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Volume XIX • Number 34 • September 6 - 12, 2012 •
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Suicide of rap mogul shocks Riverdale neighbors By MIAWLING LAM Chris Lighty, the influential hip-hop music mogul who fatally shot himself at his $1 millionplus Riverdale home, kept such a low profile in the neighborhood that many locals were unaware of his celebrity status. Police said Lighty, 44, used a 9mm black handgun to fire a single shot into his own head around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 30. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The New York medical examiner’s office officially ruled the death a suicide a day later and said Lighty died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police sources said he had been fighting with his estranged wife, Veronica Lighty, inside their five-story townhouse, located at 670 West 232nd Street, just moments before. Commanding officer of the 50th Precinct Captain Kevin Burke said, “He was going through a divorce and was in the process of moving out. He had a U-Haul truck in the front. “Words were exchanged and he went out in the backyard and shot himself once.” However, Lighty’s widow told the New York Daily News that financial and marital woes were not behind her husband’s death. She also denied reports that Lighty owed $5 million to the IRS.
Lighty, who grew up in the Bronx River projects in the Soundview section of The Bronx, is credited with bringing hiphop to mainstream audiences, turning it into a commercial commodity, and for discovering a number of leading rappers. The Bronx native, who was reportedly worth $30 million, was the longtime manager of 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Sean “Diddy” Coombs. But despite his worldwide success, several neighbors said they had no idea they were living next to a celebrity manager with such high-profile connections. A neighbor who resides on West 231st Street said Lighty moved into the area “around six months ago.” The woman, who declined to provide her name, said he was a polite and friendly man who was usually seen spending time with his children. Longtime area resident Sura Jeselsohn, a neighbor who lives around the corner, never suspected that a touch of Hollywood came to settle in Riverdale. “I met Veronica and Chris on separate occasions, and both of them were friendly and charming,” she said. “I’ve met many wealthy and successful people in my life who are clearly impatient with the rest of us. I was stunned to find out that these were famous
As the body of Chris Lighty is removed from his townhouse on West 232nd Street near Henry Hudson Parkway, friends of the deceased attempted to block the view to the gathered throngs. people—they couldn’t have been more pleasant.” According to property records, the six-bedroom townhouse sold for $1.145 million on Tuesday, March 6. As of press time, Riverdale realtor and listing agent at Sotheby’s International Realty Sanjya Tidke could not be reached for comment.
As news of Lighty’s death surfaced, more than a dozen family members and friends, including 11-time Grammy-nominated rapper Busta Rhymes, gathered outside his home on Thursday afternoon. Several men even held up flattened cardboard boxes and a large white sheet to shield photographers when the medi-
cal examiner’s office removed Lighty’s body from the scene at 3 p.m. Friends resumed the task of packing the victim’s belongings into the U-Haul truck once the medical examiner had left. A few hurled threatening comments at reporters and photographers at the scene. One told Continued on Page 19
New city council district will look a lot like the old city council district By MIAWLING LAM It’s a case of you win some, you lose some for City Council District 11 under preliminary draft maps released by the New York City Districting Commission. The 15-member body unveiled redrawn boundaries for all 51 City Council districts, including eight in The Bronx, on Tuesday. The plan reveals only minor changes for City Council District 11, which encompasses Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Woodlawn and Spuyten Duyvil. According to the draft plan, the district is set to gain small parts of Woodlawn and Williamsbridge but will lose tiny sections of Bedford Park and Kingsbridge Heights. Districting Commission chair Benito Romano stressed the boundaries are not yet firm. “I want to mention that this map is preliminary,” he said on Tuesday. “It does not purport to endorse any particular lines. It is a starting point.”
Romano said two rounds of public hearings would be held before the commission submits its final plan to the city clerk and Department of Justice in March 2013. He added that the next round of hearings—one in each borough—is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 2. The locations will be announced in due course. Districting Commission executive director Carl Hum said New Yorkers would be able to have their say on the lines when the agency’s mapping software goes live this week. “It will allow users to adjust lines and see the effect of that on districts and adjoining districts,” he said. “It will be preloaded with 2003 lines and the proposed lines.” Boundaries for the 51 City Council districts are redrawn every 10 years in order to reflect shifts in population and demographics. According to the last census, City Council District 11 grew by 2,516 people, bringing the total population to 163,226.
But in an attempt to evenly distribute the population among the districts, District 11 will now cover 156,071 residents. Cliff Stanton, a Van Cortlandt Village resident and the leader of a boycott against the Riverdale Review, is the only candidate who has declared a run for City Council District 11. The seat, which is currently held by Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, will be vacant during the 2013 citywide elections because of term limits for Koppell. The only other person currently registered to run for Koppell’s seat is Ari Hoffnung, a deputy comptroller for John Liu, who mounted a campaign during the last election. However, Hoffnung has previously indicated that he is not considering a run. Rumors have swirled about the political aspirations of several other area residents, including Community Board 8 members Andrew Cohen, Daniel Padernacht and Robert Press.