News: July 2009 Archives

After a woman set a pit bull on cops, prompting them to fatally shoot the dog in an Upper East Side public housing building on Tuesday night, there are some inevitable arrests: NY1 reports that the dog's owner, Milagros Martinez, and give others were arrested on "charges of possession of a controlled substance after police said they found crack residue in a crack pipe." Martinez was also previously evicted; according to the Daily News, she was "booted from her First Ave. apartment in April for not paying rent - but a judge let her back in." Apparently she was evicted because her husband was arrested "in a kiddie-toy drug bust," but was allowed back after paying back rent; Mayor Bloomberg said, "We had disagreed violently with the judge that let these people go back into their apartment." The News also spoke to the neighbor who claims she called 911 on Tuesday because she was "sick of the drugs" in the apartment; the woman felt bad about the dog's death, "I cried. But I feel the dog's probably in a better place than being with them."

When it's nature versus hipsters, nature usually wins. First it was the Brooklyn Kickballers being scared of the newly planted saplings in McCarren Park, and now this. The Daily News reports that 23-year-old Justin Calicchio was playing a game of dodgeball in Carroll Park yesterday when a tree branch came out of nowhere and pinned him to the ground. Yikes. He told the paper from his hospital bed that, "I blacked out. Everything is starting to become clear again. My girlfriend has been telling me about it and I'm starting to remember now." He is suffering from back injuries but was told he barely dodged more serious problems. A friend reported back saying the branch was too big and fell too fast that there was no escaping it. Calicchio has lived in Carroll Gardens his whole life, and says the tree has always been there, and "branches have fallen off before." Paging the Parks Department!

Jury room debates in the fraud trial of a lawyer for commodities broker Refco have gotten so heated that a court officer has had to order jurors to lower their voices. And yesterday, after six days of deliberations, juror No. 4, identified only as "Kevin," sent a letter to the judge explaining that the "frequent insults" he's endured from Juror No. 9, Abigail O'Connell, had risen to a "whole new level. Specifically, in a loud and belligerent manner Juror O'Connell threatened to cut off my finger. She made that statement twice. In the same tirade she stated, 'I will have my husband take care of you.'" Kevin told the foreman that the "threats and intimidation" would not change his vote, but he's worried that "hearing these threats may affect other jurors." The foreman, however, says, "the altercation [Wednesday] could be traced to both parties involved." Judge Robert Patterson denied the defense a mistrial and ordered deliberations to continue; Refco's former attorney Joseph Collins is accused of helping hide the company's bad debts.

Around 5:30 a.m., a fire broke out on a construction platform under the Throgs Neck Bridge. According to WABC 7, "The fire spread under the bridge, from the Bronx-bound to Queens-bound lanes. FDNY marine boats were responding to put out the flames." And the MTA just sent this statement: "The Throgs Neck Bridge continues to be closed in both directions due to a fire on scaffolding under the bridge where contractors were working this morning. No reports of injuries. The Fire Department is on the scene along with engineers. There is currently no estimate of when the bridge might reopen. That will be a decision made by the Fire Department and engineers on the scene. Traffic is being diverted to the Bronx Whitestone and RFK Bridges."

Two off-duty Nassau Marine Officers helped save four fisherman whose "boat began sinking in shark-infested waters south of Fire Island," according to Newsday. Mike Spagnuolo and Mike Larmony, in Spagnuolo's charter boat, the Gina Ann, heard the distress call; Spagnuolo said, "We heard the panic in their voice and we knew we had to get there. We knew there were no other boats out there." The distressed boat, the Anger Management, sank minutes after the Gina Ann arrived. Anger Management captain Ray Pasieka and his crew put on life jackets and swam about 50 feet to the Gina Ann. Pasieka, who caught a mako shark but left it on the sinking boat, said, "That was the biggest fear, jumping in the water. We knew there was a shark in the water in eating distance."

It's unclear whether Governor Paterson's appointment of Richard Ravitch will ever hold up as being legal, but at least the pair can rest knowing this—they pulled it off like pimps. Soon after Paterson went on television and made his announcement yesterday and before the GOP could mount a court challenge to block it (way back when they were allied with Sen. Pedro Espada), Ravitch was secretly sworn in while having dinner at Peter Luger Steak House in Williamsburg. When Ravitch's 7:45 reservation for four added a mysterious fifth person, the group explained what was going on and said they were in a hurry. The president of Peter Luger's told the Times, "They drew out some documents, and they were very excited and everything. Mr. Ravitch said, ‘This is my favorite restaurant, and I wouldn’t take the oath of office anywhere else.’ People around them were trying to figure out what was going on.” While there's no word on what Ravitch ordered, he did pose for a picture as he signed his oath, hopefully with the blood of an $85 steak.

City officials and cycling advocates gathered in The Bronx yesterday to celebrate meeting the goal of adding 200 bike-lane miles in all five boroughs in three years. Dr. Thomas Farley, city health commissioner, was on hand to trumpet the health benefits of cycling; Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe praised the bike lanes connecting the city's parks and waterfronts; and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan declared New York "the bicycling capital of the United States." The bike lane network is now the equivalent length of a bike lane running from New York City to Boston! The 200-mile initiative was launched after a 2006 report [pdf] determined that cyclists were safest in bike lanes and wearing helmets. The project cost $8.8 million, and included installing 6,100 bike racks and 1,000 guide signs. According to the DOT [pdf], there are now 70.9 miles of bike lanes in The Bronx, 138.9 miles in Brooklyn, 90.4 miles in Manhattan, 96.7 miles in Queens, and 27.6 in Staten Island. And besides helping cyclists, they make for great parking spots, too!

NJ gubernatorial Chris Christie reassured NJ voters that he's not interested in having soon-to-be former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin stump for him this fall. The Republican challenger did offer one familiar name—the Star-Ledger reports that Christie told 101.5 FM, "This is about New Jersey issues and New Jersey, and I don't think having Governor Palin here would do me, or frankly the state, a whole lot of good in the sense that we need to talk and focus on what the New Jersey issues are. I hope Mayor Giuliani will continue to be supportive and be here and work with me, but other than that, I think the people of New Jersey have to hear from me and that's the person they'll be electing. I'll be sitting in the chair, and I want them to spend most of their time getting to know me." Giuliani endorsed Christie back in February. Governor Jon Corzine, who trails Christie in the polls, is optimistic about his chances, "We have a national recession, we have a global recession. The public understands that President Obama and the Democratic policies are not how we got into this mess."

A city committee has paved the way for the Parks Department to come to terms with the Friends of the High Line on a ten-year, noncompetitive deal for the group to get exclusive rights to sell food and merchandise at the newly-opened park. And now City Controller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson is crying foul, saying, "It almost appears to be some sort of back-room deal." Founders of the Friends of the High Line have already given endorsements to Mayor Bloomberg and board members have contributed over $100,000 to Speaker Christine Quinn. Thompson added, "We should not let the beauty of the park overshadow our obligation to ensure transparency and accountability regarding the operation and use of a public park.” A spokesman for the mayor calls Thompson's comments "politically transparent," noting that he has backed similar deals at other parks and that unlike Bloomberg, Thompson has taken contributions from private groups that conduct business with the city.

Despite his claim that he had kidney stones that were more painful than going into labor, John Gotti Jr. was denied bail yesterday as he awaits his racketeering trial to start this September. A judge in Manhattan federal court yesterday said that there was no amount he could set bail at that "can reasonably assure the presence of the defendant and the safety of persons in the community." The Daily News said that Gotti showed up in court "in greenish prison garb that resembled hospital scrubs" and the paper agreed with Junior's claim that stones were more painful than childbirth. Also taking Gotti's side was arch-nemesis Curtis Sliwa, who nonetheless seemed to take glee in knowing how much pain the mob boss was in. Sliwa said, "I'm hoping they come at a prolific rate ... He can't have enough pain." Gotti's lawyer said that they do not plan to appeal the bail denial and that he believes his client has now fully passed the stones while he's been behind bars.

A woman, last seen at a lower Manhattan office building on Tuesday night, is presumed to be dead, according to WCBS 2, which says the police are treating Eridania Rodriguez's disappearance as a homicide. A Gothamist reader mentioned on Contribute, "My building (2 Rector st) was completely shut down [Wednesday] with everyone evacuated. The story we got is that a cleaning woman didn't sign out last night and they had to shut it down to search for her. The family was apparently there this morning looking for her." A lawyer for Rodriguez's family says that the building's surveillance cameras caught her working, but did not capture her leaving the building. Also: "Relatives tell CBS 2 that the married mother of three, who was also a grandmother, didn't feel safe on the job and that a man who worked inside the building was scaring her. She had recently told her bosses she was going to leave her job because she feared for her safety."

The hailstorm that hit Yonkers on Monday definitely left a trail of destruction in Yonkers. Thanks to the 80 MPH winds, a tree fell into Jennifer Crespo's home's chimney, which then crashed into her 7-year-old son's bedroom. Thankfully, little Trent slept in the basement—his parents didn't want to move him since he looked so peaceful; the boy told the Daily News, "I would be dead, and my mommy would be crying a whole lot," while his mom wept, "I'm just so grateful my son wasn't in his bed because it's covered with bricks." And 89-year-old Grace Martini shared a photograph of her basement—filled with three feet of hail! The NY Times spoke to the National Weather Service's Joe Polina, who said El Nino and global warming weren't the culprits, "Normally, we do see thunderstorms, some of which do become severe in spring and summer, but this year, especially with the amount of rain, it’s been a little on the abnormal side." Further, "The culprit is the polar jet stream: a fast-moving air current that controls the movement of fronts and weather systems and is usually north of New York by summer, he said. This year, the jet stream has stayed on a southerly course, causing more storms to develop."

Ew, the Daily News uses the word "randy" to do so, but aw they tell us that the nearly 80 turtles who crawled onto the runway at JFK yesterday were there to make baby turtles! They were rudely interrupted however, when the "Port Authority workers rushed to the shell-covered runway about 8:30 a.m. and scooped up 78 diamondback terrapins." (According to WCBS 2, a "chorus of pilots" had radioed the tower to chime in about the "massive numbers" of turtles.) The breeding turtles, which are about 8 inches long and weigh 2 to 3 pounds each, were put into a pickup truck and moved back to Jamaica Bay. One Port Authority spokesman said, "Everybody had a good attitude considering it was turtles going off to hatch more turtles." And if they weren't, then what.... they get the Canada Geese treatment?

While Governor Paterson may have appointed Richard Ravitch as his lieutenant governor, Senate Republicans are stopping that, by way of a court order signed at 12:23 a.m. "after a petition from the leaders of the Republican-dominated State Senate coalition, Pedro Espada Jr. and Dean Skelos," PolitickerNY reports. A hearing will be held in Mineola, NY tomorrow, because Skelos sought the order in his home county. Skelos, who would be majority leader if the Republicans do control the Senate, said of Ravitch's appointment, "I think it's a publicity stunt and totally illegal." Ravitch, the former head of the MTA, was sworn in at 8 p.m. last night, just three hours after Paterson's announcement.

Actor Stephen Baldwin had invited a homeless man to live in the cottage on his Rockland County estate—and now that cops have arrested the man on heroin charges. Apparently Baldwin, aka the youngest Baldwin, met the 51-year-old Jimmy Parks who was living in a tent near a McDonald's in Central Nyack; Baldwin, a born-again Christian, offered him shelter at his home in Upper Grandview. However, police became suspicious after people started to head to the cottage—Parks was allegedly dealing drugs. State Police Capt. Joseph Tripodo said, "Mr. Baldwin didn't have anything to do with this. He's says he's deeply religious and tried to help the guy out. The guy was down on his luck and he loaned him some money and gave him a place to live." Related: The actor has recently been having some mortgage problems.

Back in 2006, Whole Foods held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first location in Brooklyn, in Gowanus on Third Street. Now, the high-end supermarket chain is abandoning those plans. Brooklyn the Borough reports that a Whole Foods spokesperson said, “At this juncture we do not have immediate plans to open a new store in Brooklyn but do hope to be there someday soon." The Brooklyn Paper also mentions that a spokesperson "suggested that the land would be sold." The demise of Whole Foods had been rumored for a while, given the polluted nature of the area, and there was opposition to the size of the proposed parking lot.

A judge today sentenced 41-year-old bouncer Darryl Littlejohn to life in prison without parole after being convicted last month of the rape and murder of graduate student Imette St. Guillen. Littlejohn did not speak on his own behalf and NY1 says he showed no visible sign of remorse. Defense attorneys say they plan to appeal after trying to peg the murder on Danny Dorian, the manager of the club Littlejohn met and left with St. Guillen from. Today the judge "chastised workers of (The Falls) and asked how they could show such indifference." Before the sentence, St. Guillen's mother read a letter from her daughter about her life in New York and her sister told the court, "I understand there is no punishment that will bring Imette back and that is why there is never closure." Littlejohn will serve the sentence consecutively along with 25 years he received for another kidnapping and assault of a Queens woman.

In a few minutes, Governor Paterson will speak to New Yorkers about the State Senate stalemate—and many believe he'll appoint a lieutenant governor! While some speculation was that he would pick Denise O'Donnell, the former Buffalo U.S. attorney and currently Paterson's criminal justice coordinator, and Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, NY1 and the Daily News report the LG will be Richard Ravitch, who formulated recommendations for the recent MTA bailout. 5:01 p.m.: Paterson speaks about the embarrassing situation of the State Senate stalemate, listing the problems it's caused (NYC's hiring freeze, Yonkers' budget problem). He acknowledges the problems lie beyond the Senate—they are with the economy—but emphasizes the Legislature needs to pass bills and how there is no presiding officer in the Senate, especially how there is no successor for him. Paterson says the State Constitution gives him explicit power to appoint a vacant LG. "I have selected Richard Ravitch...to serve with me through 2010. He will not be a candidate thereafter." He adds, "If there's legal action"—hello, AG Cuomo— he wants it done expeditiously. He thinks this is the "right thing to do—we cannot allow for any further exposure to risk during this time of economic uncertainty."

Federal prosecutors are still looking to make examples out of swindlers. After successfully nailing Bernard Madoff for 150 years, now they are seeking 145 years for Marc Dreier, a once prominent lawyer who pleaded guilty to a $700 million scam involving fake promissory notes. The feds pointed out, "This defendant, an officer of the court, engaged in a more than $740 million series of frauds over a seven-year period largely to finance a personal life of extraordinary lavishness," and that his investors lost $400 million. Dreier's defense lawyer, however, is hoping to get his 59-year-old client 12 1/2 years, "In seeking some measure of leniency we appeal not to sympathy but to reason. As colossal frauds capture national headlines, sentences for white-collar offenders must not become disproportionately long." CityRoom has Dreier's letter to the judge, which includes, "I have lost all my friends. I have lost my law firm, my law license and all that I ever owned. I have seen my family suffer the unimaginable. I have lost my past and my future. I have lost everything a man can lose. And now I will lose my freedom as well, and rightly so."

With Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's schedule after July 26 freeing up, some of her associates say that she's ready to help other Republican candidates with their elections. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele even says, "She is an important and galvanizing voice... I believe she will be very helpful to the party this year as we wage critical campaigns in Virginia and NJ." But those states' GOP officials aren't so sure: NJ Republican Chairman Jay Webber said he hadn't hear from Palin's camp and is totally okay with that, "We don't have any plans on having her in. We're busy working to get Chris Christie elected and telling people about the failed record of Gov. Corzine." Christie leads the incumbent 45 to 39 points in a recent poll and the Obama-Biden ticket beat McCain-Palin by 15 points last year. Someone who would like to see Palin in NJ: Corzine, whose spokesman told the AP, "Her positions are certainly consistent with where Christie's been. They would both deny a woman the right to choose and they oppose new gun control legislation. And like Palin, Christie's staked out conservative right-wing positions on rejecting the federal stimulus money, which would create thousands of jobs."

Now that Ruth Madoff has settled with the feds—giving up her various homes and assets in exchange for $2.5 million—the feds have returned her passport to her. Unfortunately, that chateau of hers was seized in March! Madoff had to give up her passport when she put up the bail for her Ponzi-scheming husband Bernard, who is now serving a 150-year sentence. The debate rages on whether Ruth knew about Bernie's dealings; in NY Magazine's "Poor Ruth" feature this week, some point to how she worshipped her husband—"She would tell me all the time, ‘Don’t you think he’s fabulous, don’t you think he’s great?’"—perhaps to the point of being blind while others say, "He conferred with her on everything. The idea that she didn’t know anything is laughable."

Anthony Marshall, the 85-year-old son of the late philanthropist Brooke Astor, fell in a bathroom, hitting his head, in the courthouse where he is on trial for stealing from his mother's fortune. The Daily News reports, "The accident happened around 11:30 a.m. Some 45 minutes later, paramedics were still trying to treat Marshall. His wife, Charlene, was also inside the men's room comforting him." His lawyer said, "He was dizzy and fell. He fell down in the stall and hit his head." The Post, which notes that Marshall requested to see a doctor being he wasn't feeling well yesterday, has a sad picture of Marshall wearing an oxygen mask and sitting on a gurney.

Governor Paterson has planned a 5:01 p.m. TV appearance, to speak to New Yorkers about the State Senate stalemate. And the rumor is that he might very well appoint a Lieutenant Governor—the Times Union reports, "The governor's press office has assured broadcasters the event is newsworthy." The last time Paterson requested TV time was to discuss the sorry state of NY State finances a year ago. While some think that Paterson will just criticize the State Senate some more, PolitickerNY hears that the a lieutenant governor pick is a consideration, leading a Democrat to say, "Doing this means going to war with Andrew [Cuomo]. [Paterson]'s got to know that." According to WCBS 2, names being floated for LG are "Denise O'Donnell, the former Buffalo U.S. attorney who is currently Paterson's criminal justice coordinator; Former Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith Kaye; and Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez."

John Gotti Jr. is in "excruciating pain" from infected kidney stones, and his lawyers say the prison's refusal to provide him with proper medical treatment amounts to "cruel and unusual punishment." His attorneys have been trying to get him out on bail before the start of his September racketeering trial, and in court papers obtained by the Daily News, they assert, "It is common knowledge that the pain associated with kidney stones is worse than childbirth." To back up their claim, they link to a medical website with testimonials from women who've endured both; one says, "Childbirth has nothing on kidney stones. When you are in labor the pain is like a wave. With a kidney stone it is constant. I would have 10 births before ever wanting to go through the pain of a stone." So given the choice, which would you prefer, a kidney stone or a kid? The former isn't very cute, but at least it never grows up and makes you take it to Hannah Montana.

As a 15-year veteran of the NYPD, Sergeant Joseph Spiekerman knew exactly what to do after drunkenly running a red light and plowing into 68-year-old Barry Gintel one morning last month: Refuse to take the breath test! Though he admitted he'd been drinking, cops on the scene had to get a court order to draw his blood, so we'll never know just how wasted Officer Spiekerman was when he ran over Gintel at 6:40 a.m. on June 29th at York Avenue and 86th Street. Gintel was on his way back to his apartment after buying a coffee and two buttered rolls at The Mansion diner; the cashier tells the Daily News, "I give him his change, look out the window, and I see he got hit and goes flying 10, maybe 20 feet in the air." The impact shattered the windshield of Spiekerman's Volvo and Gintel underwent emergency surgery for two fractured legs, broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and head and neck injuries. He's still in the hospital and wearing a neck brace! Spiekerman has been suspended without pay and is charged with felony vehicular assault and DWI, and the News seems rather surprised that "police officials declined to explain why they failed to release details of the crash and Spiekerman's arrest sooner."

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-1 yesterday to approve St Vincent's controversial plans to build a 203-foot-tall, 16-story condo (right) on the east side of Seventh Avenue, between West 11th and West 12th Streets, in the Greenwich Village historic district. It's a big win for St. Vincent's over community outcry about the project's scale, and the hospital is counting on the condo deal to help fund the $830 million, 286-foot-tall medical building that will replace the doomed landmark O'Toole building. But in a concession to the commission, St Vincent's and partner Rudin Management agreed to shrink the condo 15 feet, so now the local gadflies have nothing to complain about! Oh, except for Andrew Berman at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; he tells City Room, "It’s certainly not over." So maybe we'll get some more celebrity outrage? The plan to raze the sawtooth O'Toole building still faces a legal challenge, and the entire $1.63 billion project also needs approval from he City Council and the City Planning Commission.

Last night, a Connecticut advertising executive surrendered to the police after a frightening standoff in which he kidnapped his wife, demanded a priest come and give her last rites, and then asked for a judge to re-marry them. Around 8:30 p.m., Nancy Tyler managed to leave the South Windsor house that ex Richard Shenkman was supposed to turn over her as part of divorce settlement, but the Post reports, "Dozens of gunshots and explosions were then heard at the home, which was soon engulfed in flames." Shenkman, who had asked police to shoot him, finally gave up around midnight. He also made his demands through a reporter for the New London Day, who previously covered his wife and him, and seemed to confide in the reporter: "If I wanted to do a murder/suicide, I could have done it three years ago. I've never hurt her in my life. I do want Nancy to walk out of here. I don't trust the cops. They have screwed up so much in the arson (case) and all that stuff." Police are at the home today investigating whether the home really had all the 65 pounds of explosives Shenkman said it did. He will probably be charged with kidnapping, arson, and reckless endangerment.

A few months ago, parents of kindergarten-bound children were upset at the Department of Education keeping them in limbo by putting the kids on waiting lists for placement. Now, the waiting lists have shrunk, thanks to families picking other programs or moving out, but the NY Times reports, "Still, 474 pupils across the city remain on waiting lists and will have to attend other nearby schools if spots do not open up, an outcome parents said was unacceptable." The DOE, which points out that the number represents 1% of the incoming class, believes the waiting lists will continue to decrease, but one former parent council member told the Times, "Their responsibility isn’t making progress; their responsibility is solving the problem. There are still many families biting their fingernails." And an Upper East Side mother, whose son is waitlisted at PS 290 on East 82nd, said to the Daily News, "I came very close to moving out of the city because of this situation. If they're looking to push their taxpayers out, they're doing a very good job."

Last night, heavy storms and hail hit Westchester County, downing trees and utility poles and causing power outages to 17,000 customers. The downed power lines also prompted car fires. A Yonkers Fire Department official told 1010WINS, "Possibly a tornado came through the city...the northwest section...it was just devastating...trees and wires down...the amount of hail was unbelievable." (Reports of a tornado are still being confirmed.) WCBS 2 reports, "The dime-sized hail covered the roads in many areas across the city, posing as snow in July... The bizzare weather scene will most certainly cause problems for Wednesday's commute." According to Con Ed, Yonkers and Mount Vernon suffered the most outages while Bronxville, New Rochelle and Eastchester were also affected. Service may not be restored until later this afternoon. According to USA Today, "Hail forms when strong currents of rising air, known as updrafts, carry water droplets high enough in a thunderstorm for the water droplets to freeze... While hailstones are ice, hail is mostly a spring and summer phenomena because the strong thunderstorms needed to produce hail are much more common during warm weather."

The city is gearing up for more families to enter the shelter system: The NY Times reports, "Because the homeless population this spring was up more than 20 percent over last spring, possibly because of higher unemployment, officials are girding for an all-time high in the number of families in shelters at once, expecting close to 10,000. Already, the number has reached 9,420...In New York, the number of homeless families applying for shelter in the summer has been 28 percent higher than the rest of the year the last three years." Some families wait till the summer to enter the shelter system, so their children can at least finish the school year, after they decided to leave terrible apartment situations (one family's fight with their landlord left them without gas or electricity for months) or when their relatives kick them. One woman said, "My sister said we couldn’t stay with her anymore. I said once [my daughter is] done with school, we’d get out." The Bloomberg administration says it's ready, and will use some not-quite full shelters and vacant apartment buildings.

Well, so much for even pretending to get anything done. PolitickerNY reports, "Three Democratic state senators walked out of the still-divided chamber this afternoon before their Democratic colleagues convened into a regular session. While it didn't have any effect on the session's outcome--there was no quorum, and as such, no bills were acted on--it was a very public show of disunity in a conference that looks increasingly frayed." The three senators were Sens. Carl Kruger, Hiram Monserrate and Ruben Diaz Sr.—three of the four Amigos (the fourth is Pedro Espada Jr., who is aligned with the Republicans these days). The Daily Politics notes that Diaz Sr. issued a statement to assure people he wasn't switching parties, I refuse to allow myself to continue to be used and to be part of the circus where we vote for bill that governor refuses to sign... I am just tired of this circus." Hey, you and millions of New Yorkers! Also, Senator Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) ranted about the Republicans, the NY Post, and many other things while John Sampson, the Democratic conference leader, said the Republicans and Espada are just interested in "T Triple P"—title, power, pork and patronage—and that's why no agreement has been made yet.

A 16-year-old Bronx teen was arrested and charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. Kevin Santiago apparently became upset when he saw ex Alma DeJesus, 16, with Michael Silva, also 16, in DeJesus's apartment building hallway on Sunday. The Daily News reports, "Santiago chased DeJesus down the hallway until DeJesus ducked and hid inside her mother's apartment...After Santiago banged on DeJesus' door, screaming for her to come out, Silva approached and ordered the ex-lover to leave." Santiago, who screamed, "Who the f--- are you?", then "turned his knife on Silva, stabbing him once in the chest." Neighbors says that Santiago had been stalking DeJesus for weeks and believe that he intended to kill her. Santiago and DeJesus (pictured) have a 7-month-old baby together.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized 29,000 glass pipes from an international mail holding facility in Jersey City on June 24. The pipes were part of a shipment from a Canadian company that had been previously charged with transporting drug paraphernalia into the U.S. Although the sale of such smoking accessories is legal, (provided they are marketed as being only for tobacco use--the reason even using the word "bong" in a head shop can get you thrown out the door) certain laws aimed at protecting youth prohibit the transfer of items deemed to be "drug paraphernalia" through the mail. The criteria smoking accessories must meet in order to be considered as such are laid out in U.S. Code 21 § 863(d). Officials place the market value of the pipes at around $500,000, and say they were headed for sale in New York City. Sadly, this means that St. Mark's might be short a few glow-in-the-dark skull bongs this summer.

An unofficial memo is circulating through NYPD precincts warning officers to be on guard against perpetrators who conceal blades in their cell phones and other hand-held devices. The handout shows how you can easily hide a razor blade in the battery compartment of a T-Mobile Sidekick, and also reminds officers about the recent arrest of a suspect in Harlem who converted his cell phone into a stun gun. A police source tells amNY that the improvised weapon "was unlikely to cause much harm, as the jolt was described as low-level." And then there are the hospital meal trays you've got to watch out for! Cops assigned to guard hospitalized prisoners are being warned that meal trays have a vanity mirror that can easily be fashioned into a makeshift shiv. The vanity mirror is in a second-level compartment and that "can pop up for easy use by a patient." Of course, one way to eliminate that threat would be to serve the prisoners' meals on regular trays, but then officers would be forced to guard prisoners with food stuck between their teeth, and we don't pay them enough for that.

Thanks to our coup-coup State Senate, the city has frozen all hiring. The State Senate hasn't been able to act on legislation that allows the city to maintain a balanced budget; Mayor Bloomberg said, "The gridlock in the State Senate imperils the City’s budget," and the hiring freeze "includes a class of 250 Police Recruits, who were set to enter the academy this week, along with Firefighters, School Safety Agents, 911 and 311 call takers, and EMTs. Further, we will be reviewing all City contracts to ensure we do not enter into non-essential contracts. We have a legal mandate to produce a balanced budget - something we’ve done for seven consecutive years - so we have to act responsibly." Also under pressure from the Senate's inaction: Yonkers, which is the 4th largest city in the state and which needs the Senate to pass bills so the State Comptroller can approve its budget.

Days after a judge ruled that Stella D'Oro, the baked goods company, should reinstate its striking 134 union workers in the Bronx, the company announced it would shut down its Bronx factory. Last week, the judge found that Stella D'Oro did not "bargain in good faith because it did not release its 2007 financial statement," and now the company says it can't make a profit without union concessions. The company said, "The decision to close the Bronx bakery operations has not been made in haste or without significant planning." One resident said to NY1, "Every time I would come by I would smell the aroma of the cookies, of the baking, etc." Related: Patton Oswalt riffed on the Stella D'Oro breakfast treat ads.

A Brooklyn woman is in critical condition after her husband hacked her repeatedly with a meat cleaver in their Dyker Heights apartment yesterday morning. 54-year-old Shao Ling Ye was sweeping up during breakfast when, according to her husband, Youshening Huang, "She swept over my feet and that really sparked it." Neighbors tell the Daily News they heard Huang, 53, shout, "I've put up with you for all these years!" A dazed and bleeding Shao Ling Ye was then seen stumbling out into the street, gushing blood. Candice Meng, 21, who lives in the basement, tells the Post, "There was blood all over her. I just heard her shouting, 'Help!' We came out and she was lying there with her husband standing next to her looking down at her. He was showing no remorse. He asked me if he could come down and wash his hands." Ye is in critical condition with gashes to her head, arm, chest and finger; Huang is charged with assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. Joseph Tsang, whose parents rent the apartment to Huang, seemed shocked, telling the Daily News, "He's a really peaceful guy. He goes jogging around the neighborhood."

It was almost a year ago that a Times Square tourist happened to videotape a police officer's seemingly unprovoked assault on a cyclist during a Critical Mass group bike ride. The video, which depicts rookie cop Patrick Pogan slamming 30-year-old cyclist Christopher Long off his bike, sparked widespread outrage and ended up costing Pogan his job (getting caught filing a false police report didn't help his case, either). Long is now living in rural Wisconsin and working on a farm, but according to his lawyer, "There is psychological trauma, which explains why he is not living in New York City right now. It is a terrible experience for him to go through." So naturally he's suing the city, for $1.5 million, to help ease the pain.

Is singing the N.W.A. song "F--- tha Police" the best thing to warble while hanging out a car window on a day when there are tons of police patrolling the highways? That's what Floral Park resident Sara Smith, 21, was doing when a trooper pulled over Smith's friend's car on the Southern State Parkway on July 4. Newsday reports that the trooper was told by other motorists that "Smith [was] hanging out of the passenger window of a car." When he got to the car, he "heard her shouting obscenities about the police." The State Police spokesman said that Smith "asked the trooper if he had ever heard of N.W.A."—ha!—and the trooper replied he hadn't. Then the trooper, who said the driver was "apologetic," issued Smith a summons for "disorderly conduct, including obscene language and gestures."

Yesterday, a 22-year-old man was shot while entering an apartment building on St. John Avenue in the Bronx. The victim, Tommy Rodriguez, who is in stable condition at Lincoln Hospital, is described as either a former or suspended NYPD cadet. The NY Times says that Rodriguez's work "involved tasks like answering phones and organizing news clippings...in the public information office from January until sometime in May, when he was dismissed from the program after he was arrested in connection with a domestic dispute." (Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty to charges that he punched and kicked a "female domestic partner and push[ed] her head into a wall.") According to the Daily News, the shooter "approached Rodriguez from behind" and "fled on foot after firing a single shot." Rodriguez reportedly told a 911 operator that the shooter asked if he was "Officer Rodriguez," but the Post reports that cops are investigating to see whether the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.

Andy Pettitte once again fell victim to his home ballpark, but that wasn't the only story in the Yankees' 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays. The bats almost bailed Pettitte out, making a furious comeback from a 7-1 deficit, but a sweep of the four-game series was not to be. Derek Jeter got thrown out stealing third with no one out in the first inning, but replays showed he avoided the tag. He and manager Joe Girardi took exception when third-base umpire Marty Foster said it didn't matter. No matter the call, that wasn't a good decision by Jeter, and it wasn't a good outing by Pettitte, who doesn't look comfortable in the Bronx. The Yankees finish the first half with a trip to Minnesota and then Anaheim to face the Angels.

Back in 2005, Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council rezoned a large swath of Williamsburg and Greenpoint to spark a boom in residential construction, and developers immediately raced in to begin work on luxury high rises. Then the economy curled up into a fetal position, and north Brooklyn is now littered with half-finished development. A team of building inspectors have found 143 stalled construction sites around the city, with the highest concentration in Brooklyn, which boasts a total 63 vacant lots and rusting steel building frames—18 in Williamsburg alone. Residents are increasingly outraged about the degentrication, which is attracting squatters and creating a fin de siècle atmosphere of urban blight. Philip DePaolo, who moved from The Bronx to Williamsburg in 1979, tells the Post his adopted neighborhood now reminds him of his old neighborhood: "It looks like I never left." And it's true—the artisanal cheese, the American Apparel, the burning buildings; life on the mean streets of Williamsburg these days makes the '70s-era Bronx seem like Greenwich, CT.