Results tagged “bebetomatthews”

Nothing says press conference like raiding a 32 stores in what the city dubs "Counterfeit Triangle" and hauling away over a $1 million worth of brand-name products. The raid, taking down stores in the area bounded by Canal Street, Walker Street and Centre Street, occurred in the early morning, with cops using bolt-cutters to gain entry and tractor-trailers to take the haul away Coach, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbanna, Dior, Prada, Rolex, Fendi, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Dora the Explorer and Oakley merchandise.

Yesterday, firefighters and the community were in Bay Ridge to remember Joseph Graffagnino, one of the firefighters who died while fighting last Saturday's 7-alarm fire at the Deutsche Bank building. The building, which was in the process of being dismantled, has been described as a deathtrap, what with the contractors using flammable materials, a broken standpipe (which couldn't deliver water to the fire), and a lack of FDNY inspection.

Yesterday, the three men charged with first-degree murder of police officer Russel Timoshenko all pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn court. However, Dexter Bostick, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, who were also charged with a number of other crimes related to the July 9 traffic stop shooting, did not ask for bail. The Post and Daily News had the varying statements the men gave investigators:

Woods, 29, told detectives "I ain't going to jail for something I didn't do. I didn't shoot no cops, I was only driving. Fat boy [Bostic] was in the passenger seat and that faggot Roger [Ellis] was behind me."

Continue reading "Brooklyn Cop Shootings: Guns and Not Guilty Pleas"

Animal rights protesters held a rally outside the National Football League's Park Avenue headquarters yesterday to ask for quarterback Michael Vick's suspension from the league. Earlier, the Atlanta Falcons star was indicted on federal felony charges for dogfighting. Here's what the Department of Justice's press release (PDF) said:

According to the indictment, the defendants were involved in an ongoing animal fighting venture based out of a property located in Smithfield, Virginia, from early 2001 through on or about April 25, 2007. The property was purchased by Vick in June 2001. Since that time, the named defendants formed a dog fighting enterprise known as “Bad Newz Kennels” and used the property for housing and training pit bulls used in dog fights. From at least 2002, the defendants and others sponsored dog fights at the property, where participants and dogs traveled from South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, Texas, Alabama, and other states to participate. Generally, only those accompanying the opposing kennels and “Bad Newz Kennels’” associates attended the fights.

Continue reading "Protesters Demand That NFL Sacks Michael Vick"

This morning, thousands of police officers and members of the community attended the funeral of Russel Timoshenko, a 23-year-old police officer shot during a traffic stop of a stolen SUV. Timoshenko, who died a few days after the shooting, was posthumously made a detective; Mayor Bloomberg explained it was "a small measure of our appreciation for the supreme sacrifice that Russel made, and to honor his life."

But, the NY Times says ahem, reporting Bloomberg aides have working on a possible 2008 bid for the past two years. And the Sun pointed out how he "indulged" questions about national issues at the press conference yesterday. Then again, when asked if there were a situation when he would run, he said, "If everyone in the world was dead and I was the only one alive? Yeah, sure. I mean, come on."

Despite having been defeated in a City Council vote, where his chief of staff heckled Council Speaker Christine Quinn and threatened a black councilman with assassination, Councilman Charles Barron renamed a street in Brooklyn "Sonny Abubadika Carson Avenue" anyway, declaring that the renaming "is official whether they [presumably the city] take that sign down or not." Sonny Carson's name was struck from a list of people who would get honorary street signs earlier this spring. Council Speaker Quinn felt he was too divisive a figure in the city's history. This sparked a City Hall battle that frayed nerves and invoked additional police protection.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn struck Sonny Carson's name from a list of of New Yorkers to be honored with a street named after them because she thought the political activist was too divisive a figure. Carson was a proponent of black economic empowerment and was distemperate in his views of other New York groups (e.g., whites, Jews, Koreans). Councilman Charles Barron, who shares Carson's past as a radical activist, thought Carson's exclusion from the list was more divisive than anything Carson had ever done, and indeed, voting on an amendment Wednesday to re-add his name split almost entirely down racial lines and the session was extremely acrimonious.

Things got heated in the City Council yesterday as former Black Panther and Council Member Charles Barron squared off against Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who had removed the name of Sonny Carson from a list of people to be honored with having streets named after them. Sonny Carson was an activist who railed against Korean grocers and, not wanting to limit himself to an accusation of anti-Semitism, said he was anti-white in general. Quinn feels that Carson was a divisive figure in New York's history and Barron thinks he was an important individual who united his community.

Yesterday was Good Friday, and Christians in the city remembered the day that Jesus Christ was crucified. One group, Communion and Liberation, carried a cross across the Brooklyn Bridge to St. Peter's Church on Barclay as part of the Way of the Cross reenactment. One of the Christian organization's members told NY1, "It always has a special significance that we commemorate that day also as part of Good Friday, because it's the idea of redemption, which is basically what we’re looking at here today."

Yesterday, a grand jury decided to indict three detectives in the shooting of Sean Bell, an unarmed black man who had been celebrating the night before his wedding day at a Queens nightclub. The charges were manslaughter for Gescard Isnora and Michael Oliver and reckless endangerment for Marc Cooper. Isnora fired the first shot, one of 11 he eventually fired, while Oliver fired the most, 31 rounds. Cooper fired 4 times; in total, the police shot at Bell and his two friends 50 times. Two other officers, Michael Carey and Paul Headley, were called to testify but were not charged. A Fordham Law professor told Newsday that the grand jury's decision to charge three cops and clear two others "suggested [the grand jury was] careful."

Today, Mayor Bloomberg met with the Bronx fire victims' families and later held a press conference about the tragedy, which is the deadliest fire (aside from September 11) since 1990 . The Mayor has been under fire for leaving the city yesterday - after a Thursday press conference about the fire - for a scheduled appearance in Miami, where he made jokes about "Mayors Gone Wild" in South Beach.

It's pretty funny when a story about over a dozen rats scurrying around a West Village Taco Bell-KFC location is the leading story on the local news (okay, there was a mention of an off-duty police officer shooting a neighbor, too). The footage (see here at WNBC), while totally repelling, is also amazing. And that rat dangling from the chair? No wonder everyone is swarming to 6th Avenue and West 4th Street to catch a glimpse of those huge suckers!

If you see a cab with horns and fake brown-and-white fur, hail it! The Professional Bull Riders are offering free rides in special "bull taxis" to promote their invitational at Madison Square Garden this weekend. The Versus Invitational will showcase the "world's top 45 bull riders will clash against the best bulls in the industry," according the PBR website. All right, but those bull taxis are sort of awesome.

Yesterday the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene held a public hearing about banning trans fats in city restaurants. Overall, most people said it was a good thing, with health and diet experts noting the "historic nature of these hearings" and that 22% of heart-related deaths are due to trans fats consumption.

Investigators have spent the hours after a plane, carrying Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger, crashed into an Upper East Side building gathering evidence from the street. Federal transportation investigators believe that the single engine Cirrus SR 20 was trying to make a U-turn when it turned left over the East River, based on something either Lidle or Stanger told an official at Teterboro Airport. According to radar, the plane had flown over the East River at an altitude of 700 feet and was at 500 feet a quarter mile north of 524 East 72nd Street.

As delays snarled Laguardia, JFK, and Newark with news that British authorities had stopped a terrorist plot to blow up airliners flying the U.S., New York City's security level remained at "elevated" - which is where it's been since September 11, 2001. Governor Pataki increased state police, Port Authority police, and National Guard presence at the airports, and said, "I want to assure all New Yorkers that we have and will continue to provide a heightened level of security, and I urge all of you to be vigilant, but to go about your normal routines. I encourage all citizens to remain alert with regard to the threat of terrorism. The eyes and ears of the public are one of the most important resources we have to help law enforcement officials deter and prevent acts of terrorism." Mayor Bloomberg noted that since the threat was focused on airports, subway security wouldn't have to be raised. And did you know that Senator Schumer is stuck at Heathrow?

Amy from Newyorkology woke up at 5am to get the money-shot of the Queen Mary 2 arriving at the Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal. She reports:

" and "I feel badly for him. I don't believe he's a horrible person. I don't believe he's a racist. He made a reckless mistake, but I respect the other jurors for their opinions, too." Plus, it turns out that the majority thought Conroy was guilty, with only one holdout, when the jury was deadlocked last Friday; then, another person joined the holdout.

As part of the centennial celebration of NYC subways, the MTA brought back the Ms. Subways competition, which had been Miss Subways and dormant since 1976, and crowned Caroline Sanchez-Bernat, an actress from Morningside Heights, the new Ms. Subways. The Post says Sanchez-Bernat takes the C train, and part of her duties will include riding the special centennial train at City Hall Station with Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki tomorrow as well as being on MTA posters, which Gothamist expects New Yorkers to lovingly deface. The new Ms. Subways contest was sponsored by the NY Post, and the finalists are very NY, representing the multi-culti fabric of our city. Entrants had to answer the questions "Why are you proud to be a New Yorker?", "Why do you think that you deserve to be Ms. Subway 2004?", and "Why is the subway important to you?" Gothamist read Sanchez-Bernat's mini-essays and we liked why the subway was important to her:

...I can rely on it to get me safely to work in the morning and home at night. It's also my favorite place to people watch. Where else can you see fifteen different ethnicities represented on one subway car? The more I ride the subway the more I learn about what it is to be a New Yorker...