This incident happened a few blocks from one of my buildings, and on the same street…
From the New York Times
By JENNIFER 8. LEE and NATE SCHWEBER
Published: October 31, 2006
Fidelina Claros had steaming coffee waiting for her customers as they came in every morning, just the way they liked it: light and sweet, or black. She had her teenage daughter give rides to neighbors when their cars broke down. She gave free bagels with cream cheese to a high school student who walked by on her way to school, because she believed breakfast was the most important meal of the day.
Ms. Claros was the owner of a corner deli, a mother of three and a generous presence in the Jersey City Heights neighborhood. And yesterday her customers gathered around her store in tears after learning that Ms. Claros, a 47-year-old immigrant from El Salvador, had been shot and killed in her deli on Webster Street around 1:30 p.m.
It is unclear whether she was the victim of a premeditated killing or of a holdup that ended badly, the Jersey City police said.
This was in broad daylight,・said Stan Eason, a spokesman for the police. it was very cold.・
The police were looking for the gunman last night.
Ms. Claros bought the corner store, G & P Deli, about five years ago, and landed in the neighborhood as a whirlwind of charm and compassion, her customers said. Adiana Delarosa, whose mother was a good friend of Ms. Claros, remembered that the deli owner once found a teenage boy sobbing outside her store. He told her he had a drug problem, Ms. Delarosa said, and Ms. Claros helped him find counseling.
Raul Santiago, a regular customer, described Ms. Claros as 田lassy in the sense that she would give you the shirt off her back to help you.・One time, Mr. Santiago’s car broke down and he went into the deli, saying he was unable to get around. Ms. Claros had her teenage daughter drive him to the auto parts store.
Ms. Claros hung a big blue and white Salvadoran flag in her store and chatted with other customers about Latin American politics. She cooked Salvadoran dishes in the back kitchen for church functions and gave away gallons of milk to Gerardo Acosta, a 50-year-old nanny, so he could make Colombian desserts. She jumped in to help with Puerto Rican and Ecuadorean parades, explaining, we’re all the same.
The neighborhood, a mix of apartment buildings and warehouses, wasn’t always the safest. Ms. Claros, who had been robbed twice before, was careful not to keep much money in the store. Customers worried about her being there alone and would visit on afternoons and weekends to keep her company. Joe Andino, 44, a mechanic, lent her his dog, a bull terrier named Capone, to make her ・and himself ・feel more at ease.
She had been trying to sell the store for several months, telling neighbors that she was tired of a business that required her to stay open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. She even kept the store open on holidays, in case her customers needed last-minute ingredients for their Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners. Even though her daughter helped out before and after school, it was still a wearying job for a single mother, requiring a half-hour commute each way from her home in Roselle, N.J.
In a statement, Jersey City mayor, Jerramiah T. Healy, called the murder a tragic event.・
Once again, the proliferation of illegal guns on the streets of our city is the cause of yet another loss of life,・Mr. Healy said. the woman who worked in this establishment was hard-working and friendly, and this senseless crime will leave an indelible mark on her family, friends, and the Jersey City community that she served.・
