Rep. Peter King Blasts Coverage Of "Pedophile" Michael Jackson
Finally Skinny Jeans Get WSJ Treatment
Palin Couldn't Go The Hillary Clinton Route
Fireworks Dazzle Over The Hudson River
Steve McNair Slain Inside Tennesee Apartment
Yesterday, This Week With George Stephanopoulos aired an interview with Vice President Joe Biden. Pointing out that unemployment is now 9.5%, Stephanopoulos said, "When the president and you all were selling the stimulus package, you predicted at the beginning that, to get this package in place, unemployment will peak at about 8 percent. So, either you misread the economy, or the stimulus package is too slow and to small." To which Biden replied, "The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy. The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there. so the truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited...It's now our responsibility. So the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the Recovery Act, is it the right package given the circumstances we're in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we're in.... We are now only about 120 days into the recovery package. The truth of the matter was, no one anticipated, no one expected that that recovery package would in fact be in a position at this point of having to distribute the bulk of money." Full transcript here—and in other news, stock futures are down on concerns about the economy.
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New York artist Justin Baldwin does his best work underground in the subway system. Unlike many who use their Metrocard to gain access to a city full of straphanging subjects, however, he merely uses the subway car as his studio, not to find models. He recently told us a little about his process.
Around 5:30 a.m., an off-duty police cadet was shot in the stomach on St. John's Avenue in the Bronx's Longwood section. He was taken to Lincoln Hospital in stable condition. WABC 7 reports, "The shooting took place on a sidewalk... The police cadet was off-duty and also happens to be suspended from the 41st precinct. There is no cause of the shooting and no suspects have been taken into custody at this time." Update: 1010WINS has more details: The victim, who is referred to as a "former police cadet," was "on his way home when a struggle ensued in the lobby of his building, at 950 Avenue St. John... Investigators think the man may have been targeted, but don't believe that it had anything to do with his prior connection to the NYPD."
- Yankees 10 Blue Jays 8: Alfredo Aceves doesn’t have the best stuff, but he knows how to pitch and that is why he is becoming a very important part of the Yankees’ pitching staff. A day after a 12 inning game, New York needed a good outing from Joba Chamberlain that they didn't get. Joba was rocked giving up eight runs in three-plus innings. But, the Yankees’ bullpen held the game at 8-4 Toronto and the bats brought them back. Hideki Matsui hit a three-run homer to make it 8-7 and Derek Jeter put them up for good with a two-run blast. Aceves pitched four innings, allowing only one baserunner while striking out five and he earned his first save. Philadelphia 2 Mets 0: It was a lost weekend in Philly for the Mets. New York turned to its ace, Johan Santana to try and salvage a win in the series. Santana pitched very well, allowing only three hits, but two of them were solo homers. The problem was that once again the Mets’ offense was overmatched and they could only manage four hits against Joe Blanton. Now they have a day off before hosting the NL-best Dodgers starting on Tuesday.
- From the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on E 33rd St in Manhattan, a water rescue at the parking lot of the North Channel Bridge in Queens and a car in the water at Bayfield Ave and Beach St, also in Queens.
- Rescuers are looking for the second of two teenagers who were fishing at the North Channel Bridge and got pulled into the water. The first teen was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he's in stable condition.
- The Little People of America are telling reporters talking to them at their annual conference taking place at the Brooklyn Marriott that they would like to see the FCC ban the word "midget" from the airwaves.
Who said there were no fireworks on the East River last night? A family who had taken a holiday cruise down to the Statue of Liberty ended up in danger of almost capsizing as dusk approached yesterday evening. The Delorbe family had headed down for lunch on the Jersey side of the Hudson and were making their way back home to City Island when they hit a rough patch and water began entering their 15-foot jetboat near East 34th Street. Luckily for them, their state of peril was quickly spotted by a nearby water taxi named "Frank Sinatra" who put out a mayday call that was promptly responded to by an FDNY rescue boat. The four adults and three young children were pulled out just after 7 p.m. The rescuing captain told the News, "It was the right place at the right time. If we didn't get to them, they would have gone under."
Being criticized and questioned (by even her fellow Republican party members!) over her sudden resignation, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin fought back on Facebook and Twitter, saying, "How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it's about country. And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make." Her lawyer is also threatening legal action over "defamatory" rumors that a criminal investigation might be afoot. Apparently the spotlight on her personal life was too much; Washington Post spoke to John Coale, the D.C. lawyer who "helped [Palin] establish a political action committee and has become her political consigliere of sorts." Coale said, "She asked me, 'Well, what do you think all this is? Why are all these people attacking me?' I said to her: 'Look, that's what happens. They did it to Hillary [Rodham Clinton], and Hillary just pushed through it. It's not going to really stop... You just have to ignore it and move on,' but he added, "she couldn't ignore the hits on the kids. She said, 'It brought out the mama grizzly in me.' She acted like a mother grizzly bear when her cubs were being attacked."
Patrick Swayze once memorably declared to Jerry Orbach, "No one puts Baby in the corner." But now a group of older men in Staten Island are declaring to their condo's board that "no one puts Poppy in the corner" either. The group of New Springville seniors call themselves "The Fined Five" after receiving $25 fines last winter when the board decided that their usual kibitzing in the lobby was loitering. The property manager said that "it's not a 55-and-older building," but compromised by finding them an unoccupied studio to hang out in. But now the men complain that they're being confined, with one saying, "I can't stay inside my sheetrock walls all day; I'll go crazy." So the Fined Five is suing the board, saying that their banishment is illegal and unnecessary. A neighbor whose apartment is adjoined to the lobby tells the SI Advance, "It's a bunch of old guys sitting around and talking about their wartime remembrances and fixing the motors in their cars. They're a lovely bunch of gentlemen." When asked what they do there, one of the Five told the Post, "We don't play Johnny on the pony in the lobby."
- Chicagoist checked out the annual Pride Parade, which celebrated its 40th anniversary.
- Seattlest owned up to its darkest, most claustrophobic fear--getting trapped in a badly maintained hellevator.
- SFist wondered why some Bay Area residents feared the high speed rail system, which would whisk people from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles in two hours.
- Phillyist was disappointed but unsurprised when the makers of Trojan condoms named Philly amongst the least-sexed cities in the States.
It seems that a passionate petition drive and an eleventh hour overture from the landlord weren't enough to save Joe Jr., the classic greasy spoon that's been a Greenwich Village institution for more than three decades. The coffee shop was packed with diners this weekend; among them was blogger Vanishing New York, who overheard one customer declare, "The landlord is a greedy prick." The petition on the counter read, "Joe's is our kitchen, our meeting place, our hangout, our comfort food. Our neighborhood will lose a treasure should it shut down this weekend." 65-year-old owner Teddy Hondros's lease had expired at the end of June, and it appears that a dispute with the landlord over who should pay the cost of repairs from a basement electrical fire were a major factor in the closure. Lost City was probably the last blogger to dine there yesterday, and reports a line stretching outside the restaurant: "I don't know about you, but I've never seen a line outside a greasy spoon before... That such a quintessentially American business should on July 4th is bitterly ironic." He says the doors were locked for the final time at 3 p.m., and our calls to Joe Jr.'s today are going unanswered.
Build-a-Bear has made a name for itself over the last decade by letting passers-by take a bird's eye view of the their bears getting stuffed inside workshops around the country. But yesterday police caught up with a group of criminals in The Bronx who have been filling up the teddy bears with bags of heroin over the last year right under their unsuspecting neighbors' noses.
Yesterday, the Statue of Liberty's crown reopened to excited crowds. But the visits were tempered with the reality of climbing 354 steps during a beautiful (and warm!) day: The NY Times reports, "No wonder by the time these huddled masses reached the top of the hot, sticky and narrow staircase, they were indeed yearning to breathe free." One visitor said it was "absolutely awesome!" and "intensely uncomfortable." Anyway, one couple made the most of the heady views—Aaron Weisinger of Walnut Creek, California proposed to girlfriend Erica Breder. Breder said yes, "I had no idea. Even when he got down on one knee, I still didn't know what was going on." Weisinger explained why the holiday was important to the couple—their families immigrated from Eastern Europe, his great-grandparents through Ellis Island and Breder's father came to New York and drove a cab when he arrived from Czechoslovakia. Weisinger said, "The Statue of Liberty symbolizes independence and freedom. It's a pretty unique spot."
For almost 24 hours, he fooled you. You could almost believe that Glen Sather finally had a plan for building a championship hockey team in New York. Somehow, he had managed to trade a seemingly untradeable contract in Scott Gomez, creating cap room and getting a nice prospect in addition.
While the State Senate did meet yesterday during another "extraordinary" session, Newsday reports that it only "lasted about seven minutes... All 31 members of the Republican-dominated coalition were present in the ornate chamber. Five of the 31 Democrats were absent." State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is investigating whether the state is able to withhold Senate pay, Paterson now wants a judge to decide. He told the Daily News, "We want a direct ruling on whether it's right or wrong for them to be paid when our position is they have abdicated their role... It's also our contention that they have been derelict in their duties. Government has been shut down by the Senate. Cities and counties are losing money off of this." The Senate has another session tonight at 6 p.m.—the Democrats and Republicans claim they are closer to an agreement, but seriously—it's been weeks.
Last night, the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks headed to the Hudson River. There were colorful displays, including smiley faces, cubes, Saturn shells and star dust, set off from six barges. Here are some photographs of the show—while folks along the East River were disappointed the show wasn't there this year, they could still see a bit of the pyrotechnics.
