UC Recap: October 27 – November 1
Led Black
October 27 – November 1
On Thursday, October 30th Justice Robert M. Stolz of the State Supreme Court dismissed the murder charge against Justo Santos on a technicality. According to Justice Stolz, the Manhattan district attorney’s office had waited too long to bring charges against Mr. Santos. Mr. Santos walked out of court a free man even though he had admitted to the murder of Jose Martinez in November of 1986. His saving grace was that he fled to the Dominican Republic immediately after committing the heinous act.
He left behind a family devastated by the loss and a nine-year-old daughter, Joselyn Martinez, whose life would be shaped by the tragic murder. Justo was so secure in his having gotten away with murder that he returned to the US years later and even had a job at the Miami-Dade Metropolitan Police Department. Mr. Santos never counted on the tenacity of that little child now turned adult. Using the Internet as a tool, Miss Martinez was miraculously able to track down Mr. Santos. The information she provided to the NYPD let to his arrest in the fall of 2013. Today he is a free man. Not to be outdone, Miss Martinez has launched a petition to convince Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance to appeal the decision. I have signed the petition; please do so as well if you feel that justice was not served. https://www.change.org/p/a-murderer-has-been-set-free-please-sign-to-appeal-this-decision
The Hip-Hop Nutcracker will be making its Uptown debut on Sunday, December 7th at 6 pm at the venerable United Palace. Check out the first public performance of new scenes from The Hip Hop Nutcracker at Voices of New York.
We also posted pictures from The Renters’ March that took place on Saturday, October 25th, courtesy of photographer Michael Palma. Uptown’s own Juan Bago has a new comedy series Ask Bago on The Flama site. In the first episode, Juan Bago attempts to help a lovesick suitor get his boo back.
As a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, Zoe Saldana and her family faced a devastating tragedy. Her hero taught her how to stand strong in the face of adversity. Our Time Travel Tuesdays post took us back to January 26th, 2006 for a look at how the baseball crazy fans of Washington Heights spend their time in the off-season.
Keep checking us out at www.uptowncollective.com.
Led Black
Editor-in-Chief
The Uptown Collective
The UC’s mission is to become “the” definitive, transformative and community-based force impacting the arts, culture, business and New York City’s overall perception of Upper Manhattan. Its objective is to reset, reboot and positively redefine Uptown’s artistic, political, cultural and business spheres via the online space as well the collective’s initiatives and functions.
