Results tagged “boston”

In June the Port Authority announced a plan to kill 2,000 geese during their molting season to prevent accidents like the one that brought Flight 1549 down in the Hudson River. Mayor Bloomberg immediately voiced his support for gassing geese, telling radio listeners, "There is not a lot of cost involved in rounding up a couple thousand geese and letting them go to sleep with nice dreams." Well, it looks like the mayor's winged targets finally sent a message on Saturday, when one flew into a jet carrying the mayor and about six others from the Hamptons to Senator Kennedy's funeral. In what is surely just the opening salvo between the avian empire and the imperial Bloomberg, the bird failed to fell the French-made Dassault 900EX, though the pilot was concerned that the strike had damaged the landing equipment, and requested emergency ground crews in Boston. The mayor was discreetly informed during the flight, which landed safely, but according to the Post he didn't inform his "entourage." Sure, Bloomberg's not sweating it, but if the rumored alliance between the birds and groundhogs ever happens, he's in trouble.

       

The Kennedy family estimates (via Twitter) that 25,000 people paid their respects to Senator Edward Kennedy at the J.F.K. Presidential Library in Boston yesterday. The library was scheduled to close at 11 p.m., but stayed open until 2 a.m. due to the long lines. The family said, "We could not be more grateful for the amazing support. Thank you."

Philip Markoff, the medical student suspected of killing a NYC woman he met on Craigslist in a Boston hotel room, was indicted by a grand jury yesterday. According to the Boston Globe, prosecutors say in the April 14 killing of Julissa Brisman, as well as two other robberies of women he met via Craigslist, Markoff "allegedly used disposable cellphones and temporary e-mail addresses to make appointments, then used plastic ties and duct tape to bind his victims." Prosecutors also revealed that the 9mm gun used to kill Brisman was "purchased in a New Hampshire gun shop in February under [Andrew] Miller's name, though prosecutors found Markoff's fingerprint on paperwork filed with the purchase." Miller's license was found in Markoff's car when he was arrested; investigators do not think Miller was involved in the crimes. The 22-year-old will be arraigned today on charges including first-degree murder, armed robbery and armed kidnapping.

A Boston trolley operator who rear-ended another trolley Friday night because he was text-messaging his girlfriend has ruined cell-phone chatting for everyone at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which has now instructed workers to leave their cell phones at home. 49 people were injured in the collision, which is just the latest example of train wrecks caused by distracted operators—last September a Union Pacific Freight train engineer in California was found to have sent his last text message about a minute before killing 25 people, including himself, in a horrible accident. Now LIRR officials here in New York say they're considering a ban on employees' cell phones, too. Currently, LIRR engineers, who operate the trains, are permitted to bring their personal cell phones on board, but they must be shut off and stowed in a bag. A simpler alternative to an outright ban would be for the LIRR to just hire John Clifford, the famous LIRR cell phone scold, to crack some skulls.

Yesterday, court papers revealed that medical student Philip Markoff is in $130,000 debt from student loans and therefore needs a court-appointed defense attorney. Markoff is suspected of killing NYC resident Julissa Brisman in a Boston hotel room; Brisman was meeting a massage client (via Craigslist). The Boston Globe observes that while Markoff was living off student loans, he was "living in a $1,400-a-month one-bedroom apartment in a luxury high-rise in Quincy." Markoff's fiancee Megan McAllister released a new statement, “In the past two short weeks, my life and what I hoped my life to be has dramatically changed. I also love my fiance and I will continue to support him throughout this legal process. My heart goes out to all of those afflicted by these events. It is my intent to fully cooperate with my fiance’s attorney as well as the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office ... I can only tell them what I know and what is the truth... What has been portrayed and leaked to the media is not the Philip Markoff that I know... My fiance’s fate should not rest in the court of public opinion, but rather in a court of law."

The Boston Globe reports that preliminary tests link the gun found in Philip Markoff's apartment (inside a hollowed-out copy of Gray's Anatomy) with the murder of Julissa Brisman. "Officials also told the Globe that fingerprints found on the plastic restraints and duct tape left at a crime scene matched Markoff's fingerprints." Brisman, a NYC resident, was killed by her apparent massage client at a Boston hotel last week and police arrested Markoff, a 23-year-old medical student, on Monday. Markoff was reportedly placed on suicide watch yesterday after guards found shoelace marks on his neck. His lawyer didn't confirm or dany the alleged suicide attempt but did say, "It's difficult for anybody to go from a life of freedom to being detained, particularly in the first few days."

Yesterday, a wake was held in Washington Heights for Julissa Brisman, a young woman who was killed last week during an appointment with a massage client at a Boston hotel. The Daily News' Michael Daly reports that the aspiring actress's mother wailed in Spanish, "Why not me? Why her? She was only 25. She was just beginning to live her life." And Brisman's friend, Mark Pines, said she would screen clients who responded to her Craigslist listing for massage services but added, "We will use her memory to try to keep other girls from ending up in the same situation."

A SUNY Albany graduate and Boston University medical student was arrested for the murder of a NYC woman who advertised massage services on Craigslist. Boston police believe that Philip Markoff, 22, fatally shot Julissa Brisman at the Marriott Copley Place on April 14 and also charged him with the April 10 robbery and kidnapping of a prostitute, who had advertised on Craigslist, at the Westin Copley place. Apparently a search of Markoff's apartment "turned up guns and plastic ties" (Brisman's hand had a plastic handcuff) and police suspect Markoff may have been robbing—and resorting to violence—to pay off gambling debts.

Boston police say the woman found shot to death in a hotel room was NYC resident Julissa Brisman. Brisman apparently advertised massage services in Craigslist's erotic services section and police suspect her killer was the man who answered her ad.

Another Friday night, another arrest for a famous street artist as cops in Boston locked up Sherpard Fairey, the man who made a name for himself with "Andre the Giant OBEY" images nationwide and this year gained even greater notoriety for his Obama HOPE posters that quickly took on an iconic status throughout the presidential campaign. Fairey was arrested before an ICA Museum event where he was set to DJ in celebration of the opening of his exhibit there. The charges stemmed from graffiti around town connected to the OBEY campaign from years ago. The warrant was issued two weeks ago, yet police seem to have allowed Fairey to make a public appearance with Boston Mayor Thomas Mennino to promote his opening. Fairey says the arrest is his 15th nationwide. Museum patrons at the event told the Boston Globe they only held the artist on a higher pedestal now saying "it shows he has integrity" and "he's even more of a hero to me now."

Dignitaries and families of September 11 victims gathered for the dedication a 9/11 memorial in Boston yesterday. Before you wonder why a memorial is by a thruway, the memorial sits on the property of Logan Airport, where two of the hijacked planes started their flights--United 175 and United 11--before crashing into the World Trade Center.

A Red Sox fan paid the ultimate price for his allegiance this weekend when he crossed paths with a Yankees fan in New Hampshire. Ivonne Hernandez, 43 years old and a Yankees fan, is charged with fatally running him over.

Oenophiles envious of the big wine expos held in Boston and D.C. can stop whining; this weekend marks the first annual New York Wine Expo at the Javits Center. Friday night and Saturday are open to the public, where more than 600 wines from over 170 vintners will be available for tasting. Here’s the list of all the wineries and vineyards at the Expo.

Early this morning brides-to-be lined 14th Street in hopes of finding their dream dress at a discount price. The annual wedding dress sale at Filene's Basement, dubbed The Running of the Brides, included around 2500 gowns (of which reportedly zero are left). And every lady wants to find the designer dress with an off-the-rack pricetag, which can be akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Typically dresses go for $249 to $699, and would normally cost around $10,000.

The 20-member New York Times editorial board nearly endorsed Barack Obama for president, but ultimately Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. pushed through a Clinton endorsement, anonymous sources have told The New Republic. The behind-the-scenes article echoes conjecture from New York Magazine that Sulzberger’s BFF gym buddy Steven Rattner, a major Clinton donor and former Times reporter, may have been the deciding factor.

• Devils 5, Hurricanes 1: To be fair, Carolina was without three of its best players, but even a full-strength Hurricanes team would have had trouble with the Devils. New Jersey allowed only 22 shots the entire game and blew by Carolina for its seventh win in nine games. That makes them tied for the Eastern Conference lead with Ottawa and Montreal and two points clear of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division. The Senators and the Penguins, however, have a game in hand. Travis Zajac, Mike Mottau, Jay Pandolfo, Johnny Oduya and Zach Parise all took part in the scoring. This was classic shutdown mode for a team peaking at the right time.
• Islanders 3, Sharks 2: If you can't beat the opposing goaltender, why not bloody his face and then get the puck into the net? That more teams haven't tried this method is one of the world's biggest unsolved mysteries. Radek Martinek couldn't get the puck home, but he did do enough damage to Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov's mask that the netminder had to get stitches. He probably should have stayed in the dressing room. Andy Hilbert and Mike Comrie helped tie the game in less than a minute, and then Freddy Meyer did the glamorous work to give the Islanders a home win. They're one point out of a playoff spot, but they've played more games than Buffalo, Boston and Philadelphia, the teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings.

The football season is over, but news about the Giants and their Super Bowl win never gets old. Here's what's been happening since the ticker tape parade:

John McCain's Straight Talk Express headed into Manhattan today, taking him to Grand Central Terminal where he got the endorsement of former governor George Pataki. McCain, along with wife Cindy, appeared with Pataki, Alphonse D'Amato, Joseph Lieberman and Rudy Giuliani as the Republican candidate appears to be leading in many Super Tuesday polls over rivals Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

After the Giants' wild underdog Super Bowl win last night, it's no surprise that New York area papers are reveling in this victory. The Daily News give its readers a special commemorative Super Bowl victory cover (inside, there's a traditional front and sports back cover - sans Giants mention). Both the News and the NY Post feature Eli Manning holding the Vince Lombardi trophy. Maybe this is their way of apologizing for ragging on him mercilessly (though with reason) for his first seasons.

Blind item! What downtown venue was behind screwing over yet another band? We never did like blind items, so we'll just tell you through part of this letter we received from the disgruntled band behind the latest booking botch-up:

We had a really bad experience at the Annex, on Orchard St. last night. Basically we showed up for a 5:00 load in to find out that our show had been canceled. The two other bands on the bill faced the same problem. One of the bands had driven 5 hours through the rain from Boston just for this show, only to find out that it had been canceled. None of the bands had been called.

Continue reading "New Jersey Band vs. New York City"

11:27PM: We're enjoying the postgame coverage of the Giants' victory, with sad Tom Brady, really excited Michael Strahan (singing Eli's praises), Peyton Manning being thrilled with his brother's success (aw!) and thoughts from the 1972 Dolpins, secure with their undefeated record for another year (but the Patriots still won more games in a row!). While we've been inside, there are a number of large crowds celebrating the Giants' win all over the city - the police have been called to break some of them up!

The Equinox fitness club chain will soon be bringing a controversial ad campaign to New York City that features nuns sketching a male nude model. The ads are currently on display only in Boston, but will soon be shown in other cities, including NYC. The Boston Archdiocese feels that the ads are a slam against the Church and the Catholic faith. Keira McCaffrey of New York's Catholic League expressed less outrage than disdain. "It's gratuitous. It's of course … it's a slap at nuns, but you know what? It's trite. It's not even clever. This is an old cliché ... let's make fun of nuns." Bill Donahue, the head of the Catholic League, weighed in, calling the ad "patently stupid" and "sophomoric." C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League wasn't as dismissive, calling the ad "unfair and depraved."

After two weeks of hype, Super Bowl XLII is finally around the corner. The Giants have reached the ultimate game with a chance to prevent history by ruining the Patriots' quest for a perfect 19-0 season.

Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston are putting it all on the line for Sunday's Super Bowl. After winning the awful bet from Green Bay, Bloomberg has a lot more riding on the line when the Giants face off against the Patriots this weekend. As is the custom when the playoffs roll around, the mayors of the teams participating decided on a friendly food wager. The stakes, or should we say steaks, are upped in this bet as the Vince Lombardy Trophy are on the line.

With Mayor Bloomberg up in Albany deriding Gov. Spitzer for bilking the city out of $500 million in promised funding, it's no wonder that the perennial call for secession has arisen.

A Giant hooked up to a shock device, numerous wedding proposals and an American Idol audition all added to the collective fun know as “Media Day” at the Super Bowl. What else can you expect when nearly 5,000 reporters have to shake out stories from 200 or so football players and coaches.

The game is still a week away, but the verbal sparring has begun. Plaxico Burress fired the first shot this week when he said about the Giants’ wide receivers that, "We have guys that can go out and do things just as well or maybe better than some of those guys.” The Patriots have refused to take the bait with Rodney Harrison simply talking about seeing what happens on the field while Ellis Hobbs noted that Plaxico has “really long arms.”

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 120th St. and 3rd Ave. in Manhattan, a stabbing on West 31st St. in Brooklyn, and a fall victim at MoMA in Manhattan.
• The New York Yankees took first place in franchise spending, with a total payroll of $218.3 million last year. The World Series-winning Boston Red Sox payroll totalled $155.4 million to finish a distant second.
• The New York Water Taxi is terminating its South Brooklyn service between Sunset Park, Red Hook, and Wall St. at the end of this month.