Talk Bronx New York

John George (l.) and Steve Demetro are suspected of posing as utility workers to loot homes in Queens and the Bronx.

 A band of gypsies that targets the elderly is being sought for a months-long string of burglaries in at least three boroughs - and may also be wanted in other states, police sources said.

The roaming drifters posed as utility workers “checking for leaks.” They’ve looted at least 10 homes in Queens and the Bronx since September, but may be connected to similar burglaries in Brooklyn, the sources said.

“The elderly are most likely to be susceptible to this sort of scam,” said City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., chairman of the Public Safety Committee.

“These pieces of trash know that and prey on them,” said Vallone (D-Astoria), whose district includes one of the areas hit by the team of traveling thieves.

Investigators have identified Steve Demetro and 29-year-old John George as suspects in four burglaries in Astoria and six around Throgs Neck in the Bronx, sources said.

The pair are part of a group of gypsies that authorities believe may be traveling from state to state, conning senior citizens to get inside their homes and steal their personal belongings.

In each case, the scammers knock on the door of an elderly resident’s home with the ruse that they are responding to a service issue. As one suspect chats up the homeowner, another roams around inside and bags the loot, sources said. Read more..

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The city is calling in the Army to save the Bronx River - the Army Corps of Engineers, that is.

In a move that gives new meaning to the term green initiative, the city Parks Department will partner with the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild a wetlands habitat near the mouth of the river in Soundview Park.

The Corps will foot most of the bill for the $6.3 million project to restore the 3-acre salt marsh, with the Parks Department providing the remaining 35% of the funding.

The Corps is designing the project now, but will contract with a local construction company later this year to do the work, expected to get underway in the fall.

The work will start with clearing away rubble, landfill and construction debris dumped there over the years to raise the low-lying former wetland above the water line, according to Soundview Project Manager Ronald Pinzon.

“There was a lot of stuff dumped there,” Pinzon said. “Rocks, pieces of concrete, even a few refrigerators. Read more..

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