Results tagged “councilmandavidyassky”

The MTA's various fare hikes for the NYC subways and buses, as well as its railroads, went into effect this weekend. Today, subway and bus base fares still cost $2, but higher-value pay-per-ride Metrocards have less of a bonus discount while weekly and monthly unlimited ride Metrocards are more expensive.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on East 112th St. and 3rd Ave. in Manhattan, shots fired at 132nd St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a commercial burglary on 4th Ave. and 90th St. in Brooklyn.
• Page Six lists its top ten scoops of the year. #1 is about Rosie O'Donnell's writer being escorted from The View offices for drawing magic marker mustaches on pictures of Elizabeth Hasselbeck, and rumors that O'Donnell might quit the show.
• James Colliton, the lawyer who pleaded guilty to having sex with two underage sisters and served 18 months in jail, is suing the 188-year-old law firm Cravath, Swaine, and Moore for $1.45 million he feels the firm owes him after he was fired. Colliton's lawsuit was handwritten on notebook paper.

A year ago, the Fire Department was trying to put out the massive ten-alarm blaze at the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse. It took a day and a half for the FDNY to control the fire. A homeless man, Leszek Kuczera, apparently started the blaze while trying to burn insulation off copper wire, only for him to get off with a plea agreement.

The City Council questioned Police Commissioner Ray Kelly about NYPD tactics in the wake of the fatal shooting of Sean Bell. The Council was aggressive and straightforward; for instance, Councilman David Yassky said , "Too many African-American New Yorkers feel that they are at risk or that their family members are at risk of mistreatment, whether it be to be stopped without reason or to be victimized by excessive force."

Haverford graduate, Parks Department project manager, and Greenpoint resident David Langlieb is under fire for writing an essay about his neighborhood in his alumni magazine. According to the Daily News, the essay, ripe with complaints about the old-school Polish residents and self-deprecation about not being an Ivy League graduate, has incensed the Polish American Congress and Councilman David Yassky, who said, "my eyes pretty much popped out of my head when I read this."

If there's a city parade, you bet it's an opportunity for politicians to get out to press the flesh. And yesterday's West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn was no different, with the primary showdown over the Congressional seat being vacated by Major Owens coming up next week. As it happens, the crowd in the Wyckoff Gardens Houses weren't too happy to hear Mayor Bloomberg and candidate-City Councilman David Yassky announce that $600,000 worth of security cameras would be installed. Someone ended up throwing a frosted doughnut near the Mayor, causing his girlfriend Diana Taylor to take "cover beneath a concrete overhang," as the Times puts it. Which only made the Mayor joke, "Well, just another reason why we need cameras." Newsday reports that another man was loudly murmuring in the back of the crowd, prompting the mayor to say, "If we could have some quiet back there, sir, it would be appreciated, thank you; we can't hear." Of course, the NYPD investigated the tasty treat toss, but came to the conclusion, "Nothing was ascertained with certainty, but there is no indication it was directed at the mayor. It may have just been tossed out the window or dropped."

- The "Trouble with Vito" series in the Daily News continues! Now it's a suspect photo of Congressman Vito Fossella with Sesame Street's Elmo and Rosito that has appeared in both re-election media and a "taxpayer-financed constituent mailing." Fossella's people say that muppet picture and other were "indvertently" used on a reelection website. Inadvertently or advertently so the Daily News could plaster it on the front page?

- And Many Highways has some video and photographs of weekend Spider-Man 3 filming at Foley Square; we have no idea what the plot is supposed to be, but if you really want to know, here's the Google search for "Spider-Man 3 spoilers"

Bam! The Mayor used his veto power to "support landmark status" for a Brooklyn warehouse in Williamsburg. The City Council had approved to remove landmark status for the Austin, Nichols Warehouse at 184 Kent Avenue (read this Gotham Gazette story about it) last week, paving the way for the building to be converted to condos. City Councilman David Yassky told the NY Times that the Mayor's sudden decision to go landmark happy was "to curry favor with preservationists after refusing to landmark 2 Columbus Circle. Now they'll milk it and really try to get political credit." What, politicians trying to get political credit? Shocking!

Brooklyn community groups descended on City Hall yesterday, to protest the rezoning of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and it seems that the City Council is on board, as it "threatened...to scuttle" the Bloomberg plan. The sticking points are that the Bloomberg plan includes a lot of development with a lot of tall buildings, and possibly not enough park space or low income housing. The Bloomberg administration counters that the plan has to be attractive enough for developers to want to develop the "polluted, underused" space.

You can read the bill here (PDF). Of course, this measure reminded Gothamist of the Law & Order episode that had A.D.A. McCoy go after a gun manufacturer after someone went on a shooting spree in Central Park.

Gothamist on NYC in the 1970s.