Slain LES teen had gang ties

11 busts since 2018

A 16-year-old boy slain on the Lower East Side on Friday was a reputed gangbanger with a lengthy rap sheet who was more than likely targeted for death — and is at least the 22nd teen killed by street violence in the city this year, law-enforcement sources said.

Isaiah Levine was a reputed member of the Pitt Street Crew and had 11 felony arrests from 2018 to 2021, on charges including gun possession, robbery with a knife, a slashing attack and criminal mischief for allegedly jumping on a teacher’s car, the sources said.

Levine (inset), a resident of the nearby Baruch Houses, was hanging out with a group on the corner of Delancey and Suffolk streets when a man opened fire at about 8:30 p.m., striking the teen in the face, cops and sources said.

Levine was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A man who said he had known Levine expressed little surprise over the killing.

“He wasn’t a kid who stayed inside,” said the man, in his late 20s. “He wasn’t going to school. He wasn’t the kid when you hear this you go, ‘Wow, I never expected this.’ You expect it. He was living the life . . . I feel sorry for what happened though.”

Levine was being eyed in a string of robberies of AsianAmericans on the Lower East Side and was a suspect in an area homicide, according to police sources.

He was arrested in February on a gun charge, said people familiar with the matter. That case, on Staten Island, is sealed, the sources said.

His last open case was for a Jan. 22, 2020, robbery. He was last in court for that matter on Sept. 2, sources said. The case was adjourned to Nov. 9.

Family and friends were distraught Saturday morning at the Baruch Houses

“I’m in shock. My feelings are shot. I’m angry and upset,” said Levine’s mom, Valerie Andrews, 50. “I don’t know who did this, but I hope to get some justice.”

A teen girl who had known Levine for four years burst into tears when a Post reporter showed her his picture.

“Oh, my God! It’s Zay!” she said, using Levine’s nickname. “He is the sweetest thing ever. He don’t bother nobody.”

There had been no arrests in the slaying as of Saturday afternoon. Police sources said four men were seen fleeing the scene and five .40-caliber shell casings were found.

At least 21 minors died by guns or knives in the city between January and Sept. 30 — more than triple the totals for the same period in 2019 and 2020, NYPD data show.

Also on Saturday, police announced the arrest of Xavier Rosado, 21, of The Bronx, in the Sept. 30 death of Nisayah Sanchez, 16, a reputed Bronx gang member who was shot in the head and chest in Belmont by two men who emerged from a Honda Accord.

Rosado was charged with murder, attempted murder, assault, weapon possession, and criminal use of a firearm.