A flamboyant new leader of the City Island Civic Association is taking the helm, and he has vowed to fight a drug trade including heroin arising among young people living in the community with the help of retired members of the NYPD he calls “the greatest crime fighters New York City has ever produced,” – and yes, you have it in writing.
“Wild” Bill Stanton, president-elect of the CICA and a crime prevention expert that has appeared on morning news shows like the Today show, as well as in two NBC specials, sent out an e-mail Monday, November 17 to the 45th Precinct Captain Dimitrios Roumeliotis, and copied many in the media and government, asking for all to join the effort to rid the island of drug dealing related to what he and many others call a youth gang: CIB – City Island Boys.
According to Stanton, Roumeliotis has pledged his support, and so have NYPD Narcotics units in combating this group allegedly filling the void in the drug trade on City Island after a bust took out sellers of pot and cocaine more than four years ago.
“We have a tremendous drug problem here [with] our children being the main target,” Stanton stated in the e-mail to the Captain. “We intend to gather, compile and deliver all creditable intelligence to your designate; all but collaring these dealers ourselves to help expedite the process of cleaning up our community. When we are ready, we intend to hold a press conference explaining how a youth gang calling themselves City Island Boys have declared war on City Islanders.”
Several months ago, CIB, which many on the island, but not all, believe is a youth gang, defaced a stop sign at a traffic circle where Exit 6 off the Hutchinson River Parkway meets the Shore Road and Orchard Beach Road in Pelham Bay Park near City Island.
The group spray painted about the word “can’t” above the word “stop” on stop sign, and spray-painted “CIB” below the word “stop” on the sign, so it would read “Can’t Stop CIB.” The graffiti has since been painted over. If graffiti scrawl is an indication, CIB has been around for at least 15 years, as that tag appeared from time to time.
Stanton has assembled a group of retired police officers who live on the island, including Lt. (ret.) Maria Piri, Police Officer (ret.) Robert Whelan, Sergeant (ret.) Mark Amos, and Sergeant (ret.) Anne Marie Whelan to assist in exposing City Island youths and adults who are involved in the drug trade and consumption of illegal narcotics.
Stanton is aware that by turning neighbor against neighbor he may be rocking the boat, and that the result may be jail time for some City Islanders, but feels there is no other option given the profusion of hypodermic needles and baggies, that once contained marijuana and other drugs, that litter local streets and beaches.
