 million migrants. You can read on the IRC website or elsewhere who is coming from where, and why. You can read in the papers why countries from Greece to Italy to the UK to Singapore, Rwanda, India, are struggling to deal with migrants. From everywhere. But every accessible city and nation – and many not so accessible – is facing this problem. There is no “should” – these are human beings, doing what they can for their families. yes, there should be better policies – better quotas and immigration agreements among countries, better documentation, better process, roads to schooling, housing, work, citizenship… and yes, from fruit and other crop picking to chicken processing, to hotel/office/factory cleaning, to lots of food delivery in NYC, from Florida to Washington State, we in the US host, because of policy neglect, 12+ million person labor force of non-citizens, asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants. We actually do need workers, and we use the ones we have – that’s why they are here. And we need regulations – the stories of trafficked child labor are horrifying. Yes, this “hidden,” vital, workforce cuts the floor out from under better pay and conditions for everyone- but employers are rarely held accountable. Kids should be in school (s this 15 year apparently was). Adults should be en route to work and residency or citizenship – or other states and towns, or Canada – according to some system that makes sense. But people who just say “they shouldn’t be here” continue to bury their heads in the sand and not face this global reality. Until our policy makers and fellow Americans face up to this very human situation and take humane and sensible policy steps, we are only asking for more trouble, chaos, and uncertainty. Of course crazy crimes – and so many tiny moms and tiny kids on subways – come from a system bursting at the seams, and what, we should throw up our hands and say “they shouldn’t be here”? How did half of NYC get here over the last 30 years? Are you volunteering? Writing letters? Learning about, proposing, voting for, better, more sustainable and humane systems? Sorry for the rant. This was a frightening awful crime that could have been much worse, and the migrant situation is very bad. As it was in 1933, and 1948, and….these are our times.
Any nation has the right to protect its border from invasion. As climate change gets worse, that word (invasion) will take on a literal meaning.
Yes, I maintain that they shouldn’t be here. There are numerous ways of making sure they a) don’t come here and b) making them leave if they do. We should make use of both in the coming decades.
That is a really uneducated comment. You don’t know anything about Venezuela.
Taking a step back: he was arrested at a relative’s house in Yonkers, per reports. So, he has a relative with a home in Yonkers, but taxpayers pay for him to live for free at 70th and Columbus. Generosity is being taken advantage of.
For years, I’ve worked with migrants in the City’s homeless system.
Of course there are many more now.
Like all of us, some lovely people , some not.
However, most have low-education and here for economic reasons.
They came because they were told they could have the “American” life of a house and car.
(They are not here for “American” ideals like democracy, voting etc)
Many are unaware of American laws or rules.
Though the City is paying for shelter, the City has has not bothered to explain basic laws and rules – a disservice to the migrants and a disservice to everyone else.
Oh yes, who could’ve known that you’re not supposed to shoot at police officers! Someone should have EXPLAINED that!
Well at least we’re admitting that they’re here for economic reasons. Baby steps.
Are you actually implying that this 15 yo migrant didn’t know shoplifting, shooting into a crowd, and running from police is against the law?
Brandon,
No not implying that the suspect was unaware he was committing a crime- clearly he did.
Just a mention generally – that many don’t know about other things especially if they see others doing it, like leaving trash bags on streets, setting up hair-cutting businesses on the street, riding bikes on sidewalks….
Yes, they all know they can’t ride on the sidewalk. Some of the most polite riders are immigrants, and many of the worst are plain, old Americans. Everyone knows they can’t steal, open fire in a crowded Times Square, shoot bystanders and police. Everyone.
We don’t know who is coming into this country and living in our neighborhoods. Everyone should be against ILLEGAL immigration. This shouldn’t be political. One bad apple causing harm to US citizens should be enough of a reason to close the border!
FYI as the suspect is 15 years old, he will be placed in secure detention run by City ACS pending indictment.
Interesting that this person is claiming to be 15 years old … there is no validation about not only him, but everyone crossing the border. Scary.
Simply reversing the executive orders signed on day 1 of this presidency would be a good start , not additional legislation designed to fail and thereby blaming the opposition for such disastrous outcomes
This should not be New York City’s problem. There are too many of them here. Many of them truly want to work, but between the barriers to getting work permits and not enough jobs, it has gotten ridiculous.
There are plenty of other places in America where unskilled workers are desperately needed and they can also be housed at a much lower cost. Send batches of them to these places so they are not alone. It really isn’t that hard.
Meanwhile, those who are here with nothing to do could help the community by doing community service (picking up trash or whatever else) in exchange for their free homes and food. Rather than causing problems.
Remember – if you ain’t got nothing, you ain’t got nothing to lose. This guy probably didn’t care. Worst case he ends up in jail. Is that much worse than his current situation?
This is just a giant mess. Though not an excuse to support Trump.
Typical NYC liberal answer. Just ship them somewhere else. This is the problem
People here didn’t care until the problem came here.
If you won’t vote against the giant mess, you can’t complain about the giant mess
And the giant mess is the Republicans in Congress who have made it clear that they won’t even vote for the broader law they wrote if Trump tells them not to.
Vote the Republicans out of Congress!
The people who control Biden, opened the border and allowed millions of people in. Some are good and decent, however others are not. This is not a problem that is easily fixed, and has fundamentally this country for the worse.
I don’t think anyone “controls” Biden. He’s not a bot.
What about Trump controlling Republicans in Congress? They are doing his bidding instead of supporting the legislation that THEY worked on with the Democrats. Why aren’t people voicing outrage over these Republicans who finally worked out a bipartisan Bill and now are reneging because of the wanna be dictator’s objections. Who are they working for? Us or Trump? The answer is, sadly, very obvious.
Whats really killing this country is the polarization of politics. When the people behind the scenes who create our party’s talking points, that’s how we think. It happens in both parties, and no issue is immune. Vaccines, masks, illegal immigration, crime, etc. How did these issues become political and how on earth can we address these issues now that the country is split down the middle on these issues as a result of their respective parties’ talking points? Our country is paralyzed by a virus called “mindlessly blind political affiliation”.
Nothing prevents people from coming to their own conclusions. There’s plenty of information circulating that can be accessed including party talking points. How and why people decide what they want to believe or support has always contained a decent amount of polarization. Only the issues change, and people tend to accept the talking points of the party that best represents them .
Marni you my friend hit the nail right on the head. 100% correct.
The other issue is we can not keep paying in perpetuity for cell phones, shelters, food and 1,000 dollar reloadable credit cards. A hard stop date needs to be announced like at that end of the year that this madness stops. If you want to come to America they need to be self sufficient and pay their own way just like if we wanted to migrate to another country we need to be able to support ourselves. Anyone taking tax payer money should not get citizenship till they pay every penny back to the tax payers.
We’re paying for more than you know…
https://nypost.com/2024/02/10/metro/thousands-of-migrants-get-cash-aid-through-hochul-policy-change/
Aren’t we paying criminals to do good things? Isn’t that one of the programs where they get cash for turning in weapons, working, not joining gangs, etc. Why not require these “immigrants” to attend language classes? Civics programs. Skills training? All as part of their compensation and housing benefits? And it would allow our govt to hire people into social services jobs! I would rather tax dollars go towards actually benefiting the community vs just creating dependency. We are giving out fish not teaching anyone how to fish.
I’m glad you posted this story. Seems like we avoid these hard truths sometimes. So what else can we do to keep the UWS worthy of Flaco?
Welp…I’ll be voting Republican for the foreseeable future. Wake up, people.
Will you? So you support the party who voted against the broader bill because Trump told them he wants the border as a Champaign issue? Smart, very smart.
To be fair, the GOP just killed a pretty strong immigration bill. They did nothing on this issue when they controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency.
Strip out $90bn for Ukraine and $10bn for Gaza and see what happens. How many Americans support $100bn foreign give aways?
Not give-aways. They are insurance policies. We support our allies and our allies support us. The world is a very small place, or did you miss those 9/11, Pearl Harbor thingies.
The Dems controlled all 3 branches of government when Biden took office. That’s when they could have done something but they punted.
The three branches of government are the legislative, executive and judiciary branches — that’s basic civics. Democrats did not “control” the judiciary branch when Biden took office.
Thanks for correcting…that’s what I meant to say. They controlled the National elected entities which produce legislation. Obviously, no party controls the Supreme Court and the rest of the judiciary system.
I agree, as do many of my centrist Democrat friends. They are leaving us no choice.
No choice but to vote for the man who instigated the January 6 attack on our Capitol, killing police officers, hunting Mike Pence with calls to hang him, desecrating a government building? Remember the chaos of Trump’s time in office- the half a million who died from Covid because he advocated drinking bleach not masks or vaccines and denigrated the doctors and scientists who were working to save lives. There was a sharp decline of respect for our country by our foreign allies while Trump was kowtowing to Putin and other dictators.
How can we forget what those four horrific years were like?
In 2021 over 21,000 people were murdered by a gun in the United States. Gun violence isn’t an immigrant thing, it’s an American thing. The fact that an immigrant committed these shootings isn’t the main problem – access to guns and the willingness to commit crimes with them is what needs to be addressed but apparently never will be.
You are absolutely right – access to guns is the overriding issue and the crux of the problem. Until we make it more difficult to access guns, we will continue to have crimes committed with them by all kinds of people.
Hold Hochul accountable too.
Headline:
“Thousands of migrants in NY quietly collecting ‘welfare’ through Hochul rule change”
https://nypost.com/2024/02/10/metro/thousands-of-migrants-get-cash-aid-through-hochul-policy-change/
This is not a joke. Not parody. This is the reality NYers are living, and paying for.
Laws are laws. I sympathize with poor economic conditions in other countries, but that isn’t a basis to claim asylum or add burdens to taxpayers who are already dealing with inflation, increased housing costs, the highest of taxes, etc.
And what is Gale going to do about this? Can she/anyone finally represent her tax-paying constituents??
Is it not enough that our neighbors, friends, and family members are being robbed, beaten, raped, and murdered, to change your vote? Not to mention the drugs and terrorists coming here. If not, folks need to reexamine their priorities. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS, IF WE DON’T HAVE SAFETY!
Everybody on earth should have the same human rights abd be treated equally…. also be treated the same when they break the law or endanger other people’s lives. He ruined this opportunity for his family and they should not be allowed to stay.
Deport immediately and finish the wall. Next case
I hope he is sent back to Venezuela.
How many other guns are there at The Stratford Arms?
Search every room and install metal detectors and a curfew.
Okay, how about sending this teen right back to Venezuela? Now, right away. This country certainly doesn’t;t need another creep like him. 15 years old and shooting at police? Puh-leeze. throw hi out of the country,
Deportations to Venezuela had been halted for several years due to “diplomatic reasons”. They were restarted again in October of 2023, according to Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-restarting-direct-deportations-venezuela-senior-official-2023-10-05/
Deport him. And, if he lives with parents at the shelter, deport them. Those adults with minors getting shelter in NYC should be accountable for either being complicit or not having a clue about their kids’ behavior/activities. He was likely let into the country because people are claiming they are fleeing violence in Venezuela. In this case, he is bringing violence into our country, city and neighborhood.
Cuff him and stuff him
Book him Dano
Put him in and throw the key away
Kudos to the NYPD
Deport him and his family!
Outrageous to be charged as an adult. I bet if he were white he wouldn’t be.
This comment is outrageous. White male shooters are charged as adults across this entire country. In Michigan their parents are being charged/convicted as well. Maybe we should do that here?
NY State Juvenile Offenders https://nycourts.gov/courthelp/Criminal/crimesByChildren.shtml
FYI NY State Raise the Age https://nycourts.gov/CourtHelp/Criminal/RTA.shtml
Pardon me for reminding everyone that it was Donald Trump…….yes, Donald Trump……..who cautioned against opening our border to illegal migrants, because he said, they would be sending us NOT their best, but their worst! That they would be sending us their criminals and mental defectives! But he was immediately denounced as a racist! And so…….once again………he was proven to be right on target in his prediction!
So now the kid is going to prison on the taxpayers’ dime too? This guy should not be in the country. Period.
OT: this report says that crime is going down nationwide but that people perceive it as going up. That theme has been sounded on here before. Thoughts?
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/12/1229891045/police-crime-baltimore-san-francisco-minneapolis-murder-statistics
IMO there are differences in crime, differences in impact and differences in reporting.
For example, homicides that occur among people who know each other “feel” different than random street-crime homicides.
Or perhaps data reflects fewer felony crimes – but that likely won’t change how you feel if you keep encountering “menacing” or “threatening” people on the street (and can’t really report)
Then there are crimes that go unreported such as shoplifting….
How can we know crime is going down when the majority of crimes like shoplifting, littering, and farebeating are going unreported thanks to the police not wanting to deal with the paperwork when the criminals face no consequences? We have essentially decriminalized these offenses, but they are still crimes and people feel (and are) less safe because of them.
The fact that my tax dollars are going to support illegal immigrants, especially the violent young men committing these crimes, is disgraceful. That money should be going to infrastructure, libraries, health care etc for New Yorkers. No wonder I look at the New York Post more often these days–they aren’t afraid to underscore what’s rally happening in this city.
Can always come to WSR to see anti foreigner hysteria. My last two threatening encounters in the subway this past week were home grown American men
Please don’t play Whataboutism. The problems of dysfunctional American-born individuals on the streets do not generate an argument against limitations on immigration. It is disgraceful that people push across our borders expecting free stuff and expecting not to go through the protocols that other immigrants went through.
Oh and US sanctions have consequences – some unintended – like everyone coming here.
. https://korbel.du.edu/regional-studies/news-events/all-articles/how-sanctions-contributed-venezuelas-economic-collapse