On Applying The Broken Windows Theory Of Policing To The Mister Softee Jingle Crackdown

Maybe there was a method to the madness after all:

A Mister Softee driver whose jingle was so irritating that it even caught the attention of Mayor Michael Bloomberg was arrested for allegedly dishing out a lot more than ice cream, police confirmed.

Authorities said an undercover narcotics sting led to the arrest of a Mister Softee driver on Oct. 6, for allegedly selling cocaine and marijuana out of his truck at Bowne Park. Police did not release the name of the alleged dealer, but said they were led to the ice-cream truck driver after several residents of the area complained he had been loudly and incessantly blasting his jingle to the ire of the neighborhood.

. . .

Following the arrest, children in Bowne Park were granted an unusual treat. Because the truck was impounded, police doled out free ice cream to avoid being left with a melted mess in the police lot.

Earlier: How About The Sweet Sound Of My Fist Hitting . . . Wait, Was That Out Loud?

Exercise Is Like A Drug . . . Sometimes More Than You Realize

Get in shape and more at the local gym

A window sign at Powerhouse Gym in Auburndale says “Three little words to live by: Look good naked.”

Some of its members and employees may soon add three more words: “While in jail.”

The gym, located at 34-09 Francis Lewis Blvd., was one of two shut down and deemed a public nuisance Friday at the culmination of an 18-month undercover police investigation that authorities contended discovered extensive drug activity.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the Auburndale Powerhouse franchise, along with Envy Us Gym at 126-19 20th Ave. in College Point, were “turned into drug supermarkets by many of the defendants, who openly and illegally sold performance drugs wanted by bodybuilders, as well as a cornucopia of highly addictive and potentially dangerous prescription painkillers and street drugs.”

Twenty-four people, including a store manager, a former police officer and a highly-ranked female lightweight boxer, were charged on various counts of criminal sales of controlled substances.

. . .

Outside Powerhouse Gym Friday afternoon, young men arrived with membership cards in hand only to find dimmed lights and shuttered doors.

Many expressed shock and dismay, but few would identify themselves by name.

“This is news to me. I lost a lot of weight at this gym,” said one young man sporting a tank top. Like others, he was frustrated and concerned that his $375 membership fee may now be wasted. “That’s money down the drain,” he complained.

. . .

Max Vetrano and Vincent Avallone, two Bayside teenagers, nonetheless said they were stunned by the charges.

“I wouldn’t think that this type of thing was going on here,” said Avallone. “I mean this is a pretty nice neighborhood.”

Vetrano added: “I could tell that some people who came in used (enhancement drugs), but I didn’t know they were actually taking them right here.”

Ken Weiss, another gym member, said he and his wife were more concerned about their own health.

“I don’t see why they have to close this place down,” he said, noting that Powerhouse is the only reasonably priced gym in the area. “They’re jeopardizing the health of a lot of other people who need to exercise by doing this.”

Cab Gat-Away (Hi-De Hi-De That Ammo!)

Apparently the weapon was in plain view*:

A Port Richmond man who had the bad luck to be riding in a cab pulled over for a traffic violation near Journeay Street landed in some hot water of his own when he tried to ditch the gun he was carrying Tuesday night, cops allege.

Brian Burel, 21, of the 200 block of Charles Avenue, took the gun, a loaded .45 semiautomatic Ruger, out of his waistband and tried to place it on the floor of the cab, according to court papers.

Cops said they spotted Burel in the act, and charged him with second- and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and possession of pistol or revolver ammunition.

*Because otherwise, police aren’t allowed to search a passenger in a cab, right? Where are the Fourth Amendment scholars out there?

Be Sure To Stop By Sally’s In New Haven On Your Way . . .

Islanders go to great lengths to protect the honor of their womenfolk:

A father-and-son team who resemble Ward and Beaver Cleaver more than they do a pair of thugs took a 159-mile road trip from Eltingville for the express purpose of threatening a teenager at knifepoint, authorities said yesterday.

“If you ever go near my girl friend again, I’ll slice you up,” the 16-year-old Eltingville teen told another youth in a East Windsor, Conn., supermarket parking lot Sunday night, said East Windsor Police Detective Matt J. Carl.

The teen made the trip with his father, Donald DeOrio, 48, of the 100 block of Augusta Ave., “just to threaten the guy and pull a knife on him” in response to the girl’s call that she’d had a fight with her boy friend, Carl said.

Cops reported finding six knives and a pair of black handcuffs in the car, and some clothes packed into a duffel bag.

The father and son were arrested, along with the girl.

East Windsor, a town of 10,000 in north-central Connecticut, is at least three hours by car from Staten Island. It’s about 13 miles north of Hartford, and another 13 miles south of the Massachusetts border.

The Eltingville teen met with the girl, then confronted the boy in the parking lot of Geissler’s Supermarket just before 8 p.m., Carl said.

. . .

Someone called 911, and the boy was able to give police a description of the vehicle the teens rode off in.

Cops tracked the car, with DeOrio at the wheel, on Route 140, near the border of East Windsor and Windsor Locks, Carl said.

Hump Buster

Every once in a while it’s good to remember why you probably shouldn’t be picking up hookers:

A hefty hooker threw a hussy fit yesterday when she was collared for trying to pick up an undercover cop on a Staten Island street corner, threatening to bite him and give him AIDS because he was white, sources said.

Then when officers took her to the 120th Precinct station house, she continued her rampage, allegedly jumping on a wooden bench and crushing it.

Omenebele Young, 32 — who is 5-foot-4 and 250 pounds — had been strutting her ample stuff at the corner of Harbor Road and Richmond Terrace in the Mariners Harbor section just before 4 a.m., authorities said.

Young approached an undercover cop and allegedly flashed her breasts. When the cop tried to cuff her, Young, who is black, allegedly scratched and pinched him, then screamed, “I’ll bite y’all and give you AIDS! I’ll go to jail for the rest of my life just to kill a white cop!”