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October 31, 2007
Former Ramones manager and most recently a real estate agent "to the stars," Linda Stein, was found murdered yesterday. The character who shows Charlie Sheen apartments in the movie Wall Street was reportedly based on her, and Michael Gross published a profile on her in NY Mag in the early '90s. Mrs. Stein was also the ex-wife of music industry mogul Seymour Stein. The NY Sun reports her body, which had "blunt impact injuries," was... [continue]
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Probably realizing that talking smack about a dead former NYPD detective who spent hours at the World Trade Center site working rescue and recovery isn't smart Mayoring, Mayor Bloomberg amended his comments about the late James Zadroga. Though he had said Zadroga "was not a hero" according to science at an event days earlier, the Mayor acknowledged Zadroga's record and told reporters yesterday, "This was a great NYPD officer who dedicated himself, put his life... [continue]
The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted yesterday to landmark eight new sites in four of the city's boroughs - the Bronx loses out. City Room details the new landmarks, which include the Lord & Taylor building, the white brick Manhattan House, two homes on Grand St., the Standard Varnish Works Factory building (its owner thinks the designation is bad for business) and the Greek-Revival style Fillette Tyler Mansion in Staten Island and the Voelker-Orth Museum, Bird... [continue]
Whether or not you're going to the annual Village Halloween Parade this evening, it'll probably effect your day in some way if you live or work in the area. If you want to avoid the mayhem, don't be anywhere in the vicinity of 6th Avenue between Spring and 22nd Steets. The streets intersecting the route will be closed off at 5pm sharp! If you want to watch, get there early to stake out a spot.... [continue]
If you're impressed when you see homes and apartment windows with store-bought cobwebs and a carved pumpkin, then prepare to let your mind explode. NewYorkShitty quite possibly hits the mother lode of all Halloween decorating with this haunted house on Humboldt Street in Greenpoint. Miss Heather writesThese folks managed to outfit this most unhappy chap with a pump so he vomits a continuous stream of blood into this barrel. Could you imagine what would... [continue]
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October 31, 2007
It's a Halloween Hump Day! We will have more details about the Halloween Parade and other events in the city later, but we thought we'd point you to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown videos on Youtube (part 1, 2, 3), in case you missed ABC's airing last night. You can also get it on DVD, and there's also the book It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic. Halloween... [continue]
Just what JFK Airport and the Transportation Security Administration needed: A passenger security breach! Last night, a passenger managed to venture to the gates by walking through the exit line - not the security screening line - which then caused all sorts of chaos. A security guard saw the passenger walk by but "could not immediately locate the passenger" so the TSA was notified and the agency worked with Delta and law enforcement to find... [continue]
Mayor Bloomberg has often said that NYC's economic good times wouldn't last forever, even with billions in the most recent budget surplus, and he got serious about it yesterday. He told commissioners in all city agencies to prepare for deep budget cuts for this and next fiscal year. Not only that, he has imposed a hiring freeze for all areas (the exceptions are for essential public safety and health workers). The city believes that with... [continue]
A fire that erupted in a two-family Rosedale home yesterday morning claimed the lives of a Corrections Department captain and her two sons. The Corrections Dept. union said that the victims were Captain Renee Chong and her two young sons. The three-alarm fire broke out before 5AM. Neighbors tried to bang on Chongs' door, but the fire spread too quickly. One described the smoke as "toxic". Colleagues report that Chong was nearing 20 years of... [continue]
October 30, 2007
Last week, the I.S. 211 in Canarsie told parents that 7th grader Omar Rivera had died from the antibiotic-resistant staph infection MRSA. Now his mother is suing the city and Kings County Hospital for $25 million over the mistreatment of the 12-year-old. On October 11, Aileen Rivera took him to a clinic to examine a pus-filled sores on his back. The Flatlands clinic gave him Motrin and a mild antibiotic, but since it didn't clear... [continue]
People may be talking the 2008 Presidential election, but when it comes to NYC, the aftermath of the 2004 Republican National Convention is still being felt. It was right before the convention when the NYPD arrested over 200 bicyclists during the August 2004 Critical Mass ride, starting more heated of NYPD vs. Critical Mass clashes. Yesterday, a number of bicyclists sued the city over their arrests during the October 2004 Critical Mass ride. The... [continue]
Yay! It's that time of year when the Straphangers Campaign announces the winner of the annual Pokey Award for the slowest city bus service. And this year, there's a new award: The Schleppie, for least reliable service. The 2007 Pokey Award goes to the M23: "The M23 had the slowest bus speed at 4.0 miles per hour as clocked at 12 noon on a weekday. This is not much faster than the 3.0 mph maintained... [continue]
Reader ianqui took this photograph of a cardboard box getting into the Halloween spirit early - by trying to be the Astor Place cube! Granted, it's not painted black, but white is so much more fetching to passers-by who want to scrawl various messages. We like to think of this box as Alamo-ette. In 2005, the Astor Place cube, also known as The Alamo, was removed for repairs (and returned eight months later). It... [continue]
For better or worse, talk of NYPD detective James Zadroga's death continues to linger. For the past two weeks, the family of Zadroga, who worked hours of rescue and recovery at the pit after the September 11 attacks, and the city's medical examiner's office have been disagreeing about Zadroga's cause of death. Now Mayor Bloomberg has stepped into the fray, discrediting Zadroga's hero status. Two medical experts have supported the family's believe that Zadroga's death... [continue]
Vice President Dick Cheney had a day of hunting at the Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club in upstate New York - and no one was hurt. However, there is a storm brewing over the fact that a Confederate flag was hanging in a garage on the property. While everyone was joking that Cheney might accidentally shoot a hunting companion, the way he did in February 2006, in the face, his trip was pretty uneventful.... [continue]
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October 30, 2007
This morning, a home in Rosedale, at 267th Street and 149th Road, caught fire. Two people have been killed, as the second floor of the two-family home collapsed. The call about the came at 4:58AM and neighbors say that a mother and two children lived in the home. Firefighters reportedly saw victims trapped on the second floor, but were unable to rescue them. The FDNY fought the fire from the outside and the fire was... [continue]
October 29, 2007
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Council member Peter Vallone presented a proposal withnew requirements about grocery stores' use, recycling and storage of plastic bags. Stores bigger than 5,000 square feet would need to:Use recyclable bags Have bins where customers can return bags Print "Please return this bag to a participating store for recycling" in 3"+ high letters on bags Provide reusable bags for sale (this can also mean more durable plastic) Record... [continue]
The Willamette Meteorite, originally from Oregon but residing at the American Museum of Natural History since 1908, was sent to auction Sunday (well, 30 lbs of its 15.5 tons was). How much did it, and another famous meteorite (the Brenham Main Mass), get when they took their place on the auction block? Zero, zilch...nada. Though WCBS reports that "an ordinary metal mailbox zapped by a falling space rock in 1984 was sold for the unearthly... [continue]
Even though he has amended his plan to give illegal immigrants the opportunity to get driver's licenses, Governor Spitzer can't make everyone happy. The governor's new plan has three tiers: There will be the Real ID (the one passed by Congress in 2005 - the very program Spitzer's own Homeland Security director criticized last month) which will be offered to citizens and legal immigrants, plus, per the NY Times, "an enhanced driver’s license that... [continue]
This is not good timing for the Fire Department. Yesterday, two police officers noticed a fire in a West Farms house and saved its seven residents. Then, noticing that the house next door was on fire, the two cops evacuated five more people. One of the officers, Chris Scott, said that the the FDNY showed up during the second fire, and the residents lauded their efforts. Judy Ramdeen said, "They rushed into a burning building... [continue]
October 28, 2007
The person who hung a noose on the doorknob of a professor at Columbia's Teachers College the other week seems to have been a catalyst for NY metro idiots, who have been been copy-cating or otherwise emulating public displays of hateful symbols. Most recently, Parks Dept. employees were appalled to find 10" nooses wrapped around the necks of their clothes when they opened their work lockers in Queens Saturday morning. Kenny Clark and Michelle Rouse-Williams... [continue]
Next week, Halloween eve to be exact, will mark the five year anniversary of Jam Master Jay's death. The murderer still walks the streets, as witnesses don't want to step forward in naming the man who ended the life of the rap legend. amNewYork and the Daily News are both looking back at the open case, stating the little that is known:On the night before Halloween 2002, the 37-year-old Mizell was in his recording studio... [continue]
New York City abandoned its attempt to rein in street photographers, videographers, and independent filmmakers by scrapping regulations that would have tightly regulated capturing public images of the city. As part of a settlement of a lawsuit challenging the regulations, New York will allow photographers and filmmakers to operate without a permit as long as they don't prevent use of public spaces or obstruct more than half of pedestrian walkways. The original permit plan called... [continue]
Mayor David Dinkins, who preceded Mayor Giuliani in office from 1990 to 1993, had his appendix removed in an emergency surgery Friday when it was determined that he was suffering from appendicitis. Dinkins was actually visiting his doctor for a routine flu shot, when he complained that he had a sharp pain in his side. A CAT scan revealed the inflamed and infected appendix--a condition that can be lethal if the vestigial organ bursts. Dinkins... [continue]
Last night, an unoccupied five-story hotel at 22 West 24th Street collapsed; no injuries were reported. The former La Semana Hotel "fell into itself leaving a giant, although relatively tidy, pile of rubble," according to the Post. Witnesses said the 8PM collapse sounded like a bomb explosion and that "floor by floor, the building simply gave in." A fire official told the NY Times, "If this happened during the daytime, during a workday when... [continue]
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October 28, 2007
As more cases of staph infections are being reported (a Newark public school security guard has MRSA, leading the school to be disinfected), parents are growing increasingly concerned about how schools are responding to the epidemic. Yesterday, school officials held a meeting at IS 211 in Brooklyn, the school Omar Rivera Jr. attended before dying from MRSA two weeks ago, to explain how it is dealing with the potentially deadly disease. The Post reports the... [continue]
October 27, 2007
Second grader Justin Leith was found by a student in a restroom at PS 205 in the Bronx just minutes after he was excused from class complaining of a stomach ache. A second grader from a different class found Leith unresponsive on the floor of the bathroom and told his teacher, who alerted emergency services. The seven-year-old could not be revived, however, and was declared dead at St. Barnabas Hospital. There didn't appear to be... [continue]
Hot on the heels of 6-year-old Natalie Shea being caught and fined for chalking up her sidewalk, a second chalker has been nabbed! This one, Ellis Gallagher, is older -- so his punishment was a bit more serious. Seriously! For chalk! The dusty, porous sedimentary rock that leaves markings which wash away in the rain. The Brooklyn Paper reports:The city’s crackdown on sidewalk chalk “vandals” is officially out of control! It was bad enough when... [continue]
City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. stated in an audit released Thursday that the New York had wasted almost $6 million attempting to develop a Scottish links-style golf course in the Bronx. That's not how much the city spent; that's just how much Thompson thinks the city wasted. Developer Ferry Point Partners has been working on the project for the better part of the last decade (since 2000), and in 2002 requested additional funds for environmental... [continue]
October 26, 2007
Two explosive devices detonated outside the Mexican Consulate at 39th St. near Madison Ave. in Manhattan early this morning, breaking several windows but not injuring anyone. The devices were believed to be replica hand grenades of the sort that are normally sold as novelties, but in this instance were packed with gunpowder. The explosions occurred around 3:30 a.m. and a resident on the block called the police reporting them. It wasn't until employees at the... [continue]
There's been talk of what will happen to the Hotel Pennsylvania for a while now, and today the NY Observer reports that the skyscraper planned to take over the 401 Seventh Avenue address could be stopped by preservationists. Since the demolition project needs to be met with public approval it might not bode well that the construction "would entail building over the railroad tracks that run beneath the hotel and pose engineering and security challenges."... [continue]
Brooklyn Councilman Simcha Felder is frustrated with Albany's politics and politicians for derailing his relatively simple bid to rid New York City of fliers and takeout menus. Back in April, Felder introduced a bill to the City Council that would have imposed fines on restaurants and businesses that dropped unsolicited materials on people's property. He was spurred to action after his mother was fined several times for having litter on her property––takeout menus that someone... [continue]
Not quite outdoing her husband's 60th birthday bash at the Beacon last year (which starred the Rolling Stones and was filmed by Martin Scorsese), Hillary Clinton entered a new age last night. Choosing the same venue to celebrate her 60th in, the music was provided by Elvis Costello and the Wallflowers (apparently no one from her campaign song list was available), and Billy Crystal provided some humor. The AP reports that she likened herself... [continue]
After weeks of media attention about the rising incidence of people, especially students, being afflicted by an antibiotic-resistant strain of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as a staph infection, MRSA has struck NYC. The Health Department confirmed that Omar Rivera Jr., a 7th grader at I.S. 411 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, died of MRSA on October 14. When the school found out about the child's death last week, it contacted the DOH to investigate.... [continue]
Alexander Properetchny was performing unlicensed oral surgery on 71-year-old Villimin Colleti Tuesday, when his patient "fell unconscious." The fake dentist called 911, but not before allegedly dragging the unresponsive woman out onto the stoop of his building where he propped her in the doorway. Paramedics found Colleti on the sidewalk outside of 47-year-old Properetchny's office in Brighton Beach without any identification and took her to Coney Island Hospital where she was admitted as Jane Doe.... [continue]
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October 26, 2007
Last week, it was revealed that the NYC medical examiner Dr. Charles Hirsch did not believe WTC dust ultimately killed NYPD Detective Charles Zadroga. Zadroga, who worked rescue and recovery in the World Trade Center debris after September 11, died after a long, protracted battle of a respiratory disease in 2006. Now it turns out that Hirsch thinks Zadroga's death was caused by prescription drug abuse. Zadroga had been taking a number of pills, and... [continue]
October 25, 2007
Oh, Catholic League - it isn't even Halloween and you're getting ready for Christmas already! The Sun reports that the Catholic League sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein questioning why nativity scenes cannot be displayed in schools. Christmas trees are allowed, as are menorahs and symbols for Ramadan. But the Department of Education does not allow actual images of "religious figures or deities." The DOE e-mail to the Sun read, "Our holiday policy... [continue]
Well well well, when we reported in August that Lido Bar in Red Hook would be closing we were met with many emails and comments stating this was 100% untrue. Bar manager Molly Franklin even held strong that Lido Bar would remain open and that this was nothing more than "bar gossip." Earlier this week we received an email from one of the "insiders" stating "Lido actually *is* closing in the next couple weeks (next... [continue]
Last night, Stephen Colbert had a reading for his book I Am America (And So Can You) that was full of fans of truthiness and enemies of bears. The Washington Square News reported that the erstwhile maybe-presidential candidate said, "It's time to impregnate this country with my mind." Unexpected, though, were probably the members of a theatrical anti-war group, Sparkle and Cybil War, who were decked out as "patriotic Texas oil baronesses with patriot... [continue]
Former FBI agent Roy Lindley DeVecchio has been on trial for four counts of murder, as prosecutors have accused him of being a mob informant. And the trial is being described as a "blockbuster" because it's "one of the worst law enforcement corruption cases in U.S. history." But DeVecchio wasn't centerstage yesterday - news about former Mayor - and former U.S. Attorney - Rudy Giuliani riveted the court. DeVecchio worked with mob informant Gregory Scarpa... [continue]
October 24, 2007
Wow: The Daily News reports that Astroland will "open for one last season" thanks to a deal between Astroland owner, the Albert family, and Thor Equities. Thor bought the Astroland property for $30 million in 2006, as part of its billion-dollar redevelopment plants, and it was suggested earlier this summer that Thor would let Astroland open for the 2008 season. However, last month had reports about extreme differences between what Thor wanted for rent... [continue]
Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro placed a full page ad in the Staten Island Advance blasting Staten Island D.A. Daniel Donovan. Molinaro called the trial and the sentencing of his 18-year-old grandson Steven to 5 years in jail a "miscarriage of justice." In 2006, Steven was arrested for beating up a 14-year-old Staten Island Advance paper boy and, this year, Molinaro was accused of violating an order of protection and driving down the paper... [continue]
Marko Perkovic (known as Thompson on stage, portrayed by Kitler at right) is coming to town, and the protesters are awaiting -- with good reason. The Croatian rock star is known for nostalgically warbling for the Ustaša regime and glorifying the Nazis in his songs, and we can't imagine his anti-Semitism sing-a-longs are going to be very popular here in New York. The musician isn't all about the controversial topics (though it does get him... [continue]
Yesterday afternoon, a woman drove her car into a bus shelter in Brooklyn. Luckily the bus shelter was just completed or else there could have been even more injuries than the five that were reported. WABC 7 reported that the driver was double parked when another car needed to get by. The second car's driver "sat on his horn until the woman in the Maxima moved from the passenger seat and got behind the... [continue]
Police in Suffolk County released surveillance footage of an attempted robbery at a convenience store off the Montauk Highway in Brookhaven that showed a petite woman defending her store. Store employee Hafize Sahin, all of 4'5" and 90 pounds, swung a 3-foot-long ax at the would-be robber. The incident took place around 8PM when a mask-wearing man demanded the store's money. Sahin pretended to open the register but really took the ax from under... [continue]
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October 23, 2007
The second taxi strike ended this morning at 5AM and most of the reaction was either that it didn't even seem like there was a strike, what with all the cabs on the road, or that it was a rip-off. Thanks to the zoned-pricing contingency plan the city put into place, drivers were allowed to charge a lot more and pick up more fares. One person told WCBS 2 it was really a "taxi... [continue]
Before November 24th we suggest heading over to the Storefront for Art and Architecture for this urban housing designs exhibit. The little gallery houses a New York City created from Legos! Not a completely new idea (this Sean fella did a good job of it previously), however these guys have taken it to the next level, including little details only locals could appreciate. Seriously, there's even street art...and Banksy no less! Watch the video... [continue]
WNYC's Brian Lehrer recently spoke to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly about Giuliani's stance on gun control, as well as his own views on a national gun control policy. After the jump there's more video of the Commish -- this time discussing 9/11, counter-terrorism efforts in New York, and the last 15 years of his career. He also gives one glimpse into his future, stating he'll never run for Mayor as he has "no plans" and... [continue]
Last week, 23-year-old model Maxmilia Cordero filed a lawsuit against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, claiming she had sex with him when she was 16 and aspiring to be a model. But now her claim has gotten a little crazier, as the Post reports Cordero may be a man. "Sources" tell the Post that Cordero, born Maximilian, has been taking hormone treatments and has had plastic surgery become "Maxmilia." Cordero also has a number of MySpace pages... [continue]
Rensselaer County Clerk Frank J. Merola is unhappy with Gov. Spitzer's plan to issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. As an employee of the State, he has no legal discretion over whether he can ignore the plan once it's enacted, so he's filed a lawsuit to block the initiative in state Supreme Court in Albany. In a statement explaining his lawsuit. County Clerk Frank Merola alluded to a recent public opinion poll that showed... [continue]
The NY Times delved into an amazing story of how a painting left for the trash was actually a long-missing painting by Rufino Tamayo, the Mexican artist. Someone, make this into a movie! In 2003, Elizabeth Gibson rescued the colorful, 38 1/8"-by-51 1/4" painting at West 72nd Street and Broadway. After years of trying to trace its origins, Gibson finally caught a break when a helpful librarian at the Frick suggested she go to the... [continue]
Yestedary morning, a woman fell into the gap between the platform edge and train at the Syosset LIRR train station. The 60-year-old woman slipped and suffered abrasions on her legs when she was boarding a Penn Station-bound train. The gap was measured to be between 10 and 12 inches. The station has a curved track, with some gaps as wide as 15 inches there. The LIRR says a consultant recommended solutions like "platform extensions or... [continue]
For the past few weeks, an art gallery has been locked down by judge's order as angry partners and clients claimed that the gallery sold their works without permission and that the gallery's owner reneged on millions of dollars of debts. And yesterday, a judge toured the toured embattled art gallery Salander O'Reilly to examine its conditions as many artworks are still hanging on the walls. The accusations range from John McEnroe and other investors... [continue]
October 22, 2007
Taxi workers held another strike starting at 5AM this morning over demands to remove the new GPS systems, for there to be a healthcare and retirement pension fund, and union recognition. However, it's unclear how many of the tens of thousands of taxi drivers actually struck. The Metro Taxi Cab Board of Trade says that 95% of the 13,000 taxi fleet was on the streets and the Office of Emergency Management did not notice... [continue]
A New Jersey school's zero-tolerance policy went into effect after a 7-year-old student drew a gun. He didn't literally pull a gun - rather, he drew a picture of himself and another student "David" and the drawing of himself showed him holding a gun. But that was enough for Kyle McDevitt to earn a suspension from Dennis Township Primary School. Kyle apparently gave the drawing to David on the bus, and David's parents alerted... [continue]
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October 22, 2007
More than a year and a half after the death of Nixzmary Brown, the Administration for Children's Services has hired 20 retired NYPD detectives to work as trained investigators consulting with ACS caseworkers. The ACS plans on eventually fielding 120 such investigators. The need for a bolder approach to protecting children being monitored by the ACS follows the beating death of Brown in January 2006 and a number of other deaths of children under ACS... [continue]
Families and friends are mourning the deaths of Robert Chacon and John Isello, two friends who died when their motorboat capsized in the Ambrose Channel Saturday night. Chacon, Isello and two other friends were on a 24-foot fishing boat when their vessel hit a tugboat's towline. All four fell into the water. Jackson and Chacon were in an air pocket, but Chacon suffered a heart attack. Jackson, who held onto Chacon's body so it would... [continue]
October 21, 2007
Many taxi drivers are prepared to go on strike again tomorrow to protest the mandatory installation of expensive GPS equipment, credit and debit card readers, and video screens in the rear seats of their cabs. The effect of the first strike seemed negligible to many New Yorkers. A very informal survey of cab drivers who already have the equipment installed in their cars yielded a consensus opinion of the new technology: it sucks. Drivers complained... [continue]
Last night, a memorial bike ride was held in memory of Craig Murphey. Murphey, a 26-year-old who worked at the West Harlem Action Network Against Poverty, was biking when he was hit by an oil truck at Union Avenue and Ten Eyck Street in Williamsburg. The truck driver was not charged, and an earlier report had stated that Murphey was biking in the "wrong direction" (opposite of street traffic). However his friend Elizabeth Weinberg told... [continue]
The Reverend Al Sharpton, speaking out against the beating a black man in Staten Island, announced that he will organize a protest march in the next few weeks. He said, "New York is becoming worse than Louisiana. We're going to Staten Island, Jena, Washington - and we're going to bring out numbers like you've never seen before." On Tuesday, Skylar McCormack, who is black and had been with some white friends, was attacked by... [continue]
H. Dale Hemmerdinger, Gov. Spitzer's nominee to replace Peter Kalikow as chairman of the MTA, relinquished his membership in the Harmonie Club, a private social club that some accused of excluding minorities. The club has a membership of 1,100 and none of them are minorities. Mayor Bloomberg is a former member, but he also resigned when the club's complexion came under scrutiny. Initially, Hemmerdinger refused to quit the Harmonie Club, saying that while he was... [continue]
Note to all mixologists: Tomato juice does not go well with X-ray machines. Especially when the X-ray machines are part of the screening process at LaGuardia Airport, where thousands of passengers are waiting to be checked out. WCBS 2 found out that security screening at LaGuardia was a lot slower than usual (and it can be really slow already!) because someone spilled tomato juice on an X-ray machine yesterday: "The Transportation Safety Administration confirmed... [continue]
A motorboat crashed into a tugboat pulling a barge last night and two motorboat passengers died after the vessel overturned. The incident occurred in the Ambrose Channel, near the Verrazano Bridge. According to the Daily News, a 24-foot motorboat hit the tow line between the tugboat and barge. Apparently the tugboat's captain had warned the motorboat a number of times, but the motorboat continued on. The barge ended up hitting the motorboat and three people... [continue]
October 20, 2007
Fridays are bustling on 34th Street, but yesterday was a little different. Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg was spotted with billionaire developer Donald J. Trump and his three adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. What were they doing? Walking, talking, and eating hot dogs. Or at least Mayor Bloomberg was eating a hot dog - he loves hot dogs and they love him! And why? Because NBC is filming the celebrity edition of The... [continue]
The LA Times invaded the Big Apple to investigate the amazing fund-raising power of Hillary Clinton in Chinatown. The leading 2008 Democratic contender was able to raise $380,000 during one April fund-raiser - and back in 2004, John Kerry was only able to raise $24,000. Of course, Chinatown is in Clinton's backyard, too. But the LA Times questioned how some donors, like dishwashers or servers, would be able to donate amounts between $500 and... [continue]
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October 20, 2007
The family of late NYPD detective James Zadroga met with city medical examiner Dr. Charles Hirsch. Earlier this week, Hirsch determined that Zadroga, who spent 470 hours working rescue and recovery after the September 11 attacks, did not die from issues directly related to World Trade Center dust. Zadroga's family and the ME's office did not comment about the meeting, with the ME's office spokeswoman saying, "Dr. Hirsch gave his personal assurance to the family... [continue]
Mayor Bloomberg announced that due to a dramatic increase in funding, as many as 14,000 more city kids will be able to attend after-school programs this year. According to the New York Post, that would bring the total number of children participating in after-school activities to 80,000. The expansion is part of New York's Out-of-School Time (OST) initiative and Bloomberg introduced the addition of 112 new after-school programs at an annual conference of the Association... [continue]
October 19, 2007
It's been a couple of days since we checked in on rap mogul and late night rabble rouser Sean Combs, who allegedly punched Steven Acevedo this past Sunday at an after hours club in SoHo. Currently The Daily News is reporting that Acevedo's lawyer stated his client doesn't want Combs to go to jail, however there are other reports stating Combs "is naive if he believes he can escape his latest accusations of assault with... [continue]
It's the umpteenth story about an engagement gone sour and hardly the first one that has the would-be groom demanding the pricey engagement ring back. But it's the first that we can recall where the ex-fiancee is the granddaughter of a Gambino crime family head! Dean Kuehnen and Andria Castellano got engaged in December of 2006. Kuehnen gave her a 3.23 carat emerald-cut ring with 160 additional diamonds in the platinum setting. But then they... [continue]
Yesterday morning, two men riding bicycles were killed in separate accidents. Both occurred in Brooklyn. Around 4AM, the a 26-year-old at Union Avenue and Ten Eyck Street in East Williamsburg was hit by an oil truck. WABC reported that he was cycling in the wrong direction. The cyclist, identified as Craig Murphy [sic] who is a member of RightRides, died at the scene. The truck driver was not charged. Then, in Bedford Stuyvesant, around 6AM,... [continue]
One of the most heartbreaking stories after the September 11 attacks was that of James Zadroga, a NYC police detective. Zadroga had worked rescue and recovery in the debris of the World Trade Center and developed a respiratory disease. Now, over a year after his death, the city's medical examiner has ruled that his death was not caused by toxic WTC dust. Medical examiner Dr. Charles Hirsch wrote a letter to Zadroga's parents (who are... [continue]
For the past few years, the officials have been warning that NYC's Off-Track Betting, or OTB, has been on the verge of going broke, whether it's former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi or City Comptroller William Thompson. OTB doesn't give the city any revenues and recently pinned its hopes on attracting more customers by making over OTB parlors and allowing bets to be placed online and by cell phone or Blackberry. Yesterday, the Post revealed that... [continue]
October 18, 2007
Mayor Bloomberg and United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten announced a new plan rewarding teachers whose schools improve student achievement. Two hundred high-needs schools will be eligible for the program, and if the schools improve, then the bonuses will be distributed through a committee to the teachers. Mayor Bloomberg called the agreement a "breakthrough." Weingarten has long opposed "individual merit pay," but she likes the new plan because a committee, made up of the... [continue]
The Real Deal (via Brownstoner) is reporting that, according to a recent court ruling, the city is taking two Williamsburg properties via eminent domain for Bushwick Inlet Park. The properties are located along the East River between North 9th and 10th streets. According to one real estate expert, the city will only pay about $100 per square foot, compared to the $200 per square foot it could garner on the open market, even though the... [continue]
October 17, 2007
Debbie Almontaser, the erstwhile head and founder of Brooklyn's Khalil Gibran International Academy, will sue the city for violating her freedom of speech. She also claims Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein forced her to resign as principal under threat of closing the dual-language school. The KGIA, named after the Lebanese Christian poet, teaches students Arabic and English and aims to foster cross-cultural understanding, but critics accused Almontaser of establishing a madrassa to indoctrinate... [continue]
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October 17, 2007
Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn urged the State Assembly to pass a bill authorizing the marine transfer station at the Gansevoort Pier. The MTS, part of the city's Solid Waste Management Plan, would handle recyclable paper, metal, glass and plastic and would help to ease garbage truck traffic. Bloomberg said there would be "a disaster" if the plan doesn't pass. Assembly members whose districts are affected by the plan, such as Richard Gottfried,... [continue]
A crane at One Bryant Park, aka the Bank of America tower on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, reportedly lost some materials it was carrying. Curbed is reporting that the materials/debris/ garbage bin fell at least 35 floors - and it looks like a cab was hit. A Gothamist reader who works near the building writes:Our windows look out at the construction site and it looks like some beams were dropped right... [continue]
It's more like "will he or won't he"...yesterday we heard about a scuffle between Sean Combs (aka P. Diddy) and Steven Acevedo (aka someone we've never heard of), and today there are conflicting reports about what has happened since the dust has settled. The Daily News is reporting that "the hip-hop mogul is already making nice with the guy who got socked in the kisser at Kiosk. Combs and Steven Acevedo were spotted Monday night... [continue]
B&H Photo-Video, the huge photo and video store on 9th Avenue and 34th Street, will pay $4.3 million to settle an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. The EEOC contended that B&H paid Hispanic employees in its warehouses less than other workers, many of whom are religious Jews; this is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Other allegations included that B&H "failed to promote" and "provide health benefits" to Hispanic... [continue]
October 16, 2007
boardwalk ciclista - JANUARY The friends and artists behind the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendar series have put their 2008 version online and up for sale. The calendar is a continuation of the series that looks to feature realistic representations of Brooklyn femmes by reinventing traditional genres of calendar girls. 2008's theme is a swimsuit calendar and all of the shots were taken at Coney Island. Here's Gothamist on the 2007 calendar that featured... [continue]
If you've ever struggled to figure out which direction you're facing when you step out of a subway station (and there are no landmarks or sun to guide you), you won't have those problems at four subway stations in Midtown anymore. That's because the Department of Transportation and the Grand Central Partnership are placing temporary directional compass decals outside them. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explained, "Not a single person, native New Yorker or visitor, can... [continue]
Boing Boing has a story that borders on an urban legend we once heard. Nadege Brunacci, owner of Pit Stop in Brooklyn, found a snake in her home's sewage pipes -- and not just any snake, a very large python! Brunacci sent out an email explaining the incident (in her own special French way) to her friends, saying: "monday night after 2...3.... beers i did need to go 'pipi' did not put the light on... [continue]
Talking Radio reported that Air American Radio host and liberal Randi Rhodes was mugged on Sunday night on 39th Street and Park Avenue while walking her dog. Soon after, fellow AAR host Jon Elliott stated that Rhodes was beaten up pretty badly, lost teeth and insinuated that the attack was part of "the right wing hate machine." And soon after that an AAR blogger, Nancy Scola, posted: "Air America host Randi Rhodes experienced an unfortunate... [continue]
Brides hate being disappointed, especially on their wedding day! And Elana Glatt is no different, as she, her new husband and mother-in-law are suing their wedding florist for a number of floral mistakes. The couple booked Posy Floral Design Studio to outfit the Cipriani space on 42nd Street with flora, including centerpieces of antique/rust hydrangeas, for $27,000. The special hydrangeas are green with maroon tips, which were chosen to fit the wedding colors. Except that... [continue]
Yesterday afternoon, a 13-year-old was shot in the ankle as he walked home from school in Brownsville. A grocery owner told the Post the boy fell in front of his store, crying, "I got shot! I got shot!" and witnesses say that some "older youths had been running down the street - one firing at least four shots at the other." This past weekend, a 3-year-old was grazed by a bullet while in Bed-Stuy. Last... [continue]
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October 16, 2007
Sean Combs clocked a 31 year old clubgoer in SoHo on Sunday, right in the kisser...twice. Oh yes he Diddy! The rap mogul was at the after-hours club Kiosk (located at 95 Spring Street) when the rumble went down, and he's yet to turn himself in. amNewYork reports that "he was expected to appear at the First Precinct this morning for questioning."Police would not identify the victim in the case but they said First Precinct... [continue]
As we've mentioned, the Guggenheim is being renovated -- but what's currently going on under all that scaffolding? Now that the museum has been stripped of its paint, it's time to choose order the paint cans. Unfortunately, the Guggenheim isn't sure what color to paint the exterior, because architect Frank Lloyd Wright actually chose a different shade of color for the building - a color that was painted over five years after the museum... [continue]
October 15, 2007
We explained that many NYC taxi cabs are covered with flowery decals as part of Garden in Transit, a mobile public art project to celebrate the taxicab's 100th anniversary. The program is voluntary amongst taxi cab drivers, which is why not all cabs are decorated. Now it turns out that some of reluctance to go floral is because cab drivers think the designs are affiliated with the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The Post reports... [continue]
School bureaucracy never ceases to amaze. Even though a student had a stroke (a stroke) and the school waited over 90 minutes to call 911, Jamaica High School has decided to make things as difficult as possible before allowing 911 to be called during a medical emergency. The Daily News hast the latest memo from the Queens high school that explains the four things that need to be done before 911 is called:1. Emergencies must... [continue]
Nannies tattling on the foibles of their well-to-do employers are very last year. The Internet has spawned a forum that makes hidden cameras and GPS tracking seem like child's play when monitoring the people monitoring one's children. ISawYourNanny is a site where people can post incidents that they found suspect, and some of the descriptions of the people and places are meant to be specific enough that parents can figure out if it's their child... [continue]
Just as he's been plying his charm during a campaign swing in South Carolina, the NY Times has a big story about how former mayor Rudy Giuliani works his New York City credentials without being too encumbered by associations with such a liberal-leaning town (even his own liberal leanings!). Giuliani takes the time during his speeches to make old NYC look bad so he winds up looking good. For instance, there used to be a... [continue]
New York may have a casino in Vegas, but it has never had one in...New York. Well, not in quite some time -- though it is documented that there were casinos on Broadway in SoHo in the early 1800s (and of course in the 1900s there were places like Chumley's that secretly served as gambling dens). To legally gamble within city limits these days you only have a couple of options: OTB or the... [continue]
Just a few days after a 16-year-old Flatbush resident died after being shot in the head when looking out his window, a 3-year-old girl was grazed by a bullet after buying candy with family and friends. Jayla McLean is doing okay, but it's depressing that there are photographs of her wound at all. She was at the Kingsborough Housing Projects in Bed-Stuy to visit her great-grandmother when two groups of men got into an argument... [continue]
Yesterday, people critical of developer Bruce Ratner's massive, billion dollar Atlantic Yards project held the Third Annual Walk Don't Destroy Walkathon. And leading opponent Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn held a press conference asking a new question that goes beyond eminent domain and the size and scale of the plan. Now the question is whether the Atlantic Yards will be safe from a terror risk. Earlier this week, Newark Police Director - and former NYPD... [continue]
Early Sunday morning, an 86-year-old man was found driving in the opposite direction as traffic on the Belt Parkway. Luckily no one was hurt, but the highway patrol had to divert traffic in order to stop Bernard Hummel. The Connecticut resident had been reported missing from his home the day before. The Post reports that Hummell suffers from Alzheimer's and "wanted to drive his wife, Anna, to the Connecticut shore." He left home - without... [continue]
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October 14, 2007
It should come as no surprise, but New York's three major airports Laguardia, JFK, and Newark (in New Jersey) are the worst in the nation when it comes to on-time performance. The New York Post compiled a list of the ten worst flights when it comes to leaving or arriving in a timely manner. The absolute worst is Flight #588 from Miami to JFK, which fails to arrive on schedule 85% of the time, with... [continue]
A junior trader at one of the world's largest hedge funds, SAC Capital, is suing the company. Andrew Tong alleges that his boss Ping Jiang––the two men are 37 and 41 years old, respectively––forced him to take estrogen hormone pills and wear a dress to work. This was supposedly to feminize him and make him a better trader. Tong also alleges that he was sexually assaulted while at work. If this is the first you've... [continue]
Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and others broke out the shovels to break ground on renovating the new Central Park Precinct House. It's the oldest precinct in the city, residing in in a horse stable built in 1871, and Mayor Bloomberg said, "We've committed $45 million to bring the Central Park Precinct into the 21st Century, while also preserving the 19th Century details that give the building its character and landmark status." The... [continue]
A year after Michael Sandy was lured to a parking lot at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn under the pretense of a sexual encounter and then killed in an attempted robbery, the spot on Sheepshead Bay continues to be a place where men congregate for furtive homosexual encounters. John Fox and Anthony Fortunato were both convicted last week of manslaughter as a hate crime in the death of Sandy, who was struck by a car... [continue]
A retired cop who can't abide cell phone users or loud talkers on his daily LIRR commute to and from Manhattan has made it his business to intimidate fellow riders into being quiet. Standing six foot four inches, John Clifford can be an imposing figure, especially if he's yelling at you, slapping a phone out of your hand, or throwing food or a beverage on you. Clifford's been arrested a number of times, but he's... [continue]
October 13, 2007
Ah, City Councilman Peter "I hate graffiti" Vallone weighs in on the chalk "graffiti" made by 6-year-old Natalie Shea on her home's front stoop. Back in 2005, Vallone introduced the law that requires property owners to clean up graffiti, so when a neighbor called 311 to complain about Natalie's drawings (again, mind you, on her own stoop, not a neighbor's stoop), her parents got a warning letter from the Department of Sanitation. The Daily News... [continue]
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver made a public plea to Gov. Eliot Spitzer to cool down his feud with State Senate Leader Joseph Bruno. The so-called Troopergate scandal began when the Governor allegedly sicced State Police on Bruno to monitor his business travel practices. In the aftermath, Spitzer lost some of his long-time aides when he claimed he knew nothing about the surveillance and they resigned. Darren Dopp recently was hired as a lobbyist after... [continue]
John Catsimatidis is hoping to follow in Mayor Bloomberg's footsteps by becoming a Democrat who follows the path of least resistance into Gracie Mansion. The owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain has millions of dollars to burn and would like to become the Mayor of New York City. Even for a lifelong Democrat like Catsimatidis, the easiest road to City Hall is to bypass the scrum of party politics and simply get oneself elected as... [continue]
Former police commissioner Bernard Kerik's misdeeds continue to plague Rudy Giuliani's Presidential ambitions, with news that the former Mayor knew that his one-time right hand man vouched for a mobbed-up construction company before appointing him police commissioner. Before Kerik was appointed commissioner, one of Giuliani's top aides was made aware of the fact that Kerik––while commissioner of the Corrections Dept.––met with mayoral aides in a Tribeca bar and defended Interstate Industrial Corp. of criminal wrongdoing,... [continue]
The 26-year-old Yale graduate who walked around Times Square naked on Thursday spoke to the NY Post, which made him its cover boy, about his experience. Josh Drimmer denied that it was a stunt and said - from his hospital bed at Bellevue - "It was an extreme panic attack brought on by days of not sleeping...I'm all right. Tell everyone I'm OK. I had a bad day." Good to know that Drimmer is better,... [continue]
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October 13, 2007
During his weekly radio address yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg proposed that Governors Island be turned into the site of a sprawling public health institute that he would bankroll with funds from his own private foundation. After the city bought the island for $1 from the federal government several years ago, the former military site and Coast Guard station has been relatively underutilized. Bloomberg's plan envisions an institute that would draw health experts from around the world... [continue]
The city changed its emergency shelter policy yesterday at 5PM, vowing to turn away homeless families who had previously been deemed ineligible (because they could, potentially, stay with relatives or a friend). Previously, if a family went to the PATH office after business hours, they could be given emergency shelter for the night - and could reapply the next day. Some families seemed to rely on this opportunity and the city had claimed that a... [continue]
October 12, 2007
The Dalai Lama has arrived in New York, speaking in his native Tibetan language for two hours yesterday to followers, fans and the faithful at the Javits Convention Center. Newsday reports:He delivered his entire speech without notes, pausing to take a sip of tea only at the end as tears of joy flowed through the crowd. [He stated:] "The Tibetan cause is a cause of justice, and that's something that cannot fade away. That is... [continue]
Oh, no, is the city going to ban the purchase of Crayola Sidewalk Chalk? The Brooklyn Paper exposes the "new face of vandalism?": 6-year-old Natalie Shea, whose mother got a warning letter from the Department of Sanitation about the chalk drawings her daughter drew on their front stoop. The letter read, “PLEASE REMOVE THE GRAFFITI FROM YOUR PROPERTY. FAILURE TO COMPLY … MAY RESULT IN ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST YOU.” In an article that almost... [continue]
A 26-year-old Yale graduate and Greenpoint resident got a lot of attention in Times Square yesterday - and the NY Post's cover today - by walking around naked. The Post reports that Josh Drimmer was walking in his birthday suit for "several minutes" around 11AM along Seventh Avenue between West 47th and 48th Streets. Reporter Jennifer Fermino overheard one witness calling a friend on his cellphone and saying, "Yo, homeboy's got full-frontal nudity right here!"... [continue]
October 11, 2007
The Supreme Court essentially upheld an Appeals Court ruling that said New York City must pay the private education of disabled students. The twist is that the students and their parents don't even need to try to see if the public school programs are adequate for them. Actually, there's another twist: The lawsuit against the city was filed by former Viacom CEO and co-founder of MTV, multimillionaire Tom Freston. Freston's son Gilbert has learning disabilities,... [continue]
One of the city's biggest industries is the tourism, and the city announced a major push to keep the tourists coming in. Mayor Bloomberg and other officials kicked off the " first-ever global multimedia communications campaign to promote New York City." An advertising campaign titled "This is New York City" will features outdoor posters, internet advertising and a TV spot. Plus, the NYCVisit website features ways for visitors to plan their trip. Bloomberg said, "Everyone... [continue]
Last month rumors of an Apple Store in Brooklyn started to spread, and now there's some news on where the store may land. Originally it was suspected that Brooklyn residents would be sinking their teeth into Apple on Atlantic Avenue near Clinton. Then someone claiming to be "Dana Hemphill, the Apple Northeastern Representative" said the company was "currently in negotiation to open our 1st retail location in Brooklyn, NY on Atlantic Avenue, not far from... [continue]
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn gave a speech at an Association for a Better New York event yesterday that seemed to be a preview into Quinn's 2009 mayoral campaign. According to CityRoom, the speech "seemed to be steered toward showing Ms. Quinn to be a responsible, knowledgeable fiscal heavyweight who would be an effective watchdog of New York City’s financial health." Quinn presented five ideas, including stronger oversight of independent agencies like the NYC Transit... [continue]
The city is changing its policy to let homeless people in its shelters, a move that worries advocates. Starting Friday, anyone arriving at the Bronx intake shelter after 5PM who has had their living situations investigated (many people been investigated when they apply for long-term housing) and were deemed ineligible for housing will be questioned again and turned away if nothing has changed. The city views this as a way to close a loophole... [continue]
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October 11, 2007
Not only is there no sex in the champagne room, apparently tips from the champagne room aren't all going to strippers! A former bartender at Scores is suing the pleasure palace chain, claiming that management stiffed employees of their rightful tips. Siri Diaz claims that when Scores customers use "Diamond Dollars," the club's payment plan, to pay for dances and drinks as well as tips for strippers, servers, and bartenders, management wouldn't give the workers... [continue]
A 72-year-old woman crossing West 139th between 5th and Lenox Avenues was fatally hit by a motorcycle last night around 8:15PM. Carrie Moulton, described as a retired Board of Education administrator, was thrown to the ground. Her skull was cracked and she died at Harlem Hospital. The police say the motorcyclist may have driven through a red light. He apparently did not stop after hitting Moulton, but, as WABC 7 reports, "lost control of his... [continue]
October 10, 2007
The video of City Councilman James Oddo letting the f-bombs drop on a Norwegian TV comedian is getting mixed reactions - and a fair number of chuckles - from New Yorkers, but now it turns out that he wasn't meant to be a poor sap duped into answering stupid questions about whether Barack Obama is an American citizen and "Hillary Clinton's incident with a cigar." A spokesman for the Norwegian program "Rikers Rost" tells the... [continue]
This past weekend David Byrne biked to Town Hall for his “How New Yorkers Ride Bikes” event. The night began with the audience viewing his helmet-cam footage of his journey there, and eventually he biked right up on the stage. Streetfilms was there and reported:Of course our MC for the night, Mr. Byrne, who has been using a bike for transportation for 30 years, pedaled to the theater. In fact, the night started with helmet... [continue]
The uncle of Lee Coleman, the man that stole several knives and slashed two people on 2nd Ave. last Saturday before being shot by an off-duty officer, says that he called the police hours before the attack and that they refused to help. Alexander Flowers said that on 4 a.m. Saturday morning he saw his nephew, who was clearly disturbed. He called Co-op City security and then the police around 7 a.m. According to the... [continue]
Faculty and students are reeling after a noose was found on the door of a black professor's office at Columbia University's Teachers College yesterday. The NYPD's Hate Crime task force is investigating the incident and the professor has been identified in the media as Professor Madonna Constantine, whose interests are listed as "Cultural competence in counseling, training, and supervision. Mental health issues of people of color in the United States and immigrants. Vocational issues of... [continue]
Police arrested the principal of Eastside Community High School yesterday after getting in a confrontation with school security officers who were attempting to arrest an honors student. The incident began when a 17-year-old Isamar Gonzales entered the school early (7:55AM) and school security officers told her to leave. She refused and was eventually arrested for hitting one of the officers in the face. Principal Mark Federman asked that the student be led out of a... [continue]
After reading this, you may think twice about having a seat in Union Square. The website peeped some peeping toms in the area, visually depicted above (they added a "red carpet" to illustrate the "peeper zone"). They also tell us that a "peeper live zone" can contain up to two dozen pervs at one time and can extend up to 30 feet. We wonder what they do when summer skirt season comes to an... [continue]
Who can blame the staff at Palisades Medical Center for being excited when George Clooney and his girlfriend were admitted, after the couple got into a motorcycle accident in Weehawken, NJ? But it seems that twenty-seven staffers were so excited that they accessed Clooney's personal and confidential information and may have leaked it to the media. WCBS 2 reported that at least 40 employees (doctors, nurses, etc.) were investigated and 27 were suspended, some for... [continue]
October 9, 2007
Newspaper photographers usually tend to contribute to the story - not be the subject of them. But today there happens to be two stories about the NY Post's shutterbugs. One photographer, Jason Nicholas, who served almost 13 years on a manslaughter conviction (he was 19 when he fired a rifle at a man, who later died), was arrested last month while covering a story. Apparently the cop told him not to use his flash while... [continue]
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October 9, 2007
The East 72nd Street building that a single-engine plane crashed into almost a year ago is "almost whole" again. The NY Times visited the Bel Aire at 524 East 72nd Street and found the facade patched up and cleaned, windows replaced and interior hallways with new wallpaper and carpeting. And once the scaffolding is removed, the building's canopy can be replaced. On October 11 of last year, a Cirrus plane carrying Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle... [continue]
For some reason, Norwegian comedians thought that City Councilman James Oddo would be a perfect target for their program, "Rikets Rost." Oddo, a Republican and the minority leader in the Council (he's recently supported legislation such as banning aluminum bats and giving the Department of Transportation the authority to name streets), apparently consented to the interview because the request was to discuss presidential politics. But the questions posed by Pia Haraldson were more of... [continue]
Currently the top story on the front page of The Brooklyn Eagle's website contains a graphic photo of a murdered man hanging out of a car. The headline reads: "Grisly Murder on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn", and we were sort of shocked to find an actual photo of the "grisly murder" right there below those words. The story simply reads:The body of 22-year-old Jamal Oughterson (right) hangs out of the back seat a car on... [continue]
The taxi driver whose car veered from a Midtown street and fatally pinned a man on a sidewalk Sunday night says his cab was clipped by another vehicle. Mohammed Chowdury, who had been driving his cab for two months and was planning on quitting after picking up just one more fare, says that a black car, possibly a livery cab, made a "wide right turn from a middle lane" on Third Avenue at 40th Street,... [continue]
No one thought congestion pricing would be easy but now some of the economic reality is sinking in. The MTA announced that it would need $767 million to upgrade service if people shift from cars to mass transit. How does that money break down? According to the NY Times, there's "$284 million in 2008 and 2009 for 367 new city and suburban buses, 46 new subway cars and many station renovations and service enhancements; $163... [continue]
An 81-year-old man who was getting into his parked car in Middle Village, Queens was struck by a vehicle yesterday at 11AM. The car did not stop and passersby chased the van, yelling for the driver to stop. Finally, the car was stopped by another vehicle and one of the men, Anthony Causi, told the Post, "I ran up to the door and yelled at her, 'Did you see what you just did?'" to which... [continue]
October 8, 2007
Last week a group of parents in the West Village were up in arms about the S&M street festival hitting a street too close to home. Yesterday the fest, which was part of New York Leather Weekend, hit Weehawken Street -- or shall we say whipped? Those in attendance perused a plethora of whips, chains, blindfolds and other S&M garb. Those not in attendance were undoubtedly plotting a way to make sure their children... [continue]
The family of Carol Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport on September 28, held a funeral for the mother of three at Congregation Rodeph Sholom yesterday. Her husband Noah, son of labor leader Victor Gotbaum and stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, mourned his wife, saying, "Carol, you were an angel, and everyone knew it. My girl was born with the most beautiful smile on her face. It put... [continue]
Are disputes between dry cleaners and their customers a new source of income for lawyers? The owner of an Upper East Side drycleaning business is suing a man for papering the neighborhood around his store with fliers that impeach the quality of his service. Todd Ofsink owns Todd Layne Cleaners on East 77th St. and is suing Evan Maloney for $100,000 for defamation. Maloney had some negative customer experiences at the store, so he set... [continue]
Five architectural firms have banded together to brainstorm ideas for adding green space to the far west side from the Village to Tribeca, also known as Hudson Square. A plan to add more garbage trucks to the neighborhood, writes Downtown Express's Patrick Hedlund, led local stakeholders to elicit architectural visions. Five firms - Arquitectonica GEO , FLAnK, LTL Architects, SPaN and Zakrzewski + Hyde (in association with Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners) - were... [continue]
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October 8, 2007
The best part of Mayor Bloomberg's maybe, maybe-not presidential aspirations is that we can debate about whether they are going to happen until the Democratic and Republican conventions next year! The NY Times now reports that the "excitement seems to have fizzled" about the idea of Candidate Bloomberg. It's a bit more detailed that Dan Rather's August proclamation that the Mayor would not run for president. Why? Mainly because of the "mayor’s unorthodox approach to... [continue]
A former Channel 7 helicopter pilot was killed when an out-of-control taxi jumped a curb and hit him last night. Paul Smith and his family had just finished a birthday dinner at Dock's restaurant on Third Avenue at 40th Street. The cab had been speeding up Third Avenue when it suddenly jumped the curb and hit sidewalk planter, just when Smith and his family were leaving, and ended up pinning Smith underneath the cab.... [continue]
The Fire Department believes a bad connection from the gas line to the stove, not a gas leak, caused the explosion that caused a flash fire at 10 West 119th Street in Harlem on Saturday. Several people were injured, including four children and their mother who lived in the apartment. Initially, the FDNY said a gas leak on the first floor caused the blast, but Con Ed found no evidence of a gas leak. Now... [continue]
Today is Columbus Day, which means that your employer is probably not giving you the day off (according to the Society for Human Resources Management) but many government offices and schools are closed. The stock market is open, some banks are closed while others are open, and alternate side of the street parking is suspended. Here's a list of closures, but this sort-of-holiday is confusing. And, of course, there is steady opposition to Columbus Day... [continue]
October 7, 2007
More details about Tania Head's life have come to light ever since the NY Times published its article about her. Head rose to a certain kind of prominence as a survivor of the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center, claiming to have been on the 78th floor of the WTC when the planes hit and that her fiance also died at the WTC. She became president of a 9/11 survivors group, trying to... [continue]
The NY Times has an article this weekend that focuses on the overused and so over H word. Hipsters! They're still here, in all their b&w print glory. This time they're settling down in Staten Island to make babies. The new slow-growing hipster mecca has been a nearly silent Siren for a few years, drawing the hipster crowd over from Brooklyn -- the Times even tells us that at least one resident there wears "black... [continue]
A Columbia Law grad is suing a cabbie for grabbing her by the hair and bashing her head against his cab's partition after calling her and her friend "bitches." According to The New York Post and court papers filed by 25-year-old Mei Ying Lai, cab driver Fazal Wali picked up the young woman on West 51st St., but became impatient when asked to wait for her friend, Nancy Hon, at West 29th St. Hon reportedly... [continue]
An illegal restaurant may have been the cause of a gas leak that caused a Manhattan apartment building to explode, injuring 20 people late yesterday afternoon. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said a gas leak caused a flash fire that blew out the walls of several apartments in the 20-unit building. Five people suffered serious burns and one firefighter was injured by falling debris while on the scene. Another firefighter was also hurt. Four of the... [continue]
The ice rink at Rockefeller Center opened yesterday, even though the weather was more 4th of July than 6th of October. The temperature reached 83 degrees in Central Park yesterday and we imagine it was even a few degrees hotter in midtown. Nonetheless, the seasonal mainstay that is up there with elaborate window displays in recognizability opened despite the heat. The Daily News features a cute article that visits both the rink and the... [continue]
The 8-year-old boy who was in critical condition after being hit by a car on West 17th Street Friday night passed away yesterday. Prince Harris Jr., a third-grader at PS 138, had dashed ino the street from between parked cars when a Toyota Scion hit him. A witness described the impact of the accident to the Post, "The car... threw him up in the air. His sneakers were about 70 feet from where he landed."... [continue]
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October 6, 2007
An explosion occurred at building on West 119th Street, right off Fifth Avenue and just south of Marcus Garvey Park, around 4PM. Several people were injured - WCBS 2 says that the injured include two babies and a firefighter who was helping people out of the building. Also: "Firefighters on the scene removed pieces of debris from the building's first floor while residents were being treated on stretchers on the street." The situation was described... [continue]
The Daily News and NY Times both look at the life of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport over a week ago. She is portrayed as a vibrant woman and loving mother to three children who had become depressed in recent years. On Friday, September 28, Gotbaum missed a connection to Tucson (where she would check into alcohol rehabilitation) and become very upset... [continue]
Reverend Al Sharpton is calling for a boycott of the Knicks unless coach and General Manager Isiah Thomas issues a formal apology for testifying that it was alright for black men to refer to black women as bitches. Thomas' distinction became public last month after a deposition was released in the sexual harassment suit of Anucha Browne Sanders. The female executive was suing the Knicks organization after she was fired while accusing the team, and... [continue]
The Governor and the Attorney Genral are not getting along. One would think that Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo would totally be BFF in New York politics. Both are the sons of prominent fathers––one a real estate bigwig, the other a son of a New York Governor. They've got a lot in common. Spitzer held Cuomo's job as state attorney general before becoming Governor. Cuomo's the current attorney general and seems to share his predecessor's... [continue]
Drivers living on exceptionally clean streets could earn a respite from the burden of alternate-side-of-the-street parking. Residents of Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope were granted a stay of parking execution by the Dept. of Sanitation yesterday. Because the area has consistently received scores of 90% or higher for street cleanliness over the last few months, residents will no longer have to move their cars to comply with street cleaning requirements. According... [continue]
Back in March of 2003, Mayor Bloomberg opened up the City Hall Academy at the Tweed Courthouse. The school offered two-weeks "residencies" for students, giving them an "inter-disciplinary approach" to learn about NYC and its history. Mayor Bloomberg, who made education reform one of the cornerstone of his mayoral platform (it's a big part of his "national" persona, too!), had said, "The opening of City Hall Academy demonstrates our commitment to excellence, achievement, and innovation... [continue]
An 8-year-old child is in critical condition at St. Vincent's Hospital after being hit by a car on West 17th Street in Manhattan. The Post says the child, Prince Harris, "darted out between two parked cars." Harris's father, Prince Harris Sr., told the Daily News he, his son, and other relatives and friends were headed to the park, and described the scene, "A cab and a car were speeding down the block to make the... [continue]
October 5, 2007
Rudy Rudy Rudy. Giuliani is getting it from all angles. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com's John Fund wrote an article, "Rude Giuliani." Fund referenced Giuliani's cellphone call with wife Judith during a very important speech in front of the NRA as just one example of all the times Giuliani is stopping for his wife's calls. He once left a room full of donors, who each paid $2,300 to hear him speak,... [continue]
Yesterday, the NY Post revealed that the dingy Manhattan Marriage Bureau would be getting a deluxe makeover. First of all, the City Clerk's Office will move from 1 Centre Street at the Municipal Building to 80 Centre Street. Second, Mayor Bloomberg's personal decorator, Jamie Drake, will be overseeing the redesign - at a discount (we doubt the new bureau will have the touches that Mayor B's swank townhouses do), but the budget is still... [continue]
The Phoenix police released surveillance video showing the arrest of Carol Anne Gotbaum, a New Yorker who later died in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport. Gotbaum had been upset about missing a connection to Tucson, where she was planning on entering alcohol rehabilitation, and became very upset at the gate. In the video, airline personnel are seen trying to talk to Gotbaum (wearing a white shirt at the top of the screen)... [continue]
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October 5, 2007
The Taxi Workers Alliance announced plans for a second taxi strike on October 22. Last month, members of the TWA taxi union participated in a two-day strike to protest new technology, including GPS and credit card payment systems, in cabs. Many drivers feel the technology is unproven and useless (for one, if it breaks down, then the entire meter breaks down), while the Taxi and Limousine Commission says that the new technology benefits everyone... [continue]
A family is mourning the death of a 7-month-old boy who died during an electrical fire on East 3rd Street yesterday morning. The Fire Department believes that the fire was caused by a "faulty timer that was rigged to an air conditioner in the baby's third-floor room." The Daily News explains that the family, the Goldmans, are Orthodox Jews who were observing Succoth. They had recently purchased a an electrical timer for the baby's AC... [continue]
October 4, 2007
Reuters is reporting that today New York was named "the U.S. city most vulnerable to a rat attack as warmer weather and aging infrastructure fuels rodent populations across the United States." At least we don't have to worry about earthquakes (yet)? Rodent management consultants Dale Kaukeinen and Bruce Colvin (self nicknamed the "rat pack") have determined this by assessing the rat problem in different areas. They look at 14 risks factors, including: age of... [continue]
Gotham Gazette has a fantastic analysis of what happens to the hundreds of City Council bills that have been introducedsince Christine Quinn become the City Council Speaker. The article points out many interesting things. For instance, out of the 622 bills introduced, 68% of them are never heard of again. About 15% do get hearings, but are never voted on, and only 17% actually pass to become bills. The article also lists the top ten... [continue]
Residents of the West Village are calling for the removal of Community Board 2 Chairperson Brad Hoylman and CB2 District Manager Bob Gormley because of two little letters: S and M. The two approved the permit for the S&M Street Festival, which is set to take place this Sunday on Weehawken Street. Parents in the area are voicing concern and flyering around Greenwich Village public schools P.S. 3 and P.S. 41 and at Bleeker Playground.... [continue]
The lawyer for the family of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New York resident who died while in police custody at the Phoenix airport last Friday, continued to blast the Maricopa County medical examiner's office as well as question police tactics. Gotbaum, who was traveling to Tucson for alcohol rehabilitation, had become agitated when she missed the flight. Since they were unable to calm her, police arrested her and left her handcuffed to a bench in... [continue]
Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D, 51st District) wants to ban alcohol ads on buses and subways. The ads provide just $3 to $5 million of the $100 million in revenue the Metropolitan Transportation Authority gets from ad sales and the MTA has not taken a position on the proposed legislation. The state’s Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services did express support for the legislation calling it "consistent with our strategy of preventing alcoholism... [continue]
Mayor Bloomberg was named in a bias lawsuit filed by three former Bloomberg LP employees. This now accompanies a lawsuit, which charges that female employees were discriminated against, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed against the billionaire's media company earlier this week. The lawsuit says, "Upon information and belief, Michael Bloomberg is responsible for the creation of the systemic, top-down culture of discrimination which exists within Bloomberg." The Sun reports that the three women,... [continue]
October 3, 2007
Anucha Browne Sanders gets the cover treatment from the Post and Daily News after a jury believed that Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas and that Madison Square Garden (the owner of the Knicks) were liable for sexual harassment. amNY, though, chose to put Isiah Thomas on its cover, with an inset of Knicks owner James Dolan, next to the headline "Rotten to the Court" - oh snap! Browne Sanders was also awarded $11.6... [continue]
Green Brooklyn (via Brownstoner) has a not-surprising-as-it-should-be post on, well, the Gowanus Canal having a touch of the gonohorrea. According to a Scienceline article, "a biologist at the New York City College of Technology, has her students analyze water samples and observe the oily substance that coats the water’s surface each afternoon. 'One group of students found gonohorrea in a water drop,' said Haque. She’s particularly interested in fluorescent white gauze that lies near the... [continue]
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October 3, 2007
At long last, after more than a year suffering behind black netting, the four-faced clock and gilded dome of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building are back in (almost) full view. But don't rely on it to tell time. The hands don't move yet! The NY Times has a write-up of the restored clock, which the building's owner, the Dermot Company, began renovating in 2006. Certainly, the four-faced clock of Brooklyn's tallest is now a... [continue]
Mayor Bloomberg returned from London convinced more than ever that NYC needs to emulate the British capital's "Ring of Steel" surveillance system, which places cameras throughout the city to observe and help identify people in real time. He said that the danger of terrorism necessitated a similar system in New York, where plans are underfoot to install thousands of cameras and license plate readers in downtown Manhattan. "In London, they have two or three cameras... [continue]
Yet another depressing fact revealed about the Deutsche Bank demolition in the wake of two firefighters' deaths. The NY Times reports that contractors had created an emergency exit plan through sealed stairwells, but the firefighters didn't know about the plan. Fire department spokesman Francis X. Gribbon told the Times, “The Fire Department was not involved in creating this plan, specifically — and most importantly — with regard to the sealed staircases. We were not notified... [continue]
There's a group of guys, younger than Tony Hawk but older than your average skater punk, who refuse to give up their skateboards -- though admittedly they say they have nothing to rebel against anymore. Skateboarding doesn't have to be about rebelling though, sometimes it can just be about...commuting? Bikers aren't the only ones finding a better way to move around this city, turns out the skateboard is helping grown men get to work --... [continue]
A Phoenix medical examiner's autopsy conducted on the body of New York resident Carol Anne Gotbaum was inconclusive. Gotbaum died in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport on Friday, after she became upset when she missed a connection to Tucson, where she was planning on checking into the Cottonwood de Tucson alcohol rehabilitation center. Police suggested that she died while struggling to break free of her handcuffs; her family, which includes stepmother-in-law Public Advocate... [continue]
October 2, 2007
Once again people will wonder about the decision-making of the folks in the Knicks organization: A jury has found Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden liable on six counts of sexual harassment. The charges were brought against Thomas and MSG by former marketing vice-president Anucha Browne Sanders, who alleged that Thomas acted inappropriately (swearing, making advances) and that management dismissed her complaints before firing her because of her complaints. The... [continue]
On the heels of the NY Times' Alex Williams calling Brooklyn "over" -- Park Slope has been named one of the 10 best neighborhoods in the country! Take that Gray Lady. In fact, "the historic area, just steps from Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is the only New York City neighborhood to make the first-ever list from the American Planning Association (APA)." Which would mean that a Brooklyn 'hood bested a Manhattan 'hood... [continue]
Like many, whenever we traverse any streets along Grand Army Plaza, we basically run (or bike) for our lives. So we were relieved when we read the Department of Transportation's announcement that construction has begun on the $400,000 project to remake the oval plaza constructed in 1870 by Olmsted and Vaux. It was originally called Prospect Park Plaza, but it was renamed in 1926 to pay homage to the Union Army, according to the... [continue]
The family of Carol Ann Gotbaum wants answers about the 45-year-old Manhattan resident's death while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport last Friday. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who was Gotbaum's stepmother-in-law, said, "We are not jumping to any conclusions, but the circumstances surrounding Carol's death appear to be unusual enough to raise serious questions and warrant a thorough investigation." The mother of three was scheduled for a connection to Tucson, where she was... [continue]
A memorial to thousands of people buried in downtown Manhattan will open to the public Friday at 1 p.m., and there will be a candlelight procession at 8 p.m. from Battery Park to the monument at Duane and Elk Sts. The African Burial Ground National Monument is set to open 16 years after construction workers discovered human remains while doing foundation work on a downtown federal building. What they discovered were the remains of early... [continue]
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October 2, 2007
Yesterday morning, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice visited Community School 154 in Harlem. Accompanied by Representative Charles Rangel, Rice, former Provost at Stanford, encouraged the students to dream big, “One thing that I want you to promise me is that you won't let anybody else tell you what it is you ought to be interested in. You'll find what you are interested in and you'll pursue it and you won't let anyone say 'Why... [continue]
October 1, 2007
The NY Times is hinting that Brooklyn may be so over, a theory that seems to be based around Heath Ledger leaving the borough.What if Brooklyn’s recent cachet as the locus for what’s next is little more than a thin and fragile crust of chic, hiding the insecurity of people who constantly measure the social currency of their ZIP code by Manhattan standards? The number of trendy boutiques, bistros and music clubs in Brooklyn may... [continue]
Mayor Bloomberg continued his Transatlantic trip, heading from Paris to a couple stops in Britain. And if you believe the billionaire isn't running for President, well, get a load of what he said while speaking to Britain's conservative party:“The Conservative Party in the U.K. is much more fiscally conservative than many American politicians who call themselves conservative. Too many of our conservatives in the United States want to run up enormous deficits and hope... [continue]
The family of Manhattan resident who died while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Friday night is awaiting more details about her death. US Airways and airport police say that Carol Anne Gotbaum, who was married to the stepson of NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, had been acting irately and would not calm down, so she was handcuffed and left in an airport holding cell. Police say they checked on her every 15... [continue]
The Plaza, you know that place where the kids in Gossip Girl hang out, is turning 100 years old today. The date is marked by the first guest to ever check in to the famed establishment. Who was it? The fancy-named Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, and of course a PR-driven hotel manager was behind that. The NY Times reports that "His arrival was orchestrated by the Plaza’s first manager, who wanted the new hotel to open... [continue]
With the jury for the sexual harassment trial of Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas and the rest of the Knicks organization continuing its deliberations for a third day, an interesting workplace question has been raised. Is swearing at the office okay? Former Knicks marketing vice president Anucha Browne Sanders claims, amongst other things, that Thomas swore at her frequently, including statements like "Bitch, I don't give a f--- about ticket sales" Thomas said he... [continue]
Time Out NY has a list of PETA's most wanted in the city. The organization has 25,000 of its 1.6 million members based right here, and while we wish they'd have a crack team of those members targeting folks like Brooklyn's Cruella DeVil, here are some of the big offenders. • The Ringling Brothers circus is back in town in March 2008 and PETA is again questioning the way the circus treats its animals. The... [continue]
Senator Charles Schumer's latest crusade? Trying to keep the national Do Not Call registry list extended so New Yorkers and other Americans won't have to deal with re-registering. Back in 2003, the government allowed people to request their phone numbers not be used by a telemarketers for solicitation. The do-not-call period is 5 years, and people would not be able to renew their do-not-call wishes until the period is over. And Schumer says there's a... [continue]