Results tagged “andnewsday”

What State of the Union? All we know is that "BAMALOT" and "SHAF-TED" are funny-in-a-silly-way Post and Daily News (respectively) covers and that Rudy Giuliani heads into today's Florida primary with a "Goodbye Rudy Tuesday" Newsday cover.

On Monday afternoon, a 51-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times on the head and shoulder with an 8-inch kitchen knife at the 169th Street F train platform in Jamaica, Queens. Paula Jean Baptiste's attacker, Matthew Cordacho, was trying to steal her purse but fled the scene after Baptiste put up a fight. However, he was followed by a witness who called 911 and ended up being arrested a few blocks away.

As the NYPD Hate Crimes unit, as well as the FBI and Justice Department, investigates the noose found outside a Columbia professor's office, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly commented about the school's cooperation. Apparently the school only turned over surveillance videos after the NYPD provided a subpoena - three days after the noose was found on Teachers College Professor Madonna Constatine's office door knob.

Police say a man confessed to the brutal killing of his girlfriend's 61-year-old mother on Tuesday. And Newsday says that among Joseph Cazeau's "stunning" admissions was that he was having an affair with his victim.

Police are investigating the death of a woman found in her apartment. A roommate of the 36-year-old woman found her alone in the Crosby Street (at Grand) apartment - with two stab wounds. The roommate had been away over the Labor Day weekend and apparently neighbors had noticed a smell.

The Post and Newsday have followed up on the rape/sexual assault that occurred early Friday morning around 1AM in Prospect Park, but with very different explanations about the circumstances.

Wednesday night, a masked man robbed the Casa Blana grocery on Beach Channel Drive in the Rockaways, shooting 35-year-old Makel Maharram in the head twice and shooting at Maharram's 11-year-old cousin Luqman Sharhan twice, but missing. With the robber still on the loose and Maharram in the hopsital, Sharhan's father Saleh Sharhan hopes they can "flush the guy out" with Luqman's story.

explanation for Joseph Leonardi's behavior on Thursday. Newsday reports that Leonardi is still under psychiatric observation at Queens Hospital Center. His lawyer, Todd Greenberg, says that Leonardi is "absolutely appalled that he may have hurt someone" and is "very, very relieved" that rookie cop Stuart Ingram wasn't injured.

This might be one of the crazier landlord-tenant dispute-turned-murder incidents ever. Paul Siddo, landlord at 661 Watkins Street in Brownsville, was fatally shot in the face by the boyfriend of a tenant. Siddo had apparently complained to a tenant about her leaving a bicycle in the hallway - basically telling her and her mother not to pile up garbage in the hallway (including "dirty diapers, food, a stove"). The tenants also owed $3,000 in rent. The police were on the scene when their argument got heated, but "assessed the situation as a civil matter that should be handled by landlord-tenant court."

Yesterday, the Fire Department released 1,613 phone calls made to fire and EMS dispatchers, and the calls are just heartbreaking. The Mayor explained why the calls had been withheld by the city - they were only released upon a lawsuit - saying, "The real issue here is to protect the families...[was it] really is worth putting the families through reliving the grief that I think none of the rest of us would possibly imagine." At any rate, he apologized for the delay in the tapes' release, which he blamed on a Fire Department manager (way to pass the buck). But the victims' families are listening to the tapes in hopes that lessons can be learned. The NY Times notes what the Sally Regenhard, mother of Christian Regenhard, a firefighter who was killed at the South Tower, said:

“It took five years to hear a scintilla of confirmed information,” Mrs. Regenhard said, adding that many public officials had demanded fast explanations for Con Edison’s performance during the recent blackout in Queens, but that few had broached the question of the emergency response on Sept. 11.

Melissa Doi, the 32 year old woman whose 911 call was played during Zacarias Moussaoui's trial, and the 911 operator who tried the comfort her are the subject of an editorial in the NY Sun: "Yesterday, [Doi's] voice testified to something else — to the way in which the unique spirit of New Yorkers allowed glimmers of light to shine through even on that darkest of sunny summer days...[T]he operator was New York at its best, both compassionate and pragmatic, and unwilling to give up so long as there was any hope onto which to hold." And Newsday has a transcript of her call. The NY Times has an extensive site about the 9/11 Records.

If anything was proven during yesterday's Queens pet store fire in Woodhaven, it's that neighbors can really help out. The Post looks at the fire: Firefighters extracted about 150 pets from the store while neighbors housed them and/or drove them to animal hospitals. The daughter of the owner of Bob's Tropical Pet Store said, "We thought everything perished. When we got here at 3 a.m., there were people out here saying, 'We have the animals.' It was unbelievable." A few birds, some fish, a kitten and a puppy died from smoke inhalation, but all told, most of the animals were saved. The only downside may be that rescuers may not give back the pets! The fire departments thinks an electrical short in the window display caused the fire.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has approved the scaled down design for the World Trade Center Memorial . Last week, builder Frank Sciame had released plans for a revised and less costly plan that has been generally welcomed. But one thing that hasn't been resolved is how victims' names will be featured - the LMDC will have to decide on that later.

The wrongdoing by the alleged "mafia cops" - NYPD detectives who allegedly worked as mob hitmen - may have extended to their own detective work. Barry Gibbs, a former postal worker who had been accused, convicted, and imprisoned for 19 years for the murder of a prostitute, was set free because it turns out that then Detective Louis Eppolito had induced a witness into picking Barry Gibbs out of a line up, even though the man the witness had seen at the scene was smaller and shorter. Gibbs had maintained his innocence since his 1988 conviction, and contacted the Innocence Project for help. And when Eppolito, as well as partner Detective Stephen Caracappa, was indicted in March, attorney Barry Scheck recognized his name and went to the Brooklyn DA's office to relook at the case. And Newsday noted Gibbs' dining plans:

Gibbs, who is Jewish, told reporters he was hungry and wanted to go out and have a big lobster dinner.

Continue reading "Postal Worker Patsy Finally Freed"

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nyc-sign0808,0,4676706.story?coll=nyc-homepage-breaking2">crackdown on illegal outdoor advertising, specifically on the sidewalk shed scaffolding. They call it damaging to quality of life, Gothamist sort of agrees, as we stumble when we're trying to figure out what the ugly ass ad's message is trying to be (), but we rather the scaffolding smell less like piss. String said, "This is now the new black market of commercial advertising," but sometimes buildings obtain permits for the ads. One co-op board president says, "They offer you a tremendous amount of money, which is intoxicating." If Gothamist was in a co-op where there was scaffolding and ads, we'd be wondering if our charges were much less. And if the building would get free samples of the product advertised, like a free car.

"I very rarely even see a conductor on this train." - Subway rider to the NY TimesOf course, the NY Post details how a bunch of kids stormed the a conductor's booth and "pressed buttons for several minutes." Luckily, a key is needed for the buttons to work, but still, Gothamist imagines they were 20 minutes away from figuring out how to hotwire it. The Times also notes that the new signaling technology in the L ("radio frequencies and micro processors to communicate train movements") won't be rolled out until the end of this year, because the MTA doesn't want to get to futuristic...and because it's behind schedule, natch.

This weekend brings Passover to New York City, and the City is ready: Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced a few initiatives to make sure Pesach is peaceful. First, security will be increased with more police foot patrols and security at synagogues; plus the police will patrol "sensitive" areas in certain neighborhoods. The City's Bureau of Consumer Affairs also wants to crack down on price gouging of Passover related items, so they're asking for residents to fill out this form. Finally, the Department of Sanitation will have more trucks available to pick up food in the pre-Passover/Chometz ritual - aka, ridding the house of bread products. Just think, these are pre-Atkins traditions! Perhaps this is an opportunity to do a little spring cleaning yourselves.

One of the muggers challenged two teenage girls who were with them — saying they just robbed a guy and asking what the girls could do. The girls planned to show they were as tough as their friends by beating up DuFresne and Gibson — but things quickly escalated, the sources said.