Former NJ Governor and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christie Todd Whitman is alleging that in the days after the 9/11 attacks, she urged the city to get rescue workers and first responders to wear respirators, but was rebuffed by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. If true, the allegations would seem to severely damage Giuliani's Presidential aspirations, as he is running on the perceived strength of his leadership in the days following 9/11/01. Whitman also wanted Ground Zero workers wearing haz-mat suits and claims to have warned city officials on a daily basis of the risks that workers were facing. more ›

Sludgie the Whale was removed from the Gowanus Bay yesterday - and not without difficulty. The first time the Army Corp of Engineers tried to remove him, Sludgie slipped out of the knot and, as Newsday puts it, "plunged to the depths of the harbor, 30 feet below." The ACE's boat captain said, "It was a 'might knot' -- it might hold and it might not." Army Corp of Engineers: Can help get Intrepid moved, can't tie a knot to hold a 3,500-5,000 pound minke whale (but the ACE has hauled in other dead whales before in the New York Harbor area). more ›

When we heard that the Navy was being called in to help move the USS Intrepid from Manhattan's West Side to Bayonne, NJ for repairs, we thought that there would be some special Navy tricks employed to move the 27,000 ton aircraft carrier. But it turns out the Navy is just using a large bucket and shovel to remove the mud and dirt the Intrepid is mired in. Navy divers that checked out the situation yesterday could only see 2 feet in front of them in the Hudson's murky waters. more ›

Last Monday, after months of planning, tugboats attempted to move the USS Intrepid from Pier 86 on Manhattan's West Side to Bayonne, NJ for repairs. Unfortunately, the aircraft carrier's propellers were partially stuck in the mud and couldn't be budged. But now the Navy is coming to the rescue, agreeing to send a salvage team to dredge Intrepid and have it moved within three weeks. Apparently there were appeals from many levels of New York government! more ›