The deaths of three teen-age girls in an arson fire Thursday night at the St. Cabrini Group Home in Soundview are being investigated as homicides, police said.
The fire, reported at 10:42 p.m., occurred in the two-story building run by the Archdiocese of New York. It housed four girls. Sixty firefighters brought the blaze under control by 11:22 p.m., fire officials said.
The three dead girls -- Shirley Etienne, 15, Sophia Abraham, 13, and Itisha Alexander, 15 -- died of smoke inhalation, police said. Neighbors said the fourth girl escaped to get help.
--Associated Press
By Timothy C. Greenleaf
Mayor Giuliani's popularity has dropped considerably, especially among Hispanic voters, according to a Marist College poll released last week.
Citywide, Hispanics who gave Giuliani a "poor" rating jumped to 47 percent from 14 percent in December.
African-Americans also showed disapproval ratings jumping from 27 percent to 44 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Of the registered voters in the borough, only 8.1 percent believe that Giuliani is doing an excellent job, while 30 percent give him a fair rating and 33 percent say he's doing a poor job.
"There is a concern over the tone of the budgets," said Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. "The sample size for Hispanics was smaller, so it may be somewhat exaggerated. But the size of the change indicates a meaningful change."
By Anna Snider
A borough jury has found Rodolfo Rodriguez guilty of second-degree murder in the March 1994 killing of Officer Sean McDonald, a rookie from the 45th Precinct. Rodriguez, 21, shot McDonald in an attempted robbery at a clothing store on Edward L. Grant Highway.
"While nothing can eradicate the pain and deep sense of loss felt by Officer McDonald's family and friends, it is our hope that this verdict helps them to at least begin the process of putting their lives back together," said District Attorney Robert T. Johnson.
Javier Miranda, an accomplice, was convicted separately and is serving a life sentence.
Rodriguez, who is also awaiting trial on two unrelated robbery cases here and a narcotics case in Manhattan, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison when he appears before Justice Marcus Martin tomorrow.
By Timothy C. Greenleaf
Two dozen residents of the Lambert Houses in West Farms demonstrated Thursday at the onsite office of Phipps Houses Services Inc., the managing agent, to protest living conditions.
Their biggest concern, they said, is unabated decay in the project, but among other complaints are charging fees for regular services, raising rents without consulting the tenants organization and frequently changing managers, making it impossible to get anything done.
During the three-hour protest, protesters collected 250 signatures on a petition asking Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to take action against the management company.
"Phipps Houses tries to be as responsive as possible on every legitimate complaint," said Robert Dillon, a company public relations spokesman. Phipps Houses has hired an experienced manager for Lambert Houses, he added.
"We feel that we do an excellent job with limited resources," said Dillon. "It's hard to provide low-income housing."
Residents pointed out some of the problems. In Patricia Hall's apartment, particle board cabinets have expanded and rotted from a leaking kitchen sink and the pilot light doesn't work on the stove. "It's worn out," said her daughter, Robin, "and they're scared as hell to touch it."
Resident Gerald White's foot fell through the roof of a building while he worked as a repairman at the project. "It was all dryrotted," he said. "They're collecting full rent every month and we're getting no service. It's ridiculous."
"They had one manager for three days," said Evelyn Rondon, 35, "but he left after he saw the messes. Another manager only lasted two days. These apartments are beautiful and would be a great place to live if they'd just fix them up."