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Ester-Ethy Mamane, front row left, and her mother Claudie Mamane, front row center, are joined by George Fertitta, CEO NYC & Company, and Port Authority Police, from left back row, Officer Robert Sznurkowski, Seargent Bernard Buckner, Officer Kevin O'Connell, Officer Mike Bestany, and Lieutanant John Ryan during a during a news conference Wednesday. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
The five French tourists who became unwilling passengers in a high-speed chase on Tuesday when police tried to bust an unlicensed livery van at JFK are getting a great taste of American instant-celebrity. Yesterday two of the tourists attended a big press conference to publicly thank the officers involved in the incident, which began after undercover Port Authority cops spotted a hustler steering them into the unlicensed van—when one officer tried to grab the keys, the driver sped off with the newly-arrived French visitors trapped inside.
60-year-old Claudie Mamane was injured when she tried to escape the moving vehicle, after the suspects had jumped out in an unsuccessful attempt to run away. (The van rolled over her arm.) She says, "I wasn't scared because I was praying the whole time." The city presented Mamanes and her daughter, in town for a religious seminar, with a gift bag yesterday, including free tickets to the Broadway show Chicago and passes to the Museum of Modern Art.
But where were the other three during the press conference? Giving an exclusive to the Daily News, apparently; reporters for the tabloid say they "escorted" the family from their hotel to Times Square, where 28-year old Gwen Dulugat, whose parents had taken her to New York to celebrate her birthday, called the experience "a horror. Yesterday was like a movie. All the fame is weird. I feel like I'm living some sort of American Dream."
Her father, Jean-Jacques, declared, "This is the greatest city in the world, and I want everyone to know it has the greatest police." He also loves those controversial Times Square lawn chairs, which, since he's French, is really going to make Andrea "chair-hater" Peyser happy. Suspects Khaalif Preacher, 27, and Ian L. McFarlane, 57, were arraigned last night, and the Post reports each was held in lieu of $50,000 bail. The charges against them include unlawful imprisonment, reckless endangerment and assault on a police officer.
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Oh sure, but the people who live here and get assaulted, punched in the face by cabi's, raped as the subway conductors watch and drive off, where's their gift bags??? more important where are the F'ING COPS??
It does seem like the city gov prefers tourists. Maybe they spend more money?
Tourists are what keeps the city and state afloat. Without them NYC and NYS will be bankrupt.
Really? They're in town for a religious seminar and they are given tickets to Chicago? They couldn't be given tickets to something a little more wholesome?
Umm, Hair?
They are French, Chicago is wholesome.
Americans- Always wis zee car chase......
Andrea Peyser hates the chairs (and everything else in the universe) because she knows nobody will sit down with her.
I will sit on her face and let out a big one.
maybe they were in town for a scientology forum.
Daughter is hot, me could make a beautiful Bearnaise together.
The daughter, yes, but the mother, "Ces't une night-mere."
It's very strange that the bail for the suspects is only $50,000. Their families will be able to come up with such a trivial amount in no time, in fact they've probably done so already.
"Thank you police officers for involving us in a very dangerous high speed pursuit in order to save us from that awful unlicensed van driver. The injuries we suffered and the life-threatening peril we and the general public experienced were a completely acceptable tradeoff in order to arrest a guy who might have ripped us off for a few dollars on our way from the airport."
In other words, protecting state-run transportation cartels was so important that the authorities were willing to sacrifice individual lives. No doubt, the media is going to make the police into heroes, but as far as I am concerned the real villains are the ones who would endanger others just to prevent poor people from earning a decent living.
http://blog.mises.org/archives/010189.asp