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Volume XX • Number 43 • October 24 - 30, 2013 •
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Klein, Dinowitz plan to end cell phone theft
By PAULETTE SCHNEIDER The business forecast looks bleak for those who deal in stolen cellphones. State Senate co-leader Jeffrey D. Klein and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, chair of the Assembly’s consumer affairs and protection committee, have introduced legislation that mandates proof of legitimate product ownership by those who peddle second-hand phones. The lawmakers announced their plan last week at West 232nd Street and Cambridge Avenue, the site of a tragic phone theft in April 2012— Hwang Yang, who lived around the corner, was robbed of his iPhone and then murdered. The killers promptly put Yang’s phone up for sale on Craig’s List. “The people were caught, but of course that’s only a small consolation to his family,” Dinowitz said. “We have to take away the incentive that exists now for people to sell these stolen iPhones. This legislation will do that.” The tracking systems proposed by the wireless carriers have not
been effective, Klein said. Stolen phones are often sold in flea markets, bodegas and even laundromats. Targeting those who possess at least three items for sale, the legislation would require used phone merchants to provide documented proof of origin for every device in their inventory and detailed receipts for every device sold. Serial numbers would be required on all paperwork. Vendors of stolen phones would face a $250 fine for their first offense and a $750 fine— plus up to a year in jail—for the second. “There will be a decline in people looking to steal cellphones in the first place if they don’t have a ready market to sell,” said Klein, who hopes to “dry up the demand” for stolen phones, a demand that “not only causes violence in our society but also causes a billion-dollar industry.” The practice of stealing portable electronics, particularly Apple products like iPhones, has become so pervasive that police have nicknamed it “Apple picking.” The trend accounted
State Senator Jeff Klein and Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz propose measures to make cell phone theft less attractive to criminals near the site where a local man was killed for his phone. for 14 percent of all New York City crimes last year. This year, 20,000 smart phones and iPads were reported stolen throughout
the city. “We’re simply taking away the middleman’s excuse of ‘I didn’t know it was stolen,’” Klein
Residential sales in Riverdale outpace rest of The Bronx By HAYDEE CAMACHO Residential sales in the five boroughs saw an increase of 38 percent from the last quarter, the highest since 2007, with sales in Riverdale leading the way in the Bronx. Uncertainty regarding
interest rates and lower prices contributed to the surge in sales. The average 30-year fixed rate for a mortgage was 3.77 percent on January 31st this year. Economic forecasters were predicting that interest rates would rise, rather
than fall further, which pushed potential buyers to act quickly. As reported by CNN, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate was 4.22 percent on October 3rd. The Real Estate Board of New York reported 132 sales in Riv-
Honorees with Councilman Oliver Koppell: Mehnaz Afridi, director of Manhattan College Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education; Linda Shriner-Cahn, Rabbi of congregation Tehilla; Rabbi Bob Kaplan, CAUSE-NY; Imam Sheik Moussa Drammeh of Al-Iman Mosque of Parkchester; Miriam Westheimer, chairperson of RJCRC.
erdale/Fieldston in the third quarter, followed by Parkchester/ WestchesterSquare/Castle Hill/ Soundview (110 sales), City Island/Pelham Bay/Pelham Strip/ Country Club/ThrogsNeck/ Schuylerville (98)), and Woodlawn/Williamsbridge (84). The economic downfall of the past several years had caused consumers to be frugal and avoid big purchases. “The whole combination was correct, said Linda Lepson of Argo Real Estate. “The prices dropped, interest rates are low and people had cash on hand.” According to Lepson, a limited real estate inventory in Manhattan contributed to buyers coming up to Riverdale. “The few units that were left on the market were having bidding wars and when that happens, people don’t want to get involved in that,” she said. “The only logical place to go is Riverdale. It’s a beautiful area just 10 minutes north of the city and the prices were still very low and interest rates were low. It just changed the scenario.” Increased consumer confidence with the rising stock market and banks loosening their requirements Continued on Page 15
said. “Right now, there’s no requirement when someone sells a second-hand phone that they have any registration number. So it’s a very easy type of product to sell second-hand, especially when it’s stolen. I think this is something that can’t wait very much longer.” The 50th Precinct recorded 21 cell phone robberies this year. “The increase in crime in the city in the past year or so is almost totally due to the cellphone thefts,” Dinowitz said. “If you look at the statistics citywide, murders are down, most categories of crimes are down. But the theft of these kinds of devices has driven the crime rate. It’s time we did something about it.” On the national front, Congressman Eliot Engel, a senior member of the House energy and commerce committee, reintroduced the Cell Phone Theft Protection Act last April, requiring wireless companies to cut off service to phones reported stolen. “It makes no sense to reward the thief by continuing service on a stolen cell phone,” Engel said at the time. “If service is cut off on a stolen phone, it just becomes a useless brick and the motivation to threaten, or commit violence, to steal a phone goes away. By cutting off service, wireless companies will do wonders for public safety, and I am confident they Continued on Page 2