US EditionFrom Camaguey to Harlem: A Once-Beloved Art Professor’s Tragic Battle with Addiction and Homelessness | News Channel 3-12
HARLEM, NEW YORK CITY, JUL 19 – Hamid Thomas, 32, had nearly 20 arrests since 2017 and was shot at the Drew Hamilton Houses; a woman was also wounded and remains stable, police said.
- The body found washed ashore in the Hudson River near West Harlem on June 17, 2024, was identified as Cuban artist Rewell Altunaga in November 2024.
- Altunaga's decline followed years of homelessness amid a record 18% increase in US homelessness to over 770,000 people in 2024, with single men receiving minimal support.
- Once a vibrant art professor and pioneer of Cuban video game art, Altunaga struggled with self-destructive behavior and was involved in a community project distributing survival kits to homeless individuals.
- The autopsy revealed no injuries and detected cocaethylene and ethanol, indicating alcohol and cocaine use before death; his ashes now rest in a plain wooden box in a friend's Harlem apartment.
- Altunaga's case highlights ongoing challenges faced by homeless single men and drew tribute from friends and advocates describing his death as "utterly tragic.
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Foster mom says man killed in Harlem shooting was addicted to the streets
A Harlem man who was shot and killed in a housing complex courtyard had a bright mind and a loving home that were not enough to keep him away from the streets, his one-time foster mother told the News. Hamid Thomas, 32, was raised by a loving Bronx family, but no matter how hard they tried to make him feel at home, Thomas always found his way back to the streets of Harlem — and the trouble that came with it, said his foster mom, Adrienne Carroll…
·New York, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources13
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution77% Center
Bias Distribution
- 77% of the sources are Center
77% Center
15%
C 77%
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