Results tagged “batterytunnel”

The NYPD has gotten less attention for catching criminals this weekend than it has for catching babies. While yesterday's special delivery story came along an exit ramp of the BQE in Brooklyn, this time a cop assisted a couple whose birth plan ended up with an audible not too far across the river from there just out of the Battery Tunnel in lower Manhattan. 28-year-old Officer Theodore Plevritis was flagged down by a cab driver exiting the tunnel, honking his horn and waving wildly as Ester Abbot was going into labor in his backseat just before 6 a.m yesterday. The officer said he could see that "this baby was ready to go," and ended up delivering it within five minutes. Plaevritis, a bachelor with no children, told the News, "I caught the baby; she did all the work. She was slippery. I just wanted to make sure I held onto her." The officer says his knowledge of the process came strictly from a Police Academy training video. The baby girl and mother are both healthy at NYU Medical Center.

The American Institute of Architects is looking to supplant the idea of replacing the Gowanus Expressway with a tunnel, and instead proposes a suspended highway and formation of a Gowanus Greenway. In 2006, the Dept. of Transportation gave a green light to a $12.8 billion proposal to build a 3.5 mile, seven lane tunnel underneath the Brooklyn Waterfront and then destroying the elevated highway. The plan for a Gowanus Tunnel appears to be in perpetual stall though, and would take approximately 15 years to finish.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian was fatally struck on East 4th and Bowery in Manhattan, a child was shot on Blake Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting/homicide on Fish Ave and East Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx.
• The oldest living inmate in New York State is a Long Island surgeon convicted in 1978 of killing his wife. He'll turn 89 this week and concedes that divorce might have been a better choice.
• Thousands of participants retraced the steps of fireman Stephen Stiller in the Tunnel to Towers run today. Stiller died on 9/11 after running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to fight the WTC fire.
• The Head of the Harlem Regatta was held Saturday, and crew teams raced from Yankee Stadium to Swindler's Cove on the Harlem River.
• The Broadway stagehands union and show producers have agreed to extend negotiations through this week, keeping the lights on along the Great White Way.
• We wonder if Beyonce Knowles feels that Nolita in Manhattan is getting more dangerous lately. She was sporting brass knuckles on her boots while dining at La Esquina last night.
• Seven people were injured when a car slammed into the front of a Staten Island city bus
• The French company that contracted with the MTA to produce 400 new subway cars is five months behind schedule on its deliveries without incurring any penalties, and even won a $700 million contract extension.

OMG OPRAH! After weeks of anticipation - and insane craigslist listings - a few thousand lucky fans got to watch the season premiere of Oprah from the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. The show featured David Letterman and a performance from Lisa Marie Presley. And, yes, Oprah Winfrey did start off the show with "Hellloooo, New York."

As mentioned last week, Oprah is gearing up for her New York invasion in September..the first in ten years! Some new info has come out about what she has planned for her big shows -- though there are no shocking details.

When rapper Method Man rolled down his SUV's window at the Battery Tunnel to pay the toll, a cloud of marijuana smoke wafted outside - and landed him in jail, authorities said yesterday.

Continue reading "How High? Very"

Turning Cab, 136th and Broadway, by Daniella Zalcman.

As much as I pretend to act like it, I am no working class hero. True, I've done a number of blue collar jobs. But that hardly makes me a member of the proletariat. My mom was a teacher and is now a counselor. My dad was a professor, then a high level government official, and is now a lobbyist. And they paid for my undergraduate degree at NYU. No matter how long I drive a cab, I'll never really be working class.

The Post reports that officials are considering building an "aerial gondola tramway" to connect Manhattan to Governor's Island. There's a huge effort underway to make Governor's Island a big tourist destination, and while nothing is set in stone for flying cable cars, the interim president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp., Paul Kelly, says, "IIt could be an attraction onto itself because of the tremendous views" and that it would be cheaper than building a bridge. Sure, but what about a tunnel? Like an exit off the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Of course, Gothamist realizes building anything underground would be costly and a huge time suck - stringing up some cables and getting some gondola pods that hold a couple people is probably easier. Just make sure there are some life safety vests and flotation devices.

Tribute in Light, the temporary World Trade Center Memorial, will be moving to a new location this September. Because of development at West and Vesey Streets (Tribute was set up in a parking lot there), the light installation will now be at be stationed at a parking garage near the Battery Tunnel. The News reports that the Municipal Arts Society will pay the MTA $12,000 a year for four years for the space. The MAS is also determining whether or not Tribute will shine from Ground Zero, but given the slow speed of construction, that won't be for ages.