Update: Local businessman dies in home robbery
Word of the passing of Harlem business owner, Rowan Clarke, came by way of one of our readers. In a message sent by Clarke’s close friend, Carl Gray, we learned that Clarke was the victim of a home invasion that resulted in him being fatally shot at the hands of his intruders.
Clarke was a Harlem resident, and the owner of The Hot Pot on the corner of 133rd and 7th Avenue. The restaurant has been shuttered for a number of years and recently workers had been clearing out the interior. Clarke was also the road manager for reggae artist Gregory Isaacs. Gray credits Clarke with being an entrepreneur and philanthropist who was very dedicated to his family and friends, “The world will miss a truly good-hearted human-being who never had a negative viewpoint. His positive outlook on life and his words of encouragement allowed me stay motivated in my business endeavors.”
Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.
Update: Please check the comments section for funeral and memorial details.
Related: Hardbeatnews.com :: Jamaica Star :: Island Mix :: Daily News :: Connectingblack.com ::
Originally posted 4/5/07
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this is truly a sad story. im sorry for those who knew him.
slightly unrelated:
in today’s NYPD blotter on the NY Post site there’s a story about a shooting on 133′d street and lenox that went down saturday night. two idiots got into an argument that ended with one shooting the other in the head. the reson i bring this up is that a few weeks ago someone posted about their experiences at “the lenox” and how he witnessed gunshots going off an someone getting shot and all the white people running for cover, har de har har…well when that happened i said that i doubted the reality of someone getting shot on 129th and lenox and it not even showing up on the NYPD blotter, and was told the same things about how so much black on black crime in harlem goes unreported as to not scare the white people away from the pricey condos. well then how come this shooting makes the papers?
it’s not really related to this thread, but i felt the need to share, as this comes up a lot on these boards.
First …to the anonymous writer who wrote ” I don’t believe this incident is anything close to how it is being characterized by the single source. Beef, Drug deal gone wrong, lover’s quarrel, this is obviously, clearly, plainly more likely.”
If you are saying that Rowan Clarke had to be involved in something bad like those you stated … I must say that you might be completely wrong. Like the person who knew him for 25 years … I too knew him, sorta. Like a few of us from 480 (yes I grew up there), he came and went about his business never hanging out in front or lingering off on the side. So as we left or came in the building we said “what’s up” to each other and on occasion when I would go over to Hot Pot (post Yvonne for those who know)he would be there and we would trade pleasantries. He was always off on some work kick and didn’t have time for the nonsense that has become part of the generations of do nothings in that building. Second … this is probably the 5th push in in three years in 480 and the second murder of a push in. In all, that building has had more than it’s fair share of murders. I know, I had to step over police tape and show id to get in after the murders happened. AND GUESS WHAT … not every murder gets press. Unless it’s sensational, it gets quarter of a quarter of a page if that. Third, Harlem Girl is right on one thing …low crime rates do keep property values up, but the smart buyer knows to go to the police precinct directly for crime stats. and crime in the 32 is surely on the rise and in that building (with 5 cops living there!!!) it’s off the hook. However, in the 28th … in what’s now called south Harlem below 125th … crime rates aren’t as bad and that’s where most of the new residnets are flocking.
Finally … can we just pray for a brother and his family? a loss …is still a loss.
FYI An email I received:
Thank You All:
On behalf of Rowan Clarke’s family and myself, I would first like to say thank you
so much for all of the warm words & well wishes sent by everyone to comfort
us in this time of grief. Your words have been inspirational and uplifting.
At this time, Rowan’s family have made funeral arrangements. For those
of you wishing to pay your respect can attend the viewing, memorial and/or
funeral service on these dates and times:
=========
VIEWING
=========
Friday, April 13th 2007
TIME: 3:00pm – 8:00pm
Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church
Central Harlem
204 W 134th St
Between Frederick Douglas & Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.
Harlem, NY 10030
==================
MEMORIAL SERVICE
==================
Saturday, April 14th 2007
TIME: 10:00am (Viewing) | 11:00am (Memorial Service)
Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church
Central Harlem
204 W 134th St
Between Frederick Douglas & Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.
Harlem, NY 10030
The family will conduct the final burial in Florida.
Out-of-Town guests should fly into Ft. Lauderdale Int’l Airport.
==================
FUNERAL – FLORIDA
==================
Friday, April 20th 2007
TIME: 5:30pm – 8:00pm (Viewing)
Saturday, April 14th 2007
TIME: 11:00am (Funeral Service)
Boyd Funeral Home
1600 N. University Drive
Pembroke Pines, FL 33024
Phone: (954) 983-6400
Thanks again for your well wishes and continued support.
May God Bless You All.
Regards,
Carl Gray
President & CEO
The Netlinkz Group, Inc
P.S. As a follow up to my letter of condolence sent below, please note that
a correction must be made regarding Rowan Clarke as a road manager to legendary
Reggae artist Gregory Isaccs. As per Gregory Isaacs, he said Rowan Clarke was
“…not my road manager. He was my good friend and associate.”
—– Original Message —–
From: netlinkz@netlinkzgrpinc.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 4:04 PM
Subject: [Letter of Condolence] The Passing Of My Friend & Colleague ROWAN CLARKE
Dear Friends & Associates:
It’s with great saddness to inform to all the passing of my good friend, colleague
& adopted brother Mr. Rowan Clarke. Rowan was the victim of a senseless robbery
at his residence in Harlem NYC which resulted in his unfortunate demise. Rowan
died of gunshot wounds from which he could not recover while being treated in
the emergency room early Monday morning April, 3rd 2007.
Those of you who have met Rowan through me or on your own can remember him as
a loving, inspiring, quite gentleman and father. A entrepreneur and philantropist
that believed in the institution of family and keeping quality friends. The world
will miss a truly good hearted human being who never had a negative viewpoint.
His positive outlook on life and his words of encouragement allowed me stay
movitated in my business endeavors.
Rowan Clarke was owner of Hot Pot Caribbean Restaurant in Harlem at 133rd Street
& Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. A road manager to legendery Reggae singer
Gregory Isaacs. His philanthropic & entreprenuerial efforts will be missed immensely.
At this present time, funeral arrangements are being made by his family. As
soon as the information is made available, I will provide you with the necessary
details.
Please pass this information on to friends who may have known Mr. Rowan Clarke.
May God continue to bless his family in this time of grief.
Regards,
Carl Gray
President & CEO
The Netlinkz Group, Inc
I too was upset, frustrated, and confused that Mr. Clarke died so suddenly, so senselessly. I wanted to know who did it, why did they target this man, something. However, no answer will bring him back. I wish we can learn more, that there was more media coverage on this, and that we knew the police had some leads. But there is so little information to work with, even Mr. Clarke couldn’t identify them. All I know is that Mr. Clarke is dead and we can choose to celebrate his life and pray for justice.
Rowan Clarke was my friend for over 25 years. We sang together in the church choir. To set the record straight, his murder was published in the Daily News on April 5th and was on the news; I’m looking right at it. Please stop all this back and forth and remember him for the kind, gentle person he was.
Thank you!!!
Lots of unreported crime is taking place in Harlem.
Low crimes rates keep property values going up and new people moving to the neighborhood.
Anonymous, you are incorrect! The story appeared in the NYC Daily News this past week. I think I read it in Sundays News.
# ” Anonymous Says:
April 5th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I checked the news wires, why does not a single other news service report this crime? A home invasion in Harlem resulting in a shooting and murder and not a single news service or paper reports on it other than this Hardbeatnews.com?
Strange, very very strange. This is very inconsistent with crime reporting and I’ve never heard of a similar act, a crime of this type that has gone basically unnoticed, unreported by 100% of the media (other than this one obscure news source).
My opinion is the Hardbeat version is not accurate or credible. For example, a legit news story would note the location of the crime. Where did it take place? Note it’s not mentioned.
Truth? Assuming the person did die from a gun shot, it was beef or suicide, a personal quarrel. Most people are shot by people they know. This story is very suspect, too many things are missing, absent, details, the absence of media reporting.
Though the news diminishes Black on Black crime, Home Invasions that result in murder make all the news channels, newspapers, etc. Except this one. Why is that?
If this story is as straight forward as being presented by UptownFlavor and Hardbeat News, then people should be outraged a crime of this sort is not on the radar, not worthy of a blip to any news service, channel, paper. But that’s not the case. There is more here than what is being presented.”
Dear Anonymous reader:
I typically don’t like to get involved in back and forth banter in the comments section but I wanted to offer some clarity.
First, this is my first (and only) response to you. Secondly, I see no reason to retract anything that was posted to the site. I contacted the originator of the letter and he confirmed that he did indeed write the letter and sent it to his friends and associates. Lastly, if you go back to reread the information from the site that you were kind enough to link, you will see that it says that Isaacs denied that Clarke was his road manager, not that he was killed. No where in that piece does it say Clarke was not killed… “However, when contacted, Gregory Isaacs knew nothing of Clarke’s death, but denies that Clarke was his road manager. “He is not my road manager, he is my good friend and associate,” he said.”
Reader, please take a few minutes to read the ABOUT page if you need further clarification about the information we provide on this site. Thanks for reading…we need more people to be proactive about investigating questionable matters that take place in Harlem!
In the future if you have questions or concerns the best way to contact me is through email at info[at]uptownflavor[dot]com
-D
Dear Uptown Flavor Editor, In our communication on this thread, I’ve raised legit and valid questions, you gave me a slightly “flip” response. Just my opinion. You also asked me to do the research, guess what, I did. Perhaps you should take a taste of your own medicine.
Do you have the character to not edit this post, concede perhaps that it is you that should apologize to your readers and me? I’m quite serious. We all make mistakes, you’ve made a whopper. I still got nothing but love for you, but please, think twice before you diminish the voice of a person posting who is suspect, as I was. Thank You.
ps, would you like some bacon to go with that Egg on your face?
http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20070405/ent/
Gregory Isaacs denies manager killed
Gregory Isaacs has denied that his road manager was killed on Monday. A ‘Letter of Condolence’ sent via e-mail yesterday by Carl Gray, president and CEO, The Netlinkz Group Inc. alleged that Rowan Clarke…
“By the way, murders happen in Harlem ALL the time and aren’t report. Hmmm, go figure. Must not be from the area”.
_
We’re not talking about thug life people engaged in crime getting killed in the course of their crime (a drug deal gone wrong) are we? We’re talking about an allegedly innocent citizen being the victim of 1) home invasion and 2) murder.
That gets reported in Harlem in 2007. The fact that not a single newspaper, news source, as of this moment has even noted it is very very peculiar and there’s something underneath and to that.
To the Editor, you are relying on one source and an obscure one at that. Sound journalism? I don’t believe this incident is anything close to how it is being characterized by the single source. Beef, Drug deal gone wrong, lover’s quarrel, this is obviously, clearly, plainly more likely.
I don’t believe the Editor can demonstrate a single example of a murder in Harlem of an innocent person that has been unreported by the larger media and only reported by the Amsterdamn news for example.
Anonomous, since you’ve already done all the research about the matter the one thing you didn’t do was check with the person who sent the letter out to the people who knew the guy. So you don’t have to look it up here is his info. Carl Gray at cgray@netlinkzgrpinc.com. Let us know how it checks out. By the way, murders happen in Harlem ALL the time and aren’t report. Hmmm, go figure. Must not be from the area.
Editor’s note: Hey, I had to slightly edit your comment. See our policy in the about section. Thanks.
I checked the news wires, why does not a single other news service report this crime? A home invasion in Harlem resulting in a shooting and murder and not a single news service or paper reports on it other than this Hardbeatnews.com?
Strange, very very strange. This is very inconsistent with crime reporting and I’ve never heard of a similar act, a crime of this type that has gone basically unnoticed, unreported by 100% of the media (other than this one obscure news source).
My opinion is the Hardbeat version is not accurate or credible. For example, a legit news story would note the location of the crime. Where did it take place? Note it’s not mentioned.
Truth? Assuming the person did die from a gun shot, it was beef or suicide, a personal quarrel. Most people are shot by people they know. This story is very suspect, too many things are missing, absent, details, the absence of media reporting.
Though the news diminishes Black on Black crime, Home Invasions that result in murder make all the news channels, newspapers, etc. Except this one. Why is that?
If this story is as straight forward as being presented by UptownFlavor and Hardbeat News, then people should be outraged a crime of this sort is not on the radar, not worthy of a blip to any news service, channel, paper. But that’s not the case. There is more here than what is being presented.