David Ross Makes Front Page New York Times For Epstein Apology Piece - With New Drone Footage

Beacon local, but contemporary art work notable, David Ross made the front page of the New York Times on Saturday, March 28th, 2026, after first appearing in their digital story about the article in the newspaper’s Instagram on March 24th. In that article, A Little Beacon Blog was alluded to, but not named, as a source that penetrated him possibly more than the fallout from art world he may be experiencing, after resigning from his position from School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan.

A Little Beacon Blog had emailed him about his board positions on the local golf course, the 9-hole Southern Dutchess Country Club, as well as his board position on Beacon’s Board of Assessment Review, a property tax board that property owners can appeal to if they feel their properties have been assessed to high, and they want it lowered and them paid a refund.

While David never did respond to those questions, his wife, the former Beacon City Councilmember, Peggy Ross, asked out loud, presumably at their kitchen table or maybe on the phone between them, “What does the golf course have to do with anything?” Her question was printed in the New York Times after David decided to respond to ALBB’s questions in that national newspaper.

Notable in that digital article was the video of David baking muffins in his kitchen, from the POV of the New York Times photographer who was standing outside in the dark filming the video, as he tried to portray himself as a person impacted by the Epstein Files, which had made it all the way to his home. Read more about his response here.

But in Saturday’s edition, there was a different photo. A photo that took up an entire interior Page A11, the coveted “National” section of the paper - of David walking in the sun on some pavement, presumably on his nature walk, reflecting on this unfortunate turn of events. The photo was an aerial shot from a drone flying above his head. Cementing the local public’s suspicion that this entire piece was a publicity stunt that he collaborated with the New York Times on.

Arvind Dilawar, an independent journalist who has written for ALBB and the New York Times, Vice, Dropsite, and other publications, wrote in to ALBB: “Just read about the NYT snubbing ALBB in their Epstein apologia. NYT bends over backwards for pieces of shit. Always have. They did something similar for Hitler, believe it or not.”

You could read about the New York Times’ coverage that Arvind is referring to in their Archives here and here. Arvind wrote about his own questionable experience writing for the New York Times here.

ALBB’s first response was: “Good God, man. Front page of the New York Times? With additional drone footage of his favorite nature walk? After the scathing reviews by the readers of the New York Times who Commented that his sympathy story was rejected? Please somebody take the Internet away from this man and his wife.”

The Internet in Beacon responded via Comments at ALBB’s Instagram:
@restless_gif: "What does the golf course have to do with anything?" is very Epstein Class.

@amberinthesky187: "The New York Times is actually disgusting"

@beatrice.vandijk: "They should have corrected "community blogger" to "local independent journalist"

@decaffeinatedpapi: "Far, far too soft of a piece. My god. The man hung out with monsters. He should be stripped of everything he has “earned”."

@laurenruyle: "Yet no mention of the sickening email thread where he called JE’s idea for an art show called “Statutory” featuring minors and showing how easy it would be for them to tempt adults a brilliant idea. Horrible"

bryanne_af: "This piece is insane. We saw what he wrote. He indulged Epstein’s pedophilic fantasies very specifically in the emails in an effort to get money. The ends do not always justify the means. We don’t want someone with that type of poor judgement and weak morality in any position of leadership or authority."

ALBB's Response To The New York Times Article About David Ross And The 9-Hole Golf Course

Editorial Note: The reader should know, that as far as the public knows, David Ross was not currently in the National news. His initial news around February 3rd, 2026 had died down after his resignation from his Chair and teaching position at SVA (School of Visual Arts in NYC) after ARTNews broke the story by publishing his correspondence and travel flight log to New Mexico. ALBB’s published on his local resignations here as they happened on March 4th, 2026, with a News Digest sent to our newsletter on March 10th.

It should be noted that When the New York Times published their 2nd article on David regarding this topic, they did so with a photo spread of his local life here in Beacon. He took them to his 9-hole golf club; inside of his home; a shot from outside of his home while he baked muffins at night from the POV of the photographer outside peeking into him through his dimly lit kitchen window; and on his nature walk. These actions are indications that David and Peggy either requested the article to be written in the New York Times so that he could better control his narrative, or somehow agreed to it if it was the idea of the New York Times. But a question is, how did the New York Times even learn about David’s local news, and why did they not mention A Little Beacon Blog when they quoted the questions I emailed David. Articles about David at that the New York Times in the past have been glowing. The initial piece they published about him regarding the files was cushion-y.

From a publicity point of view, this was a staged, or “planted” piece of writing. From a journalistic point of view, the New York Times article did quote some of his emails that enabled the behavior of the pedophile class. Based on the response from the response of the New York Times’ own readers, from a publicity point of view, that article was a mistake. But I am not a publicist. I am a journalist.

The reason why A Little Beacon Blog was not mentioned in the New York Times article - which is locked behind a paywall - is probably because that publication and David and Peggy did not want local coverage of it. It was pure coincidence that I saw it on Instagram as I made my lunch, at which time, I scan headlines to stay current. After that, I started receiving texts, asking if I or ALBB was the “community blogger” mentioned in the article.

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Today, the New York Times published a second article about David Ross’ appearance in the January 30th, 2026 drop of the Epstein Files. The first two paragraphs of the Instagram caption alluded to an email that A Little Beacon Blog sent to David to clarify or confirm details from those files that were first published by ARTNews and mentioned a travel log to New Mexico, which, as we have learned, is the location of Epstein’s 7,500 acre Zorro Ranch, the scene of lots of terrible things.

“I would say that David is not tainted. He was seen.”

— Katie Hellmuth, Writer/Publisher A Little Beacon Blog

The reporter did not name ALBB by name, and seemed to quote David’s referral as “The sender was his neighbor, a community blogger who lived a few blocks away. She wanted to know about a flight he’d taken to New Mexico in the 1990s. She wanted to know if he was still volunteering on a city tax board or serving as chairman at a local nine-hole golf course.”

Editorial Note: One reader asked me how I knew David Ross was in The Files, and if I searched the files for random people like they did. No. A different reader of ALBB commented on a Facebook post linking to the Hudson Valley Post article about it. This person may have been a Troll Groupie of ALBB (we have a few) who was using it as a distraction piece from a different topic we were publishing about - maybe ICE. Pro-ICE readers like to distract a lot. But. I knew who David was from past reporting I’d done, so I began researching.

So many pieces of this situation to reflect on. But first - The Comments. The Comments of the New York Time’s Instagram post weren’t having the entire piece. Most people in the comments were mad at the New York Times for giving David a platform on which to apologize again, and bare the shame he felt after being written about by ARTNews, Hypoallergic, the New York Times, the Hudson Valley Post, and other publications. ALBB hasn’t even published the article yet that analyzes the emails in the time frame of Epstein’s known actions. Published at ALBB are developments that happened in Beacon:

1. “David Ross From The Epstein Files No Longer On City Board; Beacon Was Not Going To Announce That”

2. “David Ross Resigned From The Southern Dutchess Country Club Board; Positions Confirmed By President”

3. I haven’t published my analysis of his email correspondence yet, and what was so troubling with it, but it is coming. It’s been half-way finished for some time, as I needed to introduce some of his involvements in Beacon, and then get to the emails. But this New York Times piece did divulge some of them.

David never answered ALBB’s email. Which is par for the course here in these parts. The two articles that ALBB has written so far only discuss his resignation from the board of the nine-hole golf course that the New York Times refers to - and featured with a photo in their article! Southern Dutchess Country Club made the New York Times.

Neither of us were mentioned by name, actually. And that may have been David’s choice. To protect us. As both the golf course, and possibly this blog, or the community it reaches, are very special to David’s heart. They are part of his home.

The Files Came Home

National media is one thing. Home is another. After all of the emails that David received, this one was from Beacon. He told the New York Times: “Ross, 77, scanned through the message as his stomach dropped. He noticed that the sender was not a lawyer or a prosecutor but his neighbor, a community blogger who lived a few blocks away.”

When I started this publication 14 years ago, and as I started listening to City Council Meetings each week - each week!! - I knew that I would have to report on hard things. I was petrified of then Mayor Randy Casale. The things he said were…who knows how they would be received! And his grammar. When people got mad at him, they went for his grammar. Now, after I publish hard things, people go for my grammar. That’s how I know I hit a nerve by reporting the right thing. Randy remains one of my sources for All Things Beacon to this day.

But I had to learn to look past personal feelings, and get the facts for an article.

As for David Ross. He revealed in today’s New York Times article that Beacon was home to him. As he has told a local podcast, Beaconites! in 2020, he has lived all over he world: “I’ve lived in amazing places,” he told Beaconites!. “I lived in San Francisco at the top of Telegraph Hill when I was director of SFMOMA. I lived on Madison Avenue when I was director of the Whitney. I lived in Cambridge when I was running the ICA. But I have to say, living in Beacon, this is the first place I’ve ever fallen in love with. This is where I feel I belong.”

“What does the golf course have to do with anything?”

From the New York Times article:
Left: Photo of the Southern Dutchess Country Club with the 9-hole golf course in Beacon that David was on the board of.
Right: David making muffins.

David probably feels safe here. Lots of people do. We drive through the woods and exhale (if they aren’t bulldozed down for new developments, or if we aren’t attacked by random assaulters).

We film Bannerman Island on the train on the way into New York City on a Moody Monday, knowing that we are going into a very fast paced life, but will return to a nice and slow life. Which works on its own clock.

The photographer of the New York Times article went into his home to photograph him and his wife, Peggy Ross, a former Beacon City Council Member, at one of their tables. “This mess is swallowing every little corner of our lives,” Peggy told the Times. “What does the golf course have to do with anything?”

The golf course is everything. First of all, golf courses are where lots of these deals and networkings get done. And people in Trump’s life are buried (that we know of so far)! But really, a golf course doesn’t need to be fancy to matter. People want to know who people are around them. The only reason we knew David was on this board is because Mayor Lee Kyriacou thought it mattered when he used David’s position there to justify his appointment to the Board of Assessment Review.

Which leads us to the next board: the “tax board” that the New York Times glazed over. Taxes are not sexy, fun, interesting, but they are also everything. Yes, David “volunteers” his time to be on this board, but what he is doing impacts people’s properties.

Further, Mayor Kyriacou did not tell the public that his appointment was married to a former City Council Member, or had been very involved in wanting to develop the Madame Brett factory to be a private contemporary art museum with an architect who owned 20 other properties at the time. All of this matters.

But the public was not told this - or reminded of this - at the board appointment. And nothing disastrous may have happened. But we need to know. Because lots of people in Beacon know that we are not told the full picture in some matters.

In fact, we were not told that David was no longer on that board after ALBB sent him that email. Which he never responded to. To this day - he’s never answered my question about New Mexico. But he answered it to the New York Times in their article.

Disappearing

ALBB’s questions did not matter to David, in that, he never responded. He may have made actions in his life because of the questions, but otherwise, ALBB’s questions did not matter. I had to find the answers a different way.

Personally, I’m used to disappearing. That’s the beauty of living in NYC. You can disappear in the crowd of NYC. If you fall down, the people might see you and help you back up, and then keep walking. I loved that about NYC.

David was very upset about being in the files. “Because I’m tainted,” he answered Peggy to her question about the golf course. “I’m in the files.”

I would say that David is not tainted. He was seen.

In this New York Times article, David went on to explore his role in the art and fundraising world that Epstein was so relied upon. These fundraisers needed his money. He gave it. But with strings attached. Those strings were stories that he wove to protect himself. To create reality and normalize things like pedophilia and rape so that his world could continue.

David was very honest about his reflections in the New York Times piece. “The best thing to do is to call up the golf course and resign,” David said that he told Peggy.

“You’re guilty of poor judgement,” Peggy responded. “You never saw any girls. You never witnessed any crimes.”

This feeling of fear is not unique to Peggy. Several wives of fundraiswers like David may be harboring the same fear of the unknown. The Times reported that “Peggy had assumed Ross cut ties with Epstein aftre he retired from full-time museum work in the early 2000s. She hadn’t known about the emails until the files were released, beacuse Ross never thoguht they were worth mentioning to her.”

David took the Times reporter to his backyard studio to reflect on the famous people he was in pictures with. He prided himself on getting artists money. When at the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art David wanted to acquire the artist Robert Rauschenberg’s personal collection for the museum. “He remembered asking Rauschenberg to write down any price. The artist scrawled $22 million on a piece of paper, and Ross agreed without haggling and closed the deal.”

But in Beacon, David could disappear into his more comfortable life of music and muffins. Guitars and bands. No pressure from needing to make deals like that, with people who have enormous amounts of money to deliver. “Some donors were great, wonderful people who became friends - people who cared deeply about art.” David told the reporter. “Some were horrible assholes with just unbelievably troglodyte points of view, and I was the karma wash.”

The Muffins

The Times took a video of David making muffins. Baking is what people do when they need to go to their soul. The Times reported: “He had survived cancer four times, and he found himself reflecting on his career and writing about legacy. ‘There’s more integrity in making something that nobody will ever see than in trying to hustle and blow smoke.’”

About the music he makes with local musicians in Beacon: “It’s taken years to shrink my ego down to size. I’ve made progress, but I’m still trying to get there.”

Why We’re Here

We’re in this spot because we have been lied to for(ever) so long. So many presidencies. Even local politics - the lies are thick. It takes a lot of digging, interviewing, cross-referencing to find the lie. With Epstein, women and men have been telling about what happened to them. They have gone on record. But nothing.

We are still going through a genocide of Palestine, and now Lebanon. By our country - What more do people need to see or be told to realize that small things matter? People are done. Ownership is required. It doesn’t mean that one’s soul is done. Or cooked. Or…it just means that everything matters.

This is why the Comment section at the New York Times is backfiring for young David. No more victimizing. The concern should be for the people abused, killed, tortured, threatened, harassed by Epstein and those around him. Forward motion. Impacting something in forward motion that makes a difference that makes a change in this hellscape we are currently swirling in.

David should keep breathing. Keep making muffins. Keep making music. Keep taking ownership. Move forward.

No more covering. No more excuses.

Free Palestine.

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Comments From Readers Of The New York Times Article

After I identified this blog to the readers of that New York Times Instagram post of their article - since that publication named so many other names here in Beacon except this publication - their readers responded. Here is what some of them said:

@raquel_is_sovereign: @alittlebeacon Excellent work. Thank you

@charukumarhia: @alittlebeacon you did good work! Thank you!

@parisakaramiinsta: @alittlebeacon every community should be so lucky to have such a diligent journalist.

@thestorywithcharu: @alittlebeacon 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽 well done!

@lothcatnip: @alittlebeacon good on ya

@jenpastifloff: @alittlebeacon 🙏🙏

@oregon.small.fry: @alittlebeacon thank you! Appreciate great local journalists

@bruuuse: @alittlebeacon did anyone at @nytimes reach out to you or did they just take Ross at his word that you’re just some “community blogger”?

- No. Nobody from the New York Times reached out to me. Nor did they mention the name of this blog.

@bruuuse: @alittlebeacon thanks for the background and, more importantly, thanks for your work on this!

@scotcherg: @alittlebeacon excellent public interest journalism. Well done

@loba_toledo: @alittlebeacon 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

@amyslysly: @alittlebeacon Your reporting skills are 💯x that of @nytimes

@c.hugger640 @alittlebeacon you are amazing. Truly. never forget that the work you’re doing is important, the MOST important of our time, for survivors.

@aldmannor: @alittlebeacon keep this up. GO GET EM! 👏👏👏 all power to you. May we all go read your pieces. Shame on the @nytimes for yet another scrub piece. Yuck nyt.

@sorta_smith: @alittlebeacon thank goodness there are small “community bloggers” carrying on the critical role of the fourth estate while outlets like @nytimes fail us on so many levels

@thrilhelm: @alittlebeacon now THAT is journalism. Thank you for this!!!

@dina411: @alittlebeacon great work helping to get pedophiles and apologists out of our local government and cultural spaces. Thank you!!!!

@blue_eyed_nazarlik: @alittlebeacon 👏

@heidigretchensophia: @alittlebeacon !!!

@nichole_elis131: @alittlebeacon oh thank you so much for your work and efforts bringing information forward. 🙏🏼

Yes, ALBB Has Seen The New York Times Article That Referrs To A "Community Blogger"

Over at Instagram, the New York Times published a second article about David Ross, since publishing their first article about his appearance in the Epstein Files and participation in emails and fundraising from Epstein. In that article, A Little Beacon Blog was mentioned early in reference to an email I had sent to David to clarify his position on 2 local boards here, and more details on his trip log to New Mexico that were referenced in ARTNews, the original publication that broke the story.

The New York Times didn’t mention ALBB by name, just a “community blogger,” which is fine. A text came in asking me if I saw that ALBB was “sort of” in the article. Yes, I saw that A Little Beacon Blog was “sort of” in that New York Times article today. Always an enigma, I suppose.

Followup article to come. After these dishes. 🫧

David Ross Resigned From The Southern Dutchess Country Club Board; Positions Confirmed By President

Per Mayor Lee Kyriacou’s recommended appointment of David Ross to Beacon’s Board of Assessment Review, a board David no longer serves on since being discovered with having a forgiving friendship and correspondence with sexual predator and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, David was the “finance guy,” as Mayor Kyriacou referred to him, for the Southern Dutchess Country Club (SDCC) in Beacon on Wolcott Avenue. Per the SDCC’s website, David was the Vice President and Chairman.

On Sunday, A Little Beacon Blog emailed the email listed next to David’s name on that website to inquire if he was still on the board after he resigned from his Chair position of the MFA art practice program at New York’s School of Visual Arts (SVA), as reported by ARTNews. ALBB did not receive a response as of Monday evening, the night of the City Council Meeting, where ALBB asked the City Council if David had resigned from Beacon’s local assessment board.

In an article reported on ALBB’s Facebook reporting on the potential for David to no longer be on Beacon’s Board of Assessment Review, the Southern Dutchess Country Club was mentioned as reference. The evening after the City Council Meeting where it was revealed that David was no longer on that board, Geoffrey Robillard, a person identifying himself as a “lifetime member” who “sits on the board” of SDCC, insisted via Facebook Comment that David did not hold those positions.

Geoffrey commented at Facebook: “First of all get your facts straight! David is not nor ever has been SDCC President and or chairman! You want to spew crap take time to fact check! It isn’t hard.”

Upon review, ALBB corrected the publishing of the President position, as the SDCC listed David as Vice President and Chairman. ALBB responded to Geoffrey that all articles had shown screenshots of David’s position on the board, and linked to ALBB’s original article that quoted Mayor Kyriacou verbatim from the October 9, 2025 City Council Meeting where he identified David as being linked with SDCC as “the finance guy.”

Geoffrey responded: “I sit on the Board and am a lifetime member and I am telling you he is not President or Chairman nor ever has been.”

A few hours later, the email address from the SDCC website, which is membership@southerndutchesscc.com, responded to ALBB’s initial email, confirming that David had been on the club board:

Hi Katie

David has resigned from the board of SDCC.

Sdcc B.O.D.

ALBB responded:

Hello,

Thank you. Can you tell me who you are that is responding.

Screenshot as of 3-4-2026 11:30am of Directors and Officers at the Southern Dutchess Country Club on Wolcott Avenue.

Can you confirm:
1. Your name.
2. What position on the board David Ross held.

The writer responded that he is Barry Winter, the President of the club.

Barry later confirmed that David was the Membership Chairman, and held no other board positions.

ALBB pressed one more time for confirmation on why David’s name was listed as Vice President on their website. Barry responded: “Yes I forgot he was VP. The VP doesn’t really do anything. I have updated the web page and Dave is no longer listed. At our next board meeting we will elect a new VP and membership chairman. For now I'm filling the membership chair role.”

David Ross From The Epstein Files No Longer On City Board; Beacon Was Not Going To Announce That

After being appointed by Mayor Lee Kyriacou in October 2025, David Ross, a citizen of Beacon; husband to former City Council Member Peggy Ross who served with Mayor Lee on Council years prior; widely-known director of contemporary American museums nationwide; who was found with multiple correspondences in the Epstein Files after the January 30th, 2026 drop; is no longer on the Board of Assessment Review for the City of Beacon, the City’s attorney Nick Ward-Willis confirmed after A Little Beacon Blog called in during the second Public Comment opportunity of the evening to ask who resigned from the once full board to create two new vacancies so quickly that the City voted on that night with no prior notification or announcement of vacancy to the public.

Otherwise, the City of Beacon was not going to mention David’s departure from the Board.

Katie of ALBB asked: “Can you tell me, for the Board of Assessment Review, who are the two people who resigned? The last time we had nominations was in October 9th, 2025, which was Michele Rios, a realtor, and David Ross, curator of museums, and a board member here at the Southern Duchess Country Club, who was also recently found in the Epstein Files and resigned his position elsewhere,” referring to David’s resignation of his position as chair of the MFA Art Practice Program at New York’s School of Visual Arts (SVA) after ARTNews broke the story of his relationship and correspondences with Epstein.

“Can you tell us who resigned, when they resigned, and why they resigned, and also, why there was no public announcement of these two vacancies.”

Attorney Nick took over answering. He neither confirmed or denied that David Ross resigned, saying: “So, we don't go into details on personnel matters. The two individuals who served before were Mr. Ross and Mr. Palisi, I believe. That's generally all we provide.”

Mayor Kyriacou began to respond: “Um so…”

Attorney Nick was swift to cut him off, repeating his previous statement: “So that’s generally all that we provide.”

Mayor Kyriacou wanted to continue, but restrained himself, saying: “Okay,” with a pause. “And…Okay. I’ll stop there.”

Attorney Nick concluded: “Yeah.”

City Administrator Chris White picked up the response: “Well, and he didn’t resign. He passed away.” To which Attorney Nick responded “Well…Yes,” without referring to which former board member they were referring to.

City Administrator Chris continued: “So Bobby Palisi, for those...” implying he was going to describe who Bobby Palisi was for those who did not know. “Very involved in softball. Life member of Mase [Hook and Ladder]. We had the Memorial Bunting on the firehouse for his fire service.” Bobby was also a brother-in-law of Michele Rios, his wife’s sister, who is also on the Board of Assessment Review.

Mayor Kyriacou picked up the description: "That's the dark bunting when you were, if you were passing by and you're wondering what that was. That was Bobby."

Mayor Kyriacou wanted to continue again, but held back. "Um...So...And then...Um...Yeah. Okay." And the meeting ended.

VIDEO: City Council Meeting Recap 3/2/2026: Resignation, Death, and Resulting Appointments to Board of Assessment Review

Editorial Note: Video recap is posted below. Scroll down after you read.

Quick meeting recap of tonight’s City Council meeting, which included the - once again - un-publicized appointments of 2 new board members to the Board of Assessment Review to an already full board.

This would have meant that 2 board members were no longer on the board for some reason. David Ross, who was appointed on October 9, 2025 but was found in the Epstein Files after the January 30th 2026 dump by ARTNews and later Hyperallergic , was one of the appointees. After his multiple emails were revealed, which included travel, David resigned from his position as chair of the MFA Art Practice Program at New York’s School of Visual Arts (SVA). The school made a statement of this.

The City of Beacon did not make a statement about his resignation from the Board of Assessment Review. Not last week when it was hinted by a citizen during Public Comment that there was a possibility of a vacancy, and not this evening when 2 new appointees were presented and voted upon.

Not hearing who resigned, ALBB called in to the second round of Public Comment to ask who was no longer on the board. City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis quickly took over to answer, stating that David Ross did resign. The Mayor shifted in his seat a few times and added no additional words. City Administrator Chris White said the the second person who was no longer on the board due to their death was Robert Palisi, who served on the board for 10 years and passed away this February.

Had the question not been asked during the second opportunity for Public Comment, the resignation of David Ross presumably because of his correspondence in the Epstein Files, would so far, have gone unspoken on public record.

VIDEO: City Council Meeting Recap 2/17/2026: David Ross Board of Assessment Speculation; Tioronda Attack Public Comment

Tonight’s City Council Meeting has ended. It was in the new format that combined the regular City Council Meeting with Public Comment, with the Workshop which is discussion about topics or proposed legislation. This report covers a few Gold Nugget items that transpired during the meeting.

During Public Comment, one citizen speculated on the replacement of David Ross on the Board Of Assessment Review, after the discovery of his years long email and friendship with disgraced pedophile and sex trafficer Jeffrey Epstein from the Epstein Files, and his subsequent resignation from his position as chair of the MFA art practice program at New York’s School of Visual Arts (SVA), as reported by ARTNews after they broke the story.

Another citizen made a Public Comment demanding safety measures such as street lighting be put into place after the attack of the woman on Tioronda Avenue in January. An attack which remains unsolved.