By Joe Anuta
The sister of a man murdered at the Bland Houses last week was joined by a representative of the Queens district attorney’s office and local activists to denounce gun violence that has put the complex on edge less than a year after a series of shootings shocked the community.
At about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 21, 45-year-old Alejandro Ramos was shot in the back and another man was shot in the buttocks in a courtyard of the Bland Houses, at 40-21 College Point Blvd., police said. Ramos was taken to New York Hospital Queens, where he was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.
As of press time Tuesday, there have not been any arrests, police said.
“I want this to stop,” said Sonia Ramos speaking at a small rally across from Bland Houses Monday. “That night I heard the shots that killed my brother.”
Ramos was working as a delivery driver before he lost his job and began staying with his sister in Bland Houses, she said.
The day after the shooting, Ramos’ girlfriend of three years was erecting a memorial where friends could write messages and look at pictures.
“He was a good, funny guy and I loved him to death,” said Rita Rodriguez. “We want justice for him.”
But a representative from District Attorney Richard Brown said authorities need help from the community to make that happen.
“This is not the Queens County we want it to be,” said Supervising Assistant DA Frederica Jeffries, speaking at Monday’s rally. “We are very vulnerable unless witnesses have the courage to talk about what they saw.”
The DA must rely on eyewitnesses partially because the Bland Houses do not have security cameras installed in any of the buildings, according to the New York City Housing Authority.
The issue heated up in October, when a series of three shootings rocked the complex.
On Oct. 31, Alex Botero, 21, was shot in the head in an elevator at the houses, yet police could not make an arrest because no witnesses would come forward and give information. Two other shootings occurred around the same time, yet no cameras had been installed in the elevators or anywhere else in the houses.
At a meeting in November, NYCHA officials and City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) discussed the feasibility of a new security system and cameras.
A spokesman for NYCHA told TimesLedger Newspapers at the time that the schedule for installing the security system would be spring 2012.
But NYCHA recently said there is not enough money from lawmakers to install the security system, only enough to put in cameras — and that deal was only signed off on a couple weeks ago.
Cameras will not be installed until 2013, according to NYCHA.
Monday’s rally was organized by a nonprofit called Community Prevention Alternatives for Families in Crisis Center and led by Martha Flores-Vazquez, who denounced the violence and called for more gun control in Albany.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com
