Michael Gold and Nate Schweber

Cammarata, a first-grade teacher in Staten Island, had filed for divorce in February, which started a difficult and contentious custody battle with her husband, Michael Cammarata. The two were scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

But Jeanine Cammarata never showed up. The following day, she didn’t report for work either.

On Thursday, five days after Cammarata, 37, went missing, police were investigating whether charred human remains that were found at a Staten Island storage facility were hers — and whether Michael Cammarata was involved in her disappearance.

The city medical examiner’s office was conducting an autopsy to formally identify the remains, which were found in a bag inside a storage unit and were burned beyond recognition, William F. Aubry, assistant chief of the Detective Bureau, said Thursday.

But the police said that the body appeared to be linked to Jeanine Cammarata’s case, Aubry said. They were now exploring the possibility that she was murdered, and have focused their investigation on Michael Cammarata, 42, Aubry said.

“With the discovery of these human remains, the investigation has taken a turn into a murder investigation,” Aubry said. “We are working with the Staten Island district attorney to establish probable cause and to charge him with murder.”

Michael Cammarata was taken into custody earlier this week on charges that he assaulted and stalked his wife in earlier incidents unrelated to her disappearance, Aubry said.

As of Thursday, he was being held at the 120th Precinct while detectives continued to search for evidence at the Extra Space Storage facility on Arden Avenue in Staten Island, Aubry said.

Officials did not provide the name of Michael Cammarata’s lawyer, and so they could not be reached for comment.

Jeanine Cammarata, who was reported missing on Tuesday, had been at her boyfriend’s home in Staten Island, about six miles from her own residence, on Saturday night. After leaving his house, she was on her way to the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, Aubry said.

Friends and family became alarmed when Cammarata, who had been teaching at a Staten Island public school since October and also had a part-time job at a Dollar Tree, did not show up at the school on Tuesday.

Her lawyer, Eric M. Gansberg, said it was also surprising that she failed to show up for her court appearance on Monday. He last spoke to her on Friday to confirm she was coming, he said.

Jeanine Cammarata separated from her husband nearly two years ago, when she left the home they shared because of “domestic violence,” Gansberg said.

The couple had a troubling history of marital conflict dating back to 2016, Aubry said. He added that the assault charges against Michael Cammarata stemmed from that history.

After separating in 2017, the couple had worked out a visitation agreement for Jeanine Cammarata to see their 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. Cammarata had agreed to allow the children to remain with Michael Cammarata in the family’s home in Staten Island, since it was a house that they were familiar with, Gansberg said.

After her husband moved to Far Rockaway, however, she became unhappy with their arrangement and decided to file for divorce, Gansberg said.

“She came to me and said she had to take action,” Gansberg said. “Her husband was being dictatorial about when she could see the children.”

Jeanine Cammarata’s friend and landlord, Jose Perez, said that she had complained that her husband had made it difficult for her to spend time with the children.

“She was very angry about not being able to see her kids,” Perez said. “He didn’t follow his end of the agreement.”

Perez also said Jeanine Cammarata had told him that her husband harassed her. She told Perez, who lived above Cammarata, that her husband followed her in his car and sent her menacing text messages.

“It was not good,” he said. “It was all sexual and inappropriate.”

Jeanine Cammarata’s reports alarmed Perez enough that he told her to watch out for her physical safety.

“I told her, ‘You better be careful,’” he said. “She said, ‘Oh, he’s harmless, he would never do anything to me.’”

In addition to her children with Michael Cammarata, who police said had been placed in the care of the city, Jeanine Cammarata also has a child with her first husband. She has been an employee of the city’s Department of Education since 2005.

The boyfriend at whose house she was last seen, Aaron Suchecki, did not respond to requests for comment.

Family members of Jeanine Cammarata, who has a younger brother and sister, have also been anxious about her whereabouts.

Her mother, AnnMarie Ross, said Wednesday that she had been struggling to make sense of her daughter’s absence.

“She’s very assertive, she’s strong-willed, she’s a workaholic, she’s determined, she’s smart, witty and for her to become missing is very puzzling to me, because she’s a fighter,” Ross said.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/nyregion/teacher-missing-staten-island.html" id="7388db72-1be6-3f30-a385-58138b07c834">The New York Times</a>.

Body Found in Storage Unit May Be Missing Staten Island Teacher, Police Say

NEW YORK — Jeanine Cammarata was last seen alive on Saturday night while she was driving to Queens to visit her two children who lived with her estranged husband.

Police officers and staff from the New York City chief medical examiner’s office flocked to the scene of an Extra Space Storage location in Staten Island on Thursday morning to investigate human remains that were found in a bag there, burned and charred beyond recognition.

While the medical examiner was still working to identify the body, the police believed the remains they found in the storage space are those of Jeanine Cammarata, 37, a mother of three who had not been seen in public since Saturday night, Assistant Chief William F. Aubry of the Detective Bureau said Thursday.

The police were investigating the possibility that Cammarata was murdered, and her estranged husband, Michael Cammarata, 42, was the primary suspect, Aubry said.

Cammarata was reported missing Tuesday. She was last seen Saturday night at her boyfriend’s home in Staten Island, about 6 miles from her own residence. When she left his address, she was on her way to the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, where her husband lives with their children, police said.

Friends and family became alarmed when Cammarata, a first-grade teacher at a Staten Island public school who also had a part-time job at a Dollar Tree, did not show up for work. She also did not attend a court appearance Monday for the divorce proceedings that she had initiated against Michael Cammarata.

Michael Cammarata has been in police custody on charges that he assaulted and stalked his wife in earlier incidents unrelated to her disappearance, Aubry said.

Cammarata was still being questioned at the 120th Precinct in Staten Island on Thursday morning when investigators discovered a body in a unit at the storage facility.

Jeanine Cammarata filed for divorce from her husband in February, court records show. They had separated nearly two years ago, according to Jeanine Cammarata’s attorney, Eric M. Gansberg.

Cammarata left the home she shared with her husband because of domestic violence, Gansberg said.

The couple have two children together, a 7-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. She also has a third child from her first husband.

After the separation, the couple had worked out a visitation agreement. Jeanine Cammarata agreed to allow the children to remain with Michael Cammarata in the family’s home, because it was a house that they were familiar with, Gansberg said.

After her husband relocated to Far Rockaway in Queens, however, she became upset about the arrangement, Gansberg said.

Jeanine Cammarata’s landlord, Jose Perez, also said that she had complained that her husband had made it difficult for her to spend time with the children.

“She was very angry about not being able to see her kids,” Perez said. “He didn’t follow his end of the agreement. She said, ‘I can’t see my kids; that’s unacceptable.’ ”

Perez also said Jeanine Cammarata had said that her husband mistreated and harassed her. She told Perez, who lived above her, that Michael Cammarata would follow her in his car and send her menacing text messages.

Perez said Jeanine Cammarata’s reports alarmed him enough that he told her to watch out for her physical safety.

Gansberg said that he last spoke to Jeanine Cammarata on Friday, confirming her court appearance. When she didn’t show up, he initially thought that it may be because she was afraid of her husband.

Then, when he saw reports that she had been missing, he was shocked.

Jeanine Cammarata was last seen at the home of her boyfriend, Aaron Suchecki.

On Thursday, a man who identified himself as Suchecki’s landlord said that he had seen Jeanine Cammarata at the house several times in the past and that there was never any sign of trouble between them.

He also said that Suchecki was distraught by Cammarata’s disappearance.

“He’s going through something right now, and it’s very difficult for him,” the landlord said.

Family members of Jeanine Cammarata, who has a younger brother and sister, have also spent the past few days anxious about her whereabouts.

Her mother, AnnMarie Ross, said Wednesday that she was struggling to make sense of her daughter’s absence.

NEW YORK — Five days after a New York City teacher went missing, officials are investigating whether human remains found at a storage facility may be hers.

Police officers and staff from the New York City chief medical examiner’s office flocked to the scene of an Extra Space Storage location in Staten Island on Thursday morning to investigate human remains that were found there.

Police had not yet determined whether the body was that of Jeanine Cammarata, 37, a mother of three who has not been seen in public since Saturday night, and were still working to identify the body as of 9:30 a.m., a police spokesman said.

“A connection to the missing teacher has not been verified,” the spokesman said.

Cammarata was reported missing Tuesday. She was last seen Saturday night at her boyfriend’s home in Staten Island, about 6 miles from her own residence.

Friends and family became alarmed when Cammarata, a first-grade teacher at a Staten Island public school who also had a part-time job at a Dollar Tree, did not show up for work. She also did not attend a court appearance Monday for the divorce proceedings that she had initiated against her husband, Michael Cammarata, 42.

Michael Cammarata has been in police custody on charges that he assaulted his wife in an incident unrelated to her disappearance, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

Jeanine Cammarata had filed for divorce from her husband in February, court records show. They had separated nearly two years ago, according to Jeanine Cammarata’s attorney, Eric M. Gansberg.

The couple have two children together: a 7-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. She also has a third child from her first husband.

In the time Jeanine Cammarata and Michael Cammarata had been living apart, the couple had worked out a visitation agreement. Jeanine Cammarata had agreed to allow the children to remain with Michael Cammarata in the family’s home, because it was a house that they were familiar with, Gansberg said.

After her husband relocated to Far Rockaway in Queens, however, she began to get upset about the arrangement, Gansberg said.

Jeanine Cammarata’s landlord, Jose Perez, also said that she had been upset about the arrangement because it was breaking down.

“I told her, ‘You better be careful,’ ” he said. “She said, ‘Oh, he’s harmless, he would never do anything to me.’ ”

Jeanine Cammarata was last seen at the home of her boyfriend, Aaron Suchecki. Police have said that they spoke with Suchecki, and that he was not a suspect in Cammarata’s disappearance.

Law enforcement flocked to the scene of an Extra Space Storage location in Staten Island on Thursday morning to investigate human remains that were found there.

The police were still working to identify the body as of 9:30 a.m., a police spokesman said. They had not yet determined whether the body was that of Jeanine Cammarata, 37, a mother of three who has not been seen in public since Saturday night.

Cammarata was reported missing Tuesday. She had last been seen Saturday night at a house six miles from her own home in Staten Island.

Friends and family became alarmed when she did not show up for her job as a first-grade teacher Monday morning. She also did not attend a court appearance Monday for the divorce proceedings that she had initiated against her husband, Michael Cammarata, 42.

Michael Cammarata was taken into police custody Wednesday on charges that he assaulted his wife in an incident unrelated to her disappearance, a police spokesman said.

He was still being questioned at the 120th Precinct in Staten Island on Thursday morning when investigators discovered a body in a unit at the storage facility.

Jeanine Cammarata had filed for divorce from her husband in February, court records show. They had separated nearly two years ago, according to Jeanine Cammarata’s landlord, Jose Perez.

Perez said Jeanine Cammarata had said that her husband mistreated and harassed her. She told Perez, who lived above Cammarata, that Michael Cammarata would follow her in his car and send her menacing text messages.

Jeanine Cammarata also told Perez that she took out an order of protection against her husband.

Cammarata and her husband have two children together. She also has a third child from her first husband.

In the time that Jeanine Cammarata and Michael Cammarata had been living apart, the couple had worked out a visitation agreement. Recently, however, Jeanine Cammarata had been upset about the arrangement because it was breaking down, Perez said.

“She was very angry about not being able to see her kids,” Perez said. “He didn’t follow his end of the agreement. She said, ‘I can’t see my kids; that’s unacceptable.’”

<h1>NEW YORK — New York City’s subway riders are used to a spectrum of smells, most of them unpleasant.</h1>

But the mysterious fumes that have permeated the L train this week, and made some subway riders and transit workers feel ill, go beyond the usual odors a New Yorker endures.

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority temporarily suspended service for several hours to investigate harsh fuel smells at the Graham Avenue stop in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. On Thursday, subway riders and transit workers said the odor, a dizzying chemical stench that forced some to breathe through tissues over their faces, continued to linger.

Amie Roe, 34, who is eight months pregnant, said the smell hit her especially hard Tuesday. “It was really intense,” she said, swaying side-to-side to pantomime her dizziness.

“I’m happy it’s no longer going to be shut down,” she said about the L train, “but I’m upset that this happened.”

The now multiple-day episode is just the latest in a series of troubles for the city’s subway system, coming on the heels of the aborted L train shutdown and near constant complaints from the public of poor service.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Thursday that the stench was caused by nonflammable heating oil from a source, not yet identified, outside the subway system. The oil leaked onto the tracks between the Graham Avenue and Grand Street stations. It was not connected to ongoing subway construction or repair work, the transit authority said.

On Wednesday, the transit authority’s chief safety officer, Pat Warren, said the agency had removed “almost all” of the oil from the tracks.

Warren also said there was no health or safety threat to riders and that the transit agency had worked with experts at the fire department and the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to determine that there was no risk to the public.

“The air on the L train and in the stations is 100 percent safe,” he said.

Not every subway rider was convinced. Jerry Holste, 69, said that when he got on the subway Tuesday, he became terrified when the fumes filled the train car.

“I don’t like being exposed to that,” he said. “I don’t trust it. They need to clean it up.”

Sandhya Jain-Patel, 45, an art specialist, said the situation had made her furious.

“Yesterday I got down here and my eyes started watering,” she said. “I said, ‘If my eyes are watering’ it’s not safe for children.”

She and other nearby parents from her children’s school hired a Lyft to take them to their children’s school in Manhattan.

“So that’s money out of my pocket in addition to the money I pay for a monthly MetroCard,” she said.

Warren said Wednesday that officials were not sure why the smell was so strong. He could not estimate when the fumes would dissipate and said he was surprised that they had lingered this long.

In the meantime, the authority has been continuously monitoring air quality in stations as complaints about the smells have continued, Warren said.

To help remove the scent, the agency placed heavy-duty fans on subway grates near the Graham Avenue station, the authority said. Workers were also using absorbent pads and blankets to soak up the oil.

Despite the authority’s efforts, station agents and subway conductors have reported feeling nauseous and suffering headaches the past several days.

Dozens of transit workers have complained about the smell, and at least four have gone to the hospital, according to the New York City’s transit workers’ union.

“The L-train situation is completely unacceptable,” Tony Utano, president of a local union chapter, said in a statement. “The air still stinks and we are concerned about long-term exposure and the health of our members working 8-hour shifts along the line.”

He said the union had pulled workers from several locations and would “take further action” if the smell did not improve over the weekend.

On Thursday morning, the fumes continued to penetrate subway cars traveling between the Grand Street and Graham Avenue stations, upsetting riders’ stomachs and irritating their throats.

The scent appeared to have migrated as well. At the Lorimer Street stop, one stop west of Graham Avenue, the smell was so powerful that groups of riders were bunched underneath a subway grate in order to inhale fresh air. The odor was also noticeable at the Bedford Avenue station, the westernmost Brooklyn stop on the L train.

The New York City subway system has been plagued by high-profile issues recently. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has criticized the transit agency several times in recent weeks. The system’s ridership has been in decline amid competition from ride-hailing services as well as delays caused by deteriorating infrastructure.

As a result, the transit authority has been facing a growing budget hole. But in January, after transit leaders spent months urging the need for a fare increase to fix the issue, the MTA’s board delayed a vote on the fare hike.

The L train has been especially beleaguered. After the transit agency spent years preparing to shut down the subway line to make repairs to a tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan, Cuomo halted the plan and introduced an alternative proposal that he said would be less disruptive.

Though the transit authority has said it would follow the governor’s plan, it remains unclear when the repairs would begin and exactly how service would be affected.

Olivia Gallinaro, a regular L train rider, said she learned to accept the inconvenience that has become associated with that particular subway line. She took the smelly disruption in stride.

“I was annoyed but I was like, what can we do? When can we catch a break?” Gallinaro said.

She wasn’t alone. Another rider at the Graham Avenue stop on Thursday, Sarah Feldman, said that had she not been told about the scent she would not have deemed it out of the ordinary.

“There are so many smells in this city,” she said. “If bad smells bother you, it’s not the place for you.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="2e752062-793b-4587-92a8-fb734d894201" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/nyregion/l-train-smell.html">The New York Times</a>.

The L Train Smells Bad. No, Really, It Smells Very, Very Bad

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority temporarily suspended service for several hours to investigate harsh fuel smells at the Graham Avenue stop in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The L train smells bad, no, really, it smells very, very bad

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Thursday that the stench was caused by nonflammable heating oil from a source, not yet identified, outside the subway system. The oil leaked onto the tracks between the Graham Avenue and Grand Street stations.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/nyregion/l-train-smell.html" id="33f57d0a-6560-3248-a4df-419a6e5b955a">The New York Times</a>.

NEW YORK — New York City’s subway riders are used to a spectrum of smells, most of them unpleasant.

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Michael Gold and Nate Schweber

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Body Found in Storage Unit May Be Missing Staten Island Teacher, Police Say

Body Found in Storage Unit May Be Missing Staten Island Teacher, Police Say

Body Found in Storage Unit May Be Missing Staten Island Teacher, Police Say

Body Found in Storage Unit May Be Missing Staten Island Teacher, Police Say

The L train smells bad, no, really, it smells very, very bad

The L Train Smells Bad. No, Really, It Smells Very, Very Bad