A letter bomb addressed to Deutsche bank CEO Dr. Josef Ackermann was found in the mailroom of the bank's Frankfurt headquarters this morning. The bomb did not detonate, and no one has claimed responsibility yet. (ABC reports that Ackerman "is one of Europe's most powerful bankers and is a key advisor in the European Union debt crisis to Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.") We hope you didn't have any big heist plans cooking this week, because now the NYPD is warning local banks to step up security. more ›

NY Attorney General—and presumed gubernatorial candidate—Andrew Cuomo is reportedly looking into whether banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Crédit Agricole and Merrill Lynch (now owned by Bank of America) duped credit ratings agencies about mortgage securities. According to an AP source, Cuomo "is trying to figure out if banks provided the agencies with false information in order to get better ratings on the risky securities." more ›

A "smoking gun memo" obtained by the Village Voice indicates that before being appointed the new commissioner of the FDNY, Salvatore Cassano repeatedly ignored warnings that the Deutsche Bank building—the site of a fatal 2007 blaze—was a safety hazard. According to the alt weekly, the longtime FDNY veteran was briefed on the possible dangers at the 9/11-damaged site, and "was more personally involved than [previous Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta] in the negligence that cost the lives of Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino and injuries to another 115 firefighters." more ›

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta further explained his decision to resign at the end of the year. He told the Daily News, "47 years in city government is enough," while saying to the NY Times, "The reason I am leaving now is I have decided, after 47 years, that if I am ever going to get to those other things, like teaching and writing, and some traveling. I better get to it now." more ›

Over a year after a seven-alarm fire took the lives of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building, the Manhattan DA's office will only bring manslaughter charges against the subcontractor, according to the Daily News. And the city and state won't face charges, "although several agencies were supposed to ensure the Ground Zero building was safe." While a construction worker's smoking caused the fire, there were numerous safety violations, from the dismantled standpipe (which brings water up in case of fires), blocked exits, and a lack of inspections to make sure the dismantling was being handled carefully. The subcontractor, John Galt Corp., had no experience with projects of this scale (the building was being dismantled after contamination from the 9/11 attacks) and was essentially laundering "millions through various shell companies." A source told the News, "The problem with indicting anyone in the city is that the city itself has sovereign immunity," meaning "prosecutors would have to prove a city employee's actions directly caused the deaths." So, the city or state may not have researched John Galt Corp.'s creds, but it's no big deal! more ›

Last year, the former Deutsche Bank building was in the process of being dismantled when a fire broke out on August 18. It escalated into a seven-alarm blaze, and two firefighters died after when their oxygen tanks were depleted. It turned out a construction worker's smoking caused the fire, but there were a host of other problems, from the dismantled standpipe (which brings water up in case of fires), blocked exits, and a lack of inspections to make sure the dismantling was being handled carefully. more ›

After being fired for speaking to a reporter, a lawyer who had represented a slain firefighter's family in their lawsuit against the city is now suing the widow and her children. Way to keep those bad stereotypes about lawyers going! more ›

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $464,600 in fines over two contractors' safety lapses at the Deutsche Bank building. Contractor Bovis Lend Lease, which had been retained by the state government, and its former subcontractor John Galt Corporation had been dismantling the building when a seven-alarm fire, caused by a worker's smoking, broke out last August. more ›

The sister of the 23-year FDNY veteran who died during the Deutsche Bank building last August is suing city agencies and contractors, citing their "wanton, willful, and reckless conduct" in his death. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an injured police officer at Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn, a gas leak on South 8th St. and Wythe Ave. in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery at the North Fork branch on 87th St. and Broadway in Manhattan.
  
• The FDNY will be stationing a battalion chief at the Deutsche Bank building until it is fully dismantled.
  
• Someone in the Clinton campaign said that there's a 5% chance that in the event of a deadlock between Obama and Clinton at the Democrats' national convention, Al Gore may arise as a compromise candidate.
  
• Plans for a Veselka on the Bowery may be on the rocks, as a liquor license for the Avalon building location looks unlikely.
  
• The 69-year-old man, who was killed after being sideswiped by a cab and then run over by a bus on West 57th St. yesterday, was on his way to deliver candy to Oprah's best pal Gayle King.
  
• A 500 lb. man is suing the FDNY for $5 million after ten firefighters, who were trying to take him to the hospital using a pulley-and-platform rig to get the man out the building, dropped him down a flight of stairs.
  
• Patty Hearst's French bulldog won Best of Opposite Sex in the breed's category (a male won Best of Breed) at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
  
• City Council Speaker Christine Quinn proposed a citywide network of water-borne mass transit, where boats could ferry New Yorkers from stop to stop all over the city's five boroughs.
  

A piece in The New York Times today shows that that the residents of 475 Kent are not prepared to go quietly after their recent eviction due to fire safety violations. Even the landlord of the owner of the nearly block-long building near the Navy Yard in Brooklyn wants his tenants back in and is cooperating with them to that end. more ›

It's not just property values that are collapsing in New York; a construction crane collapsed in Tribeca and injured two workers who were working to repair the crane on the 300-unit residence building. The crane was 200 feet tall and buckled Friday under the strain of an overweighted payload of lumber. Initial reports said that there were no injuries and that several buildings surrounding the 450 Washington St. address had to be evacuated. more ›

Work has been stopped at the Trump Soho construction site, the day after an accident caused one worker to fall 42 stories to his death. The FDNY says the workers had been filling wooden forms (one was a 20-foot-square section) with wet concrete when molds broke. Assistant Chief Thomas Galvin explained that the molds collapsed from the 42nd floor to the 40th, leaving a hold in the corner of the building. Per the Daily News, Galvin said, "They were pouring it on the floor .. tamping out the air bubbles, and for some reasons the forms collapsed." Concrete and other debris fell from the area. more ›

A memo from FDNY Operations Chief Patrick McNally is instructing firefighters to conduct inspections of buildings under construction or demolition on two different timetables, depending on their height. City rules have long mandated that all buildings going up or coming down had to be inspected by the fire department every 15 days. McNally's memo now instructs firefighters to inspect buildings over 75 feet tall every 15 days, and below 75 feet tall every 30 days. more ›

A FDNY lieutenant died as he and other firefighters were battling a fire in Crown Heights. Lieutenant John H. Martinson went into cardiac arrest during the 2-alarm fire on the 14th floor of the Ebbets Field Apartments. more ›

Freaked out about the explosions in your neighborhood, only to find out via 311 that it's just fireworks? Or wondering about the fire around the corner? Well, the city actually does want you to know about what's going on in your neighborhoods and announced the pilot program launch of Notify NYC, which will deliver "emergency public information by email, text messages and reverse-911 alerts in four City community districts." The four districts are Lower Manhattan,... more ›

Yesterday, Deutsche Bank and the Parks Department unveiled a 9/11 memorial fountain on Wall Street. Four Deutsche employees died on September 11, 2001, and the CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas Seth Waugh said, “Wall Street is Deutsche Bank’s home in the Americas, and this fountain will be a beautiful focal-point for the neighborhood as well as a reminder of the family, friends, neighbors and colleagues we lost on 9/11." Deutsche Bank security guard Francisco... more ›

Lawyers for the families of Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia, the two firefighters who died in the August 18 Deutsche Bank fire, have filed notices of claim to sue city and state agencies for up to $180 million. The lawyers are claiming that the "reckless, willful and wanton actions and inactions" of the various agencies, including the FDNY, Port Authority and Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, caused the fatal response to the blaze. The Deutsche Bank,... more ›

The United Nations has been called a firetrap by a number of elected officials, Mayor Bloomberg among them. He recently demanded that the building stay on track to fix its many violations of the fire code. more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a child shot on Kingsborough Walk in Brooklyn, a person under a train at Kingston Ave. and Lincoln Pl. in Brooklyn, and a pedestrian struck at 12th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan. John Mayer performed an impromptu set at the Mercury Lounge to the surprise of attendees last night. John Galt Corp., the contractor doing the demolition work at the Deutsche Bank Building where two firefighters were killed,... more ›

An 81-year-old man who was getting into his parked car in Middle Village, Queens was struck by a vehicle yesterday at 11AM. The car did not stop and passersby chased the van, yelling for the driver to stop. Finally, the car was stopped by another vehicle and one of the men, Anthony Causi, told the Post, "I ran up to the door and yelled at her, 'Did you see what you just did?'" to which the driver, 29-year-old Diana Toro, yelled, "What? What? I didn't do anything." Causi added that it looked like she was on the phone or listening to an iPod. more ›

Yet another depressing fact revealed about the Deutsche Bank demolition in the wake of two firefighters' deaths. The NY Times reports that contractors had created an emergency exit plan through sealed stairwells, but the firefighters didn't know about the plan. Fire department spokesman Francis X. Gribbon told the Times, “The Fire Department was not involved in creating this plan, specifically — and most importantly — with regard to the sealed staircases. We were not notified about it. We were not consulted about it.” more ›

Were safety concerns about the Deutsche Bank's demolition ignored by aides to Governors Pataki and Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg? That's what the NY Post is reporting, as the investigation into the August fire that claimed two firefighters lives continues. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a triple shooting on East 21st St. and Caton Ave. in Brooklyn, a missing child on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, and a mass casualty incident at Castle Hill Ave. and the Cross Bronx Expressway.
• Many New Yorkers donned black this Thursday in solidarity with the Jena 6.
• Cops are looking for a man who applied for a job at the Duane Reade on 34th St. and 5th Ave., only to return to the store a few minutes later brandishing a silver-colored gun and demanding money.
• The Parks Dept. has officially ended the bid for a company to build a 26-acre water-park on Randall's Island.
• A 45-year-old bachelor is striving for independence from the bedroom in his parents' home, where he's organizing a campign for an independent Long Island Nation. He wants Brooklyn, Queens, and the rest of the island to break off not just from NYC, but to secede from the United States.
• A kayak and canoe ramp opened in the Idlewild Park Preserve on Jamaica Bay in Queens, but not all residents seemed that enthusiastic.
• Former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey was ordered by a judge to pay his ex-wife $2,500 a month in alimony.
• New York City and State have agreed on a set of safety protocols that will be enacted at the Deutsche Bank building in the next two to three weeks.

Two firefighters were pulled from beneath collapsed rubble last night, as a building undergoing demolition burned in Jamaica, Queens. The two men were partially pinned by debris when the landing between the second and third floors of the building on 95th Ave. and Sutphin Blvd. collapsed. Both were taken to a hospital along with a third firefighter, but all three were in stable condition and none suffered life-threatening injuries. more ›

The city has hired a criminal defense lawyer to represent its various agencies who are coming under attack for the Deutsche Bank fire that claimed two firefighters lives. The Manhattan DA's office started a criminal probe, after some disturbing practices by the contractors and questionable omissions by the Fire Department and the Buildings Department came to light. Eventually smoking, by workers hired to help dismantle the WTC-dust contaminated building, was cited as the probable cause of the fire; smoking is prohibited on job sites, especially ones involving hazardous materials such as the Deutsche Bank fire, but more alarmingly, a standpipe (which delivers water to other floors) had been disconnected, making fighting the fire much more difficult. more ›

Anger and frustration about the Deutsche Bank fire that claimed two firefighters' lives simply continues to mount as the Uniformed Firefighters Association says helicopters could have prevented the tragedy. Union president Stephen Cassidy said, "I think it’s very possible that the outcome would have been entirely different." more ›

Jim Riches is the Deputy Chief of the FDNY. He is one of the producers of Urban Legend, a video that doggedly questions the supposedly heroic actions of Mayor Giuliani on 9/11. We recently asked him a few questions about that, today's anniversary and the future of the WTC. more ›

High-ranking firefighters in the field are claiming that the regulations that are supposed to keep FDNY members and the public safe are simply not feasible and rarely enforced. In the wake of the deaths of firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino during the Deutsche Bank fire in August when a standpipe to provide water to firehoses was found disconnected, it became clear that the FDNY itself had not inspected the building properly as required by law. All building and demolition sites are supposed to be inspected by the fire department every 15 days. The New York Times interviewed a number of chiefs, company commanders, and union officials who said that not only isn't that standard not upheld, but it would literally be impossible to comply with, and the top brass at the department know it. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue at Chambers and Water Sts. off Manhattan, an armed robbery on Rockaway Blvd. and 75th St. in Queens, and a shooting on Grafton St. in Brooklyn.
• LibrerDia Lectorum, one of the city's oldest Spanish language bookstores will be closing September 30th. The Manhattan store on 14th St. opened in 1960 and became a mainstay of Spanish literature in the city.
• A fire broke out yesterday afternoon in a building undergoing demolition at 80 Washington St., just a few blocks from the Deutsche Bank building. The fire ocurred in an elevator shaft filled with debris.
• President Bush reversed course and decided that Brooklyn residents should be eligible for disaster relief after all. The Brooklyn Paper reports that Bay Ridge residents affected by the August 8th tornado can call (800) 621–FEMA or visit www.fema.gov to apply for assistance.
• The Times reports that New York City's school bus union is all mobbed up, and that the supposed housecleaning following the federal indictment of its leaders was nothing of the sort.
• Park Rangers and the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit were called to Central Park to rescue a six-foot-long boa constrictor that appeared to be stuck in a rock's fissure. ESU members eventually had to drill the rock to successfully remove the snake, who will likely wind up at a reptile refuge.
• Queens Crap wonders why Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. is holding his German Octoberfest fundraiser (with honorary co-host AG Andrew Cuomo!) at the Czechoslovakian Bohemian Beer Hall and Garden.
• Dirty Laundry: where writers read and musicians perform over the hum a laundromat's machines in the East Village.