Police report a man was assaulted in the Norwood section of The Bronx on Sunday at the Jerome Avenue Men’s Shelter (JAMS), and another man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

 

An NYPD spokesperson told Norwood News the assault was reported at around 10 a.m. on Sunday, March 6, at 3600 Jerome Avenue, the address for JAMS. “A 45-year-old male victim claims that he received a laceration to the lip inside a cafeteria because he was punched,” the spokesperson said. “Then, he lost a tooth. The person responsible was detained and subsequently arrested.”

 

Police said the alleged assailant is a 25-year-old man, whose name is Abraham Kentish. He is a resident of the shelter and was charged with assault. Police said they could not comment as to whether the victim was a resident of the shelter or not.

 

As of Sunday afternoon, police said it was unknown if the victim’s injuries were treated at the scene or if he was transported to hospital.

 

As reported, the issue of tackling the City’s homelessness crisis has been well documented in the news, with Mayor Eric Adams recently vowing to clear the City’s subways of the homeless population in efforts to bring back more commuters.

 

“It is cruel and inhumane to allow unhoused people to live on the subway, and unfair to paying passengers and transit workers who deserve a clean, orderly, and safe environment,” the mayor said.

 

“The days of turning a blind eye to this growing problem are over.” But what comes after that? Where will those without housing or shelter go? The answer is pretty clear: the streets. One Bronx-based group is attempting to address street homelessness by providing new shelter support in the borough

 

Of course, the question of where and how to house people experiencing homelessness and mental health problems has long been a contentious one, primarily due to concerns over the safety of residents.

 

Norwood News previously reported on how a homeless man living at JAMS had been hit with a slew of charges after it was alleged he robbed $40 from a deli and attempted to stab a member of staff with a knife.

 

Prior to the mayor’s latest announcement regarding the clearance of subway “encampments,” in June 2021, Norwood News reported on the case of “Jerry,” a man who alleged he became homeless after he said he was illegally evicted from Baychester Houses, a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) complex located at 1930 Schefflin Avenue in the Edenwald section of the Bronx.

 

In May 2021, we reported on a new initiative whereby commuters could call for assistance if they found people on the City’s subways with mental health problems who were seemingly experiencing homelessness. In September 2021, we reported that the MTA had installed security cameras at all 472 subway stations across the City to help allay fears over their safety and entice commuters to return to use the service.

 

Also in September 2021, concerns over the trajectory of quality-of-life in Norwood were raised by residents during the Bronx Community Board 7 housing and land use committee meeting, held on Sept. 14, about a planned housing development at 3118 Webster Avenue for the special needs population, which included people who were experiencing homelessness and people with mental and other health problems.

 

Last October, we reported on the difficulties experienced by City agencies and outreach teams in convincing one man who had been camped out on Mosholu Parkway for a number of weeks to take shelter inside. He was later found to have moved to one of a few new locations, also outside, on Webster Avenue near the 52nd precinct, in an area housing abandoned vehicles.

 

On Feb. 10, we reported on an incident where the windows of Capital One bank had been smashed with a hammer, reportedly by a homeless man. As part of that story, we reported how an audit by the City Comptroller, Brad Lander, found deficiencies with the Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing (PATH) intake center, located in The Bronx and managed by DHS, in its handling of the housing of certain groups experiencing homelessness.

 

Women in Need (WIN), the largest provider of shelter and supportive services to homeless families in New York City, called for the City’s administration to reform PATH.

 

“This audit is an important step toward fixing our shelter system. The results reinforce what countless homeless families have been telling WIN for years, providing concrete evidence and hard data to show just how broken the PATH intake center is,” said Christine Quinn, president & CEO of WIN since 2015, a former speaker of New York City Council, and former mayoral candidate. “With a new mayor in office, who is committed to ending homelessness, this report should serve as a clarion call for the Adams administration to fundamentally reform PATH. Our families deserve pathways to shelter, support, services, and housing, not bureaucratic roadblocks.”

 

Later in February, Norwood News reported on the ongoing concerns of local residents of Bronx Community Board 7 in relation to the announcement of the expansion of another shelter at 2287 University Avenue in the University Heights neighborhood, in the form of additional stabilization beds for adult men.

 

In 2019, we reported that NYC Department of Social Services (DSS), which oversees the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), provided data to Norwood News at that time on arrests reported at DHS-managed shelters and found that the number of arrests had dropped from 2018 to 2019. Norwood News has reached out to DHS to ask for similar data for the intervening years and since NYPD only provides precinct-wide crime data. We will provide a further update on this point, upon receipt of the relevant data.

 

On Saturday, March 12, two people experiencing homelessness were shot in Manhattan by an as yet unidentified assailant in two separate incidents. One of the victims died from his injuries, and one survived.

 

HAPPENING NOW: @NYCMayor and @NYPDnews leadership brief the press on shootings in Lower Manhattan this morning:https://t.co/zeeeMV41ze

— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) March 13, 2022

 

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.