News: December 2009 Archives

For an NYPD officer, losing your shield is a major headache, leading to lots of annoying paperwork and a penalty that can cost up to 10 days’ pay. So it's an open secret that many officers keep their actual badge at a safe at home, and buy a fake "dupe" badge for everyday use. The Times has an interesting article on the practice, and gets a choice quote from former chief of department, Louis Anemone, who explains that many officers use dupes because they're afraid of losing their real badges at a bar: "You’re going to go get boxed on a Friday or Saturday night. You don’t want to say you lost your shield when you were out drinking, so you carry a dupe."

Senior bankers at Goldman Sachs are arming themselves with handguns to fend off any forthcoming populist uprising against the bank. A friend of one of the bankers tells a Bloomberg News columnist, "I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit," swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker. This unidentified banker says he's not the only one stocking up on guns, and the NYPD confirms that some of the Goldman Sachs bankers do have pistol permits. Well, this ought to fix their public image problem!

The State Senate and Assembly have reportedly come up with $2.9 billion in cuts to the state budget, but the Times Union reports, Governor "Paterson, however, immediately claimed that wouldn't go far enough, and said he would move to unilaterally cut aid to localities." As in not pay social service agencies and public schools—Paterson said, "Unfortunately, the Legislature’s last best offer does not take sufficient action to restore New York State’s long-term fiscal stability."

Just when it seemed like the hoopla over bike lanes in Williamsburg had come to a close, Gothamist has learned that the Department of Transportation is planning to remove a 14-block section of the Bedford Avenue cycling route. A spokesman said that the agency will remove the "small portion" of the bike lane between Flushing and Division avenues in South Williamsburg "as part of ongoing bike network adjustments in the area."

In an attempt to curb graffiti, the City Council voted unanimously yesterday to gradually ban solid metal roll-down gates from storefronts. Starting in July 2011, shopkeepers who install new security shutters will be required to purchase gates made mainly out of metal mesh or metal grilles. Supporters say the new gates will help protect police and firefighters by giving them the ability to see into stores when responding to potentially dangerous situations, while deterring graffiti writers who seem to prefer solid metal gates. Solid metal gates will be banned entirely by 2026.

On the same day in November that former New York Post editor Sandra Guzman filed a lawsuit accusing the tabloid of ignoring racist and sexual harassment, the paper fired a black reporter named Austin Fenner, who had worked at the city desk. Now Fenner's filed his own lawsuit (using Guzman's lawyer) alleging that he was subject to unfair employment practices, unlawful retaliation, and accusing editors of racially-motivated news coverage. Fenner claims he was "routinely humiliated," "openly cursed at" and subjected to "Jim Crow"-style segregation.

Today is World AIDS Day, and while there are many events planned around the city, there is currently a 24-hour vigil at City Hall, with volunteers reading of the names of people who had been lost to HIV or AIDS at City Hall. And just now, during Mayor Bloomberg annual breakfast at Gracie Mansion in honor World AIDS Day, 10 Housing Works activists were arrested for protesting outside.

Are the NYPD stepping on the toes of MTA officers? The NY Post reports that the NYPD has started sending some of their officers to police commuter trains as part of their anti-terror efforts — a move that has upset the MTA.

Lawyers for a Manhattan strip club say the 22-year-old beauty pageant queen whose photo they appropriated to advertise the club is just suing them to get attention. You may recall that back in April, former Miss Oklahoma Laci Kay Scott filed a lawsuit against Ten's Gentlemen's Club after she discovered that the club had been distributing cards on the street with her image—and without her knowledge. Scott, who's been trying to get her modeling career off the ground with gigs posing in prom dress ads, says being mistakenly perceived as a stripper could disqualify her from the pagaent circuit and damage her career. But Ten's owners think this lawsuit has been just great for her.

The ex-wife and daughter of Rev. Al Sharpton shouted obscenities at cops before they were cuffed after a traffic stop in Harlem, according to police reports. When Dominique Sharpton, 23, was pulled over for running a red and crossing a double yellow while passing a slow-moving unmarked police car on Oct. 30, she purportedly told officers: "This is f------ bull---- ... You were driving too slow. I have a play to go to ... Get the f--- off me! You can't harass me! Why the f--- am I getting a summons?"

The couple accused of waltzing into President Obama's first State Dinner uninvited and mugging with dignitaries and VIPs—and the President himself—appeared on the Today Show this morning and to insist they were invited to the event. Tareq Salahi said the incident has been "the most devastating thing that has ever happened" to himself and wife Michaele, emphasizing they "did not party-crash the White House."